UGGHHHHHHGHH *rapid hand motions, frothing, pointing, gnawing at my enclosure*
So I had to pace around my house several times thinking about this- had to reread it a dozen times. I am still pacing as I type this up because this needs an analysis, I have tripped over the cats twice and run into a door way. I need to pick this apart like the fine meal it is object permanence can wait.
Gonna start with just how in character Wolfbell is, like, how perfectly she is depicted. Her art isnât great (but seriously the poor girl is so far sighted youâre asking her to do a task that goes against her very biology) but she will show Dotty it anyways, she knows Dotty will judge its quality- but they wonât ridicule it or her, and to her thatâs acceptable. She knows itâs not great and knows âitâs great Wolfbell!â Is a lie, she insists she appreciates that Dotty is being honest with her of its quality, when most of her life feels like a lie or mystery. Everything from her body language, her tail wagging her arms being tucked close to her body the way she lights up in awe when Dotty shows their own art and of course her horror when she contemplates the possibility of Dotty being correct: that nobody is looking because nobody loves her.
So Dotty and Wolfbell are drawing their respective ideas of their hypothetical parents. Letâs go to that part next. Wolfbellâs idea of a hypothetical family is on point, sheâs depicting a âtraditional maleâ and very âtraditional femaleâ figure to represent a mother and father. Itâs important to know Wolfbell is not female, nor does she identify as such, as biologically she is a simultaneous hermaphrodite. But cut off from her species and with no memory of her culture, she is going with the concept of a family she has been exposed to: Fumuâs family. Who has a mother and a father. I think this would actually be something Fumu struggles with a lot, the concept of gender roles in Cappy society where women are mothers and wives and little else. I also think Wolfbell too would be nudged into this narrow minded view by the cappies from time to time, and that sheâs heard the phrase âthatâs not very lady likeâ at least once even if sheâs not sure what it means or why it would apply to her. Come to think of it, Dotty is probably one of the first people sheâs met who much like her doesnât fit any obvious gender norms, and probably the first person sheâs encountered to use they/them pronouns. Of course Wolfbell calls Dotty what they want to be called without question, as calling them anything else but what they want to be called doesnât even cross her mind, very likely another aspect of her species she doesnât quit realize is buried inside her.
Cappies have very distinctive genders, and well, Wolfbell has been living amongst them and being taught their way of life and expression, even if it could not be further from how her species expresses or understands sex and gender. Nor is this idea of family how Thiriomoira families operate. At the time of this I havenât revealed Wolfbellâs biological family officially nor have I hinted all that much on how thiriomoira families operate, it will be revealed in Beginning of The End. The influence her lack of memory once again shows itself in this massively impactful way.
Culture death aside, onto the next point being Dottyâs reaction to the proposal that someone might or might not be looking, and Wolfbellâs response. First of all I love the comparison and I love to think that Wolfbell and Dotty are both subconsciously drawing what they want in not just a family, but life itself. Wolfbell drawing what sheâs been taught to perceive as normal, loving and stable, and Dotty drawing what they think is cool and badass and strong. Of course the conversation leads her to think of her guardian Meta Knight, both the parts of him that scary her shitless (like when he comes at her swinging Galaxia like that telling her to fight) and the part of him that has her confusingly wondering, or just blindly hoping, there is some buried and subtle compassion within him. After all, he didnât HAVE to give Wolfbell her sword or a roof over her head, but he did. Unaware or perhaps simply in denial that it is a parentâs or guardianâs bare minimum responsibility to provide a child in their care with food, clothing, safety and shelter. 3/4 is not a passing score with this kind of thing, but again, Wolfbell has little concept of what normal is, and must build off what others around her tell her is normal through their actions and their words. Unfortunately that view has become: my bare essentials are not a need they are a want.
I donât think Wolfbell blindly believes Meta Knight loves her, or anything close to it. But I do think she genuinely believes that in his own way, he does care, and if he didnât he would leave her to her own devices completely and never step in at all. So in the meantime, the idea that someone is out there, looking for her, loving her from afar, is a reassuring thought indeed and a small comfort in her painful day to day existence. As is hearing Dotty explain things to her, especially movies. And sheâs learnt to take what comfort she can get.
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