While Cloe may deliver, around Marta, the biggest dick move of the episode (which is saying something, given that Tasio tries to tell Carmen again that nothing happened between him and Paula), Cloe also delivers, around Valentina, the most heroic move of the episode: she defends Valentina from Rodrigo and nearly gets strangled for it.
And then there is this closing image (above) of the episode: two women seeking comfort in an embrace after surviving the traumatizing attack of an entitled rapist who thought he could own one of them while he was jealous of the other.
Uhm. Sound familiar?
The setup: Cloe is helping Valentina around the store in the evening. Not really her paycheck size, but bestie service. An easy arm around her shoulders in comfort? Sure. (hey @blancdansnoir how'bout these flacons?)
Cloe offers Valentina to stay in her apartment overnight (with Cloe); she then invites her to dinner beforehand and Valentina agrees:
While this setup is not romantically coded on the surface, I would argue that it is staged to make it subtextually readable as romantic. Look at the above screenshot without context and tell me what you see!
Sure, these two are best friends. But they are also two women who share a close bond and a long history, one of them canonically queer and again with her arm around the other, offering chivalrous support...
...and it's not just words when Rodrigo tries to drag off Valentina and Cloe - smart enough to scream for help first - throws herself at him to rescue Valentina.
Valentina is frozen for a moment, but then hurries to pull Rodrigo of Cloe:
And that is oddly close to this setup:
It is not the same picture, but it strikes up a parallel.
Both blondes also yell "Get off her!" while the queer brunette is strangled by the rapist.
Then, there is the "smash a bottle on his head" move:
...and, finally, the immediate "reaching out for the other in a hug" before the man that poses the danger has even fully left the scene (Santiago in the foreground, Rodrigo in the background):
Coincidence, or it the crew enjoying getting to build up another subtext ship? Intentional coding, or just "well that's the most obvious setting on a soap"?
I wonder why they made this - holding onto each other with the camera at a distance so that we can see them crouching on the floor - the final image. And also gave Cloe, who pushed herself on an unsuspecting Marta earlier in the ep, the heroic-swagger "are you okay?" question to Valentina here, who is shaken but unscathed, while Cloe has been battered and acosted and probably holds herself together with duct tape and sheer defiance at this point and yet still thinks of Valentina first (sorry, but I love that variant of the hurt/comfort trope: "will nonchalantly ask the largely unhurt woman she is pining after 'are you all right?' before promptly passing out from battle wounds sustained for her"):
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The common Sableye is found in the many caves and abandoned mines that dot the landscape, preying on Carbink and other gemstones.
The rarer Valoan Sableye (known in its home region as Bulblin) keeps itself relegated to Mojara’s plentiful airports and airbases, where it gorges itself on electrical equipment, much to the annoyance of the locals.
The show is toying with a Marta-between-Cloe-and-Fina setup: Cloe gets an extended solo sequence without dialogue that does not move forward plot and only serves as affective exposition.
Cloe gets up to look at designs, sighs, looks over at Marta's empty desk, frowns and sighs some more before she looks back at her designs. “Not over her yet” neon sign.
But enter Valentina! And there's the other (more subtextual) thing the show is toying with: fine, call your pretty best friend "gorgeous" ("guapísima"). Address her playfully as "Miss".
But insert a chin touch and three prolonged moments of handholding on knees? Did someone steel the luzgoña mantle off the mantle this quickly?! (nobody will ever level up to the epic that was/is luzgoña, but I continue to enjoy these two together. Cloe around Marta is over the top; Cloe around Valentina? Effortlessly charming. Even if dramaturgy employs her to sell Andrés as an option.)
The much better option? Gets in a handholding hattrick here:
Strong start with a knee touch that remains for more than 5 seconds! Valentina doesn't seem uncomfortable in the least.
One minute later: a hand on hand on knee variant while their bodies are angled towards each other.
…and finally: Valentina holding onto Cloe's hand that rests sort-of on her knee. Again.
Show. What are you trying to tell me? Is Luz raising an eyebrow somewhere in pretend Barcelona?
It is supposed to be kept underground, but often escapes the safety of its hive. It is very affectionate, and will often hurl itself towards humans without warning.
#014 Humbelbee - Bee Pokemon - Bug/Ground
It clumsily flies across Valoe’s meadows in search of pollen, which it stores in the pouch on its abdomen. The buzz of its wings sound like the faint tinkling of bells, and are often an indicator that one of its underground hives is nearby.
It is known to recklessly imprint on anything, from its trainer, to other Pokémon, to computers. Even so, its parents will never stop supporting it and will keep feeding it until it is strong enough to fend for itself.
#016 Heimate - Urban Bird Pokemon - Normal/Flying
It is estimated that no fewer than 10 million homes across Valoe have a nest hidden somewhere on the property. If their neighbourhood is under threat, they will swarm the attacker viciously.
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Although it primarily uses them as a display to attract mates and ward off predators, the flowers that make up its tail produce a strong narcotic substance. Valoe’s population is protected by the royal family, but in the wild it is regularly poached for its flowers.
#104 Bulblin - Electric/Dark - It skulks around cities looking for electronics to feed on. If it is discovered while feeding it will discharge all of its stored electricity through its lamp-like eyes, to momentarily blind its pursuer as it escapes.
It shares a subtle psychic link with other Emperofant, and will begin to mourn if it senses the death of others nearby. Its tusks were apparently a lot longer in the past, but overhunting has caused them to be less magnificent.
