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This hurts really fucking good. Alex (MC) has to carry the burden of a decision he was pressured to make many years ago that still haunts him and his (non existent) love life. Nathan (ML) is deeply hurt after falling for Alex as he is, not long after the confession of said love, let down by him. Painful re-encouter, from love to hate, a huge misunderstanding (not the annoying kind tho). Good, painful soup.
This hurts deeply, tragically, and yet beautifully. It's what happens when a person falls for another person's soul under the circumstances of deception. When a person yearns to the point of destroying himself and being willing to die for his love, or lack of it. Authentic feelings blooming from faulty soil. The conclusion after all the pain is satisfying nonetheless.
(Season 2+3) This is a slow-burn-tuned-piping-hot, gut wrenching, deep type of angst. The reunion of two people with their own baggage, a toxic situationship, hate fucks, internalized homophobia, insecurities, religious trauma, (internalized) shame, it has all the painful aspects, packaged as a chase arc that changes its course and inevitably leads to a magnetic, painfully deep connection between these two. This is the FINE dining of angst right here.
This is just a mess. It hurts like when you step on Lego or walk on glass shards (and you'll see a lot of glass shards, cutting, and blood here lol).
You've got the love triangle (or more so abuse - love - triangle), you've got the constant self harm and trauma (flashbacks), you've got two MLs that kinda suck for their own reasons, and amidst all that, a deeply hurt, tormented MC who can't stop crying.
This hurts hot, like a kinky type of pain with a good sprinkle of angst. A sort of forbidden, hidden, passionate relationship born out of deception, which creates tons of tension. One child who should've been the alpha and is larping as one while trying to hide his contempt for the other, the other child living in the shadows serving as the actual alpha, realizing he's set up by the MC's family to replace him, yet he doesn't want to be the source of pain.
The guide of an S++ esper dies in the battlefield, leaving the esper deeply traumatized and unstable. Said guide is however reborn in the body of a low ranked guide, yet no one except one person knows. The MC did not witness the esper's descent into pain and bitterness, however he deals with the aftermath in the body of a person the ML doesn't recognize at first. However, bit by bit, the ML is reminded... Flashbacks of their relationship together make this even more painful.
The angst is layered thick here - the MC (an S rank esper) deals with a lot of trauma and doesn't let anyone near him, including guides. This leaves him weak and burnt out after every battle, yet he wants to keep up a successful image. An S rank guide turns his world upside down as he, gently, breaks down his walls, revealing all the pain, and confronting his own. This is painful in a beautiful way, like a much needed hug after crying until you can't breathe.
Yet another guideverse with lots of angst. The nonamed (special grade) esper had a tragic pairing with his first guide that left him deeply hurt and wary of getting guiding. Additionally, the gates that open up and plague Earth seem to be connected to the existence of the nonameds, leading one to believe their eradication would make the gates disappear as well. This leaves the MC in crippling guilt and mental anguish, while his new personal guide is deeply attached to him.
The thickly layered angst here comes from the fact the MC isn't a masochist nor does he particularly enjoy the d/s play, yet endures everything because he knows the ML, a sadistic dom, is into BDSM. Not only that, the ML sets a clear boundary when it comes to dating while the MC secretly wants to date. He doesn't derive any pleasure from the pain, but from the fact he could satisfy the ML and keep him close with the hopes of dating him at some point.
Mind the Gap