It’s either crazy x crazy you can really enjoy, and if u gotta do the toxic ones it’s the crazy x victim with a backbone, but this isn’t even that becuz he was a stalker - it’s just crazy x coward who realized he fucked up.
I can see why this isn’t exactly the best but it’s not exactly the worst either. There was a lot of hatred for the seme, but given the BL logic and time I just kept pushing to finish it.
Either way, nothing really takes away that he was a raging dick in the beginning. And the uke was pretty goddamn docile, but their relationship makes sense becuz if it hadn’t worked like that and it was Karis instead (goated btw) then they would’ve never gotten together.
It wasn’t very clear to me how the seme developed feelings for the uke either becuz he treated him like shit the entire time, but ok.
Anyway, I’m all garbled, to get my thoughts on the story out -
The main couple is fine - not really that most entertaining point of the story with the side couple being so much more healthy and entertaining but whatever, sometimes the toxicity of the main couple was entertaining enough I suppose.
I think my biggest gripe was towards the end a lot of plot points were left undeveloped - they didn’t tie shit towards the end and it felt like the “villains” of the story won with out “heroes” walking out with their tails between their legs.
It felt pretty unsatisfying overall to read since there was no resolution to the very clear plot of the world and NOT romance wise. I couldn’t have given a shit bout the romance between the MC and the ML at that point, but whatever I suppose they got their “happy ending.”
Spoilers below!
I also hated how they treated kyon when he was discovered to be part of the “enemy” group, but then they let Christopher go as if it was no fucking sweat off their back. I didn’t hate Ryan, but by god was his bias showing. Even towards the end I didn’t want him to die, but ok fine it fits narratively so then he wants to do the selfish act of taking Christopher’s memories away, alright alright - when r u gonna give them back so he can mourn properly and see how he grew as a person - oh never? Oh we’re just gonna end it with him being “fine” and looking like a robot? Oh ok. Alright. Nice. Ryan is dead, Christopher ain’t know shit and could easily at that point be coerced back into Intron or whatever the fuck is was called now that his memory of Ryan is gone but whatever, let’s not address that elephant in the room.
THIIISSS. I reread this thing for the sake of quenching my thirst to rmb what I liked abt this story when I was young... Maybe it was Karis and Logan that made me finish this b4 just as I did now but yeah... unbearable dick Lucaon and unbearably weak ass mc.
Boy was the premise of Aristocrats and Servants interesting. They could have explored more of this concept and expanded it but no, they just focused on the romance between the main couple that felt very lackluster and overall boring.
It would be nice if Christoph becomes a "villain" or sth then in the end he learns the truth and all the loose ties are finally tied tgt, just to make the story a bit less boring. Though ig it's way too late for that . Shame. ╮(￣▽￣)╭
my god where do I even begin? I really thought it’d be one of those stereotypical “gay guy falls for straight guy and they eventually round to get together with the 2nd lead; a gay guy ending up as fodder” but IT ENTIRELY THREW ME FOR A LOOP!!!!
I typically fucking hate messy stories and idk if I even call this messy? It’s just so.. it’s human, but it’s not, but it is. They’re so good.
I love every character even if they’re assholes becuz they have so much dimension to them, and the fact their relationships evolve so much makes it 10 times better.
It’s like, you might begin even hating them for example the straight guy - but you can’t - you can’t becuz they’re all so amazingly human. Typically in BL it’s very easy to categorize the characters as “the MC” “the uke” “the ML” “the seme” “the best friend” but these characters don’t exactly fit those categories to a T. They’re all have so much dimension, it’s hard to really encapsulate them into the stereotypical character archetypes.
Yeona or however u spell her name - she is a fucking Queen, a femme fatale, I love her and she’s just a side character. Same with her whack ass boyfriend / ex. Same with the red head friend, I’ll try to remember his name but he is so good too! Such a good support character. Why? Becuz they’re so well fucking written and then you go to the leads.
And the art? Sure it’s not the shiniest, but I love it to death. You can see the change from season 1 to 2, but I love how you can see THEIR AGE!!! I LOVE IT! I love that you can see them visibly age so much!
It was just amazing really, I wasn’t even mad at how it developed despite my genuine hatred for love triangles, I just hurt deeply for everyone involved in this case. I really do think if you can handle a losing party, give it a read.
He fucks another guy, THE ML SEES THIS TOO BTW, and then gets jealous becuz the ML’s friend touched his neck?
I’ll come back to edit this when I finish reading it.
Edit: AFTER calming down and shit bout the prior issue that I’ll leave as more of note to my future self if I ever cross this one again - this story was ok at best, a lil melodramatic at worst.
It’s not bad - it’s 61 chapters and it’s precise with the story it’s telling. I think it’s just a shrug-worth story. The main couple is a lil boring and a lil weird considering he picked the seme out of an orphanage and was there for his growth. He also was using him for a majority of his lifetime and it felt like a very unbalanced relationship which they knowledge but I wish they would’ve delved deeper into that issue - that he was using him. But whatever.
The side couple was pleasantly enjoyable SO I WISH it would’ve been a case of - “oh shit where’d the main couple go” cuz I wanted to see so much more of them! I was literally groaning when the main couple would come back on screen when they were developing the side couple, and it ends so abruptly for them.
Either way, story was meh.
You’re stronger then me, I left as soon as I saw him going at it with another dude
I gotta see it to the end to see if I’m being biased towards my hatred of not - but totally valid I take a moment to crash out - have u ever read lover boy?
Same thing happens (bottom fucks another guy, gets a call and he hears em smashing
I know this is an incredibly unpopular opinion but I’m sticking to my guns after rereading this -
This gets too much hype, its a good story BUT FOR IT TO TAKE 80+ CHAPTERS FOR THEM TO GET TOGETHER IS INSANE!
If yall wanna read a fuck buddies to lovers with a pretty top and bottom, PUNCH DRUNK LOVE is insanely good and funny as fuck. Legit almost no anguish with them even as fuckbuddies, they’re great. Anyway, enough glazing for another story -
Really, this one is funny as fuck too, but it was also frustrating as heck. Not becuz of the fuck buddy aspect of it, it’s part of the damn story that’s not the issue, it’s Mr. Seo’s behavior that irked the heck outta me.
Both of them have their issues and yet seo is treated like a saint and baek is seen as “annoying” even tho seo is straight up rude and hostile in many scenes prior to their relationship developing. Given is it caused by his trauma, but does Baek not have trauma too? So why doesn’t he behave more like a jerk? Why is his only crime being “annoying” to the bottom?Can’t believe I’m having to defend a Seme like this.
Either way Seo does DEVELOP GREATLY and it’s fantastic he does becuz he becomes 10x more enjoyable afterwards, but like I said they’re still fucking doing this push (Seo) and pull (Baek) by chapter 80. I was ripping my damn hair out - just admit you like him for Christ sake.
If you can handle that tho, great read I suppose. It gets praised a lot for a reason I suppose.
Agreed, I left it back then because of the same reason kinda wanna re read it since funny Ig
while i will say pdl is good, i dont think baek or seo are demonized. it's just told from the perspective of whoever narrating. most of the time its from seos perspective, so you get more of his pov and feelings thaythes in the right. hes not a bad guy, he was just vulnerableand very emotionally guarded. also if u wanna talk ur shit ab seo i will say this: baek jacked off in a PUBLIC bathroom. baek literally came onto seo WITHOUT his permission on a WORK trip, and came on his buns i apply the laws of fiction here and brush it off but if u wanna go comparing problematic actions amd behavior like it doesnt get worse than that. while theyre both somewhat morally grey, seo never harassed and antagonized baek like baek did to him. at the end of the day, i love these two and i do believe that his pushy attachment style was what suited seo best, so it finally got through to him he's loved.
Im not demonizing them per se, I just think Fwb to lovers is done more enjoyable in Punch drunk love without the headache of these two.
And yes, I agree Baek did do shit that was morally gray as fuck in some instances.
However, I will have my gripe with seo cuz he irked me way too much. emotional guarding and vulnerability, whatever it is - the way he maneuvered around this relationship was my biggest grip BECUZ it’s the goddamn plot of the story.
Everyone has their doubts about relationships coming to an end, but this was not the way to go about it when you already had him right there. I get it, I do that this comes from his upbringing. That’s he’s guarded and all these other things, but so is Baek who was forced to carry his own burdens and traumas he has with his family, so why is he expected to pry every time for Seo to be a little more open with him, Especially so far into the story, for Christ sakes 80 chapters is ridiculous.
And even if he wasn’t “antagonizing him” he was straight up hostile given the situation, if he didn’t want Baek in his life he wouldn’t have him in his life plain and simple but he did treat him so rudely sometimes given the situations where Baek would bend his back for him.
It was great to see their relationship progress but again my biggest gripe was it was took too damn long for Seo to open up, the “will they, won’t they” wasn’t even fun becuz of how genuinely painfully long it felt.
usually i dont read slow burns because every time id read slow burns they were doomed yaoi and super depression so i avoided them. but im starting to read more because i like the yearning and tension, and im realizing theres more slow burn than just tragic ones! slow burn can be very frustrating yes so i get that. although i felt that their characters grew together and kept the story going, ive def read stories where it was simply unenjoyable for me to read the back and forth betweel the mls so it's def a preference thing. and also honestly i just really like emotionally guarded characters that take out their emotions with sex LMAOO so i understand if he isnt everyone's cup of tea. seo has a very strong personality lol. i overall love the characters and the way their personality is portrayed. i see a lot of myself in seo, especially with his mom being in the hospital and it's nice to be reading and relate to someone in the story :] thank you for your elaboration and staying respectful and also acknowledging the character development throughout :D
Sure it’s not your traditional romance, but they’re still cute?
It’s evidently that the MC (bottom) is SHY, the top isn’t saying it just for shit and giggles.
MC isn’t use to being vulnerable and open to begin with and even LESS after his incident with his brother and mother, so having to relearn to love and then having to expand his horizons and allow himself to be loved is an incredibly awkward endeavor for him.
He seems uninterested and sometimes the tiniest bit hostile and whiny, but the top likes that about him and he understands as much. And the MC slowly changes to accept certain things in their romantic life even if it requires a lot of openness that he’s not use to having.
It’s unconventional for a romance but that’s what makes it great.
Dude that fucker did not deserve a second chance. AT FUCKING ALL. Like even though the “homewrecker” was a scumbag, he stopped as soon as the bottom even mentioned his partner, and This bitch ass mf had the audacity to cry and loss it? And then say in the damn bathhouse how he “forgot” why hw was crying? GOOD THING HIS PARTNER CAME AND TOLD HIM “want me to remind you?”
I CANNNNT and then he has the audacity to lose it as if he WASNT the one whonfucked evryyhing up? Oh my god, and like yes it was fucked that he got all mad and beat his ass but honestly better than him blaming the other guy becuz it was HIS PARTNER who needed to respect their relationship?
BUT NO he saw his chance and took it to sleep with someone else almost as soon as he realized he was attracted.
What would happen if another guy comes and he’s attracted? Is he gonna cheat again? Fuck bro I’m so mad they got Back together.
I hope the blonde cheats.
The first volume was ok, if questionable - but oh my god that second volume? No need to expand I guess?
Fuck that friend first off. Like seriously he needed more than a light scolding from the seme and the uke.
The fact he PRESENTLY assaulted the bottom and he assaulted the top in the PAST and even gave him trauma?!?! and they’re still his “friend”??? But all is forgiven I suppose cuz he’s the bottom and he’s sad that he can’t be open and gay.
And I do think he has a valid argument at first but who tf was he to butt in like that if the bottom is happy the way things are?
Again, he could’ve had some banger discussion topics if he didn’t immediately go and commit a crime right after. Cuz it is sad that the bottom was the one compromising in some cases more than others, but there was an argument for the top too - but again that got thrown out the window when they said hmmm… let’s put the blond twink in another situation.
And ok, it was nice to see the top have some regret too for how he behaves then, but how was this gonna help in the grand scheme of things if you see a SMALL change if any at all between them?
I didn’t like that it touched up on things in the second volume that were not going to be expanded on or closed, like bruh should’ve just kept it at one.
Idk how they made an omega so smart but so ducking stupid at the same time?
And the ML? Absolutely no redemption for his actions had he not realized who the omega was.
I fucking hated everyone in this story. Most unbearable cunts ever.
Full spoilers ahead.
I’ve never met such a contradiction in an omega. Smart. Stupid. Head strong. Weak. Capable. Useless. I wanted to root for him and then I wanted to tear his hair out of his roots. It’s like pls pick urself up.
Secondly, the alpha was a fuckijg scumbag worse than you’d ever see - not even the alpha from kiss me liar was this bad. He beat tf outta the omega, he rapes him, he corners him at every instance, he insults him, he blames him and he takes every emotion he has out on the omega.
For example, I was fucking BAFFLED when the brother kissed the omega and he fucks the beta actor in front of the omega out of anger, VIOLENTLY at that, and the shoves him aside to continue his reign of terror on the omega.
Another example, locking him tf up in every goddamn instance the omega even as so looks at him wrong or breathes the outside air of the city.
Literally the worst fucking ML.
And the side characters? By god they’re all so FUCKING STUPID. Everyone communally shares a brain and the omega has majority share while the others fight each other for a snippet of the brain cells sometimes.
The romance? Non existence. The drama? Dead. It was so long for it to be so nothing.
And by god was the ML ugly in so many panels. Both in personality and in art (the artist is VERY good at portraying emotions but sincerely FUCK the ML-ugly ass bitch)
Even when it gets around to tying it all together and he gets that dumbass “redemption arc” he’s done so much fucking garbage, it’s hard to like him becuz would he have done half of the shit he does for the omega had the omega not been 1. An omega and 2. His OG partner? Idc if he says he would’ve, he was already using the MC as a replacement for his og partner it was just so fucking stupid.