Comics Collection Melissa N. Collection [2025-01-06] [Melissa N.]

[misseva88]

Genuinely, finding a character's "voice" is really fucking hard. This isn't something that only comes from practice, it comes from a lot of experience: Talking to a lot of people, really listening to a lot of people, reading a lot, watching a lot of content, etc.

When done well, you can pick up on details about a person entirely based on what their dialogue is. Their maturity, the relationship between the two characters, the emotions their feeling... People mistake the idea that "show don't tell" means there's no dialogue. NO! What "show don't tell" means is that we learn things about the character's BEYOND the explicit thing stated in the dialogue.

If we look at this bit of internal dialogue:

View attachment 4385673

We're not learning anything beyond what the character is explicitly telling us is happening. And rather than us being told that Nick's mind has internalized this part of his transformation, it would have been wonderful if this was just something that was naturally happening and as readers we picked up on the consistent feminization. After 150 pages, if you've written your characters well, having their speech patterns change should stick out just as much as seeing them starting to grow breasts

That's kind of what I mean where I think an editor could help. You don't need the full story to point out where some of the "fat" in the story can be cut. That's why I think an editor would provide the most "bang for the buck" when it comes to taking her works to the next level. Before worrying about having "perfect" dialogue, we've already got some nuance that can be introduced just by slimming down the amount of dialogue. Because I genuinely think Melissa is better than most. But I also know that once you're at this level, getting even better is especially hard.

It's often said the Inuit have 52 words for snow. That's 52 distinctions they have for a specific type of snow, I imagine referring to its state, density and what-not.
One of my favourite random bits of research can be found

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(and

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if you don't have an account). In short, in Namibia there's a tribe called the Himba and researchers led by a professor of the University of Essex found the Himba like everyone use words to describe colours. They're a tribe long isolated from outside influences so their language developed without those influences. In English eleven broad colour categories are used to describe colours, e.g. green, blue, yellow. The Himba use five. So means they group colours together for which we use different colours. That's interesting because those researchers found that because those categories used by the Himba allows them to see a distinction in different types of green Westerners would have a difficult time to see. But because their categories mean they don't have different names for types of blue and green we in the west have a very easy time seeing the difference with the blue standing out and they have trouble seeing it in the following image:


So in short, the words we have for specific colours determines the way we see them. So knowing and studying more names for different shades of colour does allow us to see more differences between colours.

Now, the reason I bring this up is when extrapolating, I believe this also works for describing actions in works of fiction. When an author wants to write a character's voice they're limited by language. If your vocabulary is richer, that means adding an extra unique layer on top of your characters is easier. It allows an author to make it easier to make every character more unique. When drawing an image of a person it's a hell of a lot easier to use 50 colours than it is when using 9.


An other thing I wonder about what it's like as a 3d CGI artist is what I'd like to call the Lion King problem. I'm sure you've seen the 90s classic cartoon, I'm not sure if you've seen the 2019 remake. The 1994 film is hand drawn and the characters have almost caricature-like expressive faces, making it very clear for the viewer what their thoughts are without them really needing a voice to express those thoughts. The 2019 remake decided to make all animals photorealistic, sacrificing those expressive faces. That results in a hollowed out version without the charm of the original.
When doing 3d animation having true non-verbal expressions I wonder if maybe they have to lean more into the caricature, exaggerated types of emotion to truly sell the emotions the characters feel. But at the same time that would be too comical to take serious as well. So I think it's a conundrum on how to really do that sort of stuff well. There's also the limitations the 3d software offer to take into account as well. And if the Academy Award winning artists who had trouble selling those emotions when they did The Lion King, is it really fair to ask it of Melissa? I don't know. I really don't know.

Edit:
But these two limitations both are why I feel Melissa works so well in text stories. Her art is superb and in text stories she's proven she does very well.

 

[rebirth095]

Now, the reason I bring this up is when extrapolating, I believe this also works for describing actions in works of fiction. When an author wants to write a character's voice they're limited by language. If your vocabulary is richer, that means adding an extra unique layer on top of your characters is easier. It allows an author to make it easier to make every character more unique. When drawing an image of a person it's a hell of a lot easier to use 50 colours than it is when using 9.

Here's the thing though: Just because as an author your vocabulary is richer doesn't mean the character's is. And also, it doesn't mean the reader's is. That's actually something you see a lot with well educated people when they're doing fictional work for the first time: They're so precise with how they're trying to describe things or write things, every character inadvertently ends up sounding the same.

Finding a character's voice is more than vocabulary (although it IS important): it has a lot more to do with acting and roleplaying: stepping out of your skin and having enough experience to know what an authentic other person sounds like. Or just taking the time to reevaluate and make those decisions.



In this panel, Marina says "My mom" rather than just "Mom". Why is that? Generally speaking, especially amongst family, you expect the later. And especially among younger people. So this might clue us in on where her current level of closeness with Nikos stands.



When Nikos responds, he responds with "your mother". Not "sis", not whatever Marina's mother's name is. How the character speaks informs us about who they are. It's how they refer to people, what they don't say as much as what they do say.

Let's look at another:


Andrew consistently refers to Marina as "Babe" to her. That's "his voice".



He's casual enough and feels comfortable enough while in front of Marina's family to continue calling her "Babe" in front of them. Again, this is "his voice" and it gives us an idea of their relationship, but also how he feels in the current situation surrounded by her family.



So it's interesting when he first breaks from that. It shows us that he's under stress. All this makes sense and tells us a story without explicitly being told to us.

So as a bit of criticism, I'd personally argue:



Is not consistent with what we know about "Andrew's voice". He's disorientated and confused. I'd expect him to revert and call her "babe" again.

That's why I keep fixating on editors. A person scrutinizing and looking for things like whether people speak in a consistent way, whether they behave in a reasonable way, whether the character arc/actions make sense, etc.

Usage of a pet name and then dropping the pet name could be a powerful but subtle way of showing the mental progression if done well/consistently without having to be explicitly called out (like the Kpop panel I highlighted last post).

There's also the limitations the 3d software offer to take into account as well. And if the Academy Award winning artists who had trouble selling those emotions when they did The Lion King, is it really fair to ask it of Melissa? I don't know. I really don't know.

Totally get that. I'm talking about things like:



The expression is clearly in surprise. The stuttering sells the shock. Do we need the inner thought bubble? From context, we know what he's thinking. Especially in next panel when Elena has dressed and refers to herself as "ready". We don't need to be explicitly told that Elena wants to dress herself. That's evident from the visuals and spoken dialogue.

Or:


Melissa is a good enough 3D artist that I can clearly tell from the facial expression that the character's breast's are sensitive and that having them fondled feels good. We could drop this entire thought bubble and just have a *gasp* sound effect.



Because if you look at the sequence, everything in that thought bubble is shown to us in the next panel. The stuttering response and expression tell us that the character is distracted and not really paying attention to the details.

A common writing pitfall is overdoing

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It's a tool, like any other trope, but over time, a pattern of exposition, especially lengthy exposition, generates a feeling of disbelief.

 

[Thalantyr]

In other news, have some AM butt preview from Discord:


I'm guessing that's Joelle. Finally some bodily proportions I can get behind.

...get it?

 

[Jackjons]

Hey , guys, you don't believe me what I have found today,it is a research paper!

I am shocked it is transplant uterus transplant into a male lab rat .. which is succes, now they are hopeful that in the future Even transwoman can have functional uterus

You must be registered to see the links

 

[Jackjons]

I know , it is out of the topic, for that I am sorry
I am sharing it here because here is all knowledge people and I am shocked so I shared it here

 

[ginger_anagram]

Hey , guys, you don't believe me what I have found today,it is a research paper!

I am shocked it is transplant uterus transplant into a male lab rat .. which is succes, now they are hopeful that in the future Even transwoman can have functional uterus

You must be registered to see the links

Ethically dubious.

 

[Tjssss]

Hey , guys, you don't believe me what I have found today,it is a research paper!

I am shocked it is transplant uterus transplant into a male lab rat .. which is succes, now they are hopeful that in the future Even transwoman can have functional uterus

You must be registered to see the links

First off, happy new year!

Secondly... well, um, how howabout that eh. Ahem.

So, what do we think will happen with Joelle?

 

[Thalantyr]

FYI, the latest AM update is up on

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Not a ton of plot in this one. Joel's physical transformation is over all too quickly but I'm still interested to see how it's going to affect him emotionally. The main takeaway is that we will hopefully soon learn about Eva and Sofia's mother, which is exciting. That has been very mysterious for quite a long time.

 

[Stevedore100]

FYI, the latest AM update is up on

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.

Not a ton of plot in this one. Joel's physical transformation is over all too quickly but I'm still interested to see how it's going to affect him emotionally. The main takeaway is that we will hopefully soon learn about Eva and Sofia's mother, which is exciting. That has been very mysterious for quite a long time.

My initial impression is that there is only one logical choice for the mother - Angelos basically says Elena should know who it is, and by my count there is a lack of possibilities unless it is someone we haven't seen.

 

[rebirth095]

Angelos basically says Elena should know who it is, and by my count there is a lack of possibilities unless it is someone we haven't seen.

Not exactly. Angelos is saying that it's surprising that Elena doesn't know who the biological mother is, and that to understand Nikos better, she should find out. This is not saying that Elena already knows this person, and just hasn't connected the dots yet. It's more like: "It's surprising that you wish to marry Nikos and become mother to Eva and Sofia but you haven't done your homework into understanding this family and what role you're playing".

So I do think it's someone we haven't seen directly yet. But, that's still pretty limited.

It can't be Seferi's wife. Seferi's wife was jailed at the same time as Seferi and I can't see how she'd be in jail longer than her husband. Nikos kept the girls out of the spotlight by having them study abroad, but they clearly aren't in hiding currently. There's no reason after she got out of jail, she couldn't have reunited with her daughters (who clearly want a mother figure) when they were abroad or even now.

It could be Marina's mother. Maybe Nikos isn't her uncle, but her father, and her mother is actually the original wife.

Otherwise, it could be someone connected in some other way to all this crime family stuff.

Not a ton of plot in this one. Joel's physical transformation is over all too quickly but I'm still interested to see how it's going to affect him emotionally.

There's some... uncanny valley to me about his new model to me. It feels like the head is too big, or something? Or maybe just the face is too big for the rest of the body? Would have liked to savor the feminization a bit more, but I guess we're already at fully transformed and basically in full bimbo getup.

The main takeaway is that we will hopefully soon learn about Eva and Sofia's mother, which is exciting. That has been very mysterious for quite a long time.

Mysterious, but in many ways, it seems like it's been largely irrelevant.

1) As far as I can tell, there's no evidence that they've gone out of their way to turn Andrew into a mirror copy of Eva and Sofia's mother both physically nor mentally. So far, who their mother was hasn't seemed to matter as much as just the theory of having a wife/mother.

2) Not a single character has raised an eyebrow that Elena is married to Nikos outside of Angelos right now.

3) But to me, I think the most odd/confusing part: Let's say Eva and Sofai's mother matters and connects to Nikos' motivations. But why does that matter? I am in the camp that Nikos is behind everything, so this would be a welcome "mask off" moment that I'd feel vindicated if we found out something about the original mother is what's leading to Nikos trying to feminize Andrew. Except, if that came out, I can't see at all how that would lead to this vow renewal to continue. Finding out you were set up should cause Andrew/Elena to want to break it off.

So instead, what seems to be implied here is that this backstory is going to somehow mend the fences between Elena and Nikos as far as Angelos is concerned.

That's weird to me. Angelos doesn't have the full details, and based on the previous part, he believes their disagreement was over the fact that Elena is trans.



Actually, even that by itself is weird. If there's a disagreement over Elena being trans, Angelos seems to be implying that he thinks Elena is the one that needs convincing, not Nikos. I guess Nikos's preferences for transwomen/femininzed men isn't just us theorycrafting but apparently an open secret.

If Elena is the one that needs convincing by this story, I guess Angelos is assuming Elena has insecurities about being "real" enough of a woman for Nikos? Which would imply to me that Angelos wants Elena to look into Nikos' history to learn that this isn't something that is a problem.

Except... unless the medical tech has additional advances we haven't been told about, there's no way Eva and Sofia's mother was a transwoman.

So we're left in a weird conundrum:

If the Mother was a ciswoman, then at best, we get a touching tale of Nikos being a loving husband and caring for the children after she passed (or through some hardship). Except... that doesn't address why this conversation is even taking place, which is that Angelos suspects the current fight is over the fact Elena is trans.

Ok, so if the Mother was a transwoman, this would fit perfectly except for the fact that unless their medical tech is way more advanced than anything currently shown in comic, then there's no way the Mother is the biological mother of Eva and Sofia.

It could be possible that the Mother is a transman, and transitioned after having Eva and Sofia. In theory, that could show that Nikos' love surpasses gender and could be a touching story to help motivate Elena... except it turns Eva and Sofia's mother complex into a really weird light.

I'd have to brainstorm more about this, but I'm at a loss how learning more about the original mother could fix a fight over Elena being a transwoman. And why does Angelos care so much about this? It's weirdly intrusive.

 

[Stevedore100]

Not exactly. Angelos is saying that it's surprising that Elena doesn't know who the biological mother is, and that to understand Nikos better, she should find out. This is not saying that Elena already knows this person, and just hasn't connected the dots yet. It's more like: "It's surprising that you wish to marry Nikos and become mother to Eva and Sofia but you haven't done your homework into understanding this family and what role you're playing".

So I do think it's someone we haven't seen directly yet. But, that's still pretty limited.

I got the idea that Angelis thought it was, in his words "obvious" who the mother is, but maybe he did mean it as you said.
Joanna would be the obvious person to me - right age, used to live there, has dropped out of the plot but seems important and mysterious, and maybe most important, has avoided being seen by Nikos and his daughters. The plastic surgery she has had would also be something to hide her appearance.

Motivation? To help her daughters by making Nikos' marriage really real and win over Toska? It was Joel who told Elena Joanna was married to Gjoka. If she is the real mom, Joel would have good reason to make up a story about her and cause Elena to view her as bad.

 

[rebirth095]

Motivation? To help her daughters by making Nikos' marriage really real and win over Toska?

I'm not following. How does Joanna being the mother help make Elena and Nikos' marriage "real"? Are you saying that Joanna can give her blessing?

For that matter, if that's the case why is Joanna hiding in the shadows anyway? She's alive and presumably not on the run, considering she's making connections out in the open. What's stopping her from being a mother to Eva and Sofia?

For any woman to make sense as the mother, the plot has laid out these criteria:

1) She is no longer in the picture and hasn't been in quite some time. Eva and Sofia roleplay having a mother in a really abstract sense, and seem weirdly fixated on this more superficial sense.

2) Angelos thinks knowing the mother's identity and history will fix Elena and Nikos' argument. The argument is (at the surface) about Elena being a transwoman.

Joanna doesn't seem to really work in this regard.

As I was typing this out, it dawned on me another possible variation. To relate to what Elena's circumstances are, one possibility is that the mother's identity isn't necessarily important, but what happened with Eva and Sofia is important. What if Eva and Sofia are transwomen?

Based on what we know so far, it would almost make more sense to me that maybe the mother was against the kids transitioning, and Nikos supported Eva and Sofia. Which is why Nikos kept them from the public. And why Angelos thinks this story would be uplifting to Elena: to show Elena how supportive Nikos is of transwomen. This would also provide a non-death explaination as to why the mother might not be around and why Eva and Sofia are so fixated on simulating a mother figure.

I'll note, it's an idea that seems to fit pieces, but not exactly one I'm a fan of. Particularly because it feels like such a departure from the overall plot.

 

[Elaine.]

As I was typing this out, it dawned on me another possible variation. To relate to what Elena's circumstances are, one possibility is that the mother's identity isn't necessarily important, but what happened with Eva and Sofia is important. What if Eva and Sofia are transwomen?

Based on what we know so far, it would almost make more sense to me that maybe the mother was against the kids transitioning, and Nikos supported Eva and Sofia. Which is why Nikos kept them from the public. And why Angelos thinks this story would be uplifting to Elena: to show Elena how supportive Nikos is of transwomen. This would also provide a non-death explaination as to why the mother might not be around and why Eva and Sofia are so fixated on simulating a mother figure.

I'll note, it's an idea that seems to fit pieces, but not exactly one I'm a fan of. Particularly because it feels like such a departure from the overall plot.

That sounds plausible but dont forget the daughters got into feminising Andrew because of what they hoped would help their dad land a huge business deal. Presumably it was the business that paid for all of Andrew's cosmetic surgeries. What I wonder is why Joel has been altered too. He talks of getting revenge but then goes along with Angeliki's transforms. Who paid for him to have all that done?

 

[Stevedore100]

I'm not following. How does Joanna being the mother help make Elena and Nikos' marriage "real"? Are you saying that Joanna can give her blessing?

For that matter, if that's the case why is Joanna hiding in the shadows anyway? She's alive and presumably not on the run, considering she's making connections out in the open. What's stopping her from being a mother to Eva and Sofia?

For any woman to make sense as the mother, the plot has laid out these criteria:

1) She is no longer in the picture and hasn't been in quite some time. Eva and Sofia roleplay having a mother in a really abstract sense, and seem weirdly fixated on this more superficial sense.

2) Angelos thinks knowing the mother's identity and history will fix Elena and Nikos' argument. The argument is (at the surface) about Elena being a transwoman.

Joanna doesn't seem to really work in this regard.

As I was typing this out, it dawned on me another possible variation. To relate to what Elena's circumstances are, one possibility is that the mother's identity isn't necessarily important, but what happened with Eva and Sofia is important. What if Eva and Sofia are transwomen?

Based on what we know so far, it would almost make more sense to me that maybe the mother was against the kids transitioning, and Nikos supported Eva and Sofia. Which is why Nikos kept them from the public. And why Angelos thinks this story would be uplifting to Elena: to show Elena how supportive Nikos is of transwomen. This would also provide a non-death explaination as to why the mother might not be around and why Eva and Sofia are so fixated on simulating a mother figure.

I'll note, it's an idea that seems to fit pieces, but not exactly one I'm a fan of. Particularly because it feels like such a departure from the overall plot.

My idea is that Joanna is Toska daughter, had a fling with Nikos, got pregnant but hid it from her dad because of his weirdness. She couldn't be seen with Nikos because if this and skipped town after the girls were born. Now her daughters have the chance to get a part of the rightful piece of Toska wealth, but she sees that Nikos' plan to fool Toska needs some major help and intervened behind the scenes.
She doesn't want to be recognized by Nikos and the daughters so she hides from them.

My feeling is that Angelos is the kind of minor character who's statements a d predictions are not to be questioned. He is always right and the ceremony will take place. Which would seem to mean that Nikos is not a bad guy.
How the Seferi plot works into this, I have no idea.

 

[LadyBoyJay]

It could be possible that the Mother is a transman, and transitioned after having Eva and Sofia. In theory, that could show that Nikos' love surpasses gender and could be a touching story to help motivate Elena... except it turns Eva and Sofia's mother complex into a really weird light.

Well... one popular theory about a show called The Blacklist, was that a certain character's father was actually her mother who had transitioned (FTM) and disguised herself. Could Nikos be the mother?

Something about this revelation feels off to me.

If Nikos abandoned his social life after his daughters were born, what's with his reputation of being in many relationships with lots of women?

 

[rebirth095]

She couldn't be seen with Nikos because if this and skipped town after the girls were born. Now her daughters have the chance to get a part of the rightful piece of Toska wealth, but she sees that Nikos' plan to fool Toska needs some major help and intervened behind the scenes.
She doesn't want to be recognized by Nikos and the daughters so she hides from them.

But if she's already had plastic surgery to disguise her appearance, why would she help feminize a man to pull off this plot, when she could just do it herself? Seems like a lot less risk to do it herself (there's no reason for her to do plastic surgery to disguise herself, and have that surgery be so minor that the disguise doesn't work). Compared to what's currently happening, which is apparently banking that:

1) Nikos' nephew in law happens to be willing to feminize himself.
2) Nikos would fall for femininzed in-law.
3) They would get married and their contract stipulates Toska must come back for it.

If Joanna did it herself, all 3 of those could be addressed with no risk. And all it would have required is surgery that made her unrecognizable. Plus, for all we know, Eva and Sofia might not even recognize their birth mother. Toska is apparently nearly blind. So if this really was the plan all along, then there isn't even that much of a need to hide Joanna.

Something about this revelation feels off to me.
View attachment 4412533 View attachment 4412534
If Nikos abandoned his social life after his daughters were born, what's with his reputation of being in many relationships with lots of women?
View attachment 4412527

Yeah, I have a hard time reconciling those two story points. Angelos doesn't have a reason to lie here, and Elena doesn't seem to think the story sounds off.

Man, this it tough. Because I'll be honest, I would have chalked this up to "early installment weirdness", with the earlier panels being not as accurate (especially since it's coming from a family member). Except, I see no real evidence that what Angelos said has been true. As far as I recall, I've never gotten the impression that Nikos nor his daughters "hid". And I think this is the first time we've heard about them studying abroad. Also, not sure at what age: The context suggests that he's saying they studied abroad when they were very young. But... that's weird, because they seem very at home in Greece. Conversely, it doesn't makes sense for this line to be saying they studied abroad during their college years, as that seems too late.

I suppose, the one way I can sort of reconcile it is:

- Eva and Sofia are born.
- Nikos withdraws from the public eye and sends Eva and Sofia abroad. Maybe he goes abroad himself as well?
- They return once the daughters are in their teens.
- Nikos starts dating again and gets a reputation as a playboy.

At least, that's my current read on it, but it does feel off...

 

[Stevedore100]

But if she's already had plastic surgery to disguise her appearance, why would she help feminize a man to pull off this plot, when she could just do it herself? Seems like a lot less risk to do it herself (there's no reason for her to do plastic surgery to disguise herself, and have that surgery be so minor that the disguise doesn't work). Compared to what's currently happening, which is apparently banking that:

1) Nikos' nephew in law happens to be willing to feminize himself.
2) Nikos would fall for femininzed in-law.
3) They would get married and their contract stipulates Toska must come back for it.

If Joanna did it herself, all 3 of those could be addressed with no risk. And all it would have required is surgery that made her unrecognizable. Plus, for all we know, Eva and Sofia might not even recognize their birth mother. Toska is apparently nearly blind. So if this really was the plan all along, then there isn't even that much of a need to hide Joanna.



Yeah, I have a hard time reconciling those two story points. Angelos doesn't have a reason to lie here, and Elena doesn't seem to think the story sounds off.

Man, this it tough. Because I'll be honest, I would have chalked this up to "early installment weirdness", with the earlier panels being not as accurate (especially since it's coming from a family member). Except, I see no real evidence that what Angelos said has been true. As far as I recall, I've never gotten the impression that Nikos nor his daughters "hid". And I think this is the first time we've heard about them studying abroad. Also, not sure at what age: The context suggests that he's saying they studied abroad when they were very young. But... that's weird, because they seem very at home in Greece. Conversely, it doesn't makes sense for this line to be saying they studied abroad during their college years, as that seems too late.

I suppose, the one way I can sort of reconcile it is:

- Eva and Sofia are born.
- Nikos withdraws from the public eye and sends Eva and Sofia abroad. Maybe he goes abroad himself as well?
- They return once the daughters are in their teens.
- Nikos starts dating again and gets a reputation as a playboy.

At least, that's my current read on it, but it does feel off...

Joanna can't do it herself - under this scenario, she is Toska's daughter and can't acknowledge herself as the mother of the girls because they were born out of wedlock; Toska knows his daughter and can't be fooled by disguising herself; surgery is only to keep Nikos and the girls from recognizing her, not Toska. I don't think she was in on Nikos' plan, this was more of opportunity reading it's head.

 

[rebirth095]

Joanna can't do it herself - under this scenario, she is Toska's daughter and can't acknowledge herself as the mother of the girls because they were born out of wedlock; Toska knows his daughter and can't be fooled by disguising herself; surgery is only to keep Nikos and the girls from recognizing her, not Toska. I don't think she was in on Nikos' plan, this was more of opportunity reading it's head.

How would surgery fool Nikos, but not Toska? Remember, Toska is blind enough he couldn't tell that Elena was a man. Also, in this scenario Joanna's not acknowledging that she's the girls' mother. Let me be more explicit:

- Joanna has had surgery that makes her unrecognizable as her old self.
- To lure Toska back, Nikos has to have a wedding.
- Joanna gets back together with Nikos (whether he knows is depending on whether you think he's involved with Seferi's plan).
- The daughters don't need to know Joanna is their actual mother.
- They go through with the wedding to get Toska arrested.

Here's the thing: if it's purely by opportunity, why was she skulking around during the first dinner? And then again at the Doctor's office. Her timing really suggests more of an involvement than just an opportunity she took advantage of.

 

[Stevedore100]

How would surgery fool Nikos, but not Toska? Remember, Toska is blind enough he couldn't tell that Elena was a man. Also, in this scenario Joanna's not acknowledging that she's the girls' mother. Let me be more explicit:

- Joanna has had surgery that makes her unrecognizable as her old self.
- To lure Toska back, Nikos has to have a wedding.
- Joanna gets back together with Nikos (whether he knows is depending on whether you think he's involved with Seferi's plan).
- The daughters don't need to know Joanna is their actual mother.
- They go through with the wedding to get Toska arrested.

Here's the thing: if it's purely by opportunity, why was she skulking around during the first dinner? And then again at the Doctor's office. Her timing really suggests more of an involvement than just an opportunity she took advantage of.

Ok., to explain it better: 22 years ago, Nikos and Joanna hook up, Jo's na gets pregnant; her dad won't approve, she hides it from him, leaves kids with Nikos and disappears from Nikos' life; she maintains relationship with Dad (Toska) but he know nothing of the daughters. Years later, Joanna hears if potential deal btwn Nikos and Toska, realizes this is chance for daughters to get at least done part of rightful inheritance. Cones to Athens to spy on meeting (hiding from Nikos) and sees Nikos' rather half baked plan and decided to intervene on the sly. Does not want Nikos or daughters to know of her existence in all this.

 

[Oled65cxpua]

Yo, I'ma let you finish, but new IRL images of Elena just dropped: