Hanako's presents

[YZQ]

I think Hanako's condition has progressed beyond the stage where pressure masks would have made a difference.

I'll think that she grew up too quickly to have a childhood. She was helping out with the younger kids when she became older.

[Hisao&Hanako<3]

On that thought and note, it's a shame she was never adopted. I'm sure her emotional development would have been quite different had she been with loving foster parents.

But on another note, I'm attracted to girls with childlike qualities. I've got that sort of thing going on with myself too. Some might call it naive... I call it "being untainted by the evils in the world." To have a pure heart despite being put through pain and betrayal... that takes a lot of strength.

[YZQ]

I'll go with "Able to appreciate the pure, but still not afraid to get dirty." Balance in all things.

Hanako did muse to herself that she never got adopted because of her scars. Can be soul crushing, whn you think of it that way.

[Hisao&Hanako<3]

I don't agree with that. One need not soil themselves with the evil in this world to deal with all situations. Hanako herself is shown to have some cynicism and dislike of people. Hopefully that never grows into hate, because hate burns the good qualities in a person fast.

But we're talking about someone fictional, here. I guess I can say, I hope girls who are like her don't become tainted with anger and hate.

[YZQ]

Fundamentally, you need to recognise it and acknowledge that it exists. I enclose that infamous quote from The Prince in my signature.

[Guest Poster]

On that thought and note, it's a shame she was never adopted. I'm sure her emotional development would have been quite different had she been with loving foster parents.

She'd still have been subjected to extensive bullying though, with or without foster parents.

That said, it's not a surprise she never was adopted. What was a surprise was that many of the other children in her orphanage were. Adoption of orphaned kids is very uncommon in Japan...it's seen as a sign that a couple cannot conceive on their own and thus carries a social stigma.

[YZQ]

Something tells me that they could be adopted by foster parents from Japanese communities overseas, like the States or even in Peru.

[pandaphil]

Yeah, Hisao got her a hairclip on their first date. The lock of hair kept getting in the way when he kissed her. She only wears it when she's alone with Hisao or Lilly.

Aww, I missed the reason he got it for her. Damn that's adorable. Thank you sir.

Hanako seemed to like them...With that in mind, I don't think it's weird that Hanako would like dolls and pluche toys.

Which is why I think getting her the doll AND the chess set, each appealing to one side of her nature are really the best presents of all.

I only like the Phantom mask idea because in my fic, shes become a bit of an ALW Phantom fangirl. I could see her just playing around the house, putting on the mask and dressing up like in the red rose pic someone posted earlier just for fun.

On that thought and note, it's a shame she was never adopted. I'm sure her emotional development would have been quite different had she been with loving foster parents.

She'd still have been subjected to extensive bullying though, with or without foster parents.

That said, it's not a surprise she never was adopted. What was a surprise was that many of the other children in her orphanage were. Adoption of orphaned kids is very uncommon in Japan...it's seen as a sign that a couple cannot conceive on their own and thus carries a social stigma.

I gotta say, as much as I love Japanese culture, things like this annoy the piss out of me. I suspect I wouldn't do well there since I don't give a flying fuck about social stigma.

I think if she'd had adoptive parents, she may have grown up shy, but I think having a loving family with half decent emotional support, she'd probably still be shy, but not as desperately lonely and frightened of people as she is, and we probably wouldn't have to deal with so much trauma around her birthday.

I don't agree with that. One need not soil themselves with the evil in this world to deal with all situations. Hanako herself is shown to have some cynicism and dislike of people. Hopefully that never grows into hate, because hate burns the good qualities in a person fast.

That's why I'm grateful to Lilly and Hisao. I think if it weren't for them there's a good chance she would grow into an angry, embittered person.

[Hisao&Hanako<3]

Of course I recognize evil, or how else would I know to avoid it? I'll go with Vash's quote. "But I still want to believe in the power of the heart, a heart that sees the sin."

On the orphanage note... that's pretty sad. One of the biggest things that can get me down is imagining someone else's pain... wishing I could do something to take it all away. It's impossible for humans to do that though, in and of themselves anyway.

[YZQ]

It's the same sort of logic as the one behind the maxim "To have peace, you must prepare for war."

Reading ALW's version of the story could help her at some level. I probably mentioned before that she blames herself a little too much for what has happened to her since the fire.

[Guest Poster]

Something tells me that they could be adopted by foster parents from Japanese communities overseas, like the States or even in Peru.

Most of the adoption of orphans that do take place in Japan is actually done by either foreigners or Japanese abroad, so you're probably right about that.

[YZQ]

On another note, recommending the first 4 books of A Song of Ice and Fire to Hanako...

[KeiichiO]

On another note, recommending the first 4 books of A Song of Ice and Fire to Hanako...

Hell yes.

[pandaphil]

I'd love to see Hisao taking her into town to see Phantom on stage at some point.

On another note, recommending the first 4 books of A Song of Ice and Fire to Hanako...

Oh there's a good subject. What books would Hanako like?

[KeiichiO]

On another note, recommending the first 4 books of A Song of Ice and Fire to Hanako...

Oh there's a good subject. What books would Hanako like?

Fifty Shades of Grey?