This Was Drawn In ‘15 But Ive Been Binge Reading The Manga So

They totally leaned way too hard on the framing of their incredibly complex and loving relationship with literally so many beats that has subliminally been this underlying cornerstone of the whole series since as early as season 4-5 as this "totally definitetly more on the toxic side + is totally unchangeable and unfixable" which isn't entirely deniable but its tone feels way more antagonistic than necesary

obviously the tragedy and unhealthiness in their relationship is their cycle of self-sacrifice for the other + undervaluing themselves, but that love and that compatibility was still there! It majorly ignored how mutual the incredibly long chain of both simon and betty spending ages trying to see/save the other, and I'm glad that betty's perspective is elaborated on slightly (again the last episodes had really rushed pacing and didn't take advantage of all of its incredibly unique cast, concepts, settings and universe, etc) but it overviewed everything they had together and created this really tone-deaf take that simon didn't appreciate her as much as he should as if he hasn't been spending next-to-forever grieving over all of her sacrifice and how much he knows and loves her. Their relationship is wonderful and complex and has so much depth, and I'm worried about the kind of misinterpretations of them and their characters that could stem from this ending.

Also, it was probably intentional, but it also just felt incredibly anticlimatic, especially compared to the A-plot in fionna's world. This isn't like when ships don't get together in other media either, after all of this series focusing on how this specific relationship between these two subliminally being the key defining factor to the entire universe existing the way it did, they just break up so easily without so much as a single struggle or tears or anything? and then they're just fine afterwards so easily never seeing each other again despite the love that shaped and impacted and rewrote the entire planes of existence they lived in. You're going to tell me there's literally no way in this magical multiverse with curses and dieties and paradoxes and everything imaginable that there is no way they can be safe and happy together. that's what's impossible? My tone's really salty but the buildup vs the execution is unbelievable. that doesn't feel like well-written tragedy, more like a climax that wasn't really thought through fully. I thought I was satisfied with the ending initially, and while it feels alright on the surface, actually thinking about it for more than five minutes really has me feeling dissapointed. They deserved so much more and so much better.

Worlds largest single firework shell

some of my favorite panels

rest in peace miura, thank you for all the good memories

Ave true to pizza

I’ve been waiting all year to post this.

it can’t be…you’re living on…through him?

So I’ve been having many thoughts about Simon and Betty.

Cuz the Fionna and Cake brain rot.

And something I’ve seen brought up a few times on here is Simon’s unintended selfishness in his and Betty’s relationship turning point interactions. Namely reaching out to forgive Betty rather than apologise through the portal in “Betty” and telling Betty he wants her to stay by his side at the bus stop in the latest episode.

But I don’t think it’s unintentional selfishness. Or maybe it is, but not in the way that’s been discussed. Simon’s not looking for his own reassurance or edification - however subconsciously - in either of these situations. I think, rather, that in both cases his words are intended as reassurance, as comfort, for Betty. A compulsion to prevent her from feeling any confusion or pain or guilt at the situation they are in. And a compulsion that is just as detrimental as if he was doing it for himself.

Let me explain.

In “Betty”, in the two instances when Simon explains his plan about reaching out to Betty - both on the phone with Marcy and in the lab with Marcy, Finn, and Jake - he says he’s doing it to apologise to Betty. There’s no resentment or anger about her leaving him. He is entirely swept up in his guilt about hurting her. He wants to apologise. He wants to reach out and soothe her pain with the few moment he has left. He wants to say he’s sorry.

Except. When he sees her. The first thing Betty expresses isn’t an anger or upset at him, but an upset at herself for not being there for him. A painful confusion about why she would ever leave him. And that’s when Simon switches response. That’s when he says he forgives her for leaving. Not because that was why he called, but because he was responding to what he felt was her greatest emotional need in the moment. The response he thought would stop her feeling pain.

In the latest episode, a lot of people have pointed out that Simon goes to Betty saying he wants her by his side - inadvertently asking her to stay. But not a lot of people are pointing out that he is borrowing her words when he says this. Her letter tells him that she wishes she “could be by his side forever”, so when he’s telling her that, I don’t think it’s necessarily that he doesn’t want her to go, but that he mistakenly believes that she wants to stay. That using her words to tell her she can stay by his side is what Betty wants, is the most comforting thing he could give her.

We see in all Simon’s interactions, both in the flashbacks with Marcy in Adventure Time and in his relationship with Fionna this season, that he is driven by comfort. He is a carer, he is a soother. He expresses love through the ways he comforts people. There’s a reason we’re all obsessed with the dad energy this series. Simon Petrikov, at his core, will always comfort those he cares about.

BUT

In the case of his relationship with Betty, it’s become unhealthy. Simon is so intent on Betty’s comfort, on making sure that Betty isn’t ever hurt or unhappy or guilty that - in the case of the portal - he doesn’t express what actually needs to be said. And, in the case of the bus stop, he will take the easier option and assume that Betty wants to stay - to reassure her that she can stay - to save her what he perceives as the pain or uncertainty of leaving. Even if her leaving, whether with or without him, would have been better for her.

It never occurred to Simon that he would go with her, because he truly believed that Betty was going because she didn’t believe that she could stay.

And both times Betty chooses Simon. She leaps at the portal, without looking back, for a Simon that she sees is hers again and free of the curse of the crown. She turns her back on the bus and reaches for Simon without hesitation because she wasn’t lying in her letter. She wants to be by his side.

Simon’s compulsion to comfort, to assuage all negative emotion to the point of detriment - to the point of avoidance of difficult things that truly need to be felt or said or done. And Betty’s complete disregard for consequence, for her own wellbeing and future when it comes to her love for Simon. It’s an endless loop. Betty throwing everything away for a love she has let consume her. And Simon doing his level best to make sure she never feels the pain of those decisions.

These two have set up permanent camp in my brain and I am FERAL.

Veil: Raised between the two, so fine that they can't see it, but it tickles them

In the first few volumes, we see so much of a couple epitomising the many subtle ways of showing intimacy. As the volume progresses, we can also see the clarity of the veil that is within Emma and Aleksander's relationship- that is, the love that is continually blossoming yet still somehow confined by this veil. There’s sooo much love embedded in Emma & Aleksander’s subtlest, tiniest gestures that scream “I love the nearnesss of you.”

I always say how much I love Kotteri drawing gestures esp the sequences of their hand movements– hands with so much tenderness & warmth reaching out til their fingertips touch & fall down into the skin of another.

Volume 4 looks to me like an emphasis on Aleksander’s gaze to Emma; how Emma’s grasps allow him to surrender to her touch, leaving him to stare at her ‘to his heart’s content’. His eyes emanating with admiration over her beauty, wandering around as he starts to unravel her habits. Frustration of wanting to touch her & this ‘veil’ comes in between.

Kotteri said there are scenes we feel the veil tremble slightly & I think scene 39 highlights that the most. Veil that is used to describe their relationship, intimacy & closeness & familiarity & sometimes the restraints.

One of my favourite parts in Volume 5 is Aleksander & Emma verbosely addressing their relationship that is still fringed by a thin veil yet both, so outwardly, holding onto the same fondness for each other that keeps growing. I really think that is the allure of their special connection.

Aleksander talking abt Emma, grasping the glass as he thinks of how she sees & familiarises by her touch. How Emma relishes at the mere presence of Aleksander & his ornate ways of describing her. They are just so so magnetically intimate with each other I’m so in love with them.

In Volume 6, we see what is, indeed, the first compendious dive on Emma’s inner introspection about not being able to see. We have always known that Emma sees best through the touch that come from her gentle hands, & this chapter has reiterated that more than ever.

What I love the most is reverting to this very fact; Emma was starting to see her world with dull colours, then we see Aleksander extending his hands & painting Emma with warmth, the way she has always viewed the world. Really stunning how essentially the colours were used here.

This is all just so, so beautiful! We see so much of their shared vulnerabilities to their own worries, & each time they see through another & show their admiration in their own language: which I think are all a testament to their blossoming relationship. I love them so much.