Recently, I saw a reddit post doing an analysis on how Daxton would be endgame and Paxton would be waiting for Devi. While I don't agree with the analysis, I mostly found it irritating how some of the comments were saying how Ben doesn't have real feelings for Devi and how the "stomach knots" comment just meant that Ben was now her new dream she was settling for.
I'll save exploring their critique on the stomach knots comment for another day, but saying that Ben doesn't really care about Devi is completely false. From letting her stay at his house, helping her make up with her friends (on multiple occasions), giving her a heads up about Des, and just countless other things, he truly cares about her. It's been made abundantly clear numerous times. No matter who you believe is most compatible with Devi, there's no denying that Ben's feelings for her are real and deep.
i love both benvi and daxton as ships and devi reminds me so much of myself as a character but like.. i'm wondering how the boys found out about this and then ever chose to date her again/want to be with her again because this is so reductive and mean tbh
the belly vs devi discourse is hilarious to me because they have almost nothing in common except for the fact they were in relatively evenly split love triangles
however, i think devi is inherently a more likeable character. why? because she's more well-rounded.
outside of belly's romances, the only thing we really get to know about her is volleyball. aside from taylor, we find out about her relationship with susannah and history with cousins, but it's all deeply interwoven with her romances. devi's story ends up being more about her friendships, her social status, her culture, her education/academic journey, her relationship with herself & her grief, almost all of which are either independent of or do not revolve around her romances. even her relationship with her mother strikes a more emotional note - the treatment of laurel & belly's relationship, and the grief that divided it, felt strangely one-note and surface level for the depth that tsitp is capable of achieving.
devi's grief, i feel, is also treated very differently. yes, it's true that death happened at the start of her story, but that kind of means it can be used as an explanation of her behaviour. belly was a menace before she even found out about susannah lmaoooo (plus devi is trying to help herself through therapy, even if she was forced into it. belly is doing no such thing and just causing chaos haha)
i know we've seen the end of devi's story and belly's is still just beginning, but from the beginning devi had a self-awareness that belly just lacks. and yes, tsitp is not a comedy, but devi also managed to provide (comedic) relief from the heavier notes by herself, while belly's personality is less distinct and truthfully a bit more y/n. (on that note, i fully recognise that tsitp is adapted from source material while nhie was original, but that doesn't mean they can't continue to take liberties!)
also, at least devi wasn't involved with brothers!!! save that for elena gilbert!!!
that said i love them both <3 thank u and goodnight