#i cannot believe i just spent over 2h writing this post that is way too long and that no one's going to read rip

[skamz]

Hej, Idk if you're the right person to ask, but let's see ;)- I don't really get why it's basically canon (especially in fic etc.) that Isak is a Biology expert/nerd, and in general really good in school. I mean, yeah, we're seeing him studying Bio with Sana and saying 'sounds easy!'(/s? tbh, imo), but why is it that everyone assumes that he's a far above average student and that he will almost certainly study some Biosciency sh*t? Did I miss the point where this was introduced in (real) canon?

hiiii, it’s funny because you sent me this ask a while back while i was writing a hc in which i mentioned isak having good grades hehehe 

so, why do i think he’s smart and gets good grades? 

okay let me call this…..

WHY IS ISAK TOTALLY A SMART COOKIE: A MASTERPOST 

it’s pretty obvious that isak cares about his grades. when he is first introduced in the first episode of season 1, we see him ask eva and jonas what grade they got on their essay, and he personally gets a 5 (the highest grade you could get being a 6, or 6+?). and i think isak is a bit more of a science guy (as we see later on in s3), so him getting a 5 here was good. and just, the way he asks his friends what grade they got, i personally think this is something people with good grades do, it’s something i’ve seen happen a lot throughout high school. and i think you need a certain level of confidence when it comes to the grades you get in general in order to do that. there’s a bit of competitiveness (that is not mean-spirited imo) in the way he acted, and once again i doubt that someone who doesn’t get good grades and/or doesn’t care about their grade would behave like this

in the second episode of s1, when they play trivial pursuit in the cabin, you can tell he seems to take the game seriously, in the way he asks questions, his tone when he does, as opposed to jonas who acts like his usual, chill self. you can sense the slight competitiveness once again

in the third episode of s1, when eva and jonas and isak are by the window in the staircase, and they’re discussing an assignment, isak makes a point of letting jonas know he’s right, he even shushes him at some point, and then he says “i should’ve gotten a 6 on this”. isak is unsure about a lot of things, but i think one thing he knows is that he’s a good student, he knows when his assignments are worthy of getting a good grade

i know that these scenes in eva’s season were meant to show us some of eva’s struggles, how she wasn’t doing too well at school, how she wasn’t necessarily book smart and how her friend and boyfriend sometimes teased her about it, and how it made her even more insecure, i know that was actually the main point since this was her season, but i still think it also let us know that isak was indeed a good student and a smart boy

fast forward to isak’s season

in the second episode, you see him arrive to class early. the room is empty except for another student, and that student is studying and i know in this scene we basically see isak stalking his new crush even bech næsheim, but i actually think that isak usually does this regularly, show up to class/school a little early to study and do assignments. i think it’s an environment in which he concentrates better, and i think this partly has to do with how, in comparison, his house wasn’t a good environment to concentrate and study because of everything that was going on with his parents

in the same episode, when he “argues” with the ignorant and islamophobic teacher who called sana’s hijab a niqab, i do think he was sort of trying to distract her from thinking of the weed sana had just hidden (which was also smart, quick thinking), but i do also think this was isak being faced with completely wrong information, a fact that he knows is 100% wrong. he knows what a niqab and a burka are and he knows what a hijab is and he knows that the teacher calling sana’s hijab a burka and then a niqab is completely wrong, and he speaks confidently when he corrects her, because he knows he is right about this

in-between ep 3 and ep 4, there’s a text conversation between him and sana in which he asks her for her physics notes, because he has a test two days later. i think he might’ve forgotten about the test because his mind was filled with even even even all weekend because of their almost-kiss last friday. but still!! doesn’t mean isak is not going to do well in that physics test, no way he’s going to let that happen. so he asks sana for her notes, because he trusts that they’re good, and he even asks her if she remembers the questions from the test since she took it the previous week. he doesn’t ask her for the answers, just the questions, because he knows he can answer those well by himself. and this conversation is just another proof that isak cares about getting good grades, and he doesn’t want to risk getting a bad one 

in ep 4, the moment you mentioned hehe. you can tell from this scene that both isak and sana are good, studious kids, that’s just the vibe you get from the way they’re sitting with their textbooks opened, and i think that’s done on purpose. it’s still the beginning of their friendship, and they still have a lot to learn from each other, but i think we’re meant to see them as a good working team. they didn’t chose to be together in that class, but still, they work well, because they’re both such good students. and yes! the little “sounds easy!” that comes with a wink and a cheeky smile. once again, you see that confidence he has when it comes to schoolwork, like he knows. he understands the material well, he’s not intimidated by it at all 

in ep 5, hjernen er alene, you can see how brilliant isak’s mind is. isak is not just book smart. isak lies in bed with the boy he likes on a saturday afternoon and he starts talking about parallel universes and the immensity of the universe and how small they are in comparison, and he just finds it so interesting, he says so, and there’s so much wonder in his voice, and you can tell it’s something he finds himself thinking about a lot, and he’s excited to share those thoughts with someone he likes. isak is the type of boy who will let his mind wander and think of the universe and all its components, and all the things he knows about it, the things he’s learned, and use that knowledge not just in an academic context, but also to cogitate, reflect. and this is something i think he does a lot more since he’s met even, because as he said in the last episode of the season, he was “fake” before, i don’t think he let himself be that boy who thinks of space and thinks of different theories as much as he does now, but now he’s learned to be himself more, to let himself think the way he wants to think. and even is just so interested in everything he has to say, and he listens so attentively, wants to hear about his thoughts, and remembers those thoughts 

in the sixth episode. poor isak who’s just going through so much and who can’t sleep. and he goes to see the school “doctor” and he asks her if he could maybe be prescribed sleeping pills because he says the lack of sleep is starting to affect school. isak knows how he usually performs, he knows he can read his textbooks and listen in class and he knows how much he usually understand, but right now he’s just not sleeping, and there’s too much going on, and he notices how it’s starting to “affect school”, and he doesn’t like the idea that it does, and he doesn’t want to let that happen. it’s important for him to be able to do well 

in episode 7, isak and sana are in class together, and they have that little debate about which answer is the right one. and he says “i read it last week”. which means that a) isak is a good student who does all his readings b) he remembers something he read the previous week, he remembers that he’s read it the previous week. and he tells sana “trust me, sana. i trust myself, and it’s a”. once agan, he’s confident that he has the right answer, he knows that he does. isak doesn’t doubt his ability to answer correctly. and he suggests that they google it, to put an end to the debate, and sana tells him he’s unsure, and he tells her that no, he isn’t unsure and he knows that he’s right (and he was right about this! we found out later on that his answer was the right one)

in episode 8, after spending the whole weekend with even, at last, isak didn’t do one of his assignment, so sana catches him doing it at the last minute in class, like literally at the last minute because the teacher asks them to hand it in at the beginning of the class. but isak still manages to write something really good, because we find out later on that he’s had 6s all semester in that class

later in that same episode, even wants to go over to isak’s place to Do Things, but isak needs to study for his physics test, and triiiiies to resist even and to tell him that he can’t be with him right now, he really really needs to study. but he fails, when even tells him “he’s going to go take a shower now”, but he tries! he does! because studying for the physics test is important. and the next day, the boys all want to go get pizza, but isak refuses to skip class to go with them. magnus asks him to just take someone else’s notes, that he can learn the material by himself, but nope, isak tells him he won’t skip class, because “research shows that you learn more by attending class” 

in episode 9, isak is not doing so well after the hotel scene, thinks even never really loved him. he skips school because he simply can’t go right now, but he still texts sana and asks her if she can hand in his assignment for him. he’s really not feeling well, but he still takes time to do school work and makes sure he hands it on time, because once again this matters to him

in the last episode of the season, in minutt for minutt, i think we once again get to see how isak is not only book smart, and how he also possesses emotional intelligence, in the way he speaks to even, in the way he handles the situation. actually, we also see this in o helga natt, when isak chooses the words he tells even so well, when he chooses the perfect words to tell him right then in that moment. du er ikke alene. and in minutt for minutt, he also choses the right words. he listened to sonja’s advice. he not only listened, he understood. and when even tells him he’s going to end up hurting isak, isak tells him that an atomic bomb could be dropped on them the next day, and that worrying about the future is not what they should do right now. and that they are going to play a game, “isak and even: minute by minute”. he listened to sonja’s advice and applied it but at the same time he gave it his own touch, because once again he understood, and he knew what the right words to say were, he felt it in his heart. and just, throughout that whole week, when even is not doing well, isak is just very caring and understanding, and he wants to learn, and make sure he is there for even the way he should be, the way even needs him to (just the right amount, and the right way)

finally, last clip of the season, in isak’s kitchen when sana comes and joins them, and even asks sana how isak is doing in biology, and she jokes that “he’s useful”, and you can tell that what she actually means is that isak is really good, a really good classmate (and friend!) to have. and isak gets all offended, like he does so often, and makes sure to remind them that he’s had 6s all year in biology (we get it, isak, you’re the master of biology)

so YES, i think there were multiple little moments letting us know that isak is smart, both at school and outside of it :) i think this boy has such a brilliant and fascinating mind, and an amazing and big heart and i’m sure he has a very very bright future ahead of him 💝

#i cannot believe i just spent over 2h writing this post that is way too long and that no one's going to read rip #so anyway yes isak is the smartest boy and i love him and i'm so proud of him #isak valtersen #skam #Anonymous