Cressida's manga / #Childhood Friends(10)

Very rapey throughout the whole story, in classic old bl fashion (this was one of the first bl manga I read) the nostalgia really kicks in with this one.

Basically, the uke spends 15 years of his life suffering thinking his best friend could never like him back. He stays away from him for a long time but finally tries to be his friend again when he needs help with his daughter. He even has a very toxic relationship with a senior just as a way to punish himself. At last, the guy liked him the whole time and even confesses first, everything just works out fine by the end. All that angst was for nothing. When re-reading I would definitely skip the first 2 chapters.

A simple reencounter story, with some amazing artwork and heartfelt script. Adorable and wholesome.

These people really enjoy being in a committed relationship and I adore seeing it. Ps: pretend the last chapter doesn't exist(for own your good, DO NOT READ it).

Slow burn 10/10, genuinely heartwarming. I appreciate how much thought the uke puts into giving his answer after the seme confesses to him, he wants to be sure his feelings are deep before agreeing to date him. The same goes for the seme who is very respectful when it comes to the person he's been in love with for a long time, he never even considers playing immature games(like pretending his dating someone, ignoring him) so that the uke will realize he loves the seme faster, he genuinely doesn't want to pressure the uke into anything.

The seme is a lonely scary guy, but the uke approaches him anyway because he's nosy, seme falls in love extremely fast, and is quite pushy with the uke. It's pretty generic, but it has some cute moments.

The weird thing about this couple is that they try to make a simple situation into a complex one. Everything is stated quite clearly, they both love each other, have used their very toxic power imbalance to isolate each other and have a very gray relationship. They are both abusive, but the seme takes it way too far on multiple occasions. Once he came clean about everything, I could feel how regretful he was. The uke decides to be with him now that he has all the information, and they are allegedly on equal footing. Overall, it's an interesting read. The writing does acknowledge how messed up these circumstances are and attempts to present these often romanticized violent actions for what they are. Regardless of their self-awareness, this remains too much of a heavy story for me to reread.

It's quite an ironic plot; the person cross-dressing is terrified that his classmate will spread rumors about him and get him bullied. But as it turns out, said classmate was gay, had been the victim of bullying due to rumors, and would never do the same to another person. A wholesome story that builds a sense of gravity but ultimately chooses optimism. It's about rightfully expecting cruelty and being rewarded with kindness at every turn. Unabashedly hopeful in its portrayal of friendship and acceptance.

I'll leave it because of the healthy communication and supportive adults. But it's pretty boring and more time is spent being disgusted of each other than I would have liked.

Pain. So much pain. Basically only 1 and half chapters of them being happy. Not exactly a light read. Very complex story about the long terms effects of internalized homophobia, depression and untreated parental trauma. Too much work talk, whenever they started talking about work I stopped reading. Trigger Warnings: Depictions of child neglect, homophobia, depression and suicide ideation.