Jesus fuck.
Yen is the first show of the festival where I’ve had to take a long walk afterwards to process everything. On that walk I felt a lot of feelings I’ve not felt in a while.
My heart is full of anger
That you care more about the fucking dog
That the boys can never totally relax
“You look just like him”
and she knows how much that hurts Hench
Is this a piece of poverty porn?
That yet another female protagonist’s character
development revolves around sexual assault
My heart is full of sadness.
Because you can’t help everyone
That he’s doing his best and that’ll never enough
Because trauma seems to beget trauma
That Hench’s existence is a potential threat
That Yen can’t seem to help herself
That on the walk home my existence is a potential threat
to any woman walking alone nearby
My heart is full of love.
I know that boy that’s struggling to cope.
I know that boy that doesn’t want to turn into his dad.
I want him to learn to love and be loved.
I want him to be held and to grow
but I don’t want her to have to fix him.
She’s already given enough.
My heart is full of hope.
I’ve seen broken boys learn to love.
I’ve seen girls shattered by sexual assault
rebuild themselves.
I hope to see this broken society build itself up again.
My heart is full of Yen.