https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/01/opinion/brazil-daughter-stories.html
She intervened in everything — the plot, the genre, the dialogue, the characters. She demanded certain props and scenarios. “Now I want a sad story with Chico Bento,” she asked one day, referring to a character from a Brazilian comic strip. “And he sings!” Recurring cast members in her stories included Greta Thunberg, Oblomov, the sisters Bingo and Bluey (from the Australian animated series “Bluey”), Mario and Luigi (from the “Super Mario” franchise) and Luna (from the Brazilian animated series “Earth to Luna!”). [...]
She’s been teaching me how to finish a complex narrative when you are despairing and clueless about how to move on: She just appears, flying, as a plot resolution device. It’s called a Potato ex machina. It works every time.