Lilbirdy

I’m actually pretty proud of how it turned out!!

I’m planning on having her make a comeback later on down the line in my story. I enjoy how nuanced her character was along with the twist reveal of her being a granddaughter of one of the OG 1950s mermaids. Her relationship with Lewis in season 2 is so complex as well. I’m personally not a Charlotte x Lewis shipper, but it’s undeniable that they have quite a few sweet moments (when she’s not stealing his phone or lying to him). Like Lewis was genuinely into her and happy with her for most of the relationship and she was obviously smitten with him from the moment she met him. As a pairing they very much give a “doomed from the start” vibe since Lewis and Cleo were always going to be season 2 endgame. When I was younger I hated her and whenever I rewatch the show, I always find myself frustrated with her malicious actions and prejudiced against her as a Clewis shipper—but I know that’s just simply the way she was written, she was meant to rile up the viewer and elicit a reaction to line her up as the season 2 finale antagonist. Ultimately, though, she was such a powerful and confident female character. She always went for what she wanted (pursuing a romantic relationship with Lewis, finding out more about her grandmother) and she had cool passions and talent (art and cooking)!!

My commentary on Clewis jealousy that nobody asked for but I’m sharing anyway:

We only ever get a few glimpses into Lewis’s jealousy. In the entire run of Clewis moments through seasons 1-3 we most often see jealousy manifest in Cleo, usually through her animosity towards Charlotte in season 2. Of course, they probably set this up to heighten the conflict between the characters and to better set up Charlotte as the season 2 finale antagonist. However, in a lot of ways, Cleo’s jealousy is very destructive, unnecessarily cruel (see S2E6), and uncalled for (since Cleo was the one who broke up with Lewis and consistently doubled down on it) causing a lot of second-hand embarrassment for viewers. We also see her jealousy very briefly in season 1 through the mean comments about appearance that Cleo makes towards Dr. Denman—a direct result of her jealousy of Lewis’s attention toward Denman. Obviously, Cleo is just a teenager and these actions can be somewhat justified by her immaturity and knowing that she’s just lashing out as a teenage girl going through tough circumstances (and also by the fact that it’s sometimes played up for comedic beats in the show). BUT I did find it interesting that there is always a focus on Cleo’s jealousy and rarely ever on Lewis’s. Of course, Cleo is apart of the main trio and central to the show, so her experiences are expected to drive the plot more. BUT whenever I find myself as a viewer upset with Cleo’s actions of jealousy, I wonder what Lewis would have acted like in the same exact situation. Lewis was never given an antagonist who really posed a threat to his relationship with Cleo. You could argue that the role was played occasionally by Nate, but he was never a real and pressing competition for Cleo’s affections—not in the way Charlotte was for Lewis’s affections. I find that the compilation I made above of Lewis’s jealousy gives us a glimpse into how he would have acted had he actually been given an antagonist who vied for Cleo’s love. In the small glimpses we see, he’s pretty aggressive! He hits a punching bag out of frustration and provokes a karate fight with Nate (despite Cleo’s protests) that ends in breaking the Gilbert’s glass sculpture. Just like Cleo, he’s a teenager. His jealousy would probably be as uncalled for, cruel, destructive, and played up for plot or comedy as hers—had we seen it! All of this to say, as much as I see big character flaws in Cleo and the way that she handled her jealousy—she’s only human! And I’m sure Lewis would have acted the same way had the tables been turned! That’s one of the reasons why this show is just so good, its characters aren’t perfect and there’s a complex duality to them. Also bc Clewis jealousy is just so juicy for my shipper heart lol.

I’ve clipped it here:

I think about this parallel ALL THE TIME! And I’m including a reference to that line of thinking (Lewis wanting to know where he stands) in the latest chapter of my Clewis fic I’m writing hehehehe. It adds a great level of angst!

Clewis Birthday Kisses