u/Smooth_Money4498

I'm about halfway through and I'm enamoured with this story omggg I can't believe I've been letting it pass unnoticed just because I didn't like the first few pages. Shame on me.

The chemistry between these two is UNREAL. I love the way they talk, tease each other and are so down for each other. Man this is the smut of the century 😭🛐

Where else will you see a fl playing with the mls nipples until he climaxes?? I had only seen that in BL.

And I love how caring he's with her. Like, I don't care if he eats people or if he's super manipulative, he's so sweet with her😭😭

I think I will be heartbroken if when she finds out about his true identity, she snaps at him and act like he's disgusting. PLEASE DON'T DO THAT TO MY CUTIE😭

I just came to write this bc I needed to gush about this story or I wouldn't stop kicking my feet😀

Let it be known that my sleep routine was ruined by this novel for I couldn't put it down until I read the last side story. But hell, was it worth it!

I love the world building, the smut, that heartbreaking and heartwarming ending, their development and more than anything: I love that he's the yandere, but she loves him more!

It's my first time seeing a girl who is DOWN so bad for her yandere to the point that >!she really chose him over her family, tried to give her life for him, made making him happy her life goal!<

Like, damnnnn I don't know the name of this trope, but I need more of this😭 I need FLs who can't even be called "willing victim" because she is exactly where she wants to be, so not a victim.

Anyway, great novel🛐

I've realised that I'm very much into monster yanderes, with really unique designs or weird body mods. Somehow it enhances the eerie experience and I love it.

So far I've read:

How about cosmic horror?

Trapped in another dimension

Taming the beasts with multi-pregnancy system (please don't laugh 😭 it's not as bad as the title sounds)

And I've saved this in my NU TBR:

Tentacle boyfriend series

Do you have anything in your library? Could be any media format 😗

I'm about to start this one.

Lately, I have been exploring many different shades of yandere and toxic relationships: the obsession to the point of horror, the mutually destructive, the downright abusive and even a little (lot) incestuous.

But if I have to be honest, I've always kept my distance from father figures as the ML because I can't see the appeal and the daddy-calling gives me the shivers 😭

But a girl gotta test new waters and the last paragraph of the synopsis sparkled my interest.

Anyone else?

It’s humanly impossible to read everything that was ever written to determine with full certainty what is “good” by your standards and what is not. We usually judge a story on a series of parameters before picking it up and cross our fingers that the algorithm works.

#What are these parameters for you?

Personally, I judge if a story is worth my time in the following order:

1. Recommendation From Someone With A Similar Taste

If a story is recommended to me by someone who usually likes the same works as I do, I’m 90% more likely to add it to my TBR even if the synopsis doesn’t look that appealing to me.

2. Cover Art

I would love to be the better person who isn’t influenced by visuals, but I’m still far from that. If I see a cover that doesn’t appeal to my taste in terms of art, or that has a structure that I dislike, such as someone being chained, the ML towering over a FL who’s whipping on the floor, more than 1 man in the cover (and it’s not bl), etc., I’m not picking that story.

On the other hand, a minimalist cover with some flowers in it is 100% more likely to get my attention, as are covers with the leads in an emotionally intimate position or that give me a sense of tragedy and abandonment. I’m also a bit shallow, so if the ML is the only one on the cover and he looks hot, I’ll check that synopsis.😔

3. Synopsis

I like short synopses that tell me the premise right away and leave a sense of mystery in the end. If it doesn’t make me curious to know what happens next or if it fails to make me grasp the premise, I’m out.

I also abhor when they add smut scenes or just quotes in general to the synopsis. Genuinely hate it. But I can get over it if the text is intriguing.

4. Reviews

If all of the above successfully caught my attention, I proceeded to read the reviews. Usually, I don’t pay much attention to the rating, and I don’t care much about positive reviews. My thing is checking the ones who hated the story and left a long comment on it because I’m more interested in the flaws than in the qualities. Does that make sense?

Some negative reviews actually inspire me to read a story because I can immediately tell when the person who wrote it has a totally different taste than mine.

5. Picking A Random Chapter

If I’m still not fully convinced about starting the story, I’ll casually pick a chapter and read it. There, I usually gauge: the writing style, the art (if comic), the quality of the pacing, and if the main couple has any chemistry.

If I accidentally click on one of those filler chapters, unfortunately, it’s bye-bye.

Well, this is my evaluation method. How about yours?

Hello, it's me again. They say an empty mind is the devil's office... Tell you what, the devils is building a company here while I wait for my hair to naturally dry.

So, I've thinking: would you guys like to be part of a reading club?

My idea would be having a discord server with channels for:

📖 Nominating the next read: every participant nominates one story that they haven't read yet.

📖 Voting: We would have a poll to democratically decide the next read.

📖 Discussion: we discuss, share ideas, impressions and theories while reading.

We could have other channels ofc, but I didn't think that far yet. 🥹

Anyway, ideally we would have one month to finish a complete manhwa/novel before we decide on a next read, this way we have anyone read at their own pace and have the time to include the club in their busy lives.

If the manhwa/novel is still ongoing, we could proportionally calculate the number of days according to the number of chapters.

After each read, we could also share the discussion with the community here, summing our overall impressions in a post and giving the average rating.

So, would you be down for it? Do you have any cool ideas to add to the format? 🙃

⚠️ The image is merely illustrative to get your attention

I always rate my reads on a spreadsheet, but looking back at those ratings and the ones I classified as my personal favourites, I realised most of them belong to the same subgenre. I can’t help being an angst/drama lover, sorry.

However, I do realise it’s kind of unfair to compare Like Wind On A Dry Branch (drama) to My Little Tyrant (comedy) under those circumstances and point out which is better when they have completely different intentions as works of fiction.

So, I decided to select my personal favourite from which romance subgenre, and hopefully get yours as well.

Let’s get into it:

#1. Drama | Like Wind On A Dry Branch

One of the most heartbreaking stories ever, treating themes like grief, second-love, prejudice, and misogyny. One of my favourite stories ever, can’t wait to read the novel as well.

#2. Psychological | Kneel Before Me (novel)

Though I could place this story in many categories, I chose the psychological one because of the way the author showcases the psychological state of the FL as she goes through trauma, PTSD, depression, suicide ideations, and even age regression. A true masterpiece and my absolute favourite.

#3. Comedy | Father, I Don’t Want This Marriage

This is the funniest story I’ve ever read since I quit Wattpad. Simply hilarious! The dynamic between the ML and literally every single character here, even the pigeon, made me laugh out loud multiple times.

#4. Thriller | Killing Stalking

I just finished this one, and it quickly rose to be one of my favourites. The thriller and suspense aspects of this story are simply out of this world: you just never know what comes next, and you’re always on the edge of your sit waiting for it.

Highlight to the police station scene. The Absolute Cinema.

#5. Fantasy | When Jasy Whistles

My favourite worldbuilding and fantasy elements BY FAR. It takes the Paraguayan mythology and expands it into a masterpiece story about family trauma and loneliness in a way that the world itself is an allegory for what the characters are going through.

#6. Historical | The Problematic Prince

Another one of my absolute favourites because it explores exactly what I want to see in a historical setting: the oppressive hierarchical system, the struggles of living as a woman back then, and the influence it has on a romantic relationship.

#7. Childcare | Gimme That Pacifier

An interesting portrayal of the relationships in a family in which everyone has done some evil, and how they come to care about each other despite all that. I like the inputs this series gives on child-raising (is that how you call it?) and how they work to correct the mistakes they’ve made in the past.

#8. Regression | Adonis

A regression story in which going back in time doesn’t give you perks and an easy way to succeed, but instead a chance to change a relationship that was doomed in their past lives. That’s simply my ideal regression. Love it.

#9.Isekai | As The Heart Leads

One of the only transmigration stories in which the past life in Korea actually matters, and the FL carries that trauma with her throughout, until we get one of the most beautiful scenes in this industry when the ML reaches out to both the her of the past and the her of the present.

#10. Cozy | Fallen To Paradise

A heartwarming story about two people healing each other’s wounds and exploring new sides of themselves as they deconstruct their own prejudices about each other. Free of angst, adorable from beginning to end.

#11. Action/Adventure | Camellia - Mastering The 3 Kingdoms as Alice

A story that focuses on war strategies, court politics, and the rise of a woman in a patriarchal society. I love the action and adventure part of this story so much. If I could get my hands on the novel, I might actually lose my eyes from reading too much.

#12. Horror | Classmate

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen people say “Jumpscare” while looking at a panel from this manhwa, and they’re absolutely right. The art direction here is amazing. Together with the lore, you have the perfect combo for a midnight read.

#13. Smut | The Sacred One Speaks (novel)

My second favourite in absolute and my obsession for months, TSOS has my favourite smut scenes ever! I love the creativity, and I love how the author describes them: the passion, the details, the abandon. I often come back to this novel when I feel like reading something spicy.

#14. Tragedy | Deliver Us From The Evil One (novel)

The definition of tragedy. I can’t think of a worse ending to have in life. I’m sure the FL wished she had just died trampled by a horse before she had the chance of meeting the ML and having the fate she had here. Absolutely horrifying.

Do we have something in common?

I've been reading a lot of fluff lately and everything in life needs balance. I need something that hits like the first 4 lines of this list and definitely not like the last 4😭

More specifically, I really wanted to read something as bleak, sadistic and hopeless as Deliver us from the evil one.

I want the FL to exhaust all her ways of escape and still fail because there's no escaping that thing.

I would like it even better if it were the supernatural type of yandere horror🥹

I'm also ok with BL, but I like when the darling guy has a fighting spirit like the mc from Codename Anastasia.

I'm ok with any TW, but I'd prefer if the story didn't revolve around the same boring non-con. If it's a full blown smut, I'd rather it be creative like Deliver us from the evil one or you know...a bdsm erotika🥹

#Sources

Tier 1

Kneel Before Me

The Sacred One Speaks

Kedamono Tachi No Jikan

Trapped

Dreaming Freedom

Classmate

Tier 2

Lady Devil

Tier 3

Checkmate

My beloved oppressor

Portrait of pride

How about cosmic horror?

For your murder

Merry psycho

Cry or better yet beg

Conquer my heart

Tier 4

Adonis

Deliver us from the evil one

Codename Anastasia

My Husband Never Dies

Betrayal of Dignity

Tier 5

The double agent

I failed to oust the villain

Tier 6

Thanks for being Trash

Tier 7

Holding you captive

The absolute Threshold

Tier 8

Origin of evil

Try Begging

You know when the narrative clearly wants to tell you a character is morally wrong and basically the villain, but you can't help but feel sorry for them because their situation is actually pitiful?

For me that character is the crown prince in One Husband is Enough.

In my opinion, this guy is the gender reversal of Nikki from the movie obsession.

He clearly had no interest in the FL beyond political use before her heightened charm started breaking his mind. He was someone with ambitions, interests, maybe not the best human being? Yeah, but he was working hard for his goals.

Then, she unintentionally cursed him to become this puppet version of himself who only thinks of her. He's been throwing all his hard work out the window, his pride and dignity, all the things that made him whom he was.

Then there's a matter of will and consent, because his state is no different than Nikki's. He's totally out of it and his body is basically being used by this game-like curse.

Considering the type of person he was before, after recovering his senses, I think this man will want to die from self-disgust and embarrassment.😭

The same could be said about every character other than the FL, but since he's the only one being treated like a villain by the narrative, it makes me wonder wether or not the author will handle things fairly after the curse is broken.

#Who is this character for you?

I was organising my gallery again and realised again just how unhealthy my obsession with some of these stories is😭

299 saved panels of a 60ch story is borderline pathological 😭

Anyway, if I were to rank my reads based on how many saved panels/quotes I have of each of them, they would look like this.

SOURCES:

(Only titles that aren't completely visible)

The problematic prince

Kill the male lead to become the villainess

The blooming violet in the back garden

Reminiscence Adonis

The prince doesn't cry from mere onions

Tears on a Withered Flower

Father I don't want this marriage

Bitten by the dog I abandoned

Dear not cunning witch

The crown princess scandal

After school lessons for unripe apples

The butterfly swallowed by the mist

Anyone beats the original

Charming the northern duke

I saved the villain with money after the ending

✨

Do you also save panels of you favourite stories? Which one is your top obsession?👀

EDIT SOURCE: Dreaming Freedom

My favourite brand of yandere is when they're very calm and composed, but also cruel and creative like Nathaniel from Kneel Before Me. Even better if their personality is a little autistic and the fl is like their new hyperfocus, something like Felix from Portrait of Pride. Weird, but not TOO weird that would make me frown.

I also like when they're sane and their unhingedness is completely conscious and reasonable for their own parameters. Like the guy from Deliver us from the evil one.

Finally, because I love thriller, but in the end my thing is romance, I'd prefer if they're charming and somewhat gentle while doing all these evil things to her. No screaming, no displays of domestic violence.

I like when the yandere guy becomes a thorny safe place for their darlings to which they willingly return like Syunn from Dreaming Freedom.

I guess that sums my perfect yandere.

How about yours?

Now that it’s over, I feel a little empty knowing that next Wednesday I won’t have a new chapter. Thus, this is probably my last discussion post on this series, and a farewell letter in the format of a character analysis.

Shall we get into it?

#Who’s Erna?

Erna is a young woman from the countryside who has barely seen anything of the world outside. Living under her overprotective grandparents and having been sheltered for the entirety of her short life, Erna is timid, naive, innocent, and far too trusting for her own good.

Following the kingdom’s inheritance laws, when her grandfather passes away, both she and her grandmother are about to lose their home unless Erna marries the new heir. However, a thing you should know about Erna is that she might be innocent and easy-going, but she doesn’t lack determination, and her willpower is stronger than anyone else’s in this series. She won’t marry an old man who is lusting after her as though she were a piece of meat, and she won’t lose her family house with all the memories of her grandfather.

That’s why she naively looks for her father, who abandoned her.

New to the machinations of high society, the greed of nobles, and the smooth talk of the young men, Erna quickly becomes a prey that everyone wants to tear apart, while she’s completely oblivious to the dangers around her.

#Who’s Björn?

Björn is a seasoned man. A demoted crown prince. A divorcée. A philander. And someone who knows the workings of high society and its malice better than anyone.

He’s been through it all before, and now he only wants to enjoy his freedom and increase his profits. He’s someone who is constantly evaluating the pros and cons of something before taking action, and if the profits are worth it, he’s willing to sacrifice even his own reputation and the hard work of an entire life.

However, that’s not all there’s to this poisonous mushroom of a man. Björn is also someone bound by his responsibilities, and he sees himself as a pillar for everyone else’s happiness. So, when bad things happen, he will shudder all that weight alone and, if possible, he won’t even tell anyone about it.

#Why Is Their Relationship Toxic

The main reason why Erna and Bjorn were so ill-matched and their relationship was so full of angst doesn’t lie in the fact that Bjorn is a son of a bitch as many like to say, but in the fact that they have several years of experience setting them apart on top of multiple degrees of power imbalance.

While Erna is experiencing everything for the first time and is still learning about the world - sometimes stumbling and making mistakes, sometimes extremely excited to live something new -, Björn has not only seen and learned all that, but he’s also sick of it.

He has no patience to share these moments again with Erna; he doesn’t want to teach her the ways of his world because he feels like they’re obvious; he basks in her innocence when it’s amusing, but finds it annoying when she can’t be more like him - ignoring that she’s much younger and less experienced.

His aloofness and impatience slowly eat away at Erna. She constantly feels pressured to be “better”, but no one gives her a model. She feels foolish whenever she tries to show him something, and he clearly doesn’t care about it. She feels like she’s missing something in comparison to his ex-wife, and that she is the problem for not being more knowledgeable or elegant… for not knowing better.

That’s the core problem of their relationship and why this story is such a great portrayal of the issues in a relationship with an age gap and power imbalance.

But it’s not like Bjorn can grow younger for her, so…

#Is their ending together truly a happy ending?

To be clear, the power imbalance in this relationship will never be gone because of the misogyny of the period and the hierarchical positions they occupy. However, the more Erna gets acquainted with the world and grows out of her shell, the less important their age gap becomes in practical terms.

This was a very arduous journey for Erna. She went through a lot before she finally could stand her ground against Bjorn and acknowledge that she was not the problem, that she never deserved to be treated as someone inferior or a mere decoration. When she broke free from the last shackle that tied her to that relationship, she could finally breathe again, and that was a milestone for her as a person. The Erna from the present is no longer a naive girl from the countryside who doesn’t know better. She understands why their relationship was toxic, and that’s why I respect her decision to try again once she realised the relationship they started building in the last arc was completely different from the one they had before.

A relationship where both of them actively try to understand each other's positions, even if they can never truly relate to each other. A relationship where they walk side-by-side rather than one behind the other, and finally, a relationship in which she’s not the only one opening up and putting effort into.

Bjorn truly reflected on his past actions and the many ways in which they came to hurt Erna, and he worked on these issues to get her back, not because she’s his peace-bringer, but because he appreciates her as a person.

So, while I personally wouldn’t have chosen this path, I do think that they going back together is a happy ending and a satisfying conclusion for this story.

What are your thoughts on this?

I've been having a terrible reading streak. You guys have no idea how deep the well is, I would throw my kindle out the window if I had the money to buy another 💀

I really want to pluck my eyes out and wash them because I just read a MALE LEAD say that the FL wasn't worthy of being raped by him. Do you understand the depths of my rage?

I'm reading a book about fucking Bolsonaro apparently (ex Brazilian president)💀😭

And the worst is that the author isn't even self conscious, this shit was written as some great display of gentleness. I'm losing it🥲🥲

Which brings me to today's post:

#What's your eye-washing read?

The one that holds you back from becoming a misandrist after reading something like that. The ones that makes you believe in love again and makes your heart flutter. I NEED THAT.

I beg you😭

PS: The source of my nightmare is called "Maylily". Don't read it.

EDIT.: I should have been more specific😭 I love gentlemanly, charming, handsome, and funny guys. If he has a personality, that's all the better.

Please, no puppy mls, they make me cringe😭

The model is Ryan from Your Ryan and Rodrick from As The Heart Leads.

I usually wait until I finish the story to rant about it with full property, but I’m 78% of the way in, and I just can’t hold back my frustration with it anymore.

The primary issue with this story is its pacing. I can’t believe I had to read 70% of the story before the FL finally discovered what we already knew from chapter 2, which is the main reason why this story is so frustrating.

Seriously? The evidence was all over her face, and watching her stumble around, ignorant of the truth, while I knew everything, was an awful experience and definitely not the type of angst I like. As a matter of fact, this story hardly gives me any angst despite all the terrible things that happen to the FL, and the reason for that is also the second thing that I find so frustrating about this story:

The FL is one-dimensional.

I understand the author’s intention with this character, but I also can’t help but notice they failed. Miserably. The FL is a shell of a human being; her only trait of personality is being kind and understanding because her mother told her so. She never gets angry, she never lets the sadness linger, she doesn’t blame anyone. She’s a goddammned saintess, and she’s BORING and unrelatable.

Everything that is happening to her is supposed to make me feel bad, sad, disgusted, but I can’t feel anything because she doesn’t even feel human. Funnily enough, the ML, who’s the psychopathic monster of this story, feels more human than her.

Which brings me to my third point of frustration:

This story is a smut, but the sex sucks.

The author excels at portraying sadism and domination, but they don’t understand submission. We never get the sensuality of submission or the mindset behind it, so in the end, what we have is a damn uncomfortable scene that is half sexy from the MLs pov and completely detached from the FL’s. It’s always just “my body reacting without my will” and never “Why is this making me feel horny?”. 

Finally, what is driving me crazy about the current arc is that the ML is terribly inconsistent, like the author was filling up tropes for him rather than creating him as a character of his own. In practice, he’s a terrible mix between Cesare from High Society and Nathaniel from Kneel Before Me. He doesn’t feel any empathy, and that much is evident from the first 50% or so of the book, but tell me why suddenly he’s sorrowful all the time?! He’s feeling guilty for what he did?! He can’t retort because he knows the other party is right?! And the worst of all: why did he inherit Cesare’s stupidity out of nowhere? Suddenly, this guy is taken by pride that he can’t confess the most basic shit that he likes her, so he doesn’t want her to die? He never cared about this.

His act right now makes it seem as though his behaviour at the beginning of this story was an emo act. This guy inserted FLOWERS on her, and now he’s feeling shy to talk about his feelings? Like, oh please, man. GROW UP.

I feel so much lighter after this rant.

Have you guys read it? Do you like it? If you do, please tell me how😭 I really wanted to enjoy this because it’s written by my favourite author, but damn… my fanaticism can only take me so far.

This is completely random, but you know when you notice something and you can't unnotice?

Adele is likely decades or even hundreds of years older than Cesare.

The explanation contains spoilers from the epilogue, so read at your own risk:

>!In the last epilogue, we see how Cesare met Adele when he was a kid and she saved him from drowning. Back then she was already an adult and from the way she spoke, she was clearly not a young adult, but mermaids probably don't age (lore of this universe, maybe I'll write a post on that someday). So, after she's "reborn" as a human, her mind is technically reset and she doesn't remember her past right away, but eventually she does, somewhere near the end. Thus, by the end of the story, Adele is god knows how many years older than Cesare!<

This age gap was such a plot twist for me, but it also made so much sense with the way Adele behaved throughout the entire story and just her personality overall. It was an interesting surprise.

Was there ever an age gap that surprised you like this?

Yet again I'm travelling and yet again I'm bored. I hope I can count on you guys to be my entertainment for the night because I have 7h to do nothing until my flight 😭

So, tell me: what's your favourite romance trope?

[Picture is merely illustrative]

You know that Mean Girls quote?

>I was a woman possessed. I spent 80% of the time talking about Regina George and the other 20% praying that someone would bring her up so I could talk about her more.

What if the 20% never comes true? What if no one ever talks about that one story you're EAGER to talk about?

You just want to share it with someone, but nobody ever comes requesting for something like that! 😭

Relatable? Then share this story here and hopefully find a fellow reader🥹

Mine is none other than The Butterfly Swallowed by the Mist

I've read this ages (weeks) ago and I wanted to write a review, but I kept having post ideas and stuff so I never got the chance and now I don't trust my memory enough to write one, but daaamn I liked this one so bad🥹🥹

They're such cuties, I just can't believe the novel was labelled a dark romance: just what the fuck will happen in s2 to flip the coin like this?! I don't know, but I'm hella curious and I don't want to read the novel because the art is too beautiful. I don't want spoilers 😭

Anyways, they're sooooo cute😭😭 if you liked Cruelty of Salvation, go for it!