I watched The Eclipse (the series) and OMG I'm in Love?!?! ⚠️ SPOILERS ⚠️

Ya'll I watched The Eclipse the series over the last few days and... omg. I have so much to say so buckle up. Obv there will be spoilers! I also wanna mention that this will be full of very biased takes because I absolutely fell in love with Akk soooo imma be defending him.

Now that that's out of the way, first, can we talk about the couples? FirstKhao's chemistry?! I know I'm late to the game but man they blew me out of the water!!! They were so cute and wholesome (dw I've seen the OF edits, ik they're not always this way lol) and Akk and Ayan just pulled me all the way in! They both deserve the world and I will not hear otherwise! Now, the side couple, KanThua, were not my cuppa tea. I love Neo, I haven't seen anything with Louis in it but he's a good actor from what I've seen, and they look cute together, but they just didn't snatch me up unfortunately.

That leads me into the second topic, the plot (this is where it gets long, strap in). I believe this is the main reason the side didn't snatch me. They were definitely given the short end of the stick (this is before I found out that I hate Thua with a passion but we'll get to that). I would've loved so much more buildup than what we got from them. Thua's storyline just felt kinda off to me. We saw his stepdad say one or two messed up things to him, which ya eff him for that, but every other time he was pretty nice??? Maybe I'm just missing something but idk. Also the whole "Bruce Wayne" thing was eh to me. Kinda cute, kinda weird.

Now, Akk and Ayan's storyline???? Sign me uppppp! I love everything about it! I love that they are so there for eachother and literally picked eachother up off the ground mentally so many times. They need eachother and you can absolutely feel it. Then, also their individual storylines are just amazing. My poor babies. Ayan and dealing with his uncle's death and witnessing the terrible things at the school and getting bullied by the teachers and his declining mental health. Akk dealing with the manipulation of the teachers and his need to prove himself and his need to put everyone above himself and his declining mental health and ugh... sorry I could talk about Akk for ages, ya'll know how I get with my babies lol. All this to say I definitely came not knowing what to expect but stayed for Akk & Ayan.

The general storyline is... a doozy. The whole curse thing was so interesting and then it just... wasn't. But at the same time it was??? Idk it's so hard to place how I feel about this part of the plot. I don't understand the whole thing with Teacher Chadock's confession and that somehow affecting what was going on? Like sir, you still manipulated kids (specifically Akk) into doing awful things, I don't think all that happened is an excuse for that at all? Yes, it sucks and never shoulda happened but like... why act like that towards the students this whole time? And he didn't seem to show much, if any, remorse for his behavior either so... idk.

Now... let's get into ep 11 and Thua's whole thing. I will never ever ever forgive the character of Thua for what he did. I don't care how right he was (which he mostly wasn't), I don't care if he was speaking some facts, you don't ever out somebody like that!!! Esp as a character who we know has faced such bad discrimination and bullying for the same effing thing!!! It makes absolutely no sense and there are no excuses! The fear in Akk's eyes... ugh I wanted to punch Thua so bad ngl. The way that he also isn't even right about Akk 'creating the curse' and doesn't mention that he himself continued it after Akk saw the error of his ways and stopped. He made himself out to be squeaky clean when he honestly had the most blood on his hands after this whole thing. When he was cheering the episode before about finding the "one responsible for the curse" IT WAS HIM! AKK HAD STOPPED AT THAT POINT SO IT WAS ALL HIM! He also wasn't telling the truth when he said Aye was covering for Akk using their love as a cover! At first Ayan wanted Akk to tell everyone what he did... but then he saw what a fragile state of mind Akk was in and decided to try a different approach. Thua should've gone to Akk and Aye himself, he had no right to say anything he said without knowing the full story!!! THEN HE JUST IS FORGIVEN!!! NOO! I know that it's because of the cuts they had to make that we don't get to see the characters forgive him and whatnot but I don't care. He. did. not. deserve. to. be. forgiven. No one is changing my mind!

I could go on forever tbh so let's move onto the third topic... the pacing. I know this is the main complaint for this show and rightfully so. I really really wish they would've gotten the 14 episodes they were hoping for instead of the 12 they got. The pacing is just out of wack. The first half-ish is beautiful.... then it drags (slightly).... then it's rushed. Just disappointing, but not anyone's fault. The crew apparently thought they were working with 14 eps, we can't blame them, and we definitely cannot blame the actors.

Fourth, and final, topic: the acting!!! Uuuugh, ya'll! I'd seen Khao in a couple things and First in Not Me, but this is by far the best I've seen of them! They showed all the emotions and omg these dudes are professional criers, how are they both so good at it?! Btw, I see people talk about Khao's acting more than First's I feel like (could just be what I see idk), but First snatched me up! He killed every single scene, give me chills multiple times (Khao too obv) and showed Akk's character development flawlessly! All the supporting actors were obviously amazing too (special shoutout to my boy AJ cuz I love the twins)!

Anyways, if you sat through this half-rant, half-review, congrats! I honestly love this show and it's for sure going to be one I rewatch all the time and try to dig deeper into Akk's mind every time lol. Also if you read all of this and I didn't touch on something you wanted or you're just curious about my thoughts on anything (seriously anything at all), feel free to comment or repost or send me an ask, I don't mind!

axelle judges non bl shows > The Jungle

summary: The Jungle are a group of good-looking men that meet regularly in the secret bar Rendezvous owned by the mysterious bartender Hunter. When certain special women approach them, their whole self-built image shatters.

where to watch: youtube

grade: 7/10

pros:

the cast is awesome!

the acting was good from everyone, though the ones who impressed me the most were my already faves off, pat, nanon, mild & lookjun, who especially slayed considering it was her first main role! they didn't have to go that hard for this show lol

the aesthetics of this show are beautiful, be it the lighting, locations and especially the outfits! each girl's wardrobe was incredibly gorgeous!

cons:

GIRLLLLLLLLLLL. the writing!!! this is one of the worst writings from gmmtv, like... ever bruh! let's analyse everything that's wrong with it:

this show is some of the worst marketing failure ever. they really done advertised a silly 6-stories romcom like a dark, mysterious murder drama bruh!!! so when the viewers started watching the show, obviously we were not gonna like it & feel like it's super surface-level & dumb, bc they had built up our expectations for a completely different show. if this show has been advertised to be in the same vain as the three gentlebros for example, we would've have accepted its three gentlebros writing. but the issue is that we expected something on the level of ps: I hate you & we didn't get anything near that.

focusing on each story one after the other impacted everything badly in this show. first of all, it makes it so every ship (except pineaugust bc they got the most screentime) looks rushed AS HELL, especially the earlier ones like lee & mook, so the romance that we were supposed to feel? isn't here babes. secondly, bc each story is so separated, the link between them feels close to non-existent and the friendship between the jungle guys feel stick thin. MOREOVER!!! since each story is so separate, once a ship get together we barely ever see them on the show again, and the later characters like nathee, hack & pine, whose stories only start by ep 8 feel non-existent during the first part of the show! you literally cannot win with this way of doing the show lol. ALSO!!! bc each story is separate, every viewer had their favorite and the one they don't care about, which means that some entire eps were super boring & people got mad some ships got better development & screentime than others.

they made their female characters look so fucking dumb & useless, oh my lord. honestly it's even more insulting considering the same team created some of the most interesting & complex female characters ever in ps: I hate you, like... makes me wonder what they were on for this. only august is written with layers & an interesting storyline, and florence is alright since she flips the usual conventions of the male lead pursuing the female lead relentlessly on its head.

the male characters aren't much better, there's so many cringy parts where they try to look cool & be defenders of women but it doesn't work at all when they've been established as players who don't respect women. btw they look pathetic bc we are TOLD that they are players but never SHOWN so they have no credibility, also I love the boys & they're all good looking or whatever but idk they weren't emanating this cool, badass energy the showrunners wanted us to feel lol.

leemook's story gave me nothing. it was the most disappointing bc it was the first so that's when I realized my expectations of a gritty series wouldn't happen, but even then not only is their story basic but there's nothing to it, it's so basic & forgettable.

the nanonpunpun story was alright, imo naanfah was probably the most interesting male character in the show (he's black from not me but in a different font lmao), but their story was rushed & didn't have a satisfying conclusion at all. also they didn't really have much chemistry compared to nanonmild imo. lastly, bc their story is so early in the show but contains what was set up as the center of the show, kaewta's murder... once it's done & we know the truth we're just left like... alright there's 8 eps left, what's even the point lol. their story should've been done differently & solved at the end imo.

the plot twist of nanon playing twins... could've been good if it was actually a plot twist??? bc the viewer is aware there's two nanon characters it just fell so flat, the reveal to punpun's character seems so ridiculous & straight out of a low-tier lakorn from 50 years ago bc the viewer is not surprised one bit bruh.

hack's character is so icky & terrible. not only is he INTRODUCED into the show using his power imbalance to fuck a student's mother, but then he has sex with irin while she's blackout drunk & thinks he's pine, which is... r*pe obviously. but then he keeps playing these games & he's just fucking terrible & icky and made me feel so gross while watching this, which is such wasted potential since he actually had really great chemistry with lookjun. but yeah throw his whole character in the trash!

nathee & florence's story is so rushed & underdeveloped, which is kinda sad bc they had good chemistry & also were very fun together. but also tbh florence's insistance on having sex with nathee when he said no 500 times is literally coercion babes, if florence was a man doing this to a girl we wouldn't find it cute.

also please for the love of god luke I'm rooting for you, but why did you have to growl like a werewolf everything you wanted to look hot & angry 😭 this man is so unserious as an actor, wishing him luck in getting better lmao

as for the augustpine storyline, imo it should've started and ended the show. the "past" should've been at the beginning of the show so that 1) we immediately get context of what brought the jungle guys together and 2) we actually FEEL the 10 years wait that pine had to feel on the show for august to come back. it would've given so much more weight to the show imo.

would I rewatch it: only the offpat parts

This was in my top 5 shows I was the most looking forward to watch this year, and goddamn did it disappoint all of my expectations except for offpat being one of the best ships ever. I would not recommend this show except for the pineaugust storyline, honestly don't bother.

Wu Chang Jie Thoughts...

I've finally finished reading this massive series!

Just finished reading this massive series, and WOAH I have a lot of thoughts. Imagine you are in a Disneyland Ride. You're in the dark, you go in, fasten your seatbelt-- expecting to have a roller coaster ride. The ride begins to move forward, no ups or downs yet--then, it drops down. And down. And down. When you expect it to finally climb upwards, it drops you down again and again and you begin to wonder if you went to the wrong building and sat through a ride that only drops. Makes you wonder when you'll finally stop taking all that beating. This is that story. I have high respect for the author who is able to evoke that sort of feeling while reading the story. Countless times I've gritted my teeth in anger and want to step into the world and grab Xie Bi An so he can have the peaceful life he wants. I cannot stress enough how good this author is in making you feel just as beaten and battered as the main character. The first half definitely had the most impression on me in the story. The mystery, the hopelessness, the despair-- everything in it had been done well IMO. I agree with other people's assessment that if I was to rate the first half of the story, it'll probably be 4.5 or 5/5. The second half still kept me interested in what was going on, but it's not as interesting as the first half. I'll be more specific down below. If you don't want any spoilers, I suggest you stop reading here. !!SPOILERS AHEAD!!

First Half I loved the palace politics in the flashback. Everything was laid out nicely, and I love the contrast between how the Eldest Prince (ZZH) and the Ninth Prince (ZZX) were treated. The fact that they adored each other despite how different they were treated made the dynamic interesting to me. I didn't really mind ZZX acted like a spoiled brat. He was powerful, doted on, and he was used to getting his ways. I liked how the present was weaved into the past with mysteries around XZN and LBY. How we got to know about the past because of the crimes committed in the present. I couldn't stop reading. Second Half I consider the second half of this story after XBA remembers all of ZZH's memories. It wasn't completely boring, but it was sort of bland? I was expecting to have an idea about what XBA would do to make sure past tragedies wouldn't happen again, but the story just kept throwing him around. Basically I was expecting all the suffering to end, but it just continued LOL. Everyone was out to get XBA and he wasn't even powerful enough to defend himself. I'm not too disappointed in the second half since it's understandable all these characters moved for their own gain. XBA who didn't have any selfish desires would of course find it more difficult to fight against enemies who didn't care about killing people or breaking some rules that can lead them to the deepest layers of hell after death. Main Character I wish we saw a little more of XBA's urgency. I was invested in the whole Celestial being and Imperial destiny and how it breeds calamity, but we never really understood why XBA needed to go through all that BS. I also wished we had a plot point where XBA realizes how to fulfill that destiny and willingly take on power if it means maintaining the peace of the world. Because that's what he lacked on his previous life. He didn't have much urgency. For most of the story, it just felt like XBA was a billiard ball that world liked to toss around, and he's on the defensive. I definitely liked his change at the end but DAMN I wished we had more glimpses of that internal conflict and the moment he finally realized for himself that he needed to take on power to suppress others from causing harm. The Main CP Lastly, let's talk about the controversial. I hated FWS for tormenting XBA both in the past and present. I also hated how prideful ZZH was and refused to coax his brother in the past. But the way they acted based on how their characters were introduced was reasonable to me. It was incredibly frustrating, sure, but it didn't feel like it was put there purely for angst. The characters stayed consisted throughout the story, and their stubbornness really encapsulates how stubborn people could be imo lmao. The change in how they interacted changed a lot throughout the story and I find that interesting. We start off with a hateful FWS flirting with XBA, then ZZX's first love for ZZH, then ZZX's obsessive and hateful love for ZZH, then FWA and XBA's ignorance is a bliss love, then FWA coaxing XBA and acknowledging he was wrong for the things he's done in the past. One thing I noticed tho, I think the author has trouble writing fluffy smut cause the scenes were either kinda fluffy but still kinda noncon, or we just don't see it at all. But the hard noncon scenes always gave me a punch in the gut. !!SPOILERS END!!

Overall, I think this story has its own merits, and it definitely delivers as a dogblood novel. It definitely made me feel pain I haven't experienced before. It made me feel angry in a way I haven't been angry before (and not at the writer, but at the characters and their situation).

But would I reread this? No. Would I be reading other stories from this author? Nope, and it's not because I have beef with their writing, I just can't handle that much suffering anymore XD. If you like to suffer, I definitely recommend this novel.

As someone not a huge fan of Edwina, thank you for defending her lol. I am first and foremost a Kate defender/supporter. Do I agree with the way she went about some things? No. But she always put her family first in every scenario. You could see the love she had for Mary and Edwina and their well-being. Them and their love of her? I guess episode 8 showed it?

People need to realize that Edwina is only at fault for her cruelty against Kate and refusing to listen to her. Kate told her multiple times Anthony wouldn’t love her. He humiliated Kate at the races and Edwina didn’t care. She didn’t stick up for Kate or her father and mother after the Sheffields were cruel to them, etc. Anthony made enough “grand gestures” to imply that he had actual feelings for her - or at least what an 18 year old would believe to be love. Anthony. Is. At. Fault. when it comes to Edwina and her confusion.

Also people need to leave CC alone. Like you said, she has a right to ask for more as an actress, they didn’t have to do it. I won’t assume how she felt the direction the plot went, but I did side eye her a smidge during some Twitter debacles but I also kinda chalked it up to her being nervous about her first big role. I’m very glad she is no longer on there because I do not think that would’ve been good for her at all after the season dropped.

exactly, you perfectly summarised my feelings on edwina.

i found her behaviour towards kate to be horrible and that's something that merits criticism and was never addressed in the show. while kate may have made mistakes, her every decision was made with edwina in mind and i never felt like edwina acknowledged or appreciated that, or that she realised or cared about how much she hurt kate.

but yeah, for all anthony stans claim that he was upfront with her from the beginning bla bla bla, i found it perfectly reasonable that a teenager would romanticise his actions? even with kate as the voice of reason (thank god for older sisters) is an 18yo really expected to be on the receiving end of anthony’s speech in episode 2 and not romanticise it? teenagers fantasise for way less. of course what she took away from it was that Unlike Other Gentlemen who woo debutantes with pretty empty words, anthony was an honest and honourable man that may not wax poetry but would be there for her and she could always rely on. i’m not expecting someone that young and inexperienced to have the maturity of a grown woman and see the red flags when she's barely interacted with men in her life!

and yeah i’ve found cc annoying during the s2 promo (kinda felt like she'd built up a romantic version of edwina and anthony's relationship in her head that just wasn't there instead of acknowledging that anthony was an asshole to her character) plus the whole twitter debacle. i won't pretend she hasn't since received hate from the fandom cause she definitely has, but at the time of the whole poster mess kathony stans had absolutely no issue with her and were pretty excited to see her as edwina, which is why all the anger and blame was directed at the production.

but that's neither here nor there when it comes to her wanting more for her character, she was entitled to ask! it was up to the writers to say “yeah this is probably not a good idea but how about we go that direction?”. edwina could've had the same amount of screen time and cc the same amount of promo except it wouldn't be as a plot device that exists to stand between the leads, but as her own character. think anthony in s1. he got plenty of screen time and he was involved in simon and daphne’s story, but his character didn't solely exist to pose an obstacle in their story. he had an arc of his own that existed outside the main romance of the season.

It's funny Seon Ho is my favourite actor. Joo Hyuk isn't. Infact I wasn't even sure he was going to be good. I didn't think he was bad but I didn't think he was good either. This drama changed my mind. I honestly just like the character. I said I could even relate. If someone else who portrayed the character just as well as he did who I never ever saw on screen before it would be the same. It's that so hard to believe that there are people like that?

Jaken = Rin's Dad?

Okay, is this how a daughter treats their so-called father?

Most definitely not.

Rin and Jaken's relationship clearly screams of your typical sibling rivalry punctuated with cute and silly moments of playful bickering.

Yes, Jaken may technically be her main provider, but that doesn't necessarily equate to him being more of a father than Sesshomaru. If anything, he demonstrates more of a brotherly love towards her. As we all know, parents (which Sesshomaru embodies more based on real life patterns and parallels) will leave their older more capable children in charge of looking after their younger brothers and sisters. In this case, that would mean making Jaken responsible for watching over Rin and protecting her if need be. Ah-Un offers protection, too. Think of it as Jaken as the big brother and Ah-Un as the family dog who are babysitting while Sesshomaru as the parent of the household is away at work or taking care of business. I mean, they literally fit that description to a tee and I'm dying at the accuracy of it all! 🤣👌

[Quick! Someone write up a modern au where Sesshomaru finally gets out to have a nice date night but everything goes wrong in the most spectacular way. Like maybe Rin and Jaken catch a ride on Ah-Un to go spy!]

I recently revisited some episodes from The Final Act, and I couldn't believe how many moments like this there were where Rin got after Jaken or when she would "put him in his place" so to speak. Obviously, all of it is mostly harmless. I was only surprised by how often it occurred, not to mention how Jaken would just stand there and take it. Towards a supposed father figure, Rin's behavior is downright unacceptable. There's a certain level of respect a child is expected to show their parents/guardians, and that's just not what I'm witnessing here between them. Like at all.

Rather their dynamic has the nature of some sibling relationships like I mentioned above. So I really wish fans would stop pretending otherwise, because based on what we know of father-daughter relationships- healthy ones at least- they don't appear anything like what Jaken and Rin have. If you could please provide me other examples of where we've seen similar portrayals in fiction or in real life, then perhaps I can get on board.

Look, that doesn't have to mean that because Jaken isn't her father then Sesshomaru must be. They can both be her caretakers without necessarily filling that traditional father role. I'm just saying that if we're going to start assigning titles to characters, let's make sure we are accurate and truthful in our assessments. If you're going to label anyone Rin's dad, then it needs to be Sesshomaru. Jaken doesn't have precedence over him in terms of fatherly attributes, that just wouldn't make sense.

After all, this isn't about what you want to see, this is about what Rin very likely sees. It's safe to assume that she views Sesshomaru more like a father than she does Jaken. She knows she's safe with him (broadly speaking lol) and that he'll come for her no matter what. That sense of security and comfort is what a child seeks and what they should always feel in a parent's presence. She trusts and even idolizes him, just as a young and innocent child tends to do with their parents. At that age, parents are perfect and could do no wrong in their child's eyes. Idk about you, but this describes perfectly how Rin is around Sesshomaru.

Rin adores him and will follow him anywhere- yes, even into danger! That's what the innocence and unconditional love of a child will bring them to do if necessary. Fortunately, at the end of The Final Act we learn Sesshomaru takes Kaede's advice when he realizes that leaving Rin with her in the village is in her best interests. That way she'd be able to lead a more normal and safer life alongside other humans. Remember, Sessrin shippers, that doesn't mean he wasn't still a part of her life and didn't witness her become a young woman over the years right before his very eyes. Therefore, if they eventually do become romantically involved, then most if not all of those gifts had intimate and seductive intentions and it essentially constitutes as child grooming.

I understand from a Sessrin shipper's point of view why it'd be so much easier to claim Jaken as the father. In doing so, they diminish Sesshomaru's role in her upbringing. By refusing to acknowledge the real role he had in helping raise Rin (short periods can be crucial and impressionable too esp. in a child's early years so yes they did assist in raising her not only Kaede), these shippers are better able to justify how their filial-like relationship evolved into a romantic one. So yeah, I get it, if I were a Sessrin shipper I'd probably do the same. It's one of the more plausible arguments available to them, after all. "Let's pin Jaken as the father to fend off antis!" is the best chance they've got, but even so, it's still not good enough. But if you insist Jaken is indeed like a father to Rin, then Sesshomaru is most certainly one too. Who says she can't have two fathers anyway?

The thing is however much you want to deny or downplay what Sesshomaru truly means to Rin and vice versa, nothing will ever change or hide the truth of the matter. Please, stop acting like they're only traveling companions and nothing more. Some of y'all even go so far as to say that they're like strangers. Knowing potentially little about a person is not equal to a lack of love and affection. Making big assumptions such as this to defend your ship is actually doing you more harm than good. Let me elaborate.

According to your reasoning, if that's all Rin ever was to him was a companion and Sesshomaru had no real attachment to her, then what precisely is the basis of your ship? Recall that Adult!Rin doesn't exist yet, thus we have no real idea what she will be like or if she's even alive. So how can you make comments like that but then go on later to say "they have such a unique and unbreakable bond" or "only Rin can be the mother because she's the only human he ever cared for" if all that time spent traveling together didn't amount to much in the first place like you claimed to believe beforehand? Do you see how your rationalizing is confusing?

Contrary to what some of you may think, I'm not just saying all this because I'm an anti and I'm obligated to disagree with you, or whatever other excuse you want to tell yourself. Believe it or not, I'm attempting to give as unbiased and objective of an analysis I can based on widely accepted interpretations of family dynamics, development, and any history we know of.

Of course I respect that at times fans will perceive things differently since that's bound to happen. What's hard for me to wrap my head around however is the unwillingness of some fans- not exclusively Sessrin shippers- to apply basic common sense and sound judgment to their observations and deductions.

Looking at all our facts, then taking the small handful of scenes Sesshomaru and Rin do share together into account, one can logically conclude that their dynamic is akin to one found in a typical parent-child relationship. If you still fail to recognize Sesshomaru as a parent to Rin, then that's fine too. In the end, that won't really change the fact that he'd still take on a role resembling an adult figure overseeing a young child's care and protection. Be it as a vassal, guardian, what have you. Plus, nobody is saying here that Sesshomaru doesn't make mistakes regarding Rin's general well-being, but so do all parents. Overall, I think the majority of us agree that Rin is in good hands. Whether it's in his direct company or in his occasional supervision from his frequent visits to the village.

In other words, it doesn't really matter what exact title you assign him in relation to Rin, as the distribution of power is all inherently the same with any and all adult-child relationships. That bond never changes once you've established it either, seeing as it's a special kind of connection one can only form with a child and a child alone.

I was a teacher for a few years, and speaking from personal experience, you don't need to be a parent, per se, to take on a role of authority in a child's life. I know without a doubt that I could never and will never view any of those kids I taught in a sexual/romantic light later down the road; yes, not even once they become grown-ups who are independent and more than capable of making their own decisions. Those of you who disagree are usually missing the whole point though, because we're not trying to dictate what Adult!Rin can and cannot do like many tend to accuse of us doing. This isn't a question of taking away from her autonomy nor does it fall under "purity culture," which is why people shouldn't continue jumping to these outrageous conclusions and really listen for a change. You're deflecting from the real issue here when you choose to misinterpret what we're saying by ignoring the problem we're actually referring to. You cannot present a valid counter-argument if you persist in twisting our words.

Bottom line: once these kids become old enough to pursue a sexual/romantic relationship, of course they have that right if they're ready. All we're trying to say is you guys ought to stop pushing forward this it's-completely-normal-to-want-to-bang-your-adoptive-dad-since-you're-an-adult-and-can-do-as-you-please agenda and not expect backlash. Ship it if you want, but please stop acting like their romance would be the epitome of a pure and healthy relationship.

Sesshomaru may not wear his heart on his sleeve, but it's foolish to presume he didn't actually care about Rin during their whole time together just because he didn't openly express his feelings until the very end. Surely everybody can comprehend that people handle and process their emotions differently. The way Sesshomaru chooses to is completely valid for the most part, so let's cut him some slack regarding this already.

What I'm trying to get at is that any child whose life you played an influential role in will always be a kid in a lot ways to you even when they're old and wrinkly. Just as they will always picture you as the loved one who guided and protected them when they were most vulnerable and couldn't always fend for themselves. Can't we relate this to children we know personally and apply it accordingly?

Finally, I want to end on this note. Could you kindly take a look at these two images below for a second?

The reason I ask is because of something I recently read that's relevant to the topic. There was this pro-sessrin tweet I saw that stated Rin trying to take care of Sesshomaru when they first met is what a mom would do for a child, which in their opinion, translates to Rin being more like a mother than a daughter if anything.

First off: are you freaking kidding me????

Seriously, so now children aren't allowed to tend to their sick or injured parents?! Parents are apparently superhuman and shouldn't be offered a helping hand from a child, even if they mean well and want to help their parent who's in pain?? Now this Twitter user was mostly being a smartass, but at the same time, it was evident they genuinely thought they offered a valid enough point that warranted no further explanation or clarification.

Secondly, by saying this Sessrin fans don't seem to realize that in actuality they're contradicting themselves and proving the point we've been trying to make all along. Glancing at the first picture and moving down to the second, the role of the one being cared for and the caretaker is reversed. So then by their own logic, Sesshomaru IS in fact like a father to Rin.

What it comes down to is the names you give to the roles these characters play aren't as crucial as the dynamic they share. The specific characteristics of that dynamic are what define the importance of said role, not so much the name in the role itself. So real father or not, Sesshomaru and Rin clearly mean a lot to each other. Close relationships are defined and solidified by the devotion and belonging they have to one another, not solely by the duration of time spent together and their proximity.

Well, that's a wrap! I hope you guys got something outta this blog, and that you enjoyed or found some portions of it interesting. I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject from this fandom, but only engage in conversation if you plan to be respectful. Thank you!