pluviophiliac's manga / #sweeter than poison(511)

my god. i haven’t even started reading yet and my vagina’s already twitching all over the place. fuuuck meeee.

i could cry from all this sexy hotness and i haven’t even started yet. #help edit: i’m now up-to-date and HOLY FUCK WHAT A TOXIC MESS. jesus, this shit’s hot, too. and depressing… but mostly hot. equally as fucked up, naturally. goddammit… i know the author said we’ll be getting a happy ending, but… ohhh, man. i really can’t see it at this point in time. they have such an unhealthy dynamic going on. ;_; edit #2: it’s finally complete… god, this was pretty messed up. (i still loved it, though, lol!) definitely not as bad as it could’ve been, knowing how miserable and violated some of the main characters in these stories end up. my one and only complaint is the rushed ending. it’s a shame we didn’t actually get to see them as a “happy couple” or whatever they would’ve been, but i’m hoping we’ll get a couple of side chapters showcasing that eventually.

bro, the smut is RIDICULOUSLY hot!!! overall, jooin’s remained ‘consistently cute’. well, mostly. annoying and somewhat clingy (?), but cute nonetheless. weirdly enough, i quite liked yahwi from the start, though—despite him being an inconsiderate jerk, aloof and overall toxic af for the longest time. (i’m weak to emotionally unavailable men, i suppose.) on the other hand, i didn't like cain at all in the beginning. i found him low-key creepy-clingy rather than sweetly clingy, and waaaay too excessive when it comes to displaying his sudden affection… well, way back in the day, that is. as it so happens, i’ve changed my mind since then! i actually quite like the guy these days. he’s understanding and kind and super considerate towards jooin—which i suppose are among some of the more important aspects of any relationship. i just don’t like unnecessary drama, ugh… but what can one really expect for a story like this? lol. but, you know… i started reading this manhwa two years ago, and honestly, i definitely wasn’t one for love triangles back then. however, i’d like to think that i’ve grown a little since 2021, and i finally picked this up after 1,5 years of indulging in… other things. i’m definitely relieved that i held off for so long, though! i suspect i probably wouldn’t have continued reading this back then if i’d chosen to keep going; especially knowing how dead-set i was on yahwi and jooin being together. …but anyway. as i’m nearing chapter 70 and yahwi’s FINALLY started to (somewhat) figure himself out emotionally, jooin is the one who pisses me off the most at this point in time. what a hypocrite, my god… yahwi can’t communicate, he says? i get that, but HE’S refusing to see things from yahwi’s perspective, too! he’s not even attempting to!!! yahwi probably suffers from alexithymia (emotional blindness) without realizing it. as someone who has it herself, his tells are pretty obvious. therefore, i’d like to think that his poor ways of expressing himself emotionally—as well as understanding his own feelings and thought-processes—wouldn't exactly be his fault. with that being said: how can jooin expect yahwi to read his mind flawlessly when he can’t seem to understand him, either…? jooin’s already aware of the fact that he's not on the same page as yahwi, man… at least yahwi’s been sincerely trying his best for a good while now. meanwhile, jooin has these IMPOSSIBLE expectations for someone who obviously doesn’t realize what the real problem is… and he won’t understand it unless he’s directly informed about what said issues are!!! he can’t read anyone’s mind. something that frustrates me a lot is this: how come jooin can be so straightforward with cain—who, by the way, doesn’t even seem to need it considering he can clearly read jooin well enough by now either way—but you can’t be straightforward with yahwi; the one who actually NEEDS all the clarity and bluntness the can get? it’s so goddamn ironic i could cry. and even as jooin’s breaking up with yahwi, the latter STILL doesn’t know what the actual problems are. not only that, but jooin’s also insulting him to his face and purposely hurting him in the process. fuck me, yahwi’s completely fucking clueless, man!!! i get that you’re truly hurt, jooin, but you’re not exactly doing your best to salvage the situation you’re in. you’re not even trying—you’re simply judging him; making clueless assumptions about his feelings and emotional state, which you’re obviously unqualified to make. honestly, you deserved that fucking slap, homeboy… (i’m anti-violence, but he had that one coming.) you actively try to provoke him, expect him to get angry with you, and then you get upset because he did exactly what you wAnTeD him to do??? give me a fucking break and stop playing the victim here. you’re not the only one suffering. it takes two to fucking tango. yahwi did wrong by hitting you, undoubtedly, but you’re not any better yourself. don’t get me wrong, though—i’m not saying that yahwi’s always been the one in the right (he hasn’t), or that turning to violence is ever a proactive solution (it’s not.) however, it’s obvious that our two main characters both have major issues and very little self-insight. the way i see it, yahwi’s done a lot of hurtful things, but he wasn’t really ‘intending’ to, was he? well, most of the time, at least. what he needs is proper guidance and straightforwardness in order to ever build himself a solid foundation. he needs time and patience if he’s ever going to learn how to form proper relationships. (yahwi thinks he’s already good at that, by the way. WHICH. HE. ISN’T. that’s the problem.) honestly, at this point, i hope yahwi finds someone else who’s at least (somewhat) understanding about his emotional blindness, blissful ignorance and commitment issues. it’s not his fault that he can’t read minds and do things exactly the exact way you expect him to. and i know i’ve stated this a hundred times already, but the poor guy seriously doesn’t even realize the predicament he’s in, man… i genuinely feel for him, and i get it. 100%. either way, from my perspective (and based on the fact that i’m now fully caught up), jooin’s the more selfish, entitled, immature one out of those two at this point in time. it’s almost as if he’s slowly and intentionally) beginning to turn into a vindictive asshole towards go yahwi. (then we’ll have two, yay!) however much i happen to understand jooin’s frustrations, i relate much more to yahwi’s. i despise it whenever people blame everything on one party and avoids all responsibility—which, in this case, would make kitty sunbae the sole villain with no possible redemption arc. it’s what ticks me off the most, really. simply put, they just shouldn’t be together. i suppose they both deserve better, honestly. …aaaand that was a long ass rant, by the way, but who fucking cares at this point? lol. yahwi deserves his own happiness, too—which i truly hope he’ll find sometime, and i’m pretty sure jooin would be able to stay happy with cain… if they do choose to get together in the end, that is. at this point, i truly have no clue what to expect. it could go either way… jooin and cain seem to have a lot less communication issues as of right now. but hey, like i’ve said a billion times already: i sincerity hope that kitty sunbae finds someone who’ll come to love and appreciate him for who he is; someone who’ll embrace him, all of him, despite his flaws—including his ‘social difficulties’, so to speak. those are all things he can work on and improve with time! (speaking from experience on this one.) yahwi should be in therapy already, ugh. but hey, all in all, it’s been a pretty damn great story thus far! i guess that’s why i’m getting so easily worked up, lol. it’s relatable as hell. i wish these guys the best… i just want them all to be happy, the whole lot. that’d be good enough for me. i suppose we’ll see! edit: man, things are fluctuating like craaazy right now. (ↁ_ↁ) yahwi’s finally realized some things about himself and he’s making honest attempts to explain his point of view to a clueless jooin. jooin’s struggling with these new developments; not knowing how to deal with yahwi’s sudden change in behavior and cain’s inability to be completely upfront with him. cain left temporarily to take care of a ‘family matter’, only to end up being stuck with said family who’s now properly convinced he’s crazy for saying he wants to go back to SK and be with his ‘owner’ from a past life. (understandably so.) man, i have no idea how this’ll end… send help. edit #2: we went from sexy mess to full-on emotional distress throughout this journey... i’m absolute IN LOVE with this plot development, omfg. it feels like we’re nearing the ending now, but i genuinely hope we’ll get some more yahwi + jooin lovey-dovet content before the story’s wholly wrapped up. these past couple of chapters have been resonating with me like CRAAAAZY. i can’t wait for next week to arrive! edit #3: every recent chapter has been a literal knockout. i have a feeling we’re on the last pages now, but wow… the artists are really doing this story justice. these past ten-ish chapters have been so meaningful and beautifully narrated that it almost feels like a different story altogether. don’t get me wrong, it’s always been an amazing reading experience, but never to THIS degree. it’s being wrapped up so nicely, and it’s been quite a long time since i genuinely felt a sense of closure when nearing the end of a fictional journey… and we’re not even at the end yet!!! man, i’m so happy right now. i applaud all of those involved in creating this masterpiece of a manhwa. whenever and however the final chapter is eventually released, i can tell for sure that there’ll be no plot holes or unanswered questions left. perfect closure. i’m so, so unbelievably impressed by the author’s ability to incorporate emotions into visual writing—thus allowing us readers to experience such an array of joys and sorrows in a way that isn’t that commonly experienced within this genre of manhwa. outstanding work, truly!

this is… surprisingly dark and twisted. i really like it! and i loooove the apparent complexity, gosh. super stoked for the future of this one!

these were my mid-reading notes: oh, this is DEFINITELY a new favorite. top-tier quality writing, bro!!! i’m loving this dynamic, too. honestly, i expected a lot more violence. and toxicity. it’s surprisingly wholesome, actually. never thought i’d say that, lol. in any case, i’m absolutely OBSESSED!!! reading this was a great decision. edit: … well, i kinda feel the need to recant some of that previous statement ‘cause shit just got ROUGH!!! i guess all is ‘technically’ well and right in the world again, but omfg… that was BRUTAL. at least they’ve seemingly ‘forgiven’ each other, so i see no reason to sulk about it. still ship them, ngl. (i know, but i really do like their chemistry!!!) you guys, just learn to freakin’ COMMUNICATE so that something like this won’t ever happen again, goddammit!! - - - - - whenever i rate something, i do so based on how invested i become in a story. i judge the art, the characters’ expressions, their individuality, my emotional responses to their actions, etc. i don’t really mind dark and twisted romances as long as the story’s well-written enough, and to me, it absolutely was! ‘pleasantly surprised’, i believe the term is. and i’m not talking about the EXTREMELY toxic bits… ‘cause that was uncomfortable to read. i’m talking about the general atmosphere, and i found it quite intriguing, honestly. HOWEVER!!! i’ll admit, seeing some of the other reviews is low-key making me question my soon-to-be nonexistent sanity (lol), but i said what i said. i really liked it. it’s not like i expected things to be 100% healthy and inspirational given that this is an ACTUAL mafia romance (?) type plot. still, i won’t claim to regret my previous statements. i truly did enjoy myself… well, most of the time, anyway. (i’m guessing that other readers will, most likely, understand what i’m referring to.) either way, i found their dynamic really interesting and unique—which is DEFINITELY not something i expected. i thought i’d be basic as fuuuck. nonetheless. it was surprisingly amusing watching my them interact! and, overall, i’m generally pleased with the final outcome. in any case, i’ll be looking forward to the side stories that are yet to be illustrated! (‘roses and kiss’, i think it’ll be called.) can’t wait to see what’ll happen the next time around, lol. :)

soooo, so good. really quite original, too! definitely haven’t come actos anything similar before, that’s for sure. i’m looking forward to see where this is going! edit: LMFAO, THEY’RE SO FUCKING FUNNY!!! this dynamic between the two is KILLING me. jaeha’s reactions to literally EVERYTHING jihoon does… it does something to me. it’s hilarious! comedic GOLD, honestly. as of late, i’ve been intentionally rereading certain updates—as well as taking lots of screenshots—just for that very reason. i’m always cracking up, seriously. this is a some new, weirdly funny, awkward dark romance shieeet. i’ve never seen ANYTHING like the relationship these two have before. #fresh in any case, i still ship them like CRAZY. mainly because of their blunt, weirdly aloof interactions. lmfao, i could die laughing. so, so funny. it feels like the comedic aspects SHOULD feel out of place, but strangely enough, it works perfectly. genius writing!!! and the art style just enhances the whole experience. hah, what a day! edit #2: WHY ARE ALL THE GOOD COMICS FINISHING UP AT THE SAME TIME??? this is somewhat bothersome. :( in any case, i’ve lived this! i thought their interactions was hysterically funny… in a weird sense of the word, lmfao. i never knew what to expect. it’s been great! 10/10, don’t even know why i love it so much, but i do. i’ll probably reread it as some point in the future, too. hehe.

well, it’s pretty good. i have nooo idea how this’ll end up. wouldn’t be at all surprised if it turns out that the director knows what his new ‘step-son’ and ACTUAL son are up to, lololol. #sus