As I've been writing my series of essays on the romance genre, one of the things I wanted to make sure I do is highlight the various romance stories that I do think get it right. And when I think of stories like that, the first thing to come to mind to me is the comic BBGUN by Cuteosphere.
This is a sort of slice-of-life comic focused primarily on the romantic relationship between Bun and Bear. As far as I can tell from the rest of their tweets, the events in the comic are inspired by Cuteosphere's day-to-day interactions with their own girlfriend. What this means is that the comic highlights the simpler, subtler connections that two people make when they've already been together for a long time, which is exactly the kind of thing I look for in the romances I read.
I first learned about BBGUN when my own girlfriend shared comic #19. I took it to mean that this was how she felt about our own relationship--and I assume she still does--but once I started looking into the series, I started to notice just how many of the other comics felt like reflections of our own relationship, most often with me in the place of Bun and her in the place of Bear. Not a perfect match, of course, but there's enough of a resemblance to be noticeable.
And this is the kind of relationship I aspire to build and be a part of, too. I feel that there's an undercurrent of clear affection in all of the comics, even the comics where the two protagonists tease each other. This comic is a celebration of all the moments that these two share. I would say that it's the whole point of the comic.
I guess it's fair to say that this comic has served as an inspiration to me to take this blog in the direction I've taken it, with plenty of posts bragging about my girlfriend and how much I love her. Not to say I'm doing it to mimic the comic, it's something I would've wanted to do anyway, but the comic made it apparent to me that it's something other people can enjoy and relate to, as well. I don't have to feel like my affection for my girlfriend is something I need to hide or downplay.
So, in summary, this comic is important to me on two personal levels: First, it's the kind of nuanced examination of a relationship that is already exactly my jam. Second, it's a reminder of my own relationship and everything that's good about it. I can't think of a better example of the kind of stuff I'd like to see more people write.
Here's comic #1 in the series, although it's not necessarily especially useful to link to it since it's hosted on Twitter. You're on your own for finding and reading the rest. But here's some of the ones that I found to be especially relatable to me and @Princess-Flufflebutt:
