[ SECRET POST #2453 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2453 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[ ----- SPOILERY SECRETS AHEAD ----- ]





















08. [SPOILERS for Ralph Bakshi's Wizards]

















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #350.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 2 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - ships it ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

07. http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/7002/58j4.jpg

Secret 7 - Japanese Royalty

[transcriptanon]

[Picture is Crown Princess Masako of Japan and Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan. They are wearing their wedding attires and Masako is wearing a silver crown. They are both smiling.]

I think that his wanting to marry, and then marrying her, has ruined her life. She really would have been better off alone.

[misty_anon]

I don't know that much about the Japanese royal family but, from what I've read, you're right. :(

[(Anonymous)]

Wait, are we back to royalty being fandom? I thought they were real life?

[bringreligiontothewamwams]

Royalty has no connection to real life whatsoever.

Well, there is a French connection, but it is a sharp one around neck level. That was the only time royalty and real life intersected.

[(Anonymous)]

Having just read a biography of Marie Antoinette, that one hit close.

[(Anonymous)]

Google royal watchers

People treat royalty like celebrities

[(Anonymous)]

but I guess I didn't realize a celebrity's real life was fandom, either.

[(Anonymous)]

I was trying to guess what show this was from.

[(Anonymous)]

I thought it was the lady who wrote Sailor Moon and her husband?

[bringreligiontothewamwams]

I'll admit, I went to "Live Action Sailor Moon" as well.

[(Anonymous)]

wow, I keep forgetting that Japan even has a royal family. I just don't hear about these guys too often I guess. Can someone explain why her life has been ruined?

[akashasheiress]

She didn't give birth to the almighty Male Heir.

[atelierlune]

I think it's less him than it is the royal household service. Masako and Aiko both have been bullied terribly.

[(Anonymous)]

Could you please expand on this? Not that I at all doubt you; I just...don't know anything about it and would like to know more.

[atelierlune]

Sure. It's my understanding that the household service (Imperial Household Ministry) is in charge of managing the Imperial family - public events, state visits, keeping ceremonies, logistics, things like that. Imagine if the Emperor wanted to go to Africa to view a public works project - he'd need accommodations, transport, security, people to translate for him, cultural instruction so he doesn't inadvertently offend someone by using the wrong fork at dinner - stuff like that.

Masako's a commoner, and someone who was used to a certain level of freedom before she got married, working in a foreign company and being rather independent. Her father was a diplomat I believe, so she has experience in the wider world. However, this has not been her experience as a member of the royal household - the household ministry governs what she does, what she eats, where she goes, who she can be in contact with, everything. She was under tremendous pressure to produce a male heir for the chrysanthemum throne (the throne of Japan) and when she had Princess Aiko it was seen as a failure on her part. What's more, Aiko is very sensitive and was taken out of school because she was bullied by others in her class. When she returned, Masako would attend with her and hold her hand throughout. For a time there was heavy discussion in the Japanese media about if Aiko would be come the first empress of Japan in millenia, and what would happen if she would choose to take a commoner husband, or even a foreign husband. Then one of the younger princes (a brother of Masako's husband) had a little boy with his wife (Hisahito) and then Masako and Aiko were dropped like a bad habit by the media (who had all kinds of things to say about her because she was listed as having "emotional disorders" related to her time in the Imperial Household). She's hardly ever seen or spoken of now. Like OP mentioned, being in the royal family has been super hard on her and she seems to have no personal freedom.

[(Anonymous)]

Sometimes The Help are worse snobs than any royal. I can totally see the household boxing those two into a narrow little...er...box until they pop.

And I think SHE did at one point, didn't she?

[atelierlune]

I'm pretty sure something like that has gone down, yes.

[(Anonymous)]

I would agree with this comment more if it pointed out that her royal position is stifling and therefore "ruining" her life.

But you've framed it around him wanting to marry, and him marrying her, ergo ruining her life. She knew what marriage to him entailed, and she chose that. Not saying that there are times she doesn't necessarily regret that choice (or, more accurately, the consequences of it).

BTW, I am not Japanese, so I presume you're referring to the restrictive confines of her role and not something else altogether. I do agree that it sucks, and I wouldn't choose it for myself, but maybe she honestly and truly loves the guy.

[(Anonymous)]

From what I've heard, she didn't know what the marriage would be. She turned him down multiple times because she wanted to be a diplomat, then her family pressured her and finally she accepted after being told being a princess was basically like being a diplomat.

Of course, royalty aren't allowed to be involved in politics. And the royal "handlers" have all the power, not the royals. Masako can't even go meet friends or choose what kind of coffee she drinks.

[(Anonymous)]

Also even if she loves him, I don't know how much of consolation that is.

[rbhudson]

...Wait, how is this fandom?

[(Anonymous)]

Seeing how people are talking about it as thoroughly as they talk about ships... I dunno.

[(Anonymous)]

How are band members fandom? Or imaginary writer friends? Or the siblings from Dancing with the Stars?

[(Anonymous)]

It's Elisabeth of Austria 2.0
She seems happier now, though, since she doesn't have to produce an heir anymore.