#sorry professor I didn't email the purchasing office regarding additive aluminum filament

[penultimatestalematewithdeath]

tell me more about the development/ new clarity of lockwood’s character beyond the charisma & crushing!! like later in the series!! such an interesting train of thought you got there & i Need To Know More

Wait wait hold on let me grab my books because I could write an ESSAY on this!!

(this post turned out really long so i enabled keep reading lol. Tl;dr Lockwood and Lucy both grow a lot when Lucy is gone after THB and that absence fundamentally changes the way that the two interact for the rest of the series.)

kay, we have a distinct shifting in dynamic after the events of THB. Lucy leaving L&Co. and then returning fundamentally altered how they (Lockwood and Lucy) see each other and how they interact. We see Lockwood let Lucy in and be more obvious about his flirting, and we see Lucy start to actually allow herself to think romantic-adjacent thoughts towards Lockwood. Stroud (I think, someone check me on this) mentioned once how it took Lockwood to loose Lucy to really realize how much she meant; this is the moment where that happens. What really embodies this shift are the scene where Lucy leaves the company in THB compared to when Lockwood asks for her help in TCS.

In THB ch. 26 (pg. 372-374 in my version) we get Lucy leaving the team. Lockwood says two very important things here. "I'm surprised to hear that. I thought you and Holly -" is his classic deflection. Reading into it, one sees him knowing what's about to happen, and attempting to diffuse the situation by throwing Lucy's reasoning onto something he thinks he understands. She's leaving because of workplace spats; Holly's relationship with Lucy. Then we get "'Is that it?' Lockwood asked quietly. 'Is that really what this is all about?'" which is where we see him lashing out in a way. He's furious and doesn't know what to do with that emotion. He's been revealing more and more of himself to Lucy through this book, trusting her with his past, and now she's leaving? How dare she? Through this, Lucy doesn't describe what he looks like or what he's doing. She's avoiding him, ignoring him, ignoring any feelings she may have.

Then we get TCS and its only been four months but boy have things changed. Lucy describes his smile in ch. 5 (pg.51) as "warm but somehow hesitant, as if it hadn't been used recently. It was the smile I'd hazily imagined a hundred times; only now it was real, solid, meant just for me." And by god is that a LINE! And there's more quotes I'm not going to put here because this is already so long and then "Lockwood leaned forward, and I noticed a scar on the side of his neck - not large, but white and raised - one I'd never seen before" (pg. 59). And a bunch to read more into and then "I looked over at Lockwood as he sat shoulders-forward, head slightly bowed. He seemed more different than I'd ever seen him: not vulnerable, exactly, but certainly exposed." This whole scene is SO interesting in contrast to the last time we saw Lockwood! He's vulnerable, he clearly misses her, he (likely) is throwing himself Further into danger (see: scar) because she's gone! Its one of the times we see him fully stripped of his ego and charisma (there may be more in THB but I'm only starting my re-read of that now lol). He comes not as a boss, but as a friend, a fellow agent, an equal. Lockwood doesn't give her orders like he does in the earlier books. Things have Changed.

Then we get the first moment she meets the team as a whole again (around pg. 79) and she notices how Lockwood is "making more of an effort than usual" and she questions "For me? No. Penelope Fittes was far more likely." A moment where Lucy almost EXPLICITLY mentions wanting Lockwood to dress up for her? Unheard of before now! This is no longer an unconscious or avoided crush; she's got feelings and she's aware of them at this point.

And don't get me started on the scene with "'What the heck was that?' I said. 'The Shadow?' Lockwood glanced at me from under his bangs. 'Of course the Shadow ....' He shook his head" (pg. 326). I could say SO MUCH about those lines oh my god. The point here, though, is that it's a direct moment where Lockwood is CLEARLY being awkward because they just held hands, his feelings are obvious! He's not perfectly composed and charming! Lucy recognizes this enough to narrate it into the moment! They're awkward about it, and don't verbally communicate it, but they both recognize their own feelings in a way that isn't really seen before TCS!

TCS is also the point where Lockwood becomes Much more open about his past compared to TSS, TWS, and THB. Through Lucy's eyes, he becomes something more than just a charismatic boss who loves the spotlight. She sees his rough edges, his trauma, his flaws. She sees how broken he is, because he is offering the information willingly. We shift from blind admiration and oftentimes annoyance at his inability to open up to a knowing love that we readers love. Yes, Lockwood is still charismatic and Lucy is still crushing on him! But also! He's more human now! And Lucy is not just infatuated in a way she can easily ignore anymore.

Lockwood and Lucy both grow a lot when Lucy is gone after THB and that absence fundamentally changes the way that the two interact for the rest of the series. There's like, a bunch more I want to say and quote but like. This post is already super long so I think I'll leave it there.