#this is just.. something that has to happen without pavo knowing about it in order for it to work! let's call it that

[hellbubu]

Ugh, its awful. I need to mask SO hard whenever I'm home. I explained to mom about my social battery and now she uses that expression alllll the timeee....but she doesn't seem to realize I'm including *her* too, in the 'people that tire me out' category ¬¬ She gets mad I go to bed late, but it's the only time of peace and quiet where i can do stuff without noise and interruptions from others! Usually when im alone im a depressed useless lump half of the day, but the need to mask with a smile and answer and interact and be *cute* is just so engraved in me i do it automatically and it never ends *cries* Sorry for the rant lol (also, im too tired to write correctly so sorry for that)

Derrick forcing the others to play bad and Red house losing AND redmond not noticing would be hilariousssss

Oh, man, imagine a teen movie with this plot xDDD I'd watch the hell outta that!

Ikr!! Like, WHO kills someone to supossedly 'solve a problem' and immediately goes 'and bringing them back will solve everything! Like, why ?? If getting rid of him was the solution, why bring him/them back...??? Ugh, teenage boys. La edad del pavo, indeed.

Gaaahhh, imagine Druitt being a friend of the LM. *shivers* I mean, it makes sense? All these pervs seem to run in the same circles...(although LM has the 'easiest' option of taking what he wants from helpless children 24/7 9 months of the year, and the security of them not being brave enough to tell anyone or being able to scape. Imagine the nightmare of having caught the eye of that creep, blergh.)

Fr, fr, we se Seb, LM, UT and....one more teacher? For such a 'prestigious' institution, the education sure seems lacking (this is why they send the royal brats off to Eton lmao)

Right, right???? They should have totally manage to escape! And we weren't shown any more violence or blood or ANYTHING. So what. happened. (Also, I imagined Violet with the knifes cause there's no way he'd be able to take on two guys lol. Poisoned darts would work as well, Dementia!)

asjdhakjafhsdkjfshd, I've seen all kind of theories! Still, all I know is that UT is obssessed with Phantomhives but somehow doesn't care about killing Ciel OR about who slaughtered them. (Alsoooooo....if UT was able to save r!ciel's body before seb burned the body...does this mean he was there??? inside the house where they were torturing the boys??? for how long????? why didnt he save them????)

Poor Joanne. Truly, a hellish year. *tu-tush!* Also, he was probably so relieved about the canoe incident since people would talk more about that than him...only to end up pissing himself in front of the others. ALSO! Was he even made prefect?? Like, i saw a post about him being too young and being passed over, which would MAJORLY suck, since the other prefects are the only people he can talk about that night with. But the blurry red house prefect we see is blonde so idk. (I bet you he joined the boyband purely out of pettiness to fuck the P4 over. Im sure the others -except Soma, poor clueless baby- joined for the same reasons lol)

Awww, that's so cute! And a totally worthy endeveour for a 2nd son to invest in! FU r!ciel (i wanna like you, bb, but the fandom hasnt given me much hopes about you and i still have to read the manga)

SPEAKING of that. Yana went on hiatus!!!! I'm in despair.

Victoria being mad jealous of Claudia over UT would be hilarious. Basic in a 'powerful-women-can-only-be-enemies' kinda way; but hialrious.

I DO feel that if she did order it would have made more sense to 'save' the twins (or at least one) and earn their devotion? Give them a false enemy to burn and keep using them as her loyal dogs. But if she gave the order to erradicate the family completely someone fucked up MAJORLY. I bet heads rolled xD

A shift in power would make sense...but how? An Earl is a looong way from the crown (and with her many children and even grandkids!?). Maybe she started something supernatural over Albert's death? And Vincent found out? Questions, questions.

Beso <3

Constant social interactions are the worst especially when you can't be yourself. Having to act like you're someone else is tiring and you should really get some rest. Like not just sleep or be alone for a bit, but take some days to actually properly recharge, if possible.

He wouldn't force them to play badly during the tournament, only during practice... or at least I hope so. The Red House getting beaten by the Blue House because of Derrick does sound fun tho.

I think that the previous P4 took all the brain cells when they left. Otherwise, why would they 1. think that killing a bunch of boys was a good solution and 2. think that bringing the boys that they killed back to life was a good idea?

Druitt and the LM are both pedos, but I think Druitt would think he's better than LM because he (Druitt) has a title, is a doctor, and gets away with buying and selling kids. LM has to watch in the shadows as boys are beaten, while Druitt goes and kidnaps kids to sell. Druitt thinks LM is in a league waaaayy lower than him. He doesn't seem to even realize LM can do as much as he does (well, maybe not the selling part) and not even be found out. He (LM) brings it up once but Druitt is too busy salivating over a boy (Ciel in a cheap wig and different clothes) to pay attention.

I like to think that the bullies have never been held at knifepoint, so when Violet pulls out one, singular, butter knife they freak out and think Violet will manage to kill them. Meanwhile, Violet is just stabbing air and swinging his knife around while praying that they'll back off so Greenhill can kill them.

Maybe he got there just after Sebastian was summoned or something. He thought "holy shit, if he (Sebastian) knows I'm here, he might just eat the other twin. I need to keep quiet so I can still the other's body. I'll bring him back to life so they can play happy family later."

I think I might like R!Ciel if I read the manga. Alas, I can't. But O!Ciel would always be my fave twin. He's always been so kind. <3

I heard she's working on the ending. I do think it might take a few years for it to end tho. I feel like there's still too many questions for it to end soon. I'm not a manga reader, but even I know that there's still quite a bit left until they start to unravel the Phantomhive murders. Like, the current arc might lead to the final one, but from what I understand SebaCiel have yet to meet UT&R!Ciel again and are on their honeymoon... so quite a while still

Maybe Claudia fucked her over and Vincent was about to too, so she'd rather just get rid of them all. We know she doesn't trust O!Ciel because she had the Charles follow him during the Circus Arc. So it might not be too far-fetched to think that many of the previous Guard Dogs have turned against the crown at one point or another and she might've wanted to start over with a cleaner slate.

I mean, maybe Vincent just saw something he really didn't like and was willing to fuck England over. Let drugs freely on the streets and sell secrets regarding England. But I could be wrong. He does have this dude called Chlaus as an informant and this guy travels a lot. So, if Vincent were to try to fuck shit up and then make a run for it with the help of Chlaus but the Queen finds out...

Besitos :* :*

[moved-to-void-kissed]

What Can and Cannot Return

In a quiet moment shared while Pavo is healing Ardea’s combat injuries, the two share a nervous exchange about Ardea’s loss of her Celestrian powers in the face of the fact that Pavo still retains hers. (1091 words)

tag list: @thatslikesometaldude | @garchompp | @beeon | @tex-treasures | @catake | @tartaglialovemail | @catcao | @vilehusband | @dragonsmooch | @childrenofmeyneth | @lilacslovers | @blackbirdcrime | @kalliopi-ships | @strawberryshipz (to be tagged in what I make, please click here!)

Here is my piece for the twenty-sixth day of sapphic September - I was originally going to portray the scene as a render using MMD, but the models just were not cooperating nicely, so I spat out this little bit of writing instead. I hope it's still alright, even if it may or may not have been slightly rushed, haha!~

Comments on and reblogs of my work are always okay, and appreciated, but are by no means required! If the link to the document doesn't work properly, then there is also a transcript of it under the readmore.

“..Do you mean it, when you say it does not faze you?”

It was a quiet and peaceful night as the two young women sat next to the flickering campfire. Although the party had been too tired from fighting to travel any further that day, the faint glow of torches - and with them, people - could be seen on the edge of the horizon; they would be able to properly rest in an inn soon, but for the moment, they had to make do in the open air for another night. A short distance away from the pair, a girl with bright teal hair was curled up in sleep with her extravagant dress blanketing her in a thousand colours, while a much taller individual was resting with their back to a tree stump, and even now their spear and knife still lay within easy reach.

The question was not an accusatory one, instead settling quietly into the scene, but it still made the blonde-haired girl look away and out into the darkness for a moment. She was dressed in the textbook attire of a martial artist, with a red and gold top emblazoned with the logo of a dragon over a fitted black shirt and slick slacks. Her hands were wrapped with black fabric, and the kite’s claws they usually carried were tucked away safely in her equipment bag. Her left arm was raised and in the grasp of the other girl, whose short white hair fell over her face slightly as a glow of teal magic emanated from her palms.

“What do you mean by that?” asked the martial artist, whose gaze had now flickered back to her partner.

“I believe you know what I refer to, Ardea.” she replied, still focusing on healing the wound on Ardea’s arm. It was not a serious injury, and even now was healing rapidly thanks to her spells, but it was nevertheless something that required attention. “The fact that we once shared the same abilities, and now, you have lost what you once wielded as second nature.”

“Mmm..” was all that Ardea said in response, glancing over to check that the other two were definitely asleep before continuing. “Well, it’s true that it was difficult to adapt to at the beginning, but.. We’ve come quite far now, haven’t we? So I’ve had time to adjust to the situation.”

This brought a smile to Pavo’s face, but there was still a sense of unease in her expression. “So, it is not true that you are.. jealous of me, or- anything of the sort?”

“What?” At this, Ardea turned around with a start, causing Pavo to lose hold of her arm. “Ah- My apologies!”

“Do not worry - I had already dealt with your injuries.”

“Ah, yes, I realise that now.. Thank you kindly..” Ardea muttered, moving her now woundless arm without difficulty. Then she returned to the matter at hand. “But, Pavo, whatever do you mean?”

The Celestrian looked away at this, and her wings instinctively curled closer to her body in a large sheet of white feathers. “It is just that.. You have lost the ability to use any of the magic of Celestrians, as well as both your wings and your halo, and the boons that they bestow upon you. When we happened across the carriage of the Starflight Express in that forest, it did not even react to your presence at first. Thankfully, the benevolessence we have acquired by you offering our assistance to those in peril has restored that final aspect, but.. not any of your other abilities."

She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts, then continued before Ardea could interject.

"As for myself, on the other hand.. Though the long time I have spent upon the Protectorate has weakened my connection to the Observatory, and rendered my presence visible to mortals, all other characteristics that Celestrians bear, I have retained. The story we tell that I am a mortal sage appears satisfactory to explain my powers, at least to our adventuring companions-” - she glanced over at the sleeping pair upon saying this - “-it nevertheless does not change the fact that I wield my powers on a regular basis in combat, as I have always done since my teacher imparted these skills to me, while you have had to take on an entirely unfamiliar vocation in order to maintain appearances. So, at times, I have feared that you having to witness me freely use the selfsame powers you once shared, yet no longer can use, would perhaps be unfair.."

An expression of surprise mixed with confusion clouded Ardea’s face. "Pavo, I- I don't understand.. How long have you felt this way?"

"..It was not a recent fear." she admitted.

"Oh, in the name of the Almighty-“ In one movement, Ardea had shifted her position and launched herself with considerable vigour into the unsuspecting arms of her girlfriend. Pavo’s brief sounds of uncertainly were quickly dulled, and she instinctively clung to Ardea in return.

“Angel, listen to me for a moment, please. That is not at all how I feel, and it never has been, either - if anything, seeing you use your Celestrian abilities is part of what motivates me to find a way to get mine back. Besides, I haven't lost everything - my reflexes and agility are still leagues above those of the mortals, regardless of not having wings anymore. Isn't that right?"

"..Yes, I suppose that is very true."

"And, anyway," she continued, "I still think of myself as a Celestrian, because I am. That's what I have always been, and that will never change, regardless of what happens to me. The same is true for you, too - even after we ascend to the Realm of the Almighty, we will still be Celestrians, no matter what becomes of us. And we will still be together, too, no matter what becomes of us. Does that help?"

"Ah, that.. That does bring some relief, I admit." She turned to face the campfire with a soft and grateful smile. "Thank you, Ardea, my love. I truly appreciate your words.."

"It's never a problem, angel. I'm just sorry I didn't realise you felt that way, so I could help sort things out earlier on."

"Please, do not worry. I apologise for not confiding in you before now." she replied.

"There's no need to worry about that now, Pavo. Come on, let's get some rest."

And as the moon shone overhead, the pair settled comfortably into each other's embrace to rest by the fire.

[edgydepressedchoicesthot]

24: my love was stronger than your pride (any ES pairing)

Summary: Neither of them knew that this was the last time they’d see each other before Andromeda’s sacrifice made time reassert itself.

Something else they didn’t know is that the same force that tore them apart would bring them back to each other. Seraxa/Yvonne

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23248093

A/N: Well, this one took a while. Apologies to @brightpinkpeppercorn for taking my sweet time with this. I originally asked for prompts to get myself out of my writing funk, and I decided to take the quarantine as a chance to use some new free time to start writing again. I hope you’re all doing okay and staying safe.

After getting the prompt, I thought a bit on what ship do to this for; Estela/MC, Quinn/Michelle, Craig/Aleister (idk lol). But seeing a post saying that Serafine in Bloodbound is Yvonne from the Vaanu!Ending (who she OBVIOUSLY IS DAMMIT), that got me thinking. When I was fresh in the fandom, I heard someone suggest Seraxa/Yvonne, and I kinda liked the ship. And after seeing the “Serafine is Yvonne” Theory Fact, I wondered: what has she been up to? Is she keeping in touch with the Catalysts? Has she been back to La Huerta? HAS SHE SEEN HER GREEN GIRLFRIEND AGAIN? And thus, this fic was born! I made a few alterations to the canon (Yvonne stuck around during the Cetus battle and helped out), but nothing so that it’ll be too unrecognizable. Enjoy!

BTW I am not responsible in any fashion if you injure yourself whilst trying to lick your elbow.

————————

The pirate was probably trying to be stealthy, but Seraxa still heard her coming.

Night blanketed Elyys’tel, and lanterns hung all over the Great Tree, made to look like their own star-filled sky.

Andromeda, just Handfasted, was off enjoying the night with their beloved. The rest of the Catalysts joined the Vaanti in the festivities. People danced by bonfires and played as many games to rival the ones from the last Valinorim. All the laughter, singing, and happy shouts melded together into one joyous roar.

The last Seraxa saw of Taari was he and Zahra running off to play what she had called “dodgeball”, leaving Seraxa with her thoughts.

“Not one for parties?”

That was the second time she and Yvonne had spoken. The first was just before Varyyn’s coronation, when she bid the Catalysts a fond farewell.

Seraxa had thanked, or at least acknowledged, Yvonne for helping to protect the Vaanti during Cetus’s attack. The pirate tipped her hat with a flourish and a wink, and called her “milday”.

Taari promptly asked if the pirate was her new girlfriend, and Seraxa assigned him a long list of chores after the Valinorim.

“I’m here for one, am I not?” Seraxa replied, not turning around.

“With the way you scowl like the sun’s in your eyes, you could have fooled me,” Yvonne was right next to her now, joining Seraxa in standing off to the side instead celebrating. It looked unfamiliar to Seraxa, since Yvonne seemed the type to waste no time in celebrating.

Seraxa also remembered the way the pirate arrived in the midst of Cetus’s attack to help, and how she led a crowd of Vaanti to safety deeper into the jungle.

“Truly though,” the pirate broke the warrior out of her thoughts. “Do you ever rest?”

“I am not fighting or preparing for a fight, so you can say I rest now,” Seraxa retorted.

“You’ve not touched a single drink the whole day, and watching everyone like a hawk does not help your case. In all the time I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you relax.”

“I wasn’t aware you were so keen on watching me.”

To Seraxa’s surprise, Yvonne blushed. She didn’t take that long to recover though.

“Still, with you being a military leader, that warrants a day off, no? Two, at the least?”

All the more reason I can’t let my guard down, Seraxa thought to herself. Everything seemed safe before Cetus attacked, and attacked he did.

Seraxa’s pride refused to acknowledge what might have happened if the Catalysts hadn’t come when they did.

“And I told you, I am resting. If we are to talk in circles like this the whole night, you’ll grow weary.”

“That I doubt,” Yvonne said quietly with a mischievous smirk that Seraxa didn’t quite understand. “You seem to have missed quite a show earlier,” the pirate continued. “The big one, Craig? He challenged one of your soldiers to a match.”

“Then Ursa is a dead man for sure-”

“He won.”

“Hm?”

“You heard correct,” Yvonne smirked. “Against several, actually.”

“He…he, an outsider, bested my warriors in a spar?”

Seraxa’s mind went through all the grueling exercise regimes she would put those warriors through to compensate for such a defeat (she will get names), before Yvonne spoke again.

“No no, they did not fight.”

“…Then what did they do?”

“Craig licked his elbow, and challenged one of your soldiers to do the same.”

“Whaa…” Seraxa’s jaw dropped.

“And several of your troops tried to succeed where the first had failed. None of them could.”

Seraxa…had no words. Elbow licking? She expected warriors under her command to be above making a fuss over something so ridiculous…

Her eyes darted down for a second to her left elbow; only for a second, but long enough for the pirate to catch.

“Try it.”

“Don’t be absurd.”

“We both know you’re thinking about it,” Yvonne waggled her eyebrows. “Someone did manage to accomplish the feat, at last.”

“One person out of nearly everyone in Elyys’tel?”

“Yes. It was Grace. And naturally, she won the prize.”

“There was a prize as well?”

“Indeed. She had the privilege to watch as all who tried and failed form something they called a ‘human pyramid’. It was quite the disaster.”

A smile played on Seraxa’s lips, one that she couldn’t quite smother. Not overly large, but big enough to be visible.

The pirate leaned closer, eyes squinting as they inspected Seraxa’s face. The warrior’s cheeks heated up.

“What are you-”

“Checking to see if your face has cracked,” she said earnestly. “It appears intact, and lovely as ever.”

Lovely…lovely…

Lovely…????

Seraxa’s mind went blank, as if her mind was thrown into a time loop, focused on that one word.

The two of them stand in silence for a minute. Seraxa’s eyes glanced once at Yvonne, feeling an uncomfortable rising of anxiety at the awkward quiet.

She turned to Yvonne to speak. Later, when Seraxa thought back on that moment, she could never remember what she had wanted to say, because what happened next took over her full attention.

Yvonne leaned in and kissed Seraxa.

The kiss was like lightning; quick and intense. Yvonne’s lips were warm and searching, and pulled away.

Once again, Seraxa’s entire mind went blank.

When the warrior was silent for a few seconds, vulnerability flashed on the pirate’s face.

“I’m sorry, was that not-” Seraxa swapped their places with a kiss of her own.

“Don’t be sorry,” Seraxa said when they broke apart. “Unless it’s because you didn’t do that sooner.”

A laugh escaped Yvonne’s lips as they met Seraxa’s again.

Neither of them knew that this was the last time they’d see each other before Andromeda’s sacrifice made time reassert itself.

Something else they didn’t know is that the same force that tore them apart would bring them back to each other.

————————

Something Seraxa was used to waking up to was the sun’s rays shining through the windows of her home, or her cats’ morning playfulness dragging her from sleep.

This morning, she woke up to Yvonne, behind her in bed, tightening her arms around her lover in a secure hold.

Speaking of the sun, all of Seraxa’s windows had now been boarded up to keep it from shining through, accommodating Yvonne’s now-nocturnal nature.

It had been almost two years since the first time she had seen Yvonne after Andromeda’s sacrifice. The Catalysts when they made their yearly visits was always a welcome sight. But seeing with them, someone she had thought she’d never see again, was a surprise to say the least.

When everything had settled, and it was established that there wasn’t any trickery afoot, Yvonne had quite a tale to tell.

After being taken back to her own time, she said that she came into contact with creatures from the world outside of Vaanu. Creatures that made her into one of them, an immortal.

An immortal, with a regular need for blood.

Yvonne couldn’t stay on the island any longer than a month before the need for blood would become unbearable. Neither of them knew how Yvonne would take to Vaanti blood, if it would nourish or poison her, and Seraxa wasn’t willing to risk it. Pavos volunteered to run tests on Vaanti blood, and only ended up confirming what they feared.

Thus, Yvonne could not stay for any longer than three weeks at a time. And affairs on the outside world kept her from visiting as regularly as she would have liked.

It was probably for the best, Seraxa thought. Adventure was in Yvonne’s blood, and she was not meant to pick one place to live out the rest of her days.

Yvonne had told her all of this on the first few days she had come back; that she did not want marriage even if her nature wasn’t a factor, and said that she understood if a relationship with her was too much for Seraxa to handle.

Thoughts back to the present moment, she turned around, and joined Yvonne in a mutual embrace.

���Did I wake you?” Yvonne asked sleepily.

“Yes,” Seraxa smirked. “But I’ll have to get up soon anyway.”

“Can’t you order someone else to take care of your duties for the day?” Yvonne asked. “You need your sleep. And what good is authority if you can’t flaunt it every once in a while?”

Yvonne’s nature altered Seraxa’s sleep schedule quite a bit, but it was a worthy sacrifice.

“I’ll be back by nightfall,” Seraxa shifted and pulled Yvonne closer.

“That’s still too long.”

“You’ll survive without my embrace for a few hours,” the warrior resisted the urge to laugh.

“You’re so cruel,” Yvonne whined, snuggling closer.

“We’re here now,” Seraxa buried her face in Yvonne’s hair. “So until I hear a knock on the door, I’m yours.”

They’re not sure how long they stayed like that, wrapped around each other, until Yvonne poked Seraxa’s nose.

“You look too thoughtful for someone who just woke up,” Yvonne commented, and Seraxa finally noticed she was frowning.

“I was just wondering…” Seraxa began. “Before I met you, I was resolved to live a life without a partner. There would be no guarantee of a long life, so I did not want anyone to need me, a wife or a child, should I leave them behind.”

Yvonne stroked her face.

“That’s a lonely way to live, my dear.”

“For a while, I thought it was the only way I could live.”

Yvonne said nothing, and Seraxa continued.

“Both my parents died in battle when I was a child. It was a reality I had to face when I followed in their stead as a warrior, and more so when I was named War Chief. I’ve have so long to get used to the idea, that my pride wouldn’t allow me to indulge anything else.”

“Well it’s a good thing I plan to keep you around,” Yvonne said before giving Seraxa a deep kiss. “What we have might not be normal, but-”

“It is not normal, and I want it no other way,” Seraxa kissed Yvonne this time.

“Thank you,” Yvonne breathed. “For letting me in, and for having a place for me with you.”

“Thank your ability to break past a War Chief’s defenses, my love.”

“I’m afraid it was rather simple,” Yvonne curled up closer to Seraxa, nuzzling her head into her neck. “My love was stronger than your pride.”

Seraxa pressed a kiss to Yvonne’s head.

“And I thank the stars for that.”

 A/N: Seraxa is a little spoon, Yvonne is Serafine Dupont from Bloodbound, and both Craig and Grace can lick their elbows. I don’t make the rules I just think them up and write them into a story.

Also, Yvonne and Seraxa might not have the “living together” relationship I thought of when I started writing this, but in my mind this is the most realistic scenario for these two to be together. Yvonne’s too adventurous to stay in one place for the rest of her life, and Seraxa has a big sense of duty regarding her responsibilities to the Vaanti that I can’t imagine her giving up (even more so if she becomes Elyyshar when Varyyn leaves with Diego). So, in the end, these two have a long distance and open relationship (I strongly headcanon Yvonne/Serafine as polyamorous), but they love each other very much and fill their time together with as much lovey-doviness as possible.

Another thing, this is my first time writing a bilingual character while not writing up scenes directly from ES, so I apologize for any mistakes. Since I figured Yvonne is either in her late twenties or early thirties, and since being multilingual would almost be a necessity in sailing and adventuring, she would be a fairly decent English speaker. And I learned some of the biggest reasons for bilingual people slipping back to their native language is when they’re either really tired or go back and forth from speaking their native language to the other one. And since Yvonne is spending a lot of time lately around primarily English-speaking people, she probably wouldn’t have spoken much French at all. I hope I did it justice. I heard from other members of the fandom that PB butchered the way Yvonne and Tio Nicholas, both bilingual, would have spoke, so I wanted to do better and tread lightly. 

Finally, I have no idea what alien forces enable a select few to lick their fucking elbows and I don’t care to know.

[data-is-my-favorite-android]

Some thoughts on M!Lorca and Emperor Georgiou

I was reading some posts and thought that a greater exploration of these two characters and their respective villainy may be called for. The main thing I keep coming back to is: is it really so hard to accept that both mirror Georgiou and mirror Lorca are both pretty bad and neither of them should be “sided” with? The sins of one don’t cancel out the sins of the other, and they’re both horrible (albeit interesting) in their own special ways. I’m just sayin’, though Michael will probably have to make an alliance of opportunity at one point or another, neither of them is a “good” choice.

So let’s break it down a little, shall we?

Georgiou:

-eats sentient beings

-doesn’t hesitate to kill a room full of people

-is a-okay with torturing people for life

-may or may not be an overbearing, controlling mother-figure

-kills and subjugates alien races without a second thought

-rules the human population through terror

Big Evil Things all.

Lorca:

-possibly killed the entire crew of the prime Buran to cover his entry into the prime universe (arguably speculation at this point, but something weird happened there and lorca at the very least lied about his “eye injuries”)

-pushes his crew past their limits, jeopardizing their health

-orders Dr. Culber to fake a medical report

-pulls Dr. Culber away from taking care of Paul so he can’t figure out what happened (with an extra dose of gaslighting when Culber accuses him of planning their departure from the prime universe), therefore extending their stay in the mirror universe

-tries to manipulate Katrina Cornwell with sex and, when that fails, sends her into a dangerous situation hoping she will be captured or killed and refuses to help when it is confirmed she was kidnapped (what happened to his whole “i know what happens to people captured by klingons and not on my watch” spiel??)

-puts a traumatized p.o.w back into action without any therapy

-to avoid punishment (and complete his own personal mission) he inputs coordinates to take the Discovery to the MU, stranding his crew in hostile territory and erasing the last coordinates to keep them in the dark

-apparently manipulated a woman named Ava and used her until he was done with her before casting her aside or worse--and he has no remorse concerning his actions

-allegedly manipulated/had a relationship with mirror Michael, whom he must have known saw him as a father, and conspired with her to kill the emperor, her mother-figure (just sayin’, if the relationship bit is true, even if they aren’t technically related and she was an adult when a relationship began, that’s still super problematic. She still grew up under his care looking up to him as a father. The inherent power disparity there is stunning and unnerving. and regardless, her father-figure was helping mirror Michael plan the murder of her foster mother. just...wow)

-we don’t know if he wants to overthrow the emperor to make the empire a better place or just to usurp power. but we do know he was the right-hand man of the emperor, tasked with executing her most sensitive missions (which probably included mass murder on the reg), that he ran his ship in the prime universe like his own personal fiefdom and he didn’t think twice about telling michael to destroy the rebel base, no questions asked

(note, the lorca section is longer because we know more about lorca than we do about the emperor. To that end, I will include more commentary about lorca because, again, I’ve had more time to ponder lorca than evil georgiou)

Okay, so a lot of this might be excused(?) by arguing cultural relativism on behalf of the Terrans. Personally, I don’t think borderline incest is acceptable by any universe’s standards, but for the sake of argument I will agree that the source reporting this likely isn’t reliable and maybe that part isn’t true. But I don’t think Lorca is a “good guy” and unless some dramatic shift happens, I don’t think he should continue as captain.

From a certain perspective, Lorca may be said to have done a lot of good, too, and there are interesting arguments in favor of this. But I also think there’s another side to that coin, and I want to explore that a little more.

Look, Lorca has always struck me as an expert at manipulation. Expert manipulators know that it’s all a game of give-and-take, but they make sure to stack the deck in their favor when it’s their turn to take. They’re also extremely savvy when it comes to securing the loyalty of their followers.

Let’s look at some examples from Lorca’s stint on the Discovery using this theory as our guide.

Busting Michael out of prison? He didn’t do it solely for the pleasure of her company. He needed her for his own plans, as we now know. He also likely meant to cultivate a sense of indebtedness between him and her. When that didn’t go as planned, he had to change tactics and appeal to her curiosity and sense of duty to convince her to stay, a much softer but decidedly more effective approach. And Lorca, above anything else, cares about results, not how he gets them.

Rescuing Sarek? He knew that mission was important to Michael, sure, but he also predicted that allowing her to rescue Sarek would make her feel gratitude and loyalty to him as well as convince her to trust him (trust being one of the most basic and important tools a manipulator has to work with). When she thanked him for his support, he even said as much: “I need a group of people around me to carry the day”. He wants her steadfast loyalty and trust so she will follow him even when he’s doing things she knows aren’t strictly in keeping with Starfleet ideals.

Speaking of which, from the get-go he encouraged her to shift her thinking away from Starfleet’s diplomatic ideals and start thinking in a more zero-sum, militaristic way. She proves a little less pliable than he might have liked, but she trusts him enough that she ignores his underhanded tactics. Still, he has to step lightly around her because he doesn’t have full control of her yet and he knows it. That’s another reason why he has to bend to her will at times; if he pushes back too hard she might begin to question his motives and start to doubt him, and that can’t happen for his plan to work.

Another thing expert manipulators do is forge a sense of commonality between themselves and the target of their manipulation, emphasizing their mutual (but superior) “otherness” from the group. Lorca is quick to call Michael superior to the other Federation scientists around them because she, like himself, can think outside the box and do what needs to be done (”universal law is for lackeys; context is for kings”). They are members of an exclusive club, one that knows what’s really happening, what needs to be done, and the difficult means by which to do it; everyone else belongs to the lackey club that must be guided by their superior insight.

As for other “nice” things he’s done? Springing Tyler out of prison was a strategic decision. Tyler said it himself;

Lorca needed Tyler as much as Tyler needed him.

What about promoting Tyler and giving him a place among the crew? Look, if someone helped me escape a klingon prison hellhole after seven months of torture, I’d feel pretty fucking indebted to them. Lorca also knew that Tyler, like anyone who’s been through torture, would be anxious to get back at his tormentors and be prepared to break any rule to do it (see his conversation with Saru on Pavo).

I wouldn’t exactly call Lorca’s actions here altruistic, but rather a calculated risk, like most of his decisions.

He sounded pretty kind to Tilly when she was freaking out on the captain’s seat, but then again, yelling at her and making things worse would have blown their cover and made a mess of his grand plans, so... *shrug*

The thing that’s so insidious about Lorca, even assuming his intentions are “good” and his end-game somehow justifies the means, is that he’s so good at manipulating people and so incredibly deft at controlling the people around him that it really makes me question his true intentions or feelings about anything. He’s a long-term strategist who can pivot and adjust to any situation, which makes him an extremely interesting character. It’s easy to look at his actions in the moment and say they are good, but Lorca is a big-picture thinker who dons whatever hat he needs to fit the situation. For manipulative people, kindness and cruelty are both tools that must be used appropriately and in the right measure to get what they want. Particularly in the Federation, honey will catch more flies than vinegar, and he knows that.

I’m not saying that Lorca isn’t a fantastically dynamic character and that I haven’t enjoyed watching his arc. And I’m not saying he’s devoid of emotion either; he may have some passing fondness toward a few of his crewmates, but at present I get the feeling that, while he doesn’t want to lose them and waste resources, they’re all pretty expendable if it comes right down to it. I do think he cares about Michael more than he cares about anyone else (that doesn’t excuse the bad things he’s done “for her” though...). And, smart man that he is, he has been careful to bend the truth instead of outright lying when possible. But that doesn’t mean he’s honest or that the sentiment he holds toward Michael is “pure”. I think her mirror counterpart always represented some avenue to power for him. He could care about her while also using her, but that kind of takes something away from the dynamic, doesn’t it? I don’t think you can love someone/have a healthy relationship with them while simultaneously using them imo. Even if he and mirror Michael were working together in full equality, prime Michael isn’t; Lorca is holding all the cards and that means he has all the power in the situation. She hasn’t been given a real, honest choice (as opposed to the illusion of choice), and that is fundamentally unequal and manipulative. He has asked her to trust him, but he hasn’t trusted her with critical information about himself and his goals in return. That’s selfish, dangerous, and pushes him further into bad/evil character territory for me.

Pivoting back to Emperor Georgiou, I also think she cares about Michael--or at least mirror Michael. But that also doesn’t make her a good person or better than Lorca. She’s comfortable in her fascistic regime. She commits genocide regularly and uses torture daily to impose fear and order among her subjects. That’s pretty cut-and-dry evil right there, no excuses. She’s probably her own special brand of manipulative, exploiting Michael’s straightforward Federation ideals and attitudes to her gain. Like, she’s obviously no peach herself (but holy hell, does she know how to dress to impress).

At the end of the day (and with the information currently available), neither of them are a good option for Michael to form an alliance with. On the one hand, she’s got the devil she knows; Lorca seems interested in protecting her, whatever his reasons, but fuck, he’s royally screwed all of the crew on Discovery over, and possibly the Federation too (remember they had the information needed to win the war but that don’t matter if they can’t deliver it). On the other, she has the devil she doesn’t know; Georgiou represents an evil empire, but hasn’t personally betrayed Michael and initially seems to be on-board with getting the infectious ideals of the Federation out of her empire and back where they belong. Obviously neither of them are trustworthy, but they aren’t trustworthy for different reasons. Hopefully Michael will be able to find a solution that doesn’t “side” with either of them and possibly plays them off each other.

Personally, I don’t even think either of them are going to be The Big Bad. I predict that dubious honor will go to:

He only corrupted the Mycelial Network, aka The Cosmic Force That Binds All Life Together. Seems pretty important.

Just a thought.

Anyway, long story short, characters can be evil for different reasons and be equally deplorable (though is Lorca that different from the Emperor? If he was emperor, would he use his power any differently? He seemed pretty okay with the idea of killing all the non-human rebels. Even if it’s all a show and the end justifies the means...that’s pretty ghastly. Hopefully the next episode will shed more light on his character). It’s not a linear spectrum where one must be more evil than the other. They both, at present, look pretty fucking terrible from my perspective. Lorca might pull some more magic out of a hat and somehow make himself less horrible, but that also doesn’t mean he’s automatically a good guy. And Emperor Georgiou could assist the Discovery and that wouldn’t erase the fact that she’s a genocidal maniac. Complex as they both are, they’ve both committed acts of evil and they both should be held accountable for their past deeds.