#(but she was distancing herself for a bit)

[ender1821]

im a child of divorce

[possamble]

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)

[bumblingbabooshka]

[Tuvok & Janeway: Control, Distance, Duty & Connection.] Sources: St Voyager Transcripts / Mitski 'First Love Late Spring' / Disco Elysium

[ignihyde-resident]

Genderbent Riddle !?!? No way!!!

I tried to make him look like his mama but it low key just looks like a younger version of her,,,

[9990zara]

thinking about. narukami arashi. in all her messy self. augh...

[lollytea]

I thought about Hunter making Willow a pair of garden overalls before and I like to imagine that he takes her old season 1 dress that she's outgrown and repurposes the material into something practical that she'll wear all the time. She might not be the same person she was but that person is still special to her and she carries the memory proudly <333

[inky-bun]

Sometimes confiding in those that understand your pain can be the best comfort there is.

[minglana]

my mom finally met my (girl) cousin's gf....................🧍🏻🧍🏻🧍🏻

[ethanhuntfemmefatale]

thinking again about my beloved tracy thephiladelphiastory. what it means for a girl disillusioned by her father to say 'the right time to decide on someone is never.'

[gothamcityneedsme]

It is so odd that isabeau is introduced as so aligned with the monastery? Shes from a family of monks and she is talked about most in the monastery. She also goes there at several points (she goes to pray right after training) and its just weird because she speaks nothing of it.

[firstroseofspring]

something very fun and cool and emotionally damaging i think would be b'elanna misremembering so much of her childhood and making miral out to be a certain way (partially) because of the way her father spoke about her. i dont think miral is a misunderstood saint or anything like that because clearly in pathways she overemphasizes making sure b'elanna is not weak, that she doesn't act like a coward, and tries to instill a sense of pride in b'elanna that b'elanna feels (i imagine) makes her stick out on kessik in a way she's actively trying to avoid and thats. pushing b'elanna further into herself and away from her heritage, but its really telling that the few times b'elanna speaks about her relationship with her mother (or to her directly in barge of the dead) she talks about. your klingon-ness and your insistence on me being raised like a klingon drove my father away, and '(my mother) used to drive my father and i crazy with that stuff' especially when we see in lineage john saying those kind of things directly to his brother- that miral is moody and argumentative, and b'elanna is now, too, and he can't handle living with two klingons anymore. <- suffers mother's fate.

[fellhellion]

I love the way the SEES dynamic essentially begins as a group of coworkers with a common goal and small friendship pockets, and gradually coalesces into a web of friends who are quite literally willing to die to protect each other, it’s such a rewarding thing to experience

[fideidefenswhore]

In June 1534, Mary sent a letter of protest to numerous foreign officials including Chapuys and Charles V. Written in Latin, the letter included a sentence that translates to, 'To clarify all the details of this Scripture we have, we say, we maintain, we assert, and protest that our identity is a mere fact of our knowledge and after mature deliberation on the testimony of my manual, a sign and seal of my own.' Through this, Mary was insisting to the world outside of England that in no way did she intend to renounce her title or give in to pressures to marry or enter a convent without the consent of her mother. This in itself could easily have been interpreted as treason [...] as it turned out, Chapuys had actually written the letter and gave it to Catherine to pass along to Mary to rewrite, copy, sign and distribute ten months earlier.

Mary I in Writing: Letters, Literature, and Representation (Queenship and Power), Edited by Valerie Schutte & Jessica Hower, [Chapter 1: Derek M. Taylor]

[lovestory]

What do you like more about speak now your than 1989)?

it was just theatrical and magical and a big part of my childhood, i used to watch the tour movie alllll the time and i think i romanticise it a bit because i didn't get to go. like my favorite part of the 1989 tour is the enchanted/wildest dreams mashup and i feel like the speak now tour has that energy all throughout

[banamaak]

ok so i have a lot of headcanon posts i have planned and say i’ll work on and never actually do, but i am changing that today! i really wanted to discuss the guardian figures in azadeh’s life, specifically her mother.  i mention this in her bio, and i’ve also talked about it before at least once, but for those not in the know, azadeh’s mother represents (or represented) the kingdom of elam, an ancient civilization indigenous to the area that is now iran, predating the achaemenids. her name was lakamar, which is the elamite variation of the akkadian name lagamar, meaning “no mercy”.  azadeh was born around 4000-3200 bc give or take, while lakamar appeared around 7000 bc so she already had a good 4000 years under her belt before she had an ankle biter to take care of! she wasn’t really used to putting someone else before herself, as she enjoyed the trappings of a boundless and fanciful life. regardless, she had no say in the matter as azadeh’s mother. she did what she had to, although she would more often than not pawn her off on attendants and whoever was around at the moment. it wasn’t long after azadeh was born that elam experienced a period of prosperity, and as a bit of an insurance policy for the future, lakamar began raising azadeh to essentially take her place, especially since elam was considerably less advanced than its neighbors, and their future was already a bit uncertain. thus, lakamar clung to what few victories she could get.  she certainly projected that view onto her daughter, never letting her forget even for a moment that she had some very big shoes to fill. it was definitely projection that stemmed from insecurity, but that didn’t stop her from doing it! azadeh did her best to live up to her mother’s impossible standards, which were exacerbated by the stress brought on by devastation of elam due to the kassites in 1500 bc, believed to have been the first hit in a series of many that would force elam into a slow and steady decline. 

naturally azadeh became more and more resentful as time went on. you can probably already imagine how hard it was for her as a preteen, along with the added pressure of expecting to be flawless and infallible. azadeh always did have a bit of a mean streak, even as a kid, so she definitely struck back a few times. nothing really ever came of it though. then came 843 BC, when the first persians are believed to have settled in elam— although they were known then as the parsua.  elam retained control over the persians for a couple hundred years and also garnered quite a bit of power, especially over the assyrians, earning the envy of their neighbors. it isn’t until around 645 bc that the persians begin to dominate the region, which is also when i believe azadeh first acclimated to the persians due to their growing influence. her brooding resentment towards elam had a part to play in that as well, as by that point she had begun to rely less on her mother’s world view and curated her own perspectives.  come 550 bc, and the persians assume full control of the the slowly declining elam. i’ve mentioned before how azadeh saw cyrus the great as a mentor and even a father figure, so it should be no surprise that she would side with the achaemenid persians rather than the elamites. especially as she received a type of validation from the persians she never really received from her own mother. essentially, she assisted in bringing upon her mother’s downfall, although it was really more of a waiting game- as elam had been fading into obscurity for some time now. in any case, azadeh did turn her back on lakamar as she grew into her power as a steadily expanding empire. to add salt in the wound, lakamar did not actually “die” for a long time, despite the elamites disappearing as a recognizable culture once the persians took over. small remnants of elam still persisted, and with them, lakamar. she survived all the way up to the sasanian empire in 224 ad, although as a hollow shell of her former self. still, she managed to power through for a very long time! she watched her daughter celebrate the success she could never quite hold onto, but in the end, isn’t that what every parent wants? for their child to have a better life than they did? lakamar still wanted that, but she also felt bitterness towards her daughter for what she sacrificed to get to where she was. however, azadeh was content with being in control and had significantly less of a moral compass, willing to step on a few toes to get what she wanted.  so ultimately, lakamar’s bitterness came to nothing and she faded away, basically dying alone and remembered by no one aside from azadeh, who despite her callousness, did end up seeing her mother one last time. and not to rub her success in her face or anything, but just to spend some time with her before she was gone forever.  in the end she went quietly and without fuss, but azadeh still carried the memory of her mother with her and still does, to this day. but with each passing year, she forgets a little more about her; the things she taught her, the culture and language she was brought up with, and even what her mother looked like. although, everyone always said she was the spitting image of lakamar, so in a way, she really does live on through her daughter. 

[nerice]

ngl still holding out hope for extremely fucked up insect body horror malenia phase 3 in dlc