wait, is mc a switch, top, or bottom...??
switch ig, since it looks like he's gonna be a bottom for ml
Bless whoever updated this. May both sides of your pillow be cold!
Why I think MC is worse than ML despite this being a regressor susbtitute-lover romance cliche.
To be clear: most of the misunderstanding between them is caused by Luotong and poor timing/communication. The ML never really had malicious intent towards MC, but the MC has definitely intentionally done some shady things.
Xia Lin (1st world):
- lied to Song Yan about Luotong's death (not out cruelty, but also didn't clear it up in the several years they were together either). He wanted to keep lying about it, actually.
- took advantage of Song Yan's drunken suicidal state, raped him and then basically manipulated him into having a relationship (partly to save his life but also out of self-interest).
- thinks Song Yan is still deeply in love with the "deceased" Luotong during their relationship since he calls his name during his sleep, when in actuality, Song Yan was feeling (clinical level) depression and responsibility for not being able to save Luotong, suffering from nightmares every night and feeling like he doesn't deserve happiness.
Song Yan (1st world):
- His main offenses were lashing out at Xia Lin in the beginning, but that's because he had been suffering the whole time because he thought his love died (idk about you, but being lied to about a person's death is no joke). He was legit suicidal over it since he had promised Luotong to die with him but stayed alive for Xia Lin's sake.
- One minor flashback scene of him wanting to stay home and game instead of going spontaneously to a stage play with Xia Lin (and who doesn't have a day like this). But again, 1st world Song Yan was depressed.
- Not knowing Xia Lin's preferences because Xia Lin had been lying about them the whole time to match with Song Yan. 2nd world Xia Lin feels bitterness and sadness about this but that's just gaslighting.
- 1st world before they dated, not being able to help when Xia Lin called while trapped in a cave. Didn't matter because Xia Lin's reception was really bad and it cut off regardless, and Song Yan legitimately had to take Luotong to the hospital for a serious burn accident at the time of the call. Also at least he picked up the phone and didn't ignore it.
- (2nd life) The rape chapter shortly after his accident and his two memories merged, which he had just left the hospital for and was in an extremely mentally and physically unstable state. It's your call whether you want to excuse this one or not.
Basically, because Xia Lin is the MC, the story is mostly from his POV, and he keeps saying things like he was made to feel like a sustitute for Luotong... but most of that was his own doing or misunderstanding...and is really only ever implied because we never actually SEE flashbacks of the past ML being a scumbag abuser or anything. Xia Lin keeps having flashbacks to when Song Yan slapped him in the 1st chapter after finding out he was lied to...and I see this panel get reused a lot --- because really that's the only thing that he can be dingged for, even though it's flimsy.
1st world Song Yan might've not been the best lover, and it was implied (not shown) they had petty arguments sometimes, but they were still friends for decades, there's no way he didn't care.
People be shitting on the ML, but the MC is a major self-victimizer at times, and an unreliable narrator.
In actuality, Song Yan is not that bad of a person. He's sometimes emotional and hot-headed but is someone who feels a strong sense of responsibility, is clumsy but tries his best when wooing someone, has a decent memory of events, and takes promises seriously. I'm not saying he's done no wrong as they've both clearly hurt each other. But it feels really hypocritical when Xia Lin was the one who cased Song Yan, forced him into the relationship, couldn't get what he wanted out of it, and then went on about his second life being vindictive over not having the ideal romance, and chasing petty grievances of his own undoing. I would understand if Song Yan was like those other CEOs who verbally belittles and compares his lover to his ex, or whatever, but Song Yan hasn't done any of that sort.
And last but not least, the shitstormer of the whole plot.
Luotong single-handedly committed the most offenses between the two couple in this story. He wasn't in love with either Xia or Song, he just wanted a savior from his horrible life circumstances, and even purposely (although not maliciously) caused misunderstandings between the main couple constantly, and then not even having the decency to clear things up. He didn't even feel bad for moving on so casually with David.
Like... I'm amazed both MC and ML still tolerate and treat him well after all the seeds of misfortune he sowed.
I drppped this story long ago and i agree that Song Yan wasmt a bad person, but MC was right to not want anything to do with Song Yan in his 2nd life.
It's not that Song Yan was a bad person, but he still made the MC feel like shit his whole tirst life
And the story says Song Yan felt responsible fur LuoTong but literally the first time he saw LuoTong he was literally mesmeri,ed amd obssessed over him. So it did seem like he truly loved him and not just feeling responsible.
And yea he was in depression after he thought LuoTong was dead, but Xia Lin gave everytjong he had for Song Yan and even had to cut ties with his family for it. All that for Song Yan to NEVER give a hint of being thankful or loving Xia Lin. Xia Lin even said Song Yan would always look at him with remorse after having sex (because apparently he felt bad about LuoTamg) which shows he pretty much never seemed to be happy in their first life relationship.
So even though Song Yan isnt a bad person, the MC really isnt victimizing himself, he just wants to avoid having to re-live the hell that was his 1st life.
And first thing Song Yan did when he got his memory back is rape Xia Lin. Thats absolutel6 fucked up. He was contused yea but still 100% conscious of what he was doing. Oh and after raping Xia Lin, the mention of LuoTong's having a boyfriend made his 1st's life personality make him.want to go see LuoTong....
I don't think OP was saying they should've gotten together again in the 2nd life, or that they weren't hurting each other, but that readers were solely blaming just the ML even though the MC also was clearly part of the problem.
And it's true that Xia Lin is sometimes a self-victimizer in the story. For example, he was super bitter that the ML in the 2nd life was trying to butter him up with things he thought Xia Lin liked, but those were all things Xia Lin lied about to make Song Yan like him more. He's getting upset AND being snarky at the fact that Song Yan doesn't know his preferences when HE himself lied about them his whole life. That's straight up gaslighting.
He went into this relationship (forced it rather), and had expectations that he felt ultimately never was fulfilled. Him feeling upset about it and not wanting to do anything with Song Yan is understandable; but him being vindictive about it, is entirely his own undoing. You could give up your whole life for someone, but that doesn't mean they're obligated to do the same. Some of his dialogues in the story make it sound like Song Yan owed him, which is kind of wtf...?
Maybe the novel writer is bad, or the manhua adapter is bad, but even if you say Song Yan never showed any hint of being thankful, he also never showed any hint of being awful --- rather, nothing was ever even shown, just Xia Lin's emotions and thoughts on the matter. That's why the OP was saying Xia Lin is a very one-sided unreliable narrator. We never actually get to see Song Yan's POV, except for a few near the end.
Also Xia Lin does admits in the story that some of their problems were stuff he cooked up in his own head or could've communicated better. So in this respect I think they're equal to blame.
(Also I'm not gonna disagree, grape is still grape---he gotta own up for being a momentary asshole. But I'm not sure he'd be considered 100% culpable. In a realistic scenario, you'd be on all sorts of IVs, painkillers, and drugs for being in a hospital after a car crash. Never mind the split personality. I personally consider that scenario the same as someone being under the influence, but to each their own.)
Yea. Just because MC gave away a lot for Song Yan doesnt mean Song Yan owe him anything. But the point was that Xia Lin had given so much in his first life and got nothing (and the whole time he thought Song Yan was regretful). So I do think that his attitude in his 2nd life is justified and not making himself as a victim.
Yes it's himself that lied to Song Yan about what he likes but he lied about those things to get closer to Song Yan BEFORE they started dating. The fact that Song Yan never even noticed he didnt like those or the fact that he never told the truth after they started dating probably means he didnt really show much affection for all those years... And then all of a sudden (in the 2nd life) he starts showing a lot of interest. I would be petty as fuck too.
Song Yan showering the MC with affection and giving all his attention to Xia Lin just shows how much he didnt care about Xia Lin in his previous life. And to me thats justifies Xia Lin's attitude. But we can disagree on that part.
But overall, Song Yan isnt a bad person (lets ignore the rape...) but he do deserve whatever Xia Lin throws at him since he is the one that keeps invading Xia Lin's life.
I think we have two different trains of thought here. There's no problems with Xia Lin wanting to avoid Song Yan, or his annoyance at being chased. It's not his cold attitude, or bitterness, or personal desire that's the issue, but the entitlement and lack of self reflection of his own actions. Yes, he put in great effort, and rightfully he can feel sad about the situation, but he never once thought he was in the wrong, or "this is a bad idea", or "I should try to talk it out". He doesn't even feel sorry for the questionable things he HAS done. (I can't say anything about Song Yan in this respect because it's entirely from Xia's POV.) However, I think a person should be responsible for their own decisions, and not solely blame others. Whether it's about feelings or otherwise. You can absolutely be wronged, and still also simultaneously be in the wrong, they're not paradoxical. Is his resentment justified, sure, maybe. Does he sometimes come off as a self victimizer---not always but yes there are moments. You can have moments that don't define your whole character --- Also, I don't think the onus should be on Song Yan to notice the discrepancy in Xia Lin's lies, that's putting the responsibility on the wrong person, doesn't matter the timeline. Song Yan is a guillible person who will take words at face value, we see it multiple times. (Especially in the first half with the young Song Yan who didn't deserve any of that.) --- But anyway. we can continue to disagree. I will respect your standpoint. But personally, seeing Xia's POV, but not really seeing Song Yan commit all the atrocities he claimed, and then seeing him not change througout the entire series while seeing Song Yan putting in the effort to make amends really rubs me the wrong way. I don't like that the perspective skews things so that it makes it seem like Xia Lin is faultless and did no wrong when he's not truly innocent in all of this.
I agree that Song Yan didnt need to notice the lies, but if you add up everything, the end result was that he didnt pay attention to Xia Lin in his first life and that is what is hurtful.
Also I wouldnt say what Song Yan did as anything "atrocious" as a person. But it is atrocious for Xia Lin ONLY (since he suffered so much). But as a person, Song Yan wasnt in the wrong, he was simply grieving. And Xia Lin choose to be with him and that's on Xia Lin.
The summary of my feelins on this would be :
Song Yan didn't mistreat Xia Lin in their first life, he simply didn't give him affection.
And because that lack of affection has hurt Xia Lin so much AND because he kind of deserved some affection considering they were dating for many years. Then i think Xia Lin's attitude is justified.
Like yea it's Xia Lin's own fault to put himself in a sitiation where he wasn't loved. Thats all on him. But once this is all over, he gets the right to be angry when the said partner come back saying "I love you".
Someone that would have moved on entirely would probably say "its my fault for putting myself in this situation". But if you havent moved on entirely yet, then your anger towards Song Yan's new attitude is warranted.
I was hoping to find the missing ch 94 here but nope... Even though the story was kinda crazy I wanted to see the 1st couple conclude better and have more lovey dovey time after all the stuff they went through. I really could not give a damn about the 2nd pair because I'm still stuck on the 1st feeling incomplete. Where was the wedding? And the honey moon??
But that aside, all the comments blaming the 1st ML or calling him an ass... when both MC and ML misunderstood and didn't treat each other well in both past and present. Originally, even though the relationship was one-sided, it's not like ML was particularly abusive to MC throughout their life, just vague flashbacks of sometimes being cold (compared to other red flag CEOs in similar stories, he's just emotional, dumb, and normal). Even MC admits most of his suffering was ultimately self-inflicted. Actually I thought that MC treated ML slightly worse overall and was a hypocrite. I think ML more than redeemed himself, and I felt more pity for the ML than MC, because even though he made mistakes, he tried to explain, own up to, and be honest with his feelings and circumstances for most of the chapters, compared to MC who, while in unfortunate circumstances, kept running away, being in denial and not facing the truth or wanting to search for it for most of the chapters. Like, to me he wasn't a likeable MC, or even a really pitiable one. They both had their reasons, but it felt very skewed in presentation, and I just didn't really feel like there was enough visual impact throughout the story to justify all the resentment towards Song Yan. If anything Song Yan felt more like the main character at times.
Holycow this is the funniest thing I've read in a while. I also love how the artist interprets and draws out the chaotic emotions. 10/10
...Huh. Isn't this the exact premise to "Duke Richard's Haven" (shoujo manwha), only this one is BL... Cause like in the other one the ML is also a magical creature or something, and the MC was an older buff woman who saved the young duke's life, but then died and regressed into a pretty little girl.
Then im glad theres a BL version (๑•ㅂ•)و✧
I didn't see any summary, but from the prologue it seems like... it's actually about the lack of hygiene in historicals...? Interesting.
Well, although it's common knowledge that the English rarely bathed until the 18th-19th century, (the investment of plumbing was around the 17th century, with soaps more introduced in the 19th), they did actually still wash their hands and faces, occasionally wiped their bodies and changed their inner clothes (white linens). Perhaps not the lower class but the upperclass did (although this might vary by region). There were also light forms of dental hygiene even before that from the medieval periods. So even if they rarely bathed, they shouldn't smell THAT foul, between washed clothes and the abundance of perfume.
But our girl could just be sensitive to smell.
Kinda glad they didn't immediately jump into romance, which is different for a change of pace.
I was expecting something lewd for cliche, but it's way more casual.
Was cut a little short, but I liked it a lot. I think it ended quite well, all in all.
The last chapter was very information condensed, but I really enjoyed the themes and full circle of the series. I hope it gets animated one day.
"His eyes seemed like they were alive"
Sir, his eyes are the most lifeless thing in this seriesb
i had to do a double take bc i couldn't see any life in his face or personality