dude.... this series is rly getting to me. i think its that theres rly so many issues that these two have (individually or together there's a lot, so in combination it's even more. lol) but theyre still trying and ercella finally has some hope after 18 years (and more?) of her life pretty much being not in her control. initially i wanted them to work thru this shit for vicente's sake--both his parents suck as parents lol--but the way this series is written also makes sure to highlight the various issues and pressures ercella has been dealing with, whether social, familial, or internal... the internal being exacerbated by everything else lol. there's a lot of miscommunication and/or lack of communication here, but while it does get a little frustrating it's still in a way that's understandable, like "oh, i see how this developed this way" and it hurts😭
one thing i appreciate is that it doesn't feel like the way this is written is trying to explicitly excuse ercella's treatment of vicente. revealing her past and the pressures she faces kinda /explains/ it, but it's not treated as "that's why she had no choice but to treat vicente that way;" rather the narrative and ercella herself recognizes that she still shouldn't have treated him as she did. i like that this series is kind of a "redemption of the shitty parent" but from the perspective of the parent. there's some aspects that are pretty questionable still but it doesn't feel as contrived as some stories where a main character has abusive parents and later on in the series the author tries to justify it.... just feels like weird apologism lmao. i feel like this series could still potentially mess up with that, but i guess i'll see how her relationship with vicente continues... also hopefully we'll see more from harsen, i'd like to see a dad that does't leave all the emotional hard work to the mother and actually does something, for both his son and wife. for now im hopeful for ercella's development as well as the relationships she has