LoveLure's Luke and Reid Blog

At first when I started reading internet posts that “only the three gay characters are ending up alone (Noah), miserable (Luke), or dead (Reid) while all the straight characters are getting their happily ever after,” I thought there must be an exaggeration in that statement – given statements by TPTB, there must be some others who end up not so happy.

On closer inspection, I have to say I pretty much agree with the initial assertion: either there was serious homophobia in play, an immense and unlikely “coincidence” in their choice of characters for unhappy endings, and/or a level of naivete about the show’s responsibility to a very supportive LGBT community that is appalling.

I took the final ATWT cast photo as a starting point and added back a few people who have been pretty prominent this year (Emma, Damian). If I’ve missed anyone – let me know and I’ll add them to the list!

There are one or two people I’m not sure I recognize, but below is my take on the endings for all the characters (excluding poor Ethan and Johnny who are destined to grow up with all the nutcases from Oakhell). Where characters are part of the key families, I’ve noted which clans; characters with no surnames are “islands” (or have only one or two family members on the Oakdale canvas).

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The happily ever after scenes are all taken from scenes that have played out over the last three weeks (or are in next week’s previews). So the LuRe tragedy is playing out between the bookends of Barbara and Henry’s wedding and the final week festivities.

I had hoped to include recent images of all the ridiculous endgame couplings, as that would be even more condemning to me, but no spoiler images have yet been released of Craig and Rosanna, and we don’t know what’s happening with the teens yet, so I settled for what I could find in recent clips.

I made two versions of this postcard – one with Noah/RR Crossing, one without, depending on what message you’d like to send (LuRe focused, or on the endgame for all three gay characters). Just wish it hadn’t come to this.

Detailed recommendations for sending postcards can be found at LRO (though you must be a member to read them).

Despite how hard many fans are taking the ending, it looks like we are completely LuRed in, as the vast majority are sticking around for the end – whether reluctantly or not. Yet another testimony to the incredible work that Van Hansis and Eric Sheffer Stevens have turned in.

Will you watch until the end on 9/17?

• Absolutely – I’ll take any minutes I can get (50%, 150 Votes)
• No way – I’m done (18.67%, 56 Votes)
• Kinda – I want to be done, but I won’t be able to stay away (31%, 93 Votes)
• Other (0.33%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 300

As a fandom, we’ve spent a lot of time speculating, dissecting, blasting, and lamenting both the endgame and our own reactions as a fanbase. Things have been pretty dark and dreary for the last month or so (with snicks’ ever-wonderful liveblog being the primary exception). I thought it was time to try to revisit the roots of why so many of us fell in love with LuRe, so I’ve taken down the “Will you watch until the end” poll. Now that we’ve got our definitive list of kisses, :(, I’d like to reintroduce some of the frivolity that used to dominate LuRe debates: Which is your favorite kiss?

Speaking of polls, in the regular bi-weekly SID, poll, the ATWT question of the week is: Were you satisfied with the way things ended? Don’t be shy, everyone – vote early, and vote often!

Meanwhile, Karen Riel’s (Soap Opera Source) latest column discusses The Agony of Reid Oliver’s Demise. Once again, I agree with her every word, as she so articulately makes several of the key arguments about why this endgame is so lame on so many fronts (trust me, she says it much better than that – definitely worth a visit). Moreover, her writing inspires eloquent comments, which are also a therapeutic read).

Greg Hernandez, who blogs about gays in show business, gave a shout out to the ESS/Doctors without Borders campaign yesterday (which, BTW, now stands at $15,675).  Snicks mentions it in Thursday’s briefs, and Nelson Branco gives it a nod as well in this week’s Suds Report (which also, incidentally, includes a scathing and well-deserved tar-and-feathering of ATWT Executive Producer Christopher Goutman).  Plus check this out for a lighthearted take on the matter, courtesy of BooksMiss:

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In his blog at SoapOperaDigest.com, Joe Diliberto wrote about Van Hansis: “His performance was an epic and worthy swansong — and so far, clearly the best thing about the end of ATWT.”

Michael Fairman, who of course is on top of everything in soaps, has a recent post announcing an ABC Daytime fundraiser at the Gay & Lesbian Center in Los Angeles.

If any of you live in LA and either follow the ABC soaps or are invested in LGBT storytelling on daytime (yeah, I know – many of us have thrown our hands up and said "never again" or "why bother”, but in case you’re still optimistic), then this might be of interest. ABC Daytime stars will appear in Kander & Ebb’s award-winning musical revue, The World Goes ‘Round on October 7, 9 and 10; net proceeds will raise much needed funds for its Jeffrey Goodman Special Care Clinic. Writes Michael:

The three show engagement will feature hosts  from (the three shows, I think)…. Each host will welcome the audience, take questions and offer exclusive storyline previews for future episodes of  All My Children, General Hospital and One Life to Live!…

ABC Daytime has a long standing history and commitment to telling stories that represent the honest portrayal of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people on their television shows. Their groundbreaking All My Children storyline featured Erica Kane’s daughter, Bianca, as the first longstanding character to come out on daytime television. In the years since, ABC’s daytime programming has consistently been in the forefront of presenting realistic, as well as entertaining, LGBT characters.

Now, personally, I’m a lifelong CBS girl (much to my consternation at this point), but I have learned enough about Kish during my LuRe shipping to conclude that ABC’s "long standing history and commitment" was skewered by many of the same fears and prejudices that led to what we saw on our screens this week. So, if anyone is in the area and wants to hear what ABC has to say on the subject (remember, Jean Passanante is now at OLTL and CG is rumored to be heading to ABC) and/or wants to let management at some of the surviving soaps know how fans REALLY feel about gays in daytime, here’s your chance.

Last, CBS has posted its promo for next week’s happily ever afters (no, not for us). In a complete cop-out, their footage includes a (VERY) brief scene of Noah comforting Luke at the pond. Not only that, it can’t be just me that is annoyed that GABRIEL and Craig have their reconciliation and happy ending, but not Luke? Or even Noah for that matter. Sigh.

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Next week’s preview clip is not likely to make any LuRe fans feel better about the ending (courtesy of ADL):

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Luke Tells Holden and Lily About Reid’s Sacrifice

cue to 5:30

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Why This Post?

Okay, I don’t like this storyline any more than most LuRe fans, but it occurred to me that many of us may not have actually thought about this issue. I just checked my licenses (US/UK) and realized that both look out of date (I know in the past I’ve registered). So I thought I would post this while interest in the topic is high. Hope it’s useful.

Organ Donation: The Statistics

Deciding whether or not to donate your organs is a very personal choice. As we’ve all seen on-screen, the decision can be very traumatic to those who most care about us, at a time they are most vulnerable. Yet many donor families say that knowing other lives have been saved helps them cope with their tragic loss.

One organ donor can save the lives of seven (7) persons. Tissue donation (skin, bones, corneas, heart valves and connective tissue) can better the quality of life of twenty (20) persons, such as giving sight to the blind.

According to the US Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), each day, about 77 people receive organ transplants. However, 19 people die each day waiting for transplants that can’t take place because of the shortage of donated organs. As of late August 2010, there were 108,347 on the transplant waitlist, compared to 11,637 transplants completed in May, and 5,829 donors (each donor can save multiple lives).

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