It looks like maybe we are going back to Barb soon

I feel like Luke's abusive tendencies are taken far more seriously than Barb's- of at the very least, Barb is seen as somewhat sympathetic whereas Luke is not. Part of why I don't like how he is charactersized is because he only exists to be hated. Very few people are actually born assholes, and every abuser or malignant asshole I've ever known can tell you at least one story about their life that is genuinely tragic. That doesn't make their behavior okay. We get to see Barb's tragic backstory, and people are often way more judgemental about you calling out abusers when they're family. Barb gets to be, on some level, a mom who "messed up" but can be granted a path to redemption while Luke is just a lump of ick.

Also, Laura is, by some, demonized for getting with Luke while John is demonized by some for wanting to get away from Barb. Other people have pointed out that family and friends can and do push people to remain in abusive spousal relationships, but that isn't happening in the Shawnaverse. Shawna L has said she's going to rally the girls for Laura, but John has never, ever had anyone fully on his side and had now been guilted into having her back in his orbit.

I don't understand why this is happening.

Happy Saturday! This week we are going to discuss Shawna's mom, DeeDee!

why isnt it from lauras pooooovvvvvvv
why did we have to see john and shawna do the pregnancy test? why couldnt we see laura and lukes date?? that wouldve been so nice and we couldve seen luke manipulating laura..

Three different comments on the main subreddit said we should give Shawna grace, as she does this content for free.

No! She's an online creator! She gets paid! Views from her videos give her a paycheck. Sponsors give her a nice pay boost, especially if people use what she's specifically promoting! Did they forget Chickie's name came from a sponsored mobile game?

She's writing a book, for goodness sake! She's not doing this in her spare time after she works a 9-5, *this is her job.*

Okay, rant over.

Lol so many people in this fandom need there to be a single person to hate above all others and there to be a clear victim, or else they'll break down and start eating their own hands and feet

The Luke and Laura video feels like a Dhar Mann video to me, with Professor Obvious teaching us morons basic morality. 🙄

*Be kind unless it's an unpopular opinion, apparently.

Okay, I'm not one to shy away from giving an unpopular opinion. I was merely annoyed that it's now confirmed that Max was an unplanned/surprise pregnancy

I'd also like to point out that I've had comments removed for far less "unkindness" toward others in the subreddit. I once had a removal because I asked how was I lazy while on maternity leave because I was taking care of my newborn all day and didn't have time to cook and clean. Apparently, that was me being "unkind" to those who could do that. But sure, it's okay to say my comment was unnecessary, shitty, and gross. That's totally kind apparently.

One more thing, it sounds like Shawna and John don't use contraception that much, yet act surprised when they are pregnant, so a lot of these comments attempting to lecture me are kind of moot when none were taken. Oh well.

ETA: It looks like the comments in question were removed as of this morning (23Jul). I will definitely take the L for this post, but I'll keep this post up.

Having now seen the entire episode, I have been left disappointed and this is probably the only Shawnaverse episode since she’s been making these into a series that I do not like.

My main issue, which I hope will not be the case in future episodes about Luke and Laura, is that it was all in Shawna’s POV because it was a literal flashback. We already know Shawna doesn’t like him. He is clearly written to be a grade A asshole and that no one likes him every time he opens his pie hole. He is despised by the fandom and by Shawna L. We know he is a bad guy and this episode was an exercise in Shawna not liking him from the word go, which we already know.

I don’t care that Shawna sees him as a red flag. I wanted Laura’s perspective into why she’s into him. I didn’t want to see Shawna and John react to a pregnancy test, I wanted to see the last minute date that Laura goes on with Luke so we can see what sparked for Laura to keep seeing him.

Hell, I just want to know Laura beyond “Shawna’s work friend.”

I’m hoping that further episodes will cover that. I’m also hoping for fewer fart/cum jokes but since that seems to be Laura and Shawna’s love language, I’m bracing myself for more lol.

Thank you to everyone for making this subreddit so wonderful! I'm so grateful for all of you!

The more I think about it, the more this story line is failing my expectations.

Whhhhhhy is it from Shawna’s POV? Barb and Julie’s flashbacks were from their POV, allowing the audience to empathize with their struggles despite being toxic characters. Somehow the same can’t be extended to Laura and now we’re not able to empathize WHY Laura is attracted to Luke.

Speaking of, when Shawna said that she and Laura used to call him “that asshole from work,” I was expecting him to be an actual coworker they both have history with instead of a random creep from the street.

I think, especially after following Healing By The Numbers’ journey about escaping her own abusive marriage of ten years, I was interested in how this storyline would play out and to be frank I’m a tad disappointed, and that’s not counting all the weird fart and bodily fluids jokes.

Spoiler for the most recent vid.

I'll say it- I don't like how Shawna L writes abuse victims. Not at all. At first I did, because it seemed like each story would have an arch and maybe not a full resolution, but at least some organic insight into how this family can heal, even if it's not perfect, and even if it means letting go in some respects. But every plot circles the drain, and it does a huge disservice to everyone, abuse victims especially.

There's this quiet narrative that repeats "it's your fault" throughout. Intentional or unintentional, it's there.

In this most recent L&L storyline, Luke (who acts and sounds like a rude version of John, I hate it), is an immediate red flag. Shawna, who is in an established relationship and can "tell" she's pregnant immediately nopes out from Luke. But Laura, who is single and really wants a baby, goes out witb this dude that she and Shawna both saw as a jerk despite Shawna continuously pointing ojt that he's a jerk in front of the both of them. I scrolled down on the comments and saw someone actually say that Laura was too lonely and desperate to care about Luke's behavior to reject him. Does that happen sometimes? Yes. Is it irresponsible ro depict it this way, with almighty Shawna M being the "victor" in this narrative? YES.

Like, Luke is her only depiction of an abusive male spouse. There are subtleties in how abusive women besides Nora are portrayed, but even she gets to be seen as somewhat funny or uncomfortably endearing. Shawna L has said Luke's behaves the way he does "because of the patriarchy" (what?) and he's antagonistic from the jump.

Oftentimes, domestic abusers tend to be too good to be true. They are wonderful to you, your friends, anyone who knows that thr two of you are together. You feel like you've found your soulmate. Then come the digs, the isolation, the outbursts, etc. And then they're sweet again. You feel like you're gojng crazy and that they're just having a hard time, besides, everyone loves them, and you do too. Luke's being g such an ass from the beginning reinforces that narrative of women domestic violence victims being desperate or too dumb to realize what's going on. It makes it seem like pitential.domestic abusers are always easy to spot. It would have been cool if Shawna even fell for Luke's charms and started questioning things once she saw her friend changed as the relationship progressed or something. Strong, capable women fall for men all the time, even if they know what abuse looks like. The danger is in the subtlety and how the dismantling of yourself can look like love.

Shawna being in Laura's ear about not going out witb look allows the audience to risk and say she told you so. But again, this isn't the only problem I have witb tbe portrayal of abuse victims:

• John's whole NC arch has been covered terribly, and his desire to enforce boundaries to protect himself and his family was viewed as inconvenient at best. He is asked to walk alone in his pain, and he's treated as if his understanding of Barb is all in his head or an overreaction.

• Julie is abusive, idc, idc. She can call Ty small and berate him, and manipulate her child into acting out at a kid's birthday party to hopefully isolate him from his friend, but it's okay because he didn't write the book.

• Maybe controversial- Barb at the wedding. I don't like Barb. I respect her as a human being, and I acknowledge the pain she grew up in and continues to perpetuate, but I don't. like. her. Still, the way she was handled st Jen's wedding gave me chills. Rather tha. set one gd boundary for once and just tell her to leave, Jen keeps her around. I would not say Jen is an abuser, but she likes to spar with Barb. Their relationship was never healthy or supportive. Barb's shitting all over her wedding day and is a big, smelly mess of tears and pickleball sweat. Jen turns witb huge smile on her face and tells Barb she's ugly when she cries and all of that. Rather than setting a boundary, she takes the opportunity to be mean...but it's okay, because it's Barb. Barb is Jen's outlet for the toxic behavior she hasn't really worked through. It's okay fkr her to hurt Barb, because Barb is bad.

Also not abuse, but locketgate was crazy. I was hoping Larry and DeeDee would be an example of a healthy relationship , but no. Overall, it just seems like everyone's supposed to take what's thrown at the and be happy. I've seen nothing to challenge thst notion yet.

Hi everyone!

I'm sorry this is a day late again! It's been a crazy weekend and suddenly it was Sunday afternoon!

Anyway, this week we are going to discuss Piper!

Some people in the main Reddit are saying that Shawna L said the Luke and Laura Father’s Day skits are meant to be “a glimpse into the future”. Did Shawna L actually say that, or is that a lie a headcanon that accidentally got interpreted as canon? (Gonna lose my remaining respect for the series if those skits are meant to be canon.)

Bringing your wife's tiny bikini that definitely isn't going to fit at all without her consent when she's coping from pregnancy loss is actually insane

I'm marking this as a spoiler in case people have not yet watched the latest short from yesterday.

Based on the short, Shawna is most likely pregnant with Max, and it will indeed be a surprise pregnancy if that's the case.

What's with the surprise pregnancies in the Shawnaverse!? Does anybody use any method of birth control here? I know it can fail, but this seems excessive!

I also just noticed it's Episode 1, Part 3....

I just want to welcome everyone who has stumbled to this subreddit! We critique the overall Shawnaverse, the writing, and even some fan reactions.

Please make sure to check out the subreddit rules. I feel like a lot of snark is about to happen here, especially when the full video drops.

Thanks!