#co flo

[warhead]

[lewkwoodnco]

L&C x high school yearbook superlatives

LOCKWOOD & CO. (2023)

[thepalerimitation]

Jonathan Stroud is so magnificent at writing female characters that my jaw dropped when I looked at the book jacket.

Lucy being abrasive but also nervous when first meeting Lockwood. Holly describing Sir Rupert Gale getting too close to her and breathing down her neck. Flo being severely traumatized by ghosts, leading to her mania and homelessness.

I seriously cannot even get into how good so much of the commentary was in Lockwood and Co. Talking about CPTSD, Lockwood’s suicidal behavior, child labor, capitalizing off of tragedy, large corporations, like Stroud is that guy. But there is something so amazing about him writing such relatable and compelling female characters that makes him one of my favorite authors of all time.

[tanya-veldenmir]

Flo Bones my beloved <3

[desos-records]

The part I appreciate the most in the Lockwood and Co show is how it handles depression and suicidal thoughts in teenagers. As a theme, it’s not often (ever) done well. Lockwood and Co is the only story I can think of that depicts it in a nuanced, realistic, non-romanticized way

but first, before I get into it: [if you’re in crisis or need someone to talk to and don’t want to/can’t use your national hotline, highly recommend Samaritans, genuinely saved my life] okay, let’s go

Lockwood is the most obvious, with his general disregard for his own life and admitted suicidal ideation. Lucy struggles with her self-worth and the intensity of the emotions she’s subjected to. George worries that he doesn’t belong, that there’s something useless or wrong about him. The show depicts these thoughts and feelings in a way that isn’t overblown or dramatized, it’s all but casual. Which is how it happens. Depression or suicidal thoughts don’t crash into you all at once, they creep into your life without you noticing

But more importantly (and again, something I’ve never seen anywhere else), the show also offers counterpoints to those thoughts and feelings. It shows that there is a way out, even though you may feel trapped and hopeless. This is crucial for the show’s target demographic. Bad media depictions of depression or suicide get internalized, contribute to the stigma, and make it harder for people to ask for help. This show doesn’t do that. This show tells its audience that, yes, things are scary and painful and it fucking sucks, but it’s not hopeless. And it says it so well

In the second episode, when Lucy wants to quit, she admits something that I’m almost certain she’s never told anyone

“sometimes I just think I’d be better off dead”

And when I watched this the first time, I expected Lockwood to react the way I’ve seen people react in my own life; with silence or panic or downright dismissal. But he didn’t. He stays calm and he says something that is so so important to hear when you’re struggling under the weight of feelings like this

“I understand that”

Saying this tells someone several things: that you’re on their side, they aren’t strange or monstrous for feeling like this, and that you’re not going to attack or abandon them because of it. And you can see the impact it has on Lucy, the way her face clears. She went from struggling to breathe and near tears to calm and steady. It’s no mistake that in this moment we hear his and Lucy’s theme for the first time (those simple, beautiful guitar strings)

The next thing he says is also important

“and it’s not true”

Simple, to the point, directly addressing her feelings, and (the most common mistake) doesn’t make it about him. Telling someone that you love them or that they’d be upset to lose you might sound nice, and it can be later on in the conversation, but in a moment like this, it’s infinitely more helpful to confront the thought itself

A similar moment in the first book stuck with me too, when they’re underneath Combe Carey Hall and Lucy almost steps into the well. What she’s hearing in her head (and the general phenomenon of malaise that ghosts produce) is very similar to depressive or suicidal thoughts. Before she can fall, Lockwood pulls her back

“no, Lucy, that’s not the way it’s going to be”

Depressive and suicidal thoughts deal in absolutes, so sometimes it takes an absolute to counter it

In the last episode, George has that heart-breaking moment where he says all the awful things he thinks about himself, partly because of the influence of the boneglass and Bickerstaff, but it’s also been building up, there in the background. Increasingly, it’s Lockwood and Lucy working together and George working on his own, which picks at old wounds (engineer, engineer, engineer, weirdo). He bonds with Joplin because he feels like she understands him in a way the others don’t

“it’s nice to have someone to show off to”

But Lucy pushes back against all that because she sees herself in all the ugly things George is saying, because she’s felt that way too. She understands that. She’s so surprised and horrified to hear him saying those things, resigning himself to dying down there, she’s not going to let him go on believing them

“you’re not a third wheel or an oddball or whatever it is that you think you are”

“you’re the best of us”

“we are not losing you, Georgie”

Flo called him that earlier too, but Lucy wasn’t there for that and coming unprompted from her it sounds so much like something you might call your slightly annoying younger brother. She’s so absolute about it all, with no opening for doubt, and you can see something like surprise on George’s face (but also pain because now Lucy’s in danger too)

For all Lucy knows, the boneglass will kill her. I don’t think for a second she genuinely believes her talent will protect her; she told Joplin that to protect George. It’s unclear when exactly she came up with the plan to use the skull, but she was willing to risk it anyway. And she knows, she knows, George will blame himself for this (because she would too, if it were the other way around), but even then, she’s very clear

“this isn’t your fault”

Their whole scene down in the catacombs is two kids trying to keep each other alive, physically obviously, but on the inside as well. And, oh god, George almost crashing down next to Lucy after he’s knocked over the boneglass, trying to wake her up. His voice

“Lucy, Lucy, it’s me, it’s me, say something, speak to me”

I think it’s down in those catacombs that George and Lucy really understand each other for the first time. In their own ways, they’re both curious and suspicious about the Problem and what causes it, trying to learn more about it (and stressing Lockwood out in the process). They both left their families; they both struggle with feeling strange and different than everyone around them. That connection pulls them both back from the edge

Lockwood, for all his confidence, is practically in crisis or was fairly recently (I suspect living with George helped). It’s fairly common, actually, for someone suicidal to overcompensate with an exterior shell to hide it, which can manifest in different ways depending on the person (they may not even realize they’re doing it, I didn’t)

And I love how the show handles it. He’s not made into this dark, tragic figure. He’s so full of life it hurts. He jokes around with George and Flo, fights with Kipps, admires Fairfax. He has dreams (plans) for the future. He’s struggling with trauma, they all are, but he’s not Broken™ in the way similar leading characters are often made out to be, in the way we often fear we are

And, of course, there’s Lucy, a wreaking ball through the precarious balance of Lockwood’s life. It’s not so much that she gives him a reason to live (although she definitely helps), but she holds him accountable in a way no one else does. This is the difficult part of recovery that no one talks about. Having people care for you (George) and sympathize with you (Flo) is great and necessary, especially early on. But at some point, you have to take responsibility for yourself and the noise in your head (you have to open your door on the landing)

What that looks like is complicated and messy and different for every person, but seeing it played out in a story is remarkable. I’ve never seen anything like it. This is a difficult thing for anyone to learn (many adults never even try)

That shot of George, Lucy, Lockwood (and Kipps) rising up on the catafalque sums it all up for me. Each of them fell into darkness alone and rose out of it together. They inspired each other to fight and win their individual battles, even when they couldn’t be there to help

[the-biscuit-agreement]

Poor Lucy trying to pick out a wedding dress and she is getting advice from Flo and Holly who represent different ends of a spectrum so eventually she ends up bringing George and Kipps along to try to get more feedback and Lockwood is scandalised he is the only one not invited.

[wellgoslowly]

hc that lockwood was out running an errand earlier on the morning of Lucy's interview and saw a pretty girl looking into a shop window and was taken aback by how pretty she was and ran home to tell george. george could honestly care less but lockwood is so happy because he noticed that she had a rapier case on her back and rants to george about how she must be an agent and that means that he has a shot of seeing her again/talking to her.

and then a couple of hours later lucy carlyle, the pretty girl that lockwood had seen while he was running his errands, walks into 35 Portland Row and asks about getting a job and lockwood has to fight the urge to give it to her before even giving her an interview. george immediately knows what's going on and that's one of the reasons that he doesn't want lockwood to hire her- bc he can see that lockwood is all but jumping for joy when he sees her again and he knows that lockwood is already falling for her. george teases him relentlessly while lucy unpacks later that night.

EDIT: if yall wanna see some funny stuff and additive headcannons pls check the reblogs !!! they're fucking hilarious and there's a lot of memes

EDIT: JONATHAN KNOWS OH MY GODDDD

[vryfmi]

soft worldbuilding in L&Co is so special to me especially how telling talents are:

Sight is associated with with people who look after others, who are always at the look out for danger, the ones who constantly see death and are tied to it no matter what (kipps (with talent and then with goggles), lockwood, skull (in life))

Listening is the warning sign, the haunting before haunting ever began, it gets into one's head and makes you trapped in there with voices of times long passed (lucy, kat)

Touch, in the world where one touch kills, is the most high risk, a conscious decision to put yourself into one's shoes and feel what they felt, ache with empathy all alone in a world of constant pain (lucy)

and having a bit of every talent makes one less vulnerable to psychic effects, but that means that you are fully submerged into haunting, into the past, once you are confronted by it, and in this profession it's constantly there and around you (george, holly, flo)

[thirty-five-portland-row]

[mistandshcdow]

lockwood and co x text posts

[g1rld1ary]

obsessed with the implications of flo bones asking lockwood "whos the latest slapper" like??????? is she joking or is lockwood actually a ladies man??? obsessed with her having caught lockwood with other girls in the past and just taking the absolute piss from then on

[alcorianight]

The whole non-existent love triangle with Lockwood, Lucy, and Holly was kinda peak comedy mixed with Othello to me. Like Lucy is immediately jealous, Lockwood misreads that completely and responds by telling Lucy all of Holly's virtues, Holly's just trying to do her job and not be perturbed by 35 Portland Row's everything, and George is just suffering because Lockwood and Lucy can't figure this out at all.

And then, the skull keeps trying to encourage Lucy to kill Holly in a fit of jealousy that mirrors Iago trying to get Othello to kill Cassio over presumably sleeping with Desdemona. Although, the skull's not doing this for power, he's just got a unique experience where he gets to play an active role in this soap opera he's watching.

(I think I also remember a scene where Holly is about to meet Flo and Lucy's just kinda thinking, "well there's no way Holly would have a better reaction to Flo than me," but then Holly's just totally chill and Lucy's kinda seething. I personally believe that one of two things happened. 1. George informed Holly before she met Flo or 2. Holly spent enough time with the trio to have absolutely no expectations about anyone they interact with because clearly that won't be a normal person.)

[eudociacovert]

So in the books Flo tells Lucy things about Lockwood's past and Lockwood tells Lucy things about Flo's past. So my headcanon is that they gave each other permission to divulge the kinds of history they would want their friends to know but can't bear to talk about. It works because they trust each other not to say anything to someone untrustworthy, and having the information come from someone else means the recipient is unlikely to bring it up to their face

[general-mahamatra]

“Dear @\FictionComplete ,

The following is a letter drafted on behalf of a massive online LockNation server. Please read.

LockNation, if you agree with this message, like, retweet, and expand to all your social media platforms.”

Do what you can to help us spread the word. Across any social media you’re active in!! Retweet, reblog, repost, all of it. Help us save L&C

The link leads back to the original tweet.

[jhsjykwpdw]

locklyle vs their friends

[the-biscuit-agreement]

Recently married Lockwood and Lucy showing up to a ghost hunt with matching his and hers rapiers, both wearing sunglasses and calling each other Lockwood while George follows behind them wearing a hat Flo kindly fished out of the river and gave to him.