#it's so beautifully written
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breasts and eggs by mieko kawakami is so uniquely woman. not in a feminine sense, or a gender-identity sense, but in the sense that i can feel the soul of womanhood in it, which i have rarely ever felt in other books.
it captures the experience of being labelled “woman” so precisely that it’s startling and there were several times in the novel i had to put it down and take really deep breaths.
natsuko, a 30 year old and unmarried woman living in tokyo, experiences the challenges of female bodily autonomy and questions what it means to be a woman and what it means to have children. the novel raises questions about family, sexuality, child-rearing, and womanhood through the eyes of its protagonist who, 10 years later and at the age of 40, grapples with wanting to have a child of her own without a partner.
in the novel, natsuko, while working on her book, begins to question what it means to raise children, as well as the possibility that she would like to have a child of her own. however, she faces roadblocks on account of strict social norms in japan and the lack of bodily autonomy of women.
the novel, deftly and beautifully, traverses across women’s reproductive rights while posing questions about not only the ethics of anonymous artificial insemination, but of having children in the first place. posing it as both delight and misery, natsuko navigates her way through conflicting ideas about life, death, and birth as a single woman.
the story deals a lot with natsuko’s own ideas of romance, sex, and loneliness, as well as her own image of herself. she questions her own family and history, reminiscing often on the time she spent with her mother, grandmother, and sister in her childhood, as well as what it meant for her to grow up poor. she considers cycles of poverty, as well as the cycles of mother and daughter, through the lens of a woman with no desire for a longterm partner or sex.
natsuko, is asexual and sex repulsed. it’s a large part of the story, though it’s not a defining trait in who natsuko is as a person. still, she experiences the desire to have a child. she calls her own womanhood into perspective, doubting it on account of her lack of sexual attraction, detailing it as it “being as if the sexual part of her never grew up”. she states often that she has breasts, that she gets her period, that she is as woman as any other woman, yet still feels that some part of her womahood is missing because of her lack of sexual attraction.
the novel raises challenging questions of self discovery, as well as details the frustration in being labelled “woman” in society. it beautifully captures the thoughts and burdens that come with womanhood, as well as gender identity and bodily autonomy.
there are so many aspects of this book i could go into. i truly could not get enough of it while reading. not just because i found the protagonist to be both relatable and interesting, but because kawakami’s voice as an author is so gripping and emotionally real. reading the book, it felt as if natsuko’s thoughts mirrored my own and often, after finishing reading, i questioned whether i had actually read lines in the book or if i had thought of them myself as part of my own inner dialogue.
it’s so beautifully layered, to the point that i think it would take me multiple posts just to cover what i’ve picked up on the first read-through, and reads like you’re looking back on a life i could have lived at some point. it’s delightfully human but also, uniquely woman. it touches on many of the unspoken (and often unaddressed) trials of being a woman that otherwise would go unheard about.
i don’t think i’ve ever read anything like it. it touched me in a way no other novel has and detailed an account of womanhood that i felt in a very deep part of my being. this may sound cheesy, but in a way, i felt a large kinship with a lot of the women in the story. whether it was their experiences with men, their experiences with children, or their experiences simply moving through the world, i found connection in all of them.
#breasts and eggs#mieko kawakami#i could go on for a while summarizing and giving my opinions on my favorite parts about this#it's so beautifully written#and such a fantastic glimpse into the mind of a woman who feels the burden of societal pressure but has no desire to participate in what's-#considered 'the norm'#natsuko is FIERCELY independent but experiences a very human loneliness that's both relatable and slightly frightening#ALL OF IT is deeply emotional in a way that is difficult to describe#i wish i had a better way to put this in words#and i may come back to talk about and break down certain aspects of it#but here is my review <3#gonna make a new tag for book reviews#review.breasts and eggs#cal.gen#book.breasts and eggs#author.mieko kawakami
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This will always be my favorite Ichigo moment
When Urahare asked him the geniune question
" Do you truly desire to save Rukia ?"
Ichigo was at first dazed and almost looked like a child
Do I ... truly desire to save .. Rukia ?
He was stunned by the simplicity of those words and also how much they weighted within his soul.
He answered himself immediately without any hesitation.
yes I do
like a wedding vow
Ever since his mother was killed, this's the first time that Ichigo hasn't hesitated one micro second.
Ichigo has always wanted to save many people but when he tried to save someone who happened to be Grand Fisher's bait, he lost the person he wanted to protect the most, his mother.
That's why he held back, out of fear of losing those precious to him and this behavior ironically made him more egocentric, scared about what may happen to himself if he acted out on instinct.
Since then, he always hesitated :
when Rukia told how he can save his sisters by becoming a shinigami
when he faced Orhime's brother who turned into a hollow
when he had to choose between helping Rukia or taking Karin to safety.
However, everything had changed when Rukia was abducted. This moral he stuck with crumbled.
Like he said in volume 19 poem "Nothing else -but Rukia- can change my world"
This's a renewal of everything he believed in.
Even Isshin was stunned by this change, he though Ichigo would hesitate before going to Soul Society.
Ichigo had basically no guarantee that his family would be safe from hollows.
He was ready to throw it all and he wasn't worried about any consequence of his decision.
He only set his mind on one goal Rukia
When you think about it, if Ichigo didn't care about may happen to his family, he probably neither cared about if he would ever make it out alive.
After his mother died, I'm pretty sure that Ichigo had attempted to harm himself multiple times.
But, he never actually considered suicide because he had to protect his family whose lifes were entrusted to him (well that's how his mindset works)
However, if he had failed in Soul Society and Rukia had died, he probably would have ended his life.
Isshin saw how much saving Rukia means to him, was worried if he would ever see him again that's why he gave him his mother's gift.
Don't think that your life is worthless
Here is a reason for you to come back
Promise me you will come back safe
So when said person for whom he was ready to bet everything, yelled at him and told him to go back home.
he could only stare at her with an intense yet soft look
It's okay
You're not alone ... anymore
I'm here now and I won't give up on you.
#ichiruki#i know i said i would never write another bleach meta#but you can't say never when it comes to ichiruki#it's so beautifully written#there is so many thing i want to talk about ichigo self harm tendency i probably edited this post 15 times#ichigoxrukia : nothing but you can change my world
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fuck this, fuck that but most importantly fuck THIS
Let's just have a buzz because by the time
I'm done fucking beating myself up
There'll be nothing left to love
- The Bourne Identity, Last Shadow Puppets
#this made me cry#I was just trying to enjoy my Sunday#and this music starts playing#it's so beautifully written#last shadow puppets#Alex turner#miles kane#i love them so muuuuuch#lyrics
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As I am at the ending of "There Were Times I Wished You Were Dead" I need to simply come out and admit the obvious:
"There Were Times I Wished You Were Dead" reminds me hella a lot of "Wuthering Heights" but in a version that I actually like - cuz even though now I understand what Emily Bronte was trying to say and do with the story, and it's about healing and breaking a cicle of abuse -, I always thought something was missing on that story.
I actually wanted not the next gen of characters to do the healing, but the characters I had spend so much time with to actually find some healing and come to terms about their obsessions and misdeeds. I get that for shock value and for the point that Bronte was trying to get across, it fits.
But I guess... I always wanted to read something that would express true forgiveness, healing, closure, still bittersweet until the end because what we got from the journey was still very much bitter and hurtful... but to see two people who twisted love beyond measures, to fall apart, to break and then somewhat pick the pieces apart but still build beyond those broken pieces... there's anything more beautiful, truly?
And you can't ever look at them and think that everything was healed, those characters will always be broken in their own ways, they will forever carry the emotional scars... but instead of just dying, to let the healing happen through others... they started the healing themselves. Cuz it's okay to be broken. It's okay if you cannot find in yourself courage or strength... and be lost... and it's not that love that will fix you, because it was what broke you from the start... it's life that will fix you, eventually.
Not mentioning how much Yvonne/Lou and Karloi/Kal are SO MUCH, crazily so, similiar to more or so you would expect Catherine and Heathcliff to be, and the lying, the misdeeds, the obsession, the craziness in the love and the morbid of it all, it struck me as strangely similiar - I don't think that was intentional, because the same way I can see how similiar it is, I can see all the differences just as perfectly.
Also, there's a reason why "Wuthering Heights" is such masterpiece, I understand every bit of it.
However, "There Were Times I Wished You Were Dead" was a such emotional journey to me that I can't help doing this post. I just love it so much as a novel.
#manhwa#light novel#There Were Times I Wished You Were Dead#There Were Times I Wished You Were Dead manhwa#There Were Times I Wished You Were Dead light novel#also read the light novel#it's so beautifully written
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finally reading Counterpart by Cerasium!
#it's so beautifully written#does levi have Stockholm syndrome?#hated ch 1 erwin#but#it's so#ughh I can't explain#it's so good#Cerasium#eruri#erwin x levi
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this one's inspired by @cringefailvox's time has changed the metaphor!
It was such a good read and I couldn't stop thinking about these three ever since.
#hazbin hotel fanart#fanart#hazbin rosie#hazbin vox#hazbin alastor#my art#sorry if the posing is kinda ooc i was struggling with putting them all on one piece of furniture#and nooo they couldn't sit properly#thank you so much for writing it#it was so amazing and just beautifully written
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Aziraphale’s face after Crowley kisses him makes me feel sick, not exaggerating, not a silly haha hyperbole, it actually makes my stomach churn. He just looks so broken up about it, he’s almost crying. I know that if Crowley had said yes to going to Heaven with him he would have kissed him back but he couldn’t. There’s a look of guilt there and just pure pain, he looks at Crowley in a way that says “please don’t make me feel this, not now” and the worst part is because of how complicated his reaction is, I feel it could be mistaken for one of disgust which disturbs me so much because Crowley may believe that’s how it made him feel. The fact that Aziraphale doesn’t kiss Crowley back but also isn’t the one to pull away and instead briefly holds Crowley during this kiss haunts me so much as well, god.
#me when a scene supposed to portray a cocktail of emotions is written beautifully and acted beautifully 😱 😱#I’m so sick in the head#appologies if this is cringe#good night it’s almost 3am and I’ve been thinking about this non stop since yesterday evening#good omens#good omens spoilers#aziracrow#ineffable husbands#aziraphale#crowley
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Watching multiple cracks in Alastor's composure only for him to narrow his eyes and/or smile a bit wider afterwards is one of the most delightful while simultaneously horrific things put to media that I've seen in a while.
It just builds on such encroaching dread as the episodes continue, because you can see it very clearly in his eyes that he remembers shit that bothers him, and stores whatever happened to act upon for later.
#riri rambles#riri talks#Alastor#Hazbin Hotel#I will die on this hill#because jesus christ his character is so beautifully written#and I'm obsessed#character analysis#hazbin hotel spoilers#just in case
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the doodle i did for the 2nd chapter of the fantasy AU 🫶
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Turtle Takedown Teamwork.
[First] Prev <–-> Next
#poorly drawn mdzs#mdzs#wei wuxian#lan wangji#tulu xuanwu#Something about changing the action sequence to something gentle is hilarious to me.#The lesson here is “Be nice to turtles. They are gentle creatures. And many are very endangered.”#don't get me wrong here; I love this scene a lot. LWJ's string technique is one of my favoyrite things.#We do get a fair amount of LWJ fighting but I always loved how the theme of strings comes into play.#There is actually a lot to unpack with LWJ being associate with 'strings'.#The musicianship: Of dedication and rigor in one's practice.#The tension between following along a path or composing your own way forwards (playing what has been written vs composing)#A string is a tightly coiled/taunt entity; The same tension that makes it sing so beautifully can be it's downfall if pushed too hard.#And as a non-musical string - something that binds. Be it to his sect and family or how he binds his fate to WWX -#LWJ cannot exist without his binds. It is not something which ties him down though. It keeps him together.#And he himself *is* a bind. He 'ties wwx down' in ways that are initially negatively viewed ('come to gusu' - feels like: come be trapped)#But later it is shown how (despite being introduced as a free spirit) WWX truly wants to be bound to something and someone.#Marriage is a bind he wants. He wants to be tied and grounded by LWJ.#It's starting to sound like innuendo. Let's call his fondness for being literally tied up smart thematic writing.#Finally. Sex scenes that are important to the plot and characters
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Janell Cannon’s animal books and illustrations are the best collection of young children’s xenofiction. No, I will not change my mind.
#they are so beautifully written and illustrated#xenofiction#janell cannon#stellaluna#verdi#crickwing#pinduli#books#animals#nostalgia
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orv dump 5(?)
#do NOTTT look closely at the last one absolutely hate the rendering and how yjh turned out there#so sorry to her she's just here to fill out the space cjwhqkdkd I'll edit this img and change it when I get to render it better...#but for now... The version I don't like HELP#rizdoodads#orviz#orv#Commentary time#first img oooh sorry it's taking so long rizashdaff nation HELP#I've finally rendered Han sooyoung in there after 1 billion years. Still haven't rendered the sword... Baby steps kuno! Jhwke#2nd img ARGGHH I think I'll redraw some parts of it but overall... I'm iffy on it KWHEKF we'll see if this survives as it is!#3rd img. Redraw of my previous uriel. Thought abt fake clip-on bangs and honestly I thought it'd be cute! And it was#4th img oooh this was for yhk week freeday but my stupid ass made it like this one long img and it was midterms week#<- could not finish but the idea is yhk domestic marriage life#5th img based off of that beautifully written transfem yjh fic emmm IN REDRAWING THIS I PROMMYYY I DONT LIKE IT PLEASSEEE DONT LOOK AT IT#Anyway that's all 👍
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ULTIMATE SHIPS CHALLENGE - Deaths [4/4]
#thobmedit#damieedit#daniclaytonedit#thehauntingedit#mikeflanaganuniverse#thehauntingsource#*#*usc#horroredit#useral#userriel#usermorgan#tuserheidi#userrobin#userfern#userrin#usersmia#tuserecho#useremsi#useraish#this is why we have to bury the gays sometimes!#because gays deserve tragedies written as beautifully and tenderly and devastatingly as this#its so sad and so moving its perfect
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Ask Your Heart, Riku
Riku's Memories shown after his heart is returned (see: similarities to Aurora's heart being returned) / The places shown in Sora's heart where Riku is asked personal questions
What are you so afraid of?
Losing something that's important.
What is the one thing you care about more than anything else?
My close friend(s).
Riku, what do you wish?
I wish...to recover something important that I lost.
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— Thomas Mann, Death in Venice
#this book is written so beautifully#I’m reading it the second time and I catch so many things I didn’t the first time#Thomas Mann#death in Venice#on loneliness#on being alone#literature#books#poetry#mine
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some of my fave bakugo fics in honour of bakuday 🥺 (most, if not all, of these are in ao3! which is why i'm listing them. other fave fics of mine that can be found on tumblr will be reblogged!)
you can find other bakugo fics i love in my tag: #katsu
i like to call myself wound but i will answer to knife - kirketeer
enemies to lovers, requited unrequited love, kind of love triangle
surrender (whenever you're ready) - ofmermaids
florist reader, canonverse, slowburn
on my way (to you) - ofmermaids
5+1, canonverse, time travel
and you take me the way i am - willowser
assistant reader, slice of life, bakugo is bad at feelings
how to set fires - hawnks
strangers to lovers, canonverse, food as love language
organic chemistry - kirketeer
codependency and unlearning it, mutual pining, college au ish
here is my hand that will not harm you - natsuonii
bodyguard au, mild violence, mentions of scars
in the dark of the morning, you promise me the sun - kirketeer
character death (not the main characters), grief/mourning, slow burn
dry spell - willowser
established relationship, semi-public sex, miscommunication
for auld lang syne - some-kindofgnome
canonverse, near-death, drinking
you feel like home (you're like a dream come true) - willowser
light angst, kind of exes to lovers?
i do not know if i should hold you or eat you - katsukiz
hurt/comfort, soft sex
love to say this to your face: "i love you only" - willowser
dragon king bakugo, arranged marriage, a little drunk
#these are the ones off the top of my head!!! tho i know there are a bajillion others i adore#most of the others i am also going to be reblogging!! these are just the ones i cant find here/know ive read from ao3!#so many writers have written bakugo so very beautifully#and there are so many fics of his that i adore and have reread so many times#im pretty sure ive cried reading each and every one of these lmao#the theme here is mostly hurt/comfort-y also#THERE IS ALSO SO MUCH WILLOW BC I INHALE WILLOW'S STUFF SDBGKL#fic recs#hbd katsuki!
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