#effys-closet

[uncloseted]

Why do you think Effy had selective mutism?

What makes me think that’s her diagnosis or why do I think she developed it?

The reason I think it’s her diagnosis is because the DSM-V criteria for selective mutism is: 

Consistent failure to speak in specific social situations (in which there is an expectation for speaking, e.g., at school) despite speaking in other situations.

The disturbance interferes with educational or occupational achievement or with social communication.

The duration of the disturbance is at least 1 month (not limited to the first month of school).

The failure to speak is not due to a lack of knowledge of the spoken language required in the social situation.

That fits Effy.  She consistently fails to speak in most social situations, but does occasionally talk to Tony, her failure to speak means that she has no friends, she seems to have been mute for at least five or six years by the start of gen 1 (judging by her series 4 Unseen Skins episode), she understands and can speak English, and (perhaps most practically) there’s no other diagnosis that fits her situation better.

My guess is that her selective mutism happened gradually as a result of her parents yelling at her and trying to provoke her to react to them.  Jim in particular has a very explosive way of interacting with Tony and Effy.  I think it makes sense that in that context, the only power she could have is by not engaging.  If Jim can’t get a reaction out of her, then all of a sudden the power is hers instead of his.

[cassies-closet]

would cassie learn a new language maybe like japanese?

Definitely!  Cassie loves languages.  On her e4 page, she said, “Hello, or namaste. My name is Cassie. Or Meera nam Cassie hai. Namaste is Hindi for ‘I bow to you’ - isn’t that amazing? I can also say “what time is lunch?” in Czech. I think it’s “V kolik hodin he obed?” Isn’t that cool? So now you know that I’d never go hungry in the Czech Republic. It’s not good to go hungry. I can say I love you in seven different languages. In Czech it’s “milnji te."” 

[uncloseted]

could you make a big post about how to act like effy during quarantine/online school ?

I think people sometimes forget that Effy really isn’t trying to be cool, or mysterious, or interesting.  She can seem that way to other people, but it’s because she’s doing what she wants, when she wants to.  And so I think the answer to “what would Effy be doing during online school” is kind of boring-  she’d either be one of those people who films a video of themselves “paying attention” and then sets it to loop so she doesn’t actually have to be on the call, or she’d just... be doing online school like everyone else, kind of bored and half paying attention.  In general, I think she’d probably like online school because it gives her more time and flexibility to do what she wants.

In terms of what she’d be doing during quarantine, I think Effy has never been a person for routine, so I can imagine that the quarantine would only exacerbate that.  She’d probably sleep late, eat irregularly, and not make an effort to get dressed/ready, especially if Anthea isn’t around to make her.  I think she’d read a lot, listen to music, watch films, and I imagine that she’d also wander around outside a lot even though she knows she shouldn’t.

[uncloseted]

I know effy doesn't get lonely and she's not a weak person, but what would she do if her friend or boyfriend seemed to not want to speak to her anymore? Like they just stop replying and reaching out. Would she be hurt? What would she do? Try to communicate?

I think that would be really hard for her.  When she and Pandora have a fight after Pandora slept with Cook, I think she was really hurt.  But she also kind of pretended that nothing happened after a while and their relationship went back to normal.  The same kind of interaction happens in 308 after she hits Katie in the head with a rock; everyone except for Cook abandons her, and that’s so difficult for her to deal with that she actually runs away instead of dealing with it.  I think in general she has difficulty addressing the issues in her life and prefers to ignore them, escape from them, or physically run away from them.

[uncloseted]

where i can find Effy’s corset dress (?) from Skins Promo 2 ? it’s whole corset or there is separate lace top ?

It’s hard to tell because it’s fairly low lighting, but I think it’s a lace bra/bralette underneath a corset and with black lace panties?  You can see that it kind of looks like part of the corset is slipping on the top left and revealing white on the flip side.

[uncloseted]

Could we please have some rare pictures of effy outside of the actual show?

Like behind the scenes pictures?  Here are a few I could find:

[uncloseted]

How do you think Effy did in school when she never talked? Like did she just never answered when the teacher asked something?

My guess would be that she got a special accommodation from the school since selective mutism is generally thought of as an anxiety disorder (although I don’t think that’s what it is in Effy’s case).  She probably had to do written assignments instead of talking in class or something similar.

[uncloseted]

For some reason I couldn't imagine Effy owning an iPod, but she does, so that left me wondering if there's other things she would do/have that would get people caught off guard? I think it truly is hard to figure her out. I see people asking "Would Effy use social media, wear this, say this, etc." but I think in the end we never know and she might actually do things we never thought she would, because she's Effy, she's a mystery.

I think there are a lot of things about her that we see in the show that surprise people.  A lot of people think of Effy as being a very stereotypical “sad grunge girl”, but it’s not really true.  Her favorite song is Lover Man by Billie Holliday, and she also loves Little Richard, her favorite movie is ET, and she has a lot of nostalgia for her childhood, she likes silent films, she likes the color pink, she’s very confident and secure in herself but incredibly scared of being vulnerable, she sometimes wear pearls, she takes French in school, she studies maths at university, her favorite alcoholic drink is vodka, her style is really more of a mix of opposites: masculine/feminine, vintage/modern, etc., than it is straight grunge... I think in general she’s a pretty nuanced character, but a lot of the time people don’t see that because they already have a preconceived idea of who she is.