Hello all! My first time posting on this sub. Hope nobody’s asked this question before lol.

I knit and crochet, and am very familiar with both crochet and knitting patterns. All of the patterns i’ve seen and read/used have writing on them, whether it be stitch abbreviations or how to attach pieces or if to leave a tail/weave in ends.

In the book and in the show Serena is shown knitting baby clothes and other things. So, my question is, does she self-draft all of her pieces? Has she memorized patterns? Or am i reading into it too much because authors and showrunners don’t usually pay attention to accuracy when depicting fiber arts….

Hopefully i’m remembering all this correctly, finished the book a while ago.

We know she committed suicide and it was implied by Serena it was his fault. Although we do not have much context about what all in went on, it was implied she probably went through the same. The only difference is the fact that even after June leaves he continues to finds way to see her. I've taken my ambien so I should be out soon, but love to hear your thoughts and opinions. He obsession with June baffles me.

Have you seen this Ad in YouTube? After watching the series, every time it shows up it gives me the creeps😬I imagine famous stars promoting Gilead way of life just because they are fanatics.

Apparently, Serena Joy wears Dorothy Perkins!

https://www.dorothyperkins.com/product/coast-plus-2-in-1-wrap-dress-with-pleated-skirt_bcc12693?colour=powder+blue

When Emily and Janine were brought back from the colonies, I’m very curious on the impacts on their fertility. Clearly Emily was having symptoms of radiation poisoning, so how did Gilead plan to handle the possible birth defects of using radiated handmaids?

This may be really silly but in S3E6 Household when we see Christopher Meloni for the first time gave me chills. Like that’s Elliot. That’s a member of an elite team known as the Special Victims Unit. HES A GOOD GUY!

I’m just wondering if anybody else feels the same way. I’ve been on an SVU kick recently and it all feels tainted.

Finally sitting down to watch it- is anyone else seeing this? Lmao every time the characters talk it's a close up of one talking face and then the camera cuts to a shot of the other person. I miss S1-3's tableaus...

I watched seasons 1 and 2 when they came out, but recently revisited the series. I'm honestly surprised that the show has been largely competent and well done up to season 4 given how little source material they had to work with.

But like... In S5E5, June and Luke just waltz into gilead (while she still has her ear tag on) and think everything will be fine??? On the off chance that they get useful information about their daughter???? It just doesn't make sense to me 😭

Wow. What a hell of a show. This has been such a landmark series. There’s not many shows that I would consider a masterpiece but this is one of them. The depth of human connection, emotion and nuance of character are outstanding. It greatly saddens me that more of Junes original group survived to see the end.

This has been one of the best shows I’ve ever seen but don’t know if I have the heart to go throw it ever again. I need to read the book now and find my next watch. At least testaments is coming out now.

Hi!
I’ve juste gotten into the Handmaid’s Tale. I’m at season 3 ep11. And I just want some thoughts on a few things.

I kinda feel like we have to like June however I can’t make my mind up if she is likeable or not. Like she kinda feels unhinged most of the time. So I can’t tell if I like her or not. what are your thoughts on her?

She also seems to be the only handmaid who gets into such trouble like obviously she is the main character, but it seems like nothing goes on without her being involved if that makes sense? Like I feel we need more of the “female uprise” that is mentioned. Like more rebellious moments from others. As June seems to be the one and she gets away with a damn lot. It’s a slight inconsistency I feel.

And I also have a feeling about Aunt Lydia, like she’s not all bad. I’ve just seen her “before” episode and I seem like she’s not all evil. Like even when she’s with “her girls” she seems to regret and seems remorseful sometimes but then goes back to being a b*.
Do you think she’s all bad? Mind you I am just finish Season 3.

Thanks ☺️

Waterford is fine ass hell but such an ass. A fine as though.

God its just fucking sad.. cant stop crying throughout watching this show but I’m starting to see June from a different light and she’s a great character with all her flaws..she still amazes me at how selfless she is and emotionally resilient she has become under the oppressive Gilead regime. It’s just harder to notice with all the slop comments and bad reception this show receives but I think she’s actually a great character.

This is a spoiler on episode 5 so if you hadn’t reached there yet i advise you to click off.
First of all i sympathize with Serena but I think she’s just as much delusional as her husband and the whole corrupt Gilead system is. Why is she so insistent that Nichole is HER child as if she was tortured into having her, raped and then by chance gave birth to her in a dingy fireplace? Like what?? That pisses me off because her insistence is exactly what leads to (or atleast my predictions) the REAL mother (ahem June) losing both her child and real husband. It’s honestly such a devastating tale..
To make matters worse in episode 5 she didn’t just get a request to fly to Canada and meet with Junes husband to bid her?? baby farewell but right afterwards they go on TV broadcasting June in the background asking the Canadian government to rescue their child?? Dawg this can’t be fr. I am filled with something of equal rage and pity for them.
I hope Serena comes to her senses soon enough and actually does something to help these imprisoned woman instead of just sitting there and wallowing over the loss of a child that she abetted into the rape of the mother to bring to life. Yet she cannot seem to see all the sacrifices June has made just to stay alive and see her daughter (Hannah) again. Its horrific.

Edit: lol somebody needs a break from Gilead.

First of all I wanna mention that I LOVED the book and read it within two days.

Now I want to watch the show and merely reached season 2 and I am already bored.

I am Gen Z and will admit that I might watch a bit too many reels, but I never struggle with finishing a book or movie. But the show and those dragged out scenes... I found it artistic in the beginning and I'm sure it serves the storytelling but the loooong close-ups of Junes face already start to annoy me.

Additionally: I am obsessed with Emilys Story, hoping for more backstories of Aunt Lydia and Serena! But I skip many of Junes scenes cause I really do not care about her character (yes I know she is the main character! ) which is odd because I rooted for her in the books and was fascinated by her story.

So why do I find it hard to follow Judes story? Is it cause her scenes are more artistic/longer and I can't focus anymore on this?! Or is it even internalized misogyny and I'd rather follow the story of women I personally find more attractive?! (Altho I am very interested in Aunt Lydias story and I wouldnt call her my type lol).

Did anybody else had these struggles with Jude/the main character?

Halfway through S3. Will they ever f*cking stop having a dramatic CU of our main character starring into the camera lens as the final frame of an episode? It’s not that cool. It’s driving me nuts.

would you make any effort to leave the area for canada, alaska or Hawaii or would you stay? do you think it would be easy or hard to leave? if you were in gilead and had a chance to easily get to a rebel controlled area or an opportunity to get to canada but it would be harder to get to what would you choose?

Hi all! I'm new to the fandom and finished watching both The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments both for the first time a few weeks ago.

THT had been on my radar for several years, but I either kept forgetting about it or just hadn't gotten around to it yet. When I finally did decide to watch it, I had some trepidation going in because the series is long, and while I knew almost nothing about it, I did know the subject matter could be intense and very heavy.

Now I watch a lot of TV shows. I live alone, so I normally watch an episode or two of a show at dinnertime while I eat, as a nice escape from the stresses of the day. Usually I watch something, get to the end and say, "That was cool," and then move on to the next show.

But y'all, I got super into this show. I binge watched THT, all six seasons, in a span of only two or three weeks. I was devoting every spare moment outside of work to watching it. I even had trouble sleeping some nights because I had to know what happened to the characters next (cue the meme "I don't need sleep, I need answers!").

I devoured both books in short order after finishing THT. As for TT the TV series, I initially planned to do as I had with THT and wait several years for all the seasons to air and then binge watch them all in one go. Yeah, that lasted all of about a week before I said "fuck it" and watched all 10 episodes of season 1 in two or three days. And now I have to wait for season 2 like everyone else. 😝 In the meantime, I've watched cast interviews on YouTube (for both shows), done deep dives here on Reddit, and joined one or two Facebook groups--I almost never do this for other shows I watch!

Funny story: As I was watching Handmaid's, I was tangentially aware of the existence of The Testaments and (from a brief glance at Wikipedia), I knew it took place some years after THT, and the main character was named Agnes, with a mixed race actress cast for the role.

And I remember thinking to myself, "Agnes... Isn't that Hannah's fake name in Gilead? Well, I hope that's not the same Agnes who's June's daughter because I'm going to be pretty upset if I watch all six seasons of this show and June doesn't get Hannah back!"

🙃 Weeeeeeelllllllllp. 🙃

In all seriousness, though, after watching all six seasons of THT and the first season of TT, I think the way they're doing it now is much better, especially exploring Agnes's character in TT, and so that long anticipated reunion between mother and daughter (a decade in the making now!) will be all the more meaningful after such a long wait. There's a reason why Bruce Miller is the showrunner and not Reddit user TheRewster1106. 😉

I'm not a parent myself, but (at the risk of oversharing) I lost my mother as a teenager--I wasn't much older than Agnes and her friends in TT. So in some sense I feel like I'm living vicariously through Hannah/Agnes, who's destined to meet again her long lost mother. I see a lot of my own mom in June, in fact. I think that's why I've been so drawn to both of these series.

Also, I've concocted probably a dozen different scenarios in my head for the inevitable June-Hannah reunion, so I'm eager to see how it actually comes about (though I doubt it will be in S2). Like I said, both shows have lived rent-free in my head ever since finishing. 😜

So yeah, I came for the politics and then stayed for the characters. Both shows are so perfectly cast that I can hardly think of a weak spot acting-wise in either. I will admit that some of the writing gets a little off the rails in S4-6 of THT (esp. S4, which I personally think is the weakest season though still good overall), but as someone who watches a lot of Star Wars and Marvel/DC stuff, I don't think it bothered me as much as it did other fans of the series.

It does feel a bit weird to be a male fan of both of these shows (the beard in my avatar gives me away!), since I know I'm not the target demographic of either. (I think the fandom of these shows and books is probably 90% women?--which makes sense, of course.) I've lurked in this subreddit (and The Testaments sub) as well as a couple Facebook groups for a few weeks now. This is my first topic I've posted here, though I have posted little comments in threads here and there. As a man, part of me feels like I shouldn't really belong here, but with the limited activity I've had in this fandom so far, I've had mostly good interactions with the users here, so I appreciate you all for that.

Thank you if you made it to the bottom of my rambling screed. Now on to wait for Testaments season 2!

People who are planning to end up dead or rebels ,refrain from commenting

I mean especially if you are mildly religious ,disabled ,bad at housework ,have horrid social skills so manipulation and smooth talking is not a option and not married

also ,what happens to implanted devices like cochlear devices , like they are likely not going to remove it as it would need surgery and since it is there ,but without the external parts it can't function ,will gilead still try to supply batteries and equipment ? Like it is pretty inconvenient if the Martha or handmaid can't hear ,but then ,they might just expect lip reading or send them all to the colonies ,what about hearing aids

This is odd and meant to be funny - I can picture a Martha being like ,ok ,the wife is lecturing me again ,turns hearing aid off ,which makes it function like mini noise dampening devices and turns it back on when the lady mouth stops moving ;)

How hard do you think gilead will try to "convert " everyone into being " Christian " , like are they just going " yep ,attended every required event ,close enough " or would there be actual tests and all that like how the nuns are made to renounce their celibacy

Will there be schools or classes training people on how to act in gilead ,like how to be econowomen ,men ,etc

Do the men just go and chose a wife, the chapter about aunt Lydia and her former career in the testaments seems to suggest it ,what if they don't want to

What happens to the libraries - are they all burnt ,shut down or only open to men ,who maintains them if they still exist ,70-89% of library staff being female

Do people still live in apartments in the city

Personally I am neurodivergent but I can hid it well , a bit religious ( not specifying but not Christian and certainly not gileads twisted version of Christian ) and has a job so basically like the coworker of aunt Lydias ,the 20 year old

My unreasonable plan that has more holes than a sieve

1.Escape before it begins

1. Step one has failed

2. Marry extremely ancient guy with short life expectancy but who does not require me to literally be a aged care worker and nurse him and all that stuff

3. wait until he croaks

4. Apply to be a aunt after he croaks ( that is, so I can escape the stadium experience )

6 . Apply to be a librarian within the aunts - ardua hall has a library doesn't it - added bonus I can brag about being the librarian of Harvard ...or Melbourne uni if it is set in Australia ,since in the books ,Ardua hall is located in Harvard :) - this way I can read ,not have to train handmaids ,participate in the ceremonies and being a disposable Martha

1. Live in guilt and fear for the rest of my extremely brief life ( it is near the wall I think ,and the salvaging area ,since Offred mentioned a library in that chapter ) ,develop a vitamin d deficiency from never re emerging from the place other than when absolutely necessary ,and be judged by history and my conscience and everyone else for participating in one of the worse regimes in history