Let’s talk about Muse, Ed, and Francisco

In light of the recent events with Flip-Flop, it’s clear that Francisco subjugates his spirits to physical and emotional abuse. What I want to speculate on, is how that treatment

may play into Ed and Muse’s relationship

Muse’s relationship with Ed is interesting because their power dynamic is very gentle compared other spectrals and spirits. Muse may tease Ed

But he doesn’t yell at him like Lucifer does to Spender, he doesn’t frighten his spectral like Scrapdragon does to Max, and unlike King C, he isn’t pestering Ed into constant violence. On the flip side Ed isn’t nearly powerful enough to do this

Not to suggest either are “woke”, but at worst Muse is mostly urging Ed to ‘level up.’

Why is that? Well my theory is that it has something to do with this

And this

On the surface Muse is addressing Ed, but I suspect there may be some… ’projectence’ involved. Muse looks incredibly serious when taking about Francisco and odds are, Muse has, at the very least seen someone at the receiving end of Francisco’s wrath(if not himself). Seem familiar?

Because Muse knows how menacing 'Gramps’ is and because

It isn’t a surprise Muse supports Ed’s decision to chicken out despite being sympathetic to Isabel. Unlike Eightfold, Muse is a spirit who highly values self-preservation, even going so far as to berate Ed’s attempt at self-sacrifice. In comparison to Francisco, I suspect Muse sees himself in a similar position to Ed and must 'accept’ his place’ on the food chain until Muse and his partner get strong enough to stand up to their old man. But for now…