As someone who consumed a lot of darker bls and rooted for Yahwi in YTC, this is the most pathetic cop-out. Sissy (novel) was more gratifying and enjoyable than this. JoIan's arc has been delicately handled until the end, and Ch 99 and 100 were a complete whiplash. I am baffled at how bad it is, but I get that rushed endings are unfortunately common due to a number for circumstances. Not only were TJIan wrapped up so fast with a confession so unfulfilling and a conclusion so lackluster and lazily built on what TJIan fans have been insisting are boring and uninspired (JoIan's camping, stargazing, "It's a secret"), TJ's entire character was handled so terribly. This man has been stuck in the gang bc leaving has terrible consequences! Surely, he could only keep moving forward to survive. Ian's struggles throughout the story shows exactly how this life wasn't easy to leave behind; It'll keep following him and haunting him, hurting those he comes to care about at present (Jo). Ch 99 completely obliterates the weight which made TJ's arc more complex than realizing that he only wanted one thing in life (Ian, who he never had to fight for anyway) bc despite leaving the gang and the supposed benefits/power that comes with it, his underlings are still tending to him! After he spent only 2 years in prison! And he received no retaliation whatsoever from the gang which he suddenly ditched. And TJIan are in the same state. It was THAT easy and everything amounted to nothing! Jo's role in the story was unfortunately so cheap and predictable, too.
I agree
I like Ian more than any other characters. I do like TJian but TJ lacks so much fucking character development. He showed some in season 2 but in season 3 it was basically fucking invisible. It's like he just glide through it. People will disagree with me but Ian character is the most consistent. People prolly hates him but he is such an emotionally complex character. First, I thought the story would be good with either ML but the author really disappointed me in season 3. Just feel like she got lazy and fed up with it
Totally. This left me with far more questions than answers. Ultimately this was Ian and TJs story, so I didn't get involved in all the comment drama. I simply didn't care. But I did feel let down by the huge gaps in story telling, especially around TJ.
I agree, my problem with Tj is that he’s just the abuser, no redemption, no normal feeling of development between him and Ian, he’s just there to fuck, kill people and terrorize Ian, his story could’ve been a lot deeper and maybe then I would’ve made him end up with ian. I think doyak gave up and went with the easy option
So, here's a rec if you wanna see good, high stakes noir BL: Gold Class Fighter (danmei/Chinese novel). Full translation on chrysanthemum garden.
Wet Sand truly delivered on its art and aesthetics, but failed to complete the world it's built on. It had a promising beginning/introduction to the world, too. At the end of the day, it's romance first before noir, but when you read other noir BLs, you'd know there was really no excuse to be sloppy with the system when that's the major conflict between the "main" couple.
Gang politics aside, I found Missing Love to have also delivered its themes much better than Wetsand. It wasn't really a love triangle, but there was a looming 2nd person whose role in the story wasn't cheap and predictable.