muse ✨'s manga / #tw dubcon(60)

First, this is not a love story or a happy story. It's Harada, which means it's an exploration of humanity. A psychopath has his eyes on a fellow stylist and will do anything to possess him. Ends on a deceptively happy note, but this is no happy ending.

I work in publishing and relate to this series on many levels. Kisa & Yukina are my favorites to read about because they're at a stage where their relationship is steady and evolving, so they're dealing with fun roadbumps like not enough time to meet up, being super fucking tired from work, realizing you don't know odd specific details about your SO, family members, impending life changes, and more! Yokozawa and Kirishima have quickly become my second-favorite couple in this, although I mainly know them from their OVA and light novels. I'll probably die before Onodera falls in love. April 2020: Yokozawa and Kirishima had a proper chapter??? They got engaged??? I??????? Cried. March 2022: 16 days until Onodera falls in love, but we got a FAKEOUT DREAM SEQUENCE that made me scream a little.

Keith Kogane, who is called Shingo in this reality and is also a werecat, works on film sets and falls for a hot, hot actor who is actually a leopard. Lots of dubcon in this first installment. It comes across as noncon but is explained in another installment that Shingo did in fact initiate sex. However, he was out of his mind on catnip at the time, so the dubcon label definitely applies.

Elements of this are fabulous, but this often teeters between dubcon and noncon. These characters need to sit down and discuss their relationship. The sex friends gig has gone on too long, and they've pushed way, way past friend boundaries. For either of them to think the other isn't emotionally involved at this point is absurd. They're in love, but they are hurting each other, and they have jealousy issues they must work out. If they do that, I think they could be happy. They are genuinely, deeply in love. However, if they continue down this road, they are going to create resentment and end up loathing each other. ETA & spoilers for later chapters: I went to Lehzin and read the available chapters. They DO talk, immediately after this, and clear up their misunderstandings. They are both completely honest with each other. I feel okay about them moving forward at this moment.

There are elements of this that are great. Fumi has been in love with Shunpei since they were kids, but Shunpei has been oblivious to his feelings - until Fumi starts dating a guy at school. Shunpei has to own up to his own jealousy and makes the decision that if Fumi has to date a guy, it's going to be him. Over the course of the story, he falls in love himself, and it has a happy ending. Now the bad parts: The early chapters demonstrate the homophobia and fetishistizing that are common in fandom and BL. For example, Shunpei's sister - a huge BL fan - is horrified when she learns her brother is dating Fumi, saying she'll be mocked at her wedding for it. She's further upset to find he plans to bottom. It's stressed that her interest in BL is purely fetish, and the attitude is pervasive in the early chapters. As the story goes along, we pick up supportive friends, but the sister - who seems to be an avatar for the mangaka and the reader - never changes her attitude, even going so far as to keep Fumi and Shunpei from being able to sleep together under threat of telling their parents. Beyond that, this manga also wanders into dubcon territory. Several times, Fumi announces that he has no plans to stop what he's doing, even if Shunpei says no. And there are times he says no, and Fumi doesn't listen. That's common for this genre, not specific to this manga, but it perpetuates the idea that noncon can be sexy if everyone gets off. Not so, and kudos to Shunpei for kicking Fumi off the bed toward the end of the story when he didn't stop when Shunpei asked. Overall, a really sweet story, but I felt like the mangaka herself is the one who has a lot of these beliefs, and that made reading this less than pleasurable at times.

After the death of their parents, a young man from Sado quits university to take responsibility for his younger brother and moves to Tokyo. With no skills and education, he works for family, barely making enough to live, until he meets a wealthy architect who offers to pay him for sex.

They are cats.

Totally opened this because the cover made it look like a rinharu AU. Two rather plastic childhood friends have entered into a sexual relationship after a dubious start and an unnecessary blackmail situation. Update: the boyfriend looks an awful lot like Makoto in chapter 5. Especially when he's lying down. Same eyes. This is an MH AU.

Teo, the lightweight owner of a liquor store, "trains" with his childhood friend Camilo in order to take part in the city's wine tasting festival. He uses their drunken evenings to explore his confused feelings for Camilo. Though Teo loves him, he's frightened by the idea of having sex while simultaneously afraid to give him up. The art in this is gorgeous, the relationship mature, the friends supportive and friendly. Marking this dubcon since Teo is asleep when they start at many points, though it was vaguely agreed on each time in advance.