#Matthias and Yuri can kick rocks

[paleghostinthecorner02]

I haven't read Kneel Before Me but I have read the other two and I honestly think that despite bith Matthias and Damien being manipulative, obsessed yanderes, they have different vibes and Damien is actually enjoyable to me.

Aside from how they treat their respective FLs, I think they're an interesting contrast in their general life goals and attitudes as well. Matthias is content with his already impressive position in society while Damien is aiming to be King. Matthias is a superficially perfect but emotionally warped person while Damien actually has fairly functional emotions and cultivates a bad reputation for himself to aide in his ambitions. Damien's goal of being king is lofty and something easy to understand by both characters and readers while Matthias's ultimate goal of possessing a humble commoner woman is baffling to everyone in his story. Even their relationships with their mothers contrast: As with all relationships that are not with Layla, Matthias has a cordial but detached relationship with his mother who in turn sees Matthias less as her son (or an actual human being) and more as a demigodlike being whose purpose is to make her family look good, while Damien's mother slathers her son with real affection which he returns in kind. Not to go Sigmund Freud or anything, but I see the connections between their abilities to process human emotions and their relationship with their mothers.

As for the way their romances play out, there are parallels like how they both initially start antagonistically with their FLs and are both put in the same horrible position later in the story, but there's a lot of differences that just make Damien come across as far less awful than Matthias does.Damien is initially extremely rude and overly possessive of Chloe, but he soon changes course and becomes a little more pleasant. In fact, fairly early into their marriage when he wins her affection he realizes he rather enjoys the lovey dovey life, and the reader almost forgets that their current relationship is built on lies manipulation. His affection is real, but the way he gained hers isn't. It's definitely complicated to explain.Matthias? For most of the story he teeters back and forth between being an abusive, sadistic pusbucket who revels in Layla's misery to wanting a normal relationship like how other loving couples around him act, and he becomes easily frustrated when his shallow attempts to win her affection don't work because he has no idea what she's really like. Like, he knows she likes birds, and the women he tends to be around like jewelry, so he has a custom made crystal bird pendant made just for Layla who shoved it under her bed and forgot about it. He cannot comprehend that Layla doesn't value material things because of their monetary worth but instead for their sentimental worth.

Another thing I noticed is that while Matthias seems to revel in reminding Layla she's just some orphaned peasant even when she works hard to show that she can make something of herself through academia, Damien seems to hate that Chloe has a low opinion of herself due to her disability and will play the bad guy to get her to show off to everyone and herself her good qualities. He even buys her a brace for her leg that allows her to walk without a cane and initially is the only one who has any confidence that she could successfully use it.

I think their differences can be best summed up in the fact that they both get put into the same horrible position where they have to make the same difficult choice and despite Damien making the "worse" choice against Chloe's wishes, he still came out looking better than Matthias. You know what I mean right? BoT has already gotten to it in the manhwa while it's a long time off for COBYB.

TL:DR, Damien and Matthias are more different than what most people tend to think and I like Damien better.

Also FUCK YURI. ALL MY HOMIES HATE YURI.

Manhwa/Webcomics with really interesting stories and beautiful art but have ick MLs that are still interesting:

Cry or Better Yet Beg

This male lead is a bird killer that I am told only gets worse as the story progresses. I’m not going to say what he’s going to do to her but it’s horrible, a trigger warning would be necessary for even a watered down explanation. He sees her as a canary in a cage, his canary in his cage if you will. The comic is being made and is still in the earlier stages of the story but there is a web novel out there.

Kneel Before Me

This is the most developed of the three. The male lead isn’t human and he doesn’t think like us in a lot of ways. He is very obsessed with the female lead. As long as he is on her brain he is happy with that and he’s going for long lasting results (or so he says but I don’t think he really truly wants her hatred). He believes that love doesn’t last but hatred can. He sees her kind of like a pet but, she does have a level of influence over him. He’s also a villain and he’s done some messed up stuff to her. He didn’t start out quite a villain though, more like her dangerous ally(?) and she’s the one thing keeping him in line. This is also based on a novel.

Betrayal of Dignity

Like the other two THIS. MAN. IS. OBSESSIVE. It’s bad for her ngl. He’s a highly manipulative man as well. These men are basically the same person in most ways. All of the women are smart, though Layla doesn’t seem calculating and she has no power in this thus far unlike the other two who can be calculating and they do at least gain power or start out with it. This female lead is reserved and will do anything for those she loves (also like the fl in KBM). She comes from a (by noble standards) penniless family. As a result of this she marries a Duke who decides he needs to marry a woman in her family (he’s shooting for her though via manipulation). This is most likely because he finds her to be fascinating and he later finds a reason to pursue her in marriage. The leads fall for one another but again, he is manipulating everything always. He is by far the most ambitious of all of the leads I’ve mentioned thus far.

All of the male leads are ick but they’re interesting and the story is interesting and I’m rooting for the female leads so I can’t not read all of these. I thought about adding The Devil and his Sacrifice but I hate the male lead more than I find the story interesting so it just gets an honorable mention.