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Collection Founder: @quasiquack666 Collection Moderator: @heartrenderscove
IT NEEDS TO BE SAID!!!!
There was absolutely no need for romance in eleceed to begin with; it should've remained a story about platonic relationships
But nooooo, as if Jiwoo×Jiyoung wasn't unbearable and painful enough already, now the comic is set to butcher both gestella and Kayden's characters.
The thing about writing good romance is that, the characters should have
1) Proximity to each other over a period
2) Shared circumstances/values
3) Show the readers that they are equals and can rely on each other
Isn't is ironic that kayden×kartein checks all the 3 but kayden×gestella doesn't?
Their whole relationship is based off letters and misunderstandings, they DON'T EVEN KNOW EACH OTHER'S PERSONALITY
And as quasi pointed out, it's far too late to develop that kind of a bond, especially because kartein is right there!!! Even if KayStella becomes canon it will always be a cheapened version of what Karkay is
Seriously if you want to read good romance in action, read:
1) Unholy blood
2) Spy×family
Eleceed's author has already shown his incapability for writing romance lol
My Gay Agenda aside, it honestly feels really late for Gestella to appear as a love interest for Kayden?
She only first appeared in Chapter 294, which seems like the middle of the comic. And the writers didn't even add backstory for Gestella and Kayden (like they did for Kayden & Kartein or Kayden & Pluton). They clearly don't know anything about each other.
(More detailed spoilers under the break. Screen readers stop now)
There's no way Gestella would believe how sappy those letters were if she knew Kayden, nor would Kayden have been so distrustful of her with Jiwoo if he knew that she had a decent personality (similar to his understanding that neither Kartein or Pluton would likely hurt Jiwoo, which is how he led Kartein to Jiwoo's house and only fought Pluton for jabbing at his ego rather than solely because he discovered their location).
Developing a relationship for KayStella from square one in the middle of the comic sounds like a clusterfuck waiting to fail.
Especially when the whole current basis of their relationship is them being pissed off at each other based on misunderstandings.
The forced romance only feels more jarring when Kartein and Kayden had the perfect romantic setup in contrast. They had a clear background from how they talked to each other, they knew how to get on each other's nerves, they could trust each other (in a bare sense but still), and Kartein was introduced in Chapter 136 which gives readers plenty of time to get to know him. Kartein has several major development arcs since his introduction and only became closer to Kayden. Kartein is a well-developed character whose relationship to Kayden never felt very forced or contrived solely for a romance plot. Kartein is actually a character by himself before he would be romantically inclined.
Therefore, the writers knew how to set up a character to have long-term development alongside Kayden while also getting development by themselves. So if anything, Gestella should have been the one introduced early on so we could get to know her.
I'm just pointing out that it's a mistake logistically for her to be introduced so late, compounded with having no shared background to Kayden. Their relationship will almost certainly be inferior to one that is well-developed over the majority of the comic versus halfway through.
Because personally, I adore Gestella, stupid plotline aside. So the way the writers throw both her and Kayden under the bus for the forced romance plot really pisses me off on so many levels. The plot feels utterly disrespectful to their development. It makes Gestella yet another forced female love interest (which sucks even worse when the only main female characters are made solely for the males). Then randomly shoots a romance plot at Kayden even though he's been fine this whole time as just a cat dad to Jiwoo.
Again, Gay Agenda aside, even my Het Agenda is ruined by this. How am I supposed to ship their canon selves on such a shit foundation? (Although my headcanon ideas for them are still raging; I'm too much of a simp for them separately to not pair them together. Fuck)
Meanwhile, Gay Agenda at full rainbow power, Kartein and Kayden is obviously the queer romance that we will never get in canon. They were the perfect setup and have been since their first chapters. This forced heteronormative nonsense is why queer pairings are the majority of fandom ships, let's not lie.
(Shoutout to @heartrenderscove . Our convos make me realize all this shit)