I think you have to consider how their relationship started. Cirrus started liking Skylar while Skylar still hated him for all the blackmail stuff. It started off super toxic with Cirrus being the one in power.
The fact that Skylar got to the point of wanting to date Cirrus after the blackmailing should be notice enough that he genuinely does like him. How he refused to believe what Dongshik had told him because he trusted Cirrus. Then how hurt he was when he found out he’s been lied to this whole time.
Skylar definitely has a harder time showing his emotions (makes sense considering his backstory), but he definitely shows it plenty of times, such as that one time where he camped out with Cirrus at the spa after Cirrus chocked his step-mom. Cirrus was full on crashing out and pushing Skylar away but Skylar stayed because he was worried, and he verbalized this to Cirrus. Once things calmed down, he kept checking up on how he was doing without pressuring him to explain what’s going on. Even Cirrus notes that Skylar is the first one to ever care (this all happens before they started dating btw, Skylar had no obligation to stay the night, he could’ve gone home).
Cirrus is more obsessive/outward with his love (again, makes sense considering his backstory) which I think throws most ppl off into believing he likes him more.
you both cooked so hard, i bet y'all wouldn't even write an essay for school. (i read the whole thing btw)
LMAOOOO (you’re right tho)
You're invited to my Litc tea party
(●'◡'●)ﾉ
Right?? Love the whole analysis.
So I don’t completely disagree with you. But I also want to emphasize two points you made. You said the one-sidedness is over exaggerated because we are seeings things from Cirrus’ pov and cirrus is too obsessed. However, you also said Skyler does not express himself a lot because of his trauma.
So I agree with both but I also feel like those two points combined make it more nuanced than you’re saying. Yes, Cirrus’ obsession is a contributing factor, but just as you said, Skyler’s trauma is holding him back. So, that is definitely a major contributing factor as well.
Cirrus, while not perfect, has chosen numerous times to at least attempt to change, moved on from his past and face the trauma he has. Skyler is the opposite. Skyler avoids his past and likes to pretend it doesn’t exist. That’s understandable, but when you start things like relationships where it depends on being open, brave and trusting with one another, the lack of growth is definitely damaging.
So I definitely still feel like while you are right, Skyler avoiding his past is still also a part of the problem. And it is because of that, that their relationship feels one-sided. Also after their fight and reconciliation around chapter 100-104, Cirrus apologized and promised not to do anything like that again, and he kept it. He has not been as obsessive since.
The consequences he’s getting now are things he did before his development and before he’d started dating Skyler. So while he still deserves the karma, this also should not diminish his current growth. His current self is not as it once was.
That’s why I feel like the one-sidedness issue itself (not every problem in their relationship since most of them are Cirrus’ faults) is mainly due to Skyler’s lack of growth this season. I am hoping and confident that in future chapters Skyler will also have his own growth moment after facing his traumas.
Lmao yeahh I would need 10 business days to write a sentence.
I think my point was misunderstood (or maybe I worded it poorly, so let me try again):
We see things from both POVs. Skylar does express his feelings, just not as overtly as Cirrus due to his trauma. And maybe I’m missing something, but I really don’t understand what ppl mean when they say Skylar doesn’t try in the relationship/hasn’t changed? I mentioned an example of things he’s done before they started dating (the spa camp out) but even after dating I feel like we’ve seen a bunch.
Im copying the below part from another comment:
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The first chapter after they started dating, Skykar brought over fireworks so that they can celebrate it together since Cirrus had missed the festival. When Cirrus talked about how it’s lonely living alone but he’s used to it so it should be fine, Skylar suggested they live together during college so they he’s not lonely anymore and they can take care of each other ther. He went and got a haircut for Cirrus despite him feeling more comfortable with long hair since it’s easier to hide behind it When that kid from Cirrus’ elementary school tried to confront Cirrus, Skylar immediately tried comforting him by leading him away from the situation. When they continued to be followed, he got angry on his behalf and got into a fight (this is before knowing Cirrus’ backstory. He had no context to why the kid was mad but just didn’t like how he was treating Cirrus). Skylar never pushed him about the topic of his past, saying it didn’t matter since it was in the past. And then when Cirrus does tell him, he sees through the facade Cirrus puts up and instead he comforts him and tells him it’s not his fault that any of that happened to him. He declines to hangout with Chan-il, despite them being friends before he started dating Cirrus, because he became more understanding and acknowledging of Cirrus’ feelings of jealousy (and they both apologize for that fight that happens at school).
I agree with you that Skylar was always paranoid to be seen with Cirrus because he didn’t want to be outted again, but he does acknowledge this and apologize for it. Like that one time where they went on the movie date to make it up to Cirrus after he’d pushed him away at school. Obviously he’s not perfect and still lets his past of being outed haunt him every now and the (like when he had Cirrus hide out in the bathroom), but to say he never even tried and just constantly pushed Cirrus away is erroneous. We barely get any chapters of them dating tbh but from what we got, they both did try to better themselves. I think the best example of this is Skylar deciding to trust Cirrus’ word and believe he had a reason for everything, despite his trauma of being screwed over by his old bff. That’s huge growth. Both Dongsik and Chan-il told Skylar what they knew, but he places his trust in Cirrus. That was him prioritizing Cirrus. Him trying to move on from the past by not jumping to conclusions. For the same outcome to occur and him to be wrong in placing his trust in someone is pretty
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I don’t mean to diminish Cirrus’ growth at all! The old Cirrus definitely wouldn’t have apologized for this things he’s done in that school fight. But again, that doesn’t erase his past actions which is why I’m able to understand how characters are reacting to him these past few chapters (although it’s sad ). Although they’re far from being perfect, I think they’ve both shown growth and hopefully we see more of it and get to resolve their trauma.
Ah i see your point now. I was honestly kind of wondering if I misunderstood you as well so thanks for clarifying :).
Im glad i could get it across, I think I worded it kinda poorly in my first comment hahah
After re-reading the entire story from the beginning cause I need a refresher, while I don’t fully agree, I actually understand where the people arguing that Skyler does not like Cirrus are coming from. I personally feel like the more accurate conclusion is: Skyler does like Cirrus to an extent, but Cirrus LOVES Skyler while Skyler only likes him.
But I don’t blame people who think Skyler doesn’t like him in that way considering if you re-read it Skyler has NEVER once stated that he loved or even liked Cirrus romantically. Not only did he never tell Cirrus, but we as the readers have also never heard him say it from any of his internal monologues. The closest we got is him suggesting they date, but that was only as a suggestion to try things out since he knows Cirrus confessed. It felt like a trial to see if Skyler could actually potentially develop feelings for him.
I think this makes the fight they had in chapter 100-101 even worse because Skyler, someone who has never once stated he had feelings for Cirrus, told him that he’s only second choice cause he couldn’t have Chan-il. When they made up after it didn’t help either because after Cirrus stated something along the lines of “I’ll wait until you like me back” insinuating that he believed Skyler’s words about Chan-il, Skyler never tried to correct him.
The issue with Skyler not providing any verbal affirmation about his feelings is he has to make up for it through actions. Like if you’re the type of partner who doesn’t like verbalizing your love, you’ve gotta show it some other way you know? But because of Skyler’s trauma, he avoids being overly affectionate so he can’t even do that. So he’s never too affectionate through actions or words.
From Cirrus, perspective, it’s fair to say he still probably sees Skyler as someone who doesn’t like him as much as Chan-il yet at least. Which is fair considering how lukewarm Skyler always is about their relationship. I say lukewarm cause as a partner, his contributions to their relationship is not bad, but not good either. He’s just kind of there while Cirrus is doing the heavily lifting of fighting for him, showering him with I love you’s and I like you’s, getting him gifts etc. He’s showing his love through both words AND actions.
Skyler on the other hand, avoids him though actions, never verbalized he liked him romantically, never verbalized to the readers either that he liked him romantically, and told Cirrus he’s only with him cause he can’t have Chan-il and never clarified.