like i just really love all the subtle ways that bigotry is invoked and influencing the way the characters interact with the world
lavonte doing so much of the fucking heavy lifting, only for the camarilla to defer to hj for explanation and give all the credit to madelaine for the work. only for madelaine to say that the system works when youre a part of the system to him when theyre alone. lavonte being a character that will read what kind of person someone is and say the thing they want to hear to get what he wants, even if it doesnt align with his wants and beliefs, sanding himself down to be easier to consume
madelaine being called a little girl despite being 261 years old; being stuck forever as a younger woman because the person who called her a little girl made her a vampire at such a young age. being scared of violence for stepping out of line, even though she holds a lot of power and privilege in her own right. using misogyny to her advantage by fitting that small, helpless role
amelia being hesitant to run for politics because she doesnt fit the heteronormative mold, and that being reinforced by hj saying she needs to have long hair to be palatable. maya being weary of lavonte, knowing now that this is a vampire coterie and not another queer couple in town, not trusting him anymore
obviously the plot is pretty centered around classism so i wont get into that, but like, theres a lot going on here and a lot of it isnt said out loud, its stuff that you can only get really by establishing the story takes place in our world and thus has all the prejudices that comes with that
