sadslime's manga / #Introvert(2)

Rui is a sub who has never had a relationship or even played, so he signs up for a dating app and agrees to meet up with a man who has model-level good looks. Only due to a misplaced "like" on the app, the scary-faced Ritsu shows up instead. The two go through with the play anyway, and Rui is over the moon with how good it feels, while Ritsu feels that Rui is exactly his type, so they begin to date. The only problem is, Ritsu is a much harder dom than Rui can handle, and trying to suppress his instincts starts to become painful for both of them. A surprisingly nuanced and emotional story dealing with two people who love each other but other needs don't match up. I think they fumbled a bit at the ending and it felt forced, but overall, a decent read. Trigger warnings: violence, cheating, drunk sex.

Ch.1-3 - Hayato is a student with a communication disorder who runs into a shady dealer of humanoid pets called "novalis" mistreating one of his wares. Hayato can't help but take the reject novalis made up of DNA from several different animals, and that's how he ends up taking care of Kuro. Although Hayato is anxious, he quickly finds that taking care of little Kuro gives meaning to his life, but when Kuro has a sudden growth spurt caused by his desire to be closer to Hayato, Hayato no longer knows how to treat him, and a novalis doctor steps, telling Hayato that if he can't accept Kuro now, he needs to let him go. An interesting setup that was a good read, but felt a bit rushed. No trigger warnings, but the mental age gap between Kuro and Hayato is bit awkward. Ch.4-5 - A spin-off about the doctor who treated Kuro that shows how he met his assistant Aki, a novalis who he picked up one rainy night who had a dark past in which he was used as a sex slave by his former master, and still ran away out of fear of hurting that person due to his genetic makeup. Another interesting story that added some depth to this world, but it really felt like this setting deserved more time to be fully fleshed out. Trigger warning: sex slave.