I meant to like your comment but I will say that I personally understand why dohu grew his hair out, to me it was less of a character choice and more like a symbolism for negative change and letting himself go. And I think Seo once told him that the short hair suited him better, so he mighta felt it was pointless to keep it short after they broke up if seo wasn't even gonna see it. That's my take at least. But I agree with everything else you said, I hate unnecessary sexual violence and angst, and I think seo's family drama is super irrelevant at this point in the series and it makes me wonder just how long this story is going to go on for since neither the main plot OR the sub plot are even CLOSE to being finished. (Also I love can't think straight, red string, unsleep, and sunny days so ty for mentioning them)
That makes sense. I think I'm just a bit sad for it because now he just looks like a stereotypical hot protagonist. And I'm getting a bit bored of the same faces and bodies in BL. I understand perfect bodies when it makes sense (eg. Ho was a military guy & haebeom does a lot of physical labour in Our sunny days) but I really love when stories have a bit of diversity, and Dohu to me represented something a bit different from the norm. So I kinda just find it a bit more boring now and I liked the representation of sensory overstimulation before
Yeah he does look a bit basic now if you get rid of his eye bags, but I think dohu will probably start going back to short hair once everything is resolved, as symbolism of his finally finding comfort again. The only issue is the fact that we have to wait for who knows how long for that lol
I'll say it: I miss Dohu's silly haircut. Yes it was awkward but it made him unique and not look like every other manga protagonist. Also his explanation for cutting it makes sense as an autistic (I assume) person, sensory overload from a fringe does sound like an overstimulating nightmare as a fellow autistic. But for no discernable reason that just went away.
Now it's a small qualm to have, but I think these grievances mirror a lot of my general emotions towards season 2 as well. I don't like time jumps at the best of times, and here it made little sense to be so long. The issue, while I understand why it could have hurt, could have been solved SO easily if Dohu had just explained. Then we wait ages and ages for them to finally give in and make love, and it's basically non-con? Why do so many BL make us pine for intimacy then give us something disgusting and violent? For fuck sake. I'm tired of violence in BL sex for no discernable reason. Anyway, I'm sincerely disappointed by a lot of things and I truly don't understand the author or why they have gone in such a different direction to season 1, that was SO popular and beloved. I don't even know if anyone cares anymore about the issue with juheon's family or whatever it is. They just don't feel like believable characters anymore, and I kind of hate manipulation and revenge plots. I would much rather season 2 be focused on his healing if anything. Sigh. I'm just upset when a perfectly brilliant story goes in such a worse direction - like, the Pizza Delivery Man and the Gold Palace, on or off Vs work love balance, and I think I'm forgetting another big one but you get the idea (I'm also not a big fan of s2 red thread quest but I think that's more of personal taste than it being a bad story)
I'm not trying to claim I know how to write a good manhwa, but when I look at stories that have stayed brilliant throughout, like Unsleep, Can't think Straight, or Our Sunny Days, it feels like the authors have continued the theme and tone throughout different seasons, even if there are different conflicts and developments, and kept in the core of what the audience loved about S1.
Anyway, rant over, it's just disappointing when authors change so much of the core of a story.