Honeydew Syndrome
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Honeydew Syndrome (huhn-ee-doo, -dyoo sin-drohm, -druhm) |
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Honeydew Syndrome is a BL webcomic about your typical emo kid, Metis (he's not emo, goddammit!) and your typical high school jock, Josh (he prefers not to be labeled). Metis is both a complete dumbass and a bit of a smartass, and Josh is really just a bit of a dork. For the first five chapters, the only other two characters are Charles, Metis' best friend and Jay, your typical scenester. Charles is, well. You wouldn't want to get on his bad side, or you might find your soul quickly in the possession of the devil, or at least it'll be broken from the pure overload of snark. We'll leave it at that. The other is Jay, a scene kid with the most bishounen hair of them all. He appears very little up until the sixth chapter, where the story begins to revolve somewhat around him.
Along with the switch of main character, the sixth chapter brings along several new characters: Jay's friends: Erik, Samuel, Sarah, and Odette.
Those are the players. Now, onto the story.
So this is how it starts: Josh introducing his fist to Metis' face.
Not quite what you would expect, huh? Yeah, well, Honeydew Syndrome mostly never is. Two parts comedy, one part drama, and one part just plain whatthefuckery, it all combines together to create a comic that's just plain awesome.
The creators also have an Noir-ish Urban Fantasy with some BL ship tease in the form of Two Keys, currently hosted on the Manga Magazine site.
Recently created a few-page follow-up on May, Josh, Charles and Jay after their high school years, whereupon they seem more comfortable with the goings-on of their lives.
- Beta Couple - Erik and Samuel; though it's not like they didn't have their own issues in the past, they're almost over it by the time the series starts.
- Book Ends - The first five chapters start and end with the same basic dialogue.
- Bromance: Between Charles and Metis.
- Cannot Spit It Out - Jay. Metis has to trick him into it.
- Josh, as well. Charles has to suffer a little before Josh finally admits to it.
- Cast Full of Gay - "Honeydew Syndrome" must refer to the gay plague that afflicts all the straight-seeming characters in this comic.
- Cloudcuckoolander - Odette.
- Deadpan Snarker - Charles. He will never tire of pointing out to Metis exactly how many shades of dumbass he is.
- Erik would also qualify, and Metis's thought processes have shades of this.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady - Jay has apparently been told he resembles Avril Lavigne, and resents the comparison greatly.
- Fourth Wall Mail Slot - The three extra comics where the characters answer questions.
- Heroic BSOD - Used for comedy when Josh is asked in the extra if he loves Metis here
- I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me - "...You're still a dumb jock who's popular. And people like that don't like people like me."
- Idiot Hair - Metis has one. It's his favorite. Josh pulls it out, but it comes back again.
- Interrupted Suicide - Played for Laughs. Josh finds Metis on a roof (which he had climbed onto to retrieve a Frisbee) and jumps to the conclusion that he's attempting to kill himself. Metis plays along with it for the lulz. Josh is not pleased.
- Love At First Punch - Sort of.
- Love Bubbles - From time to time they appear.
- Private Eye Monologue - Chapter 3 starts with this.
- Story Arc - The comic is divided into two basic story arcs: the first five chapters are about Metis and Josh, and everything after that is about Jay / Charles and Erik / Samuel.
- Invisible to Gaydar - Josh, who is, as previously stated, a jock. But he might also be bisexual (since he did have a girlfriend at some point or the other), a follower of the "I'm not gay, I just love this one guy" school of thought...or simply Metis-sexual.
- Erik, too.
- Volleying Insults - This happens very briefly between Josh and Metis in the last scene of chapter 5.