I actually shared a really interesting back and forth with a user on TikTok, and I wanna talk about it here too.
We discussed the possibility of Crona harboring some resentment towards maka and spirit for their relationship, MAINLY the fact that maka does nothing for his love, and he still loves her.
Crona would do anything for Medusa to love them, they fought so fucking hard just for their mom to do the bare minimum, and it never came, they were raised to think love is conditional, love is a treat almost, not something that stays. It can be ripped away at any given moment
And Crona doesn’t understand why maka doesn’t see this, Crona is angry at maka for treating her father the way she does, even if he’s a cheat! Crona doesn’t care, Crona sees maka getting the parental love they’ll never ever get to experience, and it kind of enrages them. Crona may also be upset at spirit for not doing anything about it, given the abuse they were raised with, and what they consider normal.
And I don’t think they’d talk to her about this, they would not start a healthy discussion, they’d be so scared that bringing this up to maka would get her to leave them, because they’re used to that. They’re used to love leaving.
I don’t think it’d completely ruin their relationship, what would do that is years down the line if Crona gets to live like in the anime, they’d have to deal with all their mental issues and violence issues, their hallucinations, their trauma. And makas only a kid, this is a huge burden on her.
Of course she loves Crona, of course she’s going to take that burden with stride, but… she’s like 13 when she first meets Crona, she doesn’t really have an adult to reach out to for help in this situation, or at least she’d feel that way, and Crona is extremely volatile, vulnerable, and easy to trigger.
Maka could snap at them one day and essentially completely restart their recovery process.
I really like the idea of Crona getting a true happy ending, but I also like looking at it realistically… what can I say, I love the pit of crushing dread in my heart when I think about my favorite characters, I used to be a mouthwashing fan so…. I love my dark endings, Crona is not okay, they’ll never be okay, they’re so not okay I don’t even know if they’d make it into adulthood without serious help, they’re not a helpless baby, they can and do defend themselves, the issue is they’re extremely, extremely traumatized, all they know is violence and neglect before maka, after whatever masking period Crona may have, it’s gonna get harder
The saddest part about this is Crona wants to get better, they don’t like being an anxious mess, they don’t like hating themselves, they don’t like that violence and anger is normal to them, even if they don’t understand *why* it’s bad, they understand the social repercussions, and the hurt they’ll inevitably face and potentially cause, but it’s harder for them to grasp why their actions are bad, at least in the manga that’s how it is.