RoseMary's manga / #Seke(52)

1 Volume (Complete) - It seems the story "Rub in Love" is actually completed with part 01 and part 02, as raw also stop there! If there was more, they were probably independent oneshots included in the volume...as we can see from the contents page, there were supposed to be included the stories "Jellyfish" and "0 Nothing", but even in raw they're not available...

"It was dark, but they had nothing to fear. For they found heaven, even in darkness." Well-crafted and unique! - Apart from the great music opening scene that I loved, the whole plot is so interesting, and with that thrilling vibe one can't help being engrossed into the story! The writing style is great: the non-linear story telling was so well-executed and some parallelisms between some present and past moments were truly brilliant! It's heavy indeed, but beautiful. An intense and rewarding reading! > Personally, what I loved the most is when we see through flashback (from ch. 7) how their relationship began when they were kids! Because at the story's present moment they already broke up and the band disbanded and Simon is soloist; then in flashback of the dark heaven days we see they were in a relationship, but that relationship started way before as kids. I love it in BL when we see the progression of the characters together with the development of their relationship from kids to adults! Above all, I was looking forward so much to their reunion! • Ch. 25-26 - Reunion after half a year from their break-up! Then the story goes back again and we're back at their reunion time in ch. 45. >> Ahhh my poor boys, how many hardships they had to go through!! But their love was so pure and it moved me deeply! I loved how they knew each other so well, understood each other completely and were simply each other's everything...they were really as one! Such a moving unconditional and equal love, with such a deep understanding and irresistible chemistry! In fact, I appreciated how they both took and give to each other so much in all senses, and about this I also liked how the author made them a reversible couple, a charismatic power couple at that, being truly equal in everything in their relationship. >> One of my favourite moments is the one of their long-awaited reunion, when Conor went to Simon's apartment and waited for him and then Simon arrived and saw Conor asleep: that was so sweet and emotional! Then, in general, I liked all the moments where they were taking care of each other and simply being there for each other, like when Conor would hug Simon and comfort him and viceversa. And of course I loved the ending, with my boys finally married and happy together! And going back to play again on stage together as well...the future they always dreamt for is finally here in their hands! Such a beautiful happy ending! [The author said Simon's voice should be kinda like that from Sick Puppies' vocalist!] [While the story presents a sort of american / european ambient, it's not set in any real, specific country but in a fictitious place called Van Tescosa] # Traumatic Past, Unconditional Love, Violence, Racism, Homophobia, Discrimination, Dark Ambience, Drugs, Bullying, Americanish|Europeanish Ambient, Childhood Love, First Love, First Kiss, Breakup, Ex-Couple Back Together, Adult Couple, Flashbacks, Music Band, Mutual Pining, Non-Linear Storytelling, Past Plays a Big Role, Interracial Couple, Framed, Trial, Marriage Proposal, Gay Marriage, My favourite Duo|Couple Spin-off: Guardians of the Lamb - Gale, Simon's step-brother from Dark Heaven, is a character of this story.

Story revolving around the members of the school's basketball club: • [Main Couple] Ikeuchi x Shinoda // Straight Freshman Seme x Gay Older Uke // Senpai x Kouhai // Virgin Uke • [Side Couple] Minagawa Haruhiko (who had a crush on Shinoda) x Childhood Friend Shin // Gay Uke / Seke (actually a seme who bottoms only for Shin) // 2nd-year Students // Classmates (in the same class as Shinoda) > The main couple was cute and I liked it, but I think the vibe of the relationship between Minagawa and Shin and the characters themselves were more interesting! Too bad they had so little space and their situation wasn't really definitive yet, so I wish sensei had done a proper story for them too! > Oneshot included (Ch. 5.1 Hug Me, Hold Me) - Coworkers // Salaryman // Gay Uke x Straight Seme // Adult Couple - 3 stars for this.

The older brother sleeps around with both women and men (as seme), while the younger brother sleeps with the girls who were dumped by the older brother. But, behind that facade, they're actually both in love with each other secretly and they're each other's first love. The older brother's true desire is to be held as uke by his brother, who on the other hand wants to make a mess out of his older brother... > I liked it, but let's say it was average both in art and story.

"I'll be just fine, no matter the contents. Because...I'm not alone anymore. This room is filled to the brim with happiness." - I think regarding Roger's growth, his evolution through the story, it was truly great! Ultimately that was the focus of the story - How thanks to Reno he was finally able to move forward and leave the past behind, how he finally found friendship and love - and that was so well-written. Having said that, while I really liked how it ended, just let me add that I think it needed an extra to be perfect! Because after resolving the whole situation, I admit in the end I wanted to see a scene of the couple's intimate time and well there was also the thing they talked about before about Roger going to visit Reno's house, so I think it would have been really nice to see that! But it's still a very good story anyway! # Foreign Setting and Foreign Characters Adapted from: Kami-sama no Ude no Naka - Both stories take place in the same setting.