"I guess they just couldn't fly today."
I must confess, the writing of the story really has me feeling the dread and the rush when they stepped out on that ledge. This is beautifully written and tragically sad, but a wonderful read so far.
Yeah, the scene was wonderfully emotive. And the fact that it happened at the end of chapter 1, before the story and main characters were actually established, meant that it could have really gone in all manner of ways.
DIdn't though they would go all the way. That's a twist i didn't see coming.Also what can i say. Otome is a bitch who find a simpletonin Kazura and Kazura is an idiot who can't see she was getting played like a damn fiddle. So already on a great start in terms of characters. Don't know enough of Yoshiba to judge her.
Saw some folks riffing on Kazura, but I do not think this is fair. Kazura is a mentally ill person with a terminally deficient sense of self (and likely a history of trauma), so how she feels about herself is entirely dependent on how others treat her. That is why she goes into debt to gain Otome's approval (or "love" as she calls it), and then jumps off the roof to gain Kinka's. She has never experienced unconditional love, and the moment she is rejected (by Otome and then by her mom), the emotional pain immediately overwhelms her, so she spends more effort running from this pain than pursuing what she wants from life. It is best seen in the scene where she first calms down and decides against going through with her suicide, then receives Otome's call that instantly overloads her emotional pain sensors again and causes her to agree to Kinka's plan.
It's way too early to read this much into the text, but I think all of the above are the symptoms of an untreated quiet borderline disorder. Which would explain why she ended up with a narcissist like Otome -- borderline sufferers very often do, as the two disorders basically enable and reinforce each other. If she is, indeed, on the borderline spectrum, then a relationship with a non-narcissist, while no replacement for a proper therapy (DBT), may help her heal. We don't know yet why Kinka was suicidal, but by the way she gracefully backs out before Otome's call, it seems she has a more secure sense of self, at least.
PS: If anyone needs a palate cleanser after this chapter, I recommend Chandelier and Rooftop Miracle.
last edited at Nov 16, 2023 3:47AM