One of my own stories has a sub-species of the OG mermaids (all female) which are (but rarely) male and they can get pregnant in tail form, by a similar method, regardless of gender (males can't change back to their legs during the pregnancy tho). I don't know why, but I imagined that would be the case here as well, but too bad it wasn't. Would have been an extra gimmick.
After forgetting the title and now I realize I've been here a month ago and the story is probably axed.
Great, I've got Alzheimer's and still can't read the story.
This must have come out around the same time that The Return of the Crazy Demon came out, and I'm pretty sure the base stories are from the same author. But maybe I remember this wrong, because there are no other stories listed from the same authors here.
It was also a Murim story with a slightly crazy protagonist, but more of a hidden crazy. When this one is openly acting mad, the other is pretty calm and collected in general, but he's had a rough past. Basically, when he was a child, he belonged to a Sword Dance Troupe and learned sword dancing there.
When two brothers, masters, I believe both Poison Dragons(?) chanced upon him someday and kidnapped him to experiment on him. But he Stockholmed his way into their crusty hearts, until they could no longer bear to kill him and turned into their actual shared disciple.
But that's just the backstory; there's no real mystery there. He becomes an adult and leaves the two brothers to see the world, where he first goes to his original home, only to find it ransacked and taken over by another group. The troupe's members seem to have either died or scattered in the wind, so now he set his goal to destroy those who took his home away while he was gone and collect whatever is left of the people he once loved.
That's as much as I remember. No clue about the title or the character names (otherwise, googling it would be possible). Does anyone know?
I believe it's "Sword Fanatic Wanders Through The Night"
OMG, that's it! I don't even need to check, I remember it, now that you say it.
Thanks a lot! <3
... because we had finally reached the point of Ilay realizing and sorting out his feelings for Tay and vice versa, especially with Xinlu and the "closing arguments". Like, they had calm talks about the situation and came to a somewhat understanding that it would never happen between them and that he would choose Ilay over him.
Great! You see, sometimes it may not be obvious, because seemingly, so many things are happening, but in actuality... Passion has no real goal; it has no story. By that I mean it did have this vague overarching goal, or I should rather call it an overarching "premise", as it felt like there was more hidden, with that secret weapon in the UNHRDO's basement and all, and Jay now missing, but it never had more than that. And that turned out to be "Well, he's held in that guy's weird mansion, but he's probably there because he's fine with it; otherwise, he would have already found a way out". So finding Jay at the end of Season 5 basically just meant wrapping up the relationship between Ilay and Tay and possibly going into the fact that the "kidnapper" dude is clearly in love with Jay, and then it's over.
But because that was apparently not fun enough, we had to dig up Xinlu's corpse and display it one more time, as if he had ever had any reason to exist in this story, to force the entire character progression of Ilay back to square one. I actually saw Chapter 141 on a YT Short and got really confused about how we came back to this behavior, actually even worse than before.
I get that; from his personality, it actually makes sense. He went from his standard to a point where you could call him cute not just by his own measurements, but from any point of view. In other words: He made himself vulnerable for likely the first time in his life. He probably accepted his feelings, and upon being asked, he moved heaven and earth, offering up everything he has in his position, his literal freedom (because he's now a wanted terrorist, so that could go bad), and what he sees is the guy he did it for just walking off with his perceived romantic rival.
I get that he would lose his mind and violence had always been his default setting.
But you can see the author's hand in trying to create this outcome in such a hand-fisted way. He needed to see Tay walk off with Xinlu, but instead of having Tay say ONE SINGLE LINE to explain the situation, he just says "Nah, can't go with you now." Are you serious?
This is what REALLY makes me mad, because it's so obvious. "He took Jay, I can't just leave him there." It could have been so easy. Hell, the T&R guys could probably have followed them. And I do believe they didn't that day because Ilay was shell-shocked; otherwise, there's no way he hadn't been able to follow up in some way.
Anyway, Tay could have explained that much, and Ilay knows Xinlu's personality; he also knows Jay, AND he knew from the beginning that Jay should have been in that mansion, since that's why they even went to the island in the first place. I hate it when authors PRETEND something is complicated when it is clearly not, and they are simply too lazy to come up with something less retarded to make their wishes come true.
Like, from a writer's AND a reader's perspective, I'm actually super disappointed. I just skipped through the repetitive belch between Tay and Xinlu, to see if there's anything salvageable in 141 I hadn't seen in that short. But that wasn't the case.
Therefore, I'm just gonna drop this for a while and come back when there are many chapters out and we can get past this forced drama bullshit.
100% 100% 100%
There was so much meaningful progression in their relationship. Their time searching the island, the separation in the mansion, and that absolutely glorious panel when they’re reunited (ilay smiling, tay going to call out his name)…..stunning, amazing, important to the characters and their development, etc.
………just for it to be completely ruined by xinlu coming out of nowhere for no reason with a “you must cone with me” ultimatum THAT WENT NOWHERE BECAUSE HE JUDT LET TAY LEAVE IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS?????? Literally the most POINTLESS, USELESS, CONTRIVED sequence of events just so the author can get their “confinement/torture/insanity” arc that did not need to happen (and wasnt even naturally what to story was heading for….at least, not in this way)
I’m honestly so pissed about this
YES. Exactly that. Xinlu was finally buried and done with. What did we have those stupid ass conversations for then? Every time he just pops up and is immediately deterred anyway, so what's the point? It felt like they showed us this happy Ilay just to say: "See, that's what you COULD have gotten."
I'm seriously pissed off as well.
I don't know if you can feel that one, because I don't know if you have seen it, but it reminded me of the SAO Abridged series on YouTube. The joke was that the Kirito they portray, who always hates everyone, because he's a bullied little kid, makes actual progression and calls a character he always makes fun of by his name for the very first name, instead of the joke name he chose based on his game handle. 5 seconds later, something devastating happens and he reverts right back to where he started, of not worse because coming out of his shell hurt him. It was great in the abridged series, because it was funny and it held an entirely different meaning.
The way it reminded me, however, just made me feel as if the author was making fun of us. Showing us something we were waiting for only to take it away. Annoying.
I know exactly what you’re talking about! (sao abridged lowkey defined my sense of humour)
Ilay’s growth on this island arc was so integral to the story, and has been building for a long time
That moment where kirito decides to be a better person and have hope (after meeting sachi), and then backtracking once that hope was taken away from him made sense. Plus, it makes sense for his character as the whole point of him is that he doesn't know how to connect with other people, so he retreats into himself when he cant control the situation. It was both set up, and then executed very well. It was also in the mid section of the first arc, so it made sense that he wouldn’t be able to permanently make that change yet. Then the rest of the show we play the waiting game, watching him change more solidly over time
On that note………….
WE ARE SO FAR INTO THIS MANHWA, WHY IS THIS EVEN HAPPENING????? Ilay’s growth on this island arc was so integral to the story, and has been building for a looooong time. We’ve already played the waiting game. We’ve already seen him not understand his emotions and act violently. We have watched him have important conversations that have changed the way he thinks (but unlike with sachi these were with tay, the MAIN CHARACTER, and therefore have more weight). The opportunity for a regression arc has long passed. I would even say a regression arc has no place in this story at all.
What makes it worse is that Ilay is a very difficult character to redeem. He is selfish, ruthless, and lacks basically any amount of empathy. As expected, this made building a relationship between him and the very practical tay difficult. You really can’t go backwards in character progression in a dynamic like this, because rips out any love readers have for him. The thrill of ilay and tay getting closer over the past arc was so rewarding, and their reunion was so satisfying juuuuuuuuust to immediately cut it off and reduce any emotional depth they had painstakingly built to “I’m going to treat you like I have treated all other people I don’t give a shit about”. This is right after they FINALLY broke that behaviour cycle with tay on the island.
It’s just so regressive for so late in what is essentially a slow-burn manhwa. But instead of dumping gasoline on the fire, they doused it with water…..
What was even the point?
Some of the things you mention boil down to another point I was going to make, but forgot, why it was cool in SAO Abridged, which is also mainly a parody (though let's be real: It's the better SAO by far), and it wasn't cool in Passion. And that was, that this was one of the first things that happened in SAO Abridged. In other words, the whole thing does set in motion how he's going to be shaped by the end of the season, but in the first place, it was a "You're not gonna change after two episodes, right?" reminder.
But Passion has been running for FIVE SEASONS and is in its SIXTH. And with no real story, no less! The story IS these two motherfuckers getting together and their character progression to make it possible - especially Ilay's. He has shown change and his confusion before, culminating in all that happened on the island.
YES, finally I find someone who thinks the same as I do! "Redemption" is always a word easily thrown around. The fact is, not every person can accept someone like Ilay. So both characters MUST show that they are of the kind that is susceptible to the other, no matter in which way. Obviously, it will never compare to a regular romantic couple, but if they are happy with each other, they are just as much a romantic couple, and as long as I can get behind WHY the one in the "victim" position accepts the other and forgives the things that happened, that's enough for me to be happy about it.
Passion always had a bit of a problem with scale on this one. Like, when they are in Berlin together and at the beginning fo the island arc, it was specifically Tay that I felt was the problem. He was still depicted in a way that said he didn't want anything from Ilay; that he would never fall for him. While Ilay was problematic in his own right, you do need to show that a certain level of acceptance and interest, even if its denied or simply subconscious, is shown from both sides, and Tay was often lacking that.
But they both came around, and I was so glad it finally happened. Separating them, as a plot point on its own, was actually a good idea, especially when fusing it with the end of the search for the elusive McGuffin of the show, Jay. Because them separating led to the situation of Ilay wondering where Tay went again and if he had run away. But when he did call him, he was happy, causing the way he had run up on him to get him.
The problem now is that this shows his character can never change. The fact that violence is his default setting is one thing, and I guess it was lucky that he didn't kill him - because, of course, the author still wants them to end up together - but it leaves a bitter aftertaste. Again, he isn't violent in a way that would threaten his life, but he doesn't let him talk first, since he now knows he loves him, and he should have been smart enough to realize that something was off. I also get that shock and anger clouds his judgment and he had to blow that steam off before he could listen (which is anger that would well up upon seeing his face, so there's no way to do that beforehand), but it still opens up this possibility that he will react this way every time Tay does something that can be misunderstood. And seeing how Tay acted like a lobotomized donkey when Xinlu came to "pick him up", it feels like that might be a common occurrence, so is it really a good idea for them to be together? Maybe being with one consistent person and loving them, to the point of such situations bringing much more emotional turmoil than if it was a random one-night stand, just isn't for Ilay at all.
While I get why these things happened and I will hold onto this story, as I do love those two and I want them to be together, I hate that the author doesn't seem to realize the implications of this. And it has a real bad smell of someone, way back when the novel was written, telling the author that the story was too popular to end it, so they came up with a last-minute forced drama to prolong it.
You are so right. And I would honestly bet it was a situation of “The people are loving this! You must make it longer no matter what it costs for the characters!”, like you said.
I think the only thing that would make me like this plot development is if right as he is about to do something terrible to tay, ilay just starts crying. Then we can pivot to tay having a moment available to do his best at communicating nonverbally that he loves him. This would essentially would turn this scene into just a momentary burst of emotion, that can then manifest as a different emotion (due to island arc character development ), and we can move on to a resolution….
But I highly doubt that’s how it’s going to go, so we can just suffer ig
Yeah, it just had that stink. Weird way of tooting my own horn, but once you start writing you have a different perspective on not just how stories are made but specifically how fuck ups come to happen. And this is one specifically seen in online stories and long running book series.
I caught a glimpse of a spoiler in one of the comments basically saying he fucks him and when they are finished, he finally listens to Tay's side of the story. Which is lackluster as fuck, but if we are lucky we'll get it over quickly.
Of course they have to put the sex scene before the communication…….but what was I expecting? Good writing? With this plot development?
Well anyways, this was a great discussion! And it’s always fun to find someone with overlapping interests and similar views on writing quality
Basically that. Had they had a natural progression from that moment Ilay came to pick him up and bring him home, then their next time would have been with feelings. Naturally, while they can still have "rough" sex if that's in the plan for the "victim" partner (you know what I mean, hopefully - like, the non-psychopathic one, as the power shift after the crazy one develops feelings would lay with that one, because his will is now way more important), something like 141 is not allowed to happen again, and with a personality like Tay, he wouldn't even want something like the mirror thing, where he was arguably under more stress because of Ilay's attitude and words than his handling.
In other words, we didn't JUST prolong the story beyond even the bare-bones plot device (Finding Nemo) it had to begin with (which is, btw, okay - romantic drama or psychological stories like Passion don't need that much of a plot, since that's not the focus), but also shoehorned in another rapey scene, which would have been impossible otherwise. Don't get me wrong, if I had an issue with those, I wouldn't be here. But I only have no issue with those if they make sense within the plot constraints, and since 141 was completely unnecessary, even I skipped it. And there are a lot of people who would be shocked that I just said that; trust me.
I just find it frustrating that, within this interesting world they build, with these coherent and interesting characters, the author let this happen. That is why I say this reeks of meddling and what we call "Torschlusspanik" in my language. There's no real English word for it, but there are many that mean similar things, but the English ones are all specified to situations, while this one is more general. A fear of something ending soon and what you may miss out on if you don't act fast, would be the best fit in this case.
I thought so too! Especially since people loudly crying about the ones who just want to enjoy this type of story are getting bolder, so it's hard to find people to have a conversation like this. A level-headed one, in which not every sentence ends with accusations or moral lecturing, which has no place in such a conversation to begin with.
The mighty back muscles on the cover summoned me here, but the story sounds interesting enough. I'm in.
Same thing i found it on recent upload back then, i got looked up :D *The tournament is peak*
True.
It actually reads like a bargain bin version of "Into the Light Once Again". The MC even has a very similar hairdo as young Aisha. The whole "I won't trust people again" isn't a big, long drawn plot point in that Webtoon either, but it held far more gravitas than here, where it's literally inconsequential, because we get the entire "backstory" all the way to her teenage years as a rapid fire exposition dump. Even the fact that it's about a summoner, having "holy" powers through the contract is the same - just that Aisha actually wields "real" holy powers by the order of their world, it's just that humans believe to be a god what is actually just the spirit king of the light element, so her spirit powers are obviously the same. Here, she really isn't the saint, but of course, her powers are of a kind that used to be much stronger than any saint.
But it's not just that it feels like a cheap knock-off of a good story, but it's just not good, even when I look at it as objectively as possible.
Because I used to read it a long time ago, I still get notifications that I could simply turn off, and yet I don't. I know I once started reading this and dropped it right away. But I later forgot what it was that rubbed me the wrong way, to I restarted and this time, whatever it was didn't bother me, apparently, because I kept reading.
At least I kept reading until a certain point and dropped it a second time. I, again, do not remember why. Mind you, this was years ago, when nowhere near this many chapters were around.
But I did recently restart a different story I dropped right off the bat when it was new because I didn't like it and now I love it.
Well, I guess I'll just start reading this for the third time, why don't I.
Can someone tell me if this is a story suffering from random drops in quality or something similar? I would really be annoyed if I managed to keep reading again, only to drop it a third time.
I literally am in love with this story. There’s no drops in quality of either uploads or translations. They fix the name of the MC i think around 20? because of a translation thing. Only thing id say is there are some duplicate chapters because of different scanlation groups both uploading, only a few, it’s nothing crazy
Yeah, I went to read it on Asura Scans directly.
It's an entire army of Gaydars, completely locked on the MC.
We all knew he and Rüdiger were meant to be. They can smell it too.
And I can't help thinking: It's obvious that Roussel is going to end up as the male lead, also with their favorite pastimes and their personalities matching, as well as with the manor and all the servants already turning into her forever home. Also, that's just the standards formular. But I really did hope for this to be different. Because why not go with the prince as the male lead and make the marquis into her family? You know, like a brother; the man who woul walk her down the aisle. Her home she can always return to. Because she doesn't have that otherwise.
plus Roussel i will stay manipulative & controlling till the end
Yeah, I didn't read that much beyond the point I was at before, so I don't know what else happens during the later chapters that are already available. From my current knowledge though, I don't hate him, yet also don't like him as a romantic partner.
He would do extremely well as the funny, somewhat capable and dependable, but goofy older brother, that's also the take that made me comment before. Not just because I hate that it's so obvious she's not going to go for the prince in the end from the fact that that's just what is to be expected, but also because it would make sense. He had no real family around him, aside from his Grandmother (apparently) and she didn't either. That doesn't mean they have to be romantically compartible, because it can also work as a "let's be each other's family" in the familial. Sense, especially since he took her in as her guardian to begin with. He could "adopt" her, or the grandma could.
its korean stereotype for ml" & husband , rich , good family background , black hair , ceo rest other guys from measly background means nothing they are automatically rejected .so Roussel being ml is expected
I'd say it's clearer because the setup is that she's supposed to be interesting to someone else, and he wants to use her. So, obviously, he's going to be the one to fall in love with her in the end, making her useless to his cause. And also obviously, the prince will actually start caring about her, being exactly what ML wanted initially, but now his affection will become a bother.
I wouldn't go by character design, because that really depends on the story, I think. Silver / Whitehaired MLs are also a thing, and I believe that the other guy might just end up being the Crown Prince, so there's that for his standing. I mean, technically, you are right, but in reality, they could have had it all here.
You know, sometimes, it's a thing that helps. Maybe someone should've told him.