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angel tears.

eve becomes SNAKE -- or snake becomes EVE. whichever way ROUND, she is FREER. hell follows her ‘round, hell called MAN, hell called ADAM, trying to make the CHANGING about him. adam demands of god why he is being PUNISHED like this. eve finds GRACE in the dark cracks between rocks. eve finds god in the SOLITUDE. eve finds ABSOLUTION in the red press of her knees / scales into the dirt. eve, UNBLINKING, watches adam rail. adam demands ANSWERS and eve / snake / eve exits the GARDEN to go and find them for HERSELF.

ind. priv. kate fuller of el rey network's from dusk till dawn: the series. as told by duchess. est april 4th 2017.

Can we take a minute to talk about Kate Fuller and the way she uses her sexuality/presumed purity and innocence?

It’s so important that Kate is portrayed as fully in control of her agency, aware of the power of her femininity and how she can use it to her advantage. So far any time she’s been in a position where she might have shrunk herself down, let herself wilt and shy away from anyone trying to make her feel like she’s less or make her uncomfortable, she’s blossomed instead. She’s spit back, taken the trope of the innocent, church-going virgin and claimed it as her own. Kate’s character doesn’t even try to be a completely unexpected take on the trope, it’s so much more complicated and important than that. This isn’t a church girl who is secretly wild, this is a normal girl with normal desires and needs, how can see the predators in her life and knows that she’s a target. But she knows how to deal with them.

More than that, she knows how to use her sexuality to get what she wants, knows how to manipulate the men in her life. That might sound like a mean-spirited thing to do, but it’s a tough world for girls. Taking life literally by the balls, knowing what people want from you but using it to get what you want instead. That’s what you have to do sometimes. 

When she’s talking to Kyle and he tells her that he loves her, Kate pauses. She looks at the RV, looks at where she is and where she’s going, and she knows. If she tells him sheloves him, gives him what he wants, she can get to where she wants to go. So she says it with a smile. She probably really does like him, but more important than that, she needs him and it’s easy to  use him. Kate’s already discovered the power she has over men.

Even the way she opens the door to Jacob in her bra, knowing it will make him uncomfortable, knowing that she’s angry at him and she wants him to be upset. To even see that she’s not afraid of her own body or ashamed. It’s such a small thing, maybe originally written for laughs, but I saw it as something bigger.

In my opinion, her relationship with Richie is so often misinterpreted. I feel like Richie was so manipulated by Santanico for most of season one it’s hard to see where he really stands with Kate, or what was real. But it’s still interesting. Kate calls him out right away, “What else do you pick up on? Underage girls?”, while still sitting there in her bikini, looking gorgeous but not shrinking herself down. The earlier male gaze shots of her getting out of the pool have been subverted, Kate has the power now.

When Seth asks her to confess, tries to take control of the situation as he is famous for, Kate is taken off guard. She is uncomfortable, and that’s okay. It’s not her choice to tell everyone that she french-kissed a boy, to confess in front of her father and brother. At the same time, that scene is so telling, because Kate is still so strong while Seth is treading water and at a loss. He’s grasping at normalcy, looks at this family and wants to be a part of it but doesn’t understand that, so he tries to make it a game instead. Kate watches him and she sees this. The way that their dynamic is in season two proves that she had him pegged long ago, that she knows what makes him tick and how to push his buttons. She even tells him that Tanner hit on her, uses him to her advantage. Kate is so intuitive and she doesn’t forget the important things about people.

Time and time again she doesn’t let Tanner, aka Sex Machine, make her feel the way he wants her to feel. He wants her to feel small, he wants her to feel ill at ease and he wants her to feel like prey. Ultimately that’s what he turns out to be, a predator. Tanner wants to use her purity for his own gain, and he wants to use her as a sacrifice. 

More than that, he’s the ultimate douchebag, preying on young girls - the epitome of the asshole who catcalls and makes you feel like a piece of meat. But Kate stands up to him each time. Stands up tall and proud and not scared, tells him “bet it shoots blanks”, kicks him in the balls and says “chivalry’s dead now”, stabs him and helps take him down because Kate isn’t prey and she isn’t your fucking sacrifice.

Again, the scenes between her and Richie in the Twister are strange. No one is sure if Richie is genuine or trying to keep Kate around because of a bigger plan. Either way, Kate kisses him because she knows ultimately that she has the upper hand. Even later, he wants to give her the keys, wants to let her go.

Kate’s going to lure a pervert off to be eaten by Rafa, and in this clip we see her retie her shirt, smiling in pink lipstick. Kate could be taken advantage of in this universe of evil and blood, but she’s not letting that happen to her. Rafa is almost similar to Kyle. Who knows what will happen, I think they’re really cute, but Kate needs things from him and she knows that he likes her.

It’s in this way that Kate knows how to use her sexuality in a way that even Kisa doesn’t. Kisa wears her sexuality as armor because she has to, Kate uses hers as a secret weapon. It’s something she pulls out at times when she needs to.

This isn’t to say Kate doesn’t like being sexual, that she shies away from that part of herself. She obviously likes boys, she likes to flirt and she has desires. Kate Fuller definitely french-kissed Kyle in the back of that church, not the other way around. This is important because Kate isn’t put upon, she doesn’t pull the sexy card when she needs to and then push it deep away, hating herself or feeling ashamed because of it. She doesn’t let herself be the victim, because she knows she’s ultimately the one in control. Kate knows how to be calculated, she knows how to be understated. This isn’t in criticism towards Kisa, this is just how Kate is. How she feels comfortable. Sometimes I personally feel Kisa does use her sexuality as a separate part of herself, but that makes sense given what she’s gone through. Neither way is wrong.

Kate has always built up an arsenal. It’s only now, when her world has shattered and nothing makes sense, that she feels the power to be whatever she wants to be, what she needs to be in the moment. Kate is going to demand Freddie teach her how to use his weapons, she doesn’t ask. This is a girl who isn’t going to let life dictate to her what or who she’s going to be.