#any. ultimately i think neverafter is abt stories; who writes them and who controls the narratives they tell

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im possibly thinking about parallels between the stepmother and the blue fairy with regards to the concept of narrative.... the blue fairy demands obedience, she promises conditional humanity and safety - a rigid definition of what a "real boy" is (someone who doesnt lie, someone who doesnt cuss). and ultimately who will callously and cruelly take away that humanity when those arbitrary rules are broken. - i think the stepmother might serve as the twisted inverse to this... like the extension of the core ideology of pinocchio's fairytale beyond his happily ever after. like the blue fairy, she promises to make pinocchio a real boy in exchange for his obedience and servitude. and when he fails, he is coldly, cruelly and unjustly punished....

i think it all links back to the meta ideas of control and narrative!! like: who is writing your story, who controls what is good and bad and what deserves to be punished. do you have autonomy in your own story? its so fitting for pinocchio to be a marionette, manipulated exploited and puppeteered as he is by these two fairies that dangle his own personhood just out of reach.