LeatherKitten

Same, I just fast forwarded through it all to see his dad's pov like dude's missing him but won't call him? And he def was homophobic but the town people like him and the main leads feelings and his relationship with father are sidelined, it's frustrating. Wish author include it at some point or another cause it feels like injustice somehow.

Ok, now that the story is completed, I can fully express my feelings a bit more as it never did get better. (This will get long, but I’m sorry. I must. ) The story has a “get over your pain and forgive people for wronging you if they have a good reputation with the community” sentiment, and I can’t vibe with that. “Your parent’s reputation is too good, they’re so nice, there’s no way they behaved badly or said that to you.” “How could you stop contact? Your parent is awesome!” Is exactly the kind of gaslighting that leads to mistreated people feeling like they made it all up. Parents like the MC’s father only become open minded and chill as a way to repent or ease their guilt of the past. He even took in a “pseudo child” and everything. As long as they get to start over on their own time with a new kid, everything is cool. They can ease their own conscience. The fact that he never contacted his son or apologized confirms his intention of not wanting a real redemption or repair of the relationship, as wiping the slate completely and starting over is easier than admitting you messed up. It’s giving “Omni Man ditching Mark and making a praying mantis baby as a replacement” vibes. Now if the author had of pointed this behavior out and actually elaborated on this toxic tactic and why it’s harmful, this would have been a cool story, but they don’t. It’s treated as the right thing to do, and…no. Just no. The MC is treated like he was the one who “overreacted” “misunderstood” or was weird for leaving. It’s his word against the entire town, and you can’t win against someone who has built up a flawless reputation with everyone else despite what they did to you. The last page really sealed the deal with the older guy saying “yeah he was super chill with this kind of lifestyle” *eyeroll* It really did become a mess, the romance felt very contrived. This could have been a great psychological story, but it siding with the homophobic parent really is an odd choice for a BL. If you gifted me this book as a queer person, I would assume you were trying to spite me. It’s almost offensive, actually.

Right? Completely sidelined. And for a romance that isn’t even that good? Mc fell head over heels out of nowhere and black hair had the personality of a smooth brick. Zero chemistry. And at what cost?

worst part is that this story had such immense potential all for it to go to shit :(

A darn shame. :/

i completely agree. the main thing with the story was supposed to be the conflict between the two sides of the father: the one akira knows and the one shuu (and the town knows) but instead of addressing it the author pushes it aside to focus on just the fathers good parts to make you and the mc feel sad abt how much we missed out and how akira is "sooo mean" for not coming back. at the BARE MINIMUM shuu and akira shouldve unpacked akiras past trauma with his father, and it shouldve been more than a couple panels. and if akira didnt want to ruin shuus image of his father, i wish we couldve seen him come to that decision on his own, make peace with his father and maybe visit the grave or smthng but idk. the fact that in the little extra it showed shuu seeing his dad in the dream instead of akira is crazy considering how the story is built upon the idea of what they had missed out on together. regardless of how sad shuu felt abt the dads death hes still AKIRAS FATHER HE HADNT SEEN FOR YEAAARSSS. also im so sorry for the paragraph in ur replies bwahahsushd

* shuu seinf akiras dad in the dream instead of akira seeing his dad. it wouldve been nice for them to sorta make peace with each other even if it were a dream but noooo.