This is the first time it occurred to me that the way this author writes some relationships kind of structurally pisses me off. No one is ever active. No one strives for change. All of them are shackled by their flaws and continue to act in a way that exasperated them instead of choosing to act opposite to them. Everyone is unlikeable because no one has good qualities. No one is allowed to have more than a neutral expression. Every other pair feels the same cause they all have this structure and dynamic.
It’s like, the world the characters live in don’t push them out of their comfort zone and perform actions that are New. They aren’t allowed to be anything but stagnant.
I get that they’re “just like me frfr”, or the author just wants to write stagnant people thinking the entire chapter away, unable to overcome their fatal flaw and find themselves in the love, but also like. Reading about the teacher lowkey annoyed me. The storytelling doesn’t make me hope she finds love, it makes hope she finds a therapy dog and a friend or a hobby. Anything to make her a character that is able to pull my emotions.
And I feel like that’s what it boils down to. Some of these characters are never under any threat to change anything. The twin tailed girl and the delinquent were really cool until they stopped challenging and pushing each other to be a better person. The mangaka and the manager were really cool until they got together and (honestly I can’t remember much of this story anymore I just remember being unmoved by the writing, in any direction). They just… peter out.
Also a bit nitpicky but so many of the romances default to the punchline as “actually I’m totally not on the same wavelength as you about your romance” whether it be manager’s reaction after sex (“I’m seriously reconsidering our future as a couple” bitch. After having good sex for a whole two days? Set your boundaries), Main Character straight up not caring about delinquent girl’s feelings… twin tailed girl and delinquent girl 2’s whole dog thing. But at this point this is me not liking the thesis of this story…
I guess I’ve been following this story for a while and never really thought about it until now.