#*too omg

It stems from the fact that she underwent SA from her sister’s first husband when she was a kid for a couple of years. This left her feel very icky about herself, her self-worth, her desire to be a mom, everything. No one wants to have flashbacks and nightmares about it.

Her first boyfriend, Keshav, wanted to go beyond kissing, but she didn’t want to, so he’d spread rumors that Anika invited him to a hotel to sleep with him and even after she broke up with him, his friends bullied her. These two are some of the reasons why when she first met Jotaro and saw him screaming at some women, he was just annoyed with them, but she was reminded of her ex-brother in law and ex-boyfriend that did her dirty.

During their time in Cairo, Noriaki and Jotaro were the ones who saw Anika for who she really is and told her that they accepted her, and that took away part of her fears. One of the reasons she was drawn more towards Noriaki than Jotaro was the fact that he was comparatively more open in expressing his affection towards her than Jotaro. She tried helping Noriaki to prevent him from dying but he told her that she should be with Jotaro.

During her PhD, the guy she dated for two years, we’ll call him DK, cheated on her and confessed to her while they were in bed.

So, when it finally came to loving on Jotaro, it was hard. Especially because he needs love too. So they seem codependent but really there’s a ton of baggage that needs to be unearthed for her. But, ever since she learned that she loves Jotaro, there’s been no going back. It’s an “always and forever” affair when it comes to him.

🍨 - What are expectations your muse has had about love that either was false or impossible to live up to?

After Anika experienced what I stated in the previous answer, one of the reasons her relationship with DK failed that supposedly led to DK cheating on her, was the fact that she needed constant assurance that she’s loved no matter what, either by words (most of the time) or to be okay with the fact she didn’t allow him to hug her for months because it reminded her of SA past. (Except for foreplay ‘cause they started as FWB)

Even as and when she’s overcoming them, when it came to Jotaro, the walls were still yet to break down. For him it was impossible to live up to the fact that he had to constantly tell her he loved her, whereas he couldn’t himself. So, that’s when she stepped up and learned that love could be expressed in other ways and actions conveyed more love than words.

🎀 - Do they aim to impress their partner often? If they do, how so?

It depends on the partner. Keshav, 100%. She even tried changing her interests to suit his (yep that’s the people pleasing tendency)

Noriaki, she didn’t need to ‘cause he was already impressed and that made it easier for her.

DK, not at all. He had a ton of problems with her behavior and she wanted to stay true to herself, so they’d fight. He’d even called her “attention seeking bitch” once.