#penelope douglas: hideaway

[away-ward]

I haven’t read Hideaway in a while, but is it ever told how Kai’s father felt about his arrest? If it’s possible (no pressure luv) can you expand on their relationship, I’m just in love with their dynamic 😔

I would love to talk about Kai’s relationship with his father! I’ll admit, it’s also been a while since I read Hideaway in its entirety and the last time that I read it, I only read Banks’ chapters. So, I’m mostly talking about my assumptions. As always, I’ll try to bring up references.

Early on, Kai reveals that he resents his father. It’s hard to understand why, at first. By all accounts, including Kai’s, his father is a patient man. He doesn’t yell or expect Kai to fall in line with his decisions. In fact, all he wants is for Kai (and his friends) to be better. It seems his only crime is wanting them to make good decisions. The horror, the burden.

As a teenager, Kai knows his father is aware of the things he and his friends get up to, especially on Devil’s Night. Yet, Katsu doesn’t prevent him from making this choice. Kai also knows that his decisions disappoint his father, but he has no intention of stopping.

If you’d ask Kai, he’d probably say that he doesn’t have much of anything in common with his father. Still, Kai has a tremendous amount of respect for Katsu. He speaks highly of him; he’s a young father in good shape, and nothing like the fathers of his friends, who he finds deplorable in nature.

After his release from prison, Kai feels the weight of Katsu’s disappointment more than ever. It’s compounded with his own. He really has problems processing what he went through; he came from a good home, with a solid upbringing. How did he end up in prison next to murderers? How did he end up nearly killing someone? How did his life get away from him?

The disappointment hounds him every waking moment. It builds in him, and by the start of Hideaway, all he wants is to prove himself; to prove that he’s not wasted what’s been handed to him. He still can’t look his father in the eye.

So he tries to make the right choices; to be the good son.

He has a college degree – it’s not enough.

He buys a home – it’s not enough.

He builds a dojo – it’s not enough.

Nothing is enough to please his father.

And then comes Banks. She gives him a place to direct that hunger. Suddenly, he can do anything… if it’s for her. Nothing is off limits. It doesn’t matter that the girl he wants wasn’t valedictorian, or class president, or a member of chess club (sorry, I don’t actually remember Chole all that well, but you get the point), or Gabriel Torrance's daughter. It doesn’t matter that Banks isn’t the girl his father would approve of.

Like how he was before prison, Kai wants to make his father happy, but not at the expense of himself. His father will be disappointed, but that matters less than him getting Banks.

However…Kai doesn’t see his father quite as clearly as he thinks he does.

That whole year of trying to be the son his father could be proud of; trying to erase the damage he'd done, so he could look his father in the eye. None of that was because of Katsu. It was his own self Kai couldn't face.

(I originally highlighted this because it's yet another way Kai makes sure to point out how he's less than his father, but now thinking about it, the piece of art that Rika says looks like him, is a figure without a face, strokes going outside the lines. Kai is a mystery to most people, and a rule breaker to those who do know him, which is probably what Rika was thinking. But in HA specifically, he's lost himself. He's faceless, not knowing where he's going, and I thought it was funny.)

But that doesn't answer your question. Your question was how did Katsu feel about Kai’s arrest? It’s never told in the narrative. But there is a letter floating about out there on the web, written by Katsu, to his wife Tori a little while after Madden was born. And through that, we get some insight into how Katsu really feels about his son.

He talks about how he and Tori met, how he stole her away from her life because he loved how strong and thoughtful she was. And in this, he admits that Kai is more like him than he thinks.

But it's not just in stealing the girl. They both blamed themselves for Kai's faults.

He compares the love between Kai and Nikova to his and his wife's - which, in the series, is the strongest marriage we're ever given insight into (the Grayson's have a good life, we never even meet Will's parents, so it's a moot point).

Kai thinks that Katsu is disappointed, and that he didn't live up to his father's expectations. He doesn't have the right kind of woman, or the right kind of friends. He didn't make the right choices.

The reality is that Katsu loves his son so much, Kai could never comprehend it. He's so proud of what Kai has accomplished.

I don't know if I've covered they're dynamic well enough. What I do know, is that these men do not open up to each other. They mainly talk to through Kai's mother, who seems to have a tap on both of their emotional and mental states. However, both Kai and his father are extremely proud of each other. Kai holds his father above all others, and Katsu thinks the world of Kai.

It didn't really fit in here, but I especially thought this was noteworthy:

When Damon burns the dojo down, Kai thinks about everything that's lost, but specifically about the weapon's his father donated. And I thought how sad that his father can put such faith in him, donate such important items, and Kai still doesn't see his approval.

Kai's always been blind to how deeply his father loves him.

Thanks for the ask! Hope this answered your question. As I mentioned, I'm not wholly familiar with Hideaway or Kai's character as I am with NF, so if any KaiBanks enthusiasts want to add to this, please feel free. All comments welcomed.

-KO

[stargirl89]

🖤🤍

[evacrstairs]

hideaway (kaibanks) headers. like or reblog if you save or use. 🖤

[maddiesflame]

alice pagani x hideaway layouts

like/reblog if saved © maddiesflame

[urlocalrambler]

devils night thoughts: banks/rika/michael/kai edition.

- i found the action between rika/banks/kai/michael to be so icky because its framed as rika & banks being the ones with an interest in each other, and kai & michael getting off on watching. and this is so performative lesbian vibes to me, it feels gross.

- i probably wouldn't have cared about PD's fb one-shot, the scenes in hideaway & nightfall, if it were just rika/banks enjoying each other. i mean, sure, it's cheating on some level, but damn, it makes more sense to me than the weird orgy/nearly-swinger vibes between kai/banks and michael/rika.

- let those girls enjoy themselves ALONE without their weird husbands who may/may not have unchecked crushes on the wrong woman (let's be honest, michael definitely thinks banks is stupidly hot. and kai was down bad for rika for way too long), or not at all.

- another way this would've bothered me less is if kai & michael had some action with each other, but no, that didn't happen.

- my opinion stands: eww to these scenes.

[namicchinedits]

— Forgive me, father, for I have sinned.

— When was your last confession, little one?

— I never had one.

— Relax, my child. You’re in God's hands now.

[amorettopedri]

this two literally gave me brainrot in 2020

[xoxoskai]

If the Devil’s Night characters had Instagrams –

Damon:

- Has a private account with 8 followers and only follows Will back.

- Keeps track of everyone else on a different account secretly.

- Posts cute pictures of Winter on her account for her.

- Comments “ew” beneath cute pictures of his sisters with their husbands.

- First post after much deliberation is a picture of Winter in their fountain.

- Pretends to hate when Banks and Rika tag him in their pictures but secretly likes it.

- Participates willingly for pictures only when Will or Winter ask.

- Actively starts posting about his kids once they are born.

- Comments "babysoft" under all of Misha's posts.

- Makes a joint account with Emory for their business but lets her run it completely.

Will:

- Has over 10 million followers (Damon says it’s because he posts thirst traps but Will thinks everyone likes his dancing)

- Posts nearly everyday.

- Very careful about what he posts (he has *important* friends)

- Either spams on his account or goes AWOL suddenly.

- Removed the comment feature on most posts where he’s sporting his abs because Emory doesn’t like girls thirsting over him.

- Has a private account for his friends only to post cute videos of his kids and wife.

- Also known as “Misha Lare’s hot, mystery cousin”

- Posted a video of Damon dancing once, learnt his lesson when his followers fell to 4.

- Writes hate comments underneath Alex's posts with Aydin.

- Uses all features, loves to make reels and put songs over the pictures.

- Participates in Winter’s freestyle dancing videos

Kai:

- Had to make an account to post about Sensou and make it more public.

- Accidentally got famous because everyone thought the teacher was “hot”.

- Now features only his students in his videos and makes sure they get the ‘Banks approval stamp’ before posting.

- Made a private account using an alias to comment on his wife’s pictures.

- Realized that a good way to piss Michael off is by commenting on his wife’s pictures. Had been effectively using it till Banks noticed.

- The only personal post on Sensou is of him kissing Banks at the entrance captioned “Everything I wanted with the only person I’ve ever wanted it with”

- New dilemma unlocked when men started thirsting over his wife.

- Also removed comment feature.

- Hired someone (Alex) to manage the official account.

- Loves showing Banks off because it makes her happy.

- Likes to embarrass his kids and get it on camera only for the family on his private account.

Michael:

- Has an official account run by his assistant for work purposes.

- Public account, millions of followers but still lesser than Will (also blames it on the thirst traps).

- Shows off Rika in almost every post.

- Every intimate picture with Rika has a throwing up emoticon or “there’s children on this app” commented by Athos and liked by Damon.

- Aaron or Athos aren’t featured in any pictures for privacy purposes.

- Hates when Kai comments on Rika’s pictures. Tries to do the same with Banks. Banks blocks him.

- Is an active partner of Will's in posting hate comments on every picture of Aydin on Alex's instagtam.

Rika:

- Shows off her entire family at all times.

- Loves posting pictures with the girls whenever they go out.

- Does vacation dumps, weekly dumps, festival dumps, random dumps.

- Searches hours for good captions.

- Posts about Athos and Aaron but only where their faces are hidden.

- Writes corny captions on her posts with Michael.

- Laughs about Kai’s comments with Banks.

- Does fit checks.

- Tried doing the “A daily vlog of my life” and quickly realized that they do some shady stuff that shouldn’t be on any cameras.

- Personally overlooks the official account for the mayor’s office.

Banks:

- Proud Mom.

- Hundreds of pictures of her children.

- Loves commenting on everyone’s posts and hyping them up.

- Joins Kai in commenting on Rika’s pictures to piss Michael off.

- Only has a private account.

- Overlooks Sensou’s official account after its accidental fame and the official account for the Senator.

- Posts all kinds of things on her stories (dog rescue reels, Winter’s dance reels, Will’s thirst traps, videos of Kai walking out of the shower, of Kai sitting in his study and reading, a zoom in on Kai’s biceps while working out, of Kai getting overwhelmed and pissed off because of all the dogs).

- Only one who can get away with posting funny videos of Damon.

- Replies “no u” to every ‘”ew” comment from Damon.

- Has featured on Rika and Will’s reels multiple times.

- Tried multiple times to get Madden to make an account so she can tag him, has been unsuccessful.

- Uses a lot of emojis.

- Comments “Mine” on all of Kai’s pictures.

Winter:

- Damon runs the account for her.

- Posts videos of her dancing.

- Has tutorials demonstrating basic and easy dance steps for learners.

- Features in a lot of Will’s videos and does dance challenges* with him.

- Actively posts about her charity work.

- Always asks someone to take a picture of her onstage so she can ask Damon to make a compilation after she’s done with her shows.

- Loves when Damon is patient with her whenever she wants to post and helps her caption them.

- Makes Damon read out the comments to her sometimes when she’s sick of hearing the robotic voice of her phone. Knows that Damon does not read the hateful and condescending ones out loud.

- Is a Dog mom and loves having her pictures taken with her Dog.

- Loves family pictures with all her kids and of their pets.

Emory:

- Singlehandedly runs her joint account with Damon for their work.

- Pointedly comments on every one of her husband’s abs pictures (“These look like the same ones I touched this morning in the shower”/”Why do you look like my husband”/”Pictures really ruin the first class quality”).

- Has a public account just to post cute pictures of Will and her.

- Posts videos of Damon hard at work, shopping sprees with the girls (“That’s Banks passed out on the couch after thirty minutes, Rika’s onto her 50th dress and Alex is already on the other floor”), Will watering their garden shirtless, videos of whenever the group gets together.

- Has an aesthetic going on that she’s maintained over the years (Will has tried to ruin it multiple times).

- Pins all of Will's comments.

- Has full permission to use Will's account to post herself on his stories whenever she feels like putting fangirls in their places.

- Posts a lot of her WIP's.

- Uses Will's private account to post pictures of her children ("There's only so many accounts I can handle").

- Is a keyboard ninja and can be found arguing with a virtual stranger in a comment section at 2AM (almost always backed up by Banks)

○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

[ludwig-is-tired]

The Horsemen and The Cowgirls (Devils Night series by Penelope Douglas)

[boundtoletters]

📖 books read in 2024: hideaway (devil’s night, #2) by penelope douglas

“You make me feel driven. You make me hungry and on fire and wanting to slow down time instead of wanting to rush through it. It's you I look for when I walk in the doors in the morning. Not her. You.”

[capricornbitchsstuff]

Hideaway' stuff

This scene...

Those guys know something we don't know...😏

All I have to say is:

Damon Torrance is a lowkey bi icon 💙💓💜

[bookishpedia]

Michael: I can’t believe you live nearby, and you won’t let anyone crash at your place.

Damon: You people already know too much about me.

Will: I know exactly three facts about you, and one of them is that you won’t let any of us crash at your place.

[song89320]

[willgraysongf]

✦  little one and father kai       

(devil´s night - penelope douglas)

[stargirlie25]

Listening to cinnamon girl and thinking about my babies WillEmmy