Line #38 Webcomic/Heartstopper


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8	''[[https://tapas.io/episode/428109 Heartstopper]]'' is a webcomic and published graphic novel by English artist and novelist Creator/AliceOseman, primarily centered around the love story of Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson, [[SpinOff two characters who first appeared in her first novel]], ''[[https://www.aliceoseman.com/solitaire Solitaire]]''. Moreover, Heartstopper makes small references to two of her other novels, ''Literature/RadioSilence'' and ''[[https://www.aliceoseman.com/i-was-born-for-this I was born for this]]'', because they are all set [[TheVerse in the same universe]].
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10	Oseman also has a [[https://www.patreon.com/aliceoseman Patreon]] up specifically to help keep the comic running, in addition to any tips readers may be willing to give in the Tapas app through which the comic is primarily published. Additionally, an official merchandise site can be found [[https://aliceoseman.bigcartel.com/?_ga=2.87557403.2064296818.1537041997-105606986.1537041997 here]].
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12	The story is told primarily from Charlie's perspective, though occasionally switching to that of Nick whenever doing so provides greater clarity, often the case when the two are at home or when Nick is telling his side of a tale. It encompasses all the small bits of Nick and Charlie's life and love story through something larger which can speak to everyone.
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14	Although the story does feature some original characters, most are derived from ''Solitaire'', here depicted as teenagers and then young adults attending an English grammar school. Their story is also told in two other novellas ''[[https://www.aliceoseman.com/this-winter This winter]]'' and ''[[https://www.aliceoseman.com/nick-and-charlie Nick and Charlie]]''.
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17	We begin with a brief sequence depicting Charlie with his [[DomesticAbuser abrasive hookup fling]], Ben Hope. After a bell, the two part and we see Charlie's new Form Group notice from over his shoulder. Upon arriving in the classroom, he is [[ConvenientlySeated assigned a seat next to Nick Nelson]], [[MeetCute leading them]] to meet regularly and Charlie to [[LoveAtFirstSight fall in love with him]]. The two [[BestFriend hit it off,]] ''[[HeldGaze very well.]]'' Many [[FriendshipMoment wholesome bonding experiences later,]] the two [[{{Squee}} kiss]] and [[RelationshipUpgrade admit their feelings for one another.]]
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19	[[SpinOff There are also occasional side stories sprinkled sporadically throughout the part index of the comic,]] featuring either an alternate universe, a future event beyond the scope of the comic, or past events not shown when they occurred, usually about side characters.
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21	In January 2021, [[https://deadline.com/2021/01/hearstopper-netflix-alice-oseman-order-euros-lyn-1234676286/ it was announced]] that Creator/{{Netflix}} would be adapting ''Heartstopper'' into [[Series/{{Heartstopper\|2022}} a live-action miniseries]]. The show, written by Oseman and directed by Euros Lyn, premiered April 22, 2022.
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24	!!This work provides examples of...
25	* AccidentalHandHold: Used to illustrate the UnresolvedSexualTension between Nick and Charlie during the first two chapters. Charlie was secretly happy, blushing and [[LaughOfLove giggling]], whereas Nick was confused and hesitant. Eventually, they began to [[HoldingHands hold hands]] and even IntertwinedFingers when [[RelationshipUpgrade they kissed]] and since they [[LoveConfession eventually confessed they had feelings for each other.]]
26	* AlternateUniverse: Several installments show Nick and Charlie falling for each other in different realities, including [[spoiler: a Become Human AU with detective Charlie and android Nick, a 101 Dalmations-inspired story where Nellie gets them together, a flower shop setting with florist Nick/customer Charlie, and a fantasy comic with merman Nick and human Charlie.]]
27	* BeachEpisode: Set during the summer holidays, Chapter 5 shows the Paris squad meeting at the beach.
28	* BestedAtBowling: Even though she was the only girl at Charlie's birthday party, Elle won the second game against Nick and beat everyone else at the bowling alley.
29	* BigDamnKiss: After thwarting Harry's attempts to make Charlie jealous, Nick isolated himself with the latter [[HoldingHands hand in hand]]. After Nick assured Charlie that he no longer felt anything for Tara, Charlie approached Nick and asked him if he would be ready to kiss a boy or at least him. They ended up kissing several times [[{{Irony}} at Harry's place]] before being interrupted and not being able to explain their feelings.
30	* BittersweetEnding: The Novella ''[[https://www.aliceoseman.com/nick-and-charlie Nick and Charlie]]''. While it ends well for the titular couple, there is the revelation that [[spoiler: Tao and Elle broke up.]] The revised edition changes this, [[spoiler: having Tao and Elle get back together.]]
31	* BowlingForRatings: Charlie's 15th birthday party is at the bowling alley.
32	* CardiovascularLove: Hearts appear above characters’ heads in scenes where they feel romantic feelings.
33	* CastFullOfGay: Six out of the eight main characters are either gay, lesbian, bisexual, or trans teenagers, all are friends who get on well and came together to support one another.
34	* CerebusSyndrome: {{Downplayed}}. The comic gets more serious as it progresses, dealing with issues like mental health and dysfunctional families, but still remains lighthearted overall.
35	* ClassTrip: Chapter 4 revolves around the trip of grades 10 and 11 to Paris.
36	* ComicBookTime: The author generally considers her work to be set in "the present" when then work is being written, but WebcomicTime has kicked in where real-world time has gone faster than in-universe time. As a result, Oseman has embraced the drifting timeline, with the pop culture references changing throughout the series to reflect the year that chapters are released. For reference, [[https://www.aliceoseman.com/in-what-order-do-i-read-your-books the Oseman Verse timeline graphic]] puts down the "stand-in year" for ''Heartstopper Volume One'' as 2010, but then disclaims it that ''Heartstopper'' is clearly not set in 2010 because of anachronisms such as more modern [=iPhones=]. Therefore, it's easier to visualize the timeline based on the Osemanverse years. That is, ''Heartstopper Volume One'' always begins in January of Year One, while ''Solitaire'' always takes place in the beginning of Year Two, regardless of real-world time.
37	* ComingOfAgeStory: The story talks about LGBTQ+ teenagers, their relatives, friends, love stories, struggles with their mental health, and queer-related issues along the road of self-acceptance and recovery.
38	* ComingOutStory: The comic depicts the joys and [[{{Gayngst}} difficulties]] of being LGBTQ+ teenagers or young adults and shows how these characters figure out their identity, romantic/sexual orientation, discover love, hope and [[PowerOfFriendship make friends]] throughout the story.
39	** Subverted in that Charlie is already out at the time of the story, as are Tara, Darcy, and Elle. Played straight ([[AccidentalPun as it were]]) with Nick.
40	* DisproportionateRestitution: {{Discussed}} by Charlie when Harry came to apologise with a smile for all the homophobic stuff he had said and done to him and Nick.
41	-->'''Charlie:''' What do you want from us? Forgiveness? "Well done"? ... You don't get to ambush me into forgiving you in front of everyone. One "sorry" doesn't make up for all the things you said.
42	* EditorialSynesthesia: Charlie has black dots around him whenever he’s having mental health problems.
43	* EiffelTowerEffect: {{Invoked}}. During their class trip, they visited Montmartre, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysées ... Still the basic tour with a vision of an idealized city.
44	* EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench: When Charlie found out that Nick speaks fluent French...
45	-->'''Nick:''' Charlie. Mon amour.
46	-->'''Charlie:''' Oh my God shut up, you nerd! You're so cringey!
47	-->'''Nick:''' Je ne comprends pas.
48	-->'''Charlie:''' I hate yoouuu!
49	* FamilyThemeNaming: The Spring siblings; Victoria, Charles, and Oliver all go by more modern-sounding nicknames derived from their old-fashioned names; Tori, Charlie, and Ollie respectively. Additionally, their nicknames all end with a long E sound.
50	* FirstKiss:
51	** The [[WillTheyOrWontThey much anticipated one]] between Nick and Charlie, it was also the first time Nick had ever kissed a boy.
52	** In Chapter 4 there are [[spoiler:Elle and Tao's]] kiss and the one between [[spoiler:Mr. Ajayi and Mr. Farouk, for whom it was also his first kiss with a boy.]]
53	* ForegoneConclusion: Alice Oseman's debut novel, ''Solitaire'', takes place one year after ''Heartstopper'' begins, so readers who read Oseman's work by publication date will know in advance the general outline of Charlie's and Nick's fate, especially that [[spoiler:Nick and Charlie become a couple, and that Charlie has a major health episode that informs the backdrop of ''Solitaire''.]]
54	* HateSink: David is a homo/biphobic douchebag with little to no redeeming qualities who constantly mocks Nick. He manages to come across as more dislikable than Ben or Harry, which is saying something.
55	* HerBoyfriendsJacket: Since the Snow Episode, Charlie borrowed at least four of Nick's oversized hoodies and forgot to give them back.
56	* LighterAndSofter: ''Heartstopper'' is much more upbeat than ''Literature/{{Solitaire}}'' which the comic originally spun off from. This was intentional on the author's part as Nick and Charlie's relationship was a rare bright spot in ''Solitaire's'' darker storyline.
57	* LuminescentBlush: Whether out of [[CrushBlush love]], embarrassment, guilt, or any other emotion, all the characters blush in this way and really often.
58	* MakeOutKids: Once [[spoiler: Tao and Elle start dating]] get used to them making out because they do so. A lot.
59	* MagicalSpeciesTransformation: Non-canon, but [[https://tapas.io/episode/2564958 a guest comic]] shows this happening to Nick's character in a game of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' the Paris Squad are playing when Charlie as a wizard screws up a teleportation spell.
60	* MutualPining: Nick and Charlie both had crushes on each other, and were both surprised to find out that the other had feelings for them. Charlie especially, because he thought that Nick was straight at first.
61	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Finally, Harry's plan only made Nick and Charlie closer and helped them become friends with Tara and her girlfriend, Darcy.
62	* NowLetMeCarryYou: [[spoiler: Nick supports Charlie through his mental health struggles during much of Chapter 5 and 6, and that section ends with Charlie helping Nick face his [[{{DisappearedDad}} Dad]] and [[{{BigBrotherBully}} brother]].]]
63	* OffModel: Characters’ faces occasionally look odd, (eg. Nick’s face being smaller than how it’s usually drawn) particularly in Volume 3.
64	* OneHeadTaller: Downplayed. Nick is only slightly taller than Charlie.
65	* OneTrueLove: One of the alternate universe side stories confirms that Nick and Charlie would find each other in any universe.
66	* RegionalSpeciality: When Elle introduced her friends to her mother's delicious Egyptian falafels she had brought.
67	* RejectedApology: Charlie refused Ben and Harry's. See DisproportionateRestitution above.
68	* RelationshipSabotage: Harry invited Charlie to his party in order to make him jealous by lying and forcing Nick to reconnect with his former crush Tara Jones. [[EvilCannotComprehendGood It failed...]]
69	* RelationshipUpgrade: When finally Nick and Charlie took time to discuss and admit their feelings to each other. However, it was still unclear to the others whether they were still friends or whether they were now dating, until [[spoiler:they felt ready to officially announce their relationship in Chapter 4.]]
70	* Main/{{Retcon}}: ''[[https://www.aliceoseman.com/nick-and-charlie Nick and Charlie]]'' was written before Heartstopper. In it, Nick says that he’s “never liked” Tao. He tolerates him enough to be in a friendship group with him, so this probably isn’t entirely true. It’s left out of the revised edition.
71	* ShirtlessScene: Despite having already seen several times Nick in the rugby locker room, it has a [[CrushBlush significant impact on Charlie]] when his boyfriend takes his shirt off.
72	* SpitTake: Charlie’s dad does one of these when Charlie tells him that Nick is his boyfriend.
73	* SleepCute: Happens several times throughout the comic.
74	* SnowMeansLove: {{Reconstruction}} The first time Charlie has ever been to Nick's house, it started snowing. They shared a rather romantic moment of complicity in the snow and got even closer when Charlie caught a cold and [[YouMustBeCold Nick lent him his hoodie.]]
75	* TheILoveYouStigma: {{Averted}} Charlie, despite his difficulty in confessing his feelings to Nick, ends up telling him ''I love you'' to which his boyfriend responds fondly.
76	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
77	** Given by Charlie to Ben when they broke up and he blamed him for taking advantage of him.
78	** Given several times by Nick and then Charlie to Harry because of his homophobic remarks and harassment towards Charlie.
79	** Nick gives one to David (for being a biphobic asshole) and [[spoiler:his father (for not visiting more often)]]. After Nick storms out of the room, his mother gives one to both of them as well.
80	* UnresolvedSexualTension:
81	** Occured during the first two chapters between Nick and Charlie before they kissed.
82	** Same between Elle and Tao or even between Mr. Ajayi and Mr. Farouk in Chapter 4 [[spoiler:until they eventually got together as a couple.]]
83	* WebcomicTime: Chapter 1 of ''Heartstopper'' began releasing in 2016, but the series did not reach December of "Year One" until 2020, and only with a TimeSkip, with the events between Chapter 5 and 6 being shown through {{Flashback}}. The author has decided not to compensate and instead continue with the Osemanverse's [[ComicBookTime drifting timeline]].
84	* WhiteMaleLead: Despite the diversity of the characters, the two protagonists are white male teenagers but not straight.[[note]]Though, Charlie (along with his siblings; Tori and Oliver) is of Spanish descent (their father Julio is half-Spanish while their mother Jane is white), making the Spring siblings mixed.[[/note]]
85	* YouAreNotAlone:
86	** All throughout the story, Charlie and mainly Nick are present to support, protect and listen to one another.
87	** The Paris Squad, in a way, exists to help each other as friends to talk about their issues and allows them to share joy and hope together.

Context Webcomic / Heartstopper