The Other Woman or the Other Victim? (Ari’s Story in Tears on a Withered Flower Revisited)
So I made a post explaining how Ari is a painfully realistic representation of how young women are preyed on by grown men, especially married men back in February (link here). And with the recent chapters that came out, I would like to revisit this topic coz there's a lot to talk about.
Every time I see Ari with Mincheol, I let out the longest and most exasperated sigh I can muster and just shake my head. Not just because I'm annoyed with her and her naivety, but because it is crystal clear that Mincheol is playing her and does not give a shit about her.
Baby girl is already thinking about marrying this guy and having kids with him. Meanwhile Mincheol is over here wondering when his ex-wife will "stop throwing a tantrum" and come crawling back to him while laying next to his mistress.
And every time Ari even attempts to confront Mincheol and call him out on his bs, he's like: shut up and take this dick. And the sad thing is, it works every time.
@pruneunfair brought up a very valid point that Mincheol basically sexually assaulted Ari in the latest chapter.
"What do you mean, Mincheol sexually assaulted Ari? Ari allowed it to happen. She didn't fight back or say no. So she basically wanted it."
Let me stop you there and tell you a little story from when I was 23-24 years old back in my years in university.
I had a friend. Let's call him V. So me and V met at a bus terminus waiting for the bus to take us to church. I noticed him watching Spy x Family and asked him if he was an anime fan (I'm also an anime fan), and we quickly became friends. Since then, we grew close, taking late night walks around campus and visited each other’s dorms.
It was a pretty innocent friendship until it wasn't and the lines between friendship started to blur and what started as a friendship became a physical situationship.
I didn't mind it at first. I enjoyed it until it started to become a routine. I'd go to his dorm. V would come to my dorm. Not even five minutes, he's already all over me. We couldn't even watch a movie without him initiating intimacy with me even when I wasn't in the mood.
Even when I tried to put a boundary and push him away, he would gaslight me into giving into him. It felt like I had no control over my body and autonomy and I HATE feeling powerless. I felt like a prostitute.
So what's the point of my story?
If I tried putting a boundary and resisting V, but failed because he kept insisting and insisting until I gave in, what makes you think that Ari—who’s younger, more sheltered, and emotionally entangled—is capable of fending off a grown man like Mincheol, who knows exactly how to manipulate her?
That’s the point. It’s not just about saying “no.” It’s about power. It’s about pressure. It’s about how coercion doesn’t always look like force—it often looks like persistence wrapped in affection, guilt-tripping, or “you know you want this” gaslighting.
And Mincheol is not going to leave her. Like why would he want to leave his disposable pocket coochie that he can easily control, manipulate and stroke his fragile ego?
Ari should have known better than to take Mincheol back after finding out that he lied about his relationship with Haesoo. She's not innocent or a saint. BUT we have to remember, Ari is IN LOVE with Mincheol. She WANTS to marry him and have kids with him. And that's the sad thing about her situation: being in love with someone who doesn't love or respect you as a human being.
Mincheol KNOWS that Ari loves him, that's why he manipulates her the way he does coz he KNOWS that she won't leave him and will do anything for him.
PSA To The "Digital/Concept Artists and Graphic Designers": I Am Not Interested In Having My Work Adapted Into Comics.
I had been receiving the offers since November of last year. I was flattered at the idea of my stories being so good that I have artists reaching out to me to want to adapt them into comics or make concept art for my stories at first. And I would have loved to support them if I was in the position to do so financially.
But as soon as I started to pick on the pattern in their messages, I started to realise something:
These people may not ACTUALLY be digital/concept artists and are preying on and scamming writers on Fanfiction.Net and Wattpad into monetising our work for their own benefit and greed.
These people don't care about our stories. They want our money and reap the benefits of our work without us benefitting from it.
I have been receiving these messages non-stop it's become harassment at this point.
And I am truly and utterly disgusted that these people are tainting and misrepresenting real digital/concept artists just because they're desperate for money.
If you're a writer and if you've been receiving messages like this: don't fall for it.
And if possible, share this to as many people as possible.
I think you'd like this story: "𝗢𝗙𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗 • Ken Sato" by pretty-mik on Wattpad https://www.wattpad.com/story/388996780?utm_source=android&utm_medium=com.tumblr&utm_content=story_info&wp_page=story_details_button&wp_uname=pretty-mik
One year after her divorce, Ami Wakita balances single parenthood and a demanding career in sports journalism. When an unexpected connection
I’m reaching out with a quiet hope in my heart. These days are heavy, and my family is living through a reality filled with uncertainty—but I’m still here, doing my best to hold on and keep going.
If you have a moment, please check out my pinned post.
A simple share could help it reach someone who might be able to make a difference.
If you’re able to give, even the smallest kindness can bring light into the darkest places.
Your time, your voice, your compassion — it all matters more than you know.
I’m a survivor from Gaza, holding on to hope in a world that has fallen apart around me. 💔
The life I once knew — my home, my family, my sense of safety — has been shattered by war.
Today, I live among the ruins, trying to find a path forward through the rubble and heartbreak. 🏚
Every moment is a battle against fear and uncertainty.
What was once ordinary — a safe place to sleep, a future to dream of — now feels like a distant memory. 🕊️
I share my story not to seek pity, but to keep hope alive — to believe that even in the darkest places, kindness can still find a way. 🤍
If my story touches your heart, please consider sharing it or offering support.
Every voice, every act of care, brings me one step closer to safety. ✨
➸ “This is a sentence with a dialogue tag at the end,” she said.
➸ “This,” he said, “is a sentence split by a dialogue tag.”
➸ “This is a sentence,” she said. “This is a new sentence. New sentences are capitalized.”
➸ “This is a sentence followed by an action.” He stood. “They are separate sentences because he did not speak by standing.”
➸ She said, “Use a comma to introduce dialogue. The quote is capitalized when the dialogue tag is at the beginning.”
➸ “Use a comma when a dialogue tag follows a quote,” he said.
“Unless there is a question mark?” she asked.
“Or an exclamation point!” he answered. “The dialogue tag still remains uncapitalized because it’s not truly the end of the sentence.”
➸ “Periods and commas should be inside closing quotations.”
➸ “Hey!” she shouted, “Sometimes exclamation points are inside quotations.”
However, if it’s not dialogue exclamation points can also be “outside”!
➸ “Does this apply to question marks too?” he asked.
If it’s not dialogue, can question marks be “outside”? (Yes, they can.)
➸ “This applies to dashes too. Inside quotations dashes typically express—“
“Interruption” — but there are situations dashes may be outside.
➸ “You’ll notice that exclamation marks, question marks, and dashes do not have a comma after them. Ellipses don’t have a comma after them either…” she said.
➸ “My teacher said, ‘Use single quotation marks when quoting within dialogue.’”
➸ “Use paragraph breaks to indicate a new speaker,” he said.
“The readers will know it’s someone else speaking.”
➸ “If it’s the same speaker but different paragraph, keep the closing quotation off.
“This shows it’s the same character continuing to speak.”
Well im a working women so i understand how life works. Unlike u who comment shit just to prove loyalty to a ff writer
Then you as a working woman at your grown age should be embarrassed to be throwing a tamper tantrum over a fanfiction writer who has a life outside of writing.
And I wasn't "commenting shit to prove loyalty to an ff writer", I myself am an ff writer. So I can understand why updating stories especially popular ones may take time. Especially when you're an ff writer in your 20s and above who's currently working, married, and/or have a family.
I remember back when i was younger, i used to write and update all the time because i had a lot of free time. I'm 25 going on 26 this year. Recent Honours graduate and currently under an internship and work from Monday to Friday from 8 am to 4 pm.
You have to understand that there are a lot of reasons why most ff writers take a long time to write and update:
We have commitments that we can't put on hold just to update a chapter.
We get easily burnt out from work and other things happening irl
Lack of motivation
Writers block
We don't want to put out half baked chapters. We want to give our readers quality work and our best.
And that's just to add a few.
At the end of the day, writers are people. We have our limits. We have moments where we just want to take a step back and breathe. We can choose to not continue writing your favourite stories or just stop writing in general coz it's not worth it to keep writing if people like you suck the life and joy in the thing we love.
