fujoker's manga / #dark(33)

this is the most incredible piece of fiction to have ever been conceived unto the earth.

really great character writing here. the sex derails things a bit every now and then, but even so it still functions as an incredibly effective visual progression of joons descent into depravity. particularly what i found really compelling was the subtle ways they showed the co-dependent nature of joon and yeonwoo's relationship, and how that inexorable connection between them slowly corrupts the paper thin values joon had used to shield himself from his true nature. and also the cryptic entity that is the "malice" or the "mirrors", the way it is utilised at precise moments throughout the story as a catalyst or simply gnawing dread was incredibly cool. im not sure why so many people are confused about it, it was a very straightforward metaphor, as was i think; the motivations behind the characters' actions. it doesn't progress linearly but once in hindsight of the full story, i think it all ties together in a very satisfying way. most bl ive read that also class as 'psychological horror' tend to be frankly dogshit, and though this wasn't exactly phenomenal, what makes it different from the slog of its peers is that it is original and very competently written, real good read.

i usually dont like works from this author, i always found her stories to be very pedantic explorations of boring psychological tropes punctuated by grossness or some other form of debilitatingly unsavoury shock factor; but there's just something about this one that really does it for me. a subtle sort of allure to the premise, a tinge of sadism i guess? i don't have faith it'll keep that feeling because knowing this author's tastes it will cross some sort of line at some point but for now, i can't wait to see more of this cute zombie's despairing.

i just want these messed up fucking kids to be happy.

you know what this did not need to be a 3p drama, this could very well have just been about the progression of tj and ian's relationship instead. the gap in interpersonal character relationships between the couples is so large i cant help but understand and empathise with baggage-ridden tj over squeaky clean jo.