Thread by @levgarrity

imogen is a lesbian, a 🧵 #Heartstopper

i believed imogen was a lesbian since season 1 and i want to explain why. firstly her crush on nick was always interesting to me because it was written so much differently than any other crush (charlie, elle, tao). listen to what she says in this scene:

apparently imogen’s reasoning for why her and nick should go out are that they’ve “been friends for so long” and “hang out every morning”. it’s not about any feelings she has or chemistry between them. they’re a boy and a girl who are close friends so of course they should date!

as soon as she thinks she’s in with nick, she takes any opportunity to show people how cute they look together. we see she loves the external validation she gets from having a boyfriend, but we still learn nothing about why she actually likes nick as a person?

i also think it’s interesting, thematically, that when imogen is interested in dating nick, they always interact in public – with the people imogen seeks validation from in the background, usually watching and/or audibly egging her on

but when they decide they should just be friends, suddenly their interactions are allowed to be more intimate – their platonic relationship is real, not something imogen is performing for other people.

when nick tells her how he feels – he only does things because everyone else is, and he’s been burying his real personality for a long time – she looks away like she’s deep in thought, then says she understands. i think these are also the reasons she was pursuing nick.

she’s also portrayed as a stereotypical straight ally who constantly asserts that she’s straight and an ALLY! even saying the classic “everything would be easier if i was into girls” which is hilarious but these could all be seen as stereotypes of deeply repressed gay people too

anyway now we need to talk about ben. so knowing that imogen’s reasoning for liking nick was basically “well we’ve been friends for a long time so we should date” i wonder why she wants to date ben? let’s ask her!

imogen is going out with ben because: they’re a boy and a girl who have known each other for a long time (exactly what she said about nick), she doesn’t have many friends and he’s one of the few people at school who is nice to her. again, she’s trying to fit in and feel validated

but she’s miserable with ben. despite this she still continues to date him, so elle asks imogen if she even likes ben. there’s an awkward silence and then she quickly changes the subject. because she knows she doesn’t, but can’t explain why else she would want to stay with him.

after she finally dumps ben (slay), imogen isn’t upset about losing him in the slightest bc she didn’t really like him. she just says she “shouldn’t have done that in front of everyone”. again, all she’s worried about is how her peers perceive her.

and then there’s sahar. we learn that they used to be friends, but then imogen got a boyfriend and suddenly stopped texting sahar. a gay story as old as time if u ask me

everyone has talked about this scene but i want you to pay attention to how tara watches imogen follow sahar and says “interesting”. tell me that doesn’t remind you of all her knowing looks @ nick when he talked about charlie before he came out to her. TARA HAS IMPECCABLE GAYDAR.

and finally proof i am not crazy, imogen watching sahar while lights the color of the lesbian flag shine on her (to parallel the bi lights on nick at the party in s1). also worth noting this is cut with isaac discovering the book – they’re both having their “heartstopper moments”

IN CONCLUSION imogen and her relationships with boys have always been written in a way that feels a LOT like comphet and there are many parallels between her and nick that suggest they might be experiencing a similar journey of discovery. and i called that shit last year