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The Sanctuary - Research Department Roarhaven Project Revival May 13th 2025 Overview Our previous experiment has proven fruitful. Skuldugger

#skulduggery pleasant

so. the "me and mrs. jones" scene.

by this point in the series, valkyrie knows skulduggery is lord vile, and he knows she’s darquesse. unfortunately- and per usual- they are the only characters aware of this fact, and therefore the only characters who can help the other. to add to the sense of alienation, even though skul knows val's going through the exact same circumstances he’s gone through prior, he doesn't know how to help. the way he dealt with vile was murdering countless people, overcoming it/him by force, then self loathing the hell out of himself for centuries. he wants none of that to be val's path, especially the last part, but it's all he knows. additionally, for all his strengths, skul is completely inept at emotional availability. he sees val hurting and, for the first time, he can't do anything about it. he can’t kill the enemy this time; the enemy is valkyrie cain, the person he would do anything to protect. he can’t sarcasm val into acceptance, nor come up with a joke clever enough for her to find inner peace.

so, where does this leave him? the only option left- using someone else's words.

val asks for a lullaby, which, obviously, "me and mrs. jones" is NOT. it's about an affair, but past the lyrics, the melody is unique and unpredictable. lullabies follow a repetitive rhythm, predictable chord progression, and have very simple melodies. this song has none of those things. it’s an unexpected song choice, to say the least.

a few other things are odd about the setup. val's parents are HOME, but this isn't seen as a deterrent for him. there are stakes to him making this decision, and even so, he sings anyway. skul doesn't sing at any other point in books 1-9, and he isn't doing it for praise/admiration/an ego boost; val falls asleep to his voice. additionally, he did as val asked- without complaint. no snarky comment. no sign of fond exasperation. no faux-fight to goad her into asking for something else. he just... does what she asks. which leads me to ask: had he been wanting this outcome?

all of this culminates in the reader’s mind as clues that something is Different about the vibe of this scene. skulduggery isn’t singing her a lullaby, he’s sending her a message, and being about as direct as an ancient, traumatized, avoidant attachment style war criminal can be.

their “thing they have going on” is complicated, and neither are competent enough–mentally OR emotionally– to handle the strain. skul’s accepted val for who she is and who she'll become, just as she’s done the same for him. but that doesn't make it right, or good, or honorable. it's the option they've chosen, and they'll be there the same place, the same time, day after day. everyone else says it's wrong. everyone else says they should end it (each other, their relationship).

but their bond is too strong to let it go.

#skulduggery pleasant #pocky yaps about sp #skulduggery pleasant analysis #skulduggery pleasant spoilers #sp spoilers #tl;dr good scene :)))