BLUE.

          starting with the most important and most obvious!

          blue is the cornerstone of holly’s character. it represents love and freedom. at her most powerful levels, holly’s powers shine cobalt blue. that’s also when she has the most control over them. when she first starts dating jamie in high school, he spills red wine on her favorite sundress-- which is blue. he takes away holly’s freedom quite frequently, and even says he prefers her in pink. the presence or absence of blue in holly’s surroundings represents the amount of control she has over her life.

          in superhero verses (such as the somewhat related marvel and dc verses), holly’s suit is blue. she considers herself less of a warrior and more of a healer, not out to hurt others but to heal those who need her. in her legion verse, her connection with the color blue goes deeper. the repetition of the line “it’s always blue” ties in with holly’s powers. the appearance of the color blue is symbolic of the end goal-- of love and freedom.

BLACK.

          black represents power and fertility. holly’s powers appear near-black when at their highest saturation, which isn’t necessarily healthy for holly, but correspond to when she can give the most power to others. it’s the color of rich soil and restful nights. when holly’s powers appear black, she can do the most healing. her hair is black, and she often wears black to go out as a teenager/young adult because she feels the most powerful. holly wears all black to both harding and lydia’s funerals, and in both cases, holly inherits money/power from their deaths. in verses where holly gains power, such as her dark verse(s), she incorporates black into her wardrobe more than blue. 

WHITE.

          white is hunger, desire, and emptiness. her powers at their lowest levels appear white, and are most prone to consuming life force. she wore white to her cotillion party, which her mother forced her to attend and during which dalton lawrence assaulted her. the hospitals holly trains in are often white environments and inspire holly’s ambition, a hunger to do more with her life than be someone’s wife. holly ends up never wanting to get married, and thus never wears a white dress, symbolic of her rejection of being empty and shallow like her mother. 

BEIGE.

          beige is peace. holly’s general aesthetic and fashion sense involves a lot of beige. she enjoys simplicity, ease, comfort; beige represents her quest for tranquility. holly’s simple pleasures come in shades of beige, like leather-bound journals, vintage purses, and cashmere sweaters. gray also falls into this category, as well as other neutrals. holly’s mother used to tell her beige did nothing for her, and urged her to wear brighter colors. 

GOLD.

          gold is home and history. much of holly’s jewelry she keeps from her childhood is gold, heirlooms from harding’s side of the family he never remembered to claim. gold all but disappears from holly’s life beyond graduation, as she very rarely looks back on her history. gold also reminds holly of lux warren, one of her best friends who holly had a raging crush on. lux often highlighted her light brown hair, resulting in a golden-haired appearance. they lost contact after high school.

PINK.

          pink resembles luxury. holly’s childhood as the only daughter of very rich parents meant she got everything she asked for, from a barbie dreamhouse to a frilly birthday dress. holly’s favorite lipstick is dior in a shade of pink, which she always saves up money to afford if she can. she feels classy in pink. holly’s struggles with infertility influence her to see children as a luxury, one she’ll likely never experience. in any verse where she does, miraculously, have a baby, she decorates the child’s room with pink regardless of their gender. she likes pink.

RED.

          red is cruelty, predation, and the absence of love. in holly’s dark verse(s), red appears quite often. her lipstick is red, especially when she uses the power of seduction on her victims. dalton buys her a red dress for their dates, during which he preys upon her youth to control her. unfortunately, holly’s also attracted to the color red. as such, red is also indicative of holly’s self-sabotage, or harmful habits. the other time holly wears red lipstick is when she and her friends go out on the town to drown their sorrows with boys and booze.

VIOLET.

          violet is youth, naivete, innocence. it’s holly’s favorite color prior to graduating high school. cecilia dyes a strip of holly’s hair violet sophomore year. her friends call their squad the ultraviolets, and they embody the youthful attitude of being unstoppable and immortal. holly’s favorite drink to use as a mixer is a sonic grape-o, although sawyer insists it tastes like cough medicine. 

GREEN.

          green is growth and change. it appears when holly is in a transitional phase of her life, even if she’s unaware of it. holly’s bedroom in lydia’s house is light green. although green doesn’t always represent change for the better, it often does. when holly makes changes for the worse, white is more frequent. holly’s older brother justan’s favorite color is green, which foreshadows his role in changing the course of holly’s future by murdering their mother. his actions cause holly to take on sophie as her dependent, drop out of med school, and move cities. while lydia’s murder is a violent event, it ends up having a positive effect on holly’s life by freeing her from manipulation. 

YELLOW.

          yellow is fear. holly wears a yellow sundress to court while pressing charges against dalton lawrence. she is afraid, but faces her fear to do what she knows is right. yellow is candlelight in a raging thunderstorm. yellow was the cover over the pool where holly drowned as a child and triggered her powers. 

ORANGE.