Honestly I don't even mind that Aileen is now a potential romantic interest, I just hope that if they give her a human form she won't be Basic Skinny Girl
So far I'm loving the bit of body diversity in the anthros so far (ox four could have my kidney if she wanted it ) but ig I'd find it disappointing especially if they basically just make her look like a skinny human just because she's a potential romantic interest
Omfg, when she drank the healing water and instantly met God I fucking died X'DD
It was just so unexpected idk lmao
Anywho, I loved all the lore and existential tie ins at the end. I feel like it wouldn't have been as impactful if it had been a focus throughout the story rather than something slightly hinted at occasionally like it was.
Also, I've never been so invested in a "and then they had kids" side story before. (Not that it really was a side story necessarily, but idk how else to describe it)
Fantastic, "chefs kiss* v tasty uvu
Kyoujima is genuinely so sweet and respectful I just can't âĨīšâĨ
I was really worried that this would be another one of those SA tropes where the uke gets cornered or manipulated (which I would have still read, it just wouldn't have been as enjoyable) but this exceeded my expectations entirely
Instead we have a bottom who is independently very sexually open and curious and a top who's very considerate of boundaries and consent, even when the bottom isn't thinking about them himself in his excitement.
Two of my favorite things, I honestly couldn't be happier rn and I just love them and love their dynamic quq
Zero self sufficiency.
We don't have a trained chef so instead of possibly making this meat taste a little gross, we'll just starve.
Also is their no farming? Or foraging? It feels like there would have to be if they were really so secluded.
This author doesn't seem to understand how food actually works in a community or where it comes from.
I wouldn't say that enjoying a trope in fiction is the same as enjoying it irl, but rather it's the refusal to be critical of these tropes or even allow others to be critical that raises concern. Discussion and criticism is a totally healthy aspect of a community and shouldn't be demonized, and the analysis and critique of enjoyable media is all a part of media literacy.
Though I will say, that it's one thing to critique media and another to judge or condemn those who consume said media based solely on the fact that they enjoy it.
But (for example) if someone in the comments were to read the latest chapter and start "shipping" a literal infant with a grown adult (fictional or otherwise), I think that's condemnable behavior worthy of critique because it does glean insight to a concerning pattern of thought.
Being "sensitive" to troubling themes is not a bad thing and it's those who cry and complain at the sight of criticism that are actually insecure and emotionally/mentally immature
And if you see a take you disagree with, argue if you find that fulfilling or just don't engage, but don't argue and then complain about always having to argue and defend what you enjoy, because frankly, you don't have to. That's a choice you're making.
This is so excitinggggg
Idk I like the idea of her facing her past and addressing it more rather than just moving on
I hope this will lead to Killian learning about her previous life too :>
I think it's really fitting and really satisfying that Nasia is a lesbian considering The Little Mermaid's historical gay-ness uvu
That was horrific
So basically he's being punished for "treating women like crap" but idk how much of that even makes sense.
One of the issues was that he kept getting his girlfriend pregnant, but he wasn't even ridiculed for having unprotected sex because the doctor also just does that, he was ridiculed for "cumming inside someone he doesn't even love" which is weird to me, because even if you don't fully ejac when inside, its still possible to cause pregnancy. And I don't like how it was a man's job to have to explain that to him, I feel like that's a conversation his gf should have had with him and that if that conversation went south, she needed to let him go.
The GF was actually obsessive and toxic so that's one of the biggest reasons I was kind of questioning if any of this "punishment" made sense
As far as we know the only the he did wrong was cheat on his past girlfriend and continued to finish inside his gf after she asked him not to (we assume, because it's not confirmed whether she even addressed that to him or not)
So yeah, he's a shitty guy but it just doesn't sit right with me that his punishment comes from a cheater and someone who also has casual unprotected sex.
Oh, and whatever body horror entity it was that kept ripping vulvas/vaginas into his flesh for nonsensical reasons
I was already crying but the extra chapter where Hikaru-B was saying he wished he could be human just so he could experience a hallucination of Tora's voice made me start sobbing
This feels like watching a trainwreck where you can't look away and every time you think it might be over the engine gets back up and does a backflip or something
So I definitely preferred the first story to the second and I think this is why
They framing of the seme's actions were completely different
Where in the first one the seme is obviously a psycho and his actions were not those of a sound individual, and it's not only us the readers identifying that but also the uke
The uke does succumb to the whims of the seme but it feels weirdly justified at the end (even though of course the seme's initial actions were unjustifiable)
But the second one, the Uke is portrayed as a emotionally vulnerable and almost depressing character, and the seme instead of approaching him with his earnest feelings, purposefully torments the uke in hopes of him acting out on his suppressed feelings. And what's worse is that this works, the Uke ends up feeling bad for the pain he caused the seme instead of the other way around.
In the first one it feels like even though the seme literally imprisoned the uke, he was always honest about his desires (as far as he understood them) and presented those honest feelings to the uke in word and deed, but the second seme is just the opposite - dishonest and purposefully harming the uke to achieve the end goal he wanted.
The first seme gave into the uke, letting him go (he did ofc made the choice to come back, but it definitely feels a little stolkholm-y), but the second seme had the uke give in to him, feel bad for him, and absolve his actions.
Neither is a healthy start to a relationship but this is just why I think the first one FEELS better than the second
I just really hate how when Hayami is saying no or refusing, he's practically treated like a child who's throwing a tantrum because he doesn't actually know what he wants or is good for him. Like, no, he wants to have a consensual sexual encounter that accommodates the desires of both parties, he's not a kid saying no to eating veggies.
And then there's Ryu who is a piece of shit and the one time he actually decides to use his words instead of just assaulting Hayami however he wants, he still has to literally PIN HAYAMI TO THE BED before he does.
But also they had like zero chemistry?
Maybe it's just me but there wasn't a single point where it felt like we were shown any moment of genuine feelings or chemistry between them, the author just told us they were falling in love but never showed it happening.
Also, what happened to Ryu being shy or socially awkward? That's how he first appears to both Hayami and the readers, but it was like "oh he's actually hot, so not shy or socially awkward anymore". I know he mentioned how he wears a suit for work so it'd make sense that he knows how to clean up and look presentable, but it's not just the clothes and hairstyle, how he carried himself was completely different from then on.
What I'm getting at is that it really felt like the shyness was all an act to manipulate Hayami into a vulnerable position where he could be taken advantage of
The Ryu we see from ch2 on is self confident, he's hot and he knows it, he knows what he wants and he takes it. That's not a change that occurs in one afternoon.
It could very well be that the writing is just poor in this regard, but it really makes the whole encounter feel more malicious.
Okay Dami pissed me tf off
He showed up and from day one was trying to insert himself into and break up their relationship, even when they were just friends which is just . . . Where does that kind of audacity come from??? He insists it's real love but he "fell in love" at first sight and instantly decided he could decide for Doha that Jun shouldn't be in his life or that he should be able to replace Jun. THIS WAS WHEN HE WAS STILL A COMPLETE STRANGER.
I know he didn't act super serious about it but it really just felt like Jun was always ganged up on and Doha never stood up for him and just laughed it off.
Most of it wasn't taken that seriously (but every offhanded comment trying to edge Jun out of the picture made my heart ache) but when Dami actually said a lot of out of line shit that actually hurt Jun, tanking his self esteem, he never really addressed or apologized for it properly.
I also wasn't a fan of the other friend who followed and outed them? For no reason?? And then acted like that was just his right to do so
Literally being like "my business is done here" once everything was out in the open, like the two of them were wrong for keeping a secret
And the idea that they had to be considerate of Dami just because he liked Doha, even tho it's not like Dami is a long time friend who liked Doha first (which is the only situation where i feel like that kind of consideration makes sense)
Jun and Doha had a long standing established relationship long before Dami even knew Doha, so I just don't understand why he or anyone else thinks he should have any say in their relationship, especially since he doesn't even act like a good friend as far as we can see
All we as the audience are shown is Dami talking about how he wants Doha's attention and wants Jun to fuck off, and obviously there has to be more to their friendship than that, because otherwise I really don't see why they'd interact with him at all . . .
But we the readers don't see any of that or anything or humanize Dami or make him likeable. Maybe his one sided crush is supposed to do that, but I just can't take it seriously when we aren't shown anything but his first encounter with Doha.
This is why Dami just felt like (to me) a nuisance at best and a toxic asshole at worst
I don't know, I can't understand why some readers seem to like him, so if someone with a different perspective could explain what they see in him to me, I'd actually really appreciate it <3