#(not sure if it's a manhwa or a webtoon but I THINK there’s a novel by the same name so I'm leaning toward manhwa)

[incorrect-web-novels]

I just finished the Forgetful Dark Lord manhwa, and if you have a couple hours, you really should read it ^_^

[pruneunfair]

The internalized sexism in remarried empress, (for an ask)

*this is going to be a long one so hold on tight*

It's no question that remarried empress is one of the most popular manhwas on webtoon and being so popular it holds a lot of influence, unfortunately, that influence promoted the internalized misogyny in not just the readers but in other works as well.

In the first chapter, Navier is presented as this baddass perfect woman, during her divorce trial she brings in a hot rebound who also happens to be another Emperor so she wont have to give up her life as empress, sounds pretty feminist right? Unfortunately that's only one of the few times we see anything related to feminism at all.

We are soon sent back a few months before the trial and right away, Naviers ladies in waiting are tearing another woman down and already believe this new woman is a threat to Navier because the Emperor Sovieshu is attracted to this newbie

We are shown the basic concept of how the narrative wants us to view these two characters. Navier is perfect empress who is being wronged by her husband and this unnamed woman who's only crime so far was existing is a wench and a homewreaker, the ladies imply it as some sort of extreme act of disrespect for having to bathe what they believe to be a slave, proceeding with sucking up to the lead by saying they only wash their hands to bathe her as they don't even wash themselves and even when they admit this mystery woman to be beautiful they backtrack to making sure Navier is supported. You might think that this is just friends supporting friends but it goes beyond on that later on.

Later on we are introduced to this mystery woman, Rashta, a former slave found by Sovieshu in the woods who is immediately portrayed as rude, stupid, and a crybaby

The reason she cries is because she was struck and referred to as "the slave" while she wasn't very polite it's clear Rashta isn't doing this on purpose, rather it is sheer ignorance and an unusually large optimism

now, a lot of people like to say that Rashta must've done something on purpose to get Laura imprisoned and that she knew what she was doing, therfore justifying the hatred for her existence. However, Laura hit Rashta for reaching out to Navier and calls her a wench in the process

Some fans use the excuse that she smirked after Laura got sentenced to 3 days imprisonment and yes while that is excessive for Laura, Rashta was a slave only a few days ago and she's been mistreated by nobles her entire life plus I don't think she's smart enough to pull off Hannibal levels of planning like that, I personally think her smirk here is meant to be more of a "that's what she gets for treating me like that." Then a "hee hee my evil plan worked!"

the rest of the comic goes the same way, Rashta is continuously portrayed as a whore who ruined Naviers life by turning her husband against her, and she's written to be hated as a pick me who won't know her place. Rashtas pretty much every part of those "other girls" in those not like other girls templates. She's girly, loves the attention, emotional, dainty, overly sweet but secretly only has ulterior motives, and in the novel, she acts extremely childish even referring to herself in 3rd person, even when she makes good points it's all intended for the reader to laugh and jeer at her.

Shes practically designed to be the pick me archetype for baddass mary sue fans to despise and she sadly only gets worse as time goes on, not just in morals and personality but also in her writting

And how is Navier perceived?

Shes endlessly perfect, everyone loves her including several different powerful men from all different countries. Even her cheating ass husband is given the cheapest redemption arc in the end just for being sorry that he cheated and realizing how much he wants her. All the characters your meant to view as good adore her and anyone who doesn't is written as the meanest bad guy on the planet worthy of death. While she isn't the worst character I've seen, the narrative tries so hard to make her more amazing that Navier looks worse as a result, such as not caring about slavery despite being described as kind and devoted to all her subjects. Ergi even says it straight to us that there will always be that invisible wall between her and the poor.

The characters we're supposed to see as good are:

Heinrey: A king who planned on going to war with Naviers country and only stopped when he fell in love with her at first sight, who also tortures and threatens anyone who even so much as inconveniences or talks shit about her all while he puts up an innocent front to appear non threatening (wonder who that sounds like)

Kaufman: A grand Duke who drugs other people with love potions which are essentially date-rape drugs and gets away with it once another woman takes the blame

Kosair: Naviers brother who violates Rashtas autonomy by slipping abortion drugs in her food and it's never talked about again.

Lebetti: One of Rashtas slave owners who still continues to harass Rashta and views anyone lower than her with contempt including her own nephew and so on

And who are the characters we are supposed to hate?

Besides Rashta and Sovieshu, the only other characters so far are Krista, the former queen of the west and her father

Ironically Krista is hated for the same reason readers supported Navier for: not wanting to replaced as queen, which isn't helped by Heinrey asserting that Navier is the one and only queen and anyone who objects will face serious consequences but they fix that by dumbing her down and blaming her for Kaufman drugging Heinrey. As for her dad, the old Duke. While he is the only man actively against Navier so far the only ways he has been punished is being told that Krista killed herself. (In the novel the old Duke does face serious consequences which involved him being murdered along with innocent people after his son attempted a hit on Navier)

But overall you get the message, most of the characters you are supposed to love are men and ladies with no personality, men who do atrocious shit yet we're supposed to look past it and conveniently the only man who is punished is an ugly bastard.

The ladies in waiting are the biggest contributors to the internalized misogyny, often they support it by insisting any new woman who shows up must be an evil whore, even Krista's ladies in waiting do this

Not like it matters though anyway since Navier basically wins most of those girls over on her side and they're never seen again

You see what I mean? Every other woman in this story has little to no character, they exist solely to push the FL up and punch down at any woman they don't like which usually consists of women that either dainty "other girls" or ironically women in a situation similar to Naviers and any woman who opposes Navier is affectly an idiot who gets girlbossed back into place. Meanwhile almost all of the men who commit absolutely horrible acts get away with it since they all essentially go awooga for Navier, with the only exception being less than conventionally attractive dudes like Krista's dad.

for fucks sake even Alan, one of Rashtas other masters who 🍇ed her, got her pregnant and participated in keeping her child away from her until she got successful is viewed as this sorrowful wittle baby who got taken advantage of by the evil Rashta and was "wrongfully" told to screw off by her. It took an episode where Alan was so unfathomably stupid to get readers to realize they shouldn't side with a rapist, and yes, while the narrative will try to push the idea that Rashta took advantage of him to raise her status and that she consented. News flash: a slave cannot consent to someone who owns them, it's like a student-teacher relationship.

Now the hypocrisy. Navier can do one thing and it's viewed as such a girlboss power move but when someone else like Rashta does something similar, it's embarrassing and pathetic. For example, Rashta is mocked by nobles mind you, for wearing an expensive and flashy wedding dress. Meanwhile Naviers wedding dress is literally weaved with thousand of gemstones

Hey, it's their words not mine.

Or how Rashta was considered evil for stealing Naviers spot as empress (even though Rashta didn't even want to be empress at first and Sovieshu gave her the offer, it's not like she held a gun to his head) but when Krista shows distress over being replaced as queen, the comments basically tell Krista to suck it up because Navier deserves it more. Everytime a man does something wrong in this story, the characters and even the readers trace it back to somehow being a woman's fault.

Readers are even encouraged to laugh at Rashta for not being able to learn as fast and eventually having a breakdown from the stress (not to mention she's also pregnant here so those hormones must be going wild)

yeah let's just blame a pregnant woman who wasn't educated in reading until a few months ago for not being able to be as smart or stoic as Navier and then crying from the stress.

finally, how this promotion of internalized misogyny affected other works. The Trashta nickname has become so popular that it is used everytime a woman who doesn't support the MC or even just inconveniences her is introduced, constantly the comments never shut up about the "new trashta." Even women who don't mean harm like Helena from kill the villainess was treated horribly because she's the "other woman" it erases any attempt at creativity in these stories and dumbs down any other woman who isn't constantly worshipping the FL as an evil bitch who needs to go.

Conclusion:The Remarried empress isn't the feminist power book with complex characters, maybe in season 1 but not anymore. Women who even think about being rude to Navier are punched down and killed if they don't change their mind while almost all the men are excused for their cruel actions because their hot guys with abs who only wanted to protect the one and only goddess Navier.

[lxdymoon0357]

Imagine, A Male reader who have read A novel and Webtoon Both them are Remarried Empress.

And he made all analysis, theories and Thinking that Sovieshu is Only being dumb but what if he was dumb then it would have happy ending for Sovieshu and Navier.

While overthinking male reader Crossing the road and he somehow stopped at middle of road and he got new theories, while thinking about it, Trunk-kun smashed it and Male reader got isekaied

Male reader transmigrated into Sovieshu/ Heinrey's body.

If Male reader transmigrated into Sovieshu's body then he would tell everything and apologies to Navier to understand it ( Best friend Kinda). He would go and see Heinrey and starts falling in love (and so on idk)

If Male reader Transmigrated into Heinrey's body then he will use Letter exchanging to Emperor Sovieshu until Emperor falls in love with Secret Admire.... But Emperor Sovieshu and Heinrey are Rivals ( Not enemies )... After Heinrey revealed his secret admirer, Both them will became best friends then Lovers ( sounds like Enemy to best friend to lovers, almost like enemies to lovers trope 😁 ) and Navier is Cupid cuz Her lover ( Rashta) shared plenty of BL/GL/Smut Novel with them

That's all are on my mind, this is my request

But before isekaied, He had huge simps on both ( Sovieshu and Heinrey)

(....I just couldn't...I'm sorry..how long is this WIP? 2 years old...Yes that's right humans, 2 YEARS OLD! Kill me...)

Isekaid! Sovieshu X Heinry:

Your chance is my change!

※ The burning pain in your back was stopping your vision from clearing up , as you heard a voice continuously calling you “Your highness…”, as it started to get louder, "Your highness..!” and louder, “Your highness!!!!!!!”

The colorful void finally started to clear up as you head started to hurt. As you finally opened your eyes and your vision cleared up…You saw a lady with long straight blonde hair with golden-green eyes, as you continued to look at her, she reminded you of something you would see back at home....

"Who . . .who are you?" You asked, you throat sore and hurting as you tried to get out words. But as you asked her, the lady immediately looked surprised, before turning to the doctor on the other side, as if he was losing memories....

"Uhm, I'm not sure, you're highness, but I'll try my best to understand this, maybe try to remind him of himself again, I'll come back tomorrow, my grace." The man bowed before taking his leave and going out of the room, as the lady turned to you, before brushing strand of hair behind her ear, she says,

"You highness, You're name is Emperor Sovieshu Vict, I'm your wife, Empress Navier Ellie Trovi. Your the Emperor of Eastern Empire, I'm the empress of Eastern Empire. You've been unconscious for four days now...."

That was the last straw of this weird place...WAIT! Did she just say, her name was NAVIER ELLIE TROVI?! As in from your favorite manhwa?! As you whipped your head back on her face and stared at her intensely, her hair was long and blonde, with mature green eyes and soft yet sharp features..

"So how did I faint???" You asked Navier,

"An object fell from the sky and knocked you out..." Navier replied, completely stoic. As you tried to comprehend things, Navier sighed before asking for dismissal from you, which you granted hastily, as she walked out, she said, "Also your highness, please look after you dear concubine, she's been crying horribly..." Before walking out, you tried to understand your situation...You were just walking back from the grocery store buying some ramen when a truck hit you and did you just isekaid into a manhwa like those in your favorite ones?????

"This is just weird, I just isekaid into Remarried Empress in the emperor's body, do I have to survive this now?" You mumbled, while laying back on your bed cushioning yourself into the soft duvet, before there was a knocking on the door, which caught your attention to it...

'Well, if I have to play an emperor, might as well do it!' You thought before calling out, "Come in!" As you sat up back in the bed, fluffing you pillows in the process, as you turned to look at the door, you were frozen as you saw a beautiful lady with bright, blonde nearly white hair and dark grey eyes, it was Rashta, who was crying her eyes out…As you sat up straight, putting on a façade of caring to hide the maybe upcoming annoyed expression

"How- how are you- you, your highness...Rashta- Rashta was worried..." Rashta said, wiping her eyes and nose with a dark blue napkin, as she rubbed her eyes out and sat on the chair right beside your bed. As you reached out and brushed some strands of hair out of her and behind her ears, before wiping the few stray tears falling down her eyes. You were honestly expecting to be annoyed by her actions, but instead you were her feeling pity for her, she really did love Sovieshu in the manhwa after all....At-least in the beginning, until Ergi manipulated her to make her power-hungry person. As you wiped her tears and talked with her to make a friendship with her, as you both talked while having dinner, you learnt many things about Rashta, mainly that she was a lovey person actually, quite mature and smart along with being imaginative but put on a child-like and cheerful façade to make herself likable by other stuck up nobles and Sovieshu...

Over the course of the next two weeks, you would be again taught the way to live as an emperor, talk with Navier as well and build a friendship with her and Rashta, you both spent time with each other as friends, while she took care of the empire with a little bit of help with you. You met different people from the manhwa, including countess Eliza, Laura and a few others, you pretended to play the emperor so nobody would suspect the emperor forgetting his memory, you knew your favorite manhwa to heart and you knew Sovieshu even better so it was no problem playing him except the fact that maybe you weren't straight....And you were in no way, shape or form in love with Rashta or Navier.... You were actually (y/s) and were not interested in Rashta or Navier, but you didn't know what to do....

As you were sitting outside, reading a erotica, sneaked in by Rashta who was having her education under your guidance, she saw you eyeing that book in the library, luckily since she didn't know how to completely knew how to read, she borrowed it under the excuse of "Buying for a friend" without knowing it was about BL...

As you flipped the next page, too fixated in it to realize somebody had sat next to you, as you heard somebody's voice read the lines, which made the blood run out of your face....Well Sovieshu's , but you get it....

"Well, well...I didn't realize you liked these types of novels your highness...." Navier said, as she leaned beside your shoulder reading the next few lines of the erotica, which was quite rough for a time setting like this one... But still a little bit better than those dumb ass erotica you were reading as compared to those amazing smuts.....

But back to your mind, you smile nervously as Navier sat beside you also holding a book in her hand, "I've read that one before, is it to your taste?" Navier asked, tilting her head. surprised, you shook your head to tell her, "Well, I've read this one before and it is quite boring..", "I have a collection of better ones...Would you like to read them?" Navier asked twirling a strand of her hair in her fingers, obviously blushing after asking such a scandalous thing...

You were shook as you were frozen into place and not being able to answer back and zoning out before Navier snapped her fingers in front of your face, making you snap out of your trance as you frantically nodded your head, your cheeks also warming up, Navier took a deep breathe before opening her book, which was a encyclopedia, in the first eight pages, she took out a list of her favorite eroticas you guessed, she handed it to you, saying she has all of these ordered by her brother and if you wanted to read it you could always visit her room.

As a week or three passed you though about it, reading over the titles of these books and their summary that Navier had written down. You decided which books you wanted for the time being while she gets more for you both. As you walked to her room, face with a faint blush. As you knocked on her door, when she didn't answer as you waited out the door, you knocked again a little harder this time and waited but still no answer from Navier, finally as you slowly opened her door and walked in her room, you saw a sight you weren't expecting in your whole life of Rashta sitting on Navier' s lap only in her corset and a underskirt as Navier pulled on her corset strings slowly opening them. The two ladies were deep into kissing, Rashta whining and panting as Navier and Rashta's tongue were exploring each other (and their mouths).

You were absolutely blushing finding your "wife" in such a compromising state with your "concubine" ... Trying to make known of your presence, you cleared your though as the two ladies pulled away and Rashta immediately screamed as Navier pushed Rashta's head into her neck, muffling her scream and quieting her. Navier looked back at you without a emotion on her face, her and Rashta's lipsticks smudged across her lips and neck and hickeys on her neck and shoulders, you showed her the list and named the books you wanted as Navier pointed to a bookshelf, which had a shelf of fake coloured ombre covers, you pulled on it before taking the books you wanted, and walked out the room before waving to a again making out couple, where Navier who was making out still waved her hand a bit.

As you walked through the hallways, you turned the book on the top of the bunch over to read the summary at the back, not realizing where you were headed as you bumped into someone who was running, the collision was so strong throwing you both away from each other and on the ground, making the books scatter like a drama scene, you picked up all the book before turning to the guy who you bumped into about to put some sense into their heads, as you were met with Heinrey looking at you, annoyed. You walked away, you knew Heinrey was already annoyed with you, because of the the way you treated Navier you guessed before you fainted.

As you sat in your room around 20 minutes reading a book with series of different erotic stories and were reading the first story, where the couple finally confessed their feelings as they had their orgasms together, you were unknowingly blushing and giggling and squealing like a high-school girl, as there was a knock on your door, you without lifting your head allowed the person inside, Rashta immediately jumped up on your bed, she had been very affectionate about these things and talked with you for hours on end,

"And weren't you just kissing Navier in the other room, Rashta?" You asked, curious as to why is she here.

"Well, Sir. Heinrey came to Darling's room and we had to stop kissing and pretend we were doing something important so we had to clean ourselves up real quick and so their conversation was too long and I got bored so I got out!" Rashta rambled on as you nodded your head listening to her but unfortunately zoning out half-way through, but luckily Rashta didn't notice and continued to ramble and talk about how things were going...But also you didn't notice her leaning over in your book, until she read the whole two pages as she yelled for some reason, knocking you out of trance and breaking your eardrum, probably...

"WHAT?! WHAT RASHTA?!" You asked yelling back, until she pushed your face angrily, "WHAT LECHEROUS THINGS ARE YOU READING?!" She asked angrily,

"BECAUSE I WANT TO! STOP PUTTING YOUR DAMN NOSE IN MY THINGS!"

"YOU'RE AN EMPEROR, YOU CAN'T READ THIS!!!"

"WHY NOT?!"

"BECAUSE NAVIER DOESN'T ALLOW ME TO READ THIS AND I WANT TO AS WELL!!!!"

"WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WIT-...Oh...It's fine! I'll convince her!" You said coolly, patting her shoulders as she squealed in excitement like a child getting a present, ignoring the fact that you both were screaming like shit, until you got a multiple bangs on your door, "You highness, lady Rahsta are you both okay?!" "LADY RASHTA, EMPEROR DO YOU NEED HELP?!" And multiple people asking you both,

"Oh, A BIRD! A BIRD Flew into the window?" Rashta answered back as she locked the door..Breathing a sigh of relief, you silently yelled at Rashta for causing a scene as she also silently yelled back at you, you both were bickering in your room until there was a knock on the door "Your highness, is Rashta with you?" You hear Navier's voice call out as you jumped out of bed to open the latch of the lock to let her in. Navier enter the room, as Rashta pounces from your bed and jumps into Navier's arms, who has to carry her like a koala. As Navier sits on the bed while you and Rashta try to convince her to let Rashta reads some books,

"Come on! Rashta will learn to read and once she gets through with such books she will learn to mask her expression better!" You say, Navier still looks very doubtful as she sighs, disagreeing,

"No! She only learnt to read and she's too young to read!"

"I'm 20 years old now your highness, that's not young, I also had a child remember!?" Rashta whines and reminds Navier, "I basically know everything there is need to know to create a child!" "This is different." Navier comments, "SO?!" "UGH FINE! YOU CAN READ THEM!" Navier whines loudly as she finally gave up against you and Rashta as you both cheered loudly around the room,

"ON ONE CONDITION!" Navier interrupted your celebration, "Your highness and Rashta will have to attend a dinner with his highness, Heinrey, and duke Kaufman for my business with Duke Kaufman and also because I want you both to have manners, you've been very chaotic since you woke up your highness!" Navier says and comments on you, your faces drop as you listen to Navier's bet... "AND NO TRYING TO RUN AWAY FROM THE DINNER!! AND YOU CANNOT BEHAVE IMMATURELY, YOU NEED OT HAVE ETIQUETTE..." Navier finished her argument with yelling before taking a deep breathe and sighing...

So that's why you both were sitting on the dinner table, dressed up; prim and proper yet all bored as they ate the amazing food with "etiquette" around them Navier was conversing with Kaufman, Heinrey and Ergi, as you looked under the table and bit to see Navier's hand under Rashta's dress which was bunched up on Navier's wrist, you mentally gagged before lifting your head up making Heinrey look at you annoyingly as he asked, "Are you okay, majesty??" You jumped a bit but answer, "Uhm, yea-yeah! I'm good.." as you drank water and mentally cursed for stuttering..

Finally finishing up on dinner, Kaufman and Ergi decided to retire earlier as Navier said she'll take Rashta, you nodded before waiting for the dessert, ain't no way in hell were you going to bed before having your favorite sizzling brownie with ice-cream and warm chocolate syrup. Heinrey also with you, but he was reading a book for some reason as everyone left. As your dessert finally came and you finished eating, you were finally so full it felt like you were gonna burst...You sighed and started standing up, as Heinrey said, "Your majesty, may I escort you to your room?" He asked, catching you completely off-guard, as you smiled and hesitantly declined, he still somehow convinced you saying you're sick and it would be bad if something happened to you on the way back and nobody would be there to help you as it was very late now, so you hesitantly agreed as he was walking you to your room.

Finally reaching your room, you thanked him and entered your room before closing the door behind you. As you removed your shirt and pants and changed into comfy loose pants for sleeping, as there was pecking on your door. You quickly put on a shirt, as you walk to the balcony and open the door to let a letter fly in...

You wanted to open it, but as you laid in the bed you found it difficult to even sit up and then you realized you're body was so tired and you were too lazy to anything else other than sleeping... Soon the sun rises as the morning rays hit your eyelids, burning your eyes even when they're closed...you angrily open your eye about to throw something, but deciding against it as you freshened up and got ready, when your eyes fell on the letter, you decided to open it which said,

"Your highness, you looked very good at the dinner, I hope to talk to you again soon...Even though I'ma man, I feel like falling in love with you is like being in love with the moon, it's very beautiful but it could never be mine...

Secret Admirer."

As you read, butterflies popped up in your stomach, you silently giggled and brushed a hand up to your chest, feeling your heart thumping loudly and quickly, as your cheeks warmed up, you took a few deep breaths to calm down as you walked out and to your office, Rashta was already there doing some of her paperwork or something, you couldn't tell, but when you entered she smiled brightly at you and you smiled back just as brightly as you started your work while gossiping with Rashta in the middle, until it was time for lunch, while you and Rashta were eating lunch, in entered Navier who sat beside Rashta and Heinrey who sat across from her near you, while you four ate food, you slowly saw Heinrey being less hostile towards you and Rashta, and so you all were having a good conversation...

The next day when you woke up, another letter was there with the same writing,

"Good morning Handsome, hopefully you'll converse with me today and make my day with your gorgeous smile!"

You again giggled and felt your day getting better already as you got ready for the day...and it was a thing for everyday, in the morning you'd find a letter from the secret admirer with pretty comments, speaking how pretty you'd look, how your smile was brightening up the room, and more..you had a hunch who it was, but you still kept it a secret for yourself..

Everyday you'd find Heinrey getting more and more enamored and nicer to you, you knew it was him sending those letters, but you wanted to see how far he would go before coming clean...

[audriel]

hi audriel! Didnt know you had tumblr and had to double-check. I really love your fangrui fics on ao3! I noticed some were taken down? And thank you so much for always posting fangrui pics on discord!! Really appreciate it. Really like how approachable and friendly you are on discord, feels like talking to a friend who you can gush about fandom stuffs with, hope you have a good day ahead!

questions, when did you first started to like qzgs, and what made you do it? What are your top 3 fav chars? Did it ever change? What do you like about them?

hi anon! actually, i made my ao3 and tumblr account almost at the same time, so you're safe! i joined discord pretty recently, that's why i unfortunately lost my chance to use the name audriel there >_<

another fang rui lover! thank you! i'm glad you like them! <333

i'm just so happy that i found people who loves qzgs to gush over together. and to spread all the fang rui love. so thank you for being so kind and welcoming! it took quite a lot of courage for me to finally ask to join the server, and participate actively. it's thanks to everyone in the discord.

are you asking the moon in autumn? it's still there, but only accessible for ao3 users since it's a long fic, and i do have concerns for data scraping for fanfictions. if let's start thinkin' bout it gets long enough, i might end up doing the same. i might only unlock them for few days when there's a new update.

now onto your questions!

i'm pretty sure it's due to the pandemic. since i started to read a lot of korean webtoons/manhwa that's almost always adapted from webnovels, i ended up reading a lot of them during that time (there was not much to do but stay at home after all). however, they were very rarely completed. oh the horror. so i looked for recommendations and there was quan zhi gao shou/the king's avatar on the list. it's highly rated and reviewed, and it's completed! even though it's chinese webnovel and not the genre i usually read (online games, more so professional gaming), so i gave it a try, and boy i'm so very glad i do. i'm hooked.

it has everything i love to read in a story: a smart, powerful protagonist; rich, complex characters and world; and a wonderful storytelling.

the only downside? i'm late to the the fandom. QAQ

i think we all love ye xiu, it's no brainer right? he's perfect but also imperfect at the same time. his strength in character and in his belief is so admirable that i sorely wish i had a fraction of it. but at the same time as a protag, we didn't see much from his perspective. so he's not the character i resonate with the most. definitely top three, but not the top. qiao yifan was my best boi then. i can relate with his struggle the most. and i love seeing him learning and growing under ye xiu's wings. from the transparent tiny herb player to the most stable, reliable happy rookie. i'm so looking forward to the person he'll be in the future.

then there's fang rui. he's overshadowed by huang shaotian at first. huang shaotian is so lively, so distinctive, so difficult to look away from. so at the beginning my top three was qiao yifan, ye xiu and huang shaotian.

only on my reread that fang rui finally caught my eye. at first, he and huang shaotian look so similar and differ greatly with other oh so serious captains and god-level players in that they are bright and lively, and they are open with their emotions. but i end up thinking twice at the latter. huang shaotian is an open book, fang rui is not.

wait, wait are we reading the same novel?

fang rui feels like an open book, because we have seen his own perspective, we've seen his thoughts and emotions. but whenever we've got outsiders' perspective on him, fang rui is always playful even he performs badly. if anything, he acts out, hams it up, just like when he miscommunicated with mo fan or when he lost so badly that he sat in the corner to reflect. when he's troubled, most often he closes up, just like when lin jingyan approached him when tyranny dropped by or when he was so tired after beating xu boyuan.

meanwhile, huang shaotian can put up a public persona like the celebrity he is, but overall he doesn't really bother to hide how he feels, just like when he didn't want to talk after he lost in the finals and when he questioned yu feng after he went to hundred blossoms (even he got the first turn in beating up liu hao lol). in summary, huang shaotian is the real open book. we can count on him for being honest, and also being loyal. while at the same time, he's such an stealthy assassin and deadly opportunist on stage. it makes him such an appealing character and a favorite among the fandom.

but for me, the complexity and contrast of fang rui really caught my eye. that there's more to him that it meets the eye. which is admittedly my favorite type of character. it shows that he has an exceptional emotional intelligence, he understands emotions, his own and others, and he doesn't shy away from it, more so, he owns it. i have admiration for calm and composed characters, but i admire more those who obviously struggling with his emotions but still retain their calm and composure. and that fits fang rui to the t.

because damn, when we put it into context, fang rui has the hardest time in season 10. ye xiu (and qiao yifan) did have a hard time with their previous team, ye xiu can be also said as the reason for excellent era, his beloved team's demise. but the fans and later qiu fei gave him hope for the team to be reborn, then su mucheng joined him in happy, all he needs is to focus on the championship that he's back in the alliance. fang rui?

he has to leave his beloved team and account, then he transforms to a completely different class with a wholly new account, at the huge risk to himself, then he has to fight his former partner/mentor repeatedly until being the one to end lin jingyan's career. the latter feels dramatic, but considering how fang rui's performance is visibly affected by lin jingyan's decline, i'm not surprised if that's how it feels from his perspective. and yet... he gives himself the hardest time when he performs badly in the finals, for not giving his best for happy. he just wanted to return the trust given to him. even though he was exhausted, he still did his best to assure the team. i just... the moment i put things into perspective, i think fall in love right then and there, and there's no coming back from it.

so my current top three: fang rui, qiao yifan, and ye xiu.

i think there's a pattern right there. all three are happy. all three have transformed. all three have left their teams, not by choice. all have suffered rejections and come up victorious.

thank you for the wonderful ask! i don't mind if you have more questions! i enjoy it very much! i can do the same for you if you wish. just let me know!

[saffronapplemanga]

Let’s Talk Manga Demographics!

Colleen from Colleen's Manga Recs asked me to weigh in when someone had questions regarding manga demographics, so I made a Twitter thread. I figured I'd make a post here too since this topic has many misconceptions. I am someone who frequents bookstores in Japan, works in the industry with manga demographics being my special interest, and this is a manga blog after all.

There’s a lot more to demographics than this but here goes nothing.

Links to my other manga posts here

Link to my thread on Twitter. I could talk about demographics for hours but I tried to keep the thread concise and just address the question. (A little more detail in this post). I'm going to compare Japan and America because that's what I'm most familiar with.

The tweet I replied to was this:

---

First off — and say it with me — demographics are very important. Beyond reaching your target audience, they create various platforms and spaces for a larger variety of titles to be published, including more marginalized voices. Erasing demographics would only hurt marginalized works, like shoujo manga, which would be the first to go. Male oriented media/perspectives would become the default since we live in a patriarchy amongst other things. Titles would become samey.

No, gendered demographics are not necessarily reductive, usually people’s ideas regarding gender are. Sure, society can be weird about it, but gender isn’t inherently bad or evil. You are not as progressive as you think you are if you believe erasing gendered demographics is a good idea. That’s honestly a Gender Studies 101 take.

Some people say they don’t care about demographics or don’t notice and just read “what’s good”. That’s great, but yes you do notice, if even on a subconscious level. This is not a brag, but I can tell the demographic of any manga just by looking at the cover or a few pages even if I know nothing about it. There are meaningful differences obvious to those with an eye for it. Again, not a brag, but it’s there.

Not to be crabby but I’m tired of people who don’t know how the industry works arguing with me about these things practically every week. I’ll leave it at that for now.

———

With that out of the way — there are various factors that go into why a publisher labels a manga a certain way (combination of art style, writing, etc). There’s also a difference between how publishers in Japan and abroad do things.

Shoujo/shounen/seinen categorization obviously is a Japanese thing. (Josei isn’t really used in Japan and is often grouped with shoujo, but that’s another convo right now). In America, there’s different but sometimes similar labels used in publishing (young adult, for example) but it’s not a one-to-one. And these labels only apply to manga. They’re not used for manhwa, webtoons, or even light novel manga adaptions. Those are all different subgroups under the umbrella of comics. Calling a webtoon a shoujo is like calling The Walking Dead comics (a western comic series) a seinen. I’m not saying one is better than the other, they just have different categorization labels.

Even the LN manga adaption of The Apothecary Diaries, for example, is not shelved with the rest of the seinen manga. It is labeled a seinen on many ebook sites (more on them later) but there’s a separate LN manga adaption shelf. Why? I can tell when something is a LN adaption without being told because they do have different vibes and appeals, and thus different audiences. For sure there’s a Venn Diagram of manga, LN adaptions, and webtoon readers etc. but the Venn Diagram is not a circle.

Overseas publishers probably have more leeway on how they market things because of this. It’s a different market from Japan. EN publishers use imprints and this is meant to replace JP publishers using magazines (also printed on vols). In America, bookstores arrange manga by alphabetical order, no regard for demographics. That was so weird to me the first time I saw it.

Normally EN manga have imprints, but in Japan it's based on the magazine it's published in since each magazine has a “publishing house style”.

Even EN novels are organized in categories and then alphabetical order (by title or author). In Japan, it’s organized by demographic > magazine/imprint/publisher > then alphabetical order. Same for ebooks.

You’ll have the shounen section, but Jump titles are labeled on the shelf, and Square Enix titles are grouped together, then arranged by alphabetical order. This goes for both new and used. Even when there’s a separate area for new releases, they tend to group them this way.

To the left, I can see signs that say “seinen comics”, and the publishers “Shueisha”, “Shogakukan”, and “Kodansha” in the back. New releases are usually end-caps. The blue sign says “New Release Comics”. They tend to keep the demos together for these too.

Selling bundles of used series is common, so you can see in these pictures, the one on the left has signs on the shelves that say “Kodansha seinen comics”. Right pic is my local bookoff. It’s not explicitly labeled, but they grouped all the shoujo bundles on the same shelf.

Left: “shoujo comics/lady’s comics” (Josei is often referred to as “lady’s comics” in Japan). “BL-lady’s comics”. Right: the shelves are labeled “Champion”, “Sunday”, “Magazine”, “Jump” which are all shounen magazines.

Colleen had asked me about this for their video (my comment at the 32:04 mark, but watch the whole vid because it’s good!) I wouldn’t be surprised if the thing with Renta JP in the vid was similar to physical bookstores too, because of it’s part of marketing their “brand”.

We stan Colleen🫡

Since the magazines are sold in Japan and not just the tankobon volumes, readers there are likely more familiar with what series are published together under what demographic and what makes them fall under that demographic. Plus you HAVE to know the demographic to even be in the right section of a bookstore when looking for a specific title.

If they switched up what a manga is labeled as in the bookstore versus the magazine, that would muddle things and confuse readers. I can imagine they’d want readers shopping for one title to see their other titles next to it so they buy it. It’s all a part of their brand. But since the magazines aren’t sold outside Japan and the market is different, foreign publishers take liberties. Sometimes I wonder if they should’ve even used JP demos tbh.

Then the same Twitter user asked a follow up that led to more relevant stuff that I hadn't initially mentioned in the thread:

I picked up the Japanese tankobon of Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu (The Summer Hikaru Died) from my local bookstore back when vol.1 first came out and it was in the seinen section. Renta JP has it under “lady’s comics” (usually what they call josei, since josei is not commonly used there).

I’m not 100% if this is the reason or not, but if I had to say, BL and horror have a lot of history with shoujosei so they labeled it as such. And in brick and mortar shops, like I said, the publisher would want their titles together so people buy more of their stuff. Online, ebooks don’t have a physical shelf they’re on so the way you’re searching for it is different so they changed the label for online searches for what gets the most hits.

Horimiya is labeled shoujo on Renta, but I it is in fact a shounen. It’s not in the shoujo section at bookstores.

It's from a shounen magazine and I still consider it a shounen because of multiple reasons (like art, story style, etc.)

Again, they are playing around with the labels to optimize marketing for digital versus brick and mortar.

I call this ✨gerrymandering but for comics✨ LOL and there's a reason I used the word "gerrymandering" as it's basically the bullshitting of demographics and it's not a word that has a positive connotation.

But yeah, I hope this was informative!

[fandomluver-101]

Cry, or Better Yet Beg

Is a disgusting webtoon and the novel it's based off is even worse. And why in the ever loving HELL is it on WEBTOON and labeled "YOUNG ADULT?" YA is for the age range of 12 to 18. Anything adapted from an 17+ novel off Yonder, which is an age restricted app, shouldn't being YA.

The art style is what drew me it. Honestly, the art is beautiful and stunning. And it's tagged as "romance," which I seriously wanted. You feel an attachment to the MC, Layla, quickly and I'm sure people connect to her the way I did too. She's bounced around from home to home until she is kept by her uncle. Their relationship develops into something wholesome, and gives Anne of Green Gables vibes.

Then you meet who you THINK is the love interest, Kyle. And he's perfect for a romance.

However, this story is not a romance. The first red flag in the webtoon is the introduction of Matthias, the Duke of this historical romance. Why?

First of all, Layla is 12 while he is 18. Which in and of itself isn't an issue until it becomes explicitly clear he's the male lead the writers will be pushing. Kyle is the same age as Layla, 12. Matthias became Duke at the age of 12, so why not have him as the same age? Nothing happens before she's 18, but he's 25 by that point and engaged to someone AGE APPROPRIATE.

Second issue is Matthias's personality. In that he is a sadistic, needlessly cruel POS. Regardless of Layla's uncle being his employee, the power dynamics between the two would be screwed no matter what. Again, her uncle is employed and housed by Matthias. She can't say no without retaliation from Matthias, which is something the writers like to gloss over.

The story on Yonder gives you a warning for the contents - child abuse, sexual assault, r@pe, etc. I read it to compare the Webtoon, couldn't finish because that shit is beyond disgusting.

Matthias is just a horrible person. He kills animals for no other purpose beyond knowing it upsets Layla, he admits this to her multiple times. He takes things from her, forces her to come to his home to clean for hours on end, and is relentless in forcing her to "beg." At some point there's a party, he steals her shoes and humiliates her by forcing her to beg and cry for them back.

Hell, there's a section where he takes her hat, gifted to her by her uncle, and mocks her for wanting it back. Then he throws it into the fucking river and of course Layla goes after it, because it was a gift from someone she loves! She starts drowning and it takes him however many panels before he goes in after her.

And you're like, okay, maybe he'll have some fucking development!

WRONG!!

He tells her that SHE should be thanking HIM. Despite HIM being the cause of the ENTIRE SITUATION!!! Not an ounce of human decency and that's fucking infuriating.

The Webtoon, however, does not. Yes, it is toned down, but all the shit from the Yonder novel IS STILL THERE. It claims there's implied child abuse, but doesn't say "hey, Matthias will be psycholically abusing, sexually harassing, physically and sexually assaulting, and eventually r@aping her and we'll justify his behavior by saying she liked it!"

Not even joking, that's exactly what is done. The writers legitimately make it seem like Layla comes to love him and thinks how she's been treated is acceptable. When Matthias assaults her and she has a fucking breakdown in the aftermath, the writers call her pain "adolescent sadness" as if she's crying over a lost earring rather than her getting assaulted by a man who says it's fun to see her cry and beg.

This shit is being read by CHILDREN. Young teens and tweens are the people reading this. Shit like this makes little girls and boys think this is acceptable behavior, that a relationship based on psychological torture and sexual harassment is okay because he loves you?

Jinx, a manhwa, is NOT on Webtoon. That's also a shit manhwa with a horrible male love interest, but it isn't glorified the way Cry, Or Better Yet Beg does. It doesn't act as if we should be rooting for them to be together and the artists and writers aren't going on hiatus because of "bullying."

It's anger inducing how the artists and writers went on hiatus as if they were being bullied. In reality, everyone old enough to know what was being depicted called them out! They told them they shouldn't be depicting the story the way they are, called them disgusting for making it very obvious that they WANTED to depicted a relationship between a child and an adult, doubled down on it being inappropriate and how they need to put better content warnings OR PICK A DIFFERENT PLATFORM!!

[ultramarine-spirit]

I'm sorry, Mari, I know you don't want to talk about it anymore, but why is it so problematic to repost other photos? I feel like one of the biggest reasons people do it is because they don't know why. I understand that you can't publish images of chapters that have to be paid for like webtoon or merch (although I don't know why either) but wmmap has already ended years ago so I don't understand what the problem would be.

Yeah, it's as you've said, firstly, because most of it is paid content. That's why you'll see that manhwa accounts on Twitter almost always post proof of them having purchased the chapters. Secondly, because this fandom has a huge reposting problem in general (art, fics, translations, edits, etc). For "regular" pictures I have less of an issue, but if it's "exclusive" content, I feel like I'm already edging the line of what is respectful to publish/leak. Yes, there are hundreds of illegal uploads of the manhwa, but that's not something I wanna promote. I wanna encourage people to support the author. Spoon has also spoken about this a bunch of times. But I guess some people might disagree with my stance.

Let me put it like this. When I stay up until 5am to watch a Chinese stream and get news about the donghua, and people immediately repost the pictures without keeping my @, it's tiring. When I spend my own money to attent Spoon's art class (at 3am), take notes, work with Japanese and Chinese fans/friends to provide English fans a translation and summary, and people immediately repost it without asking, it makes me wonder why I even bother. The last thing I want is to sound all "oh, woe is me" though, that's why I haven't spoken about this many times (I believe this is the second time in 4 years I bring it up).

For pictures that have translated content (such as what Lithi does), I think it's way worse, because you are basically "stealing" their labor without any credit. Fan translators already operate in a grey area, legally speaking. There has been a lot of drama in the fandom around this subject, and in general, translators hate to see their work reposted. Most of them have deleted their translations because of this (Ever wonder why you can't find fan TLs of the novel very easily anymore? Lithi has also deleted a bunch of her novel posts and I don't blame her). Sure, reposting a single picture/page might not be big deal, but this has happened a million times.

And then there are instances when people straight up copy posts word for word, pic for pic, which is just kinda annoying/comes across as clout-chasing. Not reposting other people's posts is kind of online etiquette.

[its-no-biggie]

hello biggie!! so your posts about orv have really piqued my interest and i’d like to read it!! only thing is i’m not quite sure where to start,, i hear there’s a webtoon as well as a novel?? if you have any suggestions i would very much appreciate them <33

AAAHHHH OMG!!!! so glad my orv propaganda is working >:3

i usually recommend reading the manhwa (read: korean manga i.e the webtoon) first and then the novel, especially if you arent familiar with korean media and like. genre conventions. it gets you hooked quickly and it sets you up well for the novel in my opinion. plus its still ongoing (and will be for like. 8 more years. no im not exaggerating) so it forces you to read the novel to see how it ends hehehe

but the novel is really the important one!! so you can completely skip the manhwa and start there if you want. in fact, im of the opinion that the manhwa is not a very good adaptation of the story, but that it kind of works as an introduction anyway? i have a post where i discuss it on my blog somewhere but either way. some would say dont read the webtoon at all but personally i like it i think it adds to the experience. so its up to you

ALSO!!! if you do start reading it you MUST block the tag 'orv spoilers' because theyre BIG BIG MAJOR SPOILERS. be very careful and try to avoid the fandom (even the wiki!!) as much as possible until youve finished it, bc theres a lot of really big reveals that happen toward the end and you dont want them spoiled. trust me

and for a little bit of extra context: there are actually 2 versions of the novel! it was originally published as a serial webnovel, and then later edited and published as an ebook. personally i would recommend the ebook bc a) the manhwa is adapting the ebook version, b) once you download the ebook you can have it forever, and c) i generally agree with a lot of the edits they made to the original. but i originally read the web version so i can promise you theyre both very good and very much the same story. theres just some mild discrepancies that you might run into in the fandom lmao

[shinahbee]

Unpopular opinions on characters

Hello,

so I came across this on someone's twitter thread and I thought I would write a post on the " unpopular opinions of these characters" of some of the characters in BL webtoons based on what they have listed. If you have read some of these you may have some opinions of your own, but if you haven’t read any this is just my personal opinion on them as characters, and what other people say about them are vastly different from how I personally feel about them.

you may not get it if you don't read these webtoons but it's fun entertainment if you just want to read about me complaining about some of the things people say..lol. I have a lot to say and a tweet would not be able to hold all of these thoughts so i brought it all here instead.

this is all in good fun, if you are one of those people who hate hearing about how much your favorite character sucks...you might not want to read this. I for one am not the creator or author of any of these so I don't really care what other people think about these characters even if I really like some of them.

Warning 21+ only (age restriction) 

if you are offended by anything anyone says about your favorite character, this may be triggering for you and you should just not read it. These are just fictional characters and I don’t have to be considerate of their feelings so i'm just going t go all out. This is just for shits and giggles only so don't let what I'm saying go to your head cause these are just my thoughts alone and what bothers me in particular.

okay let's begin, I'll give you their name and what webtoon they are from, this is in no particular order... but let's start off strong...

1) Choi Pilwon - Pearl boy

if you have seen any of my monthly favorites, I have mentioned many times how much I hate this dude, I wrote in detail about all the things that he has done that made his despicable. I hate to say this but he got those reactions out of me because he is a well written character and that's what makes all the horrible things he's done triggering to people enough to want to physically hurt him. I once watched a drama in which one of the characters made me feel horrible and I hated that person and I would vocalize it to my dad that I hated her, and he would ask " why do you feel that way? " it was because the actor was really good in portraying the character that made me react that way, and now I know that even if a character/ actor does despicable things, they are in fact written well/good actor if they get emotional responses out of you. cause if they did not you would not care, it would suspend your disbelief. lol. So pilwon is a well written character despite being absolute shit...I feel like it will make his downfall the more enjoyable, and hopefully we will see that in the future.

2) Ilay riegrow - Passion

popular belief written by other people...he's hot that's all that matters...lmao yeah sure. my unpopular opinion, everyone like this character and sure he isn't as bad as other ones in the webtoon, but this dude cannot handle his emotions and gets violent and does incomprehensible things throughout the manhwa and I really don't understand his thought process in why he makes these choices.lol. Apparently he will remain the same throughout the whole novel according to someone whose read the entire thing, and that is concerning but I guess it plays well with how he was introduced, so I can't say that I expected more. Any ways, he does some really despicable things that does not sit well with me so I don't really like him

3) Jeong Taehui - Passion

the other main character, I don't know what other people say about him but I feel like they'd say things like " must protect at all costs" despite him being capable of protecting himself. I had to warm up to him at first cause he's one of those characters who make weird decisions based on what he sees, like when he saw xinlu for the first time and immediately falls in love with him cause he looks like a soft boy...lmao it was only his image, not going to lie that dynamic would be interesting since I would have not expected xinlu to be a "seme". So I guess the way he let's his views get in the way of his judgment is a little annoying. Especially that one particular scene that really almost made me drop this webtoon..ugh I was like why are you just going to take it and walk away? punch that guy in the face!...I was mad for him, he let him off easy...if it was me, blood will be spilled.lol. of course despite me hating ilay, he and taehui have that dynamic that works well with each other's personality. eventually taehui's personality really grew on me and he makes mistakes like everyone else and has low self esteem, and I also have those qualities so i can relate.

4) Ahn Jiwon - BJ alex

classic story at this point and one of my first reads so of course my opinion on it has changed a lot. I think most people like the dynamic between jiwon and dongyun after they shared the same feelings but I think people tend to forget that jiwon was a rude ass prick that was abusive in the earlier chapters, I did not forget that and when people say that he was a great character through out the story I will call them out on it cause he was not and I don't understand why you chose to blank that out of your memory. sorry not sorry...lol.

5) Choi Juwon- Love or hate

popular belief from people...he's husband material, great throughout the story, gave up everything for his " brother " lmao...I mean if you like incest, this might be romantic to you...but its an eww for me.

my opinion of this dude has been very negative since the beginning, I have mentioned I dropped this story a really long time ago in my monthly favorites, as for reasons why please refer to that post cause it's really long to explain. I just don't understand the appeal of incest stories, like out of 7 billion people on this earth you don't want anyone but your brother...hmm. I know they aren't blood related but there are stories that dodge the incest trope really well and I applaud them cause every time there is a story involving two half siblings it always goes to that route, at this point it's boring. The story would have been fine if they were just childhood friends, I think I would have maybe liked it better. not to say that this dude's character would have been any better cause he's really boring from what I remember. I think some people are really pushing this character to be the best bl character out there and I completely disagree.

I remember seeing a post on twitter from someone, who claims the actor from wednesday...jenny ortega i think her name is, said in an interview that she liked this character and he is her ideal type..okay first where is the source? ( by the way if you do find it please let me read it ...) cause I don't think any popular celebrity would flat out say that they read yaoi in public and second even if that’s true to have this guy be her ideal type would make believe that this is the only story she's read, because even people who have read this and liked the story back then have said that they read better ones since then. lol. and I agree. I don't know if that ordeal is true but if it is her tastes' are questionable. needless to say don't like him, never have...again sorry not sorry.

6) Taesoo - Lucky paradise

  I think when I first saw him...immediate red flag, but later on when his backstory was revealed I kind of understood where he came from, there are people that cling onto a relationship that isn't working mainly because it's familiar or because they are afraid to start over, so he basically didn't want a relationship that was either definite or nothing and that is really frustrating for the other person who wants something more. I'm glad chunwoo was able to finally let him go and move on with someone who can give him everything and more. Taesoo will need to find that person for himself now, so I didn’t hate him or anything I think I understood him after knowing all of his troubles, but even if I didn’t see his backstory I think I still would have figured out what was bothering him eventually, the writing for lucky paradise is really detailed and really gives a lot of good character development. so...didn't like him at first but changed my opinion of him in the end.

7) kwon Jaehyuk - Limited run

Hah...how should I put this 10/10 for looks but 4/10 for personality.lol. I just don't really like the character portrayal, I have mentioned before that I don't gravitate towards stories that have blackmail and sponsorships involving the main character, it usually leads to some sort of abuse in the end. Jaehyuk's personality is very stoic and I don't tend to like characters with that type of personality so it's just a personal preference but there is also the aspect of him not being able to understand his emotions towards yeonho that makes him do irrational things, and ended up making him a unlikable. There is more to this story so i wouldn’t say he is trash, but I just don't like this character trope in general.

8) Bum geonwoo - Dangerous convenience store

  ajusshi...lmao he and I are close to the same age so I really shouldn't call him that. he can call me aujima and I'll gladly accept it. again looks 10/10 but that personality is a little not my taste...I'd say 7/10 he is a little better that jaehyuk cause he knows how he feels about euijoon and acts on his feelings unlike other people. I still prefer a more silly personality versus stoic, but I understand why people like him and I honestly do too.

9) Jung Daon- Secret relationships

peoples opinion...hate him, deserves to be used, slut, dumb y'all are harsh towards doan, I don't understand why he gets so much hate, yes he can be frustrating at times because he does not know what he wants, but he's been used emotionally and physically by bad people over the course of 10 + years...that's literally damaging to a person and no one can recover from that trauma. I liked how doan was introduced and how he just min-maxes his life choices and wants to live the life of luxury because he had been poor his entire life while having terrible parents taking money from him and having to take care of his siblings while working and going to school all at the same time, I can understand why he became the way he did. I honestly related to not having the best relationship with my parents and still want nothing to do with them sometimes, he also has low self esteem and makes uncertain choices which is honestly the most relatable character out there. People who hate him obviously is not for his personality but for who he chooses in the end to be with...omg people grow up, daon is realistic and well written in my opinion and he does not deserve all the hate he gets.

lastly...

10) Kang Dooshik- Pearl boy

  love the guy, love him and his personality wholeheartedly I don't have a husbando but it became him as soon as I realized I spent 3 years with him to this date. I agree with all the popular opinions out there about him, the only ones I don’t are the ones that claim that he is the most perfect man out there... dooshik is far from perfect, ever since chapter one he had only cared about himself, it was only after getting to know jooha and the situation he was in that he became involved in his life voluntarily, he even said in the earlier chapters that he shouldn't get involved cause it isn't his problem, he was only looking for a place to stay for a while it didn't matter where or with who. He had been running away from his problems and wears his heart on his sleeve and does not express his concerns freely and it makes people forget that, people only liked him from when he had his glow up and didn't actually read the whole story of pearl boy from the beginning, claiming that he's perfect is not true, as much as I like him and want to believe it I like the fact that he's imperfect and flawed but slowly changing while keeping his core personality consistent is just good writing on the authors part. I can go on..but you know too much about me just by reading my dooshik commentary every month lol.

okay, there you have it another blog post of my un wanted opinions, these are honestly really fun to do because it gets me to look back on some of the things i’ve read and remember the reasons why I did or didn’t like certain aspects of a character. I think the most frustrating thing is that people who don't agree with you will defend their opinions by insulting yours and that's just rude. Just because you read and interpreted the story differently than I did does not give you the right to bully other people, so to each their own. if you want to see the original post from the person on twitter I'll link their thread below:

https://twitter.com/flamboyantgio/status/1639060426947276800

if you would like to see more hot takes please check out some of my other posts where I talk about my BL 3x3's and tier list ( which will need to be updated soon) and other trashy opinionated things for enjoyment.lol.

thanks for reading

[scalamore]

Thoughts on an official YM ENG license

A reader asked what my thoughts are on the chances of YM getting an official english localization?

Personally, while I would LOVE IT TREMENDOUSLY, I think the chances are VERY LOW.

Why? For a few reasons:

1) The author herself, Eclair. 2) Publisher contracts 3) Lack of interest

Based on my very limited interactions with her, I have a suspicion that she may be the sort of author that doesn't want to have their works localized internationally, and want to keep it in South Korea only. A few years ago, on a different Author's twitter, there was a rant of how they wanted to keep their copyright in Korea only, they have no interest in international translations and the headache with localizations, and it received a lot of likes from fellow authors. Again, I have no evidence to back up Eclair-nim's thoughts on an overseas localization. But I do find it unusual, that out of the 4 series she's published so far on Naver/KKP, none have English localizations.

2018 - Your Majesty, Please Spare Me This Time (was pre-planned and written from 2015-2020) (publisher: Gaha) 2020 - Villain Duke's Precious One (publisher: DAONNovels) 2022 - The Gangster Baby of the Duke's Family (publisher: DAONNovels) 2023 - So I Married an Abandoned Crown Prince (publisher: kwbooks)

All four have comic adaptations, produced by DAON Entertainment. YM's novel finished publication in 3/2019, with the epilogue 10/2019 on KKP, and a webtoon was released 10/2020. Duke's precious one finished publication 6/2020, and a manhwa came out quickly in 1/2021. The other two have just started serializing a manhwa this year in 2023 and have not been officially licensed.

It's known that the KKP platform puts a great deal of effort and has its own task force on quickly organizing contracts for its webtoons. As we know, the major ones are tapas (owned by KKP itself), tappytoon (2nd most common), then there's webtoon, manta, lehzin. As DAON ENT is a major publishing company, it works closely with KKP to serialize its stories.

As for Novels, it gets a bit more complicated since it's not as streamlined. YM's novel is published with Gaha, and I don't know anything about their localizing trends. But as YM's webtoon is published on tappy, it's likely that tappy will also have the novel license; just like if Villain Duke gets one, it'll be on tapas first. But there's always exceptions, and it really boils down to who wants the license most.

Maybe it's also because no one is interested in investing in this series for a novel translation? However there's plenty of series with much less views that get localized so not sure.

But in the end, if the bottom line is that the author herself doesn't want her story to be published internationally, then we can't do much on that.

[silktulip]

Hi, everyone!

My name is Naomi, and I write under the alias silkTulip :D i am yet another aspiring writer, so sure, I will be among one of the many writing blogs on tumblr. What I do think I can bring to the table is the variety I can write about! I am also very big on representation, as I am LGBTQ friendly and welcome all kinds of people <3

I watch anime and read manga, so I think I would be able to write about plenty of them, some of my favorites being: 

-Eighty-Six

-Bungou Stray Dogs

-Sailor Moon 

Manga being: 

-Deadman Wonderland (don’t worry the manga is so much better than the anime) 

-Oshi No Ko (it’s new :D) 

I also watch a lot of shows, including: 

-Stranger Things

-Alice in Borderland (the manga is so good too) 

Manhwas and Webtoons are in my itinerary also ^~^, some of which include: 

-I’m the Grim Reaper

-The Girl from Random Chatting (Ranchat)

-unOrdinary

Oh yeah, I'm a gamer too ✌️ Some of my games are:

-League of Legends

-Valorant

-Overwatch

-Nier

Yeah I am a giant nerd xd

I also write a bunch of original stuff as well, ranging from some novels to short stories, which I will show another time. 

As for my writing, my favorite genres to write range from romance to thriller to action. I can also write fanfiction and headcanons, which I used to do on here also, but as I grew up I stopped being active on it. Now that I am almost done with college and have some more time on my hands, I can indulge more on some of my hobbies ^-^ 

Now as for the purpose of this blog: 

I want to write things and share them with the community, and I always welcome constructive criticism. I will also open requests and commissions and everything of the sorts as well :D I will charge for pieces that take long, but before I do any of that I want to accrue interest in people who want it, as well as people who like my writing. Of course, headcanons and other things like that are free, I am referring to if you give me a writing prompt and want me to write a story off of that or something of the sorts. It’s not official though, but it’s something I want to do maybe. 

I will also open tipping for my blog. TIPPING IS NOT MANDATORY AND ONLY TIP WHEN YOU CAN. Since I plan to keep it active, we will see how this blog grows and how long I can keep this up. We will also see if I can gather a good community, maybe with some other writers :D 

I will write another post with how I plan on writing and another one kind of akin to a rules post but otherwise, yeah, enjoy and I hope to be able to share works with everyone ^-^ 

[pruneunfair]

My feelings on cry or better yet beg and the utter wasted potential for a psychological tragedy of the imbalance of relationships between noblemen and their mistresses

First off, if I was told I could only kill off one male lead, it'd be him

Lot of people rn especially on tik-tok probably would flame me for this with the "at least he loves Layla! He's so protective of her!"

"it's a dark romance! It won't be sunshine and rainbows you snowflake!"

"He just doesnt know how to express his emotions because he's so sheltered!"

No, just no, I don't care how "hot" he is, I don't care if he's your protective little bad boy. I don't care about his supposed character development, That's a straight up abuser who started off killing birds knowing it would damage to Layla to straight up assaulting her. (I don't know if that will stay in the webtoon, but it was in the novel) no character development can make me like a fucking rapist

Like how in the hell is Claudine considered worse than Mathhias, sure she isn't so peachy herself but goddammit to think of the fiance who if anything would be supported had she been the main protagonist, yes she's pretty demeaning, a bit shallow, and only views Matthias as the perfect Duke, but at least she's not going around mentally torturing a boy who can't do anything against her. I haven't gotten to her ending yet but from what I hear, it isn't a good one. She such a wasted opportunity since she is such a perfect example of a woman prepped and groomed to just be a Dukes wife would come out feeling that her worth only comes her husband.

Justice for Claudine, I just know there's a fanfic out there where you get with Riette, grow as your own person, and live a pleasant life.

You wanna know what really hurts me about this manhwa though? The fact that's it's so unintentionally accurate to how horrible it truly is to be a mistress in an era where women, especially women with no royal titles or status, were often treated by rich and powerful men. They would mostly have no right to say no to a man who decides he wants her, Layla romanticizing her abuse is not just heartbreaking but also unfortunately realistic as it's a coping mechanism for those who had endured nothing but abuse their whole life so they tend to shove their feelings in a box and pretend everything is okay (obviously this isn't the same for all victims of abuse, it's one of the many coping mechanisms people could develop)

In a lot of historical manhwa, there's usually the obligatory mistress character designed to be a dumb trashy bimbo to uplift the lead. Most of the time, the mistress in question is either a daughter of minor nobility that was chosen by a Emperor, crown prince, or Duke, or the mistress lived her life as a poor farm girl and in some situations lived a life where no one cared about her and was likely abused, the latter is often rare for these mistress characters since authors of those stories only want you sympathizing with the leads but in rare cases, the mistress did have a hard life but it ends up being undermined to further damage the mistress as torture/revenge porn or in Laylas case: used as an explanation to give a disturbing reason to why she ends up falling in love with Matthias which wouldn't be wrong if the story was written in a way that was a tragic one, not a romantic one.

you would think this kind of glamorouzation of abuse would only exist in the authors mindset and the degeneracy that is a junior high girls mind, but no, the ides that Layla is somehow the one in the wrong for her own abuse and reluctance of Matthias and there is even an Instagram post claiming she has BPD for being too "difficult" they sound like those 1950s doctors that find any reason to lobotomize a patient.

Laylas character does open the truths of what it's truly like to be practically owned by a nobleman, she's not like Rashta or Aisha from divorcing my tyrant husband where she's portrayed as a silly and cute strumpet with ulterior motives, she is genuinely upset but she can't do anything about it so all she can do is convince herself that Matthias loves her so she can keep her sanity, but where it goes wrong is that instead of portraying this as an unhealthy yet sole coping mechanism for an abusive relationship, the story just chalks it down to "silly Layla! You'll see that he's just misunderstood and you really do love him deep down!" Its frankly atrocious that the one time a story has a realistic pair of the typical women in this trope, the first wife who is classy and refined and the mistress who is young and free spirited ends ultimately destroyed yet again with a case black and white writting. One woman must be good and the other woman must be bad.

Frankly these characters are well written for the most part and until I realized I supposed to see Matthias as the love interest and not Kyle, I was fine with who Matthias was since he was presented more so as a villain, the art is also one of the prettiest cottagecore artstyles I've ever seen to the point where the 3D models look really good since it blends in perfectly, it's just sad that cry or better yet beg is a sick twisted tale equivalent to the average Colleen Hoover book.

[cathartically-kei]

HI!!! im kinda bad at explaining but the 3 characters that jomeimei421 drew are Yoo Joonghyuck (buff guy with the scar) Han Sooyoung (the lady) and Kim Dokja (loser *affectionate*) from the ORV manhwa/LN!!!

the manhwa/webtoon is still on going and we have quite a ways to go before it's finished so if you're impatient then check out the LN (BEWARE IT IS LIKE 500 CHAPTERS) you can read the manhwa on Webtoon!!! but I rec that you read the light novel!!! i have a link to a google doc or a good website if you're interested) and i believe the English version is going to be published soon in not too caught up in the news

ORV is kinda hard to explain but basically, the premise of ORV is!!!!!!!!

There's this guy (kim dokja/kdj) who's kinda a loser, is average in life and works a lame office job. His passion in life is reading this web novel called 3 Ways To Survive in a Ruined World/3 Ways to Survive the Apocalypse (ways of Survival/WOS/TWSA) which has been updated every day for the last 10 years. Now you may be thinking, WOW! This novel must be so popular if it lasted 10 years!!! WRONG!!!! kdj is the only reader ANYWAYS... One day as Dokja is taking the subway home from work he realizes that today WOS is ending so he sends a comment to the author (TLS123) to thank them for writing WOS. TLS123 replays telling him they are thankful for his dedication to the series and as thanks sends kdj a gift (the entire novel sans the ending) right as kdj receives the email containing the novel (TLS tells dokja that it will now cost money to be accessed) the subway screeches to a halt and all the lights go out. A creature pops out of nowhere and tells them that from now on the world as they know it is ending. As it turns out the end of the universe is eerily similar to a certain web novel kdj has been reading for 10 years...

if you're good with a couple minor spoilers/hints plz continue if not..... STOP HERE

basically, WOS becomes reality and KDJ decides that because he is the only reader of WOS it's his job to make sure the book has its proper ending so he teams up with the protagonist (reluctantly) and they become "companions" (that is, if companions = Life and death partners and weird homoerotic tension between them) somehow along the way kdj gains a merry gaggle of devoted friends (and children) and they all collectively decide that if anything happens to kdj (and oh boy does shit happen) they will kill everyone in the room, each other and drag his sorry ass back into reality)

Anyways hope you decide this is worth your time and check ORV out :)

(my grammar kinda died @ the end so ignore that I thought there was a roach in my room but turns out it was just a cricket)

Oh thank you! This is a really good summary! I'm definitely going to check it out! ^-^

[ddurandals]

ok so..... whats orv ? please explain to me........... I am ignorant..........................

Oh no... anon you really should have asked a more sane person 😧 But since I'm a sane well adjusted member of the society I'll explain it in a v normal way :)

Orv is a webnovel 'Omniscient Reader' (also called Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint) written by singNsong (i think that was the authors username. Tho the spelling might be wrong)

The novel is set in a post apocalyptic setting where people have to complete 'scenarios' to survive. If I go any further I'm sure I'll spoil it for you 😔 but i definitely recommend it to you‼️

There's also an official manhwa adaptation on webtoon and if you want to read the novel you can search for the epub file or theres a drive link which also has official art

Tldr: It's Omniscient Reader pls go read it 🙏

[trustslow]

Just give it to me webtoon

JUST GIVE IT TO ME WEBTOON MOD APK

The fish in my brother's fishing grounds also work on me. She suddenly recalls that someone at work asked her out, but can’t remember who it was Gyuri narrows it down to three possibilities: Seunghu, her hot co-worker who is nice to her Myeongseok, her talented but cranky boss who she’s sure hates her and Leo. "People think I'm a pope who serves the sun god, but do you know that God is you to me?" 28-year-old Gyuri Gam wakes up one morning after a night of heavy drinking. 'Don't you want to be a queen? Then you be king. Have you forgotten the night you spent with me?" Just Give it to Me Manhwa Hentai is about Comedy, Adult Manhwa, Manhwa 18, Romance, Smut story. Youre reading hentai Just Give it to Me genre Comedy, Romance, Smut on ReadHenTaiZ.Net.

JUST GIVE IT TO ME WEBTOON MOD APK

"You're the one who saved your life, so you have to take responsibility. Toonily Mod Apk is an Android Webtoon application used by Koreans to. The story was written by Jica and illustrations by Jica. "If you cry in Shushu's eyes, it's only death, you children." My angelic sister Arya also blackened for some reason. Even if this is the emperor of the empire, you won't be able to bend your knees again." The Duke of Chrysis, who has no blood or tears, is a little strange. I didn't mean to get involved with Duke Chrissy, but my brother's illness got worse and I had to go to the duke, and he said, "My daughter doesn't have to kneel to anyone. In fact, this place is in a novel about a younger sister in which she is the main character, and I was the daughter of a bloodthirsty devil, Duke Chrysis She's got everything she could ever want. Then one day, I fell down and remembered my previous life. She became a mercenary to earn money for her sick sister's medicine, and she never took her sword off her hands. She decides to end her own life by jumping from a building, but mid-air, the grim reaper halts her descent. But when she gets scammed by her only friend and ends up bankrupt, Myohee feels as though she’ll never find the silver lining to her cloud. Diego, blue eyes blonde hair, low-key disappointed I thought its Alexander cuz aurora r just hit diff, and El too. 충직한 검이 되려 했는데 / I Tried To Be Her Loyal Sword / I Was Planning to Become a Loyal Sword Orphaned at birth and bullied at work, Myohee has been through countless trials in life.

[bidokja]

ok i gotta ask. what is sclasses. are you willing to please give me a link and also possibly a pitch to sclasses. webtoon or novel first?

OH BOY, so "sclasses" is my tag for "The S-Classes That I Raised" (AKA "My S-Ranks" and "My S-Class Hunters"). It's a KRN webnovel with a manhwa adaption.

You can find the novel being currently translated by SFS Translations and the manhwa being officially translated on Webtoon. There's also a fan translation being done by Asurascans that is much farther ahead of the official manhwa TL.

For an introductory premise/summary:

Dungeons. Monsters. Awakened. A game-like System to package it all in. It seems straightforward enough, but a more troubling truth lies beneath the surface. With his younger brother's blood still staining his clothes, Han Yoojin obtains a means to turn back time. He siezes the opportunity, hoping to get a fresh start. Live a cleaner, less chaotic life. Unfortunately, his choice does quite the opposite, and he becomes the centerpiece of the chaos to come. Slowly but surely, the packaging is ripped away.

Things like my personal pitch, my love for Yoo Myeongwoo, and my novel vs manhwa recommendations are below the cut.

For my personal pitch, honestly...just being able to peek into Yoojin's thoughts is so worth it. He is the funniest motherfucker unlimited. No contest. The writing balances this quite well, too. I like to approach sclasses with the mindset that its most major sub-genre is "comedy", but it still knows when to take itself seriously.

Also, the approach the series takes with the tropes of dungeons, systems, and regression is refreshingly different from other series. It manages to give explanations that don't detract from the fantasy, but rather add to the growing horror. The pacing is great, with stakes being raised and revealed at just the right times. As for characters, literally everyone is interesting. Everyone. They're all batshit in different ways and have ZERO shame about it. I love to study them under the microscope in my brain. Most of them are also very compelling (even the ones you hate).

AND. MOST IMPORTANTLY. YOO MYEONGWOO EXISTS. LOOK AT HIM. MI POBRECITO MIAU MIAU. MY BABYGIRL.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk <3

P.S. - To answer your last question, I recommend the novel first, but the manhwa doesn't fall far behind.

I've already talked a bit about what parts of the writing I like above. The novel itself goes into a bit more depth, and has more gradual and fluid connections between events. It also shows WAY more of Yoojin's inner ranting and raving, which - as I've said - is genuinely such a huge part of the S-Classes expereince for me.

That being said, the manhwa is really good. Firstly, the art is amazing. I can't say it clears my bar for diversity (but no manhwa has done that so far so...y'know), but it's so much less stiff and more vibrant than a lot of studio work I've seen churned out lately so kudos there for sure. I also think that it manages to nail the impact of a few scenes even better than the novel does, and so far the edits to the pacing are well done to fit the more limited room of a comic medium without skipping important info and while still conveying the intended progression for the plot and characters. Which, maybe all these seem like basic things, but is something SO many adaptions drop the ball on.