swashbuckler's Topics (51)

This is so unrelated to everything you’re saying but sometimes y’all can shut up. I mean all sides on this damn book. I’m tryna discover hidden gems and you got ppl like you saying the same thing over and over again filling up the “recently commented on” list. Don’t nobody gaf about the people reading this damn book you hypocrite. If the niggas gon read, READ. Stop stopping others from discovering other books cause y’all still hooked on the people reading this one. Fillin up the damn comments, can’t find shit.

had to let that out.

Girl it is not that deep, literally lines on a page, if it's not your cup of tea, don't read it (but you're still here)

I think you're right.

People are really blinding their eyes on Jaekyung. He would reported to Police if it was in real life.

He would be*

People are influenced by what they read. Therefore, NO, reading this story could cause even more trouble in Real Life. So yes @swashbucker is right. That's a problem

If people are reading this and coming out thinking that any of what he has done is okay, then they’re a fucking moron and should go find some braincells. I agree with both commenters to a degree, its annoying just seeing people saying the same damn complaint especially when it doesn't affect them personally what other people on here think, and it can get worrisome and annoying to see people romanticizing rape and abuse. At the end of the day, I am the one reading and I have my own opinion formed on this, I am not worried AT ALL about OTHER people and what they are saying because it DOES NOT AFFECT ME. I might question someone’s sanity but thats about it and this stupid argument about how fiction bleeds into reality, I can get it, just not with this book. Again, if you come out thinking that the acts that he has done are okay, YOU. ARE. AN. IDIOT.

Like I said before. There are people who enjoy exploring taboo in fiction and there's nothing bad about it. Don't interact with content like this if it's not for you. There's no need for you to "educate" others of how bad it is, they know but it's fiction so who cares; you're the only one who harms themselves by interacting with things that make you uncomfortable. Of you think people enjoying problematic stories are criminals, you may have mental problems.
You forget the protagonist isn't you. Yet, instead of thoroughly observing, analyzing and inquiring about the reason driving their behaviour, you choose to be critical of it, because it doesn't align with your ideal perception. How about you look at the characters, not through the lenses of your own coloured perception. To look at the gravity the unfolded events actually hold over their emotions, and not however much you think these events should affect them. Perhaps you'll begin enjoying ambiguous stories a little more

It's a comment section.... People will comment

Thats what I just said, my problem is people pretending it's not noncon

@shiki bruh u unblocked just to reply then block again??? Anyways Did you at all read the bottom half of the comment? Idc if u wanna read non con just don't pretend it's consensual. Idc if anyone reads taboo, as long it's not pedophilia. Plus I was just asking. Point me out to where I said reading this makes you evil. Quote me

You just don't understand what is pointed out actually. You're on repeat. The problem are those of you who justify what Jaekyung does. Your ready is your problem. I read it personnaly even if ethically it's not that cool. The problem is you putting into perspective the things that people point out as disturbing. And there you are, doing the after-sales service that justifies rape and violence. Read if you want, but don't justify it as if it were okay to do these things.

Bruh when did I block you lmao alright

Brodah, no one is justifying rqpe, violence, murder or SA, chill. Hope that will help you sleep at night.

Anything that includes abuse and rape, things I wish I went through but not being loved by my parents is also considered some form of abuse, is what I love and only love in my manhwas.
Since I couldn't receive any affection I won't like anything without rape in it. Rape kink is a THING.

Bruv

Deflectinh cos yk u got clocked

Learn to write bae

So what my ego needs to always have the last edgy comment. I know I wasn't right from the start but I'm retarded in the head to have a rape kink, what the hell did you expect?

Is the rage bait gettinh to u babe....??? U needa talk ab it????? •ࡇ•

Missed my point

Yes please stop clocking me nigga I hate needing to bring up my alt accounts to back me up in an online fight

Nah fake Shiki's cute leave'm alone

Fake shiki is the cutest in the world, please keep it up

Nails too long can't type

Oh Frick I mixed u guys up

It's ok if I make typos like just above, but i will be the biggest (physically) grammar nazi if someone else does.

Real these acrylics killin me

Then they’re fucking idiots. Case closed. If you really think you can argue with people whose mind is so far gone, then you’re almost as fucking stupid as them because you’re blinded by the illusion of doing a good deed. What you and swabs are doing is a waste of time and only makes you guys feel morally superior because you’re telling idiots how much of an idiot they are. Not to mention what she said was hypocritical and only commented to make herself look good. “Hey look! I know what I’m reading is wrong so that makes me better than you because you guys don’t realize what you’re reading is wrong!”.

This is why I’m saying let niggas read. There’s nothing you can do that can make somebody start thinking straight. Do you want every single person who’s reading a fucked up story to tell you personally: “Yes. What I am reading is wrong. My mind is not with this story. Please grant me approval and validation.” You think I’m against you both but I’m doing you both a favor. You’re wasting your time.

I think the kink is another thing. Not judgment.

Thank you for understanding me. I seek rape manhwas because I'd like to fulfill something.

Rape kink is hard.. yeah..

Hard for the victim pretending to dislike it. Me and you know Dan enjoyed it from the start and so would WE.

I think your points are interesting, but I feel some of your conclusions go a bit too far and reflect your personal biases more than the story itself. Here’s my perspective:

Story centered on the MC?
Yes, the narrative revolves around the protagonist, since she is the narrator, but that doesn’t automatically make it bad writing or misogynistic. Her life is far from perfect, and not everything goes her way. For example, her interactions with Eclis show that she makes mistakes and acknowledges them. He still acts according to his own choices, and we can’t blame the MC for all consequences.

Winter is portayed as a villain?
Winter was never portrayed as a villain. The MC may disapprove of his choices, but the story doesn’t present him as evil. We don’t always have to share the protagonist’s perspective, our interpretation can differ from hers. This is an example of how reading a story through only one lens can make it seem biased.

More Female characters?
I agree that more development for other female characters would have been nice. Most side characters only appear in relation to the MC, which is a limitation. Still, this doesn’t make the writing inherently bad, it could just be improved.

Classism and “villainous slaves”?
I’m not sure what you mean by classism here. The ex-slave as (sub)-villain is not a universal trope; in many ISEKAI stories, antagonistic characters are more ofter the kind (two faced) OG. Saying it “always” happens seems exaggerated and reflects a particular perspective more than a factual rule.

Does MC portrays a Mary Sue?
Not exactly. She’s portrayed as a victim who sometimes fights back, but this doesn’t make the story poor, it’s part of the narrative structure. Stories with a central character facing constant challenges can still explore emotions and psychology effectively, which this one does well.

One last thing,
This manhwa originated from a light novel around 10 years ago. Judging it solely by nowadays standards of morality or social critique may not be entirely fair. The story reflects human flaws and choices I believe, which is a strength rather than a flaw.

In short, while your points could improve the story, I think some of your criticism reflects your personal interpretation more than the text itself. The narrative focuses on one perspective, but it doesn’t force the reader to agree with the MC or endorse her actions. The story explores complex emotions and consequences, even if imperfectly executed. Anyway, it’s completely understandable if you choose to stop reading, since the story doesn’t align with your current moral perspective.

I can see the points that you're making, and I even agree on a few of them, but at the same time, I feel like you're judging too harshly while missing some of the finer details. (Because I can't remember whether we got MC's name in the modern world or not, I'll just refer to her as MC and original Penelope as Penelope)


The story is centered around the ml's in her life not just bc it's based on an otome game but also because the original Penelope was a commoner who got adopted by the duke because of her striking similarity to Yvonne. Because she was adopted and also practically hated by her family, Penelope couldn't make any friends and barely ever left the house before she was possessed. I mean, even her maid who's her closest ally now in the current chapters used to stick her with needles and feed her rotten food. So the reason why we only see Penelope hang out around men is because she only recently got the privilege of leaving the house again. While I do agree that having at least one other strong female character would be a refreshing change, it would also take away from the story of Penelope's life being tragic that the author is pushing.

While I was on the Winter train for a long time, Penelope and MC both had reasons to dislike Winter in general. I mean, he's the one who brings Yvonne back to high society in the first place. Not to mention, he's also the first one to protect Yvonne and bring her status up in the original game, you can't fault MC for being wary of him. All things considering, MC isn't in the wrong for being cautious around any of the men, as she knows from previous experiences (attempting hard mode in the game so long that she pulls an all-nighter while doing so) that any of them will kill her at any given chance. So when Winter thinks she's one of the Leila? MC has no choice but to think he's against her, because everyone's against her.

I also think making Eclis the villain was a bad move, but from a realistic standpoint it's also the easiest move for Yvonne to make. I think the reason why the ml is the Crown prince is bc he's the hardest for Yvonne to get to. Winter is a traveling sorcerer, so he could easily have encountered Yvonne outside of the capital. Derrick is Yvonne's eldest brother and obviously went everywhere he could to find his real little sister. Reynold isn't as keen on looking for Yvonne, but he's the second son of a duke and doesn't have as many duties, so he's able to go out (not that he ever really speaks to Yvonne, as he's accepted Penelope as his sister). Meanwhile, Callisto is the Crown Prince who's always at the battlefield and would never interract with anyone that isn't a soldier except for when he finally meets MC. But Eclis? Eclis is a slave who doesn't have a say in who he wants to speak to, or what he wants to do. If I was Yvonne? I would also go for Eclis, since he's also clearly in a bad place mentally even before Yvonne gets to him.

I do think that MC was wrong for leading Eclis on, and I wish that the story could've gone in a different direction. But I also feel like you might be a little overzealous in saying that the slaves are often the villains? Not that you're outright wrong since a lot of stories use slaves for uprisings and destroying of the royal system, but saying that slave characters are always tools for villainy is a bit of a stretch. Eclis himself isn't innocent either. In the beginning, all he wanted to do was kill MC so he could be free of his chains. But when he gains feelings for MC? He's quick to kill off even his own people just to gain status. He's manipulative even before he meets Yvonne and only becomes more so after meeting her. I feel like people forget that Eclis wasn't a slave from birth, but was the illegitimate son of the fallen kingdom's king, so clearly he used to be a royal. Unless Delman used to be a kingdom that forbid the usage of slaves, Eclis had to have been aware of the slave system and even supported it until he became one.

I also feel like calling the classism card is a bit unfair, again because MC was hated in her own household. How could she fight against classism and slavery if she couldn't even hold a spot in her own home? From the beginning, MC knew that Eclis would become her knight and wanted to buy Eclis to speed up the knighthood process, even going so far as to ask her father to clear Eclis of his slave hood. Advocating for the abolishment of slavery just because she came from a modern world would require a level of popularity and power that MC couldn't attain, considering she literally used to be called the "Mad Dog" of high society. To add to my point, MC also came from a modern world and still thinks that she's inside of a game, so from her point of view, none of the characters are real anyways so it's not like she's actually changing their lives.

Penelope and the MC are victims, like actually. The very first scene we have of MC in Penelope's body is of her being served rotten food and having multiple wounds on her arms. Even the butler is quick to disrespect her even though she's technically serving as the Duke's daughter. Yes, Penelope might have been crazy before MC took over her body, but she was a girl living on the streets before the Duke took her in all of a sudden just to shut her out once she didn't live up to his expectations. In the beginning, MC plays the game and has to start over again and again because everyone hates the villainess no matter what choice she makes. The game is on hard mode and specifically designed for Penelope/MC to fail. Not a single person was on her side from the beginning, so why shouldn't she be the victim in her own story? Penelope made one mistake with Reynold when they were children and he held that hatred all the way up to adulthood until MC finally cleared up the misunderstanding. Derrick hated Penelope and would always find a reason to put her down or villainize her even when it was clear she didn't do anything wrong. Callisto literally threatens to kill her in their first meeting and Winter is the catalyst for Penelope's death, being the one that brings Yvonne back. The reason why Eclis is the only one in the original game to stay neutral when talking about Penelope is because he's the only one that saw what Penelope had to go through at home and the blatant prejudice/disrespect she got everywhere she went.

TLDR: You've made some good points and I wish the story could've been done a little differently, but I also feel like you're judging too quickly while overlooking/diminishing a lot of the details that makes this story make sense. Or I could also be reading through rose-tinted glasses because this story is one I've been reading since I was young. Feel free to drop it though! I respect your opinion and it was really interesting to hear your point of view on this story.
(=・ω・=)

I see what you mean, my rant was fairly far fetched and influenced by how I just awoke to the insane internalised misogyny in webtoon (as in the app) specifically in villainess manhwas.

My point on the story being centered around Penelope I don't think were on exactly the same page on that, I just meant it feels like she has a shield of morality around her that makes her seem too perfect and makes it hard for me as a reader to be able to immerse myself in the story and see the characters as less one dimensional.

Winter isn't exactly portrayed as a villain, I commented about that a while ago but its the way SHE acts towards him that got me annoyed her perspective was overly critical of winter and it was perplexing cos like yo he's a normal guy, most would do the same if they were him. In my words "I just don't get why she doesn't see what's right in front of her" - comment made around 2 or 3 months ago about that situation

Ab9ur the female characters I am very woke and incredibly feminist, I can't enjoy a story if I see even the slightest undertone of sexism, hence why I can't watch/read shit like attack on Titan. No matter how good a story is, the limitation of female characters knocks it down many pegs in my book.

By classism ur right, I was projecting a lil, I'm just like baffled by how dismissive they are of commoner/slave characters, and baffled by how (sorry for the spoiler) in the novel apparently when she became queen she did absolutely nothing 5o address the slavery issue. It's just like???? And you know if she was a slave in this story slavery wouldve been touched on by chapter 12, and it's that lack or empathy that set me off.

Id agree MC isn't a Mary Sue! And you're right, I was just once again talking about her shield of morality, and how when the wronged and revenge trope is used too often it starts to feel shallow, and like a revenge fantasy and really snaps me out of the story.

Didnt know the story was 10 years ago, but I do believe I would've had the same views though less extreme 10 years ago, yes i was six, but these are base points I feel very strongly about and I don't believe in morals being influenced by the time you live in, because morals shouldnt be influenced by trend. Thats what makes us devolve.

All in all I agree with you a lot, I was rambling a bit because I'm just so frustrated by the lack of good stories nowadays, and this is a lot of MY perspective personally and my experience with this story, and to be fair, I am overly critical, but that's due to the fact that Ive been into writing and storymaking since I popped out the womb. If any of what I said comes across/came across as hateful, I will apologise now, thank you for having a logical convo with me!!! (≧∀≦)

Honestly it's so sad that they used your trauma to justify this trash.

Why cant arist do what i like and not what they want with their art hmmm.

If ur gonna make ur art public, be prepared for the public to have opinions ๐·°(৹˃ᗝ˂৹)°·๐

You are absolutely right, anyone that has no idea about art has to put their pointless opinion. ╮(￣▽￣)╭

I take 2 art subjects and a design subject, (2 of which I got an A in for my practical work and the third I only did bad because my written work was shit, we got a grade breakdown and my expressive, yes expressive, the folio where u draw still life with different materials, I used watercolor color pencil pencil oil pastels and more, got around 90%), I have been drawing for years (since I was 6) and im not saying Im good but I dont know nothing exactly? why are you getting upset about my critiquing as well? Its not like Im wrong, you don't have any actual points to refute me, just baseless accusations and a confusing amount of rage bait. If ur gonna claim I know nothing yes I'm gonna whip out my grades, cos my only 2 career branches are law and design, how could I not know anything about art Σ( ￣□￣||)

Wooah there i probably pressed a vain! I disagree with your "critiques"cause people can have their own style when they do comic and you probably already know that. Also i wasnt ragebaiting i just dont like people that have no idea how to draw but know how to "critique".

Ok I won't call it criticism then it's hate, you did press a nerve w me cos you're claiming idk anything about art because I... Have an opinion of the art??? Ik it's a style doesn't mean I need to like it. I would look you dead in the eyes and call the best realism you've ever seen shit if I don't like it, and if you cared to ask I could point out everything specifically that I don't like and why, nothing wrong with that. Life isn't sunshine and rainbows, people will receive hate and if you put your energy into unfounded hate directed at the author via the original site instead of valid, founded hate that's on a random illegal site and isn't hurting anyone, youd seem like less of a gimp

I like this reply better than your original comments :) call you opinion for what it is and lets not sugar coat it like critique, obviouly thats your personal preference.

??? Where did i call it criticism, and even if I did Id be right as I pointed out why I thought it looks like trash. Hating is saying its ugly. Criticism is saying it looks ugly because of so and so. Sugar coated criticism is it would look better if the artist did so and so. See how I'm the middle one? I'm mean about it but it's still criticism, if you go to my profile I call myself a hater and very often state that my opinion is hating as its stated in a mean way and often comes across as hating because as I said...my meanness harms no one???? Theres nothing to be ashamed of with that I still don't get your point... As I said, if you want me to point out exactly what's wrong and critique it properly I can! you're just deflecting

ignore the weird person defending bad art for no reason, you're 100% correct lmfao. all smut genres are notorious for inbreeding due to wanting to get as much money as possible, which means exaggerated proportions, reused "safe" plotlines, exploiting tropes, etc etc. until they all blend together into one relatively ugly blob of practically identical stories. they don't look normal or human for a reason, but that reason isn't anything good. i read this one because it stands out a bit more (pretty good writing, interesting characters), but it absolutely falls victim to the dogshit art trends in smut.

and for the person obsessed with claiming people criticizing it don't know art: I've got a master's degree in art and especially studied the human form and character design. ik what I'm talking about lmao

I agree with you, my intentions was not to make anyone feel bad.

Thank youuu when I talk about art I know what I'm saying I just don't know how to word it properly. I meant like how in lost in the cloud, in angsty parts a lot of wavy line work is used to portray the unsteady emotional status of the characters, which is actually like it makes sense yk? Even then it was a bold choice and garnered hate, But in this one they do that for literaly no reason and it's just ugly like it's subtle enough to ignore but not for long. Like the eye brows for example, Sangwoo eyebrows and omg it's just the art style of so many main stream manhwas slopped together. It's unsightly.

Raws

The baby hands fried me

Literally bruh lmaoooo y'all tew horny i get the appeal but the concept of Richard and their odd size difference is such a turn off