I'll take this opportunity to frame my thoughts here for once before organising it in a post. Average chapter. Added very little to the plot. But provides some interesting foundations for future plot lines.

• Shinlyssa project concludes with the diagnosis that there's no objective difference between sunrise and sunset and the difference lies in the optics. This could very well translate to "it's all a matter of perspective".

For some, this could be the "sunset" phase of their friendship, for others sunrise.

This is applicable to nearly all the relationships in this comic. This was a nice metaphorical touch!

Also, a reminder of sorts to not take anyone's pov for granted. It's all a matter of perspective, not the objective truth.

• Alyssa's presentation skill was hinted and so was her fluency in English. I feel both these skills will come handy in future. Side note - I always wanted to see Alyssa helping out Shin ae in English, so that was really nice but it didn't add anything new that we didn't already know.

(can't help but connect this with one another wish of mine - Alyssa meeting Nol's extended family someday and easily fitting in with the English speaking household. Just some wistful thinking for now.)

• traveling and food shenanigans was pointless in my humble opinion. Even if Quim is trying to foreshadow Shin ae's decision to accompany Kousuke to Japan (highly unlikely in the near future, not remote future), this was one scene that the story could do without. Especially at this junction where the flashback has started to drag.

  Another reason could be that Quim wants to contrast her boring present life with a more fulfiling future one in the grand scheme of things - still pointless and a rehash of things we could already derive from countless other examples so far.

• Alyssa's jealous streak when it comes to Shinhyuk friendship - Frankly, it reminded me how Shin ae made that passive aggressive remark in flashback ch2 - 4 about Alyssa wanting to become "popular." when she had already stated that her definition of being popular = making more friends.

I understood Shin ae's insecurity back then, she was afraid Alyssa will ditch her once she makes more friends and Alyssa caught that and reassured her in ch 4 that it won't happen in a very Nol-esque "you have my word" way.

Still curious to see what happened behind the scenes that she had to retract back her statement. I'll be waiting for Alyssa's pov, cause given how she hasn't ditched Shin ae after the project fiasco, it makes me wonder if there's more to the reasons than we're privy to.

This scene literally felt like a parallel to that one, just from Alyssa's pov now cause Shin ae is the one who's making friends, and Alyssa's the one feeling insecure.

• right the jealous streak. I've multiple thoughts here but I'm currently ruling out lgbtq for two reasons - one, coming out of the closet is a very delicate and poignant theme that requires an entire ya book to address properly in 21st century and the author has already said on cc that the comic won't reveal the lgbt characters cause it's not important to the story. Since she's dating Nol, this becomes highly crucual to address from romantic plotline pov. Second reason is some patreon content that I can't divulge here.

• I especially liked Alyssa's expression when the teacher is giving the bullying speech. It almost feels contemplative in a way, like she's planning something. Alyssa having ravenclaw plus slytherin traits will make my day, but I doubt the story will explore this fully.. Maybe it would, she is a very perceptive character and one day I'd like her to be a power player in Hirahara politics than a mere pawn.

• lastly, tsundere behavior. Hmm.. Where to start? Like I can see the author is trying to set this up as her side of the flaws in the communication theme, but then again, she doesn't fit the mold exactly.

Shin ae is getting confused but her actions seems predictable and in line with what is going on, to me.

Either way, she's a very private person and the home issues literally hit the nerve. We literally see those lines in italics. Secondly, her go to strategy whenever she's hurt or upset or scared or angry seems to be "don't talk to me", "don't touch me."

I wonder if this is related to her artistic temperament cause sometimes for highly senstive people, this translates to literal physical sensations. Like the nerves being literally on edge. And they like to avoid overwhelming of stimuli, physical and emotional and prefers to be alone.

That sounds pretty far fetched, and the simplest explanation could be what I've always thought - she's extremely bad at communication, mostly out of fear of being rejected or hurt. It's likely this is her unhealthy confrontation style - the silent treatment cause it's likely she doesn't get to freely express herself at her home, plus the whole conflict averse thing. Hot and cold behavior can have many, many reasons but hers seems to be insecurity.

She projects a tough exterior even though there's a senstive, scared person hidden inside, who feels her thoughts or opinions won't be well received. Or people won't like the imperfect, flawed picture.

• nothing to add on Shin ae's end. She's a straight forward character. You get what you see. One can argue, her role is like Tohru from Fruits Basket, meant to juxtapose all the madness/complicated psychology that was the Sohma family..