uhh? somehow Plot Without Plot???

ramble warning:

i don't feel i often see something that REALLY reads like a Plot but without a Plot. like it was less that it was fast-paced or underdeveloped, per se (though it was a bit), but more like we were just dropped right into an ALREADY developing plot which left you feeling as if the emotions of the characters and situations and any of that pacing or development (no matter how slow or poor) were kinda..shallow, or hollow, because we'd not been given anything about who they were or what their relationship(s) were like. stuff was just happening with a level of drama that was too much for only the beginning of a story; people would show up as if we should already know who they were; character's thoughts would happen as if we should already have an idea of who the person thinking was, and there was prior thought that led them there. all of this would have vastly benefited from a few chapters in the beginning to give more context, which would have helped the overall pacing more as well. it definitely still would've had issues, though some of the current ones might have been better worked had we been given those few chapters at the start, and wouldn't have felt as weirdly lacking despite having a plot that was just...missing the plot.

it also really doesn't help that this is not only one of those recent tacky trends of bizarre titling, but this title is almost ENTIRELY irrelevant to the 'plot' we WERE given. it's a time one of these titles is literally clickbait - it's a kernel of truth that means almost nothing to the story we're actually given. and, come on, 'i'm straight but get hard for my friend' is such a common thread in so many BL that mentioning it much is almost unnecessary, unless it's plot relevant. but! in this case, despite the title, it's touched on EVEN LESS than those other manga? even the ones that have it where it's really NOT plot relevant? it's almost nonexistent in this one, and in fact this story handles the whole idea so much better by it just NOT really being a problem. yeah there's jealousy where the other is a girl, but it's handled more like the mere jealously where your partner might be seeing someone else and not 'because of course you'd be with a girl' resignation jealousy.

the combination of plot without the plot needed to make said plot make sense enough to feel like a full on plot is so strange to read (and that sentence strange to write). i feel like i want to have enjoyed this more but felt a disconnect because i wasn't given a build up to make what we DID have give any impact. no matter how light a story, i don't really mind when the plot's are bland or the clichés are heavy. i like both fine, and clichés can be fun and comforting reads too. and while i did like this one alright, and it was a little better further on when we knew a bit more about them, i still feel like this would have benefited from so much that had less to do with a lack of plot and/or development and more that we weren't given enough context to get INTO the plot we WERE given.

anyway..like i said, that was kind of a ramble, i know, but it was rattling in my head the entire time i was reading this. it probably bugged me because i wanted to enjoy the story more than i did, yet wasn't given enough to connect to the characters and thus their relationship and its progression. it's like it was always just out of reach the further the story went and that was frustrating.