Temmedes (long brown hair) and Matia (black hair)

..Recently I read a manga called The Legend of Nereid, it was drawn by a Korean mangaka, and it was really interesting, if you are into shoujo like me, I bet you will like it too.

The story is based in ancient Greece, before the birth of democracy, and the era of kings (and of nobles and slaves), where oracles were more often than not sought out, and their prophecies followed...

Due to the current Queen, whose son was foretold to fail to ascend the throne, the Queen forced the greatest oracle of the kingdom to tell a lie under duress, which turned out later....

To be the truth... that lie caused the wheel of fate to move....

Thus the life of a 15 year old girl changes, where she is sought of as the warrior of the ocean who will bring the downfall of their kingdom. (She has such a huge bounty on her head, that she even claims she will turn herself in, if it wasn't her.. haha..)

Of course what is a shoujo manga if there are no bishounens (good looking guys) who just had to fall wholly & totally in love with the heroine?.. I guess the reason I really love shoujo manga is the fact that there are bishounens who understands and are so damn, wholly & totally in love with the heroine, (guess that's why I'm still single haha), but I digress
...

Back to the topic.. how is a mere 15 year old girl, going to bring the downfall of the country from it's very roots? Simple, by allowing the enemy to play on their fear of the prophecy.

Whether it was preordained as destiny, or whether it was mere coincidence, the little girl, called Matia, fell into the hands of the prince (named Tyon) from the opposition kingdom, who fell in love with her and took her way. (His initial plan was to just use her...)

Leaving behind a devastated general (called Temmedes) whose love for her (she loved him back, by the way..) was not enough to fight his traditional upbringing of being loyal to his king and country above all else.

The prince, I must say, is one angsty brat with issues (and different sexual preferences, being homosexual is fine with me, but incest as well?? What a story..), but because he fell in love with Matia, he slowly changed. But for a 17 year old boy, he is one ambitious kid, thus using the fear of the prophecy against Matia's country, he waged war. Marching to the battle fields with her by his side, though all she did was sit on the horse, the mere sight of her, caused panic to spread through her country's soldiers.. The warrior of the ocean who will bring their downfall...

Psychological warfare...

It became a battle of the wits, and in the end General Temmedes,(who doesn't believe in prophecies, and whom actually believes that they are the real cause of chaos, in which I couldn't agree more too..) for the sake of his country (actually he was already brandished as a traitor by the king and sent to be a slave.. that's why i didn't type "for the sake of his king and country") decided to slay Matia by his own hands...

Aaaah the drama of it all, with her death, apparently his soul died with her, and he became cold and heartless, (no longer the kind & compassionate man he was) with his only intention of living on, is so that the people would not suffer, as he is a capable general, the best in the country..

As the king was to tied up protecting the capital, the other nobles sought Temmedes for his help to protect the other parts of the country where the king had abandoned, and thus his domain grew....

Well I really wonder, does everyone get a second chance in love and life? After 3 years, upon an invitation of an acquaintance to visit a harbour, a totally peculiar harbour which was unlike any part of the country, the general followed his friend, only to meet democracy and the woman to whom he lost his soul too...

Apparently Matia has forgotten everything, and is just imparting what she had learnt as a child from her teacher, to the people i.e. don't let others control you, live as you are, respect because you want to, not because you are forced too...
(slaves were forced to respect and serve their masters... her teachings go against that.. her teachings say that, respect the nobles because they deserved to be respected, not because they oppress you into respecting them)

Those thoughts are practically considered heresy during that era, (what with nobles and slaves) and would have caused her to be sentenced to death, yet she preached, and in the end met her general again, but because he had "killed" her, he couldn't face her..

aah more drama... in actual fact thanks to her teacher on the island she grew up with, who was a prophet as well, whom had told her not to hate.. she really doesn't hate the general, she actually thanks him for killing her, because then, she is no longer a monster (feared by the people because of the prophecy.. and treated like one... she hates war, and the mindless killings).

But Temmedes will never forgive himself, who wouldn't? Imagine that for the sake of your country's sovereign you had to slay the person you loved the most in the whole world, and the worst part is that, you can't follow her yet, because you can't be selfish as more people need you.

He slayed her for the morality of his country's army, and he couldn't follow her in death as he needed to continue to defend his country... He had to slay one person to save hundreds of thousands, which would you have chose? It's a very difficult decision, my head will say "kill her", while my heart will say "no"....

If I were in his shoes.. I would definitely never forgive myself.. It would be so painful having to live everyday, my only consolation was that, I killed my loved one, not someone else... but can that really be a consolation? It's amazing that the general didn't go mad with grief, being brought up to always think with his head first rather than to listen to his heart.. He is a strong man..

I pity him, really, even the pain is unimaginable for me.... especially so, since this mangaka has made them out to be soul mates, that makes it even more painful don't you think? Even though she understood why he had to kill her, even though she knew that when the time comes, he would choose the country over her, even though she let him kill her, even though she forgives him, the pain is still too much to bear.. I really am an empath to empathise so much with that general... =.=

But it's good that he chose to live, (he gets to meet her again...) the army from the opposing country was going to march into that harbour... Destiny has given him another chance, to lead an army and fight against the opposing army and save the country, or to head to the burning town to save Matia...

What does the general do this time? He finally decides to go against his upbringing, and do something unlike his class, he followed his heart, and abandoned his rationality.. Lucky for him due to a twist of fate, of Matia meeting Prince Tyon again, the troops were drawn out, and all they had to do was fight off the bandits and pirates, and save the burning town...

But as most shoujo manga goes, it had a happy ending, (though the mangaka left it a bit open, but we know they are together again..) another thing that I love about shoujo mangas.

oh, and the prophecy did come true, she destroyed the kingdom from the roots... in a peaceful manner, by teaching people about democracy and voting for their leaders... :p


Due to this manga, I remembered the significance of the psychological state of people's mind...
You can tell a lot about another person, from the way they dress, the way they talk, the way they interact, the way they write etc.

[*Actually honestly, this was another topic started due to my chat with my mother.... again over lunch... it started with my dog being manja when he hurt himself last month, and i said there's nothing wrong with that, usually he, like children, only come running when there is something wrong*]

It made me think back to my childhood, I always fell ill as a child, and well when a child is unwell naturally she seeks attention, I mean what do you want a child to do.. This resulted in me being called manja (clingy/spoilt) by my parents...

Please don't ever do that to your child. Your child will turn out like me, (that is, unless your child really is spoilt, then I have nothing to say) I won't voice out if I need help, if I'm really sick and if I need help, I won't voice it... Maybe in the end when I really can't take it any more than I'll voice it, but more often than not, if that was the case, it could have gotten serious.. (Although now I'm learning how/trying to voice it out, like if I really need to see a doctor when I'm ill.. sometimes my parents can be kind of heartless you know...haha)

Just like the case where I fell down the stairs in Taylor's during my Pre-U, it really hurt like hell, though I knew Gene was in the vicinity, I didn't call him for help, I just got up and forced myself to get to the bus stop by myself, (about 100 metres away, and down 2 flight of stairs, and i had to rush to boot as the bus was coming in about 15 minutes time...) and although I showed some pain, I'll say I'm fine, it's only a little pain (that's how I've become, unaccustomed to people showing concern so i brush them off)... it was a torn ligament... go figure... well i even have an uncle lecturing in the same college, and i didn't even think to call him.. i just got up and pushed myself to go...

you know i don't call that manja at all, if my leg hurts and i'm going down the stairs slowly and i wince in pain, I'm not asking for attention. Manja is where with every step, i whimper, or make a sound, or want a person to carry me haha etc. that's what i call manja..

i mean it really does hurt, why don't you try to tear your ligament and walk down the stairs normally without expression! it would be nice, and make me feel loved if you would give me a hand though.. but some people just don't do that (well Michelle did, thank god for friends...) i didn't even mention it to her, or anyone, and only when my family and all saw me limping did they ask what happen, only to be answered by a brusque, "i fell down the stairs" it would have been nice if someone had helped me onto the sofa and got me an ice pack... but i did that all on my own.. these people have no compassion towards me...

When my house got broken into, also in my Pre-U year, I didn't tell anyone, but as my sister had to leave me alone in a house that couldn't be locked anymore to make a police report, she wanted me to stay with a friend, being that scared, it's amazing i could still think, and i started to eliminate those who were unavailable and whom had no cars.. Gene was out, because he was in class (I know that one for a fact), ccy... well he was in the USA, and we weren't close that time.. I wasn't close to Rowan, all i had was yee sin and yew meng.. i called yee sin since he is the nearest, but he was busy, with his girlfriend no doubt =.=

so all that was left was to call meng, who, amazingly, walked all the way to my house instead of taking a cab =.=' oh well, at least there was someone there for me.. and after that, i didn't mention it to anyone..

Surprised? one would think that with my character, i would immediately tell people, but that's my true character, when it comes to something serious concerning me, either you be the lucky one i call upon, figure it out, or forever hold your peace..

when it came down to projects, I didn't ask for much help, i only asked my dad to help me do the on-line research, since we didn't have broadband then, and i couldn't print as much as i would like, but i did the rest myself.. i did all my projects by myself and handed them all in, i never consulted my dad unlike my brother...

until my dad complained that i don't let him read my work... i don't need him to, i can do it all by myself... that's one of the reason i get annoyed with others, because if i can do it on my own, i don't see the reason why others need someone to consult in every small little thing, i mean for heaven's sake, draft your own questionnaire!

some may say that it's endurance (忍- endure, a knife in your heart) some may say it's independence, and it's all good, I say it may be good, but it's also bad...

when I was younger, due to the fact that I was called manja so much, that when I didn't feel well, I didn't say a word, and just went to bed, no one even took notice, until the next day when it turned out that I was suffering from a high fever... Then only did it cause an uproar, with the fear that i might have contracted denggi, for a child who falls ill every month, that was indeed a cause for concern, don't you think? haha... luckily or maybe unluckily it wasn't denggi fever...

There were many other instances to mention, all because of that fear, I keep it all in.. As a child, you don't want to be hated, it's natural, you try to please as much as possible, and more often than not, this trait carries on to adult hood...

I guess it really shows independence, but humans were made to depend on each other, people trust each other and depend on each other...
*I really didn't want to be hated, being a child which wasn't really wanted to start with... I guess that's why I stuck to her too much, I didn't want her to hate me, I was always trying to be a good girl to please her.. but that's all in the past... at least he wanted me, that's why I'm here... Even though it's in the past, the effects still linger, though thank god I possess a rational mind, and I understand, so I don't hold anything against anyone, but it hurts when I think of it that way, though I do know that I'm loved, but depression just tends to do that to you I guess, no matter how positive things are, if you give in to depression and only look at the negative things, ignoring the positive things, that very well spells your end....*
You know, a lot of family and friends of suicide victims always say that they are surprised, they didn't expect it, the victim was always a bright and cheerful child.. But the truth is, it's not like that..

Most people ignore depressed people, so these people wear a mask, they show the world they are happy, but deep inside they are sad, they have thoughts of dying or killing themselves. some go so far as to actually injure themselves...

Trust me, they have tried to tell others about it, but they get cut off by people telling them, don't be silly, don't say such things, i don't want to hear such things etc. till they reach a point where they don't trust anyone anymore, and won't say anything, even if there is finally someone who is willing to listen... the wound would have already been cut to deep to heal...

In the end they just wear their mask and smile and keep it all in till they break one day and finally commit suicide... then all these people who wouldn't listen will come out and say.. but he was always happy... it's a sad revelation, really.. that people don't take depression seriously, it's a very deadly ailment, though some may be strong willed to go on fighting it, (it's like being thrown into a deep pit, and trying to crawl your way out) but there are those who succumb when the trigger is pulled...

all they need is for someone to light the fuse and let it run, till the big explosion comes.. so watch out for friends and families, studies have shown that suicide victims will try to talk, it's just that no one listens or takes them seriously...

-Oracl3-


Don't worry, I'm not about to go commit harakiri or jump off the petronas twin towers...*yet*
i'll just go cuddle with my baby in bed :p it's just a thought which i thought was worth mentioning, as this area of the human mind seems to be considered taboo as no one wants to speak about it, but that is the cause of death. there's nothing to be ashamed or scared if you suffer from depression, you should seek help (i know it's soooooo damn easy to say, than do...)

but at least, even if you are alone, don't give up hope... no matter how dark the world seems, the sun will come out from behind the cloud soon enough... *I hope...*