Nothing Happens Unless First A Dream

She often wondered why she had become the man she once dreamed of marrying. Her own masculinity sometimes frightened her, a force she hadn’t anticipated but one that had grown naturally from the life she lived. Raised in a typical Asean household, she grew up watching her father as the sole breadwinner, her mother a full-time housewife, and her older brothers embodying authority. Movies reinforced the same narrative: men were portrayed as powerful, logical, and always right. Women, on the other hand, were depicted as dependent, weaker, and in need of protection. She didn’t resist these ideas at first. In fact, she liked them. Who wouldn’t want to be cared for, protected, and provided for? But as she grew, she equipped herself with education, survival skills, and real-world knowledge. Surrounded by boys, she naturally developed a dominant, firm presence. People often described her as fierce, though she preferred to call it resolute. Life, however, dismantled her early beliefs....

She believes in a simple clarity: if you want something, say it. To her, falling in trust is the true foundation of a bond; while love grows slowly over time, trust is the soil it requires to take root. When that trust is shattered, the connection is extinguished. There is no middle ground, only a finality that says, "It was nice knowing you." She realizes now that a "creep" is simply someone who seeks to use others. While the discovery was painful, she views its early arrival as a mercy-less time wasted on a ghost. She refuses to subscribe to the performative games of social media trends or "three-day rules." To her, faking disinterest is a foolish waste of a life. The Validity of Needs She has navigated the complex labels others try to pin on her: On being "needy" :She isn't needy; she simply has needs. On validation:She doesn't seek it from the world at large, but she expects it from a partner. To her, wanting validation from a...