Lauvil's manga / #Side Character(9)

It's an okay story. The drama seems a bit pointless, but it's easy to read, the characters are cute and the art is beautiful. It's just boring. 35 chapters in and I find myself procrastinating every time it updates, bc nothing is happening. The story so far: FL reincarnated into the body of Ancia, an extra in a novel and the child-bride of the (also child) crown prince. The novel is about how her sister breaks the curse that afflicts her husband, after Ancia commits suicide, and the two fall in love. However, this Ancia is a grown woman in a child's body (who still acts much like a child) and she knows the story, so she can correct the tragedies that happen before the happy ending. How to do that, you ask? Well, you start by drooling over your husband's father, the emperor and kisses up to him, while also appearing willful and strong. Then you cook classic Asian food and serve it in a western setting, much to everyone's surprise. But ofc everyone will love it, bc Asian food is the best. Push for your sister and husband to fall in love and be together, even though you don't actually want that. You've just convinced yourself it would be best for everyone. Then... Uhm... Read a lot on how to break the curse. And... Uhm... Talk a lot about breaking the curse. Oh, and think about it a lot! But remember to only make little to no progress on it, as it is the only center of tension in the story, and if you solve it too quickly, then you couldn't drag out the story with pointless drama or random cooking montages.

Hilarious! The MC discovered he lives inside a BL-manga world and everyone around him are protagonists of their own BL manga. His brother, his friends, classmstes, coworkers, strangers on the street, the delivery man. Determined not to become a BL protagonist himself, he studies BL, learns the rules and flags (and explaining them to the reader) so he can avoid and dismantle them and stay a mob character.

Restart

Reincarnated as a side character from a novel she read in a previous life, Beadith finds herself at the princess's wedding, which marks the end of the novel. During the past seven years, Beadith lost her entire family, all the comrades she fought with in the war, and now she finds herself helplessly lost and wondering what to do, now that the plot has concluded. That night she drinks herself to sleep, but when she wakes up she suddenly finds herself thrown back in time; back to a year after her reincarnation, and before she lost everyone. However, she barely has time to process it all before she called to the palace by the imperial princess, Rosenne, who reveals that she also remember their past and will sacrifice her future love, if it means saving their country. Now, together, they must make plans on how to thwart the rebellion, save their families and stop tragedy from repeating. And it all starts with saving a certain marquis... __________________________ I am so excited about this story! It's got drama, action, romance, intrigue and badass female characters! Opposite what many other similar stories do, the ogfl is not made into an antagonist. Neither is she shallow, weak or unimportant. Instead the MC and ogfl are friends - and even though one holds greater status, they treat each other as equals. Not only that, they are the ones who drive the story forward. Love it! The ML is slightly cold in the beginning, but he has good reason to be cautious and suspicious of other people. He has a good heart and once he opens up, he treats the MC very warmly. Women in the story are also very supportive of each other. None of those annoying female antagonists who only exists so the MC will be "not like other girls". Very refreshing! Finally, this story handles a patriarchal setting exactly as I wished other stories would. I've seen stories with patriachal fantasy settings, where the mysogyny and sexism is not even addressed - or worse: romantisized. I've also seen stories where the setting it is merely used as a tool to show how strong or special she is, so she stands out from her peers - but as an exception, rather than an example. Neither is the case here. The setting has significance to the plot and the characters, but there is an underlying tone of hopefulness. That if women work together and support each other, if they fight for their goals and what they believe in, they can change the world for the better and show the way for future generations of women. It's exactly the kind of message I want to see, in the stories I read. All in all, I have almost nothing bad to say about this webtoon. 100/5 stars.

Veillyn is the eldest daughter of count Orlando, and she is neglected and abused by her family. One day she falls ill and wakes up with memories of her privious life and the knowledge that the world she lives in, is inside a novel. She then also realizes that she was just a minor character whose death from an unknown desease, sparked events of the novel. Determined not to live out the rest of her days as pitifully as the novel's Veillyn, she draws up a plan to escape her abusive family by the only legal means available: Engagement. And the only eligible candidate for such an arrangement, is the third, and illegitimate, son of duke Liesentstein, Jellard, who also happens to be the obsessive male lead of the novel. So far, this seems very promising. A strong minded FL, who uses her knowledge to change her circumstances. An ML who acts cold but probably isn't. He's just become used to being shunned by others. And a mysterious desease which puts a time limit on their developing romance. Colour me intrigued! It's a bit of a cliché plot line, but honestly it's one of my favourite tropes. Love the angst and the drama. And neither of the leads seem toxic, so it passes. 4/5 stars.