beta
my absolute favorite dynamic, like this dude is insane but it’s written well instead of in an off putting way.
There is some nuance. ML is possessive and overbearing, but I believe it’s because he has no idea how to control his feelings. He has been in love with MC for his entire life, and it started before either of them had any idea what love is. Those type of emotions, especially the jealousy and betrayal (something as little as MC not rejecting his first girlfriend for him), during their formative years could have molded his personality before he had any idea of the situation. He doesn’t know that he loves the MC, romantically that is, and I believe his possessiveness comes from his fear of losing the MC again. We see throughout their life that MC has a tendency to push others away when confronted with conflict, and ML has been the one to chase him the whole time.
This however, is still an unhealthy and gross dynamic that I do feel bad for indulging myself in. While I enjoy these characters, I can still see that they are not healthy. I will be very disappointed if this story ends without any character development from the ML. If MC just falls into the “cage” that has been set, it will make all of this pointless. MC needs to find confidence in himself, and ML needs to realize his feelings and abandonment issues. Best case scenario: ML goes to therapy and MC doesn’t allow himself to be a doormat. ML can keep his possessiveness, I don’t feel like that’s going away as it stems from fear of abandonment (he doesn’t have this reaction to anyone else in his life), but hopefully it becomes more productive instead of him being a creepy freak who only wishes to keep the MC locked away from the rest of the world. Character development would take this obsession from a place of ownership, to a wish for MC’s own happiness. I believe that he truly loves MC, but his inability to understand his own emotions leaves ML to mistake his feelings for something far darker.
Overall, very compelling story and characters. I urge everyone reading this to not romanticize such relationships. The draw of these stories is not the relationship itself, but the journey that two characters go through to find happiness for themselves, and for the people they love. <333