#she contradicts herself all the time and keep being annoying and acting like she knows best all the time

[saebaragi]

my mom's patience with my older sister is truly admirable, if it was me I would have told her to just do and think whatever she wants but fucking leaves the rest of us alone

[creepy-friday]

PLS PLS PLS I NEED MORE PROXY THINGS I KEEP REREADING THE OLD ONES AND U WRITE SO WELL

Sure thing!I noticed a lot of people are rereading the old ones so I promise I will come back with more ideas!

Female!Proxy toughts Headcanons for every creep of the mansion

Warnings: foul language, suggestive themes, violence

Masky thinks he should've been in your place.He wants your attention but at the same time hates your guts.Always wants to pick a fight with you,maybe he's in such a contradiction with himself because your personality softened his sharp edges making him confused.

Hoodie acts all buddy-buddy with you when the two of you aren't on duty.He doesn't hide the way the tension rises from other people's perspective when he talks to you.He's simply curious about who you truly are,an individual like you in such a fucked up place and in such a high position is..intriguing to say at least.

Toby follows your orders and values your presence the most out of the other proxies he's biased. Because he's been taken advantage of many times,your humanity sparked his hope,he thinks that in you he can actually find something heart warming in this hell hole.

Cody is a little annoying at times.Since you didn't shove him off he deeply thinks you're into him,that's why he keeps on inviting you to see the dangerous shit he's creating.

Kate uses every chance she has to imply that you have sexual relationships with the proxies.She's isn't jealous nor wants to take your place,she simply sees herself as slightly superior since she's been here before you.

Jeff has personal issues with every resident near him,including you.He doesn't think of himself as highly as Masky tough.All the mocking and tantrums are because he doesn't belive your good intentions.

Ben is a fucking menace and fucks with your head since he knows you can't physically hurt him.He thinks you're by far the most interesting creep to watch.

EJ respects you.He thinks that you are disgusted by him almost as he is of himself given your role as a demon hunter.His insecurity made him give up any reason to try to talk to you.Watching from afar he knows you're one of the few residents that are still human by heart.

Liu has a very high opinion about yourself.You already proved to be a good person to him when you took EJ's side in an argument with Masky.He would make conversation with you whenever you two are around.

Sully might act like Liu around you so that he can see more of you.Just like other creeps,he fantasies about having a hand to hand spare with you.He talks to you like you're a pice of meat sometimes but he acknowledges your strength.

Slenderman's presence is being known by his general sickness to the other creeps but the fever is high and tormenting when it comes to you.It's clear that he favors you and the fact that he chose you as his watchdog is enough to bring your confidence skyrocket.

Jane watches you from afar.She thinks you're a good fit to be a leader.Surprisingly,she agreed with your every decision and never had anything to add or to take.

Zero is jealous of you and your high status.She despises your guts and would team up with anyone to put you down or to shame you.She's a bitch but I bet she would fuck you tough.She's the "do I want to be her or be with her?"

Clockwork likes how a woman is top shit and she treats you as an equal.Might ask you for your opinion and expects you to listen to hers as well.She thinks you're a good leader.

Nina adores you.You genuinely had a good impact on her mental health and looks up to you.She would be shocked if you would hurt her in any way,after everything she went trough all she needs is a friend.The choice is yours.

Sally thinks that you are really cool and wishes you would take that mask off more often.Since you don't brush her off like the others she's looking forward to talk to you when you're not busy.Confidently slips tea parties invites down your door.

Bloody Painter is mostly indifferent to the power dynamics in the mansion.Sure,he will be respectful to you since that's in his personality but he's apathetic to anything that isn't "aesthetically pleasing".He judges a book by its cover and the ghoul-like design on your mask makes him believe you're no different from the creatures you encounter in the forest.Misunderstanding at its best

[anewp0tat0]

hey so who are your favourite characters in black butler? like a top ten or something

heyyyy thanks for asking! sure, always nice to cover the basics. ofc this will probably not be surprising to anyone who's heard me rant for a while now, but I'll explain it anyway.

top 3 first:

1. Ciel: an atrocious guy with very little social personality, and one of the best written protagonists I've personally read. I'm just really into digging through this guy's brain, and when he isn't destroying people he's doing things that end up being funny.

2. Sebastian: another well written protagonist, despite the fact that we know absolutely nothing about him other than the fact that his personality is "cats, I'm better than everyone, except for agni maybe". I remember in my first year in the fandom a friend and I had a like 2 hour long text conversation about how much we hated and loved Sebastian. terrible guy, couldn't have the series without him, leaves a lot to think about.

3. Grelle: she's just as if not more atrocious than the last 2 cause she made these awful decisions herself, but that doesn't stop me from respecting her work ethic and just thinking she's awesome in general. and aside from how cool she looks, I think her inner thoughts and relationships with her coworkers is so curious, there is a lot to explore here. compelling character for me.

and following:

4. Elizabeth: she's one of the purest characters out there and she is so complex. a good amount of people hate her or just find her annoying for whatever reason, but I think the trend here is that the more flawed the character is the better. she's trying so hard to please everyone. probably one of the most relatable characters in her own way.

5. Soma: the source of joy in my life, God I wish he was my friend. he and Agni are basically equal in my ranking, I think they're just the kid mentor duo, but unfortunately only one of them has the chance to keep developing... ;;;^;;;

6. Agni: "agni" was good every day of his life until the end. the only thing he did wrong was out of loyalty for Soma, Sebastian should be jealous of him cause he is all the butler that Sebastian will never be. plus he just cries sometimes and I respect that.

7. Ronald: this is such a fun guy, and yet I am capable of having long conversations about him and everything that he could have possibly been through, it has been done. his workplace dynamic is perfect. everyone needs a Ron.

8. Finny: another pure being, he's such an interesting and honestly rare character, I don't often see other people like him in media, so obviously he's interesting. he's one of the only characters in kuro who have deep trauma and yet doesn't act negatively on it, either because he's unable to comprehend it at length or because his love and positivity for all things is just stronger. also he's Ciel's big bro fr.

9. Meyrin: she's awesome, Hollywood and feminists alike wish they were able to write a strong female character like her😏 she's freakishly powerful and one of the most feminine people out there, and she deserves that after what she's been through. I will never stop supporting her, she's everyone's big sis and she's adorable.

10. Bard: proud dad to all the servants, he's the wacky beer uncle that we all wish we had. he's conservative but just give him some time cause he does care about people and what makes them happy.

hope this satisfies you and doesn't completely contradict your own list of favorites! have a good day

[likeafairytale]

“ I don't understand... ” – Yasmeen to Malachai

❛Hmm?❜

Malachai was barely listening to Yasmeen. He was focused on the board of checkers in front of him. He moved a pawn before finally looking at the young lady, who seemed more than puzzled. The prince frowned when he noticed that the girl's gaze was on the bed behind them. He blushed a little before looking back at the game, toying with his ring nervously.

The man should have known that Yasmeen would be confused, and would ask questions. Maybe he should have explained sooner why he suddenly asked for her to come into his room after dinner. Indeed, it was quite unusual; the both of them barely talked, only about the weather or Calypso, but never deep conversations, and never for more than a few minutes. They weren't friends per se, just acquaintance. So he could understand that when he suddenly asked for her to join him in his room after dinner, she was apprehensive, even more, knowing what kind of man were usually asking for her after dinner. But it was to avoid that, that Malachai's ask her to come.

He did not know why, but the thought of the young woman being claimed by yet another man in front of him was something that annoyed him. It annoyed him for a while now, but he typically kept quiet. But he did not know what made him act so impulsively tonight, by asking her so abruptly to come with him. Maybe it was the wine, –that he was keeping drinking since she arrived, he proposed some to her, but she politely refused– maybe the wine gave him enough courage to ask her. He recalled her look, a mixed of incredulity and fear when he asked her to come, and now he thought he should have cleared things up.

He thought she would understand, when he asked if she knew how to play checkers, because he wanted to play a game, but from wary she became puzzled. The merman could tell by her expression that she wasn't used to play with lords, and she was just waiting for the moment he'll ask her to lay in bed, like all the others did. But the moment did not come. It was their third party, and yet he seemed more interesting in playing than her body. Perhaps she was tired of waiting the moment she was fearing, and maybe she wanted to have the situation under control for once, but in any case, Yasmeen stood up, bringing Malachai's attention back to her, and she slowly started to undress herself. To that, the young man stood up too and turned around, which puzzled the girl even more.

❛Wow, what are you doing?❜ He stuttered, still toying with his ring.

❛I thought... You asked for me, your Highness.❜

❛I did, but not for sex.❜

❛... Why did you ask me to come, then?❜ She finally asked. Her voice was firm, making him understand that she wanted an answer now, that she was tired of all of this.

❛I...❜ Malachai's started, before turning around when he was sure she was still wearing her dress. ❛I just... I didn't like Rys' expression when he was looking at you.❜ He admitted, and he could tell she wasn't expected such answer. ❛I thought you'd like to have a quiet evening. Maybe I should have explain it sooner.❜

❛I would have like the explaination, yes.❜

❛I'm sorry... Next time, I'll ask Calypso to keep you with her instead.❜

❛Keep me with her?❜ Yasmeen repeated, which made Malachai nod. ❛With all due respect, your Highness, I am not a dog.❜

Malachai didn't know he could blush that much. His mouth open, he wanted to say something, but anything able to smooth the situation came to his mind. He was sure that if he wasn't a prince, she would have slapped him. Looking at the ground, as if he was just getting scolded, the prince finally bowed in front of Yasmeen, a way to apologize to her, which surprised her. Yasmeen too, was probably expected something else.

❛You're right, my apology, my lady.❜

❛I'm not a lady.❜

❛Whatever I say, you'll find something to contradict me, won't you?❜ He asked with amusement. She said nothing, but he was sure he succeeded to make her smile, or at least he'd like to believe it, and this thought only made him smile and more confident. ❛What I wanted to say is that I know the Faes' customs, and I don't mind asking for you so you stay safe.❜

❛But why? You barely know me. We're strangers, and I am a changeling, why would you care...Your Highness?❜

Once again, he opened his mouth, but he was unable to answer. It seemed as if Yasmeen had this gift to ask the right questions, the questions that made him doubt of his thinking. He smiled at that, and even chuckled a little. After a moment, he sat down, and made her understand to do the same, which she did. He drank more wine, to give him some courage, proposed some to her but once again, she refused.

❛Is being right one of your habits?❜ He asked with amusement, before struggling. ❛You're my sister's maid. She likes you a lot, and I know she will be sad if something happens to you. That's enough for me to want you safe. And... you're nice to be around.❜

This time it was Yasmeen who was speechless. She was examining the young prince in front of her, trying to see if he was lying or not. She knew, by now, that men's speciality were lies, always, and she was cleverer than letting herself sway by some well-chosen words. At any moment, Malachai could chance his speech and decided that he wanted her in his bed, and if that happened, she was powerless. But right now, the man's attention was on the game in front of them, and nothing else. As it was her turn to play, she moved her pawn, decided by that, that she'll trust him, at least for the time being.

❛You'll take the bed, I'll take the couch. Is that alright with you?❜ Malachai demanded without looking at her.

❛Thank you.❜ She said after a while, and all Malachai did was raising his head to smile at her.

[sensitive-g]

This is just a doodle but I feel like not enough people are talking about this part of the movie so allow me????

Alright look if you're gonna sit here and tell me Sofia didn't have a single part in Katya's betrayal then you're WRONG. I saw another post by @nautilusopus already talking about this but people seem to forget how she gradually lost herself throughout the film, becoming more and more jaded with her actions and motives further on contradicting themselves until she eventually folds in on herself. Katya was the only person who was able to have an influence in how fast this progressed- even though all she did was merely delay the inevitable with how horrific it got. Katya ADORED Sofia and always wanted to make sure she was loved, no matter if Sofia didn't reciprocate at first. When they went to the dinner, it was Katya putting her pearls around Sofia's neck, it was Katya buying her that gown, it was Katya who said every woman should be allowed to feel they are looked at beautifully, knowing full well she was referencing a lower-class girl at an upper-class establishment. Of course at the time Sofia is freaking the fuck out in embarrassment, but it also opens the door to growth. We see Sofia has never been quite out of the rough- she struggles and struggles and is barely able to make her monthly expenses each time. She never bothered to reach out for more bc for all she knew, it was IMPOSSIBLE. But Katya is showing her opportunity, a glimpse of what a better life could feel like, and that yeah, she COULD be looked at beautifully too. And when they talk after the dinner where Katya makes that remark about "keep the dress, I have plenty more", while Sofia is annoyed, she sees it more as a challenge of "let me get my own dress then" rather than "oh of course a dress of this expense is irrelevant to you you pretentious fuck." Which is HUGE bc then we see Sofia start to work harder and try new things, and while the pawn shop is going under she's gone into higher employment (as high as you could get it in the early 1900s at least) and stops leasing herself to Goncharov for laundry duty, and Katya is actually PROUD of her bc she's managed to do something her husband was currently failing miserably at (at least before he got it all back together through cough cough sussy means).

SO IMAGINE THE SHOCK WHEN YOU SEE YOUR BELOVED BURNING AN EXPENSIVE CHECK AND DECLARING THAT GROWTH TO BE LIES AND MANIPULATION??????

Of course we know Lorenzo was a controlling mf and we're cheering that she's not falling for his bullshit, as tragic as that bullshit may be. But that's the beauty of dramatic irony babyyyyy. Katya has no idea by this point; her focus is more on Goncharov and what he's up to, and she hasn't so much as bat an eye in Lorenzo's direction since he hasn't done anything to her yet.

But Sofia HAS seen and experienced it, and when she sees it for the thirst for power that it is, she burns the check as a stance against the corrupt. But not only is it that, it's her having her epiphany of realizing that she's just doing the exact same thing. Everyone she's involved with at the top is only there bc they lied and cheated their way in, or they just happened to be affiliated with someone with the money. And to stay there, they hurt others and act like nothing has happened because they have all the power in their hands and can control everything anyone says out loud about them. Even though she may have started humbly, as she acquired more she also learned about the shady side of things, and wound up relying on making bad deals or cutting corners to get that wealth faster, bc god how she loves being rich now. Except, this wasn't her. This was never supposed to BE her. Now that she looked back, she realizes she herself was following this same path with the deals she's made to date and the things she's done to people around her, and she HATES that. Even if Katya told her her efforts were genuine, even if she told her she was entitled to respect as a woman, even if she told her that she was sincerely proud of her... she wanted to believe it, and she did for so long, but had that ever really been the case..? So she burns the check.

MEANWHILE Katya, who adores Sofia and all she's done, who's proud of her, who gave her that necklace and that dress and even though the necklace led to ruin she STILL doesn't dare ask for it back because she wants Sofia to have it, is now sitting in the hall watching her burn the check, watching her cry and call everyone a snake and cursing them for what they did to her?? She can't imagine why. Sofia seemed to be so happy with her new life, with this new world of possibilities, with how she was no longer scorned upon, but now she's hates herself and hates everyone around her and is burning the check she could have used to advance herself even more? The check that she was just fawning over receiving because she could finally buy her own version of that dress with that?

If you saw your beloved crumble like that and say that everything they had done was meaningless and that it should have never happened, and that YOU were the reason that happened, what would you think? I'd imagine that you'd wonder if their despair WAS your fault, right? She WANTED Sofia to see through those rose-tinted glasses, and she invited her to that dinner and gave her that dress and those pearls to do so, and when she did rise up she was SO PROUD and she felt SO ACCOMPLISHED... But is that what Sofia herself wanted? She was always uninterested in being rich until that night, she NEVER cared about her status and settled with being at the bottom of the barrel bc that's just what she thought she was capable of. And yet like a shepherd herding sheep, she continued to insist and insist and push her toward this gate of upperclass-hood just because she could, and because she wanted to. She truly did want that life for Sofia, but did Sofia ever want it..?

Katya wants to comfort, she wants to come to her side and tell her she's wrong, that she IS a good person and that she CAN be what she wants, but that would only be adding salt to a wound she herself created. So we get that shot- a shot of the light from the flames bouncing off Sofia's blistering red hair and Katya shrouded in darkness for the first time in the film. Sofia scorns herself and tries to burn herself away, and Katya is in the shadow of it, no longer the light she and everyone saw her as. What went wrong? What started it? Where could she go?

That lighthouse was nothing. THIS is where the betrayal began.

[starsweepers]

(Anoymous tehehe) Shawn? Am I hearing that right? Oh, please don’t tell me you are dating HIM of all people. He doesn’t deserve you AT ALL, he will get you killed! Look at everything he had done while he was a kingpin, or are you really that eager to look the other way? He is bad news and I don’t trust him one bit! I hate for you to get hurt. You are far too beautiful to be brought down by that filthy scoundrel.

     "YOU HAVE A FEW THINGS RIGHT. not many people deserve me," playful mirth decorated her tone. laila was confident and - on occasion - cocky... but she wasn't that inclined to irrational behaviors. still, the humor was right there for the taking, and that was the BEST way to approach the press of questioning right then. painted cherry lips pulled into a wide yet somehow dangerous smiling. dating shawn had rubbed a few quirks off onto her... not that she was ever going to become someone of a more s i n i s t e r variety, but less inclined to allow herself to be walked over...

                  warm glance was given, but there lay a spark to the depths of almond gaze that gave warning. lids fluttered, air of innocence as she continued to speak, "and i am far too beautiful... but you're a little off on the rest of your statements. at this point in time, he's handled things, and even if he hasn't... he will." for t h e m. he knows that if things start to rile back up, he has to smother it back down. not if he wants to keep her trust.

         "he was bad news... perhaps can still be. but he deserves the chance, because i've seen the good part of him, too." the more lovable, idiotic side. the one that makes her feel passionate and fiery and calm and chaotic and sweet and sassy all at once. the man who gets serious about business but knows how to laugh and tease... an adult with a demeanor who acts like an annoying brother with cat, as though the two never aged passed the middle school years.

                  a contradiction of a man in some ways, but a charmer who had soothed her heart and drawn her in.

         "now, i'd appreciate you not INFANTILIZING me like i don't know how to handle myself. i know who i am dealing with, what he's done and who he is. i can make my own decisions based upon my knowledge and understandings. i know i am fine, and that shawn will be good... for me and for himself. now if you want to make up gossip so bad, i suggest you write a book. you'd probably make much more money off of it rather than being such a nag."

[nataliaphantomhivesblog]

In the end of it all, Monaca Towa was still a child.

To start this off, this isn't my usual Black Butler posts but ive been meaning to talk about Danganronpa for a hot minute, so please bear with me! Second, this is solely my opinion and before anyone wants to attack me please read thoroughly first. Thank you:)

(Spoiler warning for Danganronpa: Ultra Despair Girls and Danganronpa 3)

Also, before we dive in I'm going to list some trigger warnings:

Physcological abuse

Physical abuse

Manipulation

P*dophillia

Suicide attempt

Violence (?)

Childhood trauma

Please take care and read at your own risk<3

Hello there Danganronpa fandom! Today I will be talking about Monaca Towa (as stated in the title) and how people often minimize her trauma and sometimes forget the fact that shes still a child who got heavily manipulated by Junko too.

Monaca is seemingly very amiable and caring, because of her charming personality, all of the Warriors of Hope love her and try their best to keep her happy and go along with what she wants. However, it's slowly revealed that she is actually manipulative and cunning behind her friendly facade.

Monoca is a character that is cruel, manipulative, and extremly unhinged. Many of her actions cannot be excused or justified, but you can understand where she's coming from.

Monaca's Backstory:

She was born an unwanted child by both her father and her mother. Monaca's mother was supposed to take care of her but instead abandoned the child soon after her birth. Because of all her actions, Monaca saw her mother as a completely selfish and pathetic person. Monaca's father thought of giving her to an orphanage but instead took her into his family.

However, Monaca was always unwanted and everyone else felt uncomfortable around her. Every time Monaca smiled or joked, the others looked at her coldly, as if she didn't deserve to laugh. Every time she spoke, the others turned silent. His older-half brother thought of her as an alien, not part of the family.

She was also physically abused to the point that she pretended to be seriously wounded for them to stop as a result.

Monaca also attended Hope's Peak Elementary School and was part of the "trouble-makers class" along with Nagisa, Masaru, Jataro, and Kotoko.

Along with her fellow abused classmates, she planned a group suicide; however, Monaca never had any plans to commit suicide in the first place and was planning to let the others die as a prank.

The group suicide was stopped by Junko, who took the kids in and manipulated them by treating them with kindness and love.

Monaca then helped Junko mass produce Monokumas for the Tragedy by using her position as a representative of the Towa Group.

She lied to her father and the other adults in order to produce the Monokumas, telling them that she wanted to create futuristic robots that could be domestic helpers and emergency aid workers.

Due to her separation from the family and her genius, her family decided to give her leg room to do what she wanted as long as she brought in profits to the company, and didn't delve too deeply into her plans.

Things to keep in mind about Monoca's backstory:

She was emotionally and physically abused from a very young age.

She started to pretend to be paraplegic because she was finally treated with some kindness and she could have more control over people.

She convinced Nagisa, Jataro, Kotoko and Masaru to commit suicide.

Out of all the Warriros of Hope, Junko took the most intrest in Monoca due to her position, meaning that she was the one who got used and manipulated the most.

How Monoca's mindset works:

The moment she got physically abused to the point that she had to fake her injuries to make her family feel bad was the moment she learned that through sympathy from others comes power. Due to her families neglection and abuse, she started to quickly pick up on things in which benefited her yet hurt others.

She started to use manipulative tactics on her family to gain control over them. She then started implicating these tactics with the Warriors of Hope.

When Junko got into the picture, everything changed for the worst. Junko was the only person in Monaca's life who showed her affection. Even though deep down Monaca knew Junko only cared for her as a means to use her robotics genius for the Tragedy, Monaca didn't care, and happily helped out Junko with her plans if it meant being loved and appreciated in return. At the heart of it, despite all her horrific acts, that's a very child-like thing to do, right? So when Junko dies, Monaca's entire reason for living basically disappears.

AI Junko via Kurokuma may have planted the idea of a successor in her head, but in Monaca's mind it's a way to get her big sis back, and very specifically chooses to mold Komaru into becoming Junko's successor. That's for a big reason, Monaca doesn't want to become Junko, I'd say she actually just wanted her big sister back who would love and appreciate her again, and hence tried to make someone else take on that role initially. Once again, that's the mindset of a child.

Monaca's relationship with the Warriors of Hope:

The Warriors of Hope are a group of children who are extremely resentful and hateful of adults, regardless of whether or not they were involved in their rough paths. 

We all know that the Warriros of Hope are extememly tramutized kids. Masaru had alcoholic parents who physically abused him, Jataro was physcologically abused to the point he bealived he was so ugly that if anyone saw his "repulsive" face they would die, Kotoko was r*ped multiple times by disgusting p*dophilic men (not to mention, Monaca's brother was attracted to her), and last but not least we have Nagisa who had pressuring parents who wanted to raise him as the child prodigy and expirimented on him constantly.

Monaca used the Warriros of Hope's trauma against them, manipulating them to the point were they had to do her bidding completly.

As much as I hate to say it, Monaca truly saw them as pawns. Although there are some instances where she openly declares her care for the Warriors of Hope, it's likely she does that as a form of emotional manipulation.

If anything, she probably did see them as equal in the beginning but then when she started to gain control over her own family, she started to do the same with the Warriors of Hope as a way to protect herself from getting hurt, then again this is my baseless assumption.

Her dynamic with Nagito:

Monaca was amused by Nagito's strange behavior and contradicting beliefs and appeared to be somewhat annoyed with him at the times. However, the two appeared to at least seemingly respect each other in some way, as they treated each other somewhat formally as allies.

Her dynamic with Nagito is one of the most intresting ones. Obviously I think that her being rasied by Nagito was potentially a dangerous thing, considering Nagito's goal was for Monaca to become Enoshima's successor. Monaca seemed to agree with this goal, but Nagito's constant rambling about hope and despair made Monaca bored and feel embarrassed about the whole thing.

She claims he made her an adult in a way, as she grew up in the mental sense and became more cynical and apathetic, not really caring about anything.

In the end, Monaca found Nagito creepy and annoying, but she also appeared to get closer to him during their time together, while originally calling him just "Mister Servant" in UDG, she later refers to him as "Big Bro" in Danganronpa 3. I do think their dynamic was sort of soft and I would've loved to have seen more of it. Honestly the concept of Nagito being a soft brother to Monaca warms my heart, and the wasted potential will forever anger me.

(If any Danganronpa fanfic writer or any writer in general is reading this post: if u could be so kind and do a PLATONIC Nagito and Monaca prompt and tag me in it, I would love you forever!!)

My opinion on Monaca:

I think that Monaca was a very well-written character who deserved more than what she got in the end of Danganronpa 3. She was abused, mistreated and belittled by her family. If anything, I see her as a completely misguided little girl. If she actually had a positive authoritative influence in her life, she wouldn't have turned astray.

A lot of people disregard Monaca's trauma and forget that at the end of the day, Monaca was a child who the moment she was born, the people who were supposed to love her were unwelcoming.

Don't get me wrong though, there is no way in hell I will ever justify or condone the things Monaca has done. If anything, I just think that she alongside the rest of the Warriors of Hope should've been properly taken care of.

Also, if you dislike/hate Monaca thats 100% valid! She did a lot of inexcusable things and its alright to hate on her. I personally love her character but I know she is not everyones cup of tea.

If you read all the way, I'm actually surprised! Thank you and I hope you enjoyed<333

[miraculouscontent]

Always.

“Truth” is just... I mean, I want to say “garbage” but that doesn’t even do how bad it is justice? Like, okay, I take four major issues with it (my followers be like: just four? :P):

First is the writing in general and the continuity of it all. This episode looks like it’s been through multiple drafts and the final product is an amalgamation of a bunch of them with no coherency between any of them. I already could kind of guess it from the Adrimi kiss that the finale removed, but it’s obvious that there were going to be Adrimi/Lukanette arcs in Season 4 but then stuff happened (i.e: the staff being cowards) and they got cut. It’s totally possible that the plot with Jagged Stone being the father and Marinette having to keep secrets from Luka were still the same episode even in the original draft, but I imagine it at least wasn’t episode one.

There are other, more subtle hints as well, like the episode giving no time to Luka learning that Jagged is his father (making the fandom wonder if Luka remembered when he was Truth) and Ladybug being shocked when she realizes that the akuma is Luka as if she didn’t already see him be akumatized. Juleka also gets weirdly sidelined in the episode despite being Luka’s twin (Astruc has stated that both Luka and Juleka are older and Juleka got held back, which is why she’s in Marinette’s grade but Luka isn’t), so she’s Jagged’s offspring as well. One might presume that Juleka just never cared at all but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be allowed to interact directly with the guy or have any involvement at all. All it would’ve taken is for Luka to mention that Juleka never cared about who their father was but he did, thereby implying that Juleka’s reaction to Jagged would probably be more like, “oh okay.”

You know, if they didn’t reduce her to incoherent mumbling.

Second is the timing of this episode. We had the New York special with Paris being destroyed, but it’s clearly fine here (so I guess it isn’t canon now; thank God honestly), and while it’s technically possible that enough time has passed (supported by the vague implication that Marinette having to miss out on dates with Luka has gone on for a while, given Tom and Sabine’s lack of reaction to them dating), it’s not supported by Marinette examining the Miracle Box as if she’s only just gotten it.

There’s also Shadow Moth, where we’re shown an extended version of the scene from the end of “Miracle Queen” where Gabriel repairs the peacock miraculous, giving the episode a “Volpina”->”The Collector” vibe but then why are the events lining up the way they do???

The narrative also does a really bad job at showing us why Marinette is so strapped for time. She has guardian duties now but you’d think it’d balance out with her not having to go to Fu anymore for guardian training (you know, that thing we never saw but was said to be happening or at least that it was Fu’s intent to have it happen). You could argue that maybe Shadow Moth is more active, but then Chat Noir should be affected by this too; Ladybug states outright that she’s been busy and Chat Noir responds with something akin to, “oh I know, because you’re guardian,” which implies that it’s her guardian duties keeping her busy and Shadow Moth is just interrupting her dates specifically.

But we don’t even see what responsibilities she has added on as guardian. I knew the writers would make it so her being guardian was a hassle, but it’s the first episode of the series and we’ve gotten next to no answers for what being guardian actually adds.

It’s almost like this was a rushed first episode to break up the only thing that unambiguously made Marinette happy for the sake of bringing the love square back and needlessly making her suffer because the writers think it’s hilarious.

Speaking of which, the third thing thing is the comedy because--just--I hate the comedy in this show.

Like, just to start, there’s the kwami, who clearly begin with their mob mentality from the later episode of “Furious Fu” and all proceed to act like children. No, I didn’t expect them to all be wise (I mean, Xuppu exists and is very much not that, having been implied to be a fit for Kim who is known for being a total himbo), but I don’t expect them to all scatter like they do. Kaalki in particular, who was shown to be more poised and refined, blatantly reveals herself to a bunch of civilians just for the sake of Marinette freaking out and needing to make up an excuse.

Same with Alya and her friends. Marinette is panicking because of the kwami and Alya “deduces” (while shading Marinette so blatantly that it’s insulting) that Adrien must be there in her house which--maybe don’t SAY THAT OUT LOUD in case Adrien is literally in her room???). Then Marinette gets a call from Luka, shouts his name, and the girls do a complete 180 in support of Lukentte. It’s not like I’m not for them supporting whatever Marinette wants to do, but the shift is so sudden (and contradicts “Frozer”) that it gave me whiplash and the entire scene ends up being pointless since the girls still go with the “Marinette is in love with Adrien” thing when Truth asks them what Marinette’s secret is. Like, we could’ve gotten small, stupid secrets that everyone thought only they knew about Marinette, but instead it’s just the same thing over and over again (which makes no sense since, by the time Alya blabs the secret - which Alya has already told Nino before anyway - it’s no longer a secret therefore making the answer invalid).

Heck, the whole “secret” thing could’ve even been the people Truth shoots finding ways of answering his questions in a way that is technically telling the truth but also not really, such as if Anarka had answered the, “Who’s my father?” question with, “someone you know/someone famous,” so as to avoid saying that it’s Jagged Stone. It’s just boring seeing characters answer with whatever the asker wants to hear instead of being able to find a way around it.

And then there’s Chat Noir, who’s just--ugh.

Like--okay, I’m going to be extremely petty for a moment and just go off because I hate Chat Noir’s role in this entire episode. The Season 3 finale went out of its way to have Chat Noir be all like, “I have a girlfriend,” when it was a lie, and then Season 4 just parkours around Ladybug telling him that she’s dating (Ladybug clearly took no issue with Chat Noir telling her he’s dating so it’s not like she’s worried about issues there; she’s gotten on his case before in episodes like “Startrain” so there are exceptions) because they want to keep having him flirt and not be sAd because this is Marinette’s episode of suffering and Chat Noir actually having to face the reality that Ladybug is dating (not just in love with someone else) would’ve actually been interesting. Chat Noir gets tons of unnecessary screentime in the episode - mostly for the show to shove in LadyNoir shipping fuel - and then actively avoids telling him the obvious thing because he would’ve actually been forced to grow/develop/stop flirting.

It would’ve been so cute and sweet to see him awkwardly trying to flirt without overstepping boundaries (so more like banter than flirt) or - you know - actually try to support Ladybug and want her to be able to finish her dates by him offering to keep akuma/sentimonsters busy, but no, he’s just left in the dark.

The finale had Chat Noir supporting her (terribly but I digress) and then doesn’t do anything with it at the start of Season 4, meaning his support of her was completely meaningless and just there.

His first appearance is him pranking Ladybug when she’s already overstressed and busy, which comes off as super poor taste and I’m both glad he got splatted into that window for it but also upset because it’s screentime completely gone to waste, and of course it’s just a lead up to him guilting her by being like, “nooo the only thing that hurts me is when you leave me alone during patrol!”

I know he’s teasing (...probably) but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth because we know (well, I knew because I know how this show works) that Luka and Marinette were going to break up because of Marinette’s hectic schedule, so it just comes off as insensitive to joke about it, especially when Ladybug’s busy guardian status just serves as a reminder that Fu is gone.

Even when he’s protecting Ladybug from Truth’s questions by cutting in and asking a question of his own, of course he asks about himself to forcibly fish compliments out of Ladybug because she can’t lie to him, and of course they have Ladybug compliment his humor most of all as if that trait hasn’t nearly gotten them in danger multiple times and she’s been repeatedly annoyed when he decides to joke during the worst possible times. It’s as if the writers wanted to pat themselves on the back for their own comedy, so they had Ladybug be a mouthpiece to stroke Chat Noir’s ego.

He claims he won’t force a truth out of her and then literally forces her to say what her favorite things about him are. I acknowledge that this can be seen as me nitpicking but we went from the finale where Chat Noir actually stepped up and took charge (because Ladybug was stressed but I guess him doing anything useful is just whenever it serves the plot) to this where he’s back to flirting constantly and jamming in as much LadyNoir shipping fuel as physically possible. It’s not that he’s useless but he’s annoying and takes up space in an episode that’s supposed to be about Luka and Marinette.

And that leads us into the fourth thing, which is the break-up and just the treatment of Luka and Marinette in general. I could go on and on about how the Season 3 finale built up their relationship just to tear it down in the first episode of Season 4, but that’s not the main issue here.

Luka brought Marinette comfort. He made her happy. He never judged her. He was happy to just date her regardless of any conflicted feelings she might have because hey, who is he to complain if she wants to give him a try and who knows what’ll happen?

And the season couldn’t even give one moment of them being unambiguously happy without ruining or interrupting it. I was ready for the break-up and I was even ready for it to be the first episode but I wasn’t ready for it to be so bad.

Marinette’s Adrien pictures appear out of nowhere (again, makes no sense for the timeline) when they’ve been gone for basically all of Season 3 and even “The Puppeteer 2″ specifically which makes a direct reference to “Troublemaker,” the episode that purposefully overdid it with her pictures (”Truth” has more hanging up and clearly used “Troublemaker” as a reference, by the way). They’re just there for force the love square and Adrien into the episode as much as possible to remind the audience that Adrien breathes. There is literally no purpose to any mention of Adrien and bringing him up isn’t even relevant to Marinette and Luka’s break-up.

It’s just upsetting to know that the umbrella scene from “Origins” (which is already flawed in and of itself) kickstarts this whole thing. Adrien did basically nothing there except for clear up a misunderstanding and give Marinette an umbrella when his ride was a few meters away and Marinette’s house was just across the street, but that actives Marinette’s absolutely crippling crush on him that lasts for 3-4 seasons. Marinette is in this eternal struggle of not being allowed to grow and change because the writers think her stammering/crushing on Adrien is funny while actively punishing her for having this crush in the first place (again, like in the scene with Alya, which insults Marinette for her crush when she wasn’t even panicking over her crush).

It’s the same with Luka, and I can’t believe that it took me until this episode to realize that he and Marinette are both treated the same way: tormented by episodes for having a crush on someone. Episodes will go out of their way to forcibly insert Adrien into the plot to both humiliate Marinette and make Luka feel awkward when the episode isn’t supposed to be about Adrien at all. “Truth” is just “Desperada 2.0″ except Adrien is barely on screen at all and they still felt the need to name drop him constantly. The writers are so sensitive to the idea of people jumping onto another ship or forgetting that Adrien exists that they’ll find any possible way to include him.

“Silencer” knew better. “Silencer” knew that Marinette’s life didn’t have to revolve around the mere mention of Adrien’s name and that she had other interests/desires/traits outside of him. Adrien isn’t brought up once and it was great because the show didn’t feel the need (for once) to throw Adrien into an episode that he had nothing to do with.

Even if I was a love square shipper, I would feel insulted by “Truth” because one half of my ship kept getting name dropped and used as a tool to humiliate the other half, which makes it all the more eyeroll-worthy when the love square stans of the fandom praise this episode for breaking Lukanette up when--oh, wait, they didn’t even break up “because Adrien.”

And that ends up being the real thing here. The writers had to invent a reason for Marinette and Luka to break up. We already know that Jagged Stone being Luka’s dad is a retcon (not technically in the show’s canon but in information we heard about outside of it), so they shoved in Luka having issues about not knowing his father specifically so that he would be pushed over the edge when Marinette couldn’t tell him about her being Ladybug.

When Luka and Marinette were just together and hanging out, Adrien wasn’t mentioned once. Say whatever about the Adrien pictures being on the wall and Marinette’s stammering (she always says stupid stuff when she panics - especially stuff she doesn’t mean - so I’m not upset with her so much as the writing for having her mess up in that specific way), but the only time Marinette talks about Adrien at all in the episode is when someone else brings him up.

She goes on a date with Luka to the cinema and they were having a great time without Adrien involved at all. I know I already stressed this point in a previous post, but one of the reasons that I find Lukanette to be so amazing is because the show actually focuses on Marinette’s interests and doesn’t force her to be the writer’s mouthpiece for gushing about their sunshine boy a punching bag for comedy. In every Lukanette scene that doesn’t bring up Adrien/before Adrien shows up, Marinette is either praised, able to be happy, or is showing one of her interests that isn’t aDrIeN, and whereas Adrien being on-screen around Marinette usually just means that she’s gushing about/stammering around him with no development, Lukanette features us actually learning more about Luka or other characters.

“Captain Hardrock” - lets her bond with Luka over a shared interest in Jagged Stone, and Luka is established as a sort of empath who uses music as a way to speak for himself

“Frozer” - gets to practice ice skating with Luka, who is actually good at ice skating and also can tie laces despite not tying his own because he’s a rebel

“Desperada” - gets to try out guitar with Luka and we learn that Luka has been playing guitar for as long as he can remember

“Silencer” - showcases Marinette’s interest in fashion and properly introduces Kitty Section; has a plot featuring all of them together doing something not even remotely love-related and we get actual confirmation of Luka’s crush on Marinette, along with Marinette’s reaction (blushy+happy; just saying, idk how anyone could watch “Silencer” and not think that Marinette was crushing on Luka)

“Heart Hunter” - Marinette gets a song written for/about her and Luka is established to have a job

“Truth” - brings up Lukanette’s shared interest in Jagged Stone, features Marinette’s interest in fashion when she gives him a gift she made + had Jagged Stone sign, and shows her raising her voice but not being judged by Luka for it, who’s happy with her just the way he is

When the show focuses on Lukanette, it’s all about lifting Marinette up, praising her, and making her feel good. When Adrien is involved or it’s hyper-fixating on Marinette’s crush on him, it’s about bringing her down and making her feel bad for a crush they keep forcing her to hold onto and humiliating her for.

Point being, the writers had to force their way into getting Lukanette broken up because of their precious love square and the fact that Marinette and Luka being happy is the opposite of what they want.

It’s embarrassing to watch a team full of old white guys (I’m convinced at this point that they just hang their female writer on a coat hanger so they can point to her whenever someone says that their staff is too male-dominated) treat their female biracial lead with such disrespect, and I can only presume that the mistreatment of Luka is because he’s supportive of her and they don’t like that, meaning that the way she’s treated ends up rubbing off on him.

It doesn’t come off as a fun or interesting plot; it comes off as cruel. When Adrien is sad, he usually gets people rushing to comfort him (”Party Crasher,” “Gamer”), but “Truth” has Marinette in tears over the fact that she can’t have a boyfriend due to being Ladybug and the writing has the gall to crack jokes about Kaalki not knowing what tears are, and then Marinette has to ask for the kwami to hug her for comfort.

When Luka gets akumatized into Truth, the episode doesn’t even hesitate at bashing away at him, from everyone saying that Marinette’s secret is that she “loves Adrien” (which, as Truth points out, isn’t a secret, and they could’ve had this somehow lead up to a twist ending where Marinette actually isn’t into Adrien anymore and the Adrien pictures were genuinely for reference, but she stammered about it because it was embarrassing that her boyfriend got sent it with no context) to one of Luka’s favorite songs actually being about how Jagged abandoned him to go on tour. Luka has to deal with Marinette ditching him constantly (not that I blame her) and not knowing who his father is despite wanting to know, and the episode treats him like trash for... what? Having a crush on a girl who’s secretly Ladybug? Because that’s all it seems to come down to in the end.

I also have serious gripes with the fact that Marinette has this huge schedule established in “Gamer 2.0″ and they don’t even try to explain why she can’t use it to keep track of her obligations. The episode has her say (in a roundabout way but still) that she’s forgetting stuff constantly because of all of her emergencies (the emergencies of which are not stated and I hate the subtle implication that forgetting something means you don’t care about it when that’s clearly not how things work and also not what Marinette comes off as because - again - they establish that she’s overworked) but fails to properly explain it. The episode hammers away at Marinette having all these issues and even has Tikki chide Marinette by asking her about leaving Luka alone while apparently neglecting the fact that Marinette HAS to go be Ladybug right now and what else is there to even do??

Both Luka and Marinette are punished for just having a crush and wanting to be together and I hate that the episode forces a break-up instead of coming up with a solution to the problem. Instead of “Marinette isn’t ready for a romantic relationship,” it feels more like she’s just not allowed to be happy.

Long-distance relationships are a thing. Relationships where people don’t get to go on dates frequently are a thing. Instead of forcing a break-up, the episode could’ve had a lesson/development where Marinette is told that she’s allowed to pursue a relationship and just needs to plan accordingly. but they just didn’t want to.

For example: instead of planning dates, Marinette could wait until an akuma/sentimonster is defeated to call Luka and ask him out, because Hawk Moth usually doesn’t strike immediately after one is dealt with. I’m positive that Luka would happily take impromptu/sudden dates over planned-but-inconsclusive ones. Heck, they don’t even have to date specifically and can just stick to phone calls (kwami can’t be picked up on technology) or hanging out in Marinette’s room/on Marinette’s balcony while they do their thing.

Relationships are a commitment, but that doesn’t mean they have to be a burden, and the episode absolutely drags Marinette over it. The whole thing with the kwami being released and stressing her out when they’re not supposed to be able to just come out normally is explained away by, “oh, the new box must be like you, Marinette; full of surprises!” when the reality is just that the show wants to take away everything that’s sacred to Marinette. The Season 3 finale had Fu’s letter telling Marinette that “life doesn’t always give you what you want, but the real gift is life itself,” then proceeds to turn Marinette’s life into a living hell.

Her room? She has to say good-bye to her privacy because now the kwami are always going to be around. The first thing one of them (Trixx) did was start reading her diary, showing that they have absolutely no shame or regard for Marinette’s feelings.

Her schedule? Conveniently pops away into the realm of non-existence so she can look bad for ditching Chat Noir on patrol and neglecting dates with Luka due to her responsibilities/stress.

Her boyfriend, the one person in the entire show who loved her, respected her agency, never judged her, actually apologized when he made her sad, and who she was genuinely in love with rather than just having the equivalent of a celebrity crush for? She had to break up with him because plot and needing to force her to go back to fawning over the guy who has only made her life worse by her crushing on him.

When I say the universe hates Marinette, this is what I mean. It created random akuma to attack Paris all for the sake of forcing Marinette away from Luka, and apparently didn’t realize what they were doing in the scene where Marinette hurries back to the Liberty when Kitty Section and Adrien are playing together when Adrien is Chat Noir so he should’ve been late too.

(Oh, and Marinette completely ignores Adrien in favor of waving at Luka and even tells Luka outright that Adrien isn’t even a factor in their relationship issues, further proving the “multiple drafts smashed together” and “the Adrien name drops are pointless” points.)

The whole thing in “Backwarder” where it was basically outright stated that Marianne could’ve been Fu’s confidant had Marianne not been outed by Ladybug’s mistake? Completely forgotten and left to the wayside. Marinette could’ve told Luka that she was watching the Miracle Box in Ladybug’s place (for any number of reasons, really: either Ladybug thinks it’s too dangerous to keep with her, or if the public doesn’t know that Ladybug is guardian, then Marinette can just say that she’s guardian) and that she has to run off to keep guard of the Miracle Box when an akuma/sentimonster happens in case Ladybug needs a miraculous.

Boom, done, episode solved. Luka gets to help Marinette with the kwami, Marinette is less stressed because someone knows half of her secret, and Luka and Marinette continue to date but are able to plan around akuma attacks.

But no. That whole thing in “Backwarder” where guardians (or at least Fu) can have a confidant was just there so Marinette could feel guilty about screwing it all up, because she’s not able to take advantage of that perk herself.

How convenient.

[messy-does-cosmology]

I've been listening to Mitski since I was like 16 and will now tell you what I think about the Mitski discourse I keep seeing on my dash:

First of all, if you're engaging in any way with a "Mitski fandom" you are doing it wrong. Music is meant to be enjoyed, mutual enjoyment of music is great but holding someone up on a pedestal and treating them like they're not even a human being is hurtful to that person. Everyone is just a guy. This goes both for people who say shit like "Mitski is a CIA agent white supremacist child abuser kidnapper" and hit like and reblog with no double-checking AND for the people who act as if Mitski is an infallible saint. She has even said she doesn't like it, so maybe stop treating her like a god or like someone you know because you truly don't actually know her unless you are her IRL friend. You can argue about the things she has said all day, and think you have the most correct interpretation, but this is the Internet and people's imaginations tend to run wild, so she might look at what you think she thinks based on everything she's said and say "no that's not exactly what I meant". Stop being a Stan and start just being a normal fan. A Mitski enjoyer if you will.

Second of all, remember that social media is literally designed to make you mad and feed you takes you don't agree with. There are always people who are annoying or "wrong" about the meaning of certain songs/music/etc. but giving them more than a passing thought it a waste of your precious time on earth and will only make you stressed. If you see a stupid take, take a deep breath and move on. It's not worth it. Focus on making life better for people IRL.

Thirdly, everyone is really mad about people "misinterpreting" mitski's music to be "not about race". It is about race, obviously, but it's also about other things as well, and to condense her stuff down into "this is only about race and has no other message" is, I think, kind-of patronising and you would never do it to a white artist. Her stuff is about all sorts of things, including some of the highly relatable heartbreaks of life, and to say that it's only about race is stereotyping and pidgeonholing in my opinion. Do not misinterpret me here. I am NOT saying it's not about race. It is. But it is not only about race, and if you think that it is, then you absolutely are contradicting what she has said is her interpretation of her music.

Finally, final point here, you have to question how many people made the original bad take of "mitski's music is not about race" or "your best American girl is only about heartbreak" to deserve this huge tumblr backlash. And also maybe the age of those people. Mitski has massively blown up on tiktok over the past few years, which skews very young, and young teenagers make bad takes all the time. I was very politically engaged as a child, and I would say that I only started becoming fully aware of social issues and forming political opinions I somewhat still agree with aged around 16. I knew about the ones that affected me and didn't think about much else before I met people who had very different life experiences from me. I think that's pretty normal. Sure, if you are literally at the centre of absolutely all vectors of oppression, maybe you're accutely aware of all forms of social issues from a young age, but most people are not. So maybe cut young teenagers some slack by ignoring them. When I was 14, I was not on twitter to be able to have my every stupid, half-baked, ignorant take go viral or prompt an Internet backlash. You are not doing anyone any favours by reacting with mob justice. Least of all Mitski herself, who isn't on social media and can't see the bad takes or your dramatic unpicking of the bad takes.

[aesthyuckic]

AVENOIR | l.dh - VIGINTI QUINQUE (FINALE)

(gif not mine - credit to rightful owner)

Genre: High School AU (at beginning) ; Tarot Reader!Witch!Hyuck

Word Count: 2.7K

Warnings: (bold if in use) slow but with a purpose, belief contradictions, mentions of r*pe, blood, swearing, violence, mentions of abuse

Pairings: Lee Donghyuck (Haechan) x Reader (F)

V OF PENTACLES IN REVERSE: recovery, isolation

It was late at night when Johnny had heard a pounding on his door that had woken him up. Rather pissed off, he got up to go answer it, ready to yell at whoever until he saw them. Cosimia and Donghyuck standing there, both of them covered in blood with looks on their faces like lost children that had done something wrong.

“What did you do?” The oldest asked the both of them with widen eyes

In a rush, they had brought him to their trailer where a dead body in a pool of blood still lied on their floor. Random spots of red stained their carpet as well. The man had stood in utter disbelief at the sight in front of him especially with the two kids who had been involved.

“How could you kill someone?” Johnny asked, annoyed rather than concerned.

“It was self dense…” The girl replied. “He literally tried to kill Haechan and kidnap me.”

“It’s her father,” The boy added in a rather hushed tone as he stared blankly elsewhere. “Was her father now I guess…”

“Your father? How did he find you two? I thought you faked your deaths.”

“We did. I guess I was dumb enough to think he’d believe it. You’re surprisingly calm about us having a dead man on our floor.”

“There’s no point in freaking out when it gets us no where.”

There was a pause for silence as they looked at the literally crime scene in front of them. Though, Donghyuck was somewhere else still processing and thinking about what had happened.

“What do we do, Johnny?” The young boy asked, finally looking away from where he was staring just to turn his attention to the other with a scared look of hopelessness. “Do we call the police?”

“No,” He said. “That’d be too much time on our hands and too much money I don’t want to spend on fixing it.”

“But…” The boy started. “Why can’t we?”

“Really, Haechan? Why can’t we? Would you like to go to jail? Because I don’t know what happened exactly if this doesn’t exactly look very good when it comes to a self dense claim. Oh, and especially since it’s obviously you bashed his head in multiple times and he’s been lying here for awhile since he’s cold!”

“Johnny!” Cosimia yelled.

It had become quiet enough that they could hear little sniffs and cries. The eldest looked over to where Donghyuck leaned against the chair to see the boy had tears coming down his cheeks as he bit his lip trying to hold back any noise.

“God, look at what you did.” The girl huffed. “Outside, now!”

The man seemed taken back by her words and tone, “Excuse me, I’m your boss and I’m seven years older than you.”

“I said outside now!” She repeated herself, just much louder this time as well as angry.

The room had gotten quiet once again as he rolled his eyes and just did what the girl said by going outside. She went over to her boyfriend just to whisper a few sweet things to calm him down before kissing his forehead, gently. She then followed behind the eldest shortly, leaving him inside. The screen slammed behind her, making the anger apparent at the other.

“If you’re not going to help us, you can leave. I’ll figure it out on my own.” She sighed. “I don’t get why you had to do that to him…”

“Do what?” He pondered. “I answered his question.”

“Yeah, in a mean and unnecessary way when he’s not in a good state of mind!” She retorted. “You really don’t know what he’s been going through in the last hour… and Hyuck wouldn’t kill anyone, he didn’t kill anyone.”

“So what? Your dad just slipped and hit his head on your counter multiple times?”

“You know how he’s been seeing ghosts since he woke up from his coma? The first one he saw was my mom. You want to know who killed my father? It was her, she just used Hyuck as a way to do it. That’s why he has no scratches or anything even though he got stabbed by him! He feels bad enough as is, it’s not his fault and it’s not mine either. So help us or leave so I can figure it out and take care of Hyuck properly. The reason we even went to you is because we thought you’d be helpful and not do something like this…”

“That wouldn’t sound very good either in the eyes of a court.”

“No shit.”

It got rather cold that evening, everything about the atmosphere was heavy and gloom. The tall man stared at the teenager in front of him. Clothes still covered in blood, with her arms crossed as she seemed to think about the situation. Johnny sighed as he’d just seen a kid taking on more than she should at her age at the attempt of keeping her and her boyfriend together.

“Come on.” He said before going back inside. “I’ll help you guys.”

“You will?” Donghyuck heard as he came in.

“Yes…” He nodded. “I’ll take care of the body. Just clean the floors and take a shower after. We’ll figure things out from there I guess.”

Johnny wrapped a plastic bag around the body’s head, duct taping it shut so the blood pooled into the bag rather on the floor anymore. He had Cosimia help him drag the body right outside the trailer before he took over and told her to go help Haechan clean the floors. She seemed oddly desensitized to it, though the man understood why she would after learning about the past she shared with the person that was now just a body. The boy was inside putting blood soaked sponges and white towels turned red into a bucket.

At first, he was cleaning up without a thought as it was just automatic but the more he stared at the blood the more he thought about. He still blamed himself for the predicament they were in, even if he hadn’t had control of his body he was the one that killed him. Seeing it again just made him feel utterly guilty. It haunted his mind as he now just sat on the floor, staring at the yellow gloves that were messy and stained red.

Cosimia walked in to see him in a trance. She sighed out of worry. She bent down, quietly next to him. She made eye contact with him before she took the gloves off his hands. To the boy, it was almost terrifying to see how emotionless she seemed about it all, not even phased by the blood even if the sight of it made her pale.

“Go shower.” She mumbled. “But your clothes in a bag though.”

“I should help you...” He said.

“I can do it on my own, Hyuck.” She assured him. “You need it so, go.”

The boy nodded and did as he was told, all in silence. She hurried to finish cleaning up the puddles left on the floor before she scrubbed the kitchen floor spotless to get the tint out of it. It sparkled and the yellow shade on the other side was suspicious in all honesty. She moved on to the carpet after that, her boyfriend still in the shower. She scrubbed deep into the carpet as much as hard as she could. Again, the color difference made things feel off.

She sighed, sweating from how much ‘elbow grease’ she had to put into both floors all on her own. She was already just mentally done with the night. Donghyuck had come from the bedroom, freshly showered and with new, clean clothes on. A wrinkled plastic bag all tied up in his hand with his previous outfit in it. He saw the girl bent over the floor just breathing heavy with her eyes closed.

“Uhh…” He hesitated. “I’m done…”

She looked up at him at the sound of his voice. “Okay, just put the bag outside.”

“It looks good…” He said, awkwardly as he walked through the kitchen, noticing she had finished already.

“Thank you.”

“Cosi, I don’t mean to sound rude or anything, but you missed a spot…”

“What?”

She walked over to see what spot he was talking about. She apparently had forgotten about the ledge of the counter. The metal strip was a golden color, now mixed with a wine color. The boy was taken back at the sight, his breath hitched in his throat as he remembered his vague vision from the night of summer solstice that all made sense to him now. He caught himself in a trance again.

“Are you okay?” The girl asked him.

“As good as I can be right now.” He shrugged before he went outside.

It felt cold, she knew he was still process and everything but he was being avoidant especially with her which hurt almost even if she got it. It was an awkward situation, how exactly are you suppose to act with someone after that? She didn’t blame him. She held back her own tears and emotions as she she dropped to the floor to scrub one more thing.

It seemed never ending, like it went on forever. Guilt was so overwhelming… If she hadn’t asked him to run away he wouldn’t have gotten hurt whatsoever or be here in this mess. She wanted to sob so badly, it was painful to hold back as she cleaned. She felt like he hated her even if that was far from the truth. And even though her father was the scum of the earth in her eyes, he was unfortunately still a human being, that happened to be related to her, who died in front of her. She wanted him dead for so long she didn’t know how to feel exactly. Maybe it was bad that she felt relief over it or that she didn’t really care about the fact he was dead and ‘murdered’ by what others would say. She felt as if he had it coming, that he deserved it after all he had put her through, put her boyfriend through. It would’ve been her’s and Donghyuck’s blood anyway if not his so was it that bad?

As much as she wanted to be about love and felt best when she was, it was hard to be when others filled you with so much rage and pain… She always had to be strong and especially so right now. She finished up the corner before she put the bucket outside and went back in to clean herself up. She wrapped her old clothes in a plastic bag, just like Donghyuck before she got into the shower. Her hair dripped with every step she took once she had gotten out.

Johnny had found them and told them to follow him with everything from the crime scene. The kids look at each other in confusion but did as they were told anyway. The place he had lead them to was far away from everyone and everything else. There, a bonfire resided that touch the dark night sky. Wood burned as they stopped in their tracks.

“Just throw it all in…” Their boss said as he stared at the fire that burned bright.

It was a sense of relief when they saw everything set ablaze and watched it turn into ash.

“Is that it?” Donghyuck asked.

“For you guys.” The other male shrugged. “I’m going to be out here for awhile. Go get some sleep and this night never happened.”

They nodded, both understanding and left with a small ‘thank you’ into the darkness. Nothing felt real at that point. It was eerie, even when they stepped back in the trailer they called home for the many months. It left a dreadful feeling, knowing and seeing what happen all over again. It’s like… a ghost of what happened lingered among them just to haunt them. It was just spooky in a way it never was.

To think the evening has started out so lovely… Who knew it could go to shit so fast and stay that way…

It was clear both of the teenagers were exhausted, though they couldn’t sleep no matter how much they tried.

“She’s gone, isn’t she?” The girl questioned.

“Huh?” He mumbled. “Who?”

“My mom.” She responded. “She’s gone, right?”

“Yeah… She thanked me before she disappeared.”

“I never got to say goodbye to her.”

“I’m sorry, Cosi.”

“She didn’t even say she loves me?”

“I think that goes without saying…”

“At least she’s in the summerlands now.”

Morning didn’t take long to arrive. The sunrise was a beautiful orange, yellow and pink ombré. They decided to go up on their roof to watch it since they were up and the inside was too suffocating for them. Donghyuck was once again the one to help Cosimia on the roof.

The sun started to peek more over the horizon more with every moment. The birds sang, cheerfully as everything around them glow a welcoming gold color. It seemed like the world really had no idea what had gone on or maybe it just proved life went on in many beautiful ways regardless of what horrible things took place in it.

Cosimia looked over to see her boyfriend looking off into the distance with no clue she was staring. He usually knew because he could feel it and he’d make some sly comment about it. She hurt because she had never seen him so quiet.

“Do you still love me?” She struggled to mutter out.

“What?” He was taken back by the question. “Of course I do! What would give you the idea I don’t?”

“Because,” She croaked. “It’s easy to say this is my fault… My father hurt you, my mother possessed you… If I didn’t ask you to come with me you would’ve never gotten hurt or gone through this. The question is how can you love me knowing that, really.”

“I don’t know how many times I have to say how glad I am that I came with you, honestly. I’ve learned many things because of you and I’ve become someone I’m happy to be because of you. I wouldn’t trade anything in the world for this adventure I’ve been able to share with you, Cosi. I know relationships and life in general have hard patches, but I do love you and I want to work through that and still be with you… I want to marry you one day.”

“You do…?”

She seemed shocked by the last part that had left his mouth. Truth be told, so was he. He should’ve learn to shut his mouth after he said ‘i love you’ the day when they started dating. Tears were streaming down the girl’s face which he reached over to wipe away.

“I do…” He smiled. “I hope that’s okay. I know we haven’t dated that long and we’re still very much kids and not ready for that yet… But I do hope to share the rest of my life with you.”

She started sobbing, “You really don’t hate or blame me for what happened?”

“You can’t control those things so of course not.” He reassured her. “I’m just happy to still be here with you right now and you especially, but we’re okay. Maybe not mentally, but physically. We can work on the mental part and get better.”

She laughed a bit through her tears. They boy pulled her over and kissed her forehead, gently this time, “I love you, okay? No matter what. We’ll get through this together even if it’s tough.”

She hugged him with a hum. It was nice to feel comfort for a moment after the stressful night they had been through.

“Should we leave?” She asked.

He breathed, “We’ve created our family here. Plus Johnny has done so much for us just in these last few hours… If you want to go, I’ll go. It’s up to you.”

“Maybe we should stay.” She hummed.

“We have all the time in the world to figure out what’s next for us.”

They intertwined their fingers, holding each other hands rather tightly. Cosimia leaned her head on the boy’s shoulder, feeling some tranquility now. The sun continued to rise in front of them…

T H E E N D.

[darkpoisonouslove]

Hi, can you please do Bloom and Icy 1,3,7,9,12,13,14,19,20,25,28,29,30?

1. Who is the most affectionate?

Bloom. Icy likes it but initiating it will take a little longer. Especially since she is still trying to pretend affection disgusts her to keep her reputation of a heartless witch intact. It is totally not working because she is weak for Bloom but it will take her some time to admit it out loud even though she is totally aware of it.

3. Most common argument?

Who is hotter. Totally initiated by their friends (aka Stella and Darcy), totally not serious... until it becomes serious. The fun thing is that they’ve argued it different ways - sometimes insisting that the other is hotter, sometimes insisting that they are the hotter one. It totally depends on how the others will set it up for them. They haven’t seriously fought over it, though. Bloom can make Icy melt at any moment and Icy has all the icebreakers to fix any potential drama situation. (I am not sorry for any of this XD)

7. What’s the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other?

Icy starts looking for ways to end the confrontations between them without having to kill Bloom. It majorly pisses her off because a) it’s getting in the way of her plans and b) she has to make herself look progressively dumber and more incompetent because Winx seem to lose brain cells as time goes on and pull increasingly dumb stunts. She is sure anyone with half a brain would have figured out that she is doing it on purpose but Winx are too busy fighting them to figure it out and Bloom is super dense about it (probably because she’s in denial).

Bloom finds herself no longer on Diaspro whenever she shows up. Instead of being jealous, Bloom finds herself drifting into musings about what would have happened if it had actually been Icy in disguise instead of Diaspro. Somehow all those scenarios end up with her and Icy experiencing some major sexual tension (in that fight and any other) and they end up kissing and more aggressively. She doesn’t even feel guilty because Sky was lying to her anyway. She just can’t comprehend why Icy of all people and that is why she denies having feelings for her even though she knows it deep down.

9. Who worries the most?

Icy worries more actually. Both about being “good” enough for Bloom and also for Bloom’s safety. Basically, she may love her and respect her as the keeper of the Dragon Fire and a powerful magical user but she still views Bloom and Winx as a bunch of dumbasses who totally get mixed up in the biggest trouble you can find in the universe. Bloom also thinks that Icy gets mixed up into a lot of shit but she is confident that Icy can handle it. She is also a bit scandalized to learn that Icy does not fully return that confidence when it comes to Bloom’s ability to get out of sticky situations (mostly because half the time the only reason Winx survived against the Trix was because Icy didn’t want to actually kill Bloom).

12. Who initiates kisses?

Icy. She likes kissing Bloom and she looks for no excuses to do it. She just goes for it. She doesn’t need a reason to kiss the life out of her girlfriend. She doesn’t care that she is contradicting her proclamations of disliking affection.

13. Who reaches for the other’s hand first?

Bloom. She likes just holding on to Icy, maybe cuddling into her and smooching her, too, or running her free hand through Icy’s hair. Icy claims it is counterproductive. Somehow you’ll never see her letting go of Bloom’s hand, though. She actually starts reaching for Bloom herself as she gets more comfortable with PDAs (and any displays of affection at all).

14. Who kisses the hardest?

Icy. Bloom was not prepared. She is a puddle for Icy the moment she gets devoured with a kiss and Icy loves every moment of it. They both do.

19. Who tells their family/friends about their relationship first?

Definitely Icy. Although it is more of a they already knew kind of situation. Stormy and Darcy had noticed the change in her and they figured out what was going on.

20. What do their family/friends think of their relationship?

Darcy and Stormy are okay with it. They don’t exactly have that big reactions. They might be kinda salty because Winx were the reason why they ended up in jail several times but they’re happy if Icy is. Winx aren’t all that sold on it, though, considering all the times the Trix almost killed them. They come around eventually, some faster than others (surprisingly, it took Flora a big time because the Trix nearly killed Miele) but they do believe in people being able to change and be better so they are happy once they are sure that Bloom is having a good relationship that makes her happy. Mike and Vanessa need some time to get used to it as well because the Trix also nearly killed them. And Marion and Oritel aren’t thrilled about the Trix being descendants of the Ancestral Witches and having attempted to murder Bloom and her friends more than once. But they actually come around faster (well, Marion does, and she has to stop Oritel from meddling) because they don’t feel like they have that much authority in Bloom’s life. So really, it is Mike and Vanessa that Icy has to win over. She does understand why they’re wary of her and is even surprised that they’re giving her a chance at all. So she does her best to be the best for Bloom and they slowly warm up to the idea of her being Bloom’s one and only.

25. Who needs more assurance?

Bloom. She has many insecurities about never fitting in and she actually feels more uncertain about why Icy likes her. Icy is pretty certain in Bloom’s feelings about her because given what they’ve been through and what she’s caused Bloom and her friends, Bloom must really like her in order to even consider being with her. She is actually glad that she can provide reassurance for Bloom, though, and be there for her now to make up for what she’s done in the past.

28. What do they do when they’re away from each other?

Icy will totally get into more trouble than she would if Bloom were around. It’s not that she can’t control herself but she sometimes misses her more villainous moments. Bloom knows about that and pretends she doesn’t see when Icy is being more of a bitch than she needs to be. So Icy isn’t lying to Bloom about anything. She just knows it will be better for both of them if Bloom can pretend to be completely clueless about Icy’s misdeeds. She also chills with Darcy and Stormy, though. Or... well, they’re chilling like villains but you know. She’s chilled with Winx a couple times as well and that went better than she thought it would. Stella was a little annoying but they actually had a good time shopping together? Who would’ve thought. She’s also sparred with Musa and Layla and it was fun. She’ll deny it, though.

Bloom draws a lot. She likes making surprise drawings for Icy and of Icy. She also hangs out with Stella a lot. The other Winx as well but mostly with Stella. She’s had several outings with Darcy and Stormy and that went... decently. They found some things in common but there was also some awkwardness. Darcy and Stormy had a hard time opening up to her to which she totally related. So that kind of acted like a bridge. They were mostly learning to get along without Icy being there and it got better with time. They can have a pleasant meeting just the three of them now.

29. one headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart

Icy has a hard time around Daphne because she feels bad for what Daphne (and therefore Bloom) had to go through because of the Ancestral Witches but she can’t help but be salty about Daphne being resurrected and getting to live while Sapphire is still cursed (if we take a better version of canon where the fact that she had a sister did not come out of the blue). Same for Domino vs Dyamond. She finds it hardest to interact with Daphne, however, because of Daphne’s character. The calmness and sort of wisdom that Daphne has kinda grates on her nerves. It breaks Bloom’s heart a little that her sister and her wife (oh, yeah) can’t get along (Daphne is not all that thrilled about Icy either).

30. one headcanon about this OTP that mends it

Bloom makes a necklace herself (with a little help from Hagen) that contains a spark of the Dragon Fire (like Oritel’s sword) and give it to Icy to both show her that she trusts her and share with her everything that is hers - not just her love, but her magic and life as well. It might have been a proposal without actually being one. Icy has to work very hard on learning to contain the tears every time she looks at the necklace in order to actually be able to wear it. It boosts her powers and makes her and Bloom a formidable team and arguably the strongest partnership in the whole universe.

[astralaffairs]

I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING I NEED YOU TO KNOW ABOUT. LONGTIME POLITICAL RIVALS THOM AND MC RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AGAINST EACH OTHER

omg

--------

"You've gotta be kidding me."

Y/N's grip on her glass was slowly tightening; her narrowed eyes were locked on him from across the room. "What is he doing here?"

Priya, her campaign manager, sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Want me to have him thrown out?"

"No," she huffed. "He'd make a scene of it, and that's the last thing I want."

A moment passed in (relative) silence, save for the sounds of chatter scattered throughout the room at Y/N's campaign fundraiser. She tapped the toe of one of her black pumps impatiently against the polished floor, and it took all of her will to stop herself from snapping the stem of her wine glass; instead, she threw the rest of her drink back in one heavy sip. "How do you figure I should handle this?"

She turned to Priya with a weary eyebrow raised. Priya frowned. "I think you're best off proceeding as usual. Keep talking to prospective donors, and don't let him derail your night."

"You're probably right." Y/N's sour expression didn't fit her acquiescence. "But this is so obnoxious. Who the hell does he think he is?"

"Watch yourself; there are reporters all around." Priya nudged her, nodding toward the lively crowd, but she wore an amused smile at Y/N's words.

"I'll behave if he does," she said, scowling.

"Good luck, then," —Priya's gaze flickered between Jefferson and Y/N— "because he'd headed this way."

Y/N had to resist the urge to groan loudly as Priya slipped away, offering her an apologetic shrug as she did so, but Y/N couldn't really blame her. Realistically, as Jefferson approached her, giving an annoyingly nonchalant smile when he caught her eye, nodding to her in greeting, Y/N knew Priya would have to let her handle it — still, she would've rathered Priya stick around to restrain her from throttling him.

Her eyes flickered down to her glass; for a brief moment, she regretted having already drank all of it.

"Attorney General L/N."

When Y/N looked back up, Jefferson stood only feet in front of her, a hand tucked into his pocket and the other holding a shallow glass of whiskey. She was too tired to even glare.

"Secretary Jefferson." Her voice was thick with resentment. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He shrugged, glancing about the room as he came up beside her. She sighed internally. "Well, it's an open event, isn't it? 'M here for the same reason as everyone else."

"To donate to my campaign, you mean?" Y/N folded her arms, and he grinned.

"I was referrin' to the open bar." He nodded toward the edge of the room, taking a sip of his whiskey as if to prove his point.

Y/N scoffed. "All that family money you're freeloading on, and you're still looking for free booze? You're such a fucking cheapskate."

"Language, Ms. Attorney General," he said, scandalized tone entirely contrived. She rolled her eyes. "Besides, it's much more satisfyin' to be drinkin' on your dime. I appreciate the generosity."

"Believe me, it wasn't meant for you." He frowned. "Is there really nowhere better for you to be on a Friday night than getting drunk at one of my campaign events?"

"Not really."

"That's almost sad." She looked at him with disdain, and despite how patronizing her tone was, he didn't look offended in the least.

"Aw, can't I just wanna hang out with you?" he asked, brow furrowed. "James was busy, so I figured this was the next best thing."

"Because we're best friends now?"

He shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. "I mean, don't flatter yourself. James 'n Dolley are still both far ahead of you on that list. And then there's Lafayette, too. And even Burr, really, but—"

"I get it," she cut him off, her cheeks flaring with heat as he wore a self-satisfied grin.

"But, hey, you're up there, too. Don't worry," he assured her, and she couldn't even bring herself to come up with some kind of biting retort.

"Right."

A moment passed in annoyed silence (well, Y/N was annoyed; realistically, Jefferson was enjoying himself), and Y/N glared down at the distinct lack of wine still sitting at the bottom of her glass. She didn't want to let him have the reaction he was looking for from her.

"You should leave," she said bluntly, and his eyebrows shot up.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not going to give you what you want and make myself look bad by having security throw you out. So you're going to get nothing out of being here," she hissed. "Please, just leave. You stick to your campaign, and I'll stick to mine."

"C'mon, now, where's the fun in that?"

"I'm just trying to fundraise; can't you leave that alone?" Her teeth were gritted as she spoke, and his smile was broadening; he was seemingly taking pleasure in how quickly she was getting worked up, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She just wanted him out. "Some of us can't just ride it out on daddy's money. We aren't all heirs to millions."

He quirked a brow. "Sounds like a personal problem."

"It is. That's my point," she scoffed. "I know we disagree on literally everything, but outright classism is stooping low, even for you."

"If you really need money, 'm sure there are a couple Super PACs on Capitol Hill that'd be glad to fork over a couple million." A mischievous glint shone in his eyes with his words, and he glanced back at her, taking another sip of his drink. Her glare didn't waver.

"If you're trying to create ammunition against me, it isn't going to work," she warned him. "You're wasting your time."

"Well, I'm hurt, now, Y/N." He frowned, free hand held to his heart. "Thought we were friends. Maybe I just came to see you."

Her huff was heavy, and he couldn't maintain his mild expression, his stupid, smug grin cracking through the facade. "We aren't on a first name basis, Jefferson."

He managed a pout. "After all these years? Aw, sweetheart, 'm devastated," he said, and when she looked away from him, her furious gaze instead turning to the hotel ballroom before her, the corners of his lips quirked. "We were even coworkers, once. Now, what happened to that?"

"As if we got along while we were working together." She didn't meet his eyes. "You've always been fixated on sabotaging my career, so I guess I'm not surprised that this is no different."

"Hang on, I never sabotaged your career," he said defensively, but when she cast him a disbelieving glance, his eyes flashed mischievously. "You did that perfectly well all on your own."

"I'm eight points ahead of you in the polls." She eyed him disdainfully. He shrugged.

"Don't get too cocky, now; the debates haven't even started," he replied, undeterred, "I've just gotta wait till the whole country gets to see you on live TV makin' a mockery of your party."

"Everyone knows people only watch the debates for confirmation bias," Y/N said dryly, again turning away from him. "You may as well drop out now. You've got no shot at the presidency."

He hummed skeptically. "I dunno about that, sweetheart—"

"Don't call me that," she seethed, but her annoyance only seemed to spur him on.

"So hostile," he sighed. "Now I guess I don't have to feel guilty that I'm stealin' all your donors, hm?"

"All my donors resent your policies almost as much as I do." Y/N couldn't maintain her anger, although she remained annoyed. Was this really his best shot at derailing her fundraiser? "Go back to pandering to Citizens United; you won't have too much luck with my pool of attendees."

"You sure? I've been told I can be real charmin'," he said matter-of-factly, and she huffed out a bitter laugh.

"By who, exactly?"

"Undisclosed sources," he said, shooting her a wink, and she pursed her lips; with the playful grin he wore, her smile was no longer all anger and resentment. "You'll have to take me at my word."

"I don't believe it, but I guess I can't really contest it," Y/N replied, and Thomas's grin broadened at the amusement he could hear seeping into her voice.

He raised a teasing eyebrow. "So you're tellin' me you agree, then?"

"That is not what I'm telling you." Her smile fell flat. Her tone was biting, but she turned away from him, folded her arms, and she could feel the heat rising in back of her neck. Her willing it away had little effect. He looked smug. "I'm saying that if you can't tell me who the sources are, then I can't fact check you, so there's no way to contest your claim. That's what I mean."

She was rambling, and he took another nonchalant sip of his drink, satisfaction obvious in his expression. "Mhm."

"I'm serious. It was a stupid fucking claim, anyway, and you know that wasn't what I said," she said, and the words were biting. Thomas looked down at her mildly, his smirk lazy.

"'Course."

"Stop being so damn condescending," she huffed. "I didn't agree with what you were saying. Now will you shut up about it?"

"What am I doin' wrong, sweetheart?" He folded his arms, turned fully toward her with an inquisitive look and a self-satisfied smile. "I didn't contradict you. You're allowed to think whatever you wanna."

"It's not me 'thinking whatever I want,' I didn't say that you were—" She cut herself off with a scowl as his smile widened, and he raised his eyebrows expectantly. Warmth was flooding her cheeks, by then, and she couldn't even bring herself to finish her sentence, didn't even want to admit aloud what she was defending herself for. She felt ridiculous. He looked unswayed. "God, I refuse to have this conversation. Why do you feel the need to antagonize me every fucking time you see me?"

"'Antagonize' seems extreme," he pointed out, and arrogance laced his voice. "I hardly said a word. All that spiralin' just now was all you."

"Because you were being a dick."

"Hey, all I did was ask an innocent question," he defended. "Why're you gettin' so worked up?"

"Don't act like I'm being irrational," she bit back, eyes narrowed, but he shrugged. "You only came here to get me worked up, and you know it. Stop treating me like a child."

"I'd never. I entirely respect you." She eyed him skeptically. He nudged her arm. "'S okay to get a little flustered now 'n then. I know I've got that kinda effect on people."

"I'm not flustered," she replied through gritted teeth, and he winked.

"Sure you aren't. No judgment here," he said, and the disbelief in his voice made her scowl.

"Whatever. I need to get back to fundraising. You're derailing my evening." The words were hard; her tone made it clear she had no interest in any further back-and-forth with him, and when he sighed, it was dramatically weary.

"You don't wanna spend any more time with me?" he asked, brow creased in faux disappointment. "Now, Y/N, I came all this way just for you, and I've gotta say, I'm hurt. Thought you were enjoyin' my company more than that."

"I wasn't."

He clucked his tongue. "Too bad. I was enjoyin' yours."

"You were enjoying making fun of me, you mean?" she countered, and he grinned.

"Believe what you want, but I said all of four words, before, sweetheart—"

"That isn't my name," she interjected, but he didn't stop.

"and you were still busy defendin' yourself for a whole lot longer," he continued. "And I'm not sure why you were defending yourself for so long, really. Didn't I tell you I wasn't passin' any judgment? I get that I make you nervous. It's okay."

"What? You don't make me nervous. I've literally worked with you for years," she huffed, eyes narrowed. When he raised a disbelieving brow, she shifted uneasily where she stood, breaking his gaze. "Whatever. I'm done with this conversation; you can show yourself out."

"Just walkin' away so unceremoniously?" he asked incredulously when Y/N turned on her heel. "Aw, c'mon, now, no hard feelings, alright?"

"Maybe not from you." She glanced back at him over her shoulder, eyeing him disdainfully before starting off in the other direction. He grinned.

"See you at the debates, Y/N," he called after her, and satisfaction lay heavy in his voice. "Always a pleasure."

She rolled her eyes, and her pace didn't stutter, but as she retreated back to the room full of overgenerous millionaires, the tips of her ears still burned. If she lost this election, she'd never hear the end of it.

[wecantseeyou]

a word on color - how line of duty series 6 uses wardrobe color to frame narrative (pt 4)

Author’s note: this is the conclusion to my essay on wardrobe color and how it’s used to inform narrative in series 6 of line of duty. Previous parts can be found here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. This part covers episodes 5, 6, and 7. Heads up, my analysis of episode 7 is actually quite short because of my focus on Jo, but I have many, MANY thoughts on Kate’s second to last scene and the general wardrobe choices for Kate in this episode.

Thank you to everyone who has been willing to entertain my ramblings here. While I have a background in theatrical production, this kind of meta analysis was quite new for me. I was relieved to see (most) of this theory actualized in the finale. Now, this part is nearly 8k words, all four parts together clocked in at over 20k words and nearly 40 pages, single-spaced, so I’ve officially written a third dissertation (after the other two took me 10 months…). 

Regular warnings apply: I’m American and therefore may be missing certain cultural context. Spoilers abound, but I stick to Jo’s storyline for the most part, and don’t include my thoughts about the finale writ large (I may write an analysis of the series 6 storytelling separate from this, if there’s interest).

Read on below the cut.

EPISODE 5

Episode 5 opens with Lomax briefing Jo and Kate about connections between the armed robbery and Gail Vella's murder, showing them results for an industrial estate that matches the description given by one of the robbers. Jo is wearing the same outfit she ended episode 4 in, the orangish brown sweater and navy suit, while Kate is wearing a grey jacket over a white shirt, buttoned all the way up. A side note - this grey jacket does not fit in with the rest of the wardrobe Kate has been in all series, and from a meta perspective, this is because they have to conceal the firearm Kate is now carrying. Ryan watches from the other room, again in a call back to the way Jo was watching Kate in episode 3.  Kate tries to talk to Jo, but she's quickly brushed off, much to Kate's chagrin.

Jo’s outfit, which we’ve seen her in numerous times, again demonstrates her pull between what’s right and pressure from the OCG. After all, Ryan has just threatened her twice. She knows that the investigation is heading in the right direction, which she both wants and is afraid of, and she is panicking. At the same time, she’s wary of letting Kate get too close lest she suspect something and acts on it, putting them both in danger.

Kate’s outfit actually shows some of that forced distance Jo is causing. We’ve seen her wear a white shirt buttoned all the way to the top once before - when she spoiled the raid of MIT by AC-12. That outfit showed her pull between Jo and AC-12, and we’re seeing that here again. This time though, the grey jacket shows that she’s leaning AC-12.

We see this in the next scene where Steve, in his grey suit with a white shirt and red tie, is directly paralleling his former partner’s wardrobe. Kate visits AC-12, and it's been revealed that she has permission to carry a concealed firearm because of the threat Ryan Pilkington poses. Now, call me crazy, but I believe we’re meant to understand he’s a threat to her at least in part because of her relationship to Jo, but I’m uncertain. When Ted asks for an update, Kate notes that Jo has become "cold and distant" toward her, and the team reveals Jo has been put under surveillance, which Kate isn't happy about. It's then revealed that Jo is related to Tommy Hunter (from series 1 and 2) through incest, which is of course horrifying, though we don’t know the full story of it quite yet.

Back at her apartment, Jo checks the laptop to find out the OCG won't let her go because of AC-12's continued investigation, which she promises to take care of. She’s surrounded by her blue flat, in her navy and orange outfit, her actions and heart still at conflict with one another. She’s distraught, and stuck.

Later, Kate and Steve meet in an underground car park in their matching navy coats. Steve shares that Lakewell gave him information off the record, which is that Gail Vella had been looking into the death of Lawrence Christopher at the time of her death. He also tells Kate about his discovery that Hastings gave Steph Corbett the missing $50k of supposed bribe money (from series 5). The former partners match here because they are coming closer to being full partners again, working in tandem and trusting one another with information. They have been at odds this series, particularly when it comes to Jo, but they have remained on the same page in their disappointment in the gaffer and belief in finding justice for Gail Vella.

Back at MIT, Kate is looking into the industrial parks that may hold an OCG workshop.  As she researches, she repeatedly looks over at Jo in her office and seems to have an idea. She then steps out of the office and calls Steve, though we don’t see the details of their conversation. Kate returns to the office and goes into Jo's office, telling her that they may have found the OCG workshop. She asks to brief the team immediately to avoid leaks, which Jo allows while glancing out at the bullpen. We can see once Kate leaves that she was looking at Ryan, who is watching her closely.

We don't know it yet, but Kate has found a way to test Jo’s loyalty and her belief that Jo isn’t bent. She tells the team about 1 location, makes them hand up their phones (which pisses them all off), and Jo makes them all stay within the MIT offices just as Ryan is about to step out. As the briefing ends, Kate goes to Jo’s office once more and demands to speak with her, despite Jo’s rude and annoyed response.

It’s later revealed that Kate then tells Jo there are 3 total locations to be looked at, but they’re starting with just one. Meanwhile, AC-12 surveillance teams are stationed at all three locations to see if people are tipped off and by who.

In these scenes, Kate is wearing a navy suit with a light blue shirt buttoned to the top, while Jo is wearing a grey suit with a grey turtleneck. For both women, the high necklines that fully encircle their throats indicates their discomfort and their desire to have a wall up for their own protection. We see Kate in all blue as she’s on a crusade to prove the truth - Jo isn’t bent, and this will reveal who is (as she suspects Ryan). Jo, meanwhile, is uncertain, and her monochrome grey outfit reflects that. Normally, this is the type of thing she would be expected to tip off to the OCG (as she did with Carl Banks), but Kate has cleverly made it so she can’t. She’s trying to push Kate away, but Kate keeps pushing herself right back in. She’s meant to be wary of Ryan, but she stopped him from an opportunity to send out a warning - and that’s before she knew there were three potential locations. All Jo knows is that she wants out from this lie and constant threat she’s lived under. She’s in all grey, not true blue but certainly not a warm tone, because she hasn’t decided what her next step is yet. Temporarily neutral.

The initial raid is not a success, so Jo informs the team that they'll move on to the other locations instead, revealing that she and Kate did not give them all of the information. Lomax is pissed off, and directs that anger at Kate. From his perspective, the boss just told them she doesn’t trust him or the team and treated them all like a potential rat, and he chalks that up to the former AC-12 officer’s involvement. In an interesting parallel, Jo and Kate are wearing the same outfits under their body armor that we saw them in during the raid in the first episode - Jo in her black jacket and Kate in her green jacket. 

During this raid, Ryan snuck out to call in the danger to the OCG from a burner phone, an act which was recorded by Chloe “the only real detective” Bishop. Steve, at the real OCG workshop, rushes in with his team which results in the deaths of two suspects. Jo and the MIT team arrive on the scene not long after, and Jo and Steve come to disagreement over jurisdiction, and she ultimately forces him to stand down using her rank (which we’ll see her flex once more later in the episode). I have to say, I have loved watching Jo and Steve come to blows in this series in part because Jo is so much better at it than he is. Steve truly has been Jo’s foil, contradicting her at every point. We see this even in their clothes in this scene. While Jo is wearing a grey turtleneck (typically in the AC-12 color palette), it is hidden under her black jacket, and Steve is wearing a blue shirt under his body armor. On the visual face, they appear to be working at opposite ends to one another, and in this moment they are.

Back at AC-12, Kate debriefs the team on what happened and let's them in on the honey trap* (*not really) Kate set for Jo, which she didn't fall for (but Pilkington did).  The team is taken aback, and Hastings points out how risky a move that was. "As far as I'm concerned, that's proof she's not bent," Kate replies, stubborn to the end. Steve has a different interpretation - Jo assigned herself to the raid on the location with the workshop, and took control of the crime scene from him. "That doesn't fit with what I've witnessed firsthand. I needed to know one way or another."  Kate will not back down from her staunch belief that Jo is not bent, an unfortunate foreshadow to Jo’s eventual betrayal. Hastings sides with Steve, but Kate clearly still disagrees. However, Steve does believe Ryan should be removed from MIT, even as Hastings wants to keep him there. This raises their suspicions because Kate had originally talked the gaffer out of bringing Ryan in, but the reality of the matter is that Ted feels he’s on a ticking clock with his forced retirement, and wants to handle this fourth man situation before he goes. 

Kate and Steve are again in coordinated outfits here, dressed head to toe in blue. We’ve seen this before, the former partners in clothes that parallel one another while seemingly at odds. Sadly, this is because they’re again both right about Jo. She is using her position (and even Kate’s trust) to manipulate the investigation, but that manipulation stems from fear for her own safety as she herself is being manipulated and doesn’t want to do what she’s done. She’s like a cat stuck in a box - bent and not bent.

On the Hill, Kate gives the team the low down on the OCG warehouse and their next steps. Jo congratulates the team and tells them to get to work collecting forensic evidence while Pilkington sends laser eyes her way. This time it’s Kate wearing a turtleneck, this one in black under an olive suit jacket, while Jo wears a grey suit with a grey-green sweater and a blue shirt buttoned all the way to the top. Again, the high necks of these outfits demonstrate the discomfort and reservedness both women are feeling, but we also see a subtle connection with the green tints of their clothes. As usual, green represents the pull between two different compelling interests. For Kate, the pull between Jo and AC-12, for Jo the pull between Kate and the OCG. 

Wearing these same outfits, Jo catches up with Kate outside of Hillside, where she confronts her about AC-12's knowledge of the raids. Kate tells her she tipped them off because they're making a lawful inquiry. "Look, I'm telling you the truth Jo, because I trust you with it." Jo takes advantage of Kate sharing the information with AC-12 and tells Kate to put in a transfer request, saying, "I wouldn't want to harm your career, Kate. It's best if you request a transfer." Kate is taken aback and asks "You've been distant with me for days. Is this personal?" Jo denies this, pulling rank the same way she did with Steve, "I'm your senior officer, I should be distant." Kate seems confused and concerned with her response of "But I thought we were friends. What's happening here?" And here we see Jo’s fear crack through her irritation, just for a moment, when she says, "So you can tell AC-12?" As much as Jo is pushing Kate away in order to get her out of the picture, she also has a real fear that Kate continuing to share information with Steve will get Jo killed. She’s playing up Kate’s betrayal to explain her anger, but she’s also hurt and she wants her to know that. Jo trusts Kate, even if she doesn’t trust her enough to tell her the truth on her own. Up until this point, Kate has worked with her and told her about AC-12’s work, even helping her get a leg up on Steve. Now Kate’s helping AC-12 get a leg up on her.

But Kate is nothing if not determined. "No, I wouldn't tell them personal stuff." Kate refuses to take the transfer, and Jo leaves in frustration and anxiety, leaving Kate confused yet again. 

Back at Jo's flat, she's on the OCG laptop again. She tells the user she can handle AC-12, but they claim she can't because of Fleming. Jo tries to ask for more time to sort it, but time's up. "Get rid of her." Get rid of Kate, the last person Jo trusts, the one who just broke her trust.

And here is Jo’s betrayal. "As long as it's my last job." She looks devastated after she sends it, and she is. What she’s about to do is unforgivable. But scared and vulnerable people often do unforgivable things to save themselves. Jo just wants to be free, and she’s willing to pay a price for freedom. 

Steve, in his iconic grey suit and navy tie, goes to visit Ian Banks in prison and learns that Ted is the one that disclosed John Corbett's identity that later got him killed. He later calls Kate to tell her the news. Matching Steve, Kate is in a navy shirt, but is wearing a black suit, only the second time we’ve seen her in this suit. The first was in episode 2, when she gave Jo the information about AC-12 and they later had dinner together. 

Kate heads back into Hillside after her conversation with Steve and runs into Jo in the hallway, who asks to meet with her outside of work to discuss their 'personal issues'. Jo specifically looks at officers further down the hall to confirm they're leaving before speaking to Kate. She also lowers her voice at her own mention of personal issues, adding an extra layer of privacy to an already empty hall. 

Checking to make sure there alone is something that Jo and Kate have done frequently throughout this series. In the handhold scene, they break apart when officers step into the hall. They mention how it’s easier to talk outside of work during both of their dinner scenes. When Kate tells Jo about Ryan’s spying, she dismisses Chris first, and later in that conversation when Jo puts her hand on Kate’s arm, they pull apart when they hear officers approaching. 

Kate is surprised at Jo’s sudden change in behaviour from the past few days, but she agrees to meet with Jo after work. As Jo walks away, Kate clearly knows that something is up with her, but seems willing to find out what it is when they speak.

What Kate is sadly unaware of is that Jo walks away to lock herself in the bathroom and have a breakdown, distraught at the machination she has set in motion against Kate. Her hand shakes as she locks the stall, she falls to the ground, she looks around desperately for salvation. Jo’s mask, one that she maintains so strictly, falls for just a moment (not dissimilar to her breakdown in her car after framing Farida). Thirty seconds in a toilet stall to breakdown, to think about the consequences of her actions, about what she’s done to Kate. But she takes a few deep breaths, wipes away her tears, and we watch as her mask slips back into place.

Back at AC-12, Chloe “my back is worse than Steve’s from carrying this investigation” Bishop has uncovered more about the racist gang that attacked Lawrence Christopher, including the investigators, Buckells and the current Chief Constable. This was the story Gail Vella was looking into when she was murdered, and appears to be the reason for her death. Steve is wearing the same grey suit and navy tie as when he spoke with Kate, and while he’s grateful for Chloe for digging everything up, he’s also concerned that the young Black woman had to learn so many details about the lynching of a young Black man. [Note: to be incredibly clear, the death of Lawrence Christopher as described by the script was a lynching, and the narrative did not do enough to reckon with that fact for anything more than relevance to the global racial justice uprisings reborn in late May of 2020. More than willing to discuss this further if anyone cares for my thoughts.] As they discuss the case, Patty Carmichael walks in with gusto (and damn if that voice isn't an incredible acting choice). She’s taking over AC-12, and she’s cancelling the surveillance on Jo and Ryan.

That night, Kate arrives at Frederico's to meet Jo, who calls her the moment she’s locked her car to ask to meet somewhere less public, for claims of privacy. Kate is immediately on alert, especially after her attempts to convince Jo to stick with the original plan. But after a small plea from Jo, she acquiesces, but not without caution. Kate immediately knows something is off - this is not how Jo interacts with her. Little do we know, Pilkington is skulking in Jo's backseat, coaching her actions.

As an aside, this is also the only time we see them meeting out of work while they're both wearing casual clothes, not just the clothes they wore to the office. 

Kate drives to the lorry park and calls Steve, because she's both an idiot and a genius. He’s wearing the same suit as before, grey with a navy tie. She learns that surveillance was pulled on Jo and Ryan, and explains Jo's odd behaviour, forwarding him the address. Unfortunately, their conversation is cut short by Carmichael, which immediately sets Kate on high alert and she ends the call. Just as Kate is about to leave, Jo pulls into the lot, and the tension escalates.

Steve receives the address and immediately informs Hastings and Chloe, ordering the team to get a unit ready. The team starts to rush out and Carmichael asks for calm, which Ted isn't gonna do when one of his people is in danger. AC-12 isn’t about to let Kate down.

At the lorry park, a distraught Jo gets out of her car and approaches Kate’s car. Kate tries to convince Jo to go somewhere else, but all Jo can say is that she's sorry. Kate is confused, but that goes away pretty quickly once an armed bent bastard steps out of Jo's car. He gloats to Kate, saying "Jo wanted to give you a way out. Should've put in for that transfer." Kate tries to convince Ryan to put the gun down, that the authorities will find him, but it doesn't work. Which is when Kate makes a gamble - she tells Ryan about the surveillance on him and Jo. Ryan tries to blame Jo for their situation, but she acts none the wiser (even though Kate told her about Ryan’s surveillance in the previous episode).

"Why would she come here otherwise?"

Sure, Jo is playing down her relationship with Kate for Ryan’s sake, but it isn’t quite that simple. Jo doesn't want to believe Kate had any faith in her. She wants to believe she was pretending, because she has no faith in herself. Her reaction does provide enough of a distraction for Kate to be able to pull her own weapon, and the most tense standoff ever begins...

One of the most key color choices of any outfits so far on the show are the clothes Jo and Kate wear to the lorry park where Jo sets up Kate to be killed by Ryan. Jo is wearing her grey coat, a blue sweatshirt, and a red top. Kate is wearing a blue coat, and a blue striped sweater with a band of red in the middle. These two outfits are ultimately the thesis statement between these two women. Jo is wearing red as her last layer, the one closest to her, but is surrounded by cool tones through her sweatshirt and coat. Meanwhile, Kate’s sweater has a stripes of red and orange surrounded by shades of blue. 

But it doesn’t matter that Kate is being visually connected to Jo, because Jo is about to be responsible for her death via Ryan ‘the bent bastard’ Pilkington.

EPISODE 6

Nevermind though, no death for our beloved Kate!

Now, I’m going to take the next parts of the episode slightly out of order in order to tackle Kate and Jo together before their ultimate confrontation with Steve and AC-12. First, a run down of the AC-12 crew: Hastings is in full uniform, which represents his ultimate faith in the system, despite the bad actors and groups that try to destroy it. Carmichael is wearing a grey coat, aligning her with anti-corruption, but it’s piped along the edges with red, which shows how she’s opposed to AC-12 (though not necessarily corrupt). Steve is in his classic blue on blue on blue under his body armor, which shows his dedication to justice and also his faith in Kate. Carmichael confronts him directly about Kate’s whereabouts, which he fastidiously denies having any knowledge of, but unfortunately Hastings is forced to admit that Kate was permitted to carry a concealed firearm for safety. Steve doesn’t trust Carmichael, and this is shown back at the office when he tracks what Patty C is up to, mobilizing Hastings when she’s on the move.

At first glance, Kate and Jo’s red and blue outfits read as a visual metaphor for AC-12 closing in on their location, but I posit that these outfits are also indicative of Kate's belief in Jo, despite her anger that Jo has just set up her death. It’s clear at this point that their simple flirty banter from the beginning of the season has evolved into a deeper connection, which is part of what makes Jo’s betrayal so painful - Kate has been on her side the whole time. Jo just didn’t know it. [note: wrote this before the finale so guess who has egg on her face now…]

After a time jump (of nearly two hours, based on someone else’s analysis of time stamps and radio calls), Kate and Jo arrive at Steve's apartment. Jo asks if Steve can be trusted, and Kate leaves no doubt. Jo also asks why the surveillance got pulled, and Kate informs her about the chief and Carmichael. Jo denies having any part of it, but Kate isn't sure if she can believe her given the whole, you know, attempted murder thing. In a desperate bid to prove her loyalty to Kate, Jo asks for her gun, intentionally putting her prints on the murder weapon. Again, their coordinating outfits are the outward manifestation of their connection. Kate, while still angry, seems to accept what Jo is offering to her, but is clearly trying to maintain distance in the moment.

Jo then tries to see if things between them were real, but Kate refuses to entertain the conversation. What Jo is completely unaware of at this point is the lengths to which Kate has gone to prove that Jo isn't bent, up to and including risking a crucial raid on the OCG workshop. To Kate, it's a question that doesn't need to be asked, [the egg on my face remains] but Kate is also in disbelief that Jo would question her feelings when she's the one who was nearly killed by Jo. It’s an inappropriate time to have this discussion, and Kate lets that be known. They find Steve's personal car, a slate grey Mazda because this show is nothing if not subtle with its vehicular choices - even their personal vehicles tie in to their allegiance with AC-12’s mission.

Driving in Steve's car, Jo asks again if Kate was pretending with Jo, and Kate diverts the conversation away from herself. Was Jo lying to her when she hired Kate because she was ex-anti-corruption? No, she was hoping Kate, with her anti-corruption background, would stop her. Would save her, really. They discuss Jo's ongoing work for the OCG, and Jo's fear that she'll be killed if she turns, just like Tommy. She insists that she's not bent and Kate implores her to prove it.

Kate is pissed [for the non-Americans, she’s very angry, not drunk…] in this scene, as she should be. She believed in Jo, she still believes in Jo, but she betrayed her in a major way. And now, when Kate is sticking her neck out for Jo again, she's still too scared to reveal what she knows. Jo does reveal that Tommy was her uncle, and that her father was a bent cop, which of course doesn’t align with what Kate knows. At Kate's further insistence, Jo directs them toward Gail Vella's house, and finally to the old print shop the OCG had used in the past that is across from Terry Boyle’s flat.

Kate and Jo arrive at the print shop, and Jo is finally about to reveal the truth to Kate. This act, coupled with putting her prints on the gun, earns Jo back a little bit of the trust she lost, and this is shown when the two women share the same shot. Most of the scenes between Jo and Kate have been over the shoulder shots where one woman is the primary focus, and this scene pivots to end with both of them together as the focus. This change happens in time with Kate dropping some of her much-deserved hostility toward the other woman.

But before they can step out of the car, flashing lights and sirens appear behind them - they've been found. The fact that they've been tracked shocks Kate, but she spends no time dwelling as she throws the car into drive and speeds away. AC-12 AFOs have set up an intercept point, which Kate ignores in a truly badass handbrake turn, no matter if it makes any sense that they could have possibly known the route Kate would take in order to set up a kind of road block.

Handbrake turn or no, the Mazda has been intercepted and Kate and Jo are stuck. Kate is still confused that they've been found, but Jo knows the jig is up and tells Kate she's going to say she forced her to drive. It isn't until Jo tells her they have no other choice that Kate gets out of the car. Once out, Jo puts her hands up, but Kate refuses. Just then, AC-12 arrives with Carmichael, and Kate is in shock. "Jesus Christ, Steve's in on it" - cut to Jo's panicked face. This is the man Kate said they could trust, and now he's after them too.

What follows is a very tense standoff between the two fleeing detectives and AC-12. Jo surrenders, but Kate refuses. First Carmichael tries, then Hastings (at which point Kate tells Jo she learned some shady stuff about him), and then finally Steve walks up to them. Jo begs Kate to surrender repeatedly, but the DI believes she’s onto her second major betrayal of the night and she isn’t willing to give in that easily. She thought she could trust Jo, and she nearly killed her, and to her mind she trusted Steve and he turned her over to Carmichael.

Kate is prepared to tear him a new asshole, but he swears up and down that he has no idea how they got tracked, he wouldn't do that to her. Once he promises to get the two women into safety, Kate surrenders. As he walks them in, Kate shared Ryan's confession of murder and Jo's clue about the print shop. To the end, Kate believes in justice and will pursue it.

We then see a disillusioned Kate in her all grey Fruit of the Loom being walked into her jail cell. She sits down on the plastic mattress, looking at a total loss.

Later that night, Steve and Hastings are discussing the events of the previous few hours. Steve is in a grey suit with a blue shirt and tie, same as he had been wearing during the chase. The gaffer questions why Steve didn't tell him about Kate, and Steve claims it was to prevent putting him in a difficult position with Patty C, who walks in with the same question. Apparently, the former partners have keys to each other's houses and vehicles, in case of emergency. Carmichael taking Steve's phone would've read to Kate as an emergency. Steve refuses to back down, and she appears to drop it for the moment.

Now, onto Jo’s interrogation. A lot happens in this thirty minute scene, but to boil down to the important points: Jo is wearing her best Fruit of the Loom, stripping her of her identity and any affiliations she has. The lighting in this scene is cold and sterile, completely cool in tone. Steve sits with Carmichael and Hastings on the other side of the table, dressed in a navy suit, white shirt, and red tie.

Something very important to note in this scene is Jo’s reliance on Steve. He speaks with her gently, acknowledges her pain, and encourages her to be truthful even when it is clearly very difficult. She takes Kate’s trust in him at face value and decides to trust him too. His outfit actually reflects this truth. He’s wearing the same red and blue that Kate and Jo wore while they were on the run - blue surrounds the red. As much as Jo is trusting Steve here because of Kate, Steve is being kind to Jo here for the same reason. His partner and friend does the right thing nearly always - if she was willing to go to these lengths to defend Jo, he owes it to her to learn the truth. Nothing exemplifies this more than when the conversation turns to Pilkington’s death.

Jo refuses to answer at first and actually waits for AC-12 to show its hand first. She notices that Steve hesitates when Carmichael instructs him to talk about the evidence regarding Kate's gun, and she realizes this is her in, this is how she can prove herself to Kate once and for all. It's only after this that she claims to have shot Pilkington and completely shifts the blame from Kate to herself. This catches both Steve and Hastings up, and they react in obvious shock, which changes how Hastings treats her through the rest of the interview and cements Steve’s belief in Kate’s trust. Afterwards, she looks to Steve, who nods. He understands what she just did for Kate, and Jo is relieved to see his comprehension. The questioning continues, and Jo only admits to what she can take direct responsibility for, but nothing that involves the larger network.

Once Carmichael and Hastings leave, she quickly turns to Steve and says a desperate "I'm so sorry." Sorry for hiding evidence in Operation Lighthouse. Sorry for framing Farida. Sorry for what she’s done to Kate.

And Steve, gentle when he can be, gives her a kind "Yeah, me too," in reply. I’m sorry you were groomed into the OCG. I’m sorry you were scared for your life. I’m sorry you hurt Kate, too.

Patty C goes to talk to Kate, and lets her know she won't be charged for Ryan's murder - Jo will be. Kate has a look of relief on her face as she processes the information. But Patty C notes Jo isn't firearms trained, and Kate is. She's telling Kate she knows what really happened, and she's letting it slide. This time. Kate is well aware that Carmichael isn’t stupid - she knows Jo was lying and is only letting Kate get away with it because it better serves her interests. Kate is free, and she sighs with relief and the knowledge of what Jo did.

Steve, still in the same outfit from the interview, and Kate, in a navy pea coat and yellow sweater, meet in an underground car park. once she's been released. A quick note on Kate’s coat: I’d love to say there’s a deeper meaning for the shift in her coat, but I genuinely think it’s just because filming was originally in the spring, then was moved to the fall and continued until November, so it was simply colder. The cut and color of the coat are generally the same, despite the style changing.

Steve offers to lend an ear about the shooting, and then Kate asks about Jo's interview. Steve tells her they didn't get enough information out of her, and Kate tells him that Jo told her that her dad was an officer. "She's scared, Steve. After what happened to Tommy, Dot, Lakewell, nevermind John Corbett". Kate’s anger seems to have dissipated at least a little at this point, because here she is, defending Jo by explaining why she wasn’t forthcoming with a lot of information. This is most obvious through her yellow sweater - still affiliated with Jo, even through everything else. Steve lets her know that Jo is in a secure cell with extra monitoring, which seems to appease her. Kate then informs him she's been made SIO at MIT, and will guarantee cooperation with AC-12. Lomax calls Kate, and the two partners are back working together.

Kate and Steve meet Lomax at the OCG workshop, where he goes over the forensic findings so far as MIT’s resident plot reciter. Kate tells him they need to look further, and orders him to dig up the floor, ruining the poor man’s plans for the evening.

Chloe calls Steve with an update on Thurwell. Then we get a weird scene of darkvision Spanish police apprehending Thurwell. Truly hate it. He's dead. It's a deadend. Clever writing, Jed.

The episode ends with Jo in her navy blue jumper being put into her cell at Brentiss. Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, Lindsay Denton’s besties, walk up threateningly before Jo is led into her cell and the door is shut. I do love the shot here of Jo through the door, caught in a small tight space that’s almost closing in on her.

EPISODE 7

Before I fully jump into Episode 7, please be aware that I am doing a textual analysis. I’m not going to go into the fourth man reveal and its logic or even greater meaning (particularly because I’m looking at this show from a different political context as an American), and I’m not going to speculate on things not seen, at least in this analysis, because the focus is on wardrobe. You can trust I have many thoughts, particularly around race and the writing around female characters, some of which I’ve included but most of which I did not. It took me 9 full days to write everything for this one episode, and was shockingly exhausting. Forgive me if it doesn’t live up to my other ramblings.

We’ll jump right into things. I'm gay but Steve looks so good here in his AC-12 uniform. Anyways, Steve is watching Hastings' old interview with Carmichael about Ian Banks. His concern about Hastings is clear. He’s in pursuit of justice, even if justice puts him up against the gaffer.

Later, Steve and Kate discuss the gaffer and his suspicious behaviour, and he informs her that Ted is slated for retirement. Steve wants to let it go, but Kate refuses. She asks if Steph Corbett knows anything more, and suggests she may be blackmailing Hastings, but Steve is dismissive of it. This causes Kate to raise an eyebrow - oh god Steve's done it again. Steve pleads "It's not like that, mate, it's different," and Kate has never looked more disbelieving and annoyed. She responds, "She's a person of interest,” and their conversation is cut short when Chris calls Kate with an update. Steve is still in his navy suit, and Kate in her yellow sweater. The lack of coordination in these clothes show Kate isn’t quite on the same page as Steve yet, but they’re getting there.

Lomax tells them there was a case found in the floor of the workshop, much like the one holding Gail Vella's computers at the abandoned print shop that Jo led them to. No comment on the OCG’s evidence techniques.

Steve, who kept skipping his occupational health warnings, is in therapy. I didn't cover the OH stuff throughout this analysis since it didn't relate to Jo, but this manages to tie in later so here it is now. It ends in him agreeing to temporarily give up his firearms license. I'm not going to discuss the rest of the meeting, given that Steve seemed to kick his pill addiction and reliance on alcohol and pain relievers to deal with his back pretty damn quickly and it's a storyline of entirely no relevance except as something Ted holds over Steve in a moment of manipulation later. Steve also admits this to Hastings before Occupational Health can tell him. This entire storyline is frustrating. Moving on!

Kate is watching Jo's AC-12 interview at her desk on the Hill, specifically rewinding to parts concerning who Jo believed her father was. She pauses it on a frame of Jo’s face, the terror clear. Kate is dressed in a black suit and a light blue shirt, back on the side of AC-12 and in pursuit of justice, not only with regard to the OCG, but for Gail Vella and Jo.

Steph calls Steve again, and he ignores it, because he's being a bit of a dick. Then he steps out of his car and has a back spasm. This only comes up so Kate can ask about it later and show that Steve, wearing a blue jacket, listened to what she said about getting close to a person of interest. Would truly love to know why Steve parks by an underpass by a river for this scene, but needs must, I guess.

Back at Hillside, another Lomax briefing! Because Chris, Chloe, and sometimes Kate are truly the only people who do any detecting in the entire series!!! Anyways, Chris tells Steve and Kate about the contents of the box under the floor of the workshop. Conveniently, it held four murder weapons (can Jed Mercurio spell deus ex machina?) and neatly tied a bow on Corbett, Bindra, and Vella's deaths, and in a nice series 1 throwback, Jackie Laverty's murder! Kate is wearing a grey turtleneck which coordinates beautifully with Steve’s grey suit, blue tie, and blue shirt. This shows that they’re back on the same page and on the same team, despite their ups and downs this series.

Kate and Steve return to AC-12, where Kate in her new navy pea coat shares that the proceedings against Terry Boyle will be stopped. Except, to my knowledge, Jo already handled that...? They literally made a point of it in her interview. Anyway, Chloe, like Chris, did all the detective work and tells them that the IP of the OCG laptop is in the UK, not Spain as previously believed. Amanda from forensics, the only other person who does any real work, interrupts with a message that shows Jo is about to be targeted. Definitely is spelled wrong. I give up. They feel the need to spell out what JD and BP mean, but spend 3 episodes never explaining what a CHIS is. Sure. Chloe is tasked with finding the fourth man via spelling.

Also I'm truly not being funny by why is Kate on the investigation board in AC-12. Like. What. Was she a suspect? She’s not with the other victims!

A very forlorn Jo in her blue Brentiss jumpsuit is sitting in her prison cell before being collected for transport to Hillside. Jo is very aware that something must be wrong because she’s a damn fine detective. She's mad suspicious as they head out to the van, and lo and behold, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are on the transport team.

En route to Brentiss, they learn that Lomax and Kate's signatures were forged on the production order for Jo. Meanwhile, Jo is too smart for her own good, and questions the guard during the transport about the requesting officer. Tweedle Dee plays dumb.

And then… nothing happens. They intercepted the van in advance, removed Jo, and planted Steve and Kate on the van. Because Steve is such a great choice what with his being an UNARMED OFFICER AT THE TIME. They arrest everyone.  Steve ends up with a gun. Ok.

In an interrogation room, Kate and Steve explain what happened to Jo. Hastings looks on. Kate tells Jo she can apply to witness protection, and that all of her notes will show that she was under coercion from others, giving her a shot at the life she never had, but only if she reveals who the top man is, aka her father. Jo begins to cry, and Steve reminds her those OCG men were sent to kill her - this man doesn't care for her. Jo begins to tell them that she had no reason to believe Tommy was lying to her, all while speaking only to Kate. Steve encourages her further, telling her she's not bent. Kate asks her one last time for the name, and we see Jo resolve to say something before the scene cuts. Heaven forbid we show something happening instead of faking built suspense.

Now, I need to pause here for a small moment of rage. Kate should have been the one who got the call back line by telling Jo she's not bent. Not for any romantic reason, but because their little run from the police stunt was done at least in part under the auspices that Jo could prove to Kate that she wasn't bent. In fact, Kate pleads with Jo to do so. It's just frustrating, and gives Steve an emotional beat he hasn't truly earned with Jo, or at least hasn’t earned as much as Kate.

And Jo gives them a name! They search a prison cell, and find nothing. It's really built up to seem like it's Fairbank, who is revealed to be a confused old dude. Why Jo thought she was communicating with him this entire time is simply never addressed. Whatever. They ask about the murders and cover ups, and he offers nothing. Kate asks about Jo, and after some more pushing, Fairbank implicitly agrees that he and Tommy Hunter convinced Jo he was her father.  Hastings is pissed, but Chloe calls to save the day (again).

Chloe "I should be Chief Constable" Bishop brings the team up to speed on the text search for incorrect spellings of the word definitely. Which they've apparently managed to do in a matter of hours, even on handwritten reports from 17 years prior! Because Jed has definitely never needed to do a text analysis by hand before. They then proceed to NEVER NAME THE SUSPECT. FOR 1 MINUTE AND 10 SECONDS.

Oh but don't worry, because this is the perfect opportunity for our realigned partners to confront Hastings about the bribe money and his conversations with Ian Banks. Can't reveal who the fourth man is when the head of the investigation is also a bent cop, silly audience. And it's revealed that Ted leaked Corbett as a UCO because of Corbett's role in the attack on Hastings' wife. But it's okay because he's sorry about it!

To be hella clear: Hastings, an anti-corruption officer who prides himself on following the letter of the law, took actions he knew would result in the death of John Corbett and Kate later forgives him for it. Jo was under threat of death from the OCG and tried to get rid of Kate via transfer and then led her to an empty lorry park to be killed while she thought Ryan was under surveillance that could likely intervene, and we in no way see Kate react to that experience in this episode. Cool!

Finally, we get the interview with the fourth man, which is revealed 8 minutes and 32 seconds after the characters themselves learn the information. For some reason unknown to God or man, Kate is there despite not being involved in Buckells' case since she works for MIT, not AC-12. Frankly, not gonna delve into it. Kate is wearing a sweater we've yet to see her in, a blue crew neck that is frankly more feminine than anything we've seen this series so far, and moreso matches what she's worn in previous series. It’s unsettling. Steve is in his classic AC-12 uniform.

Just a quick q for the kids at home - if Buckells only ever communicated with people via a secure browser on burner devices, how in the hell did he get a laptop in prison? Also, why did he not break himself out of prison by having someone else plant evidence of some kind, especially since he supposedly had a lot to blackmail Jo with?

At what I can only assume is their local, Steve and Kate congratulate themselves on doing nothing beyond sit in interview rooms to catch Buckells. Kate might go back to AC-12 - even though she left because of the gaffer's actions which turned out to be WAY WORSE THAN SHE PREVIOUSLY BELIEVED? Sure, Jed. They have a chat about what's been happening with Steve and his painkiller addiction. Kate implies he should drive up to Liverpool to see Steph, which he doesn't think is a good idea. But don't worry, they've got each other, mate. Platonic soulmates forever (no romantic underscoring in this analysis).

And then, with no previous discussion in the script or even telegraphing by the camera, Kate is in therapy. Which is great, because she truly needs it, girl has been through a lot. She mentions her ex, and Josh who is apparently her reason for living but she's texted about him once and mentioned him offhand to Jo to tell her he'd be with her ex, and then her great friend and partner, Steve (which is true, but the romantic framing is gross and out of character).

Not being funny, Kate is wearing a truly horrendous mauve top here, over a white shirt. We've never seen her in a color like this, it doesn't fit in with the rest of the color palette in her wardrobe, up to and including all of the orange and brown she wore at MIT. It's honestly frumpy, and in no way aligns with the characterization shown to us through her wardrobe in the rest of the series. The last time we do see her in an outfit like that is during the interview with Jo. Jo left and took Kate's excellent sense of style with her.

Kate and Steve meet with Patty to discuss Darren Hunter's involvement in the murder of Lawrence Christopher, and discuss how there's more corrupt officers to be uncovered. Patty C isn't gonna do anything about that tho. Hastings strolls up to chat with Patty C, and we learn that Buckells will get immunity. The trio are about to leave when Ted storms back into her office to confess to his actions leading to John Corbett's death. He gets one more speech about carrying the fire and bad apples in policing before they all leave.

For the final outfits we may ever see them in, Hastings is wearing a blue shirt, Steve is wearing a grey suit, white shirt, and green tie, and Kate is in a white turtleneck with a navy pea coat. Again, this turtleneck is more effeminate than anything we’ve seen her in this series. Hell, even Patty C is wearing blue to show she’s aligned with anti-corruption and just kind of a bitch, not actually corrupt.

Finally, to the blessed epilogue. Shoutout to Terry and Farida for getting some closure to the bullshit they’ve been through.

Jo steps out of her little stone cottage in the country, dressed in a casual sweater of grey and blue, breathing in the fall air deeply. Her layers of clothing are gone, her hair is down and soft. Her Icelandic sweater shows that she’s finally free to honor her heart, and no longer feels trapped by her family and who she thought they were.

And then, a dog trots out after her, and we see Jo bend down to hug the retriever and kiss its head. This is the most free affection we have ever seen Jo give. A set of legs appear in the doorway behind her, and a redheaded woman steps out of the cottage to meet Jo and the dog. Jo smiles at her, oh so freely after the tension she carried for 21 years, and they clasp hands, walking down the country road away from their home. Because Jo is free, and she can freely love and live without fear in her new life.

Now, from a purely logistical standpoint, very little affection between anyone could be shown from episodes 3-7 because of COVID filming protocols (which seem to be far more strict on physical distancing than American and Canadian productions). The production team actually did a brilliant job using forced perspective and interesting over the shoulders to make people seem like they were closer together than they were. From a film nerd perspective though, they broke the 180 rule so frequently that I nearly lost my mind (glass boxes are great but they ignore all rules of perspective).

All that aside, the logistics of filming in COVID mean that moments where we do see physical distancing broken are all the more important. Kelly filmed this scene with an actress who she has not been working with for months, because it is so, so important to see Jo come out of the other side of her tragic life intact. It also matters that her partner is wearing a warm hat and has red hair (intentional casting or otherwise) and that their home has a red door, because it shows that those warm tones represent something different for Jo now. They don’t represent fear and betrayal and being trapped - now they represent home.

Additionally, there are a lot of comparisons made between Jo, Dot, and Ryan. All three had been groomed by Tommy Hunter since childhood to work for the OCG, all three were put into the Central Police to act as inside men, and all three committed terrible acts in their own interest. But there are differences here. Ryan was a little shit as a kid and he clearly had a terrible home life - his mom was the worst. He gravitated to an authority figure who offered him something different and who gave him power. He is a victim of circumstance - but he also found power and enjoyment in his terrible actions. He gloated about Maneet Bindra and John Corbett’s deaths, and he enjoyed wielding power over Jo when he was threatening her.

Dot is the blend between Ryan and Jo - he too was groomed by Tommy to enter this world of crime, and did many awful things without regret, including killing people who threatened to expose his identity as the Caddy. It’s not until his friendship, and burgeoning relationship, that his behavior changes. He almost gets away from the Central Police, despite Kate hopping on a lorry for a free ride to track him down, but when faced with the reality that this would mean Kate’s death, he sacrifices himself and gives her a final clue to dismantle the OCG within the police.

Jo, from what we’re shown, felt regret after everything she did, and the show made it a point to demonstrate Jo as a victim of her family and genuine fear for her life if she didn’t continue following the actions of the OCG. We never saw Ryan or Dot with a gun to their head or with a dozen locks on their door. We never saw them break down in bathroom stalls, or even framing people and discrediting them instead of killing them. And it’s ultimately her relationship with Kate that changes things for her - she tries to use Kate at first to get caught, and when they get close she tries to push Kate away in order to protect her, right until she thinks she has no other choice but to let Ryan kill her.

It’s interesting that all three characters meet their end with Kate (and a damn shame the show never chose to address that fully). She quite literally kills Ryan, has a standoff with Dot that ends with him sacrificing himself for her and giving a dying declaration, and goes on the run with Jo to give her time to prove she isn’t bent and who plants evidence against herself to protect Kate. Later, it’s Kate who convinces Jo to give up everything she knows about the OCG and the man who claimed to be her father, and Kate who offers immunity and witness protection. Finally, in their last scene together, Kate manages to save one of the people corrupted under the thumb of the OCG. She completes a task she first set out for in series 1, the first time she interviewed Ryan and tried to get him to realize there’s a better life out there for him.

Kate does what Jo was hoping she would: she saves her, and gives her the life she never thought she could have.

I wish I could end this with a perfect bow that ties the wardrobe threads of this series together, but frankly I can’t. On a macro level, cool tones remains the symbol of anti-corruption and the pursuit of truth and justice, and warm tones represent any force opposing those ideals. On a micro level, Steve’s clothing choices and what they represent remain consistent throughout the series, as do Jo’s. However, the character that ties Steve and Jo together, the person who believed in the truth of Jo despite what face value was saying, that person’s wardrobe gets thrown to hell in the final episode. Kate’s colors remain cool, and it’s understandable that the warm tones that represented her connection to Jo disappear as Jo turns on the OCG, but the actual physical clothing is completely different from what she’s been wearing before and doesn’t fit her characterization.

I think it’s crucial to note that her femininity is only played up when she’s back on a team with men, where her earlier androgynous dress became suddenly unacceptable. It’s a damn shame, because the emotional payoff for Kate’s growth outside of AC-12 could’ve been really spectacular, and she was stymied in the end in favor of her male colleagues.

[cartoonfangirl1218]

Two to Tango

Note: Wow, it’s been like a year since I’ve written any EoA, and of course, of course, my inspiration was Estoma. I always thought tango as a dance for them and so... I made a fic. Thanks to @halloweennut for her advice in the dance and the ending. The dance was modeled on this one so if any of the description seems awkward, this was what I was trying to describe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_L-v8zQf14. As ever, hope y’all enjoy!

Esteban discreetly wiped his brow as he bowed down to what felt like his hundredth dance partner this night.

It had been thrilling to dance again, away from the cold eyes of the tyrannical sorceress. Feel his muscle memory flip to automatic as he spun around. The music lifts and moves him in a joyous way that he never thought he would have again. He needed to enjoy the night while he could. Before he went back to the “civilized silence,” the gloomy, culture-less Avalor and all the other miseries he brought upon himself there.

But even he had to admit he was exhausted after being on his feet all night yet he didn’t want to stop. King Lars had assured him the tango would play by now, as per Esteban’s request. The tango was one of the most complex dances in Avalor. Intense, passionate, por sabor! It reminded him of his childhood, watching his parents sweep around their ballroom on date night and wondering how two bodies could move that way. It reminded him of his youth- the way the guitar strummed and the music reached a tantalizing hilt as he dipped his voluptuous partner, feeling the heat feed off each other, feeling like a man. He remembered the feeling of being fully in control, his every muscle limber and engaged in the moment. Knowing that no one else could execute the tango like he could. It was like nothing in the world. Not that he would get to fully show off his skill. After all the tango was dependent on how well the partners moved together and since they were going in a circle, each guest taking the partner to their left, who knows what kind of person he’d get. The tricky intricate dance could be dangerous with the wrong partner. Not in the physical sense but to one’s ego, immensely. For an inexperienced partner’s awkward mistakes could make them both look like fools. King Lars rang the bell that signaled a partner change. He bowed to the dashing blonde who he shared the Marswickian waltz with. He rolled back his shoulders as he stood in the outer circle as the ladies tittered, swirling the skirts and moved to their right. And the gods must have thought, like so many times in Esteban's life, that he had too much of a good thing because they saw it fit to strike him with a migraine in the form of Avalor's magister of trade.

It was clear that she hadn't been expecting him to be her partner either by the way  Doña's jaw unattractively dropped open and her nose started to scrunch up in disgust. He would almost have been insulted but he knew that he was probably making a similar face as the migraine began to assault him.

No, actually, Esteban thought to himself, he did feel insulted by how annoyed she looked. After all, she was the one who had been causing trouble all week. No matter the treaty, no matter the discussion. She contradicted each and every word he said. They were supposed to be a united front for Avalor's interests at these foreign meetings to ensure that Avalor, and more importantly Shuriki, would be satisfied and prosperous in the years to come. But instead she argued with him, that his strategies were unachievable. His ideas were too broad or too narrow. Everything he did was wrong or stupid or foolish in some way. He didn't know what it was. Most foreign trips, they'd sweep the other kingdoms aside and meet their goals efficiently. But this week, she seemed intent on refuting everything he said out of spite. He'd been hoping not to see her until the weekend. Their last argument had been particularly harrowing as it went from trade disagreements to more personal insults. He knew what she thought of him. Hell, she condescendingly held her chin up high and rolled her eyes at him as she went on about how little he knew of the real world because he was pompous, pampered, spoiled royal. That she was so much better than him, that she worked so much harder. It was infuriating to be with someone so arrogant and self-important. After two days he wanted to exile her to Nueva Vista to work as... as he didn't know what, but just far from him. But the worst thing was he couldn't do that. She was actually good at her job! This week aside, when they did work together, she had good ideas. Not as well thought out and great as Esteban's but they were effective. She had a silver tongue persuasiveness that sometimes left him speechless. She was dedicated, she knew how to get things done. Esteban was convinced that it was pure antagonism on her part that she thrived in her job. She was accomplished so he couldn't use the excuse of incompetence to put her out of office and out of his life! No, he was stuck with her. And he was stuck with her in this tango too apparently. His temple throb as he saw her lips part. A sure sign that she would add to his pounding headache. So he went for the first strike. “Let’s not talk that way, this will go faster for both of us,” Esteban cut her off, “Besides talking tends to make inexperienced dancers, like you, mess up.” Doña, blessedly, shut her mouth yet her eyes lit up with the competitive fire that was present at all their interactions. Then the music began. The guitars rumbled with feeling. The singer's voice rose from deep in his gut to mourn his lost love in the fires of the revolution. Esteban straightened up and held his arms out more stiff than what was expected for a dance but gods, this irritation always made him tense. She lightly took his hands, looking at him down her nose as if he should be so honored to be partnered with her. He couldn't stop his eye roll which she responded with a sardonic snort. Esteban thought to spare himself the further pain by training his eyes on some distant point. But her face caught his eyes first. Her green orbs weren't steadfastly ignoring him as he was planning to do with her, in fact she was seizing up his form. For a moment, Esteban thought she was watching him because she didn't know the moves. Unsurprising since she grew up during Shuriki's ban on music and dance. A fact amply demonstrated when he did see her dance. A scarecrow had more rhythm than her. However, she didn't have the look of a novice, nervously watching where to put her feet. No, she was watching him. Daring... no. Esteban could see the anticipatory look, she was waiting for him to slip. The nerve of her! He met her eye for eye, to partake in a staring contest that proved he had no need to watch his feet in a tango. He was the dance expert here. He lips curved into that taunting smirk and Esteban smirked as well, knowing for all her arrogance that he was the superior one on the floor tonight.

The tango is primarily a walking dance and so at the first 8 count, they curved and stepped. He stepped forward, keeping his weight on the balls of his feet, right foot passing over his left handily as she did the reverse, gliding across the room into the center of the circle. The spotlight that always suited Esteban best.

He swung her into a back corte, sliding his leg up hers for a gancho then she did the gancho and they repeated the arrastre. He began to move backwards so they could go to the right but she slid her leg up to his hips, forcing him to arch back into a lunge and then began to move backwards herself. Forcing Esteban to follow her to the left of the room.

Just like in a regular workday, Doña was always trying to counter him. Esteban gritted his teeth in an effort to keep his face stoic. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction.

She'd pasada, "You're spoiled, egotistical, pretentious, pompous.." He'd agujas "You're disrespectful, self-centered, high and mighty.." He'd start a giro and she'd change it midway to a colgada. Insults going unspoken between them, but it was as if they were picking up the argument just from this afternoon. "Impossible, insufferable" "Deluded, ungrateful, repressed" Each doing what made the tango so difficult yet entrancing. Taking advantage of one move to add their personal flair, anticipating and following the other's moves in the push and pull that characterized the dance. And their personal rivalry for dominance. And just like their work life, they found each other underestimating the grace the other would pull off when faced with a surprise. The dedication and focus that was turned to this dance instead of their usual inventories. The fierce determination to do it right and not stop till it was done. He gently swung her right arm prompting a twirl so Esteban could get a break from their intense stare down and the feeling that he was going to go cross eyed. He took control and instead of returning to the regular forward facing position that the rest of the couples had taken, he turned her so her back was toward him. He pressed against her back, his cheek against her smooth hair, inhaling the flowery fragrance as they took a turn around the room. Esteban felt his body relax, his arms lost their stiffness and he let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

Yes, he was in his element now, and with some satisfaction he knew  Doña wasn't. His hand held against hers on her stomach, and he could feel the all too purposeful in-out breathing that one used to hide nerves.

When he spun her around so they faced each other again, he didn't see a hint of uncertainty. Her eyes were narrowed in vexation at what he pulled but she still held her nose in the air like a goddamn queen. Gods, why was he cursed with her in his life? But if she wanted to act like she'd been tango-ing for years, well then he was certainly going to take this dance to the next level. Esteban cracked his neck and when the singer reached his chorus, he slid his hand to the small of her back, being careful that he was properly positioned and had a firm grip on her other hand, he lifted her up. She wobbled a bit at the surprise horizontal lift but he kept his grip on her, slowly turning around in a circle, drawing several gasps from onlookers.

Doña was too stiff and for the barest of moments her eyes widened in fear, probably suspecting that he was going to drop her on her head in revenge for many annoyances.

But he had a reputation on the dance floor to maintain and it wouldn't do if she made him look bad. He mouthed "Drop one leg down and relax." The fear vanished and was replaced with a haughty sniff as she dropped her head down for another turn around the room. He brought her back to the ground for a moment before lifting her up in a classic tango lift, settling her against his hip, arms outstretched. Another turn and she slowly, almost tantalizing if it had been any other person, slid down against his chest back to her feet. Back at first position, back in the stare down that started it all. The music sped up and they went into a triple arrastre, another corte and he spun her so they could take another promenade around the room. This time she was prepared for when he pressed against her back and she surprised him with a gancho between his legs. A gancho that was too sensually close for comfort that he decided it would be safer if they faced forward from then on. He could practically hear her self-satisfied drawl, "Repressed! I'll show you repressed!" Not that he didn't return the favor by pressing his lips against her neck for a moment, just long enough for her to gasp before he twirled her around, smoothing his face as if nothing had happened. The music hit another swell and their third back corte was when Esteban felt the moment he had been wanting. He felt free. His past, his mistakes, his flaws all meant nothing. His mind mumbling depressing days ahead we’re not in sight. He was happy. And he couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face. The facial muscles that had gone unused so long. But it was a relief as well. That he was capable of feeling it again. That he had something to smile about. He wanted the moment to last forever. This was the moment where everything clicked, all his senses came to life, melded together in clear focus. Everything was heightened but he didn't notice his surroundings. He was aware only of the dance, the movement of their bodies, their music and the running heat.

He was also acutely aware of the dryness in his throat, the slight perspiration that formed a sheen across his forehead. He felt the smooth silk of Doña's dress, the way it slid under his palm as his left hand held the small of her back.

It suddenly hit him how close they were to each other. How he could feel the warmth of her body radiating through the slippery fabric. The softness of her hands in his. The firm yet determined grip on his shoulder. The way her curves rested against his chest. A fact that made his chest tighten and a flush rise up his neck, reminding himself not to break their staring contest and look down. There was nothing but air that could get past their proximity. His head was swimming with her jasmine perfume that permeated the air, filling his mind with its heady scent. He inhaled deeply, before swinging her arm, signalling that he was going to spin her into an arch turn again, giving him some space to breathe. She spun back toward him, her dress slit sliding up her long leg, another item he was determined not to notice, as he brought her into a low dip.

Esteban was focused on not looking down at the curves arching under him, staring resolutely on her face, eyes landing on the red of her bow shaped lips curved in a rare unguarded smile.

He hadn't noticed before but she was wearing red. A departure from her usual cool tones but it fitted her. It matched the lipstick that brought out her tan skin that glowed under the ballroom chandeliers, the dark raven locks that were slipping from her bun. The dark eyeshadow dusting her eyes that were closed for a moment before pinning him in her sights when he brought her back to standard position. Esteban, feeling drawn to the body warmth, stepped closer than before so their foreheads touched, giving him something to press against, to literally butt heads as they had been metaphorically doing all week. But it wasn't the same stubbornness that drove their fights. It was something altogether different. There was still tension in the air but it wasn't boiling anger. It felt like an undercurrent in his blood waiting to spring.

Doña was no longer smirking. Her mouth was set in a determined line, no longer concerned with showing him up but totally in the moment that they were sharing. Her glowing emerald eyes never left his as if she couldn't look away. And if Esteban was being honest with himself, he wasn't sure he could look away either.

Esteban didn't think, he just felt, taken away by the muscle memory and music. The connection and touch of their bodies against each other. His chest pounded and a coil grew tighter in his stomach. He was the music, rising and falling with the guitar, his tension ebbing and flowing with the notes. Arising with fire when he met Doña's eyes.

The music began to reach a crescendo and Esteban knew how to finish this masterful performance. It was a move he had done dozens of times with some of the most renowned dancers at Avalor's academy. One for the most advanced, and well, he had a feeling  Doña was capable enough. Or at least, her pride wouldn't let her back out now.

He picked her up  spinning and spinning, instinctively knowing the music was coming to its peak and setting her down. It was a dizzying move and Esteban could see from the corner of his eye that Doña was going to fall backwards.

And just like he'd done it a thousand times before, he turned and he gripped her arm into his. Locking gazes once more at the final note. The music ceased and there was a dull roar in Esteban’s ears. Not from the crowd clapping and shouting praise at their performance, he didn’t notice that. Esteban's view was consumed with their locked eyes, the only sound he heard was their breathless panting. Her breath tickled his cheeks from exertion, and heat and released tension. He felt exhausted yet light like he was floating on air. The whole effect was disconcerting and he knew he needed to leave now to get his bearings because if he looked any longer at her..... He broke the stare down first to slowly let go, noting how the crook of her arm fitted perfectly in his and forcing himself to shake that irrant thought away. Esteban backed away, surprised by how he suddenly felt weak-kneed, but he straightened, turned his back on her and left the floor. There was no need for talk, they left it all in their dance.

“You make an excellent couple on the dance floor. Eh, I see you don’t save the fierceness just for the bedroom.” King Juan Ramon nudged him. “Wha-what!” Esteban staggered back, nearly falling on the banquet floor after his flawless performance. “I said, I see you don’t save the fierceness just for the boardroom. You know, negotiations for treaties... Have you had too much wine?” King Ramon put a guiding hand on Esteban's shoulder, expertly leading him away from the crowd, and the sommeliers. “Ah yes, that must be it. Too much wine-I mishear things.” Yes, it was the wine Esteban assured himself. The wine was having an effect on his brain even though he knew that made no sense. He wouldn’t have been able to execute such an excellent tango intoxicated. But it was the only explanation he had for when Esteban heard “bedroom,” his mind immediately went to the image of her lips, remembering how she felt in his arms just moments ago and the desire to take her into his arms, feel the silk slide underneath his fingertips and close the imperceptible distance between them.

He had too much wine. It was the only reason he was thinking that way. He needed to rest. The tango took a lot out of him. He would have to remember for the next time to sit out during tangos. Doing it with the wrong person was dangerous. It made him notice too much. Think too much. Yet his thoughts lingered back to the tango that was more memorable than any he had done before.

[katerix]

(How old is New Vegas? And it’s still my fav part! I feel like I need more Raul content even after all these years🥺)

Drink with the living dead

Characters: Raul Tejada x Reader Summary:  Courier and her companion returned to New Vegas after a long wandering to get a drink and gamble, but faced serious inhospitality. Six was not ready to leave her friend behind, so they changed their plans. Warnings: - Words: 2781

***

It was almost half past midday, when a dusty dirty road to New Vegas welcomed the wanderers with just another sandstorm without any declaration of war. Courier’s mirror aviator sunglasses could hardly stand that gusts of winds, so she decided to hide it in the pocket of her jacket until the better times. Six and her ghoul-companion were on foot for nearly five hours, and now the hightower of «Lucky 38» looked huge in contradiction from its look an hour ago.

It was not their first visit to New Vegas, but every time she saw a glowing and sparkling casino’s signs, she was bringing up the idea of going there and wasting an evening gambling and drinking. Just like everyone does. The fact that she spent here some time, passing all the entertaining places by, met with Mr. House and performed several missions for NCR ambassador, but still never took a break to try some of those things, these poor fellows from all Mojave wasteland were arriving for - was a crime by its definition.

Coddling this thought, Courier continued to trudge the nasty weather, until they walked up to the Northern gates of Freeside.

- What’s the plan when we reach Strip, boss? - asked Raul, shaking his dull-green jumpsuit down: it all was full of pervasive grains of sand, as well as the girl’s clothes.

- At first I wanna visit the «Lucky 38» apartment and change the outfit, then go to the bar and win big in the kazino!

- Perfect plan, chief, ironclad like my revolver. - the ghoul was sarcastic as usual, but didn’t evince any sight of disagreement.

When she turned around to continue movement, he added: “Wait, amigo, there's a tuft of straw stuck under your collar.” - and carefully extracted an annoying piece of flora, stuck to during the storm.

“Gracias!” - Six smiled widely and made a fast gesture of gratitude with her hand. Without wasting time, they passed heavy metallic gates.

Freeside met companions with a funky, stinking smell. She still couldn't get used to it. Dusty air seemed to mar the cityscape: it looked much pale and lighter than from the outside. Just fifteen minutes and they’ll reach the destination. The picture couldn’t be called unusual for this time of the day in this part of town: one or two shabby hobos against the dingy walls, kids in wrecked clothes playing a tag-game in the area of the «Mick & Ralph's», random citizens with roving glances, sneaking around, wasting their time in an idle attempts to figure out how to spend their life in this Dump. On the other hand, there are many places where people live even worse: take a look at Westside, for instance.

«What a hopeless sight, - thought the girl. - Hope the Followers are really able to do something about this in the future».

- Something on your mind, boss? - it felt like nothing could hide from Raul’s inquisitive look.

- Just thinking. I find this picture quite dismal, like there’s no tomorrow, and humanity is still doomed. Like there’s no chance to restore life, as it was before.

- When we are on the road again, I’ll tell you about the Football Cup in Mexico, if you like to hear another one “before the Bomb” story. - he obviously picked up on her mood and decided to cheer up the girl, carefully diverting the theme.

- I do. Have you attended it?

- Sure thing. That was a big day. We drove to the capital to see it with our own eyes.

- Sounds pretty good! Let’s not ruin the intrigue.

- You asked.

They passed a small cross-road, which didn't have to be called like that anymore, as it was just one of the ghosts of the past with it’s burned skeletons of cars, left here motionless as evidence of human lost ambitions. The air in this part of the town was stale, despite the fact that they were in the streets, the smell of some broiling meat and spoiled vegetables was sticky like an ant's nectar. Sudden wild cryings and shouts were heard from the nearest dead end. 

One glance was enough to understand that the Kings had cornered swashers, their prey, who were too fucked up and all-fired sure of themselves to attack the town’s main showrunners just a couple of minutes ago. And the Courier was not going to do anything about that: she herself was nearly butchered by one of them, shown up from nowhere. If it was not her loyal companion who dealt with it with one precise shot, she, probably, would be dead by now.

It took more than ten minutes to cover the distance between the East and Strip gates - right now there was no reason to hurry. As they got closer, the protectrons took up their positions immediately. One of them articulated “Move along” with a familiar metallic cold of lifeless voice of his, when companions were passing by.

“Never liked these guys. They are like slow mines: you never know what they do the next second.” - grunted out the Courier, as two of them found themselves on the first line of the Strip between “Lucky 38” and “Gomorrah”.

“Hey, so who is an old one here?” - the ghoul chuckled in response.

She went ahead, so he could never see how her lips slightly bended in a ready-to-laugh smile.

***

Presidential luxe met nomads with a deep, wrapping silence of a broad, gloomy space. This was definitely not the place a person could wish to stay in: walls with, once being gorgeous - now - greasy dark-wine wallpapers were giving an oppressive feeling. Six was happy that they didn’t have to stay here for long. Only to sleep or change the outfit maybe.

She got near to the wardrobe in her room, where the majority of things, accumulated during the long travels, were stored. Took out two dresses, went to the guest-room with a billiards. Raul was civilly waiting for her there.

- What you think? Which one?

He raised up his head, looked from under the sunglasses for several seconds, examining, and answered in a casual tone:

- It’s really up to you, boss. - made a pause, then added, like a little confused: - But I like the pink one. Might look graceful.

- Great! Exactly the one I wanted to pick.

The ghoul just gave her a hesitant nod, wondering if she noticed that detail. Courier went back to her sleeping-room and returned after some minutes, informing: “Ready to go! The next stop is “Ultra-Luxe”, yee-haw!”

***

After a while they were in the street again. All they needed was just to reach the second line of the Strip and pass a hundred meters to the “Ultra-Luxe”. Lots of NCR soldiers were hanging around, goofing off, as long as they had a chance, and indulging in lust in the nearest private clubs. Nothing unexpectable. When they passed by a small group of drunk, barely balancing on their feet big guys, Six suddenly heard a hushed voice from behind her back, addressing his teammates. “Do they let ghouls on the Strip now? Perfect, let’s make it a spooky ghost-town.”

“Yeah. That’s why civilization will start floating away again. Our attempts are meaningless.”

Only just Courier wanted to turn around and shout out something to those sons of a b or event take out a gun and shoot beneath their feet, Raul caught her arm:

- Hey, hey, calm down, that’s okay. NCRs are many here, you know, even for a dashing rider like you, boss. Even with me backing you up. From behind the farthest stone.

- But we can’t simply swallow that shit, Raul!

He just spreaded his hands:

- Fine, then go shoot them and be killed by protectrones because of two drunk idiots. Very helpful, chief. I’ll stay all alone, without my beloved companion but with a protected pride. Thank’s.

Six stood still for some seconds and nodded after that.

- Fine. Whatever.

Then merely continued walking in the direction of the cazino. The ghoul hesitated for a bit. He understood that she was acting out of good intentions and she just wanted to protect her partner, as she was the one who had a right of speech here. And that made his heart melt and he was silently praising her for that, because nobody seemed to do anything like that for him in a while. But picking a fight with these dummies, who fill the streets of Strip like water fills the canyon, was not wise.

“Sorry for that, Niña. I really appreciate what you do. I just don’t want you to get in trouble because of me. You don’t notice, but there are often lots of sidelong looks and hardly heard whisperings along the way. I'm used to it and don’t want it to affect you.” - he tried to lighten things up.

The girl turned her head a bit just for him to see her glance softening.

- Let’s just reach the bar and relax.

*** 

An unexpected trouble struck them further - black line has not ended yet. Courier already picked her place at the bar desk in the distant hall and ordered a glass of whiskey, when a bartendress leaned over and said in a low tone:

“I’m sorry, but here, in “Ultra-Luxe”, we serve only the citizens and guests of the Strip. I’m able to bring a drink only for you, ma’m.”

That was the last drop of her patience. The girl slowly raised her head at the bartendress, ready to blow up, and responded:

- Are you fucking kidding me?

- That’s the rule. I don’t need problems. You can ask any guard or another worker.

She bowed her head and gave a fast hidden glance at her ghoul-companion. He was sitting there next to her and looking straight at his arms crossed on the desk, like he had nothing to do with it. But he, of course, heard every word. His eyes weren't moving, just a finger was slightly knocking the air, producing a rhythm he alone knew. Six couldn’t even imagine what her friend might feel at the moments like that. An anger came upon her.

“Are you all that scumbags here? Keep your drinks for acceptable ones. Ma’m.” - the girl said, getting up from her barstool and heading towards the exit.

Raul stood up without a word and, as he always did, followed Courier. He had mixed emotions. On the one hand he was glad they left that place and that Six is such a kind and loyal partner, but on the other hand he felt a little guilty for himself. After all, it was him who was the reason for such inhospitality in some kind of place. Even now she couldn’t get what she wished for so hard. Her idea of “winning big” in the kazino seemed to be falling apart, as together they won’t be even let to the gambling table. And she, obviously, won’t leave him in the street and have fun on her own, and an old ghoul didn’t want to be a ball and chain.

- Boss? Are you sure we need to leave? Maybe you’d better stay there? And I’d wait for you somewhere else or go back to “Lucky 38”. Fresh air won’t do any harm for my old lungs.

- What are you even talking about? You know, even the best drink worth nothing, if there’s no one to share it with.

- You have a heart of gold, chiff. - these words came fast, in an undertone, as if he was embarrassed, - Well, I saw a small sign in Freeside. I believe we’ve never been in that part of the city before.

- Hope it’s not an «Atomic Wrangler».

- Nope.

- Great! You lead. They passed the ruins, generously spread all over the suburbs, while every their step sounded louder thanks to trash, small pieces of brick and other rubbish. The sun was already going down and the heat was getting less intense.

Finally they reached a small inconspicuous wooden door. Only a little sign next to it represented that place as a bar.

As they entered, nothing changed. There was not much to be changed. There were no crowds of gamblers, no fancy casino machines and no shiny-polished bar desk. Bartender was a man in old ragged clothes, probably in his late fifties. He was slowly wiping cut glasses with a gray dusty piece of fabric full of holes.

When the companions stepped in the room he just looked up at them without raising up his head and got back to his plain, simple activity. There were not many customers besides the two of them. A woman was sleeping on the table in the far corner - her head rested on her arms while her shoulders were calmly going up and down. Another guest settled down at the edge of the bar desk.

“Fancy,” - giggled the girl.

“Ah, let’s get down. Ladies first.” - Raul just waved his hand.

Six made a few steps in the direction of the bar desk and sat down, Raul followed her.

“Barman! Two beers, please”. - she laid some bottle caps in front of him.

The barkeeper took them and then put two opened bottles onto the surface.

“Bon appetit.”

Courier took her bottle up and clinked it loudly with Rauls one. His soft non-blinking sight of half closed eyes was locked on hers, while he made a sip. His heart always went pop when it felt like there were just two of them in the world, though he never showed that.

Raul looked around and suddenly his eyes stopped on a guitar lurked behind the racks.

“Hey, can I…?”

The barman followed ghoul’s gaze and shrugged his shoulders: “This piece of wood? Be my guest.”

In the next second he was on his feet. The courier raised her eyebrows as she almost forgot if she saw him that agile. Raul approached the metal shelves, put aside some garbage and waste paper, then carefully extracted the instrument and blew away the dust.

Six and the bartender were watching him closely. The ghoul got back to his chair, sat down crossing his legs to position the guitar more comfortably. Then pulled the first string to check out the tuning. It was no surprise that it was out of tune, so the next minute Raul spent trying to fix the instrument.

When everything, as he thought, was ready, he played a couple of notes in fingerstyle to flex some life back into his fingers. After nearly 200 years the skill was obviously weakened.

“I didn’t know that you could play the guitar.” - said the girl.

“Sure you didn’t. I never told about that.” - he looked back at her with a little smirk, - “What was the point if there were no music instruments left anyway?”

He laid his right arm down on the body of the guitar, fingers on the cracked wooden surface, and took a deep breath.

At first Courier could hardly hear or see the slightest movement of ghoul's fingers on strings, but soon the sound became more clear. She was sitting there with a bottle in her hand, unable to look away from her companion.

The sound of slow mexican melody floated across the room, filling every corner of the room with itself. The windows were closed with wooden boards from the outside, so the sunlight was trickling down through narrow gaps between them. Warm light was leaving gold-yellow lines on the walls, tables and the bardesk where the Courier and Raul were sitting. She could even see the tiniest specks of dust freeze in the air. The ghouls face was half hidden by a shadow and the sunbeams were highlighting one of his eyes which now looked like a beautiful transparent crystal and his hands all covered with veins and partially with thin skin.

The whole space imbued with peace and calm, even the impenetrable bartender set his glass aside and leaned his head on the hand, listening to the sensual music.

They travelled together for a while now, but never before had Six seen him the way she did now. Something new was arising in her soul.

“Hey chief,” - Raul closed his eyes and slightly threw back his head grinning a little, fingers still dancing over the strings. - ”You’re the best friend and partner one could ever wish for, you know. Thank you for always being on my side.”

“Raul, I’ll never leave my partner in crime behind!” - she chuckled as she felt like something pinned her heart.

The ghoul continued playing the tune without opening his eyes. A grin turned into a soft smile and the feeling of joy span all over him for the first time in a while.

“I’m following you to the world’s end, boss.”

Also, here’s a link to this fanfic on my AO3 (gif is mine \ use credits if repost)

[jackcinephile]

LO Fans: "I love Lore Olympus because it deals with serious themes, like sexual assault, abuse, gaslighting, trauma, and mental health issues!"

Me, who spent my life discovering and obsessing over masterpieces like this:

"You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that to impress me."

Yeah, I never understood that kind of praise. For one thing, people act like LO is groundbreaking for that reason, despite there being countless movies, books, tv shows, comics, and video games that also deal with the same themes. That isn't to say there can't be more stories like this, however. I, for one, am begging for another video game that comes close to the emotional resonance of Silent Hill 2, or for a faithful adaptation of Dracula and/or Phantom of the Opera, or for a horror movie as unsettling as The Howling! But to say any new story that deals with these themes is unique for doing so, is just simply not true. Lore Olympus is no more unique than any of these stories. Also, I don't understand the praise that Lore Olympus is great just by virtue of having these themes in the first place. Just because a story has serious themes, doesn't automatically make it good. Far too often does LO use its themes as a crutch for a plot that is standard issue among romances, as opposed to stories like The Howling, which has a very intriguing, outlandish plot that serves as a catalyst to explore themes of very real and relatable horror. Lore Olympus, without its intense themes, is just another story about the CEO falling in love with his intern. And don't get me wrong, I LOVE those kinds of stories, but Lore Olympus just doesn't really do it for me. And the poorly executed themes just hamper it even further for me.

If it wasn't already apparent, has anyone noticed a pattern between these titles? All but one are horror stories. In my opinion, that is one of the key differences between them and LO: Horror! The themes within, are ones that illicit terror, and the stories reflect that (even Phantom of the Opera--don't listen to anyone who says it's a romance). Starting with Dracula, one of the scenes that horrified me the most in the book was the one where Count Dracula sneaks into Mina's bedroom. The book describes him slitting open his own vein and forcing her to drink his blood. Mina then expresses feelings of violation, much akin to what rape survivors feel. It doesn't pull any punches in its shocking, horrific portrayal, but it never comes off as exploitative. That's because the best horror stories rely on the audience's empathy. In this case, nobody wants to feel violated, so we feel as horrified as the characters do when we read about this grotesque event. And because it is about illiciting fear through empathy, Dracula succeeds where Lore Olympus fails. Lore Olympus, before all else, is a romance. And rape should not be in a romantic story. Especially not when the narrative of LO uses this trauma to validate the relationship between the two leads. I'm not a fan of stories that use trauma to validate a relationship between romantic interests, and I think that partly stems from reading the Phantom of the Opera.

If you ask me, Phantom of the Opera is one if the best books to discuss abuse and gaslighting ever written! Despite misconceptions generated by the popularity of the musical, PotO is very much a horror story with hardly any romance at all. And it's one of the best examples about why using trauma to validate a romance is a very bad idea! You see, all the conflict of the story begins with The Phantom and his trauma. He was born with multiple physical deformities that cause him to look like a living corpse. Because of this, he is despised and rejected by the world in order to escape the hatred of the world, he commissions the construction of the Paris Opera House, complete with intricate catacombs where he can live out the rest of his miserable days. Then one day, a woman named Christine comes to work at the Opera as a chorus girl. She is sad and alone due to her being orphaned, without a friend in the world. She too is emotionally damaged and the Phantom thinks this means she'll understand him. The trouble begins instantly when he claims to be a character from a folktale that Christine's father used to tell her. This is when the manipulation and gaslighting begins. Part of what makes this so effective is how we see it from an outside perspective. The protagonist, Raoul, is in love with Christine and we get to see his confusion and growing concern when he starts realizing Christine is showing signs of an abusive relationship. What makes the relationship even worse is the fact that Christine actually does understand The Phantom. So she doesn't run away not only out of fear, but also compassion. She knows what it's like to feel isolated and dead to the world and The Phantom uses that against her. The more I describe this, the more parallels I begin to see to Hades' and Minthe's relationship. Yes, Minthe abused Hades in much of the same way as The Phantom abused Christine. Notice how Minthe keeps convincing Hades that they're the only people who understand each other, even going so far as to say, "We're the same." The funny thing is, that's exactly what the narrative uses to validate Hades' and Persephone's relationship! It tries to establish that Hades and Persephone relate to each other and they say, several times, "We're the same," to each other. But this is exactly how Hades got stuck in a toxic relationship with Minthe, so why is it suddenly okay now? Relationships that use shared trauma to validate themselves are almost always doomed to become toxic, in one way or another.

So what about the healthy relationship in Phantom of the Opera? Well, it's kinda interesting actually. You see, Christine eventually comes to realize that she needs help, so she turns to the protagonist, Raoul, to get her away from the Phantom. Raoul has an interesting character arc because he starts the novel being pretty immature and kinda selfish. He doesn't really take Christine's feelings into consideration. It's more like a boy chasing his childhood crush (actually that's exactly what happens). However, over the course of the story, as he becomes increasingly concerned with her well-being, he learns to care more about her feelings and her needs. This culminates in the climax, when he's willing to crawl through hell itself for her sake. I bring all this up because I wanted to compare Raoul with Hades as well. Hades is a very consistent character. He doesn't need an arc like Raoul because, from the very beginning, he's willing to put all of Persephone's needs before his, to a fault! That is his entire purpose within the narrative of LO. He exists to serve Persephone. Raoul didn't exist to serve Christine. He had his own journey of growing and maturing. And Christine didn't exist to serve Raoul either. It bothers me that a novel from 1910 has a more well-rounded relationship than a modern comic! Actually, now that I think about it, isn't Persephone's entire character arc supposed to be her learning that she shouldn't exist to serve others? Well, that totally contradicts Hades' role in the story, doesn't it? He exists to serve her! I guess, in the eyes of LO, it's only okay if men serve women, but not for women to serve men. Newsflash: neither is okay.

Now Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) remains, to this day, one of the most terrifying movies I've ever seen! That's all thanks to its brutal depictions of domestic abuse. So Dr. Henry Jekyll believes the solution to enlightening the human race is to separate the good and evil in our souls. He solves this problem by creating a drug to do just that, which transforms him into Edward Hyde, but he becomes addicted and starts terrorizing a woman who was once a former patient of his. I think what makes this so effective, when compared to LO, is one simple factor: Fear. I am terrified of Edward Hyde, but whenever Apollo shows up, I'm just annoyed. That's because Hyde isn't being used to sell an agenda, while Apoll is. Apollo is all about making a statement about toxic masculinity, which always bothered me from the very beginning! Being an abusive cunt who rapes women has nothing to do with masculinity! It doesn't matter if you're masculine or feminine, anyone can be a cunting abusive rapist. If you are a rapist, it's because you're a monster who lacks empathy, not because of masculinity. And if you think masculinity has something to do with a lack of empathy, fuck off! Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is not about toxic masculinity. It's about how drug addiction can often hurt other people around us just as much, if not moreso, than ourselves. It also doesn't use rape to validate a relationship between characters. I'm sorry, but that is just the laziest storytelling technique. When the antagonist is a rapist OF COURSE the male love interest is going to look better by comparison! But when you take Apollo out of the equation, Hades stops looking like a desirable love interest real fucking quick.

So yeah, I think Hades makes for a bad love interest. That's mostly because he's so much like Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Yeah, the one title from the list above that's not a horror, but is no less relevant. The thing is, both Hades and Shinji have a lot in common, such as hating themselves, having a bad relationship with their father, and not caring at all about their own wants and needs. Oh, also Asuka's a better written character than Minthe, but that's a whole other topic. What makes Evangelion work, in my opinion, is that Shinji's whole journey is about learning to love himself, while Hades is portrayed as being perfect the way he is. Hades in LO is like a flawless beacon of virtue, solely because he worships the ground Persephone walks on. But the guy just doesn't care about himself at all! Like I said earlier, Hades guilty of the same self-destructive behaviors as Persephone but he's praised for it, while Persephone is encouraged to look after herself more often. Compare this to Shinji, whose life only gets worse the more he neglects himself. The only time Hades does something beneficial for himself is when he breaks up with Minthe, but immediately after that, he starts devoting every ounce of energy to Persephone! All that matters is her! He doesn't give a single fuck about himself. Sorry, but that's not good qualities in a male love interest. In all fairness, this is a problem with the romance genre as a whole. Most romances give priority to the protagonist (in this case Persephone) while neglecting the love interest (Hades). It's why I have a serious problem with the entire genre.

Now what could Silent Hill 2 have that is in any way relevant to Lore Olympus? Two words: Nightmare Fuel. Personifying trauma as literal demons is one of the smartest ideas anyone's ever had, because speaking from personal experience, that's how it feels. I just don't feel like the trauma experienced by the characters in LO is a waking nightmare like it is in real life. For one, the characters' trauma only pops up when it's convenient for the plot. Like whenever Persephone starts experiencing ptsd, it happens when she's with Hades so we can get a scene with Hades cuddling her. After that, it shows up in a scene to make her look badass by confronting Apollo. No, just no. The Howling did it better too, by making the protagonist's trauma such an inconvenience in her life! I never felt that way in LO. When you uss traumatic encounters to make your character look like a badass, kindly fuck off.