Let's talk about Leo and Fiat

I can't believe it's over. "What am I going to watch now?," crossed my mind during the final moments of the last episode. A few minutes ago I finished the 4th round.

I found Fiat and Leo back in the day in TharnType: 7 Years of Love where they gave us the first glimpse of their undeniable chemistry that knows no rival and stirred up quite a drama in our beloved TT's relationship.

So let's take a brief look back on how Leo and his baby cub Fiat debuted. Fiat took off as an impulsive and childish villain who tries to hit a nail between Tharn and Type despite of Leo's efforts to stop him without realizing that Fiat's true feelings belong to him. Leo, who practically raised Fiat is willing to do anything for him out of love that has grown since their childhood. The disaster that this unconditional love creates paves a way towards their romantic relationship. The disaster that also puts Type in harms way but does not fall flat on either of their stories. After all, Type needed this little nudge to acknowledge Tharn's worth and push their relationship forward from the standstill where Type's conservative mindset had left it.

It was only natural that I would pick up the spin-off series "Don't Say No" which dives deeper into the stories of Fiat and Leo with whom I already had fallen madly in love with and it does not disappoint. Just like the Korean tv-series "It's Okay Not to be Okay", both rom-coms dig deep into personal growth, tackle mental health issues, family affairs and the healing power of love. The narrative hits home with the harshness on how our family issues and social affairs transform not only the society we live in but our lives individually. You can love or hate our two heroes but one cannot ignore that they are a fine example of ordinary people and their emotional mess no matter how strong they pretend to appear. In all honesty I could read Fiat like a book. I've met him before- he lives in me. I, too am an emotional person but show it to only a very few people just like Fiat opens his vulnerable side only to Leo. Also a Leo resides in me- my affectionate self who takes care of my close ones unconditionally like Leo does. So when you look closely, those two young men make a one person. They are two sides of the same coin offering one another a satisfaction of revealing their true selves. One needs the other to care for them and another needs to be needed.

I appreciate Fiat's character- he is vulnerable, immature, reckless, reacts before he thinks. He is an emotional boy with a deep soul who is begging to be loved and whose self-defense is counter-attack. As a child who escapes from abusive home and is welcomed by Leo's family, he awakens Leo's nurturing, protective, fatherly side. Leo who himself is a kid, maybe a year or 2 older, ends up taking care of Fiat. Together they complete each-other, create an unbreakable bond and along the way fall in love yet both lack courage to confess that love. They are a fine example of how important honest communication is and how misunderstanding one-another can result in mistakes that can't be undone and trigger saying things that can't be taken back.

The series indicates that loving-kindness goes a long way and reminds us to keep an open mind. It proves that patience, understanding, caring about one-another, ability to listen, as well as acceptance, tolerance, and forgiveness are crucial to not only for personal healing but also fundamental for building strong, long-lasting, nurturing relationships which stick through tough challenges whatever those may be. The perfect imperfection is the underlying beauty of Leo/Fiat's history. Presenting complex stories and personalities like these help to build kinder, more mature societies where judgement, victim-blaming, 'slut' shaming has no place. Wasn't this the point that Leo's mother was trying to make?! "You've got nothing to apologize for or feel bad about," she said, "you weren't even dating Leo at the time." Isn't our society exactly like Fiat's fussy multi-layered persona? Shall we follow his lead and with little effort change our community for the better one step at a time. I have faith that gradually we will create a more beautiful world for all. One just has to try. "You can't or you haven't tried someone once said," Leo quoted.

Here I raise a glass to all real life Leos and Fiats. Cheers!

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