First thank you for answering all the questions I had so much fun reading them.❣️
Second I have a question/challenge to find one good parent in Caraval…
Seriously I can only come up with Evangeline’s parents but they are dead sooo umm… ( also its not even Caraval series(¬_¬) )
Ah and Scarlett&Julian WOULD be great parents though, I have so much less faith in Donatella and Legend (their poor daughter. (◡︵◡) )
So I hope you have a good day❣️
Ofccc anytime
This is the most challenging challenge ever. A good parent? In Caraval? The book of bad parenting? It'd be easier to tell you who's not a good parent, but that wouldn't be answering the ask now would it? Lemme see...
Best Parent in Caraval?
Marcello Dragna
No.
Is what I want to leave it at, but I actually have words about this guy.
He was terrible, downright awful, literally the worst parent ever. I think about him and I get irrationally angry. I couldn't look at the color purple for weeks after I read Caraval the first time. This man is the pits.
But I find it so interesting that Scarlett would forgive him quicker than Paradise simply because he didn't leave.
She had good reasoning, don't get me wrong. She treated her daughters very well and loved them to bits. She would do anything for them.
I'd argue she's a good person, but not a good parent.
No matter her good intentions and actions, she still gave her daughter up as payment. She still left her daughters with her violent husband. She didn't see any issue with just disappearing and leaving no note, no reason, no anything.
Good person, bad parent.
Annalise Dragna
We can't forget their grandmother, who was probably a better parent than Marcello and Paradise were to the girls.
However, anyone who can produce Marcello needs to be studied.
Not very maternal, which leads me to think she never really was.
Plus, we never really got to see the depth of her fling with Legend. She left him for another man, one I'm assuming she didn't love as much. Immediate tension.
Yeah, idk. Not a good parent, but better than the other two.
The Santos'
Who are they? Where are they? Did they love their boys?
Who knows. Based on the actions of Julian and Dante though, they can't be terrible. Or maybe they were.
Maximilian and Liana Fox
They were good parents. They loved Evangeline, gave her the world. Even when Liana died, Max made sure that Eva was taken care of.
My only qualm was that there were things they never told her and when they did, it was in the form of a story. Like bro, tell your daughter these things.
Also while Max made the effort to make sure there was a woman influence in Eva's life, he picked the wrong one. Not entirely his fault, but man is that unfortunate.
Good parents. Next.
Agnes Tourmaline
I want to bash her but lowkey she wasn't that bad.
To Eva, absolutely. Like girl, why are you like this? You don't need to treat her like that.
And to Marisol? Yeah, come on. There's no need to put that kind of pressure on her.
However, she wanted the best for Marisol. Terrible awful horrible execution, but we have to give her some credit.
And there was a moment where she did a thing that made me wonder how much she knew about her daughter's escapades, but that's a different conversation.
Bad but could be worse.
Gavriel
He deserves to be here. He is also a twisted father so yes.
Overall? Bad parent.
He tried to force Scarlett to become a Fate and when she failed he caged her head. You almost can't get worse than that.
But we have to give him kudos. If he had known about Scarlett earlier, he probably would've been in her life the whole time. Good for you, you've passed bare-minimum parenting.
However, he kidnapped her. Not even him, his cult. He had his cult kidnap her. Do you understand how nuts that is? Wow.
Bad parent, but at least he wanted her in his life.
Tella and Legend
"they're not parents yet" shut your face this is my post.
All things considered, I'm not gonna say they'd be awful parents. That's unfair to them. People mature. They'll mature. Totally. For sure.
If they had a kid right now, it'd be awful. They are not ready for that kind of responsibility. In the future? I'd say they'd actually be pretty good parents.
Legend gives suuuch girl dad energy to me. Especially since he can love again, like, he'd love that little girl to bits and pieces. He'd be so protective of her, shielding her from the world. Idk he gives that kind of vibe.
Meanwhile Tella would opt to be her kid's best friend. They'd get into trouble together, eat sweets before dinner or something, prank Scarlett. They'd have a good relationship.
But I think the fact that they'll have to give her up as payment will mess them up. They'll have secrets, things they won't tell her, and that will sour their relationship with her.
She'll go digging, because she's her mother's daughter, and find out that she's payment. Just like Tella. It would tear her up. Especially since they never told her.
I think they'd be good parents, but they'd have loose reigns on their kids. They'd let her get away with too much, opting to be friends rather than strict parents.
Again, the secrets they'll keep will rip their relationship to shreds. Just tell her.
Scarlett and Julian
Removing my bias here...
They'd be great parents. Seriously.
Scarlett would probably shy away from discipline at first, mainly because it's a point of pain for her and she doesn't know when is too far, but Julian would be there to balance that out. They of all people know discipline is important.
But she'd probably try to talk things out before resorting to any kind of punishment. Good for her.
That house would be filled with laughter and good times. Scarlett and Julian would do their very best not to lie to their kids, especially considering how Scarlett feels about lying and how Julian feels about secret keeping. Like, that's an honest household.
The only thing would be that poor kid is gonna be spoiled. Not rotten, but like, they're gonna give this kid the world.
Not only that, but they'd teach them how to run it. Given the world and the knowledge behind it, the work ethic, the drive.
Ugh they'd be such good parents argue with the wall.
Eva and Jacks
I don't even know if they'd ever have kids.
If they did, I would say they'd be good parents.
Eva grew up in a really loving and playful home. She'd one hundred percent want that for her kids. She'd tell them stories and whatnot. She'd adore them.
Meanwhile Jacks would be all tough love stuff. Good for him. He's the bad cop to Eva's good cop. It'd work out perfectly.
But he'd be a good dad. He probably wouldn't fully understand how children work, but he would try. He would put in the effort.
Yeah, they'd be good parents.
See even I can put away my dislike of Jacks to address the fact he'd be a good dad. You're welcome.
Probably answered a little too much but this was a topic I was dying to address. Soooo sorry this was late. I had too much to say.
The best parent in Caraval (decidedly NOT ouabh)?? Drumroll...
I have no idea! They all suck! Yay bad parenting!
Maybe we poll this... do people still exist in the caraval fandom? Raise your hands so I can count.
Answering @rosalija pt THREE ugh I'm so sorry for this rant I'm about to go on and I'm sorry this one's late.
Okay, this is less headcanons and more my thoughts, so format will be different.
I agree with pretty much everything you said, dude.
Yeah, we don't know much about Paloma, but what we do know is enough to explain why Scarlett turned out the way she did. She abandoned (yes, abandoned) her family with no clue of why she disappeared, leaving Tella and Scarlett to deal with their monster of a father. Paloma already knew how Tella acted and she already knew how Scarlett would respond in turn. I'd say she had a hunch it would turn out like this, like Scarlett playing mother to Tella, but I don't think she fully accounted for Marcello losing it entirely.
As far as Scarlett was concerned, her mother left her in the hands of her awful father. And in the eyes of a young child, that is an entirely valid assumption to have. To hold resentment towards her because her disappearance caused Scarlett to grow up quicker is reasonable. I'd say she didn't hate Paloma enough.
A lot of her issues really do stem from her mother leaving, plus an irresponsible younger sister and a violent father. Could she see her mother as the cause for her entire family's downfall? I do believe so. It probably didn't help that Tella was holding onto hope that she'd come back (again, completely valid). Scarlett felt she had to fill the gap while also feeling like she'd never be enough to. That's a heavy burden to place on a child.
Am I glad she had a talk with her mother? Yeah, I am. I think it helped her better understand Paloma's situation and how much she really loved her children. It was closure for Scarlett, learning that her mother didn't leave them out of sour reasons, but ones to protect her children. Especially since Scarlett pretty much operates on empathy, I think having that moment was vital to her forgiving her mother.
However, I don't think Scarlett fully forgave her. I think she was closer to forgiving Gavriel or even Marcello. While they were awful fathers, they stayed. I think that was what really got to Scarlett. They forced her to be things she didn't want to be, but at least they stayed. From what I can tell from her relationship with Julian, I would say that being there is very important to her. It's the foundation of any relationship, familial or otherwise. They were there. Paloma was not. And while I do believe she understands her, I don't think she fully forgives her. Again, a lot of her pain and problems stem from her mother leaving. It was like a domino effect of trauma.
In the end, I think Scarlett just needs a parental figure that's actually a good one. Full stop.
So like, Governor Dragna is still alive at the end of Finale. When Scarlett very famously becomes Empress of the Empire he lives under and presumably answers to.
At one point I was under the impression that the Fallen Star said something to Scarlett about doing her a favor and killing her abusive dad but that wasn’t there on my re-read. So he’s definitely still kicking.
I’m wondering how things are going over there, and what in the Fates he must be thinking about seeing his two daughters (including the one he saw die) being Empress and Princess respectively.
Like, we hate Marcello Dragna. I’m just curious how that went is all. And if he’ll be a problem for Scarlett’s reign in the future.
