somnia's manga / #Nobility(40)

Gotta keep looking out for whatever direction this is going to go. Right now it's slightly above average. Yet I can't shake the feeling that the more chapters we get, the more plot and characters are gonna turn to shit. It strikes me as the typical "Let's do things better this time and slay boss-lady style" type of isekai over all.. The type where it's just briefly mentioned how the boss lady in question makes money and what not, but it's never shown how compentent she really is, besides her sitting in front of a desk with lots of paper, and maybe giving her rival an epic burn, while making decisions that make you think she switched her brain putty out for playdoh. But again, too early to say that it's going into that direction.

This kind of became a classic in my heart. I remember crying when I first read this, though in hindsight I'm not too impressed by the story now that I'm rereading it. It's a predictable storyline. With that said, isn't Oscar selfish? Because of their connection Rene had to live several lives without any true love or marriage. That itself doesn't mean she was off bad, but you can read yourself how her attempts to find someone, or just catching someone's attention can fire back horribly. What made him wait to make a move for all these life times? Why not just cut their connection if he feels like a burden in her life? Either he is an asshole or a big wimp, and if I was Rene I would be lowkey mad at him for doing nothing but spamming her with "please stay single" for several generations without having the heart to commit to anything. At least that's how I feel about him.

FL is an unassuming count's daughter... who got a side-hussle as a popular romance author and a lively personality which most see as unfit for a lady. Not that she cares, she's not like other girls hihi. She gets engaged to her absolute opposite, the crown prince's right hand who's super knightly and sought after as a marriage candidate. It turns out FL's tendency to snoop around and blend in (to get a scoop on high society drama typically) is also of great help when it comes to political affairs and other mysteries, as she does so by virtue of helping her fiance with his work and worries, no matter how much he protests. The story's been great so far. The only thing I was annoyed at is FL's insecurity at the start, thankfully it went away and wasn't that overbearing. I wasn't feeling the romance between FL and ML at the start either, I was rooting for Lutin at one point, but their development is very realistic and mature so I fuck with it regardless. There is this case-by-case mystery solving structure to the story which honestly is a hit in any decent shoujo manga. FL's personality makes this an enjoyable ride too. At first I was kinda cringing at yet another "sHE's nOt Like oTheR giRls"-stick, but were fr this time. Since this is shoujo ofc all the characters go uwu over her at one point, but it's more or less justified and adds a bit of spice too.

This one basically gender swaps the positions of a cold hearted Duke and the lost princess looking to get away from trouble via marriage. So far it's pretty fun and refreshing. The only thing that rubs me the wrong way is our FL constantly misunderstanding people and their interest in her. Maybe that's something personal because I'm dead tired of FLs that can't read other people and misinterpret every little thing just to create artificial tension in the story, but anyway, it's a point to make. Also, I love how the relationship between FL and her sister is established. Their dynamic is interesting and lowkey keeps you on your toes despite knowing they'd never betray the other. Looking forward to future chapters.

The first few chapters are entertaining but MC's whole act gets tiring fast, like not even 8 chapters fast for me. I had to choke myself to get past chapter 10. IT IS fun in the beginning - and it got me chuckling here and there - but after a while you get used to the gag and realize that behind the "I changed completely overnight and now everyone's shocked and crushing for me (even more)"-trope, there's literally nothing but a faint breeze of flatness. It's hard to get attached to a story like this when literally every character has the depth and emotional sensitivity of an expired & flat discount coke. After the first bit it's like an inner war in which by the time another joke bomb is released, boredom has already invaded the base and you feel yourself losing consciousness.

You know the drill. A reincarnated girl possesses the body of the villainess in a BL novel, who is also said male lead's sister, as mentioned in the title lol. Instead of bullying him and making him an even edgier boy bound for heartbreak, she decides to be nice and change him so he can be happy with his future lover. Eh, yea. Starts off okay. And as you read more it's becoming very apparant how little the plot points actually matter. Only FL does. She doesn't do shit besides act cute with the Duke and ML in her childhood, nothing concerning their abuse and then it's just forgotten about after FL has her trauma moment. And from what I recall ML never got this acknowledged much unless it's from FL's commentary. Turns out she's a saint, color me impressed. I don't want to write another essay on this but let me just say this: what was author's reason for making the og story a BL? To fish for starved fujoshis? Sure, gay people exist and don't have to be tied to the yaoi genre but the implications of healing a broken gay character and making them fall in love with a straight woman is kinda questionable, you get what I mean? Nitpicking but still. I think that just shows what I meant when I say that only FL and her fish matter.

MC is reincarnated into a romance novel with the typical "blessed maiden from another world falls for the Emporer, kicks off the evil fiance, and fights evil"-plot. SHE is born as the 2nd ML, who turns out to actually be a woman in disguise. First of all. I like that MC isn't all over the novel plot. She worries reasonably and has yet to fall into that annoying pattern of overthinking and jumping to useless conclusions. Her body morphing through artifacts also makes it more believable for her to pass as male, not to mention the other interesting magic stuff she got going on. It's refreshing to not be stuck in the child POV for like 30+ chapters for once. The story gets done with what it needs to convey and moves on. With that said, the pacing is tight, but a bit too tight. Some things just went and left without enough explanation. For example, I was left with confusion when they clearly show the Prince not liking his fiance, but after one sentence and whatever many years later they're bickering like true friends, without really showing their relationship progress. The story's weak when it comes to character development in general. Anyway, there is also this potential of the whole "omg no homo, thank god" narrative. But I personally hope that they'll play up the "idc about your gender, I love YOU" perspective, that'd be better than tasteless homophobic messaging. And even though Enok is lowkey nuts, I hope he's the ML, at least he admires her while knowing she's a woman. That'd be more comfy for sure. As for the saintess, an originally good main character who turns sus bc the story pov changed is always welcome. I hope the pace slows down now that she's there to basically signal the start of the og novel.

Plot in a nutshell: FL was abused by her family both in her first life and now in her 2nd life as a minor side villain of a fantasy "biography"/novel. She was killed by her own husband for poisoning his sister. But now she is set on gaining everyone's favor, or at least her hubby's, to hopefully not be framed for anything and get away from her abusive family for good. Kind of spoiler, literally just me ranting: I love this so much, but I lowkey hurt from the angst that we got going on sometimes. At first it felt random for Ruby to be yeeted away by monsters so randomly, but in hindsight it was needed stress-relief for the readers. It wasn't that out of no-where too, since Ruby seems to have some kinda connection to monsters. Gotta praise the author too, it would've been very easy to find Ruby's insecurities annoying were it not for the amazing writing. I never doubted Ruby and never will, I feel.