Right I accidentally (totally not on purpose) spoiled the plot twist in episode 6 for myself where it’s revealed Angel was a spy without his knowledge… (just before I get into the main point of this post: HOLY SHIT BTW?! PEAK WRITING MAY I SAY??)
This line has been stuck in my head ever since I first saw this scene
Vox: “ah… it’s almost cute how you scream every time.”
This line made me feel so sick (i mean angel’s screaming made me feel sick too PROPS TO BLAKE ROMAN GUYS!!!) it genuinely made my skin crawl, not just because of the delivery but also the double meaning it could possibly have (I’m saying possibly cuz I don’t want annoying people in my comments all like: “that’s not what that was” and they could be right but this is just my interpretation)
Anyway heres my interpretation of this double meaning this line could have…
TW FOR SA/ RAPE MENTIONS UNDER THE CUT!!!
So when I heard that line I initially thought: “clearly Angel has been electrocuted before and he doesn’t remember it because Vox erases his memories when he’s hypnotised.” But then I watched this scene again (more times than I can count/ care to admit) and listened to the way their lines were performed and the way he said the word “scream” it was obviously due to the fact he enjoys Angel’s pain but could it have been more?
We all know Valentino is not just physically but also sexually abusive towards Angel and right after poison we find out in s2 that Vox started hypnotising Angel during s1 ep4 after using Pentious didnt work in his favour (as he presumed)
But is that all that happened there? We can see Valentino is basically fully unclothed besides the thong(?) (thank god for that 😭) so he clearly forced himself onto Angel because Angel still has drops of Valentino’s red saliva coming out of his mouth but my question was:
How long had Vox been there?
Did he wait outside or in his security room we see him in when we first meet him in episode 2? Or was he there and did he maybe hypnotise Angel so Val could use him the way he wanted to and did Vox get involved in assaulting him? Or did val and Vox both SA Angel which then could have involved electrocution and then Vox hypnotising him afterwards could have been to:
A. Use him to spy (obviously because that’s the whole point of the flashback)
B. Make him forget Vox had any part in this attack and so he could keep doing this and slowly break Angel more before the big plot twist
A is the surface level of Vox’s violation of Angel’s mind but B seems to be the deeper hidden truth of Vox’s motives because the way he emphasises “scream” and the breathiness of his tone almost makes it sound like he’s hiding some form of sexual pleasure. Plus it could explain why Val looks so annoyed because he clearly hates the idea of anyone else touching his property (THIS IS NOT A PRO ANGEL X VAL POST I don’t think I need to clarify but I will anyway)
Another point to prove this theory is that Angel literally says in episode 3 “he gets off to watching people suffer” and we ALLL know how freaky Vox can get especially with his “rivals”
Imma leave this here but Vox and Alastor can actually help me build my points (I think)
He was absolutely THRILLED and filled with so much excitement at the fact that Alastor was at his mercy and he could essentially do whatever he wanted to him. (We don’t see if he SAs Alastor but he sure as hell makes him feel uncomfortable when he’s touching him which is clear sexual harassment). And what else does he do to Alastor during their little duet??
OH THATS RIGHT FUCKING ELECTOCUTE HIM!!!! COME ON (I’m just sayin this cult leader seems to have some fucked up k1nks)
Idk how well this proves my point but whatever back to Vox and Angel.
I saw lady Gaga talk about trauma in an interview where she spoke about trauma (specifically trauma/ PTSD from SA) and she said (this is me paraphrasing from a reel I saw but can’t find now. I also used the internet to find out more)
“The body takes that trauma and locks it in a box to protect itself then when the person is triggered that box opens up.” She also said “The body remembers the trauma”. And that reminded me of this frame where Vox tells Angel he’s been a wonderful spy for him. And he turns (or attempts to) his whole body away from Vox BECAUSE HIS BODY REMEMBERS SOMETHING HIS MIND CANT!!!! You could argue he was scared and upset because he’s blaming himself for “betraying” the hotel.
But there is another instance of this in the exact same scene when he first arrives at the motel. He looks nervous and uncertain about the situation and he doesn’t know why BUT HIS BODY KNEW AND WAS TRYING TO WARN HIM (does that make sense?)
Also out of all the places Vox could’ve grabbed Angel he grabbed his waist?? Idk seems a bit weird to me…
Grace being a man who is allowed to cry however many times he wants at whatever time he wants for whatever reason is a representation I didn’t realize I needed until it happened. The fact that the film/book itself and the fandom have agreed his vulnerable displays of emotion is an important part of his character means a lot.
For a long time it’s felt like the expectation for any male character in media is that they get /maybe/ one good cry per storyline. Nope. Not my man Grace. He is crying five ways til Sunday. He’s crying because his burrito reminds him of the one from his favorite restaurant he’ll never go back to. He’s crying because he loves his friends and misses them and wish they didn’t have to die. He’s crying because he’s worried about his kids. He’s crying because thank god, there’s a plethora of cute cat videos on his computer. He’s crying because he pushed past everything inside of him that screamed to tell him he’s a coward, and he did the thing scared. He cried and he screamed and he was scared and he saved the world anyway. Dr. Grace the beautiful human being that you are, I love you. Never stop crying.
Have you ever loved a character so much and for so long that you’re not even really sure why they’re your favorite anymore it’s just so deeply cemented into the core of who you are as a person that no matter what they will be your favorite forever
What if I pointed out how Vox and Lex’s love hatred for their enemies has driven them to an unhealthy obsession and causes them to crash out every second? What if?
What if I pointed out how Alastor and superman willingly handed themselves over to the people hell bent on destroying them to protect the things/ people they care about even if it may not seem like it most of the time? What if?
What if I pointed out the excessive homoerotic tension in scenes where the villain tortures his rival? What if?
What if I pointed out how popular both ships in each fandom are even more popular than the canon ships? What if?
How some people are capable of looking at a teenage boy crawling away in absolute terror from his own father (who's literally in the middle of physically, mentally AND emotionally abusing the superhero he now knows is his own son) and still think Adrien's the problem is totally beyond me...
WAIT WHO THE HELL IS BLAMING ADRIEN FOR THIS SITUATION?!
Imma rant a bit just because this episode used to be a hyper fixation of mine (not the whole show just this episode… don’t ask. I just really enjoyed the rest of the show but this episode was just something else) and adrien is one of my favourite characters ever but anyways
HOW CAN PEOPLE BLAME HIM FOR HIS FATHER (the man who was supposed to protect him and take care of him after LOSING HIS MOTHER) ABUSING HIM AND ATTACKING HIS HOME FOR GOD KNOWS HOW LONG?!
That scene makes me so sad because of how scared he looks. Like that’s a 14 year old boy being mentally abused, manipulated and then mind controlled… he deserved none of that
FUCK OKAY I'm going on a Completely Different Tangent here but I can't stop thinking about Them.
Anyway okay so we know in season 3 Blitz and Stolas are going to go into Stolas' (now Andrealphus') palace, presumably to find Via.
Obviously one way or another shit's gonna go down. Stolas is very probably going to cry a lot. And Blitz is very probably going to be his only ally in there.
So now I'm just imagining them getting separated and Blitz finding Stolas after he's been hurt in some way (physically or emotionally, by others or just by the pain of being back in this awful place). And when Blitz rushes to him, Stolas falls to his knees and melts into Blitz's comforting embrace. And as Blitz strokes his hair and murmurs I'm here, Stolas sobs and tells Blitz, I can't be here anymore. Please, Blitz, let's go home.
And that's when it hits both of them. That Stolas sees Blitz's apartment—Blitz himself—as home.
And the longer he stays in that palace again the more it dawns on Stolas that he never knew what home was before he was taken in by Blitz.
He never knew what it was like to be cared for and missed. What it was like to be safe, physically and emotionally, within the walls of your house. He goes back to the palace and he realises he can't stomach it anymore. All the bad memories. The mockery. The insults. The physical abuse. The crushing loneliness. Not having someone to talk to, to hold, to laugh and bicker with, to care for and feel cared for by. Being unable to exist within the same walls as other living beings without having to put on a mask or an armor, or dissociate or drown your pain in alcohol.
He lived like this for the first three and a half decades of his life and now he can't stand it a moment longer, he needs out. Because now that he knows what it feels like to have a home that is safe, the pain he had to carry for so many years is simply unbearable.
I also think it would be awesome if Stolas just can’t feel safe with the power imbalance of living in Blitzø’s apartment, where he can be made homeless at any time, where he’s dependent on their relationship for housing.
Sorry. That’s my C-PTSD/trauma showing up. But I think it makes sense.
Oh yeah that's definitely relatable as well! Very valid headcanon/thoughts. Like no matter how much you may rationally know someone won't abandon you, your trauma still makes you feel deeply unsafe when your survival depends entirely on someone's continued support. *Stares at my own life history; demons flash across my eyes* yep. Yup.
I do think both things could happen at different points in the story though! The trailer does hint at Stolas saying he doesn't deserve anything, which honestly goes hand in hand with a fear that others will stop giving you support you don't feel you deserve. But Millie does give him a pep talk and tells him he's one of them now, which could lead Stolas to feel safer in the knowledge that he's got multiple people in his corner now and doesn't have to face things alone. And then the Palace episode could happen afterwards.
Also imho Stolas is suicidal enough that he might think "if/when Blitz abandons me it'll be okay, I'll just find a way to die somehow, no alive no prablem" 💀💀💀😭😭😭
I hate this one girl at my school because she fucked me up so badly that I find it hard to trust the people I love (e.g my gf and my best friend) and then she thinks 2-3 years later she can turn around and act like we’re old friends
