"zettai daijōbu dayo"

Thinking about how the first cracks appear when Mirabel feels ostracized from her family and is about to break under the pressure of feeling wanting and invisible and alone.

Thinking about how the thing Mirabel does for Luisa is listen to her and just say “you are carrying way too much” and then when Luisa’s powers begin to malfunction it isn’t because of her but because Luisa dared slow down a little and was IMMEDIATELY hit with crushing guilt and tried once again to overcompensate it and THAT is when her strength failed her.

Thinking about how Bruno left in an attempt to keep the family from fracturing and was literally trying to fix the cracks with his absence, but it was Mirabel SHARING a vision with him which actually helped him find a positive outcome for a vision because he wasn’t alone with that burden and his anxiety and she led him to a happier perspective.

Thinking about how the real healing moment between Isabela and Mirabel isn’t Isa’s confession really, the turning point is when Mirabel actually stops and LISTENS and simply acknowledges that her sister is struggling and goes on to loudly support and encourage her to find and be herself.

Thinking about all the other cracks we didn’t entirely see. Antonio’s pressure to not be “another disappointment” to his family but obvious guilt that Mirabel didn’t get to shine. Camilo’s consistent changes for the sake of others, but when he starts to malfunction he’s a grown man with a baby’s head, because maybe that’s how he feels, lost and not quite either. Thinking about Pepa, unable to feel any negative emotions, to the point of absolute repression because every single anger or sadness is an open nerve for the world to see and “Pepa, stop! Not again!” Thinking about Julieta’s role as a consistent care taker in a family that even with their powers gone yells for her when in panic because she Must Know how to fix it. Thinking about Dolores so overwhelmed and tense and overlooked, whose great romantic ideal is someone finally SEEING her.

And the cracks showed up whenever the pressure was too much. Whenever Abuela was too afraid and protective and holding on to her control so tightly, marked by the trauma and fear of losing them, to the point where she couldn’t take anything or anyone being out of her control (an obvious PTSD thing).

The family was cracking because Abuela lost sight of the family as people vs the family as a well oiled machine. And while it was obviously due to generational trauma, it was also an issue that no one else in the family could see because it was the dynamic they grew up in and accepted as right and healthy. It was only Mirabel, blessed with an “outsider” perspective, who could see the way the pressure was mounting on everyone’s shoulders and who (having no expectations at all put on her by dismissal) could dare to break the cycle and speak up, not only for herself but for others.

Made a prompt list for CLAMPtober 2021! Everybody’s welcome :) Art, fic, whatever you want to do! Just tag me so I can see it (@flawney here or on twitter). Give me all the CLAMP <3

In text for accessibility:

-Better stories

-Better female characters

-Better male characters

-Better romance

-Less fanservice

-Less drama for the sake of drama

-Characters aren’t needlessly tortured just for the sake of shock value

-Just plain better writing

Sakura: Everything will be okay now, right?

Kero:

Yue:

Sakura: ...right?

Clow somewhere, somehow:

Vampire Knight: Twilight with actual characterization

Yu Yu Hakusho: Dream Team kicks ass

Ouran High School Host Club: Damn these rich people

Inuyasha: Incel fucking ruins everything

Sailor Moon: MOON PRISM POWER MAKE-UP!

Skip-Beat: Revenge leads to fame

Romeo x Juliet: Shakespeare with dragon steeds

Alice in the Country of Hearts: Psychological trauma turned sexy

Kitchen Princess: Cutesy fluff meets TRAGEDY

Arisa: Preteen bitches be crazy

Fruits Basket: Keeping Up With Soumas

Madoka Magica: IT’S A FUCKING TRAP!!!

Fairy Cube: Fairies are fucking dangerous

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle: Memory feathers cause mayhem

XXXHolic: Everything has a price

Clannad: YOU WILL NEED THERAPY

Clannad After Story: YOU'LL STILL NEED THERAPY

Your Lie in April: Major feels, classical edition

Kaichou wa Maid-Sama!: Badass woman needs man

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo: Genius girl is helpless

My Hero Academia: Superpowers can be inherited

Kiss Him, Not Me!: Yaoi fangirl collects harem

Angel Beats!: High school is purgatory

Yuri on Ice!!: Figure skating made sexy

Kamisama Kiss: Inuyasha meets Fruits Basket

Orange: Suicide prevention from future

A Silent Voice: Bully overcomes bullying others

Cowboy Bebop: No cowboys, no bebop

Attack on Titan: EVERYONE NEEDS FUCKING THERAPY

Fullmetal Alchemist: ELRIC BROTHERS NEED THERAPY

Angel Sanctuary: Incest causes multidimensional war

Fushigi Yuugi: Neverending Story in China

Library Wars: Censorship creates badass librarians

Rurouni Kenshin: Peaceful hippie constantly fighting

Ai Yori Aoishi: Cute romance, pointless harem

Special A: Ouran and Maid-Sama’s lovechild

Guilty Crown: Incest destroys world, again

Ah! My Goddess: Godly pact = free girlfriend

Ranma 1/2: Water has transformative qualities

Yuki Yuna is a Hero: Watered down Madoka Magica

Rosario + Vampire: "Monster" girls and pantyshots

Girls Bravo: Excessive fanservice equals "plot?"

Sekirei: Battle royale with fanservice

DragonBall Z: Superman raised by hillbillies

Noragami: Minor god is homeless

Please Teacher!: Alien becomes highschool teacher

Magic Knight Rayearth: Magical girls meet mecha

Ano Hana: Traumatized children make peace

My LOVE Story!!: True love IS real

Blue Spring Ride: Will they, won’t they

Full Moon wo Sagashite: Suicide leads to purgatory

Millennium Snow: Twilight with a REAL werewolf

Shinobi Life: Ninjas go Doctor Who

Chobits: Sex toys have feelings

Chibi Vampire: Reverse vampire’s family madness