#case files of jeweler richard is a weird case where it kinda feels like queerbait a lot of the time

[futuresoon]

i was on the bus for a while today so it was Reading The Case Files Of Jeweler Richard On The Bus Day (i have gotten through six volumes in this manner), and i gotta say, if any other series had the male co-lead say to the male lead, "i love you. i love you so much, i can't help myself" and have the narrative treat it as 100% platonic, i would've been very frustrated, but fortunately a nice japanese person on twitter has told me that it's just a very very slow burn so instead i get to claw my face off in a good way

[seeingteacupsindragons]

Why do you like The Case Files of Jeweler Richard? I've already finished the anime when it came out, it's beautiful (visually) and I like the characters but the story itself is kinda flat....? I don't say that I hate it,I quite enjoy it, but what disappoint me is the queerbaiting.....Is the novel like that too? What are your opinions on the novel as a whole (settings, plot, characters, etc)? Sorry for this long ask, btw, I don't mind spoiler.... Thanks if you want to answer this.....

Jeweler Richard is not fucking queerbaiting.

Oh my fucking God.

It's not queerbait.

There are lesbians in episode two. Jeffrey is gay! He has a boyfriend! Tanimoto is aro ace! There's a trans character in one of the side stories!

And for all that, Seigi and Richard are not baiting, either. Their relationship is queer as hell and weird, and so what if they haven't been confirmed to have kissed on the mouth yet? They called each other partners. They're devoted to each other. Seigi says he has to work for Richard because if he had any job other than being with Richard all the time, he would just. Quit his job and fly across the world if Richard needed him.

So what if it can't be clearly defined as romantic? That doesn't make their relationship less queer.

And this is one of the most important things about the series to me. One of the things that matters most. The series is so gentle and good and warm about queerness. It's about love and the way society and other people don't necessarily understand how your love manifests and will try to categorize and define it for you and it won't match how you feel. It's about the ache in your chest when you realize you can't be understood, that there's no word to express how you feel and no one else relates. It's about the terror of your own feelings and worrying that your love makes you a monster. That your affections will hurt people. That the way you are, who you are, the way you express your affections and your gender will be misunderstood and reviled by those around you.

Jeweler Richard is about the pain of growing and learning who you are and the way society won't accept it.

How is that queerbaiting? That is queerness. And that very same thing is what struck a knife deep into me and hit me exactly where I needed it.

And you know what? No, JR is not plot-heavy or plot-focused. It spends time with characters and their situations and meanders a little bit. I'm okay with that. It's soft and gentle and feels like a flower shop au with shiny rocks. I learn about so much from the books, about the world and weird little details because Tsujimura-sensei is so well-traveled and does so much research for the series and she likes to go on little tangents about them.

I love the characters. They're all so fucking weird. You don't understand how much of Richard's personality they cut. His snark. His weirdness. His disaster-man behavior.