"I think Sam handles pressure better than Caitríona... As she said years ago about him being a calm center.: - Sam showed that when criticized, he's a woos. She never wrote a 3 page BS like he has, complaining how poorly he feels and including the mental affliction as excuse to make sure nobody would criticize him again. Cait is no push over and doesn't need Sam to "protect" her. He should fix his own problems as they didn't change since we've became aware of him in S1.
Anon...
Maybe your problem is assuming that Sam and Cait can't be similar (although even your dear Cait said that) and not admitting how they both support each other in all these (bad) moments.
I didn't say that Sam was exemplary, but the fact is he deals with "all this shit" better than she does... Okay, Hawaiigate 2.0 wasn't his best moment, but there's no way he could have come out of it well without resorting to the role of victim. And Cait supported him and his behavior in that moment. 😜
But Cait crossed the line, gave unnecessary answers in interviews and on social media over the years... Statements that did nothing to contribute to the image of the excellent actress that she is, and encouraged people to speculate much more about her personal life. Cait did nothing to benefit herself or her family. She let her sisters and mother get involved in this circus, until it culminated in the interview fiasco with her father.
Unlike Sam, Cait has the shield of her "perfect marriage" with Tony, so why would she need to be afraid of what the "small vocal group" thinks and says about her??? To the point that she mentioned, during an Oscar campaign for Vanity Fair magazine, something silly like a comparison of bedsheets?! 🤦🏻♀️
Okay, I've already made fun of Tony and I think that sometimes people cross the line, but Cait herself is the one who encourages this when she publicly treats her husband so coldly. She only seems to be an interested wife (and that on a few occasions) when the camera is in their faces.
If my husband were as uncomfortable as Tony is, I would be the first person to tell him not to go to these events with me.
Supporting someone you love is not being on their side out of obligation, to merely give a good impression as a couple... Support is understanding, accepting what the other person is and respecting that. Obviously, Tony didn't want to be at several of these events over the years... And the worst part? Cait ignored him and often appeared with that unhappy face next to him. And there are people applauding this. 🤦🏻♀️
I'm a mother and something I can't agree with is the talk of the happy family justifying that they had a son together. A child should never have this responsibility, be the reason to say that a couple is happy. This is not right and it is not reality.
And who are you in Sam and Cait's lives to say that Cait doesn't need Sam's protection, or that he has to solve his problems alone?!? Are you at least one of her or his family? We don't really know anything about these two actors and we're just here speculating and guessing based on the little they show us publicly. We're in the same boat, Anon. 😉
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Do you truly think they will get back together?
I really do, anon! With some other couples my answer wouldn’t be so confident, but Tim and Lucy have proven before that they have what it takes to make it through this.
Let’s start with Tim. Yes, he’s in a really bad place right now. But he’s shown us (and Lucy) over and over again that he’s able and willing to change. Every single time she’s called him out on his behavior, he has eventually accepted responsibility for it, learned from it, and changed it. Already, in the aftermath of this breakup, he’s accepted that he needs help. I fully anticipate that he will reach the point of being able to understand and accept what he’s done and take responsibility for it as well and work to make sure it doesn't happen again.
He’s also earned Lucy’s trust before. At the beginning she didn’t trust him at all - justifiably, given how volatile he was. But as he healed, he became someone she could trust on the job. And eventually outside of the job. She’s seen him change. She knows he’s capable of it. And I think once they’re communicating better and she understands what triggered him to walk away from her, she'll also be able to see that he's putting in the work to ensure he doesn't stay in this place where he might make the same decision again. With that understanding and seeing the changes, she'll be able to begin rebuilding trust.
And let’s not forget (something @timandlucy pointed out to me earlier) that Tim forgave Isabel. She disappeared, stole from him, lied, and cheated, yet Tim was willing to forgive her. He knows what it's like to be in that position. And again, I think once he’s in a better place, he’s going to understand that Lucy now has to do what he once did and that it’s not going to be easy.
Along those lines, let's talk about Lucy. From day one, it's been made clear that empathy is a core piece of who she is. She understands that people make bad decisions when they're in a bad place, but that this doesn't define who they are as a person. She’s understands why people do the things they do. She believes people can change, and she believes in second chances.
And even though right now she doesn't fully understand how deep Tim's issues run, she still knows him. She knows he struggles with his feelings and she knows he carries trauma that he hasn't dealt with. She knows he sometimes makes irrational decisions guided by his heightened emotions. She knows he struggles to ask for help.
But she also knows his heart. She knows he cares deeply. She knows he's willing to do anything for the people he loves (even if it's not actually the right thing to do). Tim is so scared of her finding out what he did and who he is - but the thing he can't see is that she already knows who he is. He says he can't give her what she needs, but again, she knows that's not true. Maybe right now he can't, but he is capable of it and she knows that, too. He just needs help getting to that place.
Is winning her trust back going to be easy? Absolutely not. And I don't want it to be. Lucy has every right to be hurt and angry and protective of her heart. She has every right to set boundaries and demand an adult conversation with him. You can be empathetic without being a pushover.
It's not going to be an easy journey and it's not going to be a quick one. It's gonna take a lot of communication and vulnerability and emotional maturity. But I really truly believe that once they can overcome these issues, they're going to be so much stronger.
(Sorry, that may have been a much longer answer than you were looking for. Long story short, yes. I do.)
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Kanna Natsu Idol Story - 2
Written by: Akira
Season: Spring
TL: verdantcrimson
Proofread: @revuestarlight
[Two years since ES was established. In the ES building infirmary.]
Kanna: ……
Hinata: Goood morning!
Yuta: Today, we’re thinking of playing a hidden camera prank on the talk of the town, child prodigy, Kanna Natsu, when he wakes up!
Hinata: Because both of us in 2wink love pranks!
Yuta: —and since we've been in the business for the while, the agency was like, “C'mon, show your junior how things work around here. You guys love that sort of stuff, right?”
Hinata: There's a difference between playing a prank and bullying, though!
Yuta: But we can't disobey the agency. That's just life, y'know? We've gotta work hard and pull this off in order to maintain our character image.
Hinata: Why do you seem weirdly pumped about this, Yuuta-kun?
Yuta: This guy is Kanna Natsu, y'know…… Everyone's making a fuss about what a genius he is, but he's still just a brat, and seeing him get more attention than us pisses me off.
Yuta: We've gotta punish this ill-mannered newbie, don't we?
Hinata: Whoops, it's getting hard to keep my brother's wickedness in check these days, yknow~?
Hinata: Ah, but he's acting like this on purpose because that's the kind of image he's decided on! Yuta-kun is actually a good kid!
Hinata: All of you watching at home, please don't misunderstand!
Yuta: Hell yeah, that's the perfect excuse. Now, no matter how cruel and inhumane I behave, I can just say it's because my agency or my producer told me to play that sort of character.
Yuta: I can use that to justify my bullying. Hehehe.
Hinata: How wicked… Looking at you these days makes your big brother worry, Yuta-kun.
Hinata: …..Hm?
Kanna: ……
Kanna: ……?
Hinata: I knew this would happen. Look, look, Yuta-kun! Natsu-kun is awake already!
Yuta: Huh, No way. He looked like he was fast asleep— Maybe we made too much of a racket?
Hinata: What should we do? Should we abort mission? I didn't really want to do an unfunny and old-school prank like that anyways, so I'm fine with it.
Yuta: It sounds like you were making a fuss on purpose so that the plan would fail.
Kanna: Good morning.
Hinata: Ah, yup. Morning. You sure slept well.
Kanna: Yes, thank you. Though sleeping isn't something I do for leisure.
Kanna: I don't get the opportunity to sleep when I'm occupied with research, so I try to sleep as much as I can whenever I find time.
Kanna: Also, if I pretend to be asleep, everyone will leave me alone.
Hinata: Oh, so you were just pretending to be asleep? Then, did you realize we were trying to prank you?
Kanna: Yes. Though, even when I'm asleep, one half of my brain stays awake.
Yuta: Are you a dolphin?
Hinata: That's so genius-core.
Kanna: I think anyone could do it with enough training.
Yuta: Tsk tsk tsk. It's exactly because all that training is so tedious that nobody would ever be able to make a name for themselves as a genius.
Kanna: I see. I understand now.
Kanna: I think that if anyone focused all their efforts on a single thing for approximately a year, they could become an expert in that field.
Kanna: Only a child like myself would be able to concentrate on a single thing for as long as they want to, correct?
Kanna: Any adult, I mean, essentially everyone, requires time to eat, play, socialize, and maintain their physical and mental health.
Kanna: It is quite difficult to concentrate on a single thing.
Kanna: That is why they fall short of success. Yes, people who are able to do that to some extent from the very beginning— Only they are successful and lauded as geniuses.
Kanna: If everyone is limited to only being able to spend a fraction of their time on their efforts, then only those who are privileged are able to succeed and win.
Kanna: That is the reason, correct? It's logical. I can understand this.
Hinata: I've been wondering, what on earth is this kid going on about…?
Yuta: You like making theories about other people based on their behavior and then feeling like you've understood them, don't you?
Kanna: Yes. Because I'm around that age. That's adolescence, I suppose.
Hinata: Yeah, well I don't believe that! If you treated any older kid like a ‘teenage brat’ they'd get angry and rebel. They'd never admit that they're going through puberty!
Kanna: Maybe that was just the case for you, Yuta Aoi.
Hinata: … Oh? Huh? Ermm?
Kanna: It's easier to live when you believe that your ‘normal’ and the world's ‘normal’ aren't congruent.
Kanna: I've long since given up on that sort of premise.
Kanna: I'm different from everyone else. I'm certain, nothing can be done about this.
Hinata: Ummm… I'm terribly sorry if we're boring you or something, but I think there's been a misunderstanding, so let me clear it up.
Hinata: I'm Hinata.
Yuta: And I'm Yuta.
Kanna: No.
Kanna: I know about you two. The twin idols from Cosmic Productions, 2wink.
Kanna: The two of you have changed your marketing strategy as of late, with the older brother Hinata continuing to present as a cheerful a good kid—
Kanna: —While the younger brother, Yuta, differentiates himself from his older brother by growing out his hair and selling a ‘bad kid’ image.
Kanna: That is what the established theory is.
Hinata: The established ‘theory’?
Yuta: Those are just facts.
Kanna: What are illusions?
Hinata: Huh, why'd you bring that up suddenly? What are you talking about?
Kanna: An illusion, or ‘sleight of hand’, is something that takes advantage of people's imagination.
Kanna: You make the world think that ‘the twins have differentiated their appearances and begun walking separate paths.’
Kanna: That way, you can do as much deception as you please.
Kanna: The twins that are supposedly never interchangeable, swap places in secret. Older brother becomes younger brother. Younger brother becomes older brother.
Kanna: Characteristic differences in hair length can also be accounted for using wigs and such.
Kanna: People tend to assume based on their prior knowledge, that ‘the one with longer hair must be the younger brother,’ since both brothers have similar facial features and so on.
Hinata: … Even if all of that were true, what good would it do for us to impersonate each other?
Kanna: Simply put, you two probably just enjoy those sorts of tricks.
Kanna: Furthermore, there are countless merits to being able to switch places. That is probably why having twins swap places is considered taboo, even in the most hard-core of detective novels.
Kanna: It's simply too convenient. It'd be used to forge alibis to no end, because now, anything goes.
Kanna: Additionally, if you succeed at your trivial ‘swapping places’ prank, you'd be able to make a fool of the child prodigy brat that everyone is making a fuss about, correct?¹
Kanna: You'd be able to say “That kid acts like he's a genius, but he's an oblivious idiot who couldn't even notice we switched places.”
Hinata & Yuta: ……
Kanna: 2wink is a unit comprised of a ‘good kid’ older brother and a ‘bad kid’ younger brother.
Kanna: Recently, it seems as though the two of them have truly diverged and are trying to pursue their own paths.
Kanna: That is why. Even if the younger brother was specifically requisitioned for work that would earn him points or experience as a ‘good kid’— The older brother would swap in and take his place. The reverse applies as well.
Kanna: So the two of you steadily gain experience and continue growing, correct?
Kanna: You're each trying to specialize in being a ‘good kid’ and ‘bad kid’.
Kanna: Waiting for an opportunity, with nobody any wiser.
Yuta: ……
Kanna: I don't have much interest in anything. However, I find your impressive tactics very interesting.
Kanna: I'm not trying to get in your way. However, by exposing your actions like this, I can render your footage unfit for broadcast.
Kanna: Even if what I said just now might be untrue.
Kanna: If the world's people begin to doubt you, you'll have a hard time operating. They might begin to think things like “Maybe they've swapped places?” or “Are they playing tricks?”
Kanna: All the earnest and serious people of the world will begin to view you poorly.
Kanna: That probably would not be desirable for you.
Kanna: I apologize. Being filmed and broadcasted in my sleep is quite embarrassing.
Kanna: That is why I have taken these preventative measures to keep it from occurring. Please understand that I bear no ill-will towards the two of you.
Kanna: That is all. I'm going to go back to bed now. Goodnight.
Kanna: Zzz, zzz.
Yuta: ……
Hinata: … He ended up being the real deal.
Yuta: Yeah. I figured it was just the usual hype you see on TV and magazines.
Hinata: (But really, I never thought he'd notice we ‘switched’.)
Yuta: (Yup. I thought nobody could tell. But this kid saw through us, probably just through a glimpse of our activities on the news or on the internet.)
Hinata: (To top it all off, just in case— He made sure we wouldn't get in trouble even if we did air it, by following it up with “what I said might be untrue.”)
Yuta: (He didn't want to inconvenience us, so he acted considerately.)
Hinata: (This brat sure acts full of himself. I ought to scribble on his face while he sleeps.)
Yuta: (Give it a rest already... Let sleeping gods lie, Yuta-kun.)²
Hinata: (You're such a good kid, Hinata-kun.)
Yuta: (And you’re a bad kid, right, Yuta-kun?)
Kanna: Zzz, zzz…♪
Hinata: (This kid might be incredible— more than anyone could imagine.)
Yuta: (But his sleeping face is adorable, just like any other normal kid's would be, y’know)
Translation notes
He's repeating back the same phrases that Hinata and Yuta used to describe him while he was 'sleeping'..
The original saying is '触らぬ神に祟りなし' which is means the same thing as 'let sleeping dogs lie', but I retained the 神 portion because I figured it might be a fun play on Kanna's first name '神無'
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What are your headcanons about Marcille's mom if you have any? It's interesting that what drew Donato to her was cause she lived the history he studied, or that was said somewhere at least. She must've had an interesting life.
so this was going to be just a normal answer but then I realized I have a Lot of Things To Say. so here goes, a compilation of what we know for a fact from the canon, what I've extrapolated from the visual cues and details, and my theories based on all of that.
Things we know for a fact about Marcille's mother because they were explicitly stated in the manga and supplemental materials:
She was a court mage for a Tall-man kingdom at the southern part of the Northern Continent
Donato, a court historian, fell in love with her because she had lived through the history he was studying, and he courted her for 17 years (age 15 to 32) before getting married
She was a cheerful person who rarely showed extreme emotion and took things as they came
She always cooked a huge meal for Marcille on her birthdays
She remarried a gnome after Donato's death and a short distance away from Marcille's childhood home
Pipi, Marcille's pet bird, was actually older than Marcille and originally belonged to her mother (bird died at 62)
She was extremely heartbroken when Donato died and ultimately ended up instilling a deep fear of mortality in Marcille with her words
the only time she showed extreme emotion in front of her family was when Donato could no longer eat his favourite dish near the end of his life.
She scolded Marcille for being cruel to ants (implying she can have a stern side when needed)
Things that are explicitly shown but mostly through visual cues
She has a very distinctive style of dress always involving a ribbon choker (mirroring Marcille's habit of always wearing a matching choker with any of her outfits that don't cover her neck)
She was almost stereotypically good at housekeeping and traditionally "wifely" things (very frequently depicted wearing an apron or doing some domestic chore when not at work, seems to have been an avid cook).
She knits? (also, note the affectionate smile as she's looking at Donato and Marcille reading a book together in the full panel)
She was as excited for Marcille's milestones as Donato was.
She didn't tell Marcille much about elven food
(there are a couple things that this panel in particular implies:
She lived a good deal of her life (if not being born and raised) in a mainly elven country in the West, implied by her knowing enough of an elven region's cuisine to prefer Tall-man food over it
seems to have a pretty carefree and casual demeanour overall, if this is how she replied to Marcille asking her about it (sounds like she never gave her culinary preferences that much thought to begin with)
slightly related to number 2, it seems like she and Marcille had a fairly casual parent-child dynamic (especially in comparison to the Toudens' memory of their father)
(local elf tastes Italian food once and never goes back))
However, she seems a lot more... serious in most of the other times we see her? Almost like the very stereotypical archetype of a graceful elf.
Subsequent conclusions about her personality:
Usually pretty carefree and cheerful at home, has been a loving and attentive parent throughout Marcille's childhood (while not being so doting that she didn't discipline Marcille).
Slightly more conjectural theories on her personality:
Had a much more graceful and professional personality at work, which would explain the more serious portraits we see of her.
Given that both she and Donato had positions at the royal court, it seems a little odd that she'd go out of her way to do all the housework herself, so maybe she just enjoyed doing it?
Now taping all the evidence together and toeing the line between analysis and fanfiction:
It's clear that she loved Donato very much and was utterly devastated by losing him. But there's one thing that really stuck out to me in what little we see of her:
Doesn't she seem... angry? The way she's gritting her teeth, clutching the tablecloth, and how this is the first and only time we see her eyes opened that wide. In the following panel, you see her being quiet and dejected after her initial outburst. She's still crying very intensely, but her brows are furrowed, and she's not really responding to Donato's affection in her body language.
We're not told the details of how she felt about losing Donato other than that it upset her. But this, to me, implies that she was angry and resented that he was aging, that the end of his life was approaching. An "it's not fair" type of preemptive grief. And if this was the first and last time she cried like this in front of her family, she was either very good at coping in private... or very bad at letting herself feel unpleasant emotions until they become unavoidable and end up overwhelming her.
It's not too remarkable a detail on the surface. It's even reminiscent of what the audience has seen of Marcille. But... when it comes to the big picture, you'd think an elf who voluntarily chose to marry a tall-man and have a half-elf child would have been better prepared for this.
It kind of recontextualizes her cheerfulness to me.
"I'm sure everything's gonna be okay!" (or some variation thereof, depending on what translation you have).
And this is stated to contrast her extreme grief when finally confronting Donato's failing body and eventual death. But I'm wondering if... maybe this optimism was why she was so upset. What if she went into all of it thinking "everything's gonna be okay"? What if she was a little young by elven standards, and just followed her heart thinking that her own resilience would get her through anything?
Of course, only to get completely overwhelmed when she actually loses Donato. She turns into a completely different person. And that's heartbreaking on its own-- but what the audience sees is the effect it had on Marcille. Can you imagine being her, watching your invincible and upbeat mother suddenly lose all the light in her eyes in one go?
I've already made a huge post about how I think Marcille models her "work persona" off her mother, but another thing that stuck with me as I was looking for more details in the manga was this:
copy pasting from the other post i made about it lmao it's like... the second she resigns herself to lifelong pain and terror, there's another portrait of her mother facing her like this. with their heads bowed, in mirrored body language of resignation and despair and sorrow. Except it's posed like Marcille is still looking at her mother but her mother is looking away.
It took me a second to realize, but I think that it's a visual metaphor for the fact that Marcille's mother was the only long-lived role model she had-- and she failed to model healthy grief for her daughter. I don't say this as an accusation or to disparage her as a character, but just as a matter of fact. In her, Marcille was seeing herself older and losing a short-lived spouse or loved one of her own, and all she saw was hopelessness.
But her mother didn't mean to instill hopelessness and terror in her. She wasn't really thinking of how it would truly affect Marcille at all (at least, that's how I'm interpreting her looking down and away from Marcille in the metaphor), she was just sad. And she, in her own way, was trying to protect her daughter and help her prepare for future losses.
What she meant was "loss is inevitable, and you have to learn how to be in pain but live on anyway." What Marcille heard was "loss is inevitable, and you will be scared and hurt for the rest of your life."
Again. Marcille's mother doesn't feature explicitly in the story the way her father does -- but in so many ways, her shadow, her silhouette, her reflection is always hanging over Marcille.
All that to say... headcanon-wise (everything from here on is 100% without evidence lmao), I'd like to think that she matured and realized that she failed Marcille. I imagine her being regretful about it, wanting a chance to fix it but never finding a way to insert herself back into Marcille's life when Marcille is so so so busy becoming the most accomplished mage possible. I imagine her being herself again, now, so many years after her loss and after remarrying -- but with her cheerfulness tempered with a lot more wisdom and the pain of having gone through loss like that. I think the second Marcille actually tells her what happened in the dungeon, she'd want to go running to her daughter again -- if Marcille tells her the full truth instead of just being embarrassed she let things get that far. (oh, the tragedy of her wanting to be more like her mother and an accomplished adult who doesn't need to be babied... being embarrassed to actually tell her mother how much she fucked up...)
There's also the tension of her having remarried -- I know that there's at least a little bit of resentment that Marcille harbours about that, because she's childish like that at heart even if she makes an effort not to externalize it. I think that her mother would be aware of that, potentially adding to her sense of guilt and apprehension at trying to reappear/intrude on Marcille's life. I honestly don't think Marcille has met her stepfather -- or even considers him a stepfather rather than "mama's new husband" and kind of a total stranger. I think she and her mother actively don't talk about it in their correspondence, like an elephant in the room.
but, ultimately, I think her mother is on her side no matter what. Ancient magic? Dark necromancy? Sure, she'll feel guilty and like she was partially responsible for setting Marcille down such a painful path, but she wouldn't care. that's her daughter!! she would've moved back west and been petitioning for her at the court, buying a house right next to the Canaries barracks and visiting her every day that she wasn't on a mission. And if her husband had opinions on Marcille becoming a "dark arts user," he either gets over it or it's divorce with him. Yes, she might have had her optimism completely humbled by losing Donato like that -- but she's still headstrong and self-assured and she doesn't care what people think of her. It's her way or the highway and she's always going to be in Marcille's corner.
(She also needs a name lol. I went with Juno, just to be cute about "Marcille"s closest real life equivalent being Marcella, which is the female version of Marcellus, which in turn is a diminutive of Marcus, which was derived from Mars. Absolutely in love with Marcille potentially being named after Ares/Mars the fucking god of war btw)
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