paratise's Topics (65)

in some of the only wise words ever spoken by semi famous game dev kotaro uchikoshi: jiwon, i’m always on your side.

i will not stop periodically popping up to advertise the novel but i genuinely do sincerely recommend it especially to those who keep complaining about jiwon’s anxiety but otherwise like the story specifically because it gets more into it. the manhwa, while certainly quite cute, doesn’t get into the meat of things and it can’t really be overstated just how much jiwon’s history of physical & mental / emotional child abuse has affected him in the longterm and it’s a very important aspect of
his character and very important background context for his anxiety and tendency to self-sabotage. the novel imo does a better job of emphasising that. as i’ve said before—of course his anxiety is exhausting, there’s a very long history of why. i’m not saying it’s a good thing he acts the way he does, and i do think jungwoo is certainly stronger than many for trying to work with him, but i’m saying it’s an understandable thing considering his history and that does need to be taken into more consideration when reading this story and when criticising his behaviour and personality. especially for readers of later chapters who’ve gotten past that point and still talk about how jiwon needs to get over it or stop overthinking or whatever. you can’t undo years of abuse with one good relationship at the beginning of it! he’s working on it. and does eventually get to the point where he considers himself past his traumas, but it’s genuinely important to remember and i rec the novel for getting more into it. ^^;;

i’m reading this pretty much entirely for the art style, the art is really good and i like picking up on art references wherever i can (even in manhwa) but this comment isn’t about the series / how good the art style is. i saw another comment hating on paradise scans so i have a question regarding them

do they use AI assistance for their translations lmao. i’ve noticed a lot of the wording on their series tends to be really clunky / feels MTLed, and the use of what is presumably an AI-generated image for their advertisement banner on each chapter doesn’t exactly help. at all

this guy pisses me off so bad, i’ve read the novel out of curiosity and he’s legitimately one of the worst MLs i’ve ever come across i think lol. it’s unfortunate because the supporting cast is actually Really good (& what makes me still willing to read the story, chaerin is truly one of the top 5 BL side characters to ever exist) but ach, he sucks. and he gets only worse from here

if there is one thing these two will do. it is put in the effort to communicate in the end even if they struggle at times due to their personalities, relationship histories (or lack thereof on jiwon’s end), and jiwon’s mental health issues. as jungwoo said, love is filled with anxiety! and by god do they both have a lot of it because of how much they care about each other

and i’ve said this before but god jiwon really is interpretable as having BPD. my quiet BPD legend jiwon im always on your side even when you’re in the wrong

BREATHLESS MOMENTUM MY BELOVED ohhhhh i’ve waited so long for vol5 i’m so excited. ive missed these two so bad

i’ve made multiple comments over the course of this manhwa about how i rec the novel (including one spoiling jiwon’s backstory pretty early on in the manhwa’s run because i think it’s very important context for why he behaves the way he does), and i’m glad the manhwa has reached this point! his history with his coach explains his anxieties and struggles a lot. it’s disheartening seeing some comments though talking about effectively how jiwon needs to get over himself.

part of why the novel is one of my favourites is BECAUSE of how distinctly mentally ill jiwon is due to his history with trauma and abuse (while i don’t think this was the intended read from the author, i do think he’s very easily interpretable as discouraged / quiet type bpd) and how he struggles with his relationship because of it, while jungwoo continues to treat him with as much grace as he can muster. it’s not always easy, nor does jiwon make it easy because he has such a history and it impacted him terribly, and he does stumble multiple times (ex. when he panics and effectively shoehorns jungwoo back into the closet by making up a girlfriend for him, when i first read that part i thought he was lucky jungwoo was the person he was dating because not many other people would easily accept that incident), but it’s not easy for a reason and jungwoo knows the reason and is willing to try. so it’s disheartening seeing some readers seeing a mentally ill abuse victim and complaining about him. like yeah his anxiety is exhausting. he has a very good reason for that

man, this series is SO good in general… the art is fantastic, jinhyeong and uyun as both people and as a relationship are well-fleshed out, and so is the supporting cast. everyone feels like a person, not just a prop for the setting.

but like the author has GOT to stop with the incest jokes i am begging. it’s so offputting reading an otherwise very lovely series and seeing eunoh lusting after his cousin For The Bit. it’s not funny it’s just uncomfortable ╥﹏╥

i love roji’s works so much &, i’m so glad to see the iida/yoshida story has been picked up… the tl notes said it perfectly, their works really are introspective & emotionally aware. i look forward to seeing how this one goes! thank you for the translation!

i really like this story & keep coming back to it bc it’s always an enjoyable read (although i do find the ending lacking). only recently realised upon my latest reread it’s an adaptation so i started reading the novel and i have to say. while i think the manhwa is good in itself (again past the ending) i feel like it may be slipping as an adaptation bc there’s soooo much context to their relationship that’s been snipped out from what i’ve seen so far like…

there’s an entire wonwoo side story partway through about his detailed background & lore, which includes the following:
- the reveal / confirmation he’s at the least been attracted to geonyeong since high school
- him coming across geonyeong in HS when he was sick & nursing him…. this is how he found out he’s allergic to peanuts bc he ended up calling geonyeong’s mom (unsure whether to call 911 or an emergency contact, he picked the latter) & she told him. so wonwoo remembered that detail for a decade. he also fed geonyeong some of that feuit flavoured ice he likes to soothe his throat / hydrate him a bit
- geonyeong did in fact visit him in the hospital. while he was asleep / too out of it to realise until his aunt commented on it.
- the fact he’s been following geonyeong’s career since… about 3 years after the incident? which was like. 1 year into geonyeong’s career bc he got picked up right after high school
- seeing geonyeong play is what made him remember how much he still loved baseball, which is what led him to visiting the stadium daily & thus led to his being hired as Funz
- the reveal wonwoo has been technically working for actually way longer than the manhwa says? the manhwa says 3 years, but from what i could understand wonwoo’s had the job closer to 5-6 because he actively went to the military in the middle of it at some point & was able to keep his position secure

the novel also so far fills in some gaps and adds on to these details. like:
- the reason geonyeong starts asking wonwoo random questions about himself / his life was because at the drinking party w him, jinwon, & sae-eun he realised he knew nothing about wonwoo when they knew a lot about him & his situation and it upset him. so he started asking questions to get to know more about him
- geonyeong had a dream about wonwoo nursing him back in high school & realised it was him who did that — this was the day they talked about his elbow surgery. this is also the same day geonyeong gave wonwoo his key card (since the manhwa only reveals it in a flashback, the when isn’t specified. It’s this day)
- when geonyeong kisses wonwoo to thank him for the fruit ice, the one wonwoo had just eaten is the same flavour he’d fed geonyeong in high school (peach) which cements the memory for geonyeong lol
- the memorial for geonyeong’s dad wasn’t actually requested by the crows, his former team, but instead the hawks! his old catcher was the coach for the hawks & wanted to put a moment of silence in.

i’m only partway thru the novel (& i know it has side stories the manhwa didn’t and ends with wonwoo transferring to a university in the US to be with geonyeong) so there are undoubtedly more details that got left behind in the adaptation i haven’t reached yet. i just wanted to make note of these bc they — especially everything revealed in the wonwoo side story — are kind of a context game changer for me even as someone who already really liked this story!

hiiiiii everyone since apparently this is the end of s1 of the manhwa & they might take some time before launching into s2 (which has already started with the raws). just in case anyone isn’t aware Ball is a novel & this is an adaptation, not its own unique story, and i personally recommend the novel if you like the manhwa because it’s imo very good + really gets into the meat of jiwon’s psyche because it’s entirely from his perspective. provides a lot of extra context on how he acts and how his thought processes go.

there are also a lot of little scenes and details the manhwa cut out (including my fav scene, which is the two of them holding hands in the car on their way to school bc jungwoo pretends his hand fell asleep) so if anyone likes the manhwa…. i recommend the novel 100% it’s completed and entirely free to access (⌒▽⌒)