Wait is this the same one where the ml fks some other dude in like a bush while they were in a hot spring resort??? If so.. yeah, after I read that I fucking dropped it. And the fact that the mc still gets back with the ml? He fr needs better friends.
I read some 188 novels (sissy, in love with an idiot, professional body double, and beloved enemy) mainly to satisfy my curiosity since I kept seeing them pop up as recs for people wanting atypical character traits/dynamics, which interested me. Apart from that, I knew it would be an uphill climb for me to like them because I generally don’t care to read about toxic and/or abusive relationships unless they’re done a certain way (I need substance!). But I still wanted to check them out and maybe see why they appeal to others. And to an extent, I see it. They’re good at provoking an emotional response, and being engaging/keeping interest in a can’t-look-away-from-this-trainwreck kind of way. The sexual tension in “in love with an idiot” and “beloved enemy” could get pretty good. They’re painfully realistic… to a point. But I felt dissatisfied by the crematorium aspect of the stories and by how shallow they ultimately felt in the end (apart from sissy kinda, maybe?). Perhaps, ideally, these would have been BEs or more solidly “merry bad ends”. The HEs just felt so lightly (or resignedly) given and the conflicts glossed over? Given all the effort put into putting the MCs in the (figurative) trenches, the MLs got off so, so lightly in comparison. Maybe I’m too vindictive, but I need more than just emotional and self-inflicted physical turmoil for the reconciliation to feel okay. Perhaps it was intentional but it felt like a glaring omission that the MLs had a clear tendency towards treating the MCs as objects for their own self-satisfaction (not to mention the paranoid possessiveness)… and never clearly addressing that tendency in the reconciliation. Like, I don’t need the ML to turn towards the audience and say “Geez, I guess I should respect you as a person after all!” to the MC but it would have been great to know that theory of mind was in play for the MLs.
The most compelling parts of the stories dealt with how social/familial pressures influenced their bad behavior and choices in general, but that theme felt rather underexplored and maybe would have made the MLs especially feel more fleshed out to me. I think I’m really put out by the not-really-redemptions because I read a manga that had a more thorough realization-change for the ML where he snapped out of disregarding the MC’s boundaries/personhood after *really* crossing a line, recognized how he’d wronged the MC, and extensively made amends - all way before considering/pursuing a romantic relationship.
tl;dr: the 188 novels I’ve read so far are too much and not enough for me when it comes to toxic/abusive relationships with HEs.
I just realized my post cut like half of what I wrote off and won’t let me edit it back in here’s the full thing
He gets furious, worried about Chengxiu finding out but ultimately forgets that nighr from a hangover. Chengxiu (mc) his friend sends the photo and he feels disappointed but expected Shao Qun to cheat because he has before. Shao Qun worries he found out, but his whole defense is he didn’t ACTUALLY kiss the dude (even though he was going to) He gets mad that Chengxiu found oit but doesn’f seem to care that Shao Qun could’ve kissed that guy or cheated (like genuinely wtf Shao Qun. You want him mad that you kissed someone, so you KNOW it’z wrong and upsetting to your partner but are willing to do it anyway?) and he himself also gets MAD jealous at one of Chengxiu’s friends/kind of an ex, a man who still likes Chengxiu, and would flip and has flipped out if that man is even near Chengxiu let alone touching and a freakinf KISS so it’s hypocrisy at its finest. I can makeout and flirt with others but you can’t
Ok it keeps cutting it off nvm. All those minutes spent ranting for it to be lost long story short, shao qun didn’t really change and is a cheating hypocrite and the mc forgave him to easily and the author glossed over this incident
Yeah it’s that one
I agree with pretty much all of that. I like angst and groveling, and kind kf enjoyed that in these novels but ultimately the endings felt unsatisfying and/or boring and the MLs feel like they are still shit and don’f really love the MCs
Oh girl.. u rlly suffered huh after he cheated the first time, I was OUT. I want ur patience
I’m reading the Sissy novel in the 188 series, a BL, this will have spoilers btw so beware.
The ML, Shao Qun, this fucking hypocritical bitch. He had controlled, manipulated, abused, and cheated on the MC Chengxiu their whole relationship. Then the whole arc if chasing and groveling blah blah. Now in the side stories, bro has the gall to say he’s changed and loves Chengxiu and everything. But this dude still goes out and flirts with men, lets them touch him, and get this. He says in the novel when at a bar with a guy flirting, he wants to sleep with him but can’t bear Chengxiu to run away. But he says just a kiss is fine, right? Well one of Chengxiu’s friends takes a picture of the man going to kiss Shao Qun. And only when Shal Qun notices the flash does he stop the kiss.
He gets furious, worried about Chengxiu finding out but ultimately forgets that nighr from a hangover. Chengxiu (mc) his friend sends the photo and he feels disappointed but expected Shao Qun to cheat because he has before. Shao Qun worries he found out, but his whole defense is he didn’t ACTUALLY kiss the dude (even though he was going to) He gets mad that Chengxiu found oit but doesn’f seem to care that Shao Qun could’ve kissed that guy or cheated (like genuinely wtf Shao Qun. You want him mad that you kissed someone, so you KNOW it’z wrong and upsetting to your partner but are willing to do it anyway?) and he himself also gets MAD jealous at one of Chengxiu’s friends/kind of an ex, a man who still likes Chengxiu, and would flip and has flipped out if that man is even near Chengxiu let alone touching and a freakinf KISS so it’s hypocrisy at its finest. I can makeout and flirt with others but you can’t