#imagine letting a female character remain significant for more than a few chapters

[himikou]

ahh yes, the two fates of women in bnha: brutally murdered for a man’s development, or stripped of all her expertise and sidelined so the focus can shift back to a man’s development

[sendnotes]

books i read in april.

this is going to be my thing from now on. i'll compile a list of all the books i read in a month and share my thoughts on each one every end of the month.

just so you know, i'm a little forgetful, and i have a tendency to forget names, plots, and other details. i'm hoping that writing these will aid my memory in recalling how i felt about each novel.

you can also find me on goodreads

so, let’s begin, shall we?

101 essays that will change the way you think (wiest, brianna)

self-help book

this book got off to a good start! some of the essays written (or should i say a collection of articles originally published on the thoughtcatalog website) made me think and consider my outlook on life, love, and so on.

the title overstates the case though. when i think of an essay, i picture something more argumentative and philosophical. not to mention that the majority of the ideas in this book are redundant. it made it difficult to get through. nonetheless, i was able to get past it because there were so many fantastic concepts and topics discussed.

overall, it's an interesting & worthwhile read for those who enjoy thinking outside the box.i lost count of how many times this book gave me aha moments. i swear, most of the entries soothed my mind and provided a great pick-me-up when life seemed to be frustrating.

the midnight library (haig, matt)

science fiction, fantasy fiction, psychological fiction

regrets, self-remorse, what ifs, family approval, drugs, dreams, love, passion, hatred, death, afterlife, multiverses, quantum physics, and a plethora of possibilities packed into a 304-page book.

i'll be honest: this book is already on my list of favorites. i'm simply blown away by how well-crafted and diverse the entire story unfolded.

a sci-fi novel with a dash of fantasy and a smidgeon of philosophy. if that's your thing, you should give this book a shot.

the first few pages of the book gave me an impression and led me to surmise it was going to be a cheesy ass chick lit novel that i'd only read and find enjoyable in high school. i was completely off base. it proved to be very mature, full of lessons, but delivered in a fun and entertaining manner— exactly my cup of tea.

it reminded me of a disney pixar film called soul, in which the afterlife is depicted in vivid detail. they differ on so many levels, but they both imagine life after death for people who are unsure of their path, purpose, and passion.

every chapter served a significant concept, so this book is well-deserved of a 5-star rating!

norwegian wood (murakami, haruki)

fiction, romance novel, bildungsroman

as i read the book and neared the end, all i could think about was how this book became one of murakami's most popular and influential works.

murakami offers a sprawling glimpse into the lives of a group of severely damaged youths grappling with the realities of what emptiness entails. take what you will from it.

i know a lot of people like it, which is fine. but please keep in mind that this book hit me square in the gut. it alternated between making me angry, sad, annoyed, and disgusted almost constantly. there isn't much else.

this book should come with a warning: "this is not a good place to start if you're new to murakami's works. this is not a representative of murakami's brilliance."

fist and foremost, the characters in this book are all repulsive.

toru watanabe was a fuckboy and a softboy rolled into one. what could possibly be worse than that? he'd have as many casual sexual partners as he could while also buttering a girl up by appealing to her emotions and displaying a "sensitive" and "vulnerable" side.

this book was made even more depressing by the fact that each female character was needy, weak, dysfunctional, and dependent. since they're all the same, i'm not going to go over each of these female characters one by one. you already get the idea.

reiko ishida, imo, was one of the best rendered sections of the novel. most likely because she had a better grasp on her emotions and goals than the still seeking youths... until, *spoiler alert* she wanted to do it with toru as well. a big disappointment.

to summarize, this book is primarily concerned with two topics: sex and death.

hidden meanings are everywhere, but when you get to the core, that's all that remains.

the four agreements: a practical guide to personal freedom (ruiz, miguel)

self-help book

first agreement ⏤ be impeccable with your word

this essentially means that you should not spew gossip or use words to harm others. because words have tremendous power and can cause significant harm. you are not only negatively affecting others with your hateful and thoughtless words, but you are also hurting yourself. this is something with which i generally agree. how i see it, when people are unhappy with themselves, they turn to others to make themselves feel better. as a result, they gossip about others in order to divert attention away from themselves.

second agreement ⏤don't take anything personally

alright. sure. don't let what others say about you bother you. it has everything to do with them and nothing to do with you. well, i don't entirely agree, but i think it's a fantastic idea in general. however, achieving this goal will be extremely difficult. i believe it would take a lot of practice to reach this level of zen. plus, i honestly believe that other people's opinions still matter because they keep you in check. the best advice is to not be swayed by these opinions, but to consider why they were expressed in the first place. see what you can do to improve yourself from there. sure, it can be difficult to deal with; after all, no one likes being told they're wrong or whatnot. but it's not all bad news because you can sometimes use criticism and judgment to give you a competitive edge. i mean- don't you think hearing someone else's point of view is also an opportunity to learn and progress? ruiz should have stressed that it's not just about "not taking it personally because you know you're not that person," but also about not retaliating with an extreme knee-jerk reaction even if you believe you're being unfairly criticized.

third agreement ⏤ don't make assumptions

this is a real eye-opener for me. i've noticed that whenever i become enraged by someone's words, it's usually due to my tendency to assume. personally, i can't help but make assumptions. i don't know what other people's motivations are, and i can't help but draw conclusions based on the information i have. even if the other person had no intention of causing me harm, it's too late. the thought has become ingrained in my mind, and i never ask for clarification out of pride or fear of appearing overly sensitive.

fourth agreement ⏤ always do your best

this section did not seem particularly useful to me. i mean, aren't we all reminded of this all the time? this section is filled with sloppy writing, in my opinion. as if he badly wanted to finish the book and impulsively thought: "okay, fourth agreement: always do your best. that should suffice. lmao"

overall opinion: the third agreement was my favorite, but the rest were a no-go. don't get me wrong, i appreciated his ideas, but i've heard them all a hundred times before. basically, the book's sole takeaway is that we are all suffering in some way in our daily lives, and we are all dealing with different issues. regardless, we all need to be kinder and gentler to ourselves and others.

the song of achilles (miller, madeline)

romance novel, historical Fiction, war story

i'll keep it short and sweet:

i really wouldn't have had this book any other way. miller's writing is breathtaking, so rich and full of lovely detail. it's incredibly a unique concept to me that authors are rewriting such ancient history and stories to make them lgbt+!

some suggest it's tedious, but i disagree. it isn't slow; rather, it is just right.

'cause at the end of the day, it's not about war, tragedy, or heroes - it's a slow-burning, organic love tale between two young men and their inevitable connection.

it's sad, tender, and painful, but in the best way possible.

circe (miller, madeline)

novel, historical fiction, fantasy fiction

"greek mythology, but with a feminist twist"?! sign me the hell up! this piqued my interest... only to leave me feeling completely let down. seriously now. circe was described as a "badass empowered woman," which was the single most compelling selling point for me, and thus the most wrenching disappointment, i must say.

sure, it demonstrated the value of feminine power, but it also did represent how this power can be a force of good or evil.

not to mention the fact that circe fucked a married man or two in this book- i mean- how is that an ~empowered woman~?

let's be clear right off the bat: madeline miller's follow-up to the song of achilles is epic in scope but not necessarily in execution. to me, this read more like a tedious island tale. regardless of how many five-star reviews this book has received... i just don't think it's well-deserved. don't get me wrong here. miller is a fantastic author with a lush writing! istg- i'm blown away by how beautifully she wrote and carefully chose her words. even the most mundane phrases were written poetically. after-all, it’s greek mythology. but how did she manage to make circe seem so... bland?

[zenonaa]

Read here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18720781/chapters/44402326

Comments: birthday fic for a fictional character

***

...

I recall that I was in my Tokyo office because I remember a dark auburn bookcase unit with a unique design stood to my left, the one with the circular frame at the centre. Within the circle, several shelves had been fixed to form the shape of four staircases, and right in the middle of that was a compartment where one could sit a photograph, but I had not.

Someone buzzed my intercom. When I raised my head, I could see the bookcase unit at the edge of my vision. An associate of mine, a renowned interior designer, gifted it to me years ago.

“You have a visitor,” said my receptionist through a speaker.

“Let them in,” I instructed.

A few moments later - I didn’t count the number of seconds - the door ahead of me opened and Osamu Sugawara came in. He always looked like he just raked his fingers through recently washed hair.

I had no time for pleasantries. “What is it?”

Osamu grinned and swaggered over to my desk, holding a stack of papers. Once he had crossed the room, he set them down.

“These are the results for the first task,” Osamu said.

The first task had been assigned to all one hundred and eight competitors. Simply, they were given a certain amount of money and with it, they were to try to make as much of a profit as possible within the timeframe, which was six months. He watched my face as he pushed the papers toward me. I cast my eyes toward the list of names.

At the top was one that I didn’t recognise right away.

“Byakuya Polanski?” I read aloud.

Basic facts were listed by his name, such as his date of birth and how much money he made. Reading them answered some of my queries but raised other questions.

I met Osamu’s gaze. “This one’s eleven?”

That would make him...

“... the youngest of them all,” said Osamu. He pointed to Byakuya’s name like I was some kind of idiot who hadn’t read it, but between us two, he was the idiot.

Of course, he was a successful businessman but when compared to me and many of my near equals, Osamu was a total idiot, though he was smarter than the common filth that most of the population consisted of.

“Between him and the next competitor, there’s a wide margin, and this Masanori person in second place is in his forties,” I said. While Osamu was all smile, my face was as stiff as stone. “Is all this information correct?”

“You think they were mistyped, or mixed up?” asked Osamu, raising his eyebrows, and he almost looked serious. “No, no. It’s correct. I’ve met the boy several times. He’s really a remarkable child. Very stern though, just like his mother. Doesn’t trust anyone except his butler, and he doesn’t do friends either.”

I steepled my fingers and stared at Byakuya’s name, in thought. Osamu carried on talking. When I glanced up, he was waving a hand around animatedly.

“Plays the violin beautifully and can speak multiple languages,” he said, like a commoner father boasting about their son. “His mother must push him hard.”

He nattered on. I grimaced and lowered my gaze, keeping my face tight.

“Describe his mother to me,” I said without looking up.

“Eh?” Osamu paused. He settled down. “She’s called Anastazja. Her mother is Polish and her father is French and the managing director of Polanski Business Limited.”

This Anastazja woman must have been pushing Byakuya because while every woman chosen for me was born from the elite, overall, she was rather near the bottom of the barrel. There was also the fact that this Byakuya child was the youngest person competing. A female child was a year older than him and she was significantly lower down the list. I squared my shoulders.

“Kijou?” said Osamu, more curious than cautious, but still both.

“Everyone below the fifty-fourth ranking... they’re to be removed from the competition,” I announced. “I will arrange that. Don’t bother yourself with it.”

Osamu nodded, but I doubted he planned to bother himself. He was a carefree man. No, I would be in charge of authorising their removals, as per tradition.

“Is there anything else you require me for?” I asked.

“Not on the business side of things,” he replied.

“Then that is everything,” I said. “You may leave.”

I returned my focus to the stack of papers and heard Osamu’s footsteps recede. The door then shut.

Despite this Byakuya child’s early success, it is too early to determine a winner. That is why there are to be other tasks, each one whittling away more competitors until finally only one person remains. As far as I am aware, the youngest never won. It was always someone older.

Anyone could be trained to play stocks. The next tasks will leave only genuine candidates.

***

...

For this next task, I directed that the competitors should earn money using an industry that the conglomerate doesn’t already focus on. I excluded them from various enterprises such as mining, nonferrous metals, petrochemicals, aerospace and using the stock market, to give a few examples. The conglomerate comprises of many more than those, for it branches into most sectors, but I permitted competitors to involve themselves in industries the conglomerate doesn’t concentrate on.

Of course, I couldn’t allow the task to be too simple. Everyone began with the same amount of funding. I would be judging them not just on their profits, but also their business image, connections and potential... among other things. Again, those are just a handful of examples.

On this day, I was in an office in America. Everyone had been ordered not to bother me while I worked. It didn’t matter how important they deemed something to be - I would not be available for any meetings or queries.

I started before dawn the day after the last task’s deadline. The sky was a gradient between pale blue and faded orange as I booted up my computer. Sitting in a silent room, I sifted through my emails, stuffed with attachments, and spreadsheets soon dominated all my monitors.

Some names stood out to me from previous tasks. Only the ones who ranked highly, of course. Anyone who performed below my expectations were already dead to me. Ultimately, I came across a certain name. Byakuya Polanski. I rearranged the windows on my monitors so that his efforts filled every screen.

He opted for the pharmaceutical industry, which included medical devices. A quick glance informed me that Polanski Pharma Co Limited had made massive profits. Not as much as certain other competitors, but so far, enough to put him in the top ten.

Even so, I wasn’t judging them solely on their profits, though that would certainly have a significant influence on how I ranked them overall.

The logo consisted of a ten point star with ‘Polanski’ written next to it, sleek and professional. According to his head butler, who had been authorised to write up in detail about Byakuya’s venture, employees exhibited high satisfaction in all areas, which other than limiting turnover and ensuring greater work performance meant nothing to me. If a worker did excellent work and they were miserable, that wasn’t of my concern. His report incorporated graphs and questionnaire responses with contact details should I wish for them to confirm the information shown to me.

I cupped my chin as I perused. As stated in the butler’s report, Byakuya played a large role in designing and developing the technology, which included robotic limbs and implants, and he also heavily involved himself in the medicine side of things. The technological aspect was more groundbreaking, using scientific knowledge that an ordinary person could only imagine, yet this was a child on the verge of becoming a teenager.

This went beyond being a businessman. This was being an inventor. A genius. I noted that the technology wasn’t ridiculously expensive to produce, even quite cheap compared to the rest of the industry without having a detrimental effect on the quality. After I read the tests done on his products and the results of said tests, I delved into the breakdowns of his costs and found a startling beginner’s error.

He undersold his products. Other companies offering the equivalent sold them at a far greater price, and theirs were inferior to what he had available. Had he increased his prices, he would have made a far greater profit. Yes, he had many customers right now, and the female child in a photo was smiling at the camera as she showed off her new arm, but Byakuya could have easily increased the prices by a vast amount and still had customers.

Did he intend to appeal to a lower class of people, even though they had less money?

That loss of profit could have cost him the competition. I had half a mind to score him poorly so he would be eliminated, but he performed adequately regardless. I decided to rank him nineth, and by evening, he had dropped to twelfth.

By night time, I finished my initial readover, and I pressed a button.

“Luwak coffee now,” I said.

My personal assistant brought some through within the next ten minutes. She bowed then left, only speaking to address me once, and I remained deep in thought.

This will take some time.

***

...

I decided on my final rankings for the previous task. Thirty people remained in the competition at that stage, including Byakuya Polanski.

Only when a victor emerged did that person receive the coveted Togami name. The same happened to me - I had always been Kijou, but I wasn’t Kijou Togami until I proved myself in the final round. My superior genetics and elite upbringing ensured my victory. There, I showed that only I was worthy and no one who battled against me deserved to be a Togami. Not while I existed.

The next round had a much tighter budget. I relocated them all to different countries and tasked them all with creating a home business, forbidding them from partnering up with any companies already affiliated with the conglomerate and I made them use aliases.

They could only work with local businesses and six months after I set this task, I had thick folders physically in my office, one for each remaining competitor.

Halfway through my evaluations, I came across Byakuya’s folder. He started an automobile business, repairing, taking in used cars and reselling them or reusing the parts. In addition to that, he trained not just employees but customers too, as well as gave out advice.

“He’s a bright one, isn’t he?” said Osamu, slouched forward and resting an arm on a corner of my desk. Other than the occasional comment, he had mostly been quiet for once. “Did you know that he can pilot a helicopter?”

I elevated my gaze.

“You know him well, Sugawara?” I said.

Osamu tilted his head a little.

“I’ve been keeping tabs on several of your bastard children,” said Osamu, which didn’t surprise me. He smirked. “He’s the cutest of the bunch.”

A lot of my senior employees did the same. I could remember some visiting me in my teenage years and for some time after. Activity picked up as the competition drew closer. For me, the competition officially began when I was in my late twenties. Soon after I became the sole heir, I supplied sperm to private clinics as had been tradition.

Anyway, the reason these visits took place was so business associates could try to suck up to someone likely to become the future head... but the youngest never won. No teenager had ever won. The oldest competitor in this competition had been a male called Masanori, who had fared poorly in the second challenge and was struck off then. He had been in his forties during this competition, and those like him stood a better chance of winning than a child.

So I didn’t understand why Osamu acquainted himself with someone who had no hope of winning.

I didn’t like not understanding things. Osamu’s lips still curved.

“Sugawara, what made you seek him out? There were more than one hundred competitors older than him,” I told him.

“Just a hunch,” said Osamu. He shifted a bit, still with that slit of a smile on his face.

My interest extended no further. Osamu was a valuable colleague, so I didn’t wish to start unnecessary strife or bother him with more questions. That would be inconvenient for me. I continued to sift through Byakuya’s folder. His young age would have put him at a disadvantage as few people would take a twelve year old boy seriously, especially as he didn’t have his family names to fall back on, but apparently he had been accompanied by his head butler.

Clients must have assumed that the old man with him was the one they were dealing with, not the child, and I said as such. Osamu shrugged a shoulder.

“Probably. But by having a handsome young boy with him, they probably thought Pennyworth was his grandfather or something. A combination like that will appeal to many customers,” Osamu explained.

I read on, and then I quietly considered what I had read. Osamu didn’t rush me for an answer, watching the process on my face.

“Overall, he has done adequately,” I announced. “Byakuya made some interesting decisions. He offers free consultations, giving advice on reasonable prices so that customers can see if they’re being overcharged at other places. This will make customers go to him, as his prices seem cheaper and fairer, but by doing that, he is limiting his profits. Something similar happened in the previous trial. He’s offering free healthcare and childcare to the employees... an unnecessary undertaking.”

Osamu didn’t say anything. I read some more, regardless of the onset of a headache, and then glanced up. For some reason, or more likely, for no reason, Osamu was still there. In my personal space. And he had been for the past several hours, all the while contributing very little. My lips pursed.

“You don’t have to be here,” I said, restraining a sneer, and Osamu straightened up casually.

The reason I fought my annoyance down wasn’t so I didn’t offend him. I simply didn’t want to betray any emotion. If I showed a sign of weakness, then anyone could chisel away at the chink in my defences that it made.

“Until next time, my dear friend,” Osamu said, and he strode away, raising a hand briefly as he headed to the door.

But he didn’t leave when he got there. He paused, then looked at me over his shoulder.

“I heard about what happened to Masanori-kun. A plane crash... I suppose there was no getting around the pilot’s death,” he remarked in a light tone.

I didn’t reply. Osamu finally left, and I finally had some peace.

Now I could concentrate fully, and I finished going through the rest of the folders. Afterwards, I massaged my temples and heaved a sigh.

It will be a few days before I came to a final decision, I expect.

***

...

While I was seated at a desk in one of my many offices, going over my list of the fifteen competitors set to participate in the final task, I was disturbed by the sound of my phone ringing. I picked it up off my desk and checked the caller ID. Unknown. Only a few people knew my personal number, but the caller may have retrieved it by other means, such as by finding it in someone else’s phone directory or by misdialing it.

As I had important business to attend to, and because I had no desire to know who it was, I hung up. Even if it was someone I knew like my doctor, I would have declined the call. After much solitary deliberation, I had painstakingly narrowed down thirty competitors to fifteen based on their performances in previous tasks and information provided by a large number of trusted and verified sources. The reason why I had needed two weeks to go over the data again and again and so on was because one of these fifteen would take over for me once I retired. A single mistake could doom everything.

I read over the names, even though I could recite them off by heart at this point. One of them was Byakuya Polanski. If I’m honest, I didn’t expect him to win but he had done well in every task, despite his age and the mediocrity of the maternal side of his family. Though I had my doubts, if he wasn’t suited to being the new head of the conglomerate then he would lose and the individual who was the most qualified would become it. His presence wouldn’t matter.

Every challenge helped sculpt my views on each person, bit by bit, and I feel confident in every choice.

Still... I eyed Byakuya’s name.

My phone rang again.

The same number as before.

Not only that, but I had been sent text message saying, ‘I would pick up if I was you.’

I could have blocked the number, or rejected the call again. However, I was curious though mostly annoyed, so I clicked to accept the call.

“Who is this? How did you get my number?” I demanded in a professional tone, so curt and sharp.

Laughter, lazy and young, crackled disrespectfully. My face grew hot.

“As your heir apparent, I of course have your direct number,” said the person.

“What is your name?” I asked, gritting my teeth.

“Ah, I don’t have a name. I’m Nameless. See, when I was very young, a murderer came to my town and slaughtered everyone except me because he missed my hiding place, and he burnt everything to the ground. Therefore I am Nameless now.”

Any retort that I had prepared disintegrated in my mouth, and my mind didn’t prepare any others. I was silent and I could barely breathe.

The person was not put off by my silence. They carried on talking in a bright voice.

“You’re silent. You must remember. This town... was a mining town. It had access to very valuable minerals. The conglomerate wished to acquire some, but no matter how much money you offered them, they declined. The less people who knew, the better, so you hired a hitman and he killed everyone. Almost everyone. Suzuhiko... do you remember him?”

Of course. He was in the final fifteen.

“Suzuhiko did it, and you covered it up. It has been a cold case ever since. Did you know my father delivered the post and my mother would always get real mad if we trekked in mud? She would spank me when I did, and I would keep doing it just to elicit a response from her. His sister found me, and she convinced him to let me live and they adopted me. Now... what do I want? It’s simple. As I’m Nameless, I wasn’t entered in this little game, so I think it’s only fair I’m entered now.”

“You’re not a Togami.”

“But what am I if not that? I’m nobody now, because of you.”

They couldn’t see my hands tremble.

“I’ve already chosen fifteen,” I said. “It has to be fifteen competitors. That’s tradition.”

“I can be whoever you want me to be. If you won’t listen to me, I’m sure the press will. I’d like to see you quash that, Father.”

My whole body stiffened and I dragged my gaze to the list of names. All of these had very important and influential families. To take off almost any one of them would draw too much attention, raise too many questions. Most of them knew each other. Most.

Therefore, I said...

“... you are now Byakuya Polanski.”

“Awesome! Don’t worry, I bet my sister or my brother are still in the competition, so they will give me a lift. We’ll chat real soon. Bye.”

The person hung up.

I put down my phone.

I thought long and hard, for a long time.

I decided I will have to make some adjustments for the final round.

***

...

The final round didn’t go as planned, I must admit.

Suzuhiko was supposed to kill this invader. It didn’t matter, as I have since found out, that the traitor was a male child around the same age as Byakuya. If he posed a threat to the integrity of the Togami Conglomerate, he had to be eliminated even if he was a child.

For this final task, I had every remaining competitor kidnapped and taken to an island. The only people that I did not kidnap were Suzuhiko and his two siblings, and I let that be known. This created some tension and animosity, as desired.

Then they were all given a simple task. On the island, I had set up a scavenger hunt filled with challenges. A few of them referred to it as a game. Whoever completed it first would prove themselves to be the rightful heir. They were allowed to work together but only the individual who keyed in a password revealed when the tasks were all completed would become the heir, so it would be unwise to trust or depend on anyone else. It wasn’t a password that one could guess - it was a string of numbers and letters that had no connection to any of the others.

But one competitor had a secret, second objective. Suzuhiko was to murder the invader. The parasite.

Everything went as I anticipated for the first few weeks. Sometimes several of them grouped together to solve certain puzzles while others remained lone wolves. They slept little, smoked during intervals and nosed around the premises. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I expected Suzuhiko to murder the invader but I didn’t, however, expect everyone to start killing each other before Suzuhiko had the chance to complete his mission.

The invader died. Suzuhiko died. By the end, there were fourteen corpses and a body that was young and almost dead. They stabbed, bludgeoned, crushed and set each other on fire. Other than the female, there was a detective and his assistant who both appeared as the killings commenced. I arrived at the end, having seen it all play out on whatever cameras they didn’t break during the bloodshed, but I had someone explain it to me in detail over a game of chess.

We sat in my private plane, opposite each other with a chessboard resting on a table between us. By ‘we’, I mean me and Byakuya. He is tall, but he has a young face so I can see how he succeeded in disguising himself as the female assistant of a detective. His alias was Polaris Polanski. The surname was his own, while the forename was the name of a star but also based on ‘Pola’, the name of his mother’s mother. This disguise fooled everyone not colluding with him, and the long hair he had before he cut it off had helped.

Byakuya must take after his mother, because his hair is blond and his eyes are blue, unlike mine. I will meet her when we register our marriage.

After all, her son had won.

“My butler only killed one of them. Shinobu wasn’t in a state to tell me his name, but with some digging around, I found out he was her adopted brother, Kazuo,” said Byakuya. He moved his bishop to H6.

I used one of my bishops to take the bishop he relocated.

“It’s no more than a corpse now,” I stated, referring to the invader.

Byakuya examined the board with a furrowed brow, then he dragged his queen diagonally across most of it to take my bishop. His queen couldn’t be immediately displaced, and I stared at the board as I weighed my options.

Earlier, Byakuya had told me how he, his butler and the detective got here. He hired the detective, found out where one of the competitors lived and stalked them. Then, when the competitor was being kidnapped, Byakuya’s butler made a distraction nearby so Byakuya and the detective could plant a tracker discreetly onto the transporter.

We used more than one transporter for each individual and Byakuya’s group had to follow with a delay, so they missed the private plane that took the competitor to the island. They reached the island weeks after the task properly began. While this may seem late, only a couple of people knew about the location. To find out about it at all required more than a detective with a high ranking.

Not only that, but Byakuya solved the island’s puzzles within days.

And that is why I chose Byakuya to be my successor. I moved my rook forward and leaned back in my chair.

“You’re the youngest that has ever won, but don’t take it as a compliment. Just because you are a child, that doesn’t mean I will show you any leniency or kindness,” I warned him.

Byakuya moved his rook to an adjacent square, but while mine had stepped toward him, his shifted once to the side, claiming none of my pieces. He looked up, stony-faced.

“I wouldn’t want you to,” he said, and I hitched my other rook across the board.

The game continued in silence for a while. It progressed slowly but neither of us were bored or distracted. We took our time contemplating our moves and studying our opponent. When Byakuya snuck to the island, he thought to bring a change of clothes, so he no longer wore a pinafore dress but a crisp suit. As he pondered his next move, I regarded him coolly, and when his eyes met mine, though his pair differed in colour to mine, I found them not so different otherwise.

“What will happen to Shinobu?” he asked, reminding me that he was a child.

“She will be expelled like the others,” I said with my arms folded over my chest. “That one is unfit to have the Togami name.”

He didn’t answer right away. In the meantime, I moved my queen forward. Some thought absorbed him, and as his eyes drilled into space, I could tell that he was not as focused on the game of chess as he should have been.

“The others seem to be falling into unfortunate accidents,” said Byakuya, and his gaze flitted to my face. He tipped his head slightly to one side. Though his features were smooth and blank, it was not due to a lack of thought. They were deliberately so.

I didn’t correct him. For them, it was a curse. A curse that came as a result of falling from greatness to the worst possible fate - becoming part of the 99%. But for me, it was a burden, though a necessary one.

Byakuya blinked. After he did, a shadow seemed to fall over his face.

“I will have her be my secretary,” said Byakuya, and I scoffed.

“Are you soft in the head? Or worse... the heart?” I asked him, and I jerked a hand through the air. “She would steal your place in a heartbeat. You would have to sleep with your eyes open from now on if you did that.”

He didn’t falter.

“I can’t be killed,” said Byakuya simply, and he finally moved one of his pieces. “Don’t mistake it for me being emotional. I have no interest in making friends with her, or anyone. I only trust my butler, as he is employed to be trusted. I won because I am intelligent and unaffected by feelings and bonds and other nonsense. If I couldn’t survive by myself, or cracked under pressure, I wouldn’t be here.”

Byakuya sat back.

“You have not seen my full potential yet, Father,” he added. “I will show you I am worth more than a talking cow.”

That was what I told him. I told him that I had been bribed, and that was why the invader usurped Byakuya’s place.

“You are to address me as Togami-sama,” I said, and I took his silence as acknowledgement.

We continued in near silence, gradually losing more and more pieces. Soon I had a king, queen and pawn left, and he had his king, queen and three pawns left. As I waited for him to make his next move, a thought gnawed at me until I could barely tolerate it and I curled my lips.

“I’ve been wondering about something for some time,” I said, peering at him. “Tell me... I noticed that in your tasks, you undercharged your customers and had unnecessary expenses. Why?”

Byakuya nudged up his glasses.

“You mean the free healthcare? I was making a profit, and I am already very rich. I can easily afford it,” he said.

“But why?” I pressed.

“Why not? It’s barely a dent in my pocket and yet for some people, it’s life-changing. If they’re doing business with me or providing labour, then why not? I’m not a person who takes pleasure in the misfortune of others, and they can’t help it if they’re not as brilliant as I am. Besides, I don’t need the world’s wealth to know that I’m a genius and better than everyone else, Togami-sama.”

He was a strange child. While he didn’t trust others and severed all emotional ties with everyone else, he seemed to have no qualms about providing support for them... to an extent. We would have to work on that, but for now, we continued to play.

The game seemed to be approaching a stalemate.

But then,

“Checkmate,” said Byakuya, thirteen years old, and I knew that for better or for worse, he would take the conglomerate where it had never gone before.

***

“Father.”

On hearing that voice, Byakuya looks up and swivels his chair around. In the doorway of his home office stands his son, around eleven years old, with pale grey eyes and purple hair, but he has his father’s nose and his father’s frown.

“Yes?” says Byakuya.

His son, Aloysius, raises the book in his hands.

“I was wondering if there are more diary entries other than these?” he says.

Byakuya’s eyes flicker, and his lips pinch together.

“Those were the only parts I could salvage. The place was almost entirely destroyed,” says Byakuya.

He still remembers the ruins and how the pages were singed as he cradled the book in his hands. His father’s former mansion still smelled like death when he entered, and Makoto voice’s calling to him had sounded like the wind outside.

‘Shut up. I’m busy. Go bother Kirigiri for another ten minutes.’

‘Togami-kun...’

‘I said leave me alone. You’re more annoying than usual.’

‘All right, Togami-kun. We’ll be waiting for you outside. Come out when you’re ready.’

“Then can you tell me what happens next?” asks Aloysius, breaking through the walls that had started to set around Byakuya.

Memories from so many years ago partially resurface, and they run down imaginary walls like crayon melting on a radiator. The scene crumbles away as he returns to the present. Byakuya fixes his eyes on Aloysius. He’s the same age that Byakuya had been when the competition started.

Those don’t exist anymore. In fact, the conglomerate doesn’t even exist, but Byakuya has something more valuable. A family that loves him and a family he loves back, as hard as it is to voice at times.

Byakuya stands up. His chair creaks.

“Let’s go to the living room,” he says. “And get your mother... she’s in the bedroom.”

Aloysius’s face lights up and he darts out of the room. Byakuya stares out of his window at a blue sky. His parents married for formalities, but him... he married a person full of love, someone brilliant and loyal, and importantly, someone he chose for himself and who chose him, even when the Togami name didn’t mean anything to the rest of the world anymore.

He turns away and leaves the room, shutting the door behind himself.

In the living room, Aloysius tugs his mother’s arm, and as Touko sits down on the couch, looking around in confusion, Byakuya recalls his father’s last entry and decides this is definitely for the better.

[lacktastrophe]

I always wanted to write about this sometime earlier this year when ‘High Expectations’ and Mutual Assurance was being released. Now I’ve given myself the chance, let’s go back and talk about how good this chapter was for Paulo.

Six months waiting for the girl of your dreams to come back to you only to find after so many years of trying and six whole months of anguishing over her sudden disappearance, she doesn’t reciprocate your feelings at all and she’s only interested with hanging out with some other jerk-ass loser, and “Heh” is the only thing you find you can say. And immediately minutes after, instead of lashing back or letting the situation pass over with someone who took out their anger and frustrations on you, you instead take an initiative and apologise for pushing them to a breaking point and losing their cool.

There’s something to be said - if there ever was a time to become a fan of Paulo, it was at both of these crowning moments where the results of Paulo’s numerous trials and errors over the last few years could be properly showcased - having started out as an immature kid with an insecurity of their softer side, who was mean and violent to others - to having reached a point where he was not afraid to be able to hug and beg for forgiveness from someone who he envies, and also once considered a rival for Lucy’s affection.

Suffice to say, none of it would’ve been truly possible if Lucy didn’t take her leave of absence. Her absence allowed Paulo to develop in so many different ways. It’s not to say it couldn’t have happened without her; their reunion in ‘After you’ would help Paulo develop further in consolidating the last few remaining lessons in the problems he still faces. But Paulo would’ve never have been able to get to the place he appears to be at now without meeting new people and going on a spiritual journey towards developing a sense of maturity, something he just didn’t have at the start of the comic, progressively building up an understanding of what it truly takes to be a real friend as the story unfolds.

Paulo has shown some powerful character development in his darkest time.

Why stop at just those two chapters?

Welcome to the Paulo Masterpost - Where we explore Paulo from the start of their journey to where we are now.

This has taken two weeks of on and off writings between train trips to and from work. It’s by far the largest sub-project I’ve undertaken. 

I’ve played with a number of different ideas in how to explore Paulo’s development, and I’ve settled on adapting ‘The 12 stages of the Hero’s journey’ to explain it. 

If you haven’t heard of this structure before, it’s a very popular storytelling formula for character development.  You’d find the most prolific examples employing this structure in most literature and movies like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. The general premise of the formula consists of characters moving out of what would be considered their normal life, going on a journey, encountering some crisis, and coming back renewed with some sort of knowledge or awakening. 

As an example using the two examples I alluded to above; Luke and Frodo become aware of a higher purpose, both have a mentor, both leave their home in pursuit of this purpose, both meet all sorts of new characters who may join them on their journey (some we can call friends), encounter trials and return with some experience that changes them. 

You can see an example of the 12 stages in the image below.

The magic of this formula is that it can be adapted to most narratives even if it wasn’t a forethought originally. Certain events in the story mark certain stages in the above graph. 

But these events are all up to own own perspective, which is why this formula is very adaptable. For example, in the case of Bittersweet Candy Bowl, depending on how we choose to look at it; the Call to Adventure could be the kids as they make their way through high school. It’s something they all have in common. On the other hand, the kids going to school could be the Ordinary world, the call to adventure could well indeed be for an object or a person; be it Lucy, or even Tess, Jasmine, Rachel. It all depends on your perspective.

There may be a point where the hero chooses to refuse the call. Like in StarWars when Luke goes back to his farm, only to find it razed to the ground.

Mentors include best friends with unwavering loyalties, thresholds include new environments, challenges are friends or new ideas, there is a dark period for our characters, but some of them will come back changed from these events, for better, or worse.

Keep in mind this is not a comprehensive guide to all-things-Paulo. It’s not possible to analyse everything that happens. Instead, we are only going to be touching on significant events that we know have had an effect on Paulo, pushing him ever more forwards towards his goal, whatever that truly is.

Let’s get started.

We’re first introduced to Paulo as early as in Chapter 1; he’s introduced as a young orange-furred Somali who appears to have one thing going in his life; his affection for Lucy. He’s known for his playfulness, boldness and his boyish-charm...

But we come to know Paulo more through the negative traits he possesses; he’s rude, crass and condescending to people around him, he’s particularly violent to Mike. Most importantly, Paulo is a womaniser. He will seemingly pull the moves to charm any female (bar a select few such as Daisy, Sue or Amaya). Compared to most of his friends and the kids around him, Paulo comes off as being rather immature. There’s no need to sugarcoat this piece of knowledge, every bit of anguish and tragedy that will befall Paulo will generally be the result of his immaturity, and it would continue to plague him well into the comic.

Daily life for Paulo appears to revolve around appearing cool, masculine, and being a real charmer to girls. He can get nearly anyone....

...But just not Lucy, someone he has a strong affinity for, who are also somewhat abrasive to his advances. In fact, a lot of Paulo’s advances on Lucy are reciprocated with violence. This is par the norm happening time and time again. Even when he’s chasing other people, he’ll always go back to Lucy. It becomes an obsession. 

Despite such an introduction into what would appear to be a very troublesome character, we are met with a juxtaposition early in the comic. We learn quickly in ‘The Burden of Parenthood’, where the kids tasked with nurturing a mechanical baby, a different side to Paulo; a softer more caring side which appears to exist out of compulsion for caring for a mechanical baby. This different side to Paulo manages to achieve him the highest mark in the class.

There is an irony that exists behind Paulo’s development throughout the comic, and this makes it all the more tragic; for a brief period before the start of the comic, Paulo is capable of displaying more maturity than a lot of his kids in his year (as seen in BCI comics like “Baby Blues” ). We learn more about Paulo in later chapters, we learn when he first moves into Roseville he starts out no different from any of the other kids. While initially becoming interested in Lucy having met her for the first time, he lacks the confidence to speak to her. His eagerness to overcome this first hurdle results in receiving ‘Confidence Lessons’ to gain the needed confidence to speak to Lucy by an older kid who’d later be known as Alejandro, and being influenced to believe that girls are dead-crazy for masculinity. This sets Paulo’s character foundation for the majority of Volume 1, with his softer effeminate side becoming an insecurity he feels uncomfortable sharing. Time and time again, Paulo’s immaturity puts others and himself at certain risks, and routinely butting heads with people of whom he cares about. 

Without looking too deeply into Paulo, we really initially put in a position where it feels his place in this story is to act like the third wheel in this love triangle between Mike and Lucy. We believe on this initial read, Paulo’s real goal is Lucy.

This isn’t the case; Paulo’s real journey is about growing up and attaining a sense of maturity.

With this hypothesis we can assume perhaps the refusal in the 12 stages is Paulo’s reluctance to continue exploring his softer side as seen in ‘The Burden of Parenthood’.

Paulo is not alone in this adventure, one of Paulo’s closest friends since moving to Roseville is Daisy. Despite being originally paired with Lucy in “The Burden of Parenthood”, she would become his replacement partner. She would be the first to become acquainted with Paulo’s softer side.

We would assume that Daisy is this mentor as per the 12 stages. These mentors are people who form a close, supportive relationship with the main character, and their dedication towards them are unwavering. We know that this is the true state of their relationship through their interactions, and how they both support each other in and outside each other’s company throughout the comic.

For example, in the below, Daisy supports Paulo’s caring capacity having saved a bird in “Helping Hands”, telling him girls are attracted to the same caring attitude he showed during “The Burden of Parenthood”.

Could you imagine how things could’ve panned out had he listened?

When talking about relationships, Daisy tries to convince the other girls that a softer side of Paulo exists.

Daisy chooses Paulo’s side of the events against her then-boyfriend.

This relationship isn’t one-sided. 

Paulo gives support to Daisy about an insecurity she has with her appearance.

Paulo is still supportive about Daisy’s happiness even if it means restoring the relationship she had with a person he himself can’t bring himself to accept.

And the consolidation of Daisy’s constant support to Paulo observed in his thoughts in ‘After you’, in the very presence of the girl he believes he mindlessly loves.

It’s kind of a shame neither of these characters just get together, they’re admittingly perfect for each other. Unfortunately, this wont come to pass since neither of them can admit their true feelings for one another. Paulo thinks of Daisy like a sister, it’s the reason why he simply wont pull the moves on her or simply pop the question.

But there’s also a problem from Daisy’s side that needs to be addressed that may prove to be an inhibitor:

But let’s get back to Paulo.

Paulo’s character development really starts to kick off as soon as the kids become freshman in Highschool, officially reaching a point in the 12 stages called the ‘threshold’ - where the characters are put into a different environment and come against challenges that question, or reinforce their values. Here, Paulo starts encountering numerous Trials in the form of people and concepts that challenge the beliefs he grew up with. Such early trials for Paulo includes Tess; a girl he finds himself interested in, who wont take him. This relationship is played with often, particularly throughout volume 2. At times it’s hinted it might be because she’s not going to be around in their final year. But ultimately, it’s because she finds him too immature. 

Paulo also faces interpersonal challenges with his friends, even clashing against ideals with Daisy who’s now struggling with an inferiority complex about her inability to find a romance and her appearance. 

One of the more significant events includes when Abbey, an acquaintance Paulo doesn’t get along with, enters a relationship with Daisy. With Daisy’s attention going to her new boyfriend. Paulo no longer has the close support he once had. Now he’s on his own.

Added complications to the challenges these trials possess, are the temptations which seek to divert the hero from their goals. What these temptations are comes down to your own interpretation. In BCB, I feel these are other people at their school. In fact, characters can be all of three things in this context; trials, temptations, and goals. For example; Tess is certainly a Trial for Paulo, the result at the end of the rainbow could be either Tess’ love, or deeper understanding into himself. But she is a temptation from Paulo’s supposed original goal; Lucy. But goals also shift, so it may have been possible Tess could have been an end goal realised for Paulo, had he been able to fulfill requirements to succeed.

Certainly, a lot of potential for different outcomes and ways to interpret BCB. You might be wondering then why settle on maturity, but this can only be answered much later.

In context with BCB, many of these trials don’t have resounding conclusions. As per the title of the comic - they are often bittersweet, as is the case with the majority of Paulo’s. Because of this, some of the hard lessons in the chapters are not put into practice until much later in the comic.

It’s worth noting Paulo’s first ‘victory’ (depending on your viewpoint), is when Paulo chooses not to sleep with Lucy during ‘Another shoulder’, choosing not to take advantage of the situation in the state she exists in having confessed to Mike and having her feelings rejected. 

Despite having Lucy right on his doorstep, something he’d been wanting all this time, Paulo proves he’s not a scumbag who’d use her weakest moment to his advantage. 

Paulo’s interaction with David afterwards however sets Paulo up for consecutive and significant failures when Paulo’s insecurities are called into question. Paulo’s ‘are we/are we not in a relationship?’ with Tess is already on rocky ground and is being pushed to its limits every time Paulo goes to chat up other girls. The final straw almost immediately when Paulo is used by Jessica and Rachel to get revenge on Tess, angering both Tess and Lucy. The trial with Tess is forever lost when Paulo consigns himself to another temptation; Jasmine, causing him to abandon (temporarily) his quest for Lucy.  The lessons learned from Tess’ trial will not be recognised for quite some time.

 Around this period, Paulo’s character development stagnates while with Jasmine. Despite a loving, friendly, non-sexual relationship, it’s an easy going relationship with no real challenge to Paulo’s character. But it’s far from perfect; cracks start to develop when Jasmine’s penchant to be involved in extra curricular activities draws away the time they can both spend together. When Paulo confronts Jasmine about this, the results are not pretty.

It simply comes down to both of their needs, but Jasmine takes this the wrong way and goes straight for one of Paulo’s insecurities. Leaving in a huff, this gives time for Paulo to rethink what he really wants in life. Paulo resolves to terminate the relationship and go back to just being friends if she just can’t manage to make time for him. Jasmine would end up resolving this by giving up her violin lessons, but having spent the following whole day babysitting Lucy with a bus trip gone wrong moments prior, Paulo begins to rediscover his affinity for Lucy. Eventually, these feelings become realised and Paulo concludes it’s unfair to keep stringing Jasmine along. After consulting with Tess, Paulo displays the needed maturity to decide to break off his relationship with Jasmine, setting him back on his quest. It comes to naught as the time lost from the diversion comes at a great cost — his quest moves away. 

Any chance to have these two get back together is immediately marred by certain events one after the other, first by a fit of jealousy...

and Paulo allowing another person to be all over him immediately, even if it wasn’t intended.

To rub salt in the wound on their breakup, Jasmine reflects on their time together.

Jasmine’s good at finding those insecurities. These two could’ve gotten along forever had Paulo been able to display some patience and maybe some empathy. But the damage was done long before, Paulo had determined there was someone else.

~

With Lucy gone, this seems like lowest point in Paulo’s life.

Paulo encounters Mike, his supposed rival for Lucy hanging out by the old Tree in the park, and he takes out his frustration on him.

These two are not the best of friends. They have never really quite gotten along and frequently Paulo has used Mike to his own advantage; such as convincing him to buy him drinks on the supposed chance Paulo can win him a bike. Deep down, Paulo is envious of Mike, he’s the opposite of Paulo in a lot of areas he’s insecure with; he’s intelligent, and all the girls like him without having to try as hard as Paulo does. More importantly, Lucy would always hang around Mike, even when she couldn’t stand him.

Expecting the worst, Mike prepares for a beatdown. Paulo had done so earlier whenever he became so agitated with Mike. Instead, Mike witnesses the unexpected for him; Paulo uncontrollably breaking down in front of him, spilling his feelings onto the floor. 

Unable to bring himself to Daisy, who is now spending more time supporting Abbey, Paulo has no means of accessing direct support like he used to. While it’s possible he could have gone to someone, he feels there’s no one else, there’s no comfort zone anymore.

He confides his feelings with his rival, and Mike, even without needing to owe anything, shows sympathy in their darkest times.

Despite this brief moment, Paulo is still too insecure with his softer side to allow any strong support from another male at this time. His values towards masculinity keeping him at odds with Mike. 

This moment is significant. It’s a direct contrast of where we ended up in Mutual Assurance. Lucy’s disappearance marks the point where Paulo undergoes some rapid and progressive development. 

Paulo is not without help during this otherwise dark period. As per the 12 stages, by this time the hero receives some form of critical help, whether it’s friends or items that helps them on their quest. For Luke, this was the Rebel Alliance, or for Frodo, the group of races forming the Fellowship of the ring in LOTR. 

In Bittersweet Candy Bowl, this helper character turns out to be Rachel, who Paulo runs into by coincidence after splitting off from Mike. Paulo somehow finds himself in her bed and quickly in a relationship with her.

Not to confuse anyone, but it could be argued even at this stage going back to what I said much earlier about the events around the 12 stages, it’s entirely possible to look at this moment and suggest that Rachel is the mentor that Paulo was destined to meet, and not Daisy. It’s certainly appropriate, she doesn’t shy away from telling Paulo when he’s done wrong to his face.

Regardless of either option, this relationship serves as a ‘friendship with benefits’ in more places than one; the biggest benefits of Rachel for Paulo are the people she surrounds herself with; Matt, Jordan, Jessica and Madison, all of them a year older than Paulo, wiser, and are able to lend their experiences and help define and re-evaluate Paulo’s sense of values. Like before these lessons come in the form of trials, as the result of Paulo’s actions up to this point start meeting breaching points between old and new friends.

We stay in this period of new trials between friends and enemies for quite a while. Furthermore, this period is defined when, seeking advice for that stage of their relationship; Daisy pops the question to Paulo what it was like when he lost his virginity.

This event marks the period of reflection for Paulo. While it’s a long and slowly drawn out process, Paulo slowly starts to make considerations of his actions and their consequences through interactions with his and Rachel’s friends, leading up to Lucy’s return.

With Lucy gone and no safe space to head back to. All that Paulo can do is search for another meaning to live for.

And Paulo struggles to accomplish this. There was only Lucy. He has nothing else.

Tensions begin to rise in the group following Lucy’s disappearance with the blame game being shifted around and friendships are pushed to their breaking points. Paulo is not immune to these trials, in fact, almost becoming central to them, as they begin to appear to pit him against his friends. Worse still, these chapters really push Paulo as nothing appears to really go his way. 

Paulo takes out his frustrations on his friends, is grilled by them in return, and makes critical decisions that will affect relationships in the future. Nothing appears to go right. And unchanging, like before; these trials end on such a bittersweet note where Paulo is neither the winner or the loser.

We only learn upon review of BCB chapters during this point aren’t so much about Paulo against his friends or the world in general, but Paulo against himself. As sad as it is, the results of these trials do not have an immediate effect on Paulo. But they’re there, and slowly redefining his sense of values and character as time goes on.

An example of such understanding can be observed in Critical hit. 

Critical Hit was one of those chapters where it felt like nothing was attained by the conclusion. Even at the end of Sue and Paulo’s fight, it didn’t feel like there was a resolution. Despite the mean things Sue and Paulo said to each other, their friendship was neither improved or diminished. It was all an argument, a misunderstanding. 

 Looking beyond the fight and to the last page, we only begin to understand the devil in the details once everything was said and done:

After explaining his reasons for only dealing with the problems he wants to, Paulo comes to realise upon staring back at the black picture the error with the words he said to Sue; If you only pick and choose which problems you want to face, the result might not be what you really want.

There was some sense in the words that Sue said to Paulo; if he wasn’t so scatterbrained and kept his attention on Lucy, maybe he’d have gotten what he really wanted. Paulo lacked discipline.

Other chapters contained a lot of important life lessons for Paulo.

Paulo found his sense of humour put him at constant odds with his friends. Even David in this scenario wasn’t laughing when Abbey was hurt in Happy Hour.

Some things heal with time.

Paulo found him putting aside his selfish hatred of Abbey for a close friend’s happiness, even at the cost of his own.

You need to put yourself in someone else’s shoes before you can judge them.

One of Paulo’s defining moments is meeting and getting to know Matt. Similar to how Lucy confided in Zachary - an outside observer about her relationship with Mike. After mistakenly encountering him as a threat to his relationship with Rachel, and then later taking out his anger and frustrations on him due to his friendly and welcoming character, Paulo opens up to a stranger about his insecurities and the feelings he suppresses. The result is knowledge and reassurance that he’s got plenty of time, and he’s already on the right track by being able to admit when he’s wrong.

Despite all this acquired knowledge and different perspective to challenge his own over the past few months, Paulo still makes frequent mistakes and shows no sign of changing. In fact, Paulo still acts like he does years before; he acts without thinking, he says stuff without meaning it. Paulo has yet to make giant steps towards change for himself. Paulo does not show the fruits of the experiences he’s undergone.

Something crucial is missing.

At this point in the comic Paulo starts displaying interpersonal issues; Paulo tries to avert his own change. He does not take the need to change well especially when he feels he’s the only one changing and his friends are not. Paulo is deathly envious of his friends who are both academically well off than he is. Paulo has the knowledge on how to fix his problems, but Paulo can’t bring himself to simply do this like how everyone else does. Instead, Paulo relies on his old behaviour to make up for his inadequacies.

But this will not stand for long.

Paulo has been avoiding a few notable trials which are reaching boiling points, such as staving off serious tension between Daisy, Abbey and himself. After Abbey assaults Paulo in the bathroom during “Guest of Honour”, Paulo is particularly evasive around Daisy. Unable to bring himself to talk to Abbey directly or seek assistance from someone else about this problem (Paulo is far too prideful to victimise himself), Paulo attempts to appear distracted when Daisy tries to talk to him by chatting up other girls. This callous behaviour having multiple repercussions across all his friends. It causes Daisy to feel isolated and alone, causing Abbey to uphold his misconception that Paulo is nothing but a bad person, and more importantly, his attitude is starting to rub against Rachel’s friends, particularly Madison in a very very bad way. As far as she is concerned - Paulo and Rachel are in a relationship even if Paulo considers it a FWB friendship. 

Madison calls out this behaviour.

Madison sets up probably the biggest lesson to Paulo yet, which also happens to be the missing thing from earlier; Paulo lacks empathy - Paulo is unable to understand and regard the feelings of those around him, particularly how his actions affect those around him. Paulo found himself as the odd one out when Abbey was hurt at Rachel’s party. He’s unable to bring himself to regard Rachel’s feelings. By extension, he’s unable to understand exactly why Abbey harbours such a deep hatred of him. He’s not even able to realise how Daisy feels when he ignores her.

Lucy will come to consolidate this point when she returns and the two go onto a date by letting Paulo know that Abbey doesn’t have it all out for him, and sometimes his actions are the cause his own grievances. Paulo never once considered things from Abbey’s perspective - the same mistake Lucy made with Mike from her ribbing, and look where it got her?

-

In the same chapter where Madison cooks Paulo, we learn Lucy has returned back to Roseville. 

In the 12 stages, at some point the hero has to go into ‘the cave’, a point towards the end of the journey where the hero faces an interpersonal crisis’ or a terrible danger. (Death Star battle in Star Wars, or Mordor/Shelob’s Lair - LOTR).

We are at that moment, and this cave is dark - Paulo is lost as fuck. Nothing is sacred, friendships and relationships are on the line as Paulo encounters his harshest trials of yet.

Immediately after, Paulo will need to face the Ordeal, the physical test Paulo has to win against in order to survive. (Trusting in the force - Star Wars. Separating from the ring - LOTR)

Lucy is that Ordeal. The remarkable progression Paulo has made is threatened with Lucy’s return. Paulo displays the same behaviour he did in Volume 1 in her presence.

To Paulo, Lucy represents familiar ground - something from the past that doesn’t challenge him. Nevermind the fact that in the six months where Lucy had disappeared from Roseville, she made no attempt to keep in contact with any of them in that time. Paulo is looking to look past this, for them to be together again.

There is a deeper meaning to this relationship that Paulo cannot overcome, and it is indeed appealing to him; tired with being the only one forced to have to change, and faced with an opportunity to have things go back to the way things used to be, Paulo is willing to go all-in for a taste of nostalgia. 

However this is temporarily impeded when Sue intervenes and stops him from following Lucy outside during Lunch that same day. Nothing else is sacred to Paulo at this point, after taking his frustration out on Mike having suspected he is the reason for her avoidance of the group, he then takes it out on Daisy, angering Abbey. When Abbey demands Paulo apologise to Daisy, Paulo reveals Abbey assaulted him in the bathroom at the con. Faced with choosing a side, Daisy chooses to side with Paulo, and Abbey ends their relationship.

It’s a bittersweet moment, a long standing issue is dealt with, but only at the expense of Daisy’s happiness. It’s only out of sheer coincidence since their relationship was already on troubled waters already that this would be for the better. 

On the following day, Paulo is still giving Daisy the cold shoulder. Paulo feels the need to blame Daisy for a lot of the hardships he’s been facing. Daisy finally lets Paulo know how she feels.

Whether or not Paulo is justified in thinking this, Daisy doesn’t want to break off their friendship. Paulo is her closest friend, she admires Paulo too much. And deep down, Paulo doesn’t want to break off this relationship either. He feels so upset at himself for getting between her happiness, they really shouldn’t be friends. But Daisy won’t have that. Daisy’s happiness is by being friends with Paulo. 

Feeling sorry for Daisy, and maybe understanding her feelings a little better, Paulo promises he’ll see about changing his shift so he can attend her birthday.

But then there’s another problem that needs to be dealt with, someone else’s feelings are at the breaching point. 

Paulo has a chance to fix this but unfortunately, time runs out on this relationship.

A very bittersweet end to this trial. It is a question at this stage whether not this breakup needed to happen in the first place, or if it was in vain.

Having missed his chance to talk to Lucy personally the previous day, Paulo is desperate enough to skip a class in order to catch her around her house.

He invites her to a date at the carnival that evening, and Paulo can’t contain himself.

Paulo is more than happy to throw everything away. The only thing he ever wanted in his life was Lucy, everything else was secondary.

Things are going well, until they start talking about Daisy and Abbey’s relationship. Paulo starts feeling some guilt over Daisy’s happiness.

We get from the following pages that there are some some issues in Paulo and Daisy’s relationship.

Paulo is very caring deep down inside and is willing to go beyond for his friends, having helped Daisy time and time again with her relationship. In the same while, we understand it’s Daisy who is the reason Paulo relents against change. Indeed, Daisy has had little reason to change over the last few years despite her obsession with Mike. And that’s grating to Paulo. 

On the Ferris wheel, Lucy cannot keep up this charade, while embracing Paulo, Lucy finally reveals to Paulo there was never any intention on coming back to Roseville.

Lucy reveals it was her idea to leave Roseville, only staying around because she didn’t want to ruin the year for Sue, and she was only trying to win Paulo - maybe as an excuse to get back to Mike or to at least have someone who had fond memories of her. Lucy doesn’t feel she’s any better than Jessica, but Paulo is willing to look past that.

Without considering his relationship to Rachel for even a second, Paulo tells Lucy he’s waited, but Lucy is with the belief Paulo is cheating himself out of his own happiness by having to for her. 

Lucy starts dropping hints by telling Paulo that she feels she had played with his feelings. Even despite making out backstage during the play, Lucy reveals that even if she didn’t leave during January, she never would’ve taken Paulo.

Paulo cannot bring himself to agree to this revelation. He is reluctant to believe there is nothing between them. Lucy is forced to be blunt with him.

He’d been chasing a dream, they would never get together.

A question for the ages.

We are not out of the cave, nor done with the Ordeal yet.

Before they part, Lucy demands Paulo go to Daisy’s party, not for Lucy, but for both Daisy and himself. Sadly, karma is not without a sense of humour as Paulo’s past decisions....well....

Paulo reflects during the party by himself for a while, before Daisy, his childhood friend and/or mentor finds him, and they talk.

It’s a lovely reunion, especially when their ex’s bring each other’s ex’s to the party. It’s followed by a heart to heart.

Time will tell if this reunion will bare its fruits.

-

In High Expectation, despite Lucy telling Paulo that Abbey doesn’t have it out for him, Paulo begins to freak out during lunch after being stared down by him. Paulo begins to fear that there will be a retribution.

Having too much of his own personal problems reaching the boiling point, Mike starts reaching his threshold and tells Paulo to knock it off. Out of character for Mike to suddenly act this way, Paulo inquires about his problems. Mike doesn’t walk to divulge, Paulo being Paulo takes his phone away and tells him his real thoughts about Sandy...

It earns him his face into the table. When Mike runs off, Paulo refuses assistance from Daisy and runs outside, still having an inability to display ‘weakness’ to those around him.

Outside, he runs into Augustus and Lucy. Things do not work out well at all, as Paulo tries to search for the logic behind this encounter.

Despite Paulo’s best attempts, but Lucy does not offer him an explanation.

Consider these pages from Paulo’s perspective; none of this is making sense: Lucy chose to hang out with him at the carnival where they talked about what happened in her absence, she allowed him to come close, before...suddenly changing and breaking off the relationship for good. Paulo is trying to understand why she doesn’t hang out with them anymore, and Lucy offers him nothing, just more questions. 

Things start to click and Paulo begins to break down amidst the realisation from the date before.

These revelations really lift the lid on how much of a shortsighted selfish man-child Paulo can really be at his core, particularly when it concerns Lucy. Paulo has the audacity to state that he gave himself to her even though he was still dating Rachel in her absence, even if you want to consider that Jessica, Rachel and Jasmine were mistakes, Paulo is willing to throw anyone under the bus, so long as they can be together.

While these selfish desires are aired, so too are his real feelings for her. Indeed, why did you come back if you didn’t mean to be with me?

It’s a desperate, but vain effort.

Edit: Felt the need to return to this after months having been corrected that Lucy did indeed have sex with Paulo in the dressing room shedding a different perspective on the whole part of this chapter. It’s understandable why Paulo is upset having realised he’d been taken advantage of by the girl he actually loved. 

Finally understanding everything that Lucy meant on the ferris wheel, but unable to come to terms with his broken heart right there to continue to seek answers to the questions from earlier, Paulo abandons them, and leaves.

It’s possible to believe that the Ordeal is still on-going, but I have a feeling it might as well be over:

When we next find Paulo we find him at his locker talking to Daisy, we expect he’s still going to be in tears, we expect that for someone after YEARS of chasing this person, it’s hard to let go. For someone like Paulo, an immature kid, how is he going to move on, only having acting like the way he did just before?

But instead there’s a revelation...

An eye opener, none-the-less.

We’re not done however.

Without looking too deeply into Paulo’s revelation we easily suspect when Paulo comes across Mike again, we expect he’s going to take out this frustration on him, for Lucy, and for earlier just like when Lucy first moved.

But instead, we’re met with a surprise, he embraces him.

We’re now met with an imposter, this isn’t Paulo. This Paulo is able to show empathy and consideration.

It’s a turning point.

Well, I suppose we can’t quite expect that Paulo will become a new person all in one day. But maybe one day, Paulo will get over that insecurity.

The page ends with two once would-be rivals showing solidarity in their friendship. 

-

I’d want to think the old Paulo who refused to change died back on the sports oval when Lucy finally told him the truth(?) for a second time. The Paulo who clung to Lucy like he did in Volume 1 may be as good as over. Time will only tell.

We don’t know why Lucy is acting in the way she’s acting. Is it because she believes the people she hung out with aren’t really her friends, is it possible she’s trying to protect them from Alejandro and Toby because of her association to Augustus, or is it because Lucy saw that she was a catalyst for the problems in her circle of friends? 

The answer could be one of these, it could be all of these.

I want to feel that Lucy was ultimately trying to do Paulo a favour by breaking off the relationship for good; Paulo could not grow up without her leaving and discovering that he has more to live for than her. Even in Lucy’s presence there was nothing but a feeling of ownership and entitlement that plagued him and Lucy couldn’t help but notice it. She could have refused to date Paulo back when he offered to take her to the carnival, but I suspect Lucy began to recognise such regressive behaviour particularly when Paulo boasted about having skipped a class to beat her to her home. Paulo does not regard his education, and by extension, his future. 

Lucy needed to know if Paulo had changed at all in her time away, she wanted to learn more about what happened when she left and whether or not she made the right decision deep down. This is why she put up with him until the ferris wheel, the signs were all too obvious. Paulo needed other things to look forward to. Paulo still needed to grow.

The face Lucy shows near the end of their confrontation makes me want to believe that she saw an affirmation in her decision when Paulo exploded the way he did. There wasn’t a consideration in what Paulo said that ever indicated there was a thought for what was good for Lucy, it was only what was good for him.

There are hints in some of Lucy’s expressions that may give an impression that Lucy is initially against what she’s doing, that she may be lying about this whole thing in order to protect or really urge Paulo to try and live for himself for a change, and not for her.

They may well indeed be guilt instead. We just don’t know at this stage.

-

Lucy struggles the entire way, but the shock after hearing Paulo ask ‘Then why the fuck did you come back’ is a realisation that Paulo did not grow in the time Lucy was gone, and the harsh decisions she’s been making are the correct ones to her.

Paulo can not grow while there was but the slimmest chance they would be together. It’s what Paulo ever wanted from as far back as Volume 1. There have been times where Paulo has displayed the ability to grow, but it was only when other potentials, particularly those more mature than him came into the picture; Tess being the earliest example.

When Lucy returned to Roseville, every volume 1 trait of Paulo came back with it. Paulo was more than prepared to throw everything under the bus, even continue giving Daisy the cold shoulder for a chance to be with Lucy, although Paulo’s own feelings prevented this from happening.

Lucy did not want to be responsible for Paulo’s refusal to grow. Lucy does not want to deal with the same turmoil Tess had to put up with from Paulo himself. Lucy recognised she is a symbol of nostalgia to Paulo. Having had nothing to chase when Lucy moved away initially, Paulo went on a journey of self-discovery which challenged him over and over again. But constantly failing over and over again and experiencing multiple heart-breaks has its toll. When Lucy returned to Roseville, Paulo saw his out, and he went for it. If he were to have her, then there’s no more reason to change, he can be absolved. 

Lucy needed to end it. And she did, maybe at the cost of her own happiness deep down. Time will tell.

-

For Paulo, the ending of that chapter made it evident that Paulo likely expected this turn out from the beginning. This is why Paulo isn’t crying by the locker scene. Paulo knew the truth as far back as Acapulco. He was more than aware, he just needed it to be beaten into him. There was but a slither of doubt in his mind from that one time back in the play, he just needed it confirmed.

Maybe he’ll thank Lucy one day, but who knows for sure?

Paulo has now exited the cave having encountered the ordeal, whether he succeeded or not is anyone’s guess. But from that darkness he has returned with a gift; some semblance of maturity. We know it’s maturity because Paulo has already displayed the fruits of his labours; repairing his friendship with Daisy and regaining his mentor, and friend. And instead of showing violence and frustration to his would-be rival, Paulo has instead displayed empathy and begged for forgiveness from him. Mike is no longer his rival, Mike is his close friend. 

Appearing to be over Lucy once and for all, Paulo really appears to be a free man - He’s been seemingly reborn. We can only wonder what he will do with this gift. Paulo’s next stage in the 12 stages will be the road back, but back to where? Where will it take him? Will we go back to exploring the Burden of Parenthood again where Paulo’s deeper talents lay? Or will we go off on some larger journey?

Paulo is not infallable at this stage; he’s still a kid, he may yet struggle with his newfound knowledge and understanding. There are still trials and repercussions Paulo’s previous behaviour that still needs to be accounted for. Paulo appears to have been resurrected but is there another resurrection in the future? Maybe Paulo is still not complete as seen in Mutual assurance. 

Indeed, what about the Elixer the last stage promises, may there be a possibility that Lucy and Paulo will get back together again, or Paulo will see the biggest gift to him was in his best friend from the start?

We can only wait and see where we go from here. Time can only tell.

[richtits0fshipping]

Original Intention vs Execution: For what it’s worth

PREFACE: This is an uncouth self-plug of an anon ask to @pyropsychiccollector that I decided to copypasta under the assumption that it would be a cold day in hell before anyone would look into an untagged reblog of an anon ask. If you haven’t already done so, definitely look at @pyropsychiccollector​‘s response.

Anon Ask:

Outside the context of the FT manga, the afterwords of both Volume 60 & S Volume 1 give quite a bit of credibility to the Natza ship. Volume 60 singles out Natsu & Jellal, in particular, with regard to possible relationship depth while also providing leniency ("made up with story flow") to further include and flesh out any development/affection/etc. between Natsu & Erza. S Volume 1, on the other hand, suggests that Mashima had an already intended relationship between Natsu and Lucy. Thoughts?

Impending Narrative:

I really liked this question and the answer that followed so I’d like to add my own thoughts on the matter. I will argue that these initial intentions have significance insofar that they give us insight into the mind of the author and the degree to which that influences the direction of the narrative. Before I further delve into this, I think it’s imperative to note that not all original ideas are equivalent (i.e. Idea A was scrapped so the import of Idea B is just as insignificant). There are very different reasons why some ideas are scrapped and some ideas can remain pervasive throughout the narrative as they aren’t contingent upon the plot. A relationship can remain ambiguous and continue to develop without the necessity of resolution. A plot point, on the other hand, demands resolution; it either happens or it doesn’t as the direction the manga takes is dependent on it. Exploring this idea in the context of Mashima’s manga, the Afterword of Volume 10 touched on Mashima’s initial concept to incorporate his own version of the Japanese folktale, “Dream of a Butterfly.” Giving the “bare bones” of the tale, a man, Akinosuke, finds himself regularly falling asleep under the tree in his garden while in the company of his friends. One day after having fallen asleep, he wakes only to be whisked into the governing kingdom where he marries the marries the kingdom’s princess and ultimately lives out a life of luxury, love, family, and fulfillment. After the passing of his wife, the king tells him that he must return from whence he came and that his wife and children will be tended for. He then finds himself back under the tree and his friends note that dozed off for a few moments. After recounting the dream to his friends, they inform him that they saw a butterfly leave his mouth while he was asleep only to be caught and whisked away by a colony of ants. They investigate and find a giant kingdom of ants under the tree and finally an isolated “coffin” with a female ant in it. While it’s heavily implied that the butterfly was Akinosuke’s soul, another interpretation is that the dream was just that; an illusion with everything being mere coincidence. Mashima wanted to implement this concept in Chapter 75 (aptly named “A Butterfly’s Dream) with a reversal of Erza’s dream of the past; Everything up to chapter 75 is a dream of the future that little Erza (still at the ToH) is having. At first glance this concept is incredibly poignant in depicting the escapist tendencies and wish fulfillment that’ve manifested as a coping mechanism due to the psychological damage she’s incurred while in captivity.  Here’s the catch, in context, given all that’s been established: Lucy being the MC (with the whole story thus far revolving around her and Natsu), Erza not coming into the manga until later, the tone that’s been set thus far, etc. this idea is fuckin terrible…It begs the question: what comes next? If this idea was implemented into the narrative imagine how everything would have to change. Erza would now be the MC (it’s not about Lucy’s time at FT but Erza’s captivity and what comes after?) three of our MC’s disappear (never to return) or will only return in subsequent dreams, the same Jellal who’s taking care of her, her support throughout this ordeal, and her crush is now reimagined emotionally and physically abusing her and their friends, etc. etc. etc. Suffice it to say there are plenty of potent reasons to scrap this concept as it undermined all that’s been established. Naturally, concepts revolving around plot points need far more attention to the ramifications they may bring about for the future of the narrative. Interpersonal relationships and their development (or lack thereof), while perhaps, not as impactful to the plot in their execution, are in turn FAR more flexible and can go in any conceivable direction at any time or event (and even able to contort the plot if desired). By now, I hope it’s understandable that these concepts really are like apples and oranges; they can’t be weighed against each other. Moving on, Let’s look at the S Volume 1 afterword ( translated here: http://rieriebee.tumblr.com/post/150560855805/so-i-was-avoiding-posting-this-because-of-the ). Again, here’s where relationship intentions differ. Mashima could’ve ignored the fans demands, instead of having partially acquiesced, left his intentions as originally intended and aside from the forced fanservice that was included NOTHING WOULD CHANGE. As intended from the beginning, his original desire to make Nalu one-sided remained as such. Now looking at the Afterword from Volume 60 (translated here: https://www.reddit.com/r/fairytail/comments/5zuf5u/ms_fairy_tail_volume_60_afterword/ ) , anon appropriately noted that, “Volume 60 singles out Natsu & Jellal, in particular, with regard to possible relationship depth while also providing leniency (“made up with story flow”) to further include and flesh out any development/affection/etc. between Natsu & Erza.“ So what? Why does this matter? Given all that’s transpired, it matters quite a bit. Without any preconceived direction for Natsu and Erza’s relationship and development, us Natza shippers hit the jackpot Chapter 434 onward with a scary amount of moments expounding on our ship. The best part? Even if I tried, I can’t begin to find one moment between the two that was even remotely contrived. I think we can all agree that, despite a notable degree concession, Mashima ultimately does what he wants. As a fandom, us Natza shippers are so minuscule in number, that there’s literally no pressure for him to write half as much as he did for our ship. In fact doing so would only provoke backlash from the massive Jerza and NaLu fandoms. And it did…big time. In and of itself, this really speaks to Mashima’s genuine interest in Natsu and Erza’s relationship. I think we should revel in that more than we do. Whether inadvertent or not, by virtue of Lucy being the MC accompanied by Natsu and the lingering feelings between Erza and Jellal, Mashima set up two massive fandoms of fiscal dependence for FT (you can see that in how the anime appropriates the manga to cater to these ships). He already gets a lot of shit if he so much as “rocks the boat” (im sorry XD). Once those pillars went up, we really had no shot in hell. In my opinion, given the juxtaposition of constant stagnancy between Jellal and Erza coupled with the pervasive Natza moments, one can’t help but to look at Volume 60 with an understanding of continued indecision between Natza and Jerza (further made evident in Natsu’s brusque response to Lucy’s anticipated kiss, the lack of contact between Jellal and Erza, and finally the contemplative look on Jellal’s face when told to “live”). In the end, these afterwords are important insofar that, in conjunction with the narrative at large, they give us insight into the underlying emotions and relationship that the author perceives and attempts to convey between two characters.

[nebris]

Did You Catch This Hidden Theme in 'The Handmaid's Tale'?

At the heart of Margaret Atwood's book lies a biblical story that provided blueprints for a patriarchal dystopia. 

By Valerie Tarico May 5, 2017

If The Handmaid’s Tale offers any sign, Margaret Atwood has read more of her Bible than many Christians. Superficially, Atwood’s dystopian novel is littered with biblical names and phrases: Gilead, Mary and Martha, Jezebel, Milk and Honey, All Flesh, Loaves and Fishes, Lilies of the Field, the Eye of the Lord, Behemoth, and many more.

At a deeper level, Atwood grounds her plot in gender scripts that pervade Abrahamic scriptures. One story in particular brings the pieces together: a tale of two sisters named Rachel and Leah, who marry the same man (Genesis 29-31).

As the story begins, their husband-to-be, Jacob, falls in love with the young Rachel but gets tricked by their father (also his own uncle) Laban into marrying the elder Leah. Jacob isn’t thrilled when he discovers he has consummated his wedding night with the wrong sister because, as the writer puts it, “Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face.” Laban promises Jacob his second daughter in exchange for seven years of labor, and a second round of nuptials ensues. It’s a recipe for resentment, but Leah redeems herself in the most potent way possible for an Iron Age female born into the nomadic herding cultures of the ancient near-east: She pumps out four sons.

Rachel, though better loved, remains barren.

“Now!” Leah thinks, “Now my husband will become attached to me.” Rachel, bitter and jealous, is thinking the same thing. She demands of their husband, “Give me children, or else I die!” Because of her infertility, she offers him a proxy, Bilhah, her female slave or “handmaid.” Bilhah gets pregnant and produces a son, Rachel’s son by the rules governing their lives. After Bilhah bears a second baby—as you may have guessed, also a son—Rachel crows, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed!”

But things aren’t over yet. Not to be outdone, Leah sends in her own handmaid, Zilpah, who also bears two sons. The competition continues until Jacob has 12 sons—a number that has magical significance probably tracing roots back to the 12 signs of the Zodiac—and one daughter. And they all live happily ever after. Or not.

So, let’s unpack some of the elements of this story, because they reflect broader biblical views on women and reproduction that will be familiar to anyone who has read Atwood’s novel or derivative media.

1. Men properly hold the highest positions of authority in society and the family. Laban and then Jacob are patriarchs, each ruling the kin unit that consists of his own household, including women, children, slaves and livestock. From Chapter 2 of Genesis onward, the Bible teaches that man was made in the image of God while woman was created to be his helper (Genesis 2:18). Conservative Christians call this idea male headship, and it is embedded throughout the Old Testament, and down through Christian history [3]. The New Testament writer of 1 Corinthians spells it out: “The head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God” (1 Cor 11:3). As in Islam, female head covering provides an outward marker of submission: “A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man” (1 Corinthians 11:2-10). Violation of this hierarchy may be experienced as a threat to the whole social order [4].

2. Women are assets that belong to men. Laban gives his daughters to his nephew in exchange for Jacob’s labor as a shepherd. In like manner, women throughout the Bible are owned by their fathers until they are “given in marriage” (typically in exchange for goods or services or political alliance) to another man. The ownership status of women is visible in the Exodus chapter 20 version of the 10 Commandments [5], which says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17).

3. Slavery, including sexual slavery, is morally acceptable, regulated and sometimes commanded. Through both stories and laws, the Bible provides a strong endorsement of slavery [6]. One sign of King Solomon’s status is the 700 wives and 300 concubines (i.e., sex slaves) in his harem (1 Kings 11:3). In the Rachel and Leah tale, the handmaids are gifted to the daughters by Laban. In tales of conquest, young virgins are counted as war booty, and God’s commander provides explicit instructions [7] on how to ritually purify a virgin war captive before “knowing” her. Rules for buying and selling slaves vary based on whether the person is a Hebrew or a foreigner, male or female. “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do” (Exodus 21:7).

4. The primary identity and value of women lies in their reproductive capacity. With few exceptions, named female characters in the Bible are individually identified because they are the mothers of famous sons. This includes, of course, the most famous woman of them all, Mary. One New Testament writer points to childbearing as the woman’s path to spiritual salvation, the way to redeem Eve’s original sin. “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing, provided they continue in faith and love and holiness, with modesty" (1 Timothy 2:14-15).

5. Sons are more valuable than daughters. Throughout the Bible, God rewards his chosen ones with male offspring, even, for example, when Lot’s daughters get their father drunk in order to have sex with him and generate heirs who will be the fathers of great nations (Genesis 19:32-38 [8]). In the Hebrew law, a woman is spiritually unclean for twice as long after giving birth to a girl baby as a boy (Leviticus 12:1-8). It goes without saying that God himself is depicted as male, as are his chosen patriarchs and prophets, as is his incarnation, Jesus, who—in the canonical gospels—chooses 12 male disciples.

6. When it comes to breeding, paternity is what matters. In the story of Jacob and his wives, we see that the writer is fairly indifferent to which woman produced a child, as long as Jacob was the father and the child a son. Similarly, in the New Testament gospels, Jesus is a God and the son of God despite the fact that his mother is fully human. By contrast, because paternity is so important in this cultural context, anything that might call into question the paternity of a woman’s offspring is harshly penalized. A raped woman, as damaged goods, can be sold to her rapist who is obliged to keep her (Deuteronomy 22:28-29), and a woman who has reduced her value by having sex voluntarily can be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 22:20-21). If a married man suspects that his wife may be pregnant by someone else, he can take her to the priest who will give her a magical abortion potion [9] that will work only if the pregnancy isn’t his (Numbers 5:11-31).

7. Infertility is a female issue. Since the role of women is childbearing, infertility is typically treated like a female issue in the Bible as it is in Atwood’s Republic of Gilead. Toward the end of Rachel and Leah’s story, God finally comforts Rachel by allowing her to bear a son from her own body, who will go on to be favored above his brothers by both his father and God himself (Genesis 29:31). This trope repeats itself, and infertile women throughout the Bible often, in the end, give birth to significant characters: the patriarchs Isaac, Esau and Jacob; the supernaturally strong warrior Samson; the prophet Samuel; and John the Baptist, who will baptize Jesus.

8. Female consent is not a thing. The texts gathered in the Christian Bible were written over the course of several centuries, and in them we find a cultural trajectory away from polygamy and outright sexual slavery. Nonetheless, the concept of human chattel is never explicitly eschewed, even in the New Testament, nor are older practices condemned. Slaves are advised to submit to their masters. Nowhere is there any indication that female consent is needed or even desired before sex. Consider even the pregnancy that produces Jesus [10]. In a situation of extreme power imbalance, Mary is told that she will be impregnated by God and she responds with words that assent to her role as a handmaid. “Behold the bond-slave of the Lord: be it done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

Behold The Handmaid’s Tale.

Valerie Tarico is a psychologist and writer in Seattle, Washington, and the founder of Wisdom Commons [11]. She is the author of "Trusting Doubt: A Former Evangelical Looks at Old Beliefs in a New Light" and "Deas and Other Imaginings." Her articles can be found at valerietarico.com [12].

@evaannapaula @catcomaprada @sissyhiyah @edenazucarar