So, like a week or so ago, I pretty much wrote a whole novel about this series in which I talked about, among many other things, how I wasn't confident in rating this series five stars yet because I didn't know how this conflict would be solved and I must say though it was a bit sudden and quick I really liked how it was solved because it felt like a weight was lifted from my heart.
I know I sound a bit dramatic but for like a month and half, even though every new chapter would make me feel horrible and empty inside, due to my attachment to the characters and the story, I kept coming back for more every week knowing full well how it would make me feel.
Now that that heartbreaking shit is finally over and my two muffins can be together, I can confidently give it the 5 stars it deserves.
Ps. Expect another novel from me when this series comes to a conclusion because my obsession and love for it is starting to get unhealthy ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶
Although I love the main couple and think they are really cute together, after reading the recent chapters, I can't say the same for Andy and Martin.
First, let's get this out of the way. Martin raped Andy or at the very least abused him (please don't even try to deny it, I really don't want to have this conversation, and don't try to justify it with "Andy liked it so it's ok" or some BS like that). I really hope this gets brought up and addressed later on in this series and doesn't get swept under the rug.
Right now, Martin is extremely arrogant and cocky but not in a charming way where his other attributes make up for it, instead he comes off annoying. I hope that later on, he goes through a character development where he doesn't necessarily lose that arrogance but develops other characteristics to make said arrogance bearable.
Andy to me is a weird character because even though he is clearly deep into the closet, he is visibly infatuated with Martin even with everything he has done to him to the point of even getting jealous of chris. I would also like to see him undergo some character development because I don't see any reasoning behind his infatuation with Martin.
In conclusion, as far as I've seen from their relationship, I believe an actual relationship between these 2 would be extremely toxic and unhealthy and that they should not end up together. However, I do think there is potential for them to positively influence each other but I'm not too sure about that either.
Honestly the more I read this the more confused I become about in suh (I think that's how you write his name? I don't remember). I can't understand him and what he is thinking no matter how hard I try. I don't know if I like him or not and I don't even know what his intentions are. One time he comes off as selfish and the other as selfless, immature and then mature, conceited but then genuinely caring.
All in all, this discourse inside of me confuses me about whether or not I believe he is well-written because I can't tell if his behaviour constantly contradicts itself on purpose or on accident like it was a mishap from the writer.
Maybe he is that well-written, written with a lot of layers, written with complexity in mind or maybe I am overthinking it.
I think he was just pretending that he didn't noticed that they should break up. He was mature but not when it came to the seme cause with him they were always stuck in the past. He was glad that he could monopolize the seme and that the seme gave up everything for him in a way he could think like "see that? He did all that for me I'm special" cause it was like his way to believe that he was being loved by the seme that was loved by everyone (cause the seme was incredibly popular and talented and handsome and kind almost like a perfect person so it was like "that person that everyone loves loves me cause I'm special") he also realized with time that this was destroying the seme and was terrified of losing him but also terrified of the seme losing himself and I guess that when he saw the other MC (our lovely big bear) he was once again terrified of losing him so he acted hostile but then he finally realized that there's was nothing he could do to bring happiness to the seme and that in fact he was only bringing him pain so he decided to let it go for the sake of both of them since both of them could no longer be like in the past and couldn't be happy together anymore.
I guess you are confused because while reading yaoi/shounen ai we are not used to this kind of character development
Honestly, I didn't think about that "this special person that everyone loves thinks Im special and loves me" part. Now that I think about it I think in suh suffers from a pretty bad case of inferiority complex. But yeah I get what you mean, thank you for sharing your opinions with me.
I mean you are not wrong, most of character development I've come across in bl has something to do with abuse either physical or emotional or has to do with having a hard time trusting people. I think this bl really showcases how to write a good breakup scenario which although a bit idealistic it's not unrealistic.
This is REALLY long so there is a Tl;dr at the end.
I don't know if I can continue reading this; not because I don't like it or think it's badly written (I even adore all of the characters), it's just that I don't know if I can continue to wait a whole week for a chapter that makes me feel frustrated and hurt and horrible.
I want them to reconcile so bad. Euncheol stop being a dumbass and listen to your future hubby's feelings. (︶︿︶)＝凸
Now, on the actual critique. The progression of the story has a really nice pace, not too fast but fast enough so almost every chapter is at least a little bit eventful and so that the story doesn't drag on and on. The art style is real pretty and the chemistry between the 2 main characters (before this whole shit show) was immaculate (+1 for the amazing sex scenes).
For jongghu I wish nothing but happiness. The mc has continuously hurt him and completely undermined or down right ignored his hubby's feelings, even though he has finally learned his mistake and is trying to make things better.
That constant neglect has led jongghu into doing the unthinkable, that is sexually assaulting him before running away, as a last resort to make his feelings noticed by the mc. So even though I think that what he did was incredibly heinous and on impulse, I can't help but put some of the blame on the mc, which is honestly quite unfair, since it's not the fault of the person that got attacked for getting sexually assaulted, even if that person has been treating the assaulter like shit.
On to the mc. I think he is a piece of shit on one hand, but somewhat justified in his actions on the other. By that I mean that even though he has treated jongghu like shit and only cared about himself, I can see past some of what he has done and excuse some of his actions because of all the trauma he has experienced. When you get traumatized in some way, you tend to consciously or unconsciously treat others the same way you have been treated. Looking at euncheol and his relationships, most of them have looked at him as a "pervert" or as someone to relieve some of their sexual frustrations with, so that's why I can understand why he treated jongghu as basically nothing more than a human dildo, someone only useful for sex (which is obviously wrong). I think that trauma response has been executed perfectly so far in this read. What I believe euncheol needs to help him realize how important jongghu is to him, is exactly what happened, which is jongghu running away for good and distancing himself from him.
Lastly jouseong. I honestly don't know how to feel about him. Although he has been hurt in his past, which makes me sympathize with, I can't help but resent him (strong word but you get my point) for his attempt of taking advantage of someone who is emotionally unstable at the moment to fulfill his own needs and selfish desires (I believe it wasn't on purpose, since he doesn't seem like a bad person and genuinely liked euncheol). However, with that said, seeing as he is not a bad person but just a normal person with human desires who just happened to be with the wrong person the wrong moment, I can see past his previous actions and focus on the present, when he has finally realized his situation and that his relationship with euncheol is hurting both of them, deciding to end it and on his final words of encouragement and support towards euncheol finding jongghu.
Right now I can't bring myself to rate this series with 5 stars because even though I adore it, my rating depends on the way this conflict is handled from beginning to end. However, it is progressing really nicely at the moment so I have high hopes.
Tl;dr Although the characters have done some dumb shit (including jouseong), I can sympathize with them, their feelings and their situations and come to understand why they behave like that (a sign that the characters are well written honestly).
Lastly, I love this series and everything about it but I'm hesitant to rate it 5 stars because I don't know if the current conflict of jongghu running away is to get resolved appropriately.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk (￣∇￣")
So I've seen some comments talking about how mijeong, while thinking that the world is against him, is actually kinda spoiled and although I understand that that might be the truth, I feel like it's only one side of the truth, which makes me want to sympathize with him and his feelings.
Looking at his relationship with his family members, even though they have a close relationship and obviously love each other, to me it seems that mijeong feels that he is not respected by the others, that he, his opinions and his experiences are constantly being undermined because they view him as immature and impulsive. Though, I can also understand where the family members are coming from (since he has definitely acted immaturely and on impulse many times), I can't help but feel like this response is extremely damaging to mijeong's self esteem, which probably gradually makes him hesitant to share his feelings and opinions with others in fear of getting shamed for them and only helps to further worsen his inferiority complex.
All in all, I believe that his family members do genuinely care about him and harm him without even knowing and that mijeong getting into a relationship with hangyul is going to do wonders for his social development and will help in undoing some of that harm caused by his family.
Now that that "novel" is over, I really want to see some cute development between the 2 leads and also between naseon and chorong so much. (づ￣ ³￣)づ
I get how he feels tho. Abt his parents not being there for him. They love him but r too busy to show him any love and as a kid. That hurts no matter how much u look at it.
I relate even tho im an only child but everyone had time just never been there for me lol. When they dont show up at events ur trying ur best in too omg ouch
Yeah I agree 100%. It can be extremely damaging to a child to get ignored by his family and to see their siblings being constantly prioritized over them.
I personally am and have been pretty privileged about this situation since I'm the youngest of three (I used to get pretty much all the attention from my parents, not anymore of course since I'm not a child) so I can't really relate with him but I understand how he probably feels and I feel for him
Currently at ch.12
So I just picked this up and I don't know how anyone can find the seme charming or even tolerable. His antics come off so petty, childish and annoying to the point that I'm rooting for the uke to just quit and work somewhere far away from him (even tho I find the uke almost just as unbearable).
At this point, I'm only reading this for the potential smut and the uke's siblings cause they are 2 cute little dumplings.
Overall, at least as far as I've read, the art style is really pretty and it's not badly written by any means, it's just that the protagonists are annoying and have no chemistry for me
I check out the creators twitter for reading motivaton, not bcs of the actual plot but the characters were drewn like teeny bunnies with no dialogues- so cute(≧∀≦)
I'm sorry but I don't think I can continue reading about Andy and Martin. I see no chemistry between them. The only thing I see is a gay guy bullying another gay (or maybe bi) guy who hasn't fully accepted himself yet and the author trying to call it romance and flirting. And Im not even talking about the rape scene yet which I fear will get glossed over seeing how their relationship is progressing.
I don't know, I really wanna see Andy standing his ground and serve this cocky rapist bastard Martin a slice of humble pie.
And ffs Andy stop blushing 24/7 for Martin and realize that what he did to you wasn't being rough or some shit but it was him literally raping you.
I agree with everything u said but when did he get raped... ant sex they had that I remember was asked for ???
byeeeee
bruh there was no rape scene wtf??
To clarify, some people might not consider it "rape" (I do) but I think we can all agree that it was at the very least abuse.
You don't shove your penis in someone mouth or penetrate the other person without prepping them and then justify it with "oh well he was hard so he liked it".
you do realize this is physiological fiction yaoi, like look at the tags for fucks sake dont come complaning when it's triggering later.
Wait hold awn- I read it again and I was right he did get raped point blank period. When did he give consent? He was literally silent from most of it. And don't even start with well he went to his house or shit like that. It doesn't mean shit. Did he say yes to giving Martin a blowjob or was his dick forced into his mouth? Did he say to Martin fucking him or did he just put it in? Please stop justifying rape.
You don’t have to read it. It’s not for everyone. This is for people who enjoy certain kinks. I should also mention that it’s also cultural. In many East Asian cultures, this is seen as more of a “normal” way to consent.
Wow people are quite harsh against you! Personally I completely agree! Well said! Also about the "just don't read it then", I don't know if it's the same for other people but as for me I don't actually mind rape, abuse and other toxic things in a story as long as long as it's handled properly. Like proper apologies, redemption etc and not being glossed over. Anyway, what I wanted to say was that hearing that a story contains those elements is not gonna scare me off per default. And here I feel like it will most likely get glossed over considering how unapologetic Martin behaves. Also, in this story I wasn't even prepared for it. I mean, the first couple was super cute! (Had their kinks but still consensual!)
I completely agree with you. Also I don't understand why people are getting mad over me condemning actual rape (not consensual rape play between adults). I don't generally have a problem with heinous crimes taking place in a work, sometimes I even welcome it if it helps provide good character development. My problem lies with the fact that it is not getting addressed as something heinous and instead the characters involved seem nonchalant about it.
But again, as I've said before, consent is crucial and in this case, I'm sorry but it wasn't given.
Never said it was triggering to me. I have read a lot of fiction that handle rape or topics similar to rape. My problem is that it is being handled as if it wasn't rape and it was something completely normal and I don't believe it is going to be addressed properly in future chapters. That's what I find fundamentally wrong with this read.
Everyone condemns rape though? The people getting mad also know rape is bad. Nobody is special for saying “Rape is bad.” A lot of Yaoi mangas do gloss over rape, it’s common, so it’s something to be expected. I guess people who are new might not know this. Because this is fiction already, many people do read it for their rape kinks. People forget that this is for adults (you have to buy it) and this rape theme is a common trope they want to see.
Just because rape is often glossed over in mangas doesn't mean that it's undeserving of criticism. And rape play and actual rape are too very different things. Everything that comes to sex needs consent in order to be valid.
And again, just because it is an adult manga doesn't mean rape (NOT rape play) is something normal and justified.
Also, just because people are aroused from a trope/action, it doesn't mean that it's immune from criticism or should be written as something normal. Hell, I have a rape kink too, but that is completely irrelevant because this isn't playful consensual rape, it is real rape.
To sum up, it's all about the presentation and execution of a trope/action, not the trope/action itself.
Because I have already discussed my opinion on rape play and actual rape with other commenters I'll focus on your second argument.
First of all, rape isn't part of anyone's culture. In countries where rape does happen frequently due to discrimination etc, it has nothing to do about culture and everything to do with politics and power.
Second, placing rape into east asian countries' culture does not give the effect you think it does, it just helps perpetuate harmful stereotypes against asian countries (being barbaric, uncivilized etc).
As I've said in other comments, having rape in a story is not a bad thing, the presentation and execution of said action is what matters.
Thank you for responding nonetheless
I didn’t say nobody can criticize it but don’t be surprised that people criticize your comment right back since they get tired of seeing the same comments all the time. This is not actual rape!!! This is a fictional story with characters that are not real! So it does fall into rape play. Actual rape involves living people who get raped.
Yes, consent is needed in real life but this is a fictional story for people who have a rape kink. People who have rape kinks don’t justify rape. They know rape is wrong, but they can still enjoy these stories. It’s a rape fantasy being played in a fictional story. The reason why I say adults is because adults are less likely to romanticize and internalize stories like this. So adults are allowed to pay for these stories. You can say it’s wrong, but experts disagree with you.
Rape fantasies are completely normal, according to actual experts and books/stories about rape are usually for the purpose of gratifying those fantasies. You can hate the execution but again, this is not meant to be a serious story about someone who got raped. Andy is freaking blushing and jealous because of Martin. There is a play going on between them.
I have read amazing stories where it’s meant to be taken more seriously and rape is handled well. But this story is not it.
My whole point is that you can’t be shaming people for enjoying and seeking these stories to satisfy their kinks. This is rape play because the story is not real. The only time rape is real is when someone (A living thing) actually gets raped.
Since I've elaborated on my opinion enough I have one thing left to say.
Please stop being rape apologists, hold people accountable even if they are fictional characters because the morals you hold reading a story translate to real life.
And also please realize the fundamental differences in rape and rape play and how important consent is.
I'm not kink shaming anyone, I have never and will never. However, I'm not going to not talk about something that bothers me because someone finds it arousing or just likes it.
Lastly, this might sound rude but if you don't think what happened was rape, I would suggest going to a therapist because you may have experienced something traumatic that made you think what happened was normal and if you have I'm genuinely sorry.
Ps. you are allowed to like something that other people don't like, just be respectful and if you disagree with me on anything please respond to me. I'm a very opinionated person and I love talking with people about things I like or don't like. (▰˘◡˘▰)
Wow, you misread my comment. I didn’t say rape is part of our culture, I said the way it’s handled is way different from what you have been taught. In East Asian countries, saying “no” during sex is expected since it means they are demure. Hence why people who want sex also say “no.” You can say it’s fucked up but it’s the reality.
I am East Asian so I am allowed to speak about my background. The point of my comment was to shed light on this matter. Thanks.
Since I don’t want people putting words in my mouth, I am not a “rape apologist.” I am mature enough to not have fictional rape fantasies translate to real life. Hence why this is for adults or mature audiences. I also know rape happening in real life is not to be blamed on women who have rape fantasies and kinks. My morals are to not shame people for their kinks. I also stand with actual living rape victims, which has nothing to do with women writing fantasy stories (like this one) for other people. I wish people would understand the difference between rape play (which this is since it’s fictional and aimed at people with rape fantasies) and actual rape which happens in real life. It’s harmful when people say this is a real rape.
I really disagree with most you said but again we can agree to disagree on some things.
However, I want to say this. I never said that people can't disagree with me, in fact I welcome it, I'm very opinionated and I will say what I have to say about anything, which is why i also don't care if other people get tired of hearing the same things.
I too have read other stories where topics like this are handled amazingly which is why my opinion on this story is more harsh.
Also I agree that rape stories are normal, I'm only saying that this particular rape story isn't handled, in my opinion, appropriately.
Yeah, what happened between Martin and Andy is not the main topic of the story but that doesn't mean it can't have a proper progression or get handled properly.
Furthermore, people are allowed to have any kink they have if it involves consent with their partner or partners.
Lastly, I'm sorry but no, rape play has nothing to do with fiction, rape play is about what a couple decides to do, be it in real life or not. Also, rape has nothing to do with fiction, it has everything to do about whether or not a person forced or coerced someone to have sex with them, be it in real life or not. And I recognize that pretty much everybody who commented or didn't comment on my original post knows that rape is bad, but it's completely irrelevant to the argument because I'm talking about the execution of it.
Anyways, thank you for sharing you point of view with me. :)
I guess I did misread your comment a little bit since I thought you were trying to justify it so Im genuinely sorry for the miscommunication.
However, I mostly used your comment as a means to make my argument about rape justification.
But it seems we agree about that so that's that I guess.
Thank you for sharing your views with me and again sorry for the miscommunication.
I feel like I am repeating myself but this is part of rape play. I am not saying rape did not happen in this story, but for the humans reading, it’s rape play since they read it for their sexual kinks through fictional characters. I hope this makes sense. Rape play can include stories involving rape, such as this story since it’s considered erotica. Rape play is anything that induces erotic feelings but doesn’t involve actual people getting raped.
First of all, I would like to say that my comment was not targeted towards you specifically, it was just a general psa, so I'm really sorry if it came off that way.
And second, I am also mature enough to not translate rape fantasies into real life, but not everyone is, that's why I believe that the way rape is presented here is bad. However, I am not shaming anyone who finds it arousing, I'm simply stating that in this story it was not presented appropriately, yet, at least.
Oh, well I don't see anybody justifying rape here. I think lots of miscommunication is happening. Anyways, thanks for commenting.
Honestly, we almost agree but at the same time disagree. You are right tho, we both have shared our opinions so much to the point that we are repeating ourselves. I say let's agree to disagree.
Thank you for responding, it was fun sharing my opinion with others. :)
Last thing, it makes me sad how my other comments that were arguably more thought out and better presented got paid dust while this one got so many replies
I agree that younger audiences might internalize this, which is why I don't think mangago should exist. We forget that we are reading illegal work and these mangas are to be bought, by people of age. It's actually not meant to be easy to read these. So it's not the author's fault.
But yes, let's agree to disagree on the rest.