pidgeonreads's manga / #one sided pining(29)

Normally, I’m not a fan of psychological/mystery thrillers. Especially not when it appears that the relationship is toxic. But something told me to keep reading and I’m so glad I did. This story isn’t perfect and neither are it’s characters, but somehow that made it even better. This is one of the few stories I’ve read that managed to display how a healthy relationship dynamic can function between two individuals with unhealthy tendencies. L literally kills people and has an extremely possessive side, but his steadfast loyalty and strangely silly personality made him so loveable. In the same sense, S is lackluster and unlikeable even. He can’t make up his mind and has emotional outbursts on top of pushing people away. But he’s honest and hardworking with a passion that L lacks. They’re both so authentically flawed for characters from a story leaning toward fantasy. The plot itself managed to come together in a perfect way. That last shot of their dinner filled with onions really got me. Onions are disgusting. Raw onions even worse. No one in their right mind would want them in every single meal. But neither of these two are perfectly sane. The onions are such a perfect and understated representation of their relationship and it brought me great joy to see it come to its conclusion.

Okay okay I know I’m usually the first to be like ‘dude!! He said no!!’ but y’all are going to have to hear me out on this one. Reading this story was a delight. It was full of humor and never took itself too seriously. In a story where a strong heterosexual man get constantly beaten up and dubconned by a man who hates him but also sits perched right on the borderline of being a yandere you’d expect it to leave you feeling a little icky. But instead you get Mason, mercenary extraordinary who’s lifelong curses was being a bit too much of a himbo and yet always finding himself in the most unfortunate situations, waking up in the body of coked out holiday child star turned party twink. Genital piercing and all. And every moment of it is hilarious. From his genuine awe at the range of sex toys previously collected by Reese to the internal ‘was I always gay or am I gay because this body is gay??’. This story reads in the same energy as my much beloved SVSSS (the first novel written by MXTX) with many of the same tropes but even better jokes. The art itself is a joy. Hayley’s constant wide eyed and confused stare always left me cackling as it truly perfectly combined the body with the personality. Even the side characters were written as perfect little joys. The director’s shirt changing constantly, sometimes even between panels in the same scene, and the manager thanking amnesia over and over again. Truly a joy. I can safely say that I’ve also joined the Hayley hype train just as ever other character in the story has xD I will say that for me the sexy scenes are lacking. As with many people in the comments, they make me uncomfortable. The pair have a large age difference and it’s made clear time and time again that Mason still sees the young boy he saved in the current man. The sex also always feels like something that he’s just agreeing to rather than something that he actually desires and wants. It’s made clear that he agrees for two reasons: one, his body wants it (which still isn’t his choice) and two, blondie is desperate for it and will just keep begging. And since Mason still sees the boy he wants to save in him he just wants to make him happy. Even the man himself has a moment where he contemplates why he’s suddenly developed a strong sexual desire toward Mason. At the same time, I don’t believe the author has done a poor job of tackling it and if they change the way they have sex some in the future I can fully get behind it. Make Blondie actually listen to Mason and be more loving. Because as of now he’s basically having sex with Reese not Mason, since he’s doing what the body responds to and not what makes the person inside happy.

This manwha was such a cute read!! A perfect little ‘he fell first, but he fell harder’ second chance romance complete with a couple so disgustingly into each other you could imagine them with anyone else. I found myself laughing time and time again, especially at Seul’s antics in the second half of the series. He also served to be pretty relatable and a solid representation for folks with anxious attachment. Though I’ve seen comments with people saying they don’t like him, I enjoyed his character he lot. Sometimes we’re all just little haters on the inside. His anxious attachment struck a cord with me and I feel that it was very well written despite still being set in comedic timing. The plot is pretty light hearted. They go through their ups and downs and tug at the heart strings, but without any need for content warnings so this is the perfect story if you’re in need of something nice and light after a rough read! And what I can say - the couple is just my type. I’m a sucker for a more feminine top who thinks nothing of it and a bottom who could clearly and canonically carry the other one around if he wanted to but just prefers being pampered and babied. They’re a little similar to the Love Tractor couple in that sense, so if you enjoyed that manwha give this one a try! <3