#promnont

PROM and NONT in

I love this scene so much cause it nicely presents Prom’s side of the triangle. I honestly don’t think they should’ve even put the dialogue cause the scene itself shows what’s needed.

The dream isn’t about him being obsessed with twins, he’s not dreaming of being the meat in a twin sandwich. He engages each man alternately because it’s about how he sees them, how he feels about them.

The scene of course starts off with Prom in his favorite spot - attached to Nont’s back (I think his apparent love for cuddling tickles me because he’s not exactly mr touchy feely in general so it’s adorable that he’s a level 99 clinger when it’s someone he likes). When an arm slides around his waist and grabs his attention it comes to no surprise that when he turns around it’s Nant. Nant doesn’t look like Nant as we know him tho, he looks exactly like Nont because his hair is dyed. We know it’s Nant because of the small detail of his necklace. This is Prom’s mind, this is how he sees Nant…or rather how he struggles to remember him. It’s not about him seeing Nant as Nont as much as it’s about him starting to lose the details that made Nant, Nant. Nant has his attention but they rest at a sort of stalemate, Prom crouched over him while he looks up at Prom beguilingly. But when Nont turns over and seeks his attention there is no stalemate between them. He’s easily drawn back to Nont. It is Prom that places their heads together, seeking Nont’s space and a connection. It is Prom who initiates a kiss and as they embrace Prom is drawn more to Nont’s side while Nant is left curled up rejected.

This isn’t about the illicitness of twins, it’s about a man’s feelings transitioning from one brother to another. Prom has been trying to hold on to Nant, we saw it during the pool scene in his elation while expressing the possibility of Nant still being alive, in him making the deal with Nont later that night. But it’s clear that Nont is taking up more space in his mind, no matter how hard he tries to hold onto the memory of Nant.

And maybe that blame lays on Nont a bit fore it was he who sought out Prom, it was he who engaged with him under the guise of being his twin, it was he who blurred the lines when he asked Prom to have sex with him like he was Nant, because then the tiny pockets of space he had left for Nant were infiltrated.

The dream was an erotic one but I wouldn’t say it was much about sex at all. Sex is just the common ground both men allowed Prom to take up space in their lives. The relationships he had with either of them was to only be physical and wasn’t supposed to be about emotions. What he had with Nant was a business deal at best - he received sexual services and Nant received money. Any interest seemed to be unrequited. Even though the boundary is more thin when it comes to his relationship with Nont because the other sees him as a confidant, a partner (in the case), and someone he seeks comfort in Nont still made it clear early on that what they had was just supposed to be a temporary physical connection until they found out what happened to his brother. So if his mind is fighting to make him aware of his shifting feelings about both men that’s the space it’s gonna do it from because that’s the space most real to him. I don’t think the erotic aspect of the dream is much deeper than that.

I do think many ppl forget to look at Prom as a person instead of just as a suspect. Which I understand is easy to do cause he’s so measured, impassive, and the mysterious air around him makes it easy to get caught up in seeing him as a plotting killer & forget everything else. However, I think we miss a lot if we don’t consider Prom’s side of things. We consider Nont’s feelings as the brother, we consider the Baddies feelings as the friends, we consider Nuth’s feelings as the victim, but often Prom’s feelings are overlooked - even the admitted ones (after ep8 there were many who asked why Prom was speaking as if he had feelings for Nant or analysis that omitted/disregarded Prom’s admitted feelings). Prom doesn’t seem to have many friends - he never hangs with the Playboyys nor does he seem to have a camaraderie with Porsche. He was in a one sided relationship with Nant who disappeared and was different when he came back…because he was a Twin. This reveal left him having to cling to Nont to maintain access to Nant’s case and the continued connection lead to an emotional bond with Nont. Unfortunately, just as he’s becoming conscious to the sifting of his emotions, old secrets and lies may jeopardize that.

I do think Nont is gonna see the Dog Mask as a betrayal. The combination of sexual compatibility & thinking Prom was secretly in love with Nant made Nont feel Prom could be trusted, that he likely had done nothing to his twin. This trust & relatable care for a man they both missed had him opening the door for Prom to be his partner in sleuthing. Like I said before, Prom was his confidant - he was more open and honest with Prom about the inner workings of his mind when it came to the case than he was with any of the Baddies. He was comfortable with letting Prom at times decide what move they should make, what lead they should follow. Prom used this to his advantage and always led them away from him. Of course I don’t think Prom had anything to do with Nant’s murder no matter if he was Dog Mask or just more intel on it, I think his fear of discovery has more to do with how he feels Nont will react to not only the lie but the actions within the video and the possible motives behind it. What other secrets is entangled with that one? (Personally I wonder if he knew Nont wasn’t Nant from the very beginning - but that’s another conversation.)

Note: I wonder if the reveal of Prom’s secrets will place him in the dog house and have them separating for a bit because that’s something we haven’t seen from this particular pairing. No matter how resistant Nont has been or how they battle on the chess board so to speak, they would still orbit around the other for the case & the pleasure of sex.

He just learned his brother may have died by suicide, but also that Nant may have staged it. Nant was a sex addict, a drug addict, a man capable of violence against someone he claimed he loved, manipulative and more cunning than Nont had imagined his brother to be. Nont idolized his brother but now that has all come crashing down.

Nont is upset and sad and angry and yet all anyone seems to care about is that Nant might still be alive. They want to keep searching, they want to find him, they don’t seem to care that Nont is coming apart at the seems. That he is losing the one thing that made him want to find out what happened to his brother, the pedestal that Nont put him on.

So he walks away from the boys he hadn’t realized he wanted to be friends with, he goes towards a man he might be falling in love with, thinking that man loves Nant. He offers to be Nant for that man just once, because he wants to feel that love. He is so desperate to feel wanted by someone that he will burn himself alive just for the chance to feel like someone wants him, even just one time.