their relatioship gets more strained the more broccoli grows

So many awful things as well.

“Don’t let the past get you down!”

The past is all I have. The present is already gone, and the future isn’t here yet.

“The future looks bright!”

I don’t live in the future.

-Lurking Poppet, from Path of Doris, probably.

Broccoli is in such a dynamic right now. Regardless of what Doris wants to be called, they have a parent/guardian/caretaker & child dynamic. Dorris puts on airs and is as polite as can be, but nice is not the same as good. Manipulative people regularly use politeness to cameoflauge themselves as good people to their susceptible victims. I think Broccoli is finally realizing their place in this dynamic, the place of everything they care about. The reality that the entire life and world Broccoli lives in is miniscule to Dorris, who is older and has a much more zoomed out perspective.

This is so similar to the way too many parents will treat their teenager's highschool drama for example. To the parent, it's "just a phase" or "you're still young" or "highschool will be over eventually/this will all be a memory". Parents like that think that because they were once a teenager they know exactly what their kid is going through, and use that to zoom out to give their child some kind of "perspective", not realizing that, for the child THIS IS IT! That highschool IS the big leagues, their drama at school IS the big important stuff. The parent's "perspective" centers the parent's view rather than child, leaving the child alienated and disconnected from their parent who has shown themselves to be emotionally unavailable as a consequence.

I think that sort of dynamic is unfolding between Broccoli and Doris right here.

poor kiddo

i feel almost annoyed with her and yet. sorry for her. sorry for broccoli as well of course but just as sorry for lady doris…

That’s a really good point, imagine the cognitive dissonance and anxiety Broccoli is going through.

I might be projecting but I completely understand Broccoli wanting to get punished. For them, not only did they stay for months away from the Void, but they also harmed the pink axolotl lady in the process. For Lady Doris though, that is nothing because the dimensions are not real for her. They are only "snowglobes with different aesthetics". That still does not diminish the pressure put on Broccoli by their mission and the mental anguish derived from it. Their life has been full of high stakes these past few months. So obviously, for them, the pushback should be just as strong. This is true for the real world: when you perceive something as important, you expect consequences to hit just as much. I have never been punished as a child, but I still expected it for any sort of "misbehaviour". Hell, I remember putting myself into the corner for something that I can't even remember when I was at around pre-school age. I still expect anger and some sort of hurt inflicted onto me for being late in my studies. That seeming lack of consequences does not mesh well with the psychological pressure from failing at something important, especially with how TV often dealt with such topics.

I don't think I've ever seen this disconnect portrayed so well before and it hurts so much. Poor Broccoli just doesn't know what the hell is supposed to happen now. Anything goes, except for "nothing"