look, as chronically online person who read a ton of toxic red flag "dark romances", ill take this type of story any day over than some smut-filled rapist apologist romanticized story where a rapist becomes a good lover bc he falls for mc, whom he hitherto treated as a sex toy, and it becomes wholesome bc the mc "fixed" him. at least in this story, jerome only raped raymond bc he was driven crazy with a need for revenge and lacked autonomy bc he was under the thumb of hugh's family. and even then, it only lasted one arc, in which he came to respect mc's strong will to not break and perseverance, which was the groundwork for his future actions helping mc. for the rest of the arcs, since he wasn't compelled to, he doesn't SA mc again until mc is willing, and made no acts to appear to care about him until the most critical moments. he legitimately has no power and authority to wield, and that one time he helps mc at the risk of exposing himself, he actually suffers the consequences and is drugged and made a spectacle (and at that point, Raymond still despised jerome and contributed in humiliating jerome). and why this is such a significant act is bc jerome was actually treated the same way as raymond, and this is the basis for his revenge, so he basically willingly risked undergoing the same trauma again and sacrificing the revenge he worked on for ~15 years just to help raymond. and this isnt the only selfless act he did for mc. novel jerome is 10x more compelling and complex than your typical black flag ml will ever be. but if u want cliche powerful capricious rapist ml who submits to mc after hitherto forcing him to his whims, this just isn't for u. if u want a cathartic revenge story, ultimately it is (Raymond gets his revenge and so does jerome) but it is also a very gritty and nuanced exploration of Stockholm syndrome, depicting realistically to a degree the self-gaslighting, self-hatred, resignation, and emotional dependency of the victims.
let me mention as well, Raymond doesn't fall for jerome even after his enacting revenge twice and knowing jerome is a victim too and ONLY after jerome saves his life, and this was the catalyst to choosing love over hatred for the sake of his own survival. yes he has stockholm syndrome, but it was neither affection or sympathy, it was just a parasitic emotional bond based on trauma. after raymond tried to kill jerome at the end of the first arc, he actually managed to kill him in the third but he immediately revived him not bc of love but bc of said emotional bond. it was then he realized he couldn't live without "the boys" even when he desperately wanted to kill them. he couldn't move on from them either, so the only way to survive in the world with them was to give up on revenge, suppress hatred, and resign to love instead. after more than a decade of hate. it had nothing to do with "he's changed to someone I can love so I should give him a chance". (and if u think this is stupid, jerome thinks so as well. he is the one to reignite raymond's hatred.) the author makes it very fucking clear that what jerome did is unforgivable and even if he beg and save mc it would not rectify his wrongs, and this is reflected in jerome's actions when he keeps a distance from mc even after mc falls for him and only tries to seduce him/be openly affectionate and kidnap him to a remote inn to live together away from reality when mc loses his memories of his trauma (ngl was my fav part of the novel cuz it provided a lot of insight on jerome's character). and when mc recovers his memories, jerome becomes cold and wants to run away again. anyway, that's why I think this is better than the stories where the narrative pussyfoots around making rapist MLS not quite irredeemable bc they were raised into an arrogant POS, had a sad backstory, and/or the mc "enjoyed" the sex.
ill also say, that the other characters (hugh & George) and (nicholas & Christine) actually exemplify what happens to a unromanticized relationship based on stockholm syndrome if the victim didn't have the necessary mental resilience and the abuser doesn't see their lover as equals and still wanted to control them. hugh remain an abusive scum even after falling for George, who in turn became as twisted as hugh and just gaslighted himself to accept being his pet and sex toy bc of love. the victim of the second couple couldn't gaslight themselves into being happy, but he also couldn't reconcile his love and hatred. so he chose to go down the path of death. (raymond & jerome) only end up together bc raymond is mentally strong enough and jerome is just a traumatized normal person who loves raymond more than his own life but is completely aware of his own sins. all in all, if u can handle these types of dark thriller stories, this is for u; u can criticize the literary tropes themselves, but u cant immediately dismiss the story as "bad" just for having them if u haven't even read it.
Thank you for the spoilers (▰˘◡˘▰). So the reason why George is not one of the victim in spite of being the last one ( among the 4 of them ) to join the group is because he is Hugh's pet/lover? Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm glad Raymond is a strong minded person.
Do you think you can recommend any similar to this... Sorry I just love to read dark novels/mangas...but can't seem to find any.. If you want if not no worries
i actually got some details wrong, but essentially, no George is 100% a victim who experienced the same thing as raymond but when he and hugh fell in love, his status elevated from pet to lover. and since he became as depraved as Hugh, and Hugh didnt magically change, in order for their dysfunctional relationship to work, they needed another toy, a scapegoat, to be abused in george's place while they be Lovey-dovey. however hugh does "rape" George in front of the four to fuck with raymond's mind, which i have no doubt George was fine with. which is why i say although they are in a loving relationship they can never bc equal bc one party is completely submissive to the other.
ngl this is the first dark thriller bl that made my head spin and compelled me to write half an essay on the story. it's the darkest yet most well-written dark bl i know so i dont have anything else that measures up to this standard. all other dark bls i read just isn't as good as Bad Life and/or had the cliche power imbalance dynamic so i cant in good faith rec those to u.
I have to say this one and one that I'm currently reading kinda have the same vib but take different routes in how the situation was bein handled... They could almost have the same plot... But I understand what you mean.
It's okay. Thank you for the spoilers (●'◡'●)ﾉ
so im been thinking, why is this story so particularly moving? (other than the sheer sweetness of their relationship.) i think it's bc of the simplicity of their love story. neither of them had any grand ambitions, when they could've easily wanted revenge and/or to raise their station. with their talents, they definitely could've. but no, this is a story about what we all ultimately want and need is love. the main couple found complete fulfilment in their lives thru each other's companionship and love. they would've been perfectly content to stay in their mundane bubble, away from the plot. this unchanging desire, in stark contrast to the tragedy that had marred their lives and the constantly unfolding drama threatening to shatter their peace, captures the profundity and simplicity of their love.
and despite the story being about them, the world doesn't feel as though it revolves around them. bc every character (except the brother) is moving forward in their lives and at a new milestone by the end of the story, while the main couple's relationship is relatively the same as it were when it was peaceful and just the two of them, before the "plot" came back to their lives unbidden.
that's all to say, this is one of the best historical bls ever.
I'm following you
look im willing to read dumpster fire and look past the bad pacing and glaring plot hole (how is that mc's twin didn't know the drama that went down in hs and that mc developed amnesia?), but I will drop this if mc end up with either of them
im looking thru the spoilers and damn this story has PLOT. it's a reverse harem in the sense that multiple men fall for her, but she does end up with one guy
Thanks for the tip lol now going to see whimshe end up with
are people so naive? just bc their avatar is a guy doesnt mean the author themselves is a guy. did they even confirm their gender?
It’s not being naive. If the author doesn’t like it they’ll speak up about it. I’m not trying to be rude but there’s no need to play savior. If the author doesn’t want the readers to assume they’re a man, they wouldn’t draw themself as one, that would be stupid, especially since a lot of authors out there draw themselves as potatoes or blobs when they don’t want to “expose their identity” or something like that ifykwim
^^
yup, that is true
It is no way for someone who does not want to be mistaken for either gender to describe themselves as one of them.
If author doesn't want to highlight their gender, they can just make the avatar look like a cute plusie or cute animal like other authors do.
im not playing savior. i just think it's strange to assume the author is a man just based on avatar when it could be an OC or smth and it's more likely the case that the author is a women. i added the last part in case the author did confirm their gender and is indeed a man
I think more than people assuming the author is a man (because they presented themselves with a masculine avatar) it's weird of you to assume they're probably a woman because of your own preconceived notions
Why do u think the author is a woman? Because HE draws comics about a dad and his son. Or because he draws bls? Because that's sexist.
He* because unless the author comes out and says he is not a man, that's what I'm calling him.
Why do u think the author is a woman? Because HE draws comics about a dad and his son. Or because he draws bls? Because that's sexist.
He* because unless the author comes out and says he is not a man, that's what I'm calling him.
if it werent for the avatar if u had to take a guess u wouldve assumed they were a woman too. cant help it if my perconcieved notions are based on facts since it's true at least 80-90% of authors of these type of stories with homoerotic tones are women
well i didnt know they drew bls. i think they're a woman cuz of artstyle. male authors when they draw men, it's different from the typical yaoi artstyle from female authors, and this story fits the latter. and regarding the content of the story, if they were a male, i simply do not think they would write a originally wholesome story with weird homoerotic tones with the son and father that's obviously pandering to a certain degenerate demographic. i have read queer books by male authors and a gay commenter mention to me how much pedophilia have hurt him, so unless the author is tone deaf to the struggles of their own gender, they wouldnt have added that weirdness. for example, think of the differences of the BL and GL story written by the author of sadisitic beauty, who is a woman. oh, and i really dont care what u call the author by. i just think it's naive, like if u assume a player is female just bc they have a female avatar in a video game
I get your point, but there’s actually a big difference between an OC and a persona! An OC would be papa wolf or the underlings. A persona is what the author uses to portray themselves like they often do in author’s notes. A person is used to give the readers an idea of who the author is, and choosing a gender rather than an object or animal is a way for them to allow their readers to make assumptions. Even if the author isn’t a man, them choosing their persona and making it a man allows the readers to make that assumptions as it quite literally is the logical thing to do. Other authors (like DJun, uses a cute character as persona without it being human. We know the author is a woman because of their Weibo (if i remember correctly) but to avoid making any assumption on their physic or gender, they chose, like many other manhua artists to use a non-human character as their persona. Idk if i explained that correctly but hope it makes sense
The reason why people are calling you out a out it is because there IS an avatar. I understand why you would assume it was a woman at first, I did too, since it’s true that most bl manhua artists are women (even this one isn’t bl, the author does post bl on their weibo i think) but the author showing their persona as a man and still assuming they’re a woman is why people don’t agree with you. I mean yea, they could be a woman and just likes using a man persona, but it wouldn’t make sense to be bothered if they’re assumed to be a man because of it, and it wouldn’t make sm sense to assume they’re a woman despite the persona, ykwim?
Also quick addition, but the homoerotic tones in some chapters aren’t related to the main story line. The author received a lot of criticism and the likes on their socials bc the story isn’t bl, so the few chapters with the bl vibes are to cater to one portion of their fans who seem angry that the story is only a cute father-son slice of life. Basically, it’s like a completely different story (except the characters looks the same which is also why i dislike it). I’ve also read a few bls novels/manhua with male authors but the difference didn’t really have anything to do with the art or the wholesomeness of the story.
so girl rather time travel than...communicate?
exactly what I was thinking
let me tell u the groveling was soooo satisfying bc the MC never felt an ounce of sympathy or affection she hated them the entire time and it was glorious and i wish more revenge + grovel + redemption stories would be like this
That’s why I look forward to each and every update
does anyone know if the image of the blonde girl and taller freckled girl from the bottom of each chapter from a manhwa
They’re from attack on titan historia/christa(blonde) and yamir(freckles)
ohh. darn. i heard they were the "doomed Yuri" couple. too bad. thanks tho
some readers really have no idea what is enemies to lovers lol. at most, this is rivals to lovers
im gonna be that person and ask if there's any BL stories similar to this. bully mc x victim secretly in love with bully cuz he's the only one to pay attention him.