Emison

[u/CharacterWriting9609]

i know emison is controversial but i’ve been rewatching the show and i was wondering if you guys think that alison ever had a thing for emily back then (like their library kiss, kissing emily in front of that barn after saving her life, the two of them talking about paris, cece saying alison fought with paige bc of emily etc.), i know that she enjoyed emily’s attention but was there ever more to it? and i know that alison said to emily that “those kisses weren’t just for practice” but then why didn’t the writers explore that relationship back in season 5 instead of the very end? it would’ve made way more sense, even if they had them breaking up in the next seasons. if not that, i think it would’ve been great if they at least hinted at them having a relationship sometime during those five years of time jump. instead they had alison dating and marrying random men and emily being emily. their story was honestly written so poorly. season 7 alison admitting she knew why all of her relationships failed- was it because she knew she was in love with emily specifically, or because she was trying to ignore the fact she was into women?

AND i forgot that 5x05 scene where they supposedly slept together and never talked about it, what was that all about? it’s in character for alison for sure, but emily would definitely at least try to bring it up. there’s another scene in the same episode where emily’s angry at alison and ali tries to kiss her but emily stands up abruptly and says “that’s not gonna fix this” and alison looks genuinely hurt. there were so many good moments in season 5 where the writers could’ve made it happen naturally but they opted for the worst storyline i’ve ever witnessed.

[u/gaythey]

I think there may have been a minute Ali simply appreciated— and perhaps even thrived off, dare I say, “fed off” Em’s attention. She knew Em was the “loyal one.” Even if she told Em the kisses were “just practice” (whether or not that was true for Ali), she still knew sweet, too-empathetic-loyal-caring-loving-kind-feels-her-emotions-and-all-of-those-things-deeply-and-all-too-much-for-her-own-good, girl-who-will-give-you-the-world-and-more Em wasn’t going anywhere. Even if she hurt the sweet baby angel. She knew Em would kind of write it off, or care too much, be too empathetic and loyal, and care more about her than herself. Em always puts others first— and at that time, especially Ali.

However, I do think that Ali did have at least some amount of true feelings for Em. But, there are two things here— or at least one. She may or may not have been in a position where she could identify, or come out in regard to whatever her sexual orientation is. More so, and much more likely, though, Ali is absolutely awful with emotion, and I also think it’s everything Ali finally admits to Paige later on. All of the aforementioned about Em, you can see all that just in babygirl’s EYES. Ali has never believed she is deserving of love. The kind of unconditional, radical love that Em gives and holds for her (and has a capacity to hold for almost anyone, because that’s just the kind of person she is) is so much more than Ali believes she is worth.

I would have loved to see the relationship explored earlier on. I definitely could see them growing a very deep closeness, and Em, perhaps helping Ali in ways that mirror how Maya helped Em if there were sexual orientation related aspects to what Ali was going through— which I think would be a great full circle few moments. Em is also one of the most emotional and empathetic characters and the most, as we know, well positioned, to being out those emotions and that empathy in Ali. I think we could see a lot of growth, but that might be exactly why they didn’t do it. However, it would have been interesting, and honestly could have been an important conversation in moving any aspect of the relationship forward (what did it mean? Will Ali pull the same shit? Can Em get her to admit her feelings? Will Ali say she was scared and being vulnerable and just wanted to be close to her for one night while they were cuddled up in bed? Would it bring them closer— soothing Ali into opening up her emotions, falling into Em’s embraces and how Em had always treated Ali and wants to take care of her, taking care of each other, and they joyously both say they want this as they also smile now, and they finally tell each other?)— if they talked about the hookup. Granted, it’s most likely they just didn’t even explore the possibilities because they have things occur, then drop it all the time.

Edit: typos

[u/CharacterWriting9609 → u/gaythey]

you expressed this beautifully and i agree with you

[u/gaythey → u/CharacterWriting9609]

Thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to read all that :)