u/Moonbunny120

Ive been thinking about Loona a lot lately and while I missed most of the pre-debut era, I thought it was an interesting way to get a group interest before debut. The whole thing was very ambitious and it most definitely paid off, with the following that Loona got afterwards. I liked the way they did solos and sub-units and I really like lore too so in the end I was very invested. It got me thinking about other ways Kpop groups managed their pre-debut eras.

I liked the way Purple Kiss did it as well (Purki deserved so much better...). They had solos and two songs in completely different styles, My Heart Skip a Beat being rock and Can We Talk Again being a poppy ballad. Then their debut having this dark witchy sound. I'm sad we never got full versions of the solos (except Ireh's). It wasn't as extensive as Loona's but showing every member's talent individually was a good idea in my opinion.

Lastly, I liked KQ Fellaz. At first I was thinking it was a dance crew before realising that it was a pre-debut Kpop group. Their dancing was that strong.

I don't know if it's weird but I like it when a company does something interesting to show who a group is and their talent before they make their big debut. I wouldn't call myself a pre-debut fan in general, but these kind of projects are at least interesting to see. I guess it's all about the build up and seeing the pay off.

Edit: Adding tripleS to the list, can't believe I forgot them, it was basically the Loona pre-debut project on steroids. 24 girls was so ambitious and I got into tripleS a bit before it the group was fully completed. It was even more ambitious than Loona but it paid off! Jaden Jeong this madlad said "24 girls? No big deal" and now he's doing it again with idntt.

• Anything to do with Velaris
• Rhysand being the "Most Powerful High Lord"
• "Spymaster" Azriel (his real job is torturer)
• The Court of Dreamers (because they don't actually DO anything)
• "Everyone in the Hewn City is evil"
• Tamlin’s character assassination
• Nesta being the worst
• IC are the "good guys"
• Feyre was the only one to ever figure out the identity of Lucien's real father
• Another daemati (who was never seen again) was responsible for the Winter Court children's death
• Amren and Varian's ramshackled relationship

That's it, that's my list. What about you guys?

Edit: added more

There's a huge lack of love in this "romance" series. People often say that Feyre is better with Rhysand, that they're better for each other, that Rhysand at least shows love to Feyre and defends her. But all I see is lust. I don't see love at all, all they do is flirt. They barely have any kind of "deep" conversation together. One question that keeps coming back is: what does Feyre know about Rhysand? Yes, he's told her a bunch of stuff about him, but does she know his favourite food? Favourite color? His hobbies? Favorite star? His dislikes?

It has been brought up before, but even we as readers barely know anything about Rhysand. Again, his hobbies are non-existent. We barely know him beyond the surface level. I could rant about this too but Feyre is so incredibly incurious. She doesn't ask enough questions about Prythian or fae culture or anything like that. And it also affects her relationship with Rhysand as it feels like she doesn't know him enough. I can't help but think "what the hell do they talk about at the end of the day?". Obviously I'm biased, due to his actions UTM I really don't like the guy. But, there wasn't enough work to make me believe in Feysand's love in my eyes.

It feels very "lust at first sight". Sex seems to be the crux of their relationship. I remember one part (can't put my finger on which book) in which it basically says that their arguments are solved in the bedroom and my only thought was "Uhhh that's not good". Love is going to show differently between people, but not only does their relationship feel rushed, it also feels shallow. What's Feysand's common point? I still can't find it.

Nessian is the same. Nesta is treated so badly by Cassian already and sex was already the one thing they used to "communicate". There's nothing that screams "they're in love!" about Nessian at all. People say Cassian shows love through actions but it doesn't justify the fact that there was no "I love you" said a single time from Cassian to Nesta. He doesn't care to defend her and the hike made me side-eye him heavily. The one thing they have for themselves is their lust for each other.

Communication was the reason why Feyre and Tamlin didn't work. But there's not much communication with the other main couples either? Everything feels so surface level? I feel like the whole mind reading between Feyre and Rhysand is a way to avoid the whole "deep conversation" thing. It feels like skipping steps. "Oh! They don't need to talk, they can just do telepathy!" but is it truly enough? It makes me think that the other coming ship or ships might suffer the same fate.

This has gotten pretty long, but doesn't the "love" here feel shallow?