Hints of a Burgeoning Love Affair Between You Two → a LilyKat ship manifesto

hints of a burgeoning love affair between you two (because they like, totally love each other) or, why I ship Lily Loveless/Kathryn Prescott

the introduction ;

Kathryn Prescott (Emily Fitch). A tiny and adorable redheaded twin. She's probably one of the smartest and most serious of the girls in the group; we know that she took her A-Levels while filming Series 3 and that she was only a few points away from getting top marks. She wants to do a gap year and try and further pursue acting, but she really wants to go to university and study psychology further there. Concerning her Skins character, Emily, she's said that she's glad to be playing such a well-written lesbian character, because you very rarely see a solid gay character on television. However, she doesn't think that she's very much like Emily at all, instead comparing herself to Naomi, stating that she's very politically-focused. She's also a vegan. Kathryn has always been very secretive about her sexuality; while there are several fan reports that she has openly stated that she "isn't entirely straight" and "doesn't like labels," she has yet to truly say anything about it. There was a recent quote from Diva magazine, in which she admitted that she "always secretly preferred women to men," but the validity of this quote has yet to be confirmed.

Lily Loveless (Naomi Campbell). A brunette turned blond who used to be a dancer, Lily is shy where Kathryn is outgoing. In interviews, she's stated that seeing all the fans of a show screaming for her is very overwhelming (she has said often that she's very shy) and she seems to be completely unaware of her strong fanbase. She's very serious about acting and wants to continue in it after Skins, having not gone to university. Lily has stated that she doesn't think she's very much like Naomi at all, except for when it comes to dealing with people; she is very indifferent towards them. However, she has said that she very much enjoys playing Naomi, because she feels Naomi is a very important character. Lily has publicly stated in almost every interview that she has a boyfriend, something which Kathryn has commented on, saying that Lily feels like she needs to always be confirming her apparent "straightness."

Lily/Kat (Emily/Naomi). Both girls have said that they're very pleased with their characters and enjoy playing them quite a lot. Lily stated in an interview that she and Kat were happy to learn that their characters would have a happy ending in Series 3. Kathryn has also voiced her opinion on Emily and Naomi's relationship, saying that she thinks they would make a "great" couple. Lily and Kathryn first met each other two/three years before the start of Skins, when they both took acting lessons at Mountview Academy in London. The two girls were not friends at that time -- in fact, they rarely spoke, despite playing the leads of the production the class put on. Kathryn has said that they were too different then, and Lily has admitted to have been very shy and quiet. The two girls did not meet again until Skins. They didn't audition together, but instead met at the cast party before filming again. Regarding their relationship now, as compared to the one a few years back, this is what the girls had to say (from a Diva magazine interview): Lily: I first met Kathryn two years ago . . . she walked into the room and I recognized her straightaway . . . Our relationship is very different now.

Kat: We didn't not get on, we just didn't think we were that similar, perhaps . . . We sometimes say to each other 'I can't believe you're the same person who was in drama class!', because we get on so well now.

the relationship ;

One of the most-discussed topics among fans of Kathryn and Lily is whether or not they share a more-than-friends relationship. Lily was once commented about it in a radio interview, stating that she and Kat were "just best mates." (She then went on to make jokes about a romantic relationship between her and Kat.) Kathryn has been mute on the subject; the only thing she has said is that she apparently enjoys kissing her boyfriend more than she enjoys kissing Lily, but she thinks that Lily is tough competition. Lily, on the other hand, has said that while it felt a bit weird to be kissing Kathryn at first, now she doesn't mind it at all ("It's fine, it's nice. She's quite a good kisser." -- BCC 1 radio interview). Both revealed that the fact that they'd known each other before made it easier and better when they had to kiss. When asked during a MySpace Valentine's Day interview who Lily would prefer to kiss, Meg or Kat, Lily chose Kathryn. Extras have reported that on set, Lily and Kathryn are very casually about kissing and get very much into it.

The two are always together. Reports from the set tell us that when they're not filming, Kathryn and Lily (and invariably, Megan) are sitting together and talking, at times isolating themselves from the others. Lily has said that she and Kathryn are constantly calling and texting each other when they're not in Bristol together and they have been seen at parties together, as well as out-and-about as a pair. Kat has said that when she and Lily go out together, the fans "just go wild." When the two attend interviews and events together, they can almost always be seen sitting or standing next to each other. Merv Lukeba, who plays Thomas, has said that he very much enjoys doing interviews with Lily and Kat, because they "get into character and start flirting [with each other]." When interviewed alone, it is almost a given that Lily or Kat will mention the other at least once (Lily jokes she'd toss Kat out of a balloon, Kat says she very much enjoyed kissing Lily).

Lily's Twitter has also been a focal point at times, when it comes to her relationship with Kat. Once, she announced that she thought Kathryn was the hottest of all the girls in Skins. Another time she posted that she was baking vegan scones, which could only possibly have been for Kathryn, since the two were sharing an apartment while filming and Kathryn had previously stated in an interview that she was vegan. After Kathryn and Megan's 18th birthday party, she even changed her Twitter profile picture to one of her and Kat.

the proof ;

One of the biggest things going for the LilyKat 'ship is the amount of so- called "proof" that Lily and Kathryn are in a relationship together. A few points of note: ▪ In photos, Kat and Lily are almost always next to each other, usually leaning into each other even when in a picture with other people. ▪ Kathryn seems to have a distinct make-up style (styled eyeliner faux beauty spot) that Lily seems to have adopted. ▪ Lily and Kathryn appear to own the same pair of black (possibly Vans) trainers. They have worn these together at several events/interviews. ▪ In interviews, their hands and feet are always in close proximity, if not actually touching. ▪ They often appear to be "mimicking" each other (doing the same thing at the same time). ▪ They flirt in interviews, making innuendos or shooting each other looks.

The first public event Lily and Kat attended, the Brit Awards 2008. Notice how Kat is leaning into Lily and the look she later gives Lily when being interviewed.

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The West End premiere of Spring Awakening. The first appearance of the famous black Vans (as worn by Lily). Here Lily and Kathryn are mimicking each other slightly in terms of poses -- Kat's hands are in front while Lily's are behind her back, but they're very similar overall.

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One of Lily and Kat's first interviews, done for the 5:19 Show (along with Merv). Their interactions here are very interesting; when asked if they liked working with everyone, Lily immediately says: "I didn't like Kat -- I never liked Kat," to which Kathryn laughing responds that she didn't like Lily either. Lily then looks pointedly at Kathryn and says "they were all . . . rather nice." Kathryn teases Lily later, calling Lily "attractive" when Lily demonstrates what she does after meals. There are loads of interesting looks between the two and at one point it appears they're almost playing footsie. When Lily wins one of the games, she says "I'd like to thank . . . Kat. Just Kat." When asked to do a skit later, Kathryn and Lily end up dancing together in an outtake. There's also more "mimicking" going on between them (legs crossed the same way, same pose when back-to-back, etc).

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Digital Spy Interview (can't embed)

One of Lily and Kat's more informative interviews. Here they're interviewed by Digital Spy and Get Closer. They exchange numerous knowing glances and show several instances of mimicking. There's also a bit of flirting between them; Lily often pretends to be bored when Kat's talking.

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The premiere of Tormented was the first time we saw Lily actively begin to change her style in make-up to mimic the way Kathryn does hers. Note the similarities in eyeliner and the matching fake beauty spots (which are mirror images of each other). There are even small exchanges and glances between them in some videos of the premiere.

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The Hangover premiere was quite interesting, in that Lily looked, if possible, even more like Kathryn in terms of make-up, but at the same time, she kept her distance in Kat in photos. This was perhaps related to the fact that Lily has recently had a radio interview where it was relayed to her that fans thought she and Kathryn were dating, based on how they looked together in pictures. It's quite telling, then, that Lily took it to heart and actively tried to change things.

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Kat and Lily look so happy to be back together (Lily even twittered about it later). Even here we see Kat and Lily are sitting the same way, with their legs crossed, and again, sitting next to each other.

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For T4 on the Beach, we again got to see Kat and Lily wearing their matching Vans. When the Skins cast was up on stage, Lily and Kathryn were next to each other almost the entire time, with Kat actually following Lily around the stage. There seems to be a big change in demeanor here from The Hangover premiere, as Lily and Kat are all over each other.

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This is Kat and Lily (and Merv) doing their Waking You Up interview for E4. There's a lot of flirting going on back and forth between Kat and Lily. Lily teases Kathryn about the lake scene ("What, you didn't enjoy it?") and Kathryn shushes her and gives her a look (to which the interviewer says, "Oh, look at these looks, they're smoldering"). There's a lot of mimicking and touching going on. At one point Kathryn's fingers are brushing against Lily's knee, at another point (near the end of the interview), Kat and Lily have got some of their fingers intertwined. Even Merv comments on all the flirting, stating that "they're always like this." This is the first time we see Kat and Lily wearing their matching Vans together.

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The newest of interviews about Lily and Kat was a bit of a change from their usual interviews together, in which it lacked a certain amount of flirting. However, there were small instances of it -- such as Kat constantly touching Lily's knee and saying that Lily was competition for her boyfriend. This was the first time it was revealed that usually Lily and Kat shared an apartment while filming (unless they weren't in any scenes at the same time). Lily and Kat also agreed that their favorite scene was the "catflap scene" and Lily mentioned her favorite line, which Kat said she'd heard done by millions of other Naomis. When Lily asked how they did it, Kat grinned and said, "Not as good as you, darling." Again Mountview Academy was mentioned and Lily and Kat talked about how they weren't friends untilSkins.

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Kathryn and Lily pop up all over the place, even things they're not meant to be in at all. In Jack O'Connell's interview for E4, Lily, sitting behind him, constantly interrupts him by talking to or making faces at Kathryn, who's sitting across the room. At one point the whole interview gets sidetracked by Lily teasing Kat.

the conclusion ;

To summarize, there is definitely a lot of proof to support the idea that Kathryn Prescott and Lily Loveless are more than just friends. Their body language and the way they act together really speaks volumes about how comfortable they feel around each other and how close they are. There is most certainly a connection there, but the question is whether or not Lily and Kat have ever actually acted upon the chemistry that is most decidedly there.

Kathryn: The writer always said to me, 'Oh, people are going to love this,' like, 'They're going to love Naomi and Emily' -- Lily: Did he? Kathryn: Yeah. Did he not say it to you? He was like -- he used to say that it was like the 'thing,' and I was just like, 'Oh, okay.' I thought he was just like, trying to make me feel better. Lily: I didn't think anything of it. I just thought it was another storyline. Kathryn: Mmm. And then suddenly everyone just like, went mental.

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Note: I couldn't seem to find more of the .gifs from Waking You Up -- I'd love it if someone could pass them along. Same with the E4 interview.