freak · 1mo
agree with your arlfr post. while i don't think it's as toxic as arlfr antis make it out to be but i don't think it's healthy either.
how i see arlfr is theyre a very awkward and complex situation. arlecchino is trying to make amends (in the most arlecchino way possible), furina wants nothing to do with him because of the trauma. and i think arlecchino knows she wants nothing to do with him, that's why he sends his kids to give her cake instead (what would be better is if he sent her a formal apology, but arle is arle and apologies aren't his thing). i think after a while he would stop, because she wants nothing to do with him and that's fine because there's no reason to since there's nothing furina can offer him anyways. it's the type of relationship that really can't result in a healthy romance at all, but also not exactly toxic one because neither party would want to be in a romantic relationship with the other. one out of trauma, the other out of respect for the trauma. however, if you were to force them to be in a romantic relationship, it would be a very distant and cold relationship. it's a very interesting dynamic and i wish more arlfr fans explored this aspect of an assailant trying to make amends, but doing it in such a way that comes off as more "lovebombing" (i don't know if that's the exact word but it's close enough. it's like arlecchino trying to make amends by appealing to furinas likes instead of doing what is actually necessary) and a heavily traumatized victim who wants nothing to do with them or the situation and just wants to move on.
and also i don't think arlecchino's attempt to make amends by appealing to furinas likes instead of actually apologizing and acknowledging the harm HE has caused her is is done in an intentionally manipulative way, because like i said, i don't think he has any reason to now that the aq is over and she's not the archon anymore. plus if it is, than he's fucking failing at it because it seems like she either ignores his cake deliverers entirely or just takes the cake and ignores him. i hc arlecchino as autistic so i view the giving cake thing as arlecchino not really understanding the social situation very well, but still doing what he can to try and make things right. i also think he's just unwilling to acknowledge he was in the wrong and doesn't understand how much harm he might have caused her.
at least this is how i see arlfr as somebody neutral on the ship. sorry for the spam
wow!!! this is a very good analysis on their canon dynamics tbh! the entire cake giving thing really shows how bad he is with apologies. he probably does know that what he did hurt her a lot, and that's why he resorts to this behavior, because to him what he did wasn't wrong, it was necessary, he didn't do it because he was specifically out to hurt her, he was simply looking for a drastic solution to the prophecy once and for all. to him, it was just a failed plan, but to her it was literal trauma. she wants nothing to do with him, but i really genuinely believe that if he had some guidance from, say, the twins (who are furina’s friends), to properly make amends, she would hear him out. like, if we're talking canon dynamics, i really think their relationship could have potential but purely in a self indulgent way and if he really lets her know why he did what he did and the fact that he feels sorry, even though i don't think he feels sorry at all 😭 tbh, arlefuri is a ship with much potential in many different directions, you can oocify it and make it sweet and loving (not wrong), you can deepen it so they talk things out and give each other a chance while dealing with the inevitable problems of a victim of assault forgiving her attacker (who does not feel bad for what he did), you can make it a fucked up toxic codependent relationship where he is obsessed with her and her prowess and force of will and her sheer resilience and she is dependent on him because he feels her feel understood, as a lonely cursed individual that never asked to be in the situation they're in, or you can go to the other extreme and make them a terrified victim who is exploited by her abuser over and over again. and i think all of these interpretations are valid! long as nobody is harassing one another over it
