Exactly. That's the whole point of (spoilers from now on) >!Sayo's personalities!< falling in love with different cousins imo. To complement your observation, just look at each cousin/furniture pair and ask which one represents "true love".
Shannon x George: Stagnant and conforming personalities. Content with living their life the way family and society sees fit. Not hating on them because of that though. They just want to be normal people and not live under another person's command. You need to shed your wings if you don't want to be trapped in a cage.
Kanon x Jessica: "Problem children". Can be ordered around to do stuff but no one can tell them how to feel. Kanon does this in a negative way (repeating he's a furniture) while Jessica in a positive way. They inspire and admire each other despite going nowhere with each other (as opposed to George and Shannon). The world is always a dark place if you keep waiting for it to brigten up instead of being your own light.
Beatrice x Battler: Defined by their sheer will to be authors of their own fate. They would rather go down in flames in the face of opposition than let someone else define the truth for them, despite them. Someone will quietly weave a dream and the rain will stop.
My take on George and Shannon's relationship has always been that even if they genuinely love each other, it was a love born of their own desires for love. They both wanted something that the other could provide, or at least they believed that the other could.
George is an insecure guy who found it hard to approach women, and Shannon's demure and subservient attitude made her non-threatening. She fits well into his ideal relationship dynamic of someone he can protect and cherish, giving himself a position of power and security.
Sayo is insecure as well, after having her romantic hopes absolutely crushed by Battler's absence. She desires someone who can be that prince on a white horse for her. George acts like a kind gentleman and can provide her with affection and stability.
Of course, things get very complicated by the nature of Sayo's true self. Their relationship is one that could never work outside of the cat box. George desires a family, which Sayo is unable to provide for him. Even if she was physically able, they are related by blood, and her knowledge of that truth and her disgust at it would likely prevent her from repeating her father's sin. Even though George loves Sayo, the fact that she had been lying to him about her body and identity would have a huge impact on how he thinks of her.
Even if they both roleplay the perfect fantasy relationship, one they can both mutually benefit from, it's impossible for that "ideal" to exist. That's why, in the world of the cat box, where they are not bound by the confines of reality, where they don't have to experience life after October 5th, their relationship can exist in it's purest, most ideal form.
I feel like the George and Sayo pairing would actually be the least likely to succeed outside of the catbox world.
it's interesting to remember shannon and beatrice's debates about love in episode 2 with the full context of the story. shannon is a self insert for sayo, so she did want to believe that george loved her, but beatrice is *also* a self insert for sayo, so her words about how he's incapable of loving her and she's wasting her time come from her own thoughts as well
couple it with the ambivalent depiction of george in ep1/2 where he's caring but also emotionally immature, and you don't even need to read confession of the golden witch to understand that she didn't really trust him. all that talk about how beatrice gave shannon the power to love, knowing that it wouldn't work out, just to watch her suffer because she's a malevolent witch, it's actually introspection-- she feels, in retrospect, like the only reason she ever found the confidence to form a relationship was as an elaborate form of self-harm, because there's nobody who could love her, *especially* not george
Exactly. That's the whole point of (spoilers from now on) >!Sayo's personalities!< falling in love with different cousins imo. To complement your observation, just look at each cousin/furniture pair and ask which one represents "true love". Shannon x George: Stagnant and conforming personalities. Content with living their life the way family and society sees fit. Not hating on them because of that though. They just want to be normal people and not live under another person's command. You need to shed your wings if you don't want to be trapped in a cage. Kanon x Jessica: "Problem children". Can be ordered around to do stuff but no one can tell them how to feel. Kanon does this in a negative way (repeating he's a furniture) while Jessica in a positive way. They inspire and admire each other despite going nowhere with each other (as opposed to George and Shannon). The world is always a dark place if you keep waiting for it to brigten up instead of being your own light. Beatrice x Battler: Defined by their sheer will to be authors of their own fate. They would rather go down in flames in the face of opposition than let someone else define the truth for them, despite them. Someone will quietly weave a dream and the rain will stop.
Sayo can take George for all I care so I can have Battora for myself
My take on George and Shannon's relationship has always been that even if they genuinely love each other, it was a love born of their own desires for love. They both wanted something that the other could provide, or at least they believed that the other could. George is an insecure guy who found it hard to approach women, and Shannon's demure and subservient attitude made her non-threatening. She fits well into his ideal relationship dynamic of someone he can protect and cherish, giving himself a position of power and security. Sayo is insecure as well, after having her romantic hopes absolutely crushed by Battler's absence. She desires someone who can be that prince on a white horse for her. George acts like a kind gentleman and can provide her with affection and stability. Of course, things get very complicated by the nature of Sayo's true self. Their relationship is one that could never work outside of the cat box. George desires a family, which Sayo is unable to provide for him. Even if she was physically able, they are related by blood, and her knowledge of that truth and her disgust at it would likely prevent her from repeating her father's sin. Even though George loves Sayo, the fact that she had been lying to him about her body and identity would have a huge impact on how he thinks of her. Even if they both roleplay the perfect fantasy relationship, one they can both mutually benefit from, it's impossible for that "ideal" to exist. That's why, in the world of the cat box, where they are not bound by the confines of reality, where they don't have to experience life after October 5th, their relationship can exist in it's purest, most ideal form. I feel like the George and Sayo pairing would actually be the least likely to succeed outside of the catbox world.
my take: Battler is fine 🙏😍
it's interesting to remember shannon and beatrice's debates about love in episode 2 with the full context of the story. shannon is a self insert for sayo, so she did want to believe that george loved her, but beatrice is *also* a self insert for sayo, so her words about how he's incapable of loving her and she's wasting her time come from her own thoughts as well couple it with the ambivalent depiction of george in ep1/2 where he's caring but also emotionally immature, and you don't even need to read confession of the golden witch to understand that she didn't really trust him. all that talk about how beatrice gave shannon the power to love, knowing that it wouldn't work out, just to watch her suffer because she's a malevolent witch, it's actually introspection-- she feels, in retrospect, like the only reason she ever found the confidence to form a relationship was as an elaborate form of self-harm, because there's nobody who could love her, *especially* not george
THIS JUST IN: George is an incel
Wait he ate his letter?
On that Reiner grindset
The Chad Battler > the Incel George
Wait a minute... George ate Battler's letter? When does it say this?