Maple Tree's Favorite

i can’t be reading these while i’m constipated, it really don’t make me feel too good

I get good grades, Jaein

can someone tell me where the cover is from?

For those who may not notice, “Sadistic Beauty” came out during the time when people(/women) started to speak out about their unequal treatments or sexual assaults in work places. For example, like in Harvey Weinstein case or Johnny Depp case. Also “Fifty Shades of Gray” was in its height of popularity. So this series got a lot of attention on LezhinComics platform as it was the very first comic of its femdom genre and most importantly, it depicted a female character dealing with actual real life problems. Then it went on hiatus for approximately 3 or so years. People who followed the series from the very start were very supportive of the creator’s decision and waited patiently until the contract with Lezhin expired. When the series came back, it completely changed. Like in Johnny Depp case, but instead of female abuser, they ended up getting the female rapist. So, yes, they actually felt cheated. For one, they didn’t come here JUST for smut scenes.

I read the raws up to chapter 38 (bought them off ridibooks).
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So it seems like the biker girl and the crazy sex friend do know eachother. the SF tried to kiss biker girl but further on in chapters it shows that the biker girls had covered SF's mouth (SF was drunk). I could be wrong but it also seems that the SF is a gold digger or some shit. But it seems like SF does end up having genuine feelings of some sort for the mc. She's still manipulative & crazy though. Mc ends their ambiguous relationship after finding out the SF's character and realising she really likes biker girl. (BTW biker girl kisses mc the night mc ends things with SF). At first biker girl paid attention to the mc because she looks like an old friend? of hers that died in a bike accident.

Seen a few comments complaining about those that are critiquing this story with the usual "It's fiction" retort. Yes it's fiction, and there is good fiction and bad. Like someone posted, fiction is a mirror to reality. The author is using her fictional work to promote a lot of toxic aspects of a capitalist society, that image is the most important thing, that gender roies are rigid, and the power lies with wealth not skill. The author is using "bdsm" as a way that many abusive men in real life do, it has widely been reported that "she wanted rough sex" "it was bdsm" is used as defense for men who abuse or murder their female partners. Having Doona fill this role doesn't make her a "strong female lead" and having Doona's "character growth" being her so hung up about her ex not validating her 24/7 whilst she puts nothing into the relationship and emasculates her male partner. She ends up with a younger, naive character, who will never be able to be her equal and grow together, she expects him to play the role of submissive housewife, providing her with sex and being a maid... that's not an empowering female character.

Harada has been brought up as a comparison to "dark" stories. But what Harada does is challenge a lot of controversial tropes, by showing how normalised abuse is in yaoi. Harada must be the only yaoi author to portray the "student x teacher" trope for what it is, grooming. And their "Henai" series literally parodies yaoi's obsession with glamourising rape.

As it is fiction, author's, good author's have a platform to hold a mirror up to society and challenge it. For me, this was best seen with Yamashita Tomoko's works, which challenge the sexism women face. Saezuru too, challenges the yaoi idea that sexual abuse and neglect is just something that can be forgotten easily, instead the author has spent 10 years crafting characters like Doumeki, Aoi, Yashiro and how all three of them being survivors has impacted them.

The author isn't holding a light up to the "ills" of society, she is depicting them and reinforcing them. Readers are criticising the author for not just sticking to a one shot "mind break" hentai manga, as it would have achieved the author's goal of ruining Minho. Instead they created a 100 odd year old manhwa, that readers have been following for years, in the hope that the characters actually develop and the author actually challenges the social structures that the character's live with.

Strange how the author presents Duna's relationship with her publisher compared to Minho's.
- Duna is shown to receive constant messages from her editor
- Duna's editor visits her, "as and when he pleases" and checks up on her progress, feeding back to his boss
- Duna's editor for some absurd reason puts her up in a hotel, expenses paid so she can write
yet
- Duna gets major press attention just for being given a publishing contract, before she has even published her new book... thus giving her money for interviews, and creating hype which leads to sales.
yet
- Minho too is given a book deal by a major publisher
- He has zero contact with his editor
- He has zero publicity for getting a book deal
- Minho, we see has to survive off of his advance... whereas Duna was given an advance and free accommodation, alongside money earned from publicity

The author isn't even being logical at this point, it's like they just want to set Minho up to fail at every opportunity. We are also meant to ignore that Minho tries to keep writing, despite his economic hardship, and despite being put in a tiny room by Doona at constant risk of being hit and sexually abused by her, he saddles on until he is nearly killed by Doona and he escapes her house. This leads him to eventually selling his laptop, which at that point he was suicidal and not able to focus on what he saw as his one goal, publishing the book so he can get back on his feet.

The author in earlier chapters had Wookyung say how he was going to make Minho dependent on him, and give him the opportunity to publish a novel. It's like the author is forgetting that Minho has years of work experience, publishing research and peer reviewing journals with a novel under his belt too. Yet Doona, magically gets a book deal after how many years of inactivity, whereas the author shows how much Minho has to struggle to even get an interview?

TLDR: But the fact Minho gets to be raped and manipulated during (and throughout) his peak of depression and desperation takes away the essence of BDSM from this manga. This manga is NOT BDSM AT ALL. A shitty dom who can't treat her subs right.



so essentially Duna was (by the storyline indirectly saying so) "not the best person", but she gets a chance at redemption and we see her moving on.

Same with Minho (but the storyline paints HIM as the only bad guy), he doesn't get a chance to be better but that gives Duna the right to be a prick?? Mind you, Duna was the one who wanted to end the relationship but didn't actually say it so she cheated on him several times (in fact, she only JUST broke up with him).

The author's note about Minho is "You should have been good to Duna" really now?? Fuck off.
We know Minho is a shitty guy and I'd love to see him own up for his mistakes or get his own arc, but being a rapist, belittling, and manipulating someone isn't the fucking route (especially at their most desperate times).

This manga has MANY inconsistencies, but the biggest one is that everyone gets what they wanted except Minho who not even remotely got the chance to be better. It's obvious he has some sort of mental illness. And just like every other character, he's done some shitty stuff.

I am seriously invested in Minho because I know he's a shitty character and he hasn't actually been given the chance to reflect and move on without having to walking on eggshells. It's crazy he's forced to sell himself out for basic necessities. He insulted Duna when they were dating, what a prick, but he deserved nothing after.

He still wanted to be with her, Duna didn't. If you're in a relationship and want out, TALK about it. Cheating doesn't justify batshit.

I have been invested in this for 3 years I really just hoped Minho would get something that doesn't require him to be assaulted. I just hoped Duna would be a Dom and treat her subs right.

chpt 14 (her first appearance, where u see she works in a sex shop and has her own kinky tastes, also involves brief interaction with doona about sex toys etc), chpt 22 (mostly just her and haesol content, no sex, skippable),
chpt 23 (brief appearance in the first few panels where she bickers with Doochi the MC's older brother, skippable),
chpt 24 (another brief appearance, this time in the last 4-5 panels where she has a sex dream about Doona the mc, if u like sexy gyerin its worth it),
chpt 25 (she appears in a good chunk of this chpt but not right away, this is set in the sex shop again and involves her having an adorable inner monologue about her crush on Doona and imagining various erotic situations involve her and the toys in the store. its solid Gyerin content!)
chpt 26 (all gyerin content! features: gyerin chatting, hanging out and then flirting with doona in various locations lol)
chpt 27 (doona and gyerin have Kinky sex well foreplay? that's the whole chpt lol)
chpt 28 (more kinky full on sex with gyerin and doona. also some pretty intense spanking)
chpt 29 (final part of doona/gyerin sex arc, this time involving some uh bodily fluids but also some aftercare so thats nice!)
chpt 33 (super brief appearance in the middle of the chpt, can be skipped tbh)
chpt 34 (a different series of kinky gyerin/doona sex chpts begins here. this time hot candle wax is introduced as well cuz why not lol)
chpt 35 (some hot sex but then haesol arrives and throws things into disarray and chpt ends with doona being confronted by her two subs, worth reading imo but if u want WLW content only then def skip the next chpt)
chpt 36 (so the start of the chpt is p tense has alot of dialogue between doona, haesol and gyerin. 2 subs wanting doona's attention and doona being all "i cant with u two and ur FEELINGSS go home" and needless to say no one goes home and gyerin seeing how haesol managed to get doona's attention, INSISTS on staying. she's the one who initiates the idea of a threesome. so she was never "forced" to participate in one which ive seen some comments in SB thread saying that, its not true.)
chp 37 (threesome time. no actual fucking happens yet, doona orders haesol to tie up gyerin Shibari Style and then suck gyerin's toes and meanwhile gyerin is having her own internal monologue over this strange situation)
chpt 38 (more threesome Stuff, no fucking still, very short chpt, involves some spanking tho)
chpt 39 (final part of threesome arc, doona fingers haesol and haesol at doona's command eats out gyerin until both have an orgasm. gyerin and doona smooch a bit. thats p much it for gyerin for a WHILE)
chpt 60 (gyerin is back! but this chpt is mostly haesol moping with some cute interaction between him and gyerin just being buddies)
61 (gyerin is front and center again, she's determined to make Doona her main lady and hatches an adorable sexy plan that involves roleplay and costumes lol)
62 (play time! doona is a bad cop and gyerin is a pitiful widow being taken advantage of by said cop. thats the whole chpt!)
63 (more play time/roleplay sex. with bonus squirting)
64 (final part of roleplay sex with gyerin/doona. then some more lovin via oral sex in a hotel bed. but the chpt ends wiht gyerin in tears cause she "got dumped" im sry gyerin baby! u'll find ur loving dom queen one day! before that part tho its a great chpt full of sexy WLW stuff and flirty dialogue)
65 + 66 (very brief appearances of gyerin. in the last part of 65 she sees haesol passed out on the street and takes him to the hospital and first part of 66 she has a nice daydream about being saved at the club by a busty tough blonde and then going back to a hotel with her. becuz gyerin has a Type haha)
aaaand that's it for gyerin in the english chpts. she appears again in the main series on a few occasions near the 100s where she's mainly there chatting with haesol and his roomie/doona's bro Doochi. but her final big major appearance is in chpt 115 which is also the first and only time in main SB that we meet Juyeon aka the noisy blonde woman that Gyerin will date in the side stories) i hope this helped someone! lol

Just want to copy it to me read later

I always have the same observation in both BL stories in fem doms. Readers don't treat sexual assault and rape seriously. For many readers Minho saying misogynistic bs or degradating Doona's work years ago is much bigger sin than her raping, torturing and offending him throughout nearly the whole story.

Why am I more forgiving towards Minho than Doona?
Obviously at the end of a day he is a jerk with inferiority complex and Doona is a serial rapist.
But the longer answer is: because Minho has close to zero sympathy in the story meanwhile Doona's problems and abuse she faced is well address, other characters sympathize with her even if she doesn't deserve such concern like right now when she is actively molesting and abusing the guy,not the other way around. Minho's situation is laughed at, not treated seriously and downplayed.

Also let's stop pretending that Doona letting Minho stay at her home is act of kindness. Looking at the way he is treated , it'd be better if she cut him off for once and good instead of elongated emotional and physical abuse. Can you imagine letting homeless person live with you in return they are your housekeeper and objectified sex toys whose feelings and willingness doesn't matter? Is this mercy?

No one forces you to like Byun Minho. But in what twisted world rape, tortures and more are adequate punishment for being a misogynistic jerk.
In what twisted world someone deserves abuse and rape as punishment.
And it shows how the writing of the story can be harmful. Doona's trauma is showed as valid, Minho's actions have visible effect on her, he is criticised by the others and get consequences for his actions.... Meanwhile Minho is raped,abused and tortured but no one talks about it, his trauma is downplayed, there is no real impact on his character and the plot even tries to "justify" the abuse - the narrative many readers buy so excitedly.
I will never understand why sexual assault is made into something minor and overlooked by both authors and readers.

This story literally being advertised as BDSM story and romance. When it's neither.
Official summary of the story: "What happens when two guys and a dashing girl meet? Beats me, but it doesn't sound romantic. Or does it? Depending on your definition of romantic, Doona's sadistic ways might be the most romantic thing a guy could want"

Why do people compare it to Killing Stalking non stop?
Killing stalking was advertised as psychological thriller that for once. The abuse was treated very seriously, it had much deeper, better written psychological part, with characters' background etc. Abuser faced consequences and their actions weren't glorified at any point. They were condemned by other characters.

Meanwhile in this story? It's clear Minho's abuse and rapes aren't treated seriously at.
On the other hand wrongdoings Doona faced are well addressed, she gets sympathy, the abuse has actual, visible impact on her and Minho faces absurdly exaggerated "consequences" (if you can call abuse, tortures and rape that).
And Minho? He is trashed through the whole story, his abuse is not treated seriously, openly downplayed, no one sympathize with him, it's nearly "justified" at any points in the narrative "he deserves that/he put it on himself", it doesn't have nearly any impact on his character and his abusers didn't face any consequences.

@Shona, the author does present it as being corrupt though. Minho says that no former student has ever been offered tenure, but instead people like Minho and his classmate are working their ass off so the boss can get credit and are never promoted to a stable contact, themselves. I would need to check, but I think Minho and his classmate think they are on a tenure track, so they feel there will be a light at the end of the tunnel, and Minho comes to realise that the professor is just stringing them along and getting credit off of their hard work. Minho isn't like the rapist character who gets work due to his wealthy family background, he's having to compete constantly and thought he would eventually become a tenured professor.

Minho's former friends mock him, saying he had to "beg" to get an academic position, which as readers we are meant to join in too, but unlike Doona or the rapist guy who seem to just get handed everything on a plate (look at the professor hinting at Doona working for him at the early chapters, despite still being on an undergrad)

Case in point, BJ Alex. Jiwon is an unemployed student by the end, yet he is able to secure a lease on a very expensive apartment with no context as to how he can afford it. Yet the author mocks DG not being able to afford anything more than a small 1 room and actually having to work for his rent. wtf, and readers are meant to love the financially reckless bad boy (nevermind he's nothing but a rapist!)

*Oh, not to mention the cigarettes. Doona's lack of cleanliness is meant to be a "funny" point (does this woman not own any trousers, looking back at the early chapters lol), but omg the actual cost of all those cigarettes and beer cans soon adds up, maybe they are seen as cheap in South Korea though? I just thought it was so clear the wealth inequality looking at the student's lifestyle in comparison to when we see behind the scenes of Minho's. Yes he splurges on his own clothes when he has the money, everything is about "image" in his environment and he likely feels he has to overcompensate as he doesn't have the same connections as everyone else, but Doona mentions that he's been living in the same modest apartment since way back when, an apartment which is smaller than any of the current students who likely have wealthy families or are maybe in debt. I guess Minho's character is more appealing in terms of the fact he is a more realistic character, he still says utterly vile things but regardless, it's terribly cliche to have Korean webtoons about sons and daughters of wealthy families or character's who seemingly live a nice life without showing any source of the income needed. The author though seems to be mocking Minho and punishing him for not being born rich and for confronting the corruption/nepotism within the university.

@Anon, thanks for making those quotes. I'm re-reading this at the moment too, and the points you brought up about corruption and wealth highlight why Minho is such a prick, because ultimately he never stood a chance. The professor basically uses Minho and his classmate without offering them any job security. To add to this the rapist character says he is the son of a rich family, so got a cushy job as a CEO due to his connections/wealth along with the side job lecturing. Doona too says she doesn't need to worry about money (can't recall what character asked her how she can afford to move or something), and not only paid the deposit for her brother's place, but is renting a very nice apartment off of the rapist guy.

I guess as a kid you might just take this story at face value, but the wealth inequality and nepotism in these character's world is crazy. None of the students work, about from Doona's brother who does manga yet can afford to rent their own places, tuition fees, alcohol, good food, nice clothes and all their hobbies such as fancy underwear, toys, dressing up outfits and beer can after beer can. Yet Minho is living in a tiny basement apartment eating instant ramen.

It's not true that Minho is completely talentless. As we have seen few chapters ago he was finalist in the contest Doona's won.

It was stated he is from very poor family. Other characters don't work and don't care about money, they have flats, spend a lot of money on alcohol, toys etc. It looks like he didn't have any real financial support from his family and he is still paying off the loans from his students times. He wasn't broken-hearted after Doona's win only because of him losing against her but also because he desperately needed those money.

His university is corrupted af. Chapter 45 page 5.
Minho's conversation with professor:
"Professor. Not a single department or grad schools sunbea has been tenured by this university. Didn't they all work hard for you? Yet they eventually all left. All the tenured staff at this university are foreign graduates."

Ch 46: continuation of conversation with prof:
"It's not like you've been published much,nor did you do any significant research work before becoming department head. We all know you hire skillful people to make up for your own lack of abilities".

I've actually laughed a bit how connections are about being nice etc. Of course it's helpful to be nice and you can make soooome connections in that way. But in most cases you are still nobody, just kind nobody without connections. Connections are about family's ties and what you have to offer. And the most desirable thing is power and money. Minho has neither.

Of course he doesn't make his case better with his personality. He is an asshole, no one is denying that. Lol
Still he is sympathetic because he is used as a punch beg and abused all the time.

And the part about him being unrealistic. I was talking about how unrealistic is the fact all the rape, abuse didn't impact him in any way. Which is just poor writing and excuse to abuse him more.

Lmfao read some comments back and XD
Let's be real here:
1. Minho's character is UNREALISTIC AF. He is a poorly written punch bag author gets off on torturing who doesn't change despite the circumstances.
2. Of course he is WORTH sympathy as every rape and abuse victim is.
3. He is the only character in this webtoon who has money issues. Everyone around him doesn't ever care about money.
4. Wookyung. Minho's life was more or less stable before Doona and Wookyung entered his life again.
5. It was clearly shown the college Minho's working at is corrupted and he was working his ass for years for nothing. He won't make it without connections.
He is an asshole but everyone is an asshole in this story plus some of them are not only assholes but rapists too.

wow the only thing she was worried about is that Wookyung got his hands on Minho.
http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/sadistic_beauty/mf/to_chapter-95/pg-4/

one of these sentences indicates that she found that normal. but seeing how she usually treats her subs/play partners (Gyerin and Haesol) properly, she probably doesn't realise how fucked up it was when she raped Minho. she thinks its normal to take out her anger on him by raping him just because she hates him. i mostly blame Wookyung for this. remember how he treated his old sub? no clear consent and violence. thats where Doona picked up those habits.

I love this chapter a lot cause it addresses some main points of conflict that was holding both Joowon and Haesoo back from telling each other their true feelings. And it shows their clear growth, plus them COMMUNICATING (finally!!) to overcome their obstacles.

Like first it showed with a lot more depth: WHY Joowon was so hung up on Haesoo abandoning him, enough to not even try to start any relationship... ofc it all went back to his father’s manipulative words and lies saying: Haesoo will abandon him, he shouldnt start anything if he doesnt want to fail, etc. But I’m glad Joowon really stood up to his dad here, showing that he no longer believes what he said despite being gaslit like this for years. Also its sad how Joowon realizes his father might have never really loved him and how he was neglected as a child/teen... he was given a lot of luxury, but no love or affection, and he only realized over the years that material things =/= love :(( But I do think this fact made it easier for Joowon to be with Haesoo who genuinely does love him and care about him.

And then there’s Haesoo. Haesoo didnt just leave and break things off with jw because he was scared to lose his mom (though i believe that was the main reason). He also feared that Joowon will come to regret their relationship because its gonna mess things up like his career and his r/s with his father. HAESOO CLEARLY VOICES THIS in the chapter by asking if Joowon regrets being with him due to having to compromise things in his life, and how he was worried about that. And ofc we already know Joowon’s answer to due to what this story shows time and time again :’) this man would literally give up anything for Haesoo. So yeah... Just good to see them communicating and addressing some of their problems that pulled them apart in the first place. And ofcourse them finally being able to openly say ‘I love you’ to each other is beautiful and makes all the pain and everything worth it.