*MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD*

*MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD*

There are already several notes in the inbox about Melinda, so let's get right to it.

We now know, without a doubt, that she actually cares a lot for Damian. The panic she shows is real, especially since this panel comes right after we find out Twilight has in fact, rushed back to Berlint, and also Yor running to the scene. Their parental concern is real, and so is Melinda's.

Which is what makes her thoughts that Anya reads later on so... interesting. Anya compares Melinda to uncle Yuri, and I think it's not so much because he's a weird little dude working secretly as a secret policeman but because of this - his mind is a wall of thoughts about his sister and how much he loves her. The feelings are genuine, just extreme and a bit overwhelming.

And so we get to the final panels, where we see Melinda's love for Damian contend with her contempt for him. She wishes he'd died in the hijacking. She thinks she is 'burdened' with her son. She calls him her 'curse'. She hopes he doesn't have to stay with her for long (the kids all got home passes after the incident.) She feels disgust for her son... And more important, she doesn't want Damian to let Donovan know she's been there. What's going on?

I have a theory.

First thing. We know from the series that there's quite a bit of an age gap between Damian and Demmy. Demmy sounds older, he's been at Eden long enough to get 8 Stellas, he's never seen in the primary school section of Eden, his handwriting isn't that of a 6 year old, his history test paper looks advanced etc.

Second thing. With Melinda's insistence that Damian not tell his father about being there to see him, it gives us a slightly different interpretation of her scenes earlier in the series with Yor. Melinda doesn't want to talk about Damian. She doesn't want people to think she cares. If others think she's hands-off, good.

Or at least, she doesn't want to talk about Damian in public. Not with people who theoretically know her well. But when she's alone with Yor, Melinda does want to talk about Damian - she's the one who brings him up. She also lets slip that she has in fact been keeping informed of her son.

Third thing. Well, as I noted at the start of this post, it can't be doubted now that Melinda loves her son, a lot. She isn't as hands-off as others think she is. Like all the other parents, she rushed to her son with worry in her eyes and panic in her voice.

My interpretation is... Melinda loves Damian, but because of that, she cannot leave Donovan, or their marriage, or the Desmond household. She is held hostage because she loves. She wants to escape, but she can't. That's why she calls Damian her curse, her burden. He is the baby who arrived (relatively) recently who his husband can use as leverage, even as Demmy is becoming old enough that the eldest son can't be used as a bargaining chip any more. She continues to be a prisoner because part of her soul is in the prison with her.

And so, like Twilight, she tries to keep herself detached from her own child. She has to convince herself she does not love him. She does not want to care. She does not want him to stay with her long because it would mean getting attached. If Damian had died, she thinks she could be free. She wants to be a bad mother, cold to her son, cruel to her own flesh and blood, because if she allows herself to be a good mother, she would never be able to leave him behind. And she wants to leave...

I think it fits in with the little clues we've gotten along the way and fits in with the series' themes about lies and love. She doesn't want to let known in public she cares about Damian, because it would get back to Donovan. She doesn't want Damian to tell his father, because it would give Desmond only more leverage. She wants to hate her child, because she loves him too much.

Anyway, just my two cents. Could be way off on this one. Maybe Melinda's just weird.

i very much appreciate how Yor, the strongest character, is so feminine

she’s obviously the physically strongest, and arguably the most mentally and/or emotionally strong. what i really appreciate is that this strength and her femininity are complements, instead of the two being treated as mutually exclusive like in many other media.

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I feel like Sasuke is super proud of Sakura. Like so many people are like “Sakura, you’re married to THE Sasuke Uchiha??” When it’s actually Sasuke who feels undeserving of her most times. She’s a doctor at countless facilities helping those who are sick and suffering with mental health.

I imagine he thinks, “How can I be married to someone so GOOD?” I’m sure Sakura reassures him often that he is deserving of her love, and that he’s redeemed himself for his past.

Plus, he’s seen what she was at the beginning and now she’s so strong. Sasuke feels like he hit the jackpot 🥲

*MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD*

The thing to remember about Yuri is that he's right now in the narrative about the same age as [redacted] was when the latter finally saw the light, after he has that conversation about human nature with Franky, after he saw his friends sent into the battlefield as fodder. Before that, [redacted] was arguably not unlike Yuri - following orders because he believed what he was told, because he believed Westalis was Right.

Maybe a similar arc awaits Yuri.

Grandmas were so right about puzzles and knitting and crocheting and solitaire and reading slow and slippers and baking and watching deer in the backyard send post

It's called learned helplessness

When people ask why Izuku didn't fight back, the reason is because he was mentally primed not to.

To train an elephant, you get one when it's a baby and you tie it to the biggest, thickest tree you can find. The baby elephant will attempt to pull itself free and get exhausted in the escape attempt, only to learn that it cannot do it. You repeat this experience as many times as needed. The elephant tries, and it learns that its strength is not enough. The end result is that regardless of how big and strong the elephant gets, it will always have this mental framework of what is and isn't possible. So when it's fully grown, you can tie it to a very little tree and it won't even attempt to escape. It knows it can't break trees, so it won't even try. What does elephant training have to do with bullying? They work the same way. This state is called learned helplessness. Most living beings are susceptible to it. The scenario has obviously changed on the outside, but the elephant will still follow the old pattern. To put it succinctly, the elephant has beliefs about themselves that prevents them from performing actions that they're capable of. They do not see escape as an option, despite being able to just walk away. The elephant can uproot a tree but they won't. They cannot see it because of this mental block. Humans function the same way and often need someone from the outside to help break the cycle, via educating them of what's happening or intervening. In canon, All Might telling Izuku he could be a hero is what broke him out of that mindset and got him to train.

But when people ask why wouldn't he, the question is, why would he? What in his life would empower him to make decisions like these? He had no support structure, he had no one believing in him. He had zero friends and clung to a childhood friendship that ended when he was 5. We're talking about a decade of almost total social isolation and bullying, while the only person who isn't a prick to him is his mother. Who pities him. He's been treated this way longer than he hasn't. The strength and motivation to act has to come from somewhere. It's really not surprising that he'd behave this way in such a toxic environment. Nothing about Izuku's life before the start of the series is structured in a way that's conducive to his success.

I couldn’t say it any better myself. This is fantastically written and structured and I feel it’s something everyone should read regarding how Izuku feels.