#cherry-alive

My Medea by Vienna Teng. Is this supposed to be about mdsa? Probably not but it is To Me. Probably the one that gives me chills the most on this list. From the POV of the mother so...do with that what you will

Bad Wisdom by Suzanne Vega. This has been one of my favorite songs for a long time, and is pretty clearly about csa. It's almost certainly intended to be about a father daughter incest situation, but I think it works for mdsa too and it really captures something for me.

Bugs by Slow Funeral

Fight for Me by AlicebanD. More about a generally abusive relationship but it connects for me

Secret by The Pierces

Evelyn Evelyn by Evelyn Evelyn. Technically about fictional conjoined twins but To Me it is about severe enmeshment between a mother and daughter

Several Tori Amos songs, but my top three would be Girl, Precious Things, and Mother, all from the album Little Earthquakes (Girl is probably the most fitting for this topic)

Ohhh I loved getting this ask, thank you so much! I hope it's okay to publish it.

I have Fight for Me on repeat now, love it with the piano. I also added Bugs and Bad wisdom to my playlist and I'm sure I'll revisit the other songs as well.

I never really listened to Tori Amos but I love her voice so I think I'll explore more of her music - if you want, let me know other songs of her you (or anyone reading this) like! Doesn't have to be trauma/mdsa related, hah.

26. favourite kid’s show character?

Hmmm, for shows I actually enjoyed watching as a kid that would I think be the green one from Totally Spies, lol. I also really liked Wunshpunch (or something like that??) but I wouldn't be able to name a single character!

As for kid's show characters that I like to this day, that's obviously Nijntje. And does Dory from Finding Nemo count?

Oohh and a very mixed but nostalgic bag of feelings about Winnie the Pooh!

37. what’s an uncommon/specific /obscure topic you’re interested in? I actually thought about this after answering it the first time and I think it's obscure that I just remember random shit. It happens regularly that I share info about a topic we're talking about and someone is like "Sae how do you know all this?!" and then I'm just awkwardly shrugging because honestly I don't know or I read it somewhere or it was once relevant information and my brain just... retained it. This happens with a lot of medical stuff or like about how the body works too. And some of it is just logical thinking to me, but then apparently to other people it's worldview shifting info so... not that logical, I guess.

thanks for sending these too <3 (I think by now you can tell I'm slowly answering the asks I got haha)

15. recommend and review a book.

I picked a book I recently read that also exists in English, just to make it a bit more interesting to read for more of my followers :')

I've been reading a lot of children's books and a lot of books/memoirs about incest/csa/psychiatry. I wanted to try and read something lighter, so I read Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah. However, I read the Dutch translation which is titled Als de wolven huilen (If the wolves howl).

I would recommend it. I did enjoy it, I finished it in two days. It's the equivalent of watching a rather un-special feelgood movie. It left me feeling good and on the road through the book, I felt along with the characters and I cried and I hoped and I feared. It's an easy journey.

However, I think the translation was a bit poor. Some of the jokes were simply not as effective in Dutch and I always see that as a huge flaw of the translator(s). I also did not like the boring stereotypes - describing all "less popular" characters as chubby/fat, for instance. The idea that everyone attractive has to be slim was very prominent and that just leaves a bad aftertaste. It wouldn't stand out to anyone who's not alert to these things, but it bothered me.

Still, I'd read more books by Kristin Hannah. I think they're nice for when I'll be going on vacation - something lighter, yet interesting enough to really suck me into the story!

19. most disliked popular books? I recently read Crying in H-mart and did not like it. I feel many people loved that book, I rated it 3.25 stars (out of 5). It wasn't a bad book, but I also didn't love it. It also took a lot of concentration to read it; the writing was interesting but didn't get me into that flow state where you are in the story and just want to keep reading and reading and reading.

Your blog reminds me of a whimsical cottage in the woods. It’s lovely. 🌿🌼👒

A relaxing playlist:

Woodland by The Paper Kites

Cherry Wine by Hozier

Landscape With a Fairy by aspidistrafly

The Moon Song by beabadoobee