This work legitimately made me cry. Especially the scene at the onsen village, when the old lady offered to make them the bowls in the same size. Because so often LGBTQ+ people have to advocate for themselves. Make space, ask for it, demand it even. They have to be the first ones to take the first steps, and especially in a country like Japan, that takes a tremendous amount of courage. Courage, that many people don't have, and shouldn't HAVE to have. Why should they have to have courage that so many people could never have? Just because they love someone, because of who they are?
But there's this old lady, for some LGBTQ+ people the kind of person who persecutes them. And she sees two men, looking for matching bowls, and it takes so little for her to make space for them. She just has to be like "Oh, yes, we can make those for you in the same size". Then she says "We often forget these are different ways of being", with no judgment. She can, in that little way, make it so these two men, for once, don't have to be s brave. They can enjoy a moment of ease, of normalcy, of safety. It is SO EASY. Yet so many people often claim it's an insurmountable amount of effort. To make it that two men can hold hands in public, that two women can get married, that someone can be referred to with a different two to three letter word than they birth certificate would indicate.
Anyway, my point is, that little effort and little moment that happened thanks to an understanding, supportive old lady hit deep for me. Especially considering what our boys just went through in the previous chapters. I just got so happy, that tears sprung to my eyes. Because they deserved to feel like they could just be, that they can be accepted, and that they can love each other.
This work legitimately made me cry. Especially the scene at the onsen village, when the old lady offered to make them the bowls in the same size. Because so often LGBTQ+ people have to advocate for themselves. Make space, ask for it, demand it even. They have to be the first ones to take the first steps, and especially in a country like Japan, that takes a tremendous amount of courage. Courage, that many people don't have, and shouldn't HAVE to have. Why should they have to have courage that so many people could never have? Just because they love someone, because of who they are?
But there's this old lady, for some LGBTQ+ people the kind of person who persecutes them. And she sees two men, looking for matching bowls, and it takes so little for her to make space for them. She just has to be like "Oh, yes, we can make those for you in the same size". Then she says "We often forget these are different ways of being", with no judgment. She can, in that little way, make it so these two men, for once, don't have to be s brave. They can enjoy a moment of ease, of normalcy, of safety. It is SO EASY. Yet so many people often claim it's an insurmountable amount of effort. To make it that two men can hold hands in public, that two women can get married, that someone can be referred to with a different two to three letter word than they birth certificate would indicate.
Anyway, my point is, that little effort and little moment that happened thanks to an understanding, supportive old lady hit deep for me. Especially considering what our boys just went through in the previous chapters. I just got so happy, that tears sprung to my eyes. Because they deserved to feel like they could just be, that they can be accepted, and that they can love each other.
5/5, one of the best stories I've seen