Star Blaze's Topics (93)

If you’re tired of toxic schoolboy bls, this is a great pick for a light hearted, not so serious read. If you’re looking for other reasons, check the other comments since I’m blabbing about plot spoilers.

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The description was a lot more interesting than the actual story. To be fair, it is a short story, but it felt like ML moved on pretty quickly from his love at first sight crush (who inspired him to study) to the nerd who is helping him study (who is the original crush in disguise). Classic glasses cliche, I wondered why he didn’t wear them to work, but maybe he looked like a student/easy target.

MC’s “shameful” backstory is a bit interesting. Instead of the standard orphaned hard-working top student, his parents are criminals who got caught so that’s why he has to earn his own tuition for school. There’s probably not much of a difference between dead parents and irresponsible parents who didn’t put money aside for their child in case a heist went wrong… but at least there’s no debt! He was a lonely since he was an only child, but I think it’s a good thing that he only has to take care of himself. And has privacy at home.

It didn’t really feel like MC struggled that much to keep his other identity a secret. Maybe if there were a couple more chapters showing close calls it’d be more accurate to the description, but it is what it is. Not to mention, are you telling me that he’s an otaku MC who isn’t familiar with a faster heartbeat, fails to recognize the signs and blames arrhythmia…? Bro, are you serious?
(╯°Д °)╯╧╧

Also, the cliche transition of the bullies to becoming MC’s friends. I forgot about the introduction chapter; it was hilarious to see that guy bullying him in the beginning (who was there when ML fell in love and recognized MC) to being the one to join him in winning the cosplay contest. And character development to save an otaku from being bullied.

It felt like author was setting him up to be the friendzoned second ML, but got bored so then he randomly went into the rough world of idol biz after reuniting with his “friend” (maybe cosplaying gave him a push in that direction). Author, please tell me you’re coming back with their development. I’ll take anything, even toxic yaoi (since they already have the backstory for it haha)

Last but not least, our top dog himbo ML! Honestly, he’s the star of the story, I adore him so much lol. Falling for someone at first sight, working hard to meet that person’s expectations only to fall in love with the person he’s spending time with (who is the original crush), going back to apologize for falling in love with someone else (same guy), confessing and finding out that he was in love with one person along. Also the way he threw a fit after getting rejected in a fancy setting LMAOOO

The ending was perfect honestly. I expected nothing less for ML to pull a stunt like this, but I still want continued side stories, especially for the side pair. Or at least I want to see MC’s parents’ reaction to him having a boyfriend haha

I believe the full title should've been “How To Reject My Obessive Ex-Husband Until He Proves He's Changed"

Or honestly the original direct translation wasn't too bad-
Refusing Your Ex-Husband's Obession: A Guide

Because unlike what the title might lead you to believe, or judging from the cover, it is a story of second chances. If you're not into that, or if you're in need of something more than to just pass the time, this may not be for you.

I liked it for what it is, even though I did get tired halfway through and only came back after seeing that it was finally completed. But it's not perfect, and doesn't completely follow the original novel so it's not safe from my critisim haha. Ending spoilers "you haven't read / finished this yet!

P.S. Im not a novel reader, went looking for spoilers lol

It's not that I'm unsatisfied with the ending. but there's so many plot holes they didn’t address that I have questions about. For one thing, the fake saintess.

I've never seen a protagonist refuse the assignment they're given and there’s no immediate consequences, which I guess makes her a villianess for refusing. Or maybe she would've been the saintess if she was actually grateful about surviving and did the job that she was rescued for (without having a system that relied on her phone's dying battery and if returning to korea wasn't an option).

To play the devil's advocate, the villainess was originally a moder-day woman who is used to having freedom, so maybe having limitations as the saintess played a part in her turning out the way she did. MC had more freedom in comparison, and ML wanted to ensure she always had that freedom to choose. However, it could also just be her personality, and it was her choice to be selfish and gatekeep the saintess position even with the restrictions.

I don't know how to feel about the God/ess of this world setting. To give the benefit of the doubt, I think they mentioned there were multiple gods, so maybe there was an ill-intentioned god who saved the villainess and another god intervened to bring in MC.

It feels like this may be the case since her ranking was artificially raised and in actuality was no better than a B rank since she was never able to pair with any espers. Or my theory is that the system was bugged since it doesn't make any sense to raise the rank just by traveling between worlds. MC was fairly rewarded with having a higher rank by actually doing the saintess's purpose of finding and helping the awakening espers and guides, while the fake was lazy, only guided the prince and failed at guiding others.

However, when they were revealing this, it seemed to me that there was one God/ess who fucked up by choosing to save the villainess, who turned out to be a selfish bitch who has some responsibility of how MC & ML died in their first life. Luckily, they noticed MC was a pretty good person in her dying moments and decided to swap her soul to Irene's empty body to save the world instead.

It just really rubbed off the wrong way to me when the grand priest was given another prophecy that the second life was the last chance to save the world and they still needed to find the real saintess. Like, how was it their fault for taking the villainess as the saintess when she was just teleported into the temple as the original prophecy foretold her arrival? Were they supposed to test her morals or something?

Idk, it felt like God was unfairly blaming them of what happened in the first life when 1) how were they supposed to know she wasn't actually a good person/saintess and 2) the original Irene/MC wasn't even in the world when the villainess arrived. Like, God didn't put it nicely that the first one was fake or give a name to the one responsible for bringing her over in the first place.

Also, it might be just me, but I think it's weird that depending on how parents decided to name their children, they may be (un)luckily blessed with powers! Feels like a Pokemon Go naming hack - like, are these powers going to be hereditary or only for people named with religious connections?

Looking back at my past comment, I can't believe that there were readers who wanted to believe in the villainess's redemption. She was interesting for sure, but not redeemable in my eyes. Vindication!!!

Her original ending in the novel was pretty hardcore, where they cut off her arms using the portals and shove her back into Korea to be used as an esper resource and was experimented on for the rest of her life. In comparison, they were much kinder aka chickened out in the manhwa by allowing her to live as a puppet saintess and to guide CP.
(Karma in a way, where she goes from holding the leash to wearing it.)

According to MC, after attaining S-class, she was never able to bond with any S class esper anyways, making her worse than MC who was B class, which showed that her ranking was artifical and never changed from C class haha, so at least she's able to guide CP who can take it.

I'm not sure if it was done out of pity for him, or if they didn't want to draw chopping off the villinaness's arms, but in the novel he was originally going to be matched with a noble lady. I know that he was manipulated by the villianess and might've been annoying, but I guess they thought the ending would be better like this... haha cowards.

Also, because they chickened out of the original ending, we never get to see what happened to OG Irene and kinda assume that she's resting in peace. In the novel as l had mentioned earlier, she soul-swapped with MC and is living a good life, with the S-Rank esper that the villainess originally had a crush on. In a dream, the OG and MC were able to connect and the OG gave her trust and blessing that MC would take care of their family.

Maybe they wanted to end it perfectly at 100 chapters, but l still think it was a shame that they didn't follow the OG ending.

Ok, so I could be getting the wrong impression since the friend was randomly in recent chapters, and the cliffhanger was about this week’s chapter, but I have a theory…. Potential spoiler if it’s true but I don’t know if it is
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I think her friend is the author of the stories MC knows. Of course, there’s not much to go off of other than her asking her siblings about ML. And it doesn’t make much sense when she seems to be the only one taking care of her siblings and her grandma, so where would she have the time to write as a student, but on the other hand she could have taken up writing to support her family… or maybe I’m just overthinking lol

The manual or his teaching is the reasons why that everyone hates him lmao

His brother having an interest in her sister? But we already know how that ended, and thank goodness they’re in-laws so there’s no chance of that ever happening with MC’s protection!

mind reader was in a rush to get away from the stalker that he mistook mob’s voice

I swear the author has seen the fanart and is teasing us┗( T﹏T )┛

At this point I’m this close to creating them in tomodachi life and manually getting them together lmao

It’s an okay read if you want a story of revenge and to pass the time, although they do speedrun events close to the end. The focus is more focused on revenge than romance fantasy, although you could say it's revenge in repentance towards a loved one. The romance is pretty lackluster since FL remains duly devoted to ML, who shows up so late and follows her around like a lost chick to help her when needed.

Besides the revenge, I do like that there is a reason why the royal children have red eyes instead of them just having it for aesthetics.

Her relationship with her half-sister is kinda awkward. They're not super close, and FL's revenge is towards their brother and father. Remi is interested in FL (about adding her to her dollhouse due to her unique appearance) and is willing to listen to her words. She also chooses to trust and follow FL after seeing what CP did to their mother and assumes she's not safe from him. She doesn’t die in the end, and her dollhouse was destroyed, so idk if she continues her hobby or not…

Their familial relationship reminds me of “I Played the Role of the Adopted Daughter Too Well / The Unintentionally Ideal Adopted Daughter” except it’s a transmigrator who wants to unite a villainous family while FL wants to get revenge on select members.

FL doesn’t really have much thoughts or feelings towards Remi other than knowing how to handle her. She doesn’t agree with her hobbies, but doesn’t try to change her either. Remi decided to change to earn her sister’s affection.

The royal family’s abilities are fairly interesting. I saw someone say that the prince’s blessing is sending her back in time, but I don’t think so. Given that time that he gave people exploding jewelry, and he loves using bombs and dynamite, I think his blessing has to do with explosions [is that you, Bakugo?! HAHA]. Also when Remi taunted him about his blessing not growing stronger and him having to use man-made items, I think this is the answer. (FL’s team used bombs too, but he specifically made explosive brooches)

I just realized they used bombs a lot in this story. The fantasy element is only for the leads…

And now to rant about the plot:

Is it really a common troupe for ML to make a great sacrifice for MC so she gets a second chance? But lucky for him, she has an unforgettable love for him, so third story's the charm I guess.
Pitiful second ML. I would’ve prefered if he didn’t catch feelings (or if he ended up with ML’s sister. Instead, she gets engaged with some random prince. And becomes the ruler after uniting the dukedom with the kingdom to create a new empire… wth for some reason I was expecting her to end up with her teacher)

But I'm glad that they don't get together because ick from mental age gap. They had siblings vibes

I get that the leads’ marriage was arranged and rocky from suffering under her brother's hellish reign, but I still blame ML for realizing his feelings way too late, Frieren-style. (Siri/Alexa, play A Thousand Years by JVKE, John Michael Howell, and ZVC)

Not that FL could be absolved of the blame either, but I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt since she felt guilty about what happened to his family, so confessing her feelings seemed like it would add more weight to his shoulders.

I don't like what they did with the divine blessing. I thought she gained a tolerance to poison after having it so many times (but to be fair there are different types), but they’re saying that she somehow got his blessing transferred to her so she doesn't suffer side effects from poison??

That doesn't make sense to me, because her body’s still weak and she had to take pain medication. Unless you’re telling me that’s from her overworking herself, smh.

Honestly, I still don’t know why she and ML went back in time. She thinks she went back in time because of the curse of killing her brother, but she really was forgotten by everyone except for ML. I thought ML did something, but even he doesn’t know (unless he lost his memory, but idk). I’d believe it if he used his divinity or something to turn back time from regret, but instead divinity is only for healing and strength…

I wanna either headcanon either that her gift was to go back in time, or maybe ML did something with his divinity to bring her back. Honestly, because canonically she has no gift, I wonder if she really is the king’s daughter or her mom was lucky to sleep with him to give her a life of royalty - not that it went well for her in the first life. Or maybe the paternity test confirmed it (which is usually fishy af).

Also, with the first prince and princess, I wonder if the king got jealous of his kids, so he didn’t care if they died, or if he accepted their deaths as part of a bloody battle for the throne. Still a terrible father.

Final irritations:

I think I've become desensitized to orphanages receiving help from FLs, because even though it was a good thing, it felt like a random action just to make her kindness shine.

Official localizers strike again, using modern terminology like "clout", "cooking" and "balls" ughhh

Arrows somehow working against men in armor... Also falling off a convenient cliff is too convenient, like twice. Not to mention splattering each other's homes with blood, and destroying them, Jeezus.

Not them taking advantage of the 7 year time skip to not show FL training to use a sword HAHA

ML just looks like an awkward big boy

Mild gripe but why was the Debutante ball different from coming of age?

They really do be living celebrity lifestyles - if you don't show your face to the public, you'll be forgotten. FL hides away for 7 years, they forgot her face. CP is confined for 3 years, oh wait there used to be a prince? So easy to play public opinion like a fiddle back and forth between the two sides, but also too real.

Summary is under my comment.

I remember reading the unofficial translation, and waiting for this to marinate. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it’s alright enough to pass the time.

Fair warning that the setting may not be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s really messed up, especially considering today’s modern standards. The people are really shallow and value beauty. Idk if they really know what love is: there’s a law called “Newlywed Rehearsal” where couples can live together for a year before getting married. But also it’s acceptable to cheat on your spouse??
MC was reincarnated into the original FL of the story, but it's a dark mature romance where 3 MLs take turns with her and she ends up imprisoned and killed by CP. MC understandably wants to avoid that ending, so with her hack cheat makeup bag, she makes herself look ugly and undesirable.

She enters a contract marriage with the ugliest (by society’s standards) bachelor, who happens to be her type, and as they do with contract marriages, fall in love and decide to stay together. She also befriends her future nephew, and teaches him skincare.

I like the nephew’s love interest, but I’m laughing and crying angrily that she’s another “ugly” stereotype: glasses and braids combo

The plot/villains: Charlotte’s appearance was not a coincidence. She’s also reincarnated, being the actress who bullied and died with MC in their past life. I wonder if they reincarnated at the same time or if she came in later OR if her pride got to her head (beauty is power in this world) because she still tries to bully MC despite being in a lower status than her.

I’m not buying the reaper’s statement that it wasn’t him who brought the actress into this world with MC. It’s too convenient to blame it on a demon who impersonated him.

Thanks to MC’s cheat, she’s able to evade the MLs’ attention and the law until her engagement is set and confirms mutual feelings with her endgame.

Silver seems to be the lesser of the evils, wanting love. I would believe it if he was the first one to be engaged with OG FL, and because of how meek and weak he is, somehow got scammed/lost her to Alfonso who’s the sick bastard with twisted tastes. Or maybe he was second, where OG was unfortunate to fall for Alfonso’s mask and went to sliver for refuge, only for him to obsess over her and fail to protect her when things went downhill.

And then she ended up with CP, who was essentially her endgame but he couldn’t fix her broken soul and ruined her will to live.

But of course, MC cannot get away completely undetected. So there’s a backstory behind the original plot, that royalty have powers thanks to wolf heritage, and their mates have amazing scents that only they can smell. OG FL chose CP, but he fumbled so MC, armed with her knowledge of the plot, picks someone else who better aligns with her tastes and could help protect her.

Apparently Lucas was never a contender due to his insufficient looks, but thanks to MC’s transmigration and disguise, she was able to match with him.

If I had a dollar for every OG ML who turned back time for OG FL from regret and hoped for a happier ending… gimme my two dollars lol

Except for some reason he really thinks they can work things out. I’m not sure what his plan was if OG FL was so done with her tragic life that she didn’t even want to move onto her next life, let alone go back to that hellscape. But she did seem to want to get revenge, which MC didn’t fulfill (or she didn’t understand that living well is the best revenge and MC is focused on surviving her way) so MC is tormented by OG’s nightmares of the past.

I’m sad that OG FL didn’t have the revenge that she wanted, but it’s not like she straight up asked for MC to get it for her. MC was given her body since the reaper was essentially killing two birds with one stone: give MC a protagonist life and put a soul into a body whose world turned back time because the original no longer wants to live.

Even though MC literally has the same hair and eye color, not to mention her alluring scent, the makeup is too OP and repulsive haha so there’s no way that she’s his dream girl… until it’s revealed that she is!

I think CP completely lost his mind after finding out, because for some reason he’s repeating the same cycle despite knowing that he turned back time. Was his sacrifice his IQ? They called him “wise” in his introduction (ch 3), but clearly he’s not.

Because he can’t comprehend the reality that’s in front of him. OG FL/MC doesn’t want him, she chose someone else and skipped the rehearsal law. He’s fixated on the idea that they’re soulmates because of his happy dreams and chooses to ignore the ones where she tells him to die. He doesn’t even make good plans, all he does is try to see and “rescue” her when she’s constantly rejecting him. Because he thinks this time it’s his relative who’s imprisoning her this time, instead of the other 2 MLs.

What was the point in remembering there was a “reincarnation” tag for the original story? Was it supposed to be a hint for MC that she’s not living the beginning of the story, but rather the second half? Was there supposed to be a redemption arc for CP, but she forgot/didn’t know where in the story she was at and messed up his plans by changing her face and causing CP to glitch out? What about OG FL who was like “nah, I don’t wanna live anymore“.

But either way, she knew it wasn’t a good ending, and this is just me trying to piece together why CP was going psycho at the end.

Plus Lucas still needed to have one rival, and this was the only way to have that final stand off since the other MLs backed off once MC was officially off the market since they couldn’t go against Lucas’s protection, and they were content with sharing Charlotte.

I’m still mad that they didn’t get any karma, but to be fair they didn’t do anything to current Laila because she was able to protect herself. And Charlotte had to have her harem somehow as the main character. Not a full harem tho, since CP was the only one who received karma for going after MC.

Also, the main character syndrome is weird in this story. Apparently MC was able to debuff it with the power of disgust through makeup. After revealing her true beauty to the world, she was ensnared by the rules of the plot (where MC must face hardships/misfortune, whoever storyboarded this section was really lazy with it), but after remembering her past life, she was able to snap out of it. And was somehow able to pass off the protagonist halo to Charlotte after getting married.

Then again, it’s not like CP ever deserved a second chance, but this story low-key feels like it’s taking a shit on popular troupes, like red-eyed, black haired MLs, and the reincarnation into the villainess’s body to fulfill a wish and become the protagonist - but she failed to get a happy ending haha. But when you give them low IQs like this (what even gave them the confidence that they could break the leads apart?), it’s not a win. But it was pretty satisfying to see MC directly throwing hands with the villains haha

But that scene where Charlotte pushes Michael and still tries to get in Lucas’ good graces??
Her: my dress is hard to move in
Her dress with a slit: …

Also, they also used cliches such as endgame ML being the exiled Duke of the North. Mature novel setting but not for leads. “You’re horny and scared of losing control? Here, take modern day pain medicine as a suppressant!”

They went way overboard with the cliffhangers with foreboding words, “little did I/we know what was coming up next”. The first time, understandable. The second and third times were nothing burgers or just a standard follow up scene. I’m guessing that the numbers of readers were dropping and that was their way of trying to keep the interest, but it comes off as annoying when it turns out that it’s not a big deal in the next chapter.

Also I thought they were having their wedding in February, so after the first one was ruined, ML’s like “let’s have our wedding in February” and I’m just like, IS IT NOT STILL FEBRUARY?!?! HELLO?! (╯°Д °)╯╧╧

I do agree that this story can be appealing to certain audiences, and I don’t hate that they ended up together, but MC was too easy. He did have a little pushback moment (rightfully so after the second/third time ML forced him, but probably should’ve distanced himself after the first time honestly) but realistically he really should’ve made ML work harder to earn his trust instead of immediately accepting his confession. Or tried to move on (seriously, where were the women supposedly interested in him before he got involved with ML?)

If l had a nickle for every story title with "Surviving Romance" but the main focus isn’t actually romance. l'd have 2 nickles. It's not much, and weird how it keeps happening, out the possibility is never 0 haha. Also that's on me for not paying attention to the genre, but l digress lol

Spoilers Galore! This is me trying to be considerate of people who haven't read this masterpiece yet. If you’re looking for reasons to read, look down at the other gushing comments lol I’m just here to ramble about the plot and characters
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When they mentioned that the true villain was with them (Among Us Covid Era!) my first thought was purple since they mentioned bringing hope to MC (she was the first extra to reach out to MC and devils love stories (since she's an upcoming metuber). I forgot that she had a whole stay-safe sequence with her family on her second life (but also the devil is aware of the 4th wall / readers, so who's to say that she wasn't just acting in front of us haha).

Also how fast MC ruled her out when she wanted to leave and started streaming in the beginning, but then Seeun had to let her know that she was wearing a bracelet - her reactions lmao

Maybe it's too cliché to have your strongest supporter to turn out be your enemy, so I did feel bad for suspecting her and am glad that the core members who came back with their memories were not the devil in disguise. (Or actually it was technically true, since she was MC's first supporter / shown appearance)

The only hint of the devil was suddenly acting weird in the second attempt by emphasizing her love of games for some reason. As the gossip character and the first to reach out, I thought with MC that she was X, but the subtle foreshadowing-!!

OG me was definitely giving Monica, but she has a devoted love interest that she wants to wake up and escape with. I was wondering why she would give up her place to author, but I still don't know if I fully believe the voices thing.

It does take a lot of conviction to end yourself, which is something me is all too familiar with, seeing the number of times she died in the time loop and remembers her deaths.
I'm probably wrong about this, but I suspect that OG somehow blocked the voices so she could use current MO to wake up ML (we love a dense af ML who comes in clutch at the end, hahaha... no seriously, he didn't notice the pink hair and runs on face recognition.. heis gotta be a robot/tool that became self-aware)
Because if ML didn't wake up and me gave up, then l guess OG would have chosen to leave him behind and find someone in the real world who would love her but also be unpredictable.

I liked how they made a statement about love, and how it's unnatural if there's a voice in your head obsessing over someone. Unless you're certain that's your inner voice haha

Even though MC didn't love ML (admittedly she was using him as an escape), it still feels petty that she couldn't have him. But also Jihyeon had the best chemistry with her (and end game) imo, so I'm not mad about it. Just saying.

I wonder what would’ve happened if MC and ML tried leaving the school before the end? Maybe ML was always programed to become a zombie, or other zombies would block them.

I'm sad that they all couldn't make it out together, or stay together in that world, but I do like the ending even though it's open. MC did have friends and family in the real world. and she couldn't let them go despite feeling pressured and neglected by them. She needed strength to reach out and connect with them (to tell them she was going through a tough time - how were they supposed to know if she didn't speak out about it, and she found that strength through her writing ironic when it was her fantasy/escape).

Since it's unlikely they could ever have a celebration for surviving or have a reunion, I'd like to head cannon the whole event as a nightmare summer school/camp where they were all togther for a brief time to survive the place. and went their seperate ways afterwards.

Seyeong / Green - even though she may be understandably hated, it is MC/author's fault for writing her role into this story. She was never in love with OG/MC, she was listening to the voice in her head in hopes that it would be quiet after doing what she's told. She wasn't malicous, she was only looking out for herself I'm glad that the other girls understood that she was a victim going through her own struggles and gave her a second chance to redeem herself.

The "Love, Yours Truly' cover by Cecila Argo reminds me so much of her (not just because of the green hair lol)

Lessons learned:

- Do not make deals with devils unless you're a good talker or speaker who is on Lloyd Fontera's lvl haha
- Do not take your life if you still have lingering attachments to the world - that attachment can be your purpose to continue living.
- Just because you're tired of this world, it doesn't mean you'll be isakai’ed to somewhere better.

Kinda wish I had this story back when I was still in school. I related to MC, except that I wasn't boy crazy, and l wrote fanfics either about my ocs or other characters that l liked. I was the quiet one who chose isolation instead of trying to connect with others. I waited for people who made the effort to communicate with me, because I didn’t want to impose on someone who might not want to talk to me at all.

This type of thinking tanked my social skills in high school, and college was not any easier when everyone minded their own business. Social events were not manatory, and I always chose not to participate if not asked.

Covid helped me find and connect with internet friends, but it's not quite the same as being able to hang out in person. (Insert cheesy backstory that i got too self conscious to share haha)

Reminds me of Resetting Lady who was also constantly going back in time trying to save her lover, only to find out that (spoilers, but basically | liked this one more since there was no romance for MC, since redhead became insane for the sake of romance.) I couldn’t read until the end because I liked second ML more.