HEY CARMEN AND JULIA STANS MAKE SOME MORE NOISE

sooo duane asked if we had any more questions and we submitted some! here are his responses!

1) julia (from our server) wants to know if the interactive timeline is canon?

Hi again! 1) happy to answer for everyone. I don't consider it "canon" as far as our continuity/timeline go (though please don't misconstrue that as a negative -- I love the IA special, it's so much fun! But we approached it as a "what if" type episode, so we could take full advantage of the format and do fantasy sequences, musical numbers etc...)

1, continued: Here is my reasoning. a) with the various forks, there's no way any one thread could be canon -- how would we know? b) we did Vile "brain wiping" here in the style of fun horror movie endings; we of course revisited the idea more dramatically at end of S4. c) note that Shadowsan & Chase are absent from the storyline! We were producing the IA special parallel with S2, and had no idea whether Netflix would premiere it between S1 & S2, or after S2. SS & Chase are the two characters who had major spoilers attached (SS from bad to good; Chase unconscious in the hospital). So we removed them to avoid any timeline bumps in the event Netflix chose to premiere it after S1. In retrospect, it would have been fun to add SS & Chase to the Rockapella song, but since they weren't in the story earlier it seemed odd. We went back and forth on that. One down, 4 to go!

2) in general- does carmen ever find out that julia is the one who found her mother? julia played such a large part in helping to resolve carmen’s story, so we wanted to know if carmen knew that she did that for her?

great observation! I absolutely think Carmen knows: it's suggested in the hospital scene that Chief is in touch with Carmen ("shall I pass along your info?"). To have explained that Carmen knows Gray's okay, or that Julia is the one who found her mother, would have been great; but a) would have slowed the pace of our multiple epilogues so we figured the audience knows both those things so can construe that Carmen does (or will eventually ;-). b) except for the Pilot, we were limited to 22 minutes per episode precisely. We made the exception for the finale which is 2 minutes longer to get everything in. It's a balancing act to keep things tight but also let moments breathe. I'm sure you'll agree that we pack a LOT into each episode! There wasn't room for more in 408, but also I think it would have dragged the pacing to add more talk to the wrap up scenes.

3) nina wants to make carmen fanart stickers and put them on redbubble- is there a copyright policy against that? is she allowed to do so?

Hi Nina! I am not sure about that, it's outside my area: I can ask the "powers that be" if you would like? But be forewarned they may just say no because it's less complicated that way. My own common sense tells me that if you were making stickers of our copyrighted images from the show, that would be a problem. But stickers of your own art maybe not? But I really can't answer with certainty.

4) how did carmen end up trusting julia again after stockholm? the look of betrayal at the end kind of made it seem that it would take some reconciliation, but carmen seemed fine in season 3. we all have our own theories, but do you have any opinions on it?

reading this question scared me and I had to check the episode again! Phew. Carmen feeling betrayed by Julia was not the intention here at the end (in the beginning when ACME storms in, of course) -- but I think Carmen's been through too much to hold this against Julia. Carmen DOES shoot Chief some very poisonous glares through this sequence, but when she finally looks at Julia I think she's just weak. The pained look on J's face is so heartbreaking! But now that you point this out, it might have been a good idea to end the scene on Carmen softening toward J or simply looking vulnerable, rather than on J's heartbreak. I do think J is just feeling horrible seeing her hero in such a fallen state, rather than reacting to Carmen's glare. I think this moment is such a big reason why J resigns in S3: she can't bear to do something like this to Carmen again.

5) you mentioned something about julia being captivated (?) by carmen as well, but it kept cutting out so all we caught was the word “captivated” 🤣 do you mind expanding on that?

I think I noted that Julia was clearly captivated by Carmen -- on the train of course, as their conversation continues. Though really I think J's just happy to be talking to someone who takes an interest in history and culture unlike Chase (though ironically Carmen is of course kind of "using" Julia here to scout for Paperstar -- a lot of layers LOL, but this is the beginning of J and Carmen working together without literally working together. Which to me makes them super-connected and relating on heightened intuition). But then I also said that Julia was clearly captivated by Carmen the very first time she saw her hang-gliding away in Poitiers ;-)

final message:

Thanks for all the thoughtful questions and again, for being so engaged and passionate about our show! I love these characters as much as you do and hope we get the opportunity to expand Carmen's world and continue the ongoing story of everyone involved. But if we don't, I think it's a perfect series as is, that will stand the test of time. Fingers crossed and keep putting positive vibes out there. I am not privy to how large our fan base is, but it's clearly passionate so hopefully the powers that be will continue to notice. Have a good weekend, everyone!

screenshots under the cut!

Hi lord, are you still accepting asks? If so, 7,22,25,30. Have a great day!

7. 3 fruits that you love the most

1. mango!! its my grandpas favorite and whenever i go to my grandparents house he still cuts it up for me. My favorite is mangga gedong which is more colourful and is the best manggo in general

2. Durian!! its good and its not stinky i love it. i also used to eat this with my grandpa on ramadan after we break the fast.

3. Longan! they're nice and sweet and i can eat a lot of them like rlly fast. i can finish a pack of them in an hour or less hdjsgf.

honorable mention (im too indesicive leave me alone): raspberries! best berry fight me

22. 3 movies/books/tv shows that made you cry

ok but disclaimer EVERYTHING makes me cry

1. Inside out. Bing Bong. Traumatic.

2. Banana Fish. Self explanatory i was sobbing by the second episode holy shit it was bad. 9th episode i had to take 2 days not continuing out of sadness.

3. A Silent Voice. this hit me HARD i was sobbing baddd. Just how symbolic and how it explains the two povs of bully and bullied is just amazing. Go watch it.

25. 3 people you’d never get tired of

i cant choose so this will be like 20 dif ppl

1. My cousins Adri, Nay, and Jin. (tbh especially Jin) jhsdf. We've been really close since we were babiess. Me and Jin are 6 months apart in age and went to school together for like 10 years so yaa we basically saw each other everyday. Adri and i are further apart in age so i dont share my secrets as much with her then i do with Nay and Jin. Nay and i are reallyy close but not as close as me and Jin. Also Nay is currently in boarding school so sadly i only talk to her every two weeks or so.

2. Irls! my friends from my old school who ive known for 8+ years, and also friends from my current school!! Me and the girls from my old school still talk everyday and vc sometimess we have weekly zoom game times. Also my closest friend Sha who isnt answering my dm rn smh (thats a joke shes in school hihi) she is the one who got me into kpop (suprise i like kpop i might post more abt it later on)

3. proceeds to tag all of the levihan server naur but i genuinely never get tired of them hdjfg. let me attempt this hollup. @gremlinelrics @immagoudaboi @callantry @solborealis @mello-jello my lovely parents <3 love u all. also @glassesandswords and @renrampant are technically also my parents but Rens also my sister. dont question it our family tree is a tumbleweed. @snudootchaikovsky my dear grandma <3 @thexanwillshine my dear mother <3 holy shit how will i do this @malunggaybe @lilnazx @mashedpotatoforhanjo @thehyscriptures my dear siblings <3 and also all of these ppl:

@chili-aux @oyzoe @bluesylveon2 @cherryhatesmaths @djmarinizelablog @clickerisha @agoldenheartedsnkfan @free-pancakes @fanmoose12 and so many others i absolutely love with my heart but im way too scared to tag them omg scer sorry for the tag love u all sm <3 i would never get tired of all of u the server is very dear to my heart and i love u all <33

30. 3 moments you could never forget

(ill leave the trauma out of this hsdhs)

1. moving from my school of 10 years and also my friends of 10 years (during a goddamned pandemic too) but it was genuinely a sad and memorable moment a lot of experiences at that school and with those people are also very memorable

2. eids at my grandparents with my family eating, talking, playing. The last 2 eids we havent been able to do that because of the pandemic so i miss it a lott.

3. holidays with my mom! Theyre always really fun

This is such a great piece by Gayatri Jayaraman (BuzzFeed Contributor, India). There’s an underground dance bar in Santacruz West where I saw a former national-level beauty pageant contestant perform. According to the person who took me there, she began working there when she was looking for a Bollywood break. To land roles, she needed to be seen on red carpets and at parties, for which she needed heels and dresses. While acting gig after acting gig fell through, the dance bar turned out to be so lucrative, it became her primary vocation. I know a young marketing executive who bought a car with her first salary and now sleeps in it. Between rent and loan repayments, she was starting to starve. I won’t tell you where she parks, but thank god Mumbai is still safe. Then there’s my junior journalist friend. For a period, she was coming into work less often. And she was growing thinner. She insisted it was because she was jogging every evening. When she started to disappear at lunch time, or nurse a cold coffee all day, I knew. (I didn’t miss the signs, because I’ve done it too.) I WhatsApped her. It was the only way to be discreet. “Do you have enough money for a meal?” She didn’t. She explained that when she did, she’d wait to go to Le Pain Quotidien and pay ₹200 for a sandwich. After 6pm, the day’s stock is discounted. The office canteen offered meals all day that she could afford, but eating was a lower priority than keeping up the appearance that she could, when she chose to, do it at Le Pain Quotidien. These are the urban poor. Objectively and relative to a vast majority of Indians, they aren’t “poor” at all. But they’re certainly hungry and broke a lot. These are the metro-dwelling twentysomethings who’ve internalised the pressures surrounding them, and spend a majority of their salaries on keeping up the lifestyles and appearances that they believe are essential to earning those salaries. The expenses that rack up are notionally non-negotiable: the clothes and the grooming, the bar nights and office dinners, the Olas and Ubers you have to take because you’re networking until 1am, the Starbucks coffee you have to buy because that’s where your job interview is. The heels and the dresses. As the bank balance crashes past zero by the 22nd of the month, they concede that the math may not work today, but they hold on to hope that it will work out in the end; when that increment comes, when the promotion arrives, when Dad sends a little extra one month. Their influences are not difficult to spot. Their startup economy’s success stories are of entrepreneurs who spent VC money to create their own wealth, who spent every paisa immediately to multiply each into a rupee. The stories they hear are of Mukesh Ambani, who inherited an empire and built a very expensive home, instead of Dhirubhai, who lived in a very small home and built a very big empire. They read about Katrina Kaif’s hair costing ₹50 lakh to dye correctly. They internalise the lesson that to earn any money, you’ve got to spend a lot of it. For admission to good colleges, we spend uninhibitedly on tuitions. For job placements, we throw savings at GMATs and MBAs. For promotions, we spend on suits and drinks. We dress for the jobs we want, forgetting that most salaries are tailored to afford dressing for the jobs we have. Every newspaper and media house has it in neon lights: how you need to eat, look, and dress to be successful. Where you need to vacay, what you need to smell like, what car you should probably drive. But they don’t tell you how to pay for any of it. What we’re left with is a flood of twentysomethings running hard to leave behind roti-sabzi for a perception of burger-coke. From there, they sprint with equal abandon toward the cheese-champagne. When I first moved out on my own 15 years ago, my salary was ₹10,000. My rent was ₹4,000, my creche fee was ₹4,000, and I spent the remaining ₹2,000 on my commute and electricity. I used my credit card for groceries. And, because I was 25 and my son was 1 and sometimes you need ice cream, or a movie, or to be able to laugh at life, I used my credit card to do those things too. By the time I moved to a higher-paying job, I had a maxed-out credit card to pay off. I had spent all the money I was about to earn. I quickly learned that with each salary hike, the price of earning it goes up. While in my first job I’d gotten away with rotating three tops with one pair of jeans, more advanced roles brought the need for better clothes. I was asked to “grow up”. Then a lunch here, a happy hour there, a meeting at a high-end coffee shop. I worked hard to defy the circumstances conspiring to push young professionals into bankruptcy. I did the mental math of each outing before committing to it. I got only one beer and drank it slowly all night. Now, at any table, I can easily spot the person verging on broke: the vegetarian who didn’t eat any starters, the teetotaller who drank only water, the junior who pretended she already ate dinner, no thanks. And when, after all that, someone else casually suggests divvying up the bill equal parts, you recognise theirs as the faces that fall. You don’t say no because not only might you cry, you’d also look cheap. I’ve been there. You don’t say no because not only might you cry, you’d also look cheap. So, regardless of whether you can really afford the drinks and appetisers you intentionally didn’t have, you sometimes suck it up and pay for them. Later, you count coins. You pull ₹1 out of the sofa corner. You wait until everyone’s out of sight and then you board a bus home. Now, I make it a point to stop my younger colleagues and ask: Have you eaten? Can I buy you a coffee? Are you walking home? Need a lift? Sometimes, they stay strong and pass on the offer. Other times, their facade crumbles and they nod. Their parents, subscribers to a new-age refusal to openly discuss finances, taught them that no expense is too much for their happiness and mobility. Now, in phone calls, when Dad asks if he should send more money, they say it’s fine, everything’s under control. Yes, eating well. Yes, all good at work. Raised by parents who sacrificed everything for their comforts, a whole generation is nonetheless learning discomfort quietly. People who survive this stuff get called “strong” all the time. Strong is just a quiet hunger and a stifled sob. Most days, I think I’ve put that time behind me. Recently, I was at an interview when the person I was speaking to stopped me in the middle of my question. “Babe, my driver has a better phone than you,” she laughed. “Buy an iPhone, for Chrissakes!” I’m better dressed now. I own my home. I have an actual bank balance. But the humiliation rushed back like the last 10 years never happened. Last month, I began tweeting about this particular brand of urban poverty, and watched an outpouring of “me too”s. One person confessed that for three years in Germany, he ate only tomatoes, saving money so he could buy his family chocolates when he went home. Someone else said “everything’s fine!” on long-distance phone calls to justify his mother having sold her bangles for his move abroad. Someone sleeps on a single mattress and stashes sneakers under his desk so he can walk home 8km from work every night. I got stories about marketing guys who starve all day to buy one coffee at a five-star hotel. About a father who hasn’t taken vacation days in 13 years to be able to pay for an international education for his child. We’d rather spend a lot to appear full than spend a little bit to buy food. Someone survived on water all day and hitched rides on trucks to get through university. Someone got called a miser for not eating out. In a country where genuine hunger is ubiquitous, this brand of it comes via lifestyle choices. Somehow, we’ve built a culture that places such immense value in appearances that we’d rather spend a lot to appear full than spend a little bit to buy food. The hunger has touched different people differently – briefly or permanently, lightly or severely, maybe once or maybe over and over again. But once you’ve felt it, it’s indelible, marking you forever as a member of a tribe that understands what’s going on when someone starts bringing their own lunch to work one day, starts losing weight, starts spending nights at the office to avoid paying for the commute. If you’ve felt that hunger, even briefly, even a long time ago, you see it everywhere you look.

The Urban Poor You Haven’t Noticed: Millennials Who’re Broke, Hungry, But On Trend.

Too many young professionals have internalised the lesson that to earn any money, you’ve got to spend a lot of it.