BMF'S FIRST TIME

I remember my first time like it was yesterday.. I was 16 and had one too many glasses of wine. My friend James was over and one thing led to another…..just kidding ladies, I was not planning on telling you about my actual first time!

So how is it that little old BMF came across Pepsi??

On the 22nd May 2009, I woke up at 7am to begin revision for my animal conservation exam the next day. I had only looked through half the lectures so needed this day to do some serious last minute cramming. I always get distracted on the internet and that day was no exception so I went on to you tube to look at a clip from the L word. Instead I found a clip which showed a montage of lesbian moments in films and television. I was about to turn it off when I saw two INCREDIBLY HOT WOMEN rolling around together in bed. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw them together and it took me 1 hour to find out their names, the name of the show they were in and as soon as I stumbled across Pepsi English…that was it.

I spent 12 hours watching and re-watching every single clip and by the time I realised I had not done any revision for my exam, it was too late. I fell in love with Silvia when she started laughing about the guy with the "culo al aire" and took Pepa to see the stars. The more I watched her, the more I loved her. I had never seen such incredible acting in my life. Of course after watching Marian in LHDP, I wanted more more more, so I watched every film she has ever been in as well as numerous interviews.

I woke up the next morning completely under prepared and failed my exam with an impressive score of 38%. Considering I usually do pretty dam well in exams, that was a surprise. What makes me laugh to this day is the fact I was so happy I had found Pepa and Silvia, that I did not give a tiny rats ass about the exam even though it counted towards my degree!

So once I had immersed myself in Pepsi land, I found the random flores link and started to read all her amazing re-caps. I then found the LJ community and began reading all the wonderful stories as well as making awesome friends like Junebuggy, my mistress. Reading the fan fiction,made me want to start writing, which I have never done in my life so I began my own journal. This is when I coined my username, BigMarianFan. The long version of my name did not stick around for long and someone (I cant remember who) began calling me BMF which I kind of liked!

I found the AE community a lot later and popped my head out to say high just before the season finale aired and my beloved Silvia had her last breath. I didn't really post again for a couple of months as I went traveling to Morrocco and was actually really, really upset about Silvia's death. It had such a profound effect on me, I was heartbroken. When I did post again, Axon was the first lady I spoke to and she made a joke about being a blonde magnet. It took me a while to find my place on the thread but I think I have found it now. Who would of thought that I would become a lecturer at one of the most prestigious universities, get engaged, join the hunt to kill El Gordo, and much much more.

I love all of you AE ladies and do you know why? Because I can talk to you and share with you my love for Pepsi. All my friends thought and still think I am a complete weirdo. They don't understand how their "straight friend" (although now I am referred to as something quite different) can be so obsessed with a "shitty spanish lezza show" as one of them so kindly put it. What all my friends don't understand is that I fell in love with Pepsi because they showed me that it's possible to fall in love with and have an amazing relationship with a woman. Pepsi made me realise that I was not as straight as I thought I was or forced myself to be. More importantly, Pepsi led me to the AE community which has become my new addiction . I feel so lucky to have found so many woman who are not only intelligent, witty and compassionate, but who also share my love for two of the greatest lesbian characters in TV history. Pepsi and the empire we have built has changed my life for the better and I am so goddamn happy that I did not revise that day, failed my exam, but made an amazing discovery.

Piper's Note:

BMF blazed into AE like a shooting star - and immediately earned the love and obsession of a few good ladies, and some very weird ones as well.  But it was not her blonde pictures, her growing fan club, or her love of libations that earned her a place at PepSi University.  It was her amazing culinary skills.  To this date, only BMF had to go through an entire imaginary interview process which she passed with flying colors and flying bras.  Her weekly Food Column has become a staple (no pun intended) of our little blog, and she has always, always, managed to incorporate PepSi into whatever cuisine she was writing about. The imaginary PepSi University has been brightened and made more real by BMF. Personally, I am very thankful for her dedication to PepSi U, and I am glad to call her a friend whom I can drunk-blackberry with if and when I need to.  Muchas gracias, mujer!

Por amor al arte

I have to admit I am a (very) late PepSi fan. Yes, I know it's sad to say but I am a post episode 104 follower. And it was by a very, very random coincidence that I found them, so I should consider myself lucky to be part of the PeSiverse now.

I lived in Glasgow, Scotland, until June this year - right until Graduation Day. My best friend in G-town was Patricia, a crazy, sweet blonde from Zaragoza, who loved Los Hombres de Paco. I was always around in her house for dinner and movies, and she watched the show regularly, but I always chose to watch something else because I was never too fond of the stupid cop storyline. I had seen some pre-Pepa episodes when I was in Spain and didn't particularly like them either. She knew about PepSi all that time and never told me, and I would have never found out if I had not come back home for the summer.

I was mid-July 2009. I was on MSN with this girl (no need for details here) and we were sending each other Youtube links of songs we liked. She eventually sent me a link to a Pepsi music video, with the song Por amor al arte by Iván Guevara (link here). The chorus of the song goes:

Y apareció en tu vida la chica de tus sueños
a cubrirte esa herida y ella curó tu infierno,
que aunque tú no sabías que aunque nacieras princesa
no querías un Rome, esperabas a Julieta.
Nadie supo explicarte porqué la querías,
que el "hombre" de tu vida se llamaba María.
Pero escúchame, amiga, si ella también quiere amarte
no hay que darle más vueltas, no sé, por amor al arte.

[And the girl of your dreams appeared in your life
to heal your wounds and your hell.
Because you didn't know that even if you were born a princess
you didn't want a Romeo, you were waiting for Juliet.
Nobody managed to explain to you why you loved her,
or why the "man" of your life was called María.
But listen to me, my friend, if she wants to love you back
don't even think about it twice, just for the love of art]

Since I did not know the PepSi story at the time, when I listened to the song, I linked it to my own story (my first gf also happened to be called María). As I got involved in the PepSiverse, I realized that the song made total sense - Silvia's hellish life and her discovery, and well, Pepa's Sunday name is also María (José) after all. I think I might have watched the whole PepsiEnglish compilation in just one sitting. I didn't need the subtitles, of course, so whenever I saw something that didn't go, I wrote it down (professional de-formation, as we Spaniards call it). It was summer, it was hot, I was jobless and I had nothing better to do - that's my excuse.

That is how the whole thing began. A smart ass correction on Dr Piper's translation of the Save Silvia Campaign article in El País earned me my DPep and the Head of Translation Dept chair. Now I'm very glad I joined - thanks to PepSi, I have met brilliant people and I'm back on track building a career in translation.

Dr Bekelauer

Piper's Note:
The last is certainly not the least - Beke's contribution to Pepsi University has been immense and her translations have been priceless.  People wouldn't know how hard she works - but she has already completed translating the first season with Silvia (before Pepa), and has signed on for the coming's season's translations.  Personally, I am proud to call Beke my friend and because of her age (23), my adopted daughter whom I care for deeply.

Dazed & Confused

I had 2 first times with PepSi.

It was the morning of August 9, 2008 when I first discovered Pepa and Silvia on a YouTube video. I remember that day because it was the weekend after my younger sister’s birthday. I remember waking up that morning and immediately turning on my computer. I planned to only check my email but I ended up heading to AfterEllen and then going on the ever-so addicting YouTube.

I was looking for a lesbian movie or television series that I never discovered yet. I stumbled upon an author’s YouTube video that compiled her Top Lesbian film couples. One of the couples was a brief clip of a brunette and redhead:


My immediate thought: I was intrigued to know what this movie or television show was but I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about it because I was wrapped around another discovery: South of Nowhere and the lesbian pairing of Spashley (Spencer and Ashley).

I don’t understand why South of Nowhere caught my attention more. If I compared the clips now, I'd be left scratching my head!!

But in December 2008, it was announced that South of Nowhere was ending after 3 seasons. I’ll always keep South of Nowhere close to my heart because of the self-discovery and innocence that was portrayed by Spencer and Ashley. But I was back to where I was in the summer of 2008: searching for another lesbian show.

It was December 24, 2008 and I was at work. In fact, I was the only person working in my department that day. With all this unsupervised time, I decided to do some research on AE, after all that was where I found 90% of my lesbian films/television shows such as Imagine You & Me, GirlTrash! and D.E.B.S.

I came across the website’s main article of the day: “AfterEllen.com 2008 Visibility Awards”.

I scrolled through the awards until I halted at Best Scripted TV Series with Lesbian/Bi Characters (International). I thought the screen cap of the couple seemed familiar but I couldn’t place them.
I ended up reading the forum that was originally called “Lesbian and Bisexual Characters Pepa and Silvia” or most of the day (it was only about 4-5 pages at the time!!). I couldn’t log into YouTube because my company blocks videos so I was left desperately waiting for 2pm to head home.

When I finally got home, I quickly went to YouTube and typed in my search. I stumbled upon a video that had a partial PepSi scene. It was the Undercover Stripper Operation, it started with the redhead and brunette wearing lingerie and wielding handguns. I didn’t have the luxury of Random_Flores’ recaps or PepSiEnglish’s subtitles so I didn’t know what was going on or understand what was being said.

It wasn’t the sensual Spanish language or the scantily clad females that captivated me. It was the unspoken look they shared. Silvia had given her partner a look of uncertainly mixed with fear, as if to show Pepa her anxiety as they had just completed this bust. But Pepa’s sly grin and wink of reassurance were enough to settle the Pelirroja’s nerves. Pepa was telling Silvia that they were okay, she was here to help her, to protect her. I remember shivering.


I thought to myself, how could one look write a novel? How could 60 seconds be able to touch my soul?

I knew there was a history to these characters that I wanted to learn. But it had to come at a later time because my older sister practically had to drag me away from my computer so we wouldn’t miss Christmas Eve dinner with the rest of the family.

I soon found myself planning around my personal schedule just to get my PepSi fill. I was wasting countless hours at work catching up on the AE forum, reading the latest fanfiction and learning to read and speak Spanish.

Who knew a University would be created after these characters? Or a virus called BMF fever would momentarily side track the forum? Or better yet, a group of avid lovers coming together to keep the spirit of Pepa and Silvia alive?

I was sucked into a world that still leaves me dazed and confused.

Daisy the Cow’s note:
Mola! Moo, moo, moo, moo Pepa moo Silvia!!

Piper's Note:
Angie005, MPep, was a lot of firsts: first student of Pepsi University, first to be awarded its MPep (complete with a virtual diploma, ceremony, and acceptance speech), first lead in Pepsi U's production of PepSide Story, first Pepsi Thesis I read, our first graduate student, and first person to bring her cow on campus.  On a personal note, Angie was the first person I've emailed with, and hers is the first fan fiction I've ever read.  I am really thankful to call her a friend when I am not Dr. Piper, I value her wisdom, diplomacy, and hockey prowess. Technically and amazingly, Angie005, MPep, is one of the founding lesbians of PepSi University.

Looking to Kill Some Time...

I remember the exact day I first caught a glimpse of PepSi magic on youtube. It was July 11th, 2008. But, let me back up and give a little preface to my “First-Time” story.

AfterEllen made a mention of PepSi in their “Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever.” on May 23th. I remember reading the fairly confusing description of the show…and not really thinking much of it. I have to admit that the pictures of MA and LS chosen for inclusion in the article didn’t really make me look twice.

Any interest I might have had in searching out this show, though, was overshadowed by the fact that I was moving into a new apartment the weekend of July 4th. It was going to be a huge move involving three people moving from two apartments into two new apartments…not so much fun. But anyway, I was pretty consumed with getting everything ready for the Big Move and didn’t have much free time to look up tv shows with possible lesbian storylines.

July 11th, the Friday after the move, I stayed home to do some more unpacking. Before calling it a night, I decided to chill out in front of the computer for a bit and I ended up checking out AfterEllen. Well, lo and behold, a new “Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever.” had been posted that day. I have to say the pictures definitely got my attention that time.

Since I was finished unpacking for that night and had nothing else to do, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to go to youtube to see what I could find and maybe kill a little time. (A little time? Hah! Try a year and four months so far of time.) The rest of the weekend was spent in a PepSi haze. I don’t even think I did anymore unpacking that weekend. I just sat in front of the computer searching out all the PepSi-related videos and websites I could. I stayed up until 6 in the morning on both Friday and Saturday night, reading and watching (and re-watching) everything I could find. And that was it. I was hooked.

I never thought I’d be an active participant in a fandom, but PepSi got me discussing episodes with others for the first time, commenting on fanfics for the first time, reading (non-classroom) Spanish for the first time, editing other peoples’ stories for the first time, and writing my own fiction for the first time. My “First-Time” with PepSi led to many other amazing firsts…and for that reason, LHDP will never be “just a tv show” to me. I’m grateful to have been able to witness such an amazing story unfold and I’m grateful to share my passion with such a fantastic group of people. Thank you all for being a part of making the “PepSi Phenomenon” so enriching and fulfilling…and fun!

Piper's Note:

I can't remember when we invited Cela to join the Faculty - I think we were all drunk when we did.  Just kidding.  While her initial appointment was to be the Adjunct Bartending Professor and Manager of the 24/7 Bar, Cela's talents lie in organizing parties.  Imaginary parties.  She is also in charge of keeping me distracted when I so want to be snarky; in other words, she is Piper's bouncer.  And I'm hoping she will spend more time in the classroom posting lectures instead of lecturing at the bar, because no one can come up with one-liners better than Cela.  And when you put all her one-liners together into a lecture, it might not make a lot of sense but it will be fucking hilarious.  So thank you C-E-L-A for believing in Pepsi University and for never ever letting the campus go dry. 

"Like Being in Love Can Feel For the First Time"

During law school I took a "Women and the law" course. The purpose was to look at how the law affects women and how different manifestations connect to create systems of oppression - gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, etc. In taking that course I saw, for the first time, things that always existed in the world but were largely invisible to me because language and the law has been used to create social norms and false dichotomies.

In trying to make the invisible more visible, I somehow stumbled across AE, where I really began to notice how underrepresented the gay community is on TV and film. While reading the July 11, 2008 post of "Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever." I saw the article on PepSi describing Ep. 76 (countryside getaway) and immediately noticed from the tone of the article that this story seemed different than all of the other lesbian stories on TV - neither character was a killer, or ratings stunt, or ended up dead (yet). But what really piqued my interest were these lines from the article: "Unfortunately, the scene ended when Silvia's dad intentionally walked in on the two women, after spying on them having sex. Apparently, this is a habit of his. Creepy much?"

I thought, "That can't be right. That sounds too absurd - it much be a translation error" so I decided to check out the forum Breakerfall started on AE and found myself even more confused, yet intrigued, trying to figure out the family dynamics and determine what the hell was really going on. After searching on YouTube, I came across ThoseRaindrops' "Pepa and Silvia - The Build Up" video. To this day, it is one of my favorite PepSi videos ever. Everything about it was perfect - the music selection, the edited scenes, the acting. Watching it reminded me of the opening scene in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, where Brad and Angelina are dancing at the restaurant in Bogota and later sitting in the rain and gazing at each other while drinking tequila. There's barely any dialogue - just "Mondo Bondo" playing in the background - but the glances they give each other and the sexuality oozing from that scene makes you want to see more. This is how I felt watching ThoseRaindrops' video. The looks, the glances, the hesitation, the fear, the lust, the chemistry - it was so compelling that I wanted to see more, learn more about their story. When I finally saw the bathroom scene as it aired, with basically no dialogue and just Dana Kerstein's "My Soul Ghost" playing in the background, I was hooked. And for the first time I saw something that had been invisible on American TV - a story of two people who were falling in love and who both just happened to be women.

Over time, my love grew beyond PepSi to the entire show. But it was that bathroom scene - with just Pepa, Silvia, and Dana's voice - that opened my eyes to the invisible. That scene (and many of their subsequent scenes) showed me what being in love can feel like and the journey it can take you on, regardless of your race, gender, or sexual orientation. It's a feeling that, I imagine, is akin to what being in love can feel like the first time.

kalike

*The title for this lecture is based on lyrics to the song "First Time" by Lifehouse.

Piper's Note:
KC's debut post at AE was after Ep 104 when she wrote about how it just set women's TV roles a few centuries back. OK, maybe not a few centuries, but still.  Her subsequent postings show a cerebral adulation for Pepa, and knowing the Silvia-centric lectures we've had so far, we decided we needed a Pepalogist.  And KC has not disappointed, in her treatises and her choice of songs, and personally, I think she is more on the romantic side of the Pepsi Empire (i.e., please go back to her initial lectures about the "L" word) than she would want to accept.  Thank you, Counsel, for your unbridled analytical romanticism and intellectual love for Pepa.

My Awkwardest Post Ever

I'm not going to lie, when Dr. Booker asked me to write about my first time and share it, I thought, "Wait! Now everyone's gonna know about how stupid and awkward it was for me? But I guess then we could all swap stories and maybe I won't feel so bad a-" And then I kept reading her email and she meant first time experiencing PepSi and then I thought... "Ah...that makes more sense."

And after all that business was cleared up to my brain, I started thinking back to early January of this year... Now sit back and relax for about two whole seconds to read about my amazing discovery!

Like many others, I searched around (somewhat desperately *Snorts*) for some lesbian content on a show. In the US... it was/still is basically non-existent. I mean, we had Callica... but I wasn't too fond of the couple. I don't know what it was I didn't like, but I was never really interested. So the only resort I had, was to watch Youtube clips of other countries shows.

I watched Naomily, and I must admit they were good... but I dunno, maybe it was their age or something that made me not get into it as much as I'd like. Though they were wonderful. Then I tried to watch Hospital Central, but it was all sortsa clustered, and I didn't know how to navigate it, the story was all jumbled and I watched things out of order and I was just too f&#king confused to get into it. Yes, yes, I'm a bit... stupid. Like you haven't noticed.

Then, I read Breakerfall's post, and thought, "Why not?" I went over to Youtube, typed in Pepa and Silvia, and thank the goddesses that are Pepsienglish and Random_Flores... I watched the first compilation and completely understood what was going on. But understanding what they were saying alone was not what kept me watching... it was the badassness that was Pepa Miranda, her gun, and the cute little way that Spaniards have an almost lisp when they use their "C's". Yeah... so just imagine how much I nearly fainted when Pepa pulled her gun out on Paco in that warehouse!

But it wasn't until "The Awkwardest Stakeout Ever" scene where I absolutely fell completely head over heels in love with the pair, the both of them, together. I was positively convinced that they would make the perfect couple. Watching them steal glances at each other in that car. The blushing from our numero uno pelirroja, the heated stare from the heart stealing, self-proclaimed romantic fool. The fidgeting and lip biting to convey nervousness and sexual tension, Pepa playing it cool even though you knew she was just as nervous. The admission of who was the redhead's first kiss, the brunette taking full advantage of that information to subtly (none too subtly) flirt with Silvia. It was all just... right.

For me that scene will never be topped. And I don't just mean in PepSi land.

Piper's Note:
Professor JuneBuggy was famous in PepSi Fanfic literary circles long before she joined the university.  Booker was a fan and she thought that JB's writings are far too precious not to be a part of Pepsi U. I personally do not read fanfics, especially the graphic ones because I have the sex-knowledge IQ of a 7-year old.  So I had no idea who JB was until she joined the Faculty as the head the newly-created Smut Department.  I have read her PepsiU fics since and I have to admit I am still flummoxed and a tad embarassed sometimes... but I'm weird that way.  So thank you, JB, for being a part of PepSi University, for your PG-13 lectures, and most of all, for caring for what we are doing.

4th of July 2008 Weekend

I remember exactly when I became a PepSiholic - it was the 4th of July 2008 weekend.  Which was about 6 weeks after I became aware of Pepa, Silvia, and Los Hombres de Paco.  Yes, I was a slow convert.

I did not read AE - my GF did. That's how she discovered Hospital Central and Maca, and that's how she learned of PepSi.  She was into PepSi LONG before I was, and during every other weekend when we saw each other, she made me watch Pepsi clips: the bathroom scene, the morning after breakfast, lab aventurilla exotica... Couldn't care less but I still translated for her, badly, I might add.  The hangar scene - nope, nothing, although the line about the nuns made me giggle.  And then... and then... there it was - the exact moment when I actually fell in love with the show: Silvia giving Pepa the finger.

When Silvia flipped Pepa the finger, she also flipped her way right into my heart and Sube a mi Cohete  made it into my iPod.  And I realized how gorgeous this redhead is.

And by the middle of summer, I have downloaded and watched all the past LHDP episodes. Along the way, I have loved and lost an Asturian, made new friends and lost some...story of my life. And long after my GF has moved on to new obsessions (Shakira and Top Chef), here I am still a Silvialogist.

I cannot really say why I love these 2 characters - I don't have the gift of romantic gab like my friend Booker - but it has been a delight watching them week after week.  It has been a privilege watching old LHDP episodes and bringing them to you, so you too can understand why I am a Silvialogist. 

It's the finger.  It's Silvia, flipping the finger.  After 16 months, that scene still makes me smile. Silvia and her middle finger still make me smile.

Looking for a few good lesbians...

Members of our faculty are sharing their stories about their first time--their first time with PepSi. How did they discover these women and LHDP? Tell us about your first time, we asked.
Here is my story.

I am known as a romantic and I deserve that label. I am in love and I love the idea of being in love. All I have ever wanted was to see two women in love on television or in film--was that too much to ask for? Apparently it was.

I heard about Central Hospital's Maca and Esther via AE and I was hooked. I loved the characters and, may I say, Patricia Vico. On their site, it was announced that LHDP was going to introduce a new lesbian character. The first thing I thought was "what was it about Spain and lesbians?!"

I watched Pepa's arrival and the gentle flirtation between the two women--all in Spanish. This was before Pepsienglish opened up my world. So the only way I could have any idea about what was going on was to read the updates on the forum and watch the scenes over and over. And over. It didn't matter, I had found the lesbian story that I had always dreamed existed.

I asked myself why I like them right from the start. There are numerous reasons why I love PepSi today, but what drew them to me in those early episodes? This was what I thought in early 2008: (I don't deny that some of these comments are shallow)

• Marian and Laura were so beautiful, they were like YouTube eye candy
• Their story line was respectful to their friendship and their growing romance
• These two actors had great chemistry and there was this building suspense about how and when they would kiss--get thee to a bathroom!
• They were simply sexy together

All of us can remember the stripper joint scene. When Pepa taught Silvia to dance in the interview room...how Pepa first touched Silvia and then left the room....Silvia leaned back on the table...she was completely flustered and rattled by Pepa. Well, that was me each week watching PepSi. My heart would flutter, my jaw would drop, my eyes would widen and I smiled like I had just won the lesbian lottery.

This romantic fool was happy. Blissfully happy.

Dr. Booker

Piper'sNote:
Dr. Booker was the very first one after myself who posted a lecture at Pepsi University.  I invited her because of our shared love for Teddy Kennedy.  Her lectures have added so much and taught us so much that I cannot imagine a Pepsi University without Booker. But she does so much more than post lectures: she invites lecturers and schedules their posts, she comes up with weekly themes like this Lecture Series, and most importantly, she cares for Pepsi University (sometimes I think she cares more than I do).  So thank you Booker, for everything.