The afterwards.
Idc what anyone says, that ruined the entire series for me. That guy breaks down the history and religions of the world, the beliefs, and it becomes "everything is the fault of women" and "women are inherently impure", something I've heard way too many times. If the "teacher" bit had not been added, I would have enjoyed the ending and found the whole series bittersweet.
Now? Now this story leaves a bitter, ugly taste in my mouth. Every time I remember the good moments that made me think and feel, that scene will be in the back of my head. Yeah, but at the end of the day, every scene in this story equals how women are the root of all evil. Yet again. Ugh. I wish I hadn't read this story at all, because while everyone else can look past that, I can't.
Please don't try to explain it to me, either. There's no "fixing" what was already published. Whatever their intentions. That's what the author wrote and put out and that's how I interpreted it. If you see it a different way, great! I CAN'T. You "explaining" it to me well not change my opinion.
We're 26 chapters in and he's BARELY just apologized for choking her out hard enough to leave BRUISES on her neck. That's not "cute" or "anger management" that's a worrying behavior that leads to DEATH for most women. 99.99999% of men who do that will "apologize" and do it again only worse, until she dies. Let's not make it a "romantic" thing where he actively hurts her in a fut of anger and she's like, "But I like it when he touches me!"
This isn't just bad, it's dangerous to tell to young readers. Never, ever forgive violence directed at you like that. Because the reality is, even if they regret it later, they will likely kill you before they regret it. It's not a one time thing to be forgiven. I'm tired.
This is a terrible story but I've finished all my train wreck manga so I guess adding one to the pile wouldn't hurt
The pages in the last 2 chapters, 7 &8, have gone thru the digital equivalent of a shredder. About 3 or 4 pages have been cut up and mixed together, so that they're not readable. It'll make your eyes go cross eyed.
My boy Sonatek deserved better. Justice for my son!
Jokes aside, it wasn't terrible per se, I just never resonated with a villain more. The FL's mom was the whole problem behind the story. It was an interesting premise in theory. An author becomes part of her own story before it even starts, falls in love with the people and world there and wants to stay. She decides to change the plot in order to stay and ends up tangling up the plot instead.
BUT YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT THE ONLY WAY SHE COULD THINK OF STAYING WAS TO KILL HER OWN CHILD??? TF??
Nah, Sonatek's crash out was valid. I didn't agree with all of his logic but he had every reason to be pissed. She changed the original story, trapping dozens if not hundreds of people in a world they didn't choose. And her choice to change the story meant that her kid would die in the future. You couldn't have chosen any other choice? "I'll just switch these two characters! Who cares which one dies?" You could have added a character. You could have changed the personality of one of the MCs. Added a wild card to the story. There were so many other ways to do it without screwing over your literal future child for your current happiness.
And Sonatek was absolutely right to be furious and want her to suffer for her choices. She didn't just screw him over, she screwed everyone looking for a way back over. He didn't sell her out until the very end. He might have only done it to continue making her suffer but he didn't tell the others that she changed the story. He did everything he did in secret. He kept coming to her, too, asking her to set things right. All she had to do was work together to fix things with him or apologize. She never apologized to him directly. She only admits she was greedy and apologized to her daughter AFTER he's dead. He deserved so much better. My poor son. And in the end, SHE'S REWARDED for it. Nah. The villain was her all along and she got a happy ending. Justice for my son. 6/10 only for the art and the Duke's yearning.
I wish horrible things on the so called brother. May Damian never know peace. May he know that in later chapters, when his little sister dies, he was partially responsible. May none of his children ever respect or care for him. May the whole world treat him like a coward. Generational beef with this character. He is unredeemable.
The first 40 chapters are decent. They aren't spectacular or anything but they're entertaining enough. This is definitely a "turn your brain off" kind of manga.
That said, considering the pace of the first 40+ chapters, they really dragged out the next 60+ chapters unnecessarily. I ended up skimming through so many chapters or reading the first few pages and skipping to the next chapter. I still understood the majority of it, missing plot only once. Even then, I didn't care enough to go back and reread the one chapter I skipped.
This isn't the kind of manga I need to rant about. I'm glad it's over. It was a slog to get through.I have vastly different opinions from everyone else who seems to have read it. I hated the dragon character, was indifferent to the smut, and generally thought it was poorly written but passable.
If you want a much better version of almost the exact same story, Marriage of Convenience. The only difference is that there's no toxic ex but there is a crazy prince. Otherwise, it's almost exactly the same, point for point.
Woman goes back in time, does everything she can to change the future, slowly builds a relationship with her husband while improving the territory, improves the lives of people in the territory, there's a tournament where they both seem to realize their feelings, there's a war, there's a pregnancy, yada yada. I enjoyed it greatly. This? This I'll check off my list with a note to never reread because it was painfully boring.
I'm 30 chapters in and almost every chapter of the official version has mixed pages. And the regular version is mixed for me when it comes to reading. Some chapters are fine, and some give me a headache, but it won't have the same mixed chapters as the official. Ugh.
I am certain it's all illusions. Everyone is worried about him sacrificing himself but nah, that won't happen any time soon. Remember, he can only use it ONCE. It'll be used to save his man or something.
No, he's going to use some kind of status effect to remove the illusions. I'm sure that some of the damage is real but it wasn't caused by what they think it was caused by. Once the illusions are gone, the whole party can focus again and he'll be able to wake up the party members effected by the supposed dead coming back. Also, illusions would explain why they can't attack a creature (the lich) with the supposed low status he remembers it having in the game.
Could be wrong, we'll see, but I'm betting illusions.
You hated this story the minute the ML was picked. It quickly became trash. Don't trust the comments on this one, you hate this story, you hate the ML, and the MC quickly became yet another boring Mary Sue with zero agency outside of the plot the longer you read.
The fact that I could skip from chapter 29 to 49, 20 chapters, and still understand the flow of the story.....
I'm tired, fam.
I'm half way through the chapter and what do you mean, exchange letters???? A small plot point already established is that SHE CANNOT READ OR WRITE. That she had no time to learn before they had to move. And that the rest of the refugees were like her, too. Why do you keep repeating "letters" like it means anything in this context????? I'm sure they just conveniently forgot all about this established plot so far but it's bothering me.
Doesn't take away from the overall story, just need to gripe. There's a very specific process that manure needs to go through before it can go into the fields. Otherwise, you're just spreading diseases around and would be MORE likely to cause an epidemic, rather than prevent one. Especially if you're using bird droppings. I never see it addressed and it bugs me. Manure needs to be "seasoned" or to basically be "heated" in order to kill all the harmful bacteria. And if they're using the aging process, that means they can't use those fields for AT LEAST four months, if not longer. That's how serious it is. It's a minor thing but every time I see this in a plot, all I can think of is, "They're about to get the runs."
Why is it always some convoluted story? Why can they never just say, "We got engaged for political reasons but grew closer and fell in love." It's still romantic, it's believable and it's simple enough to remember. It might be even more romantic than the usual convoluted stories. Relying on each other in tough moments, quiet little dates outside of public view, soft talks exchanged while staying together, little trips away from the capital, etc. It's very sweet and heart warming and wholesome. The nobility would eat that up. It would give others hope that their political marriages could become love marriages.
Idk, I'm just tired of adding dumb plots to contract marriages. It's an overdone trope and while I love it in theory, I wish they would put a little more effort into it. Make it softer to the general public. Make it believable. Stop trying to "sell love" in some complicated way and give people a love to strive for.
Alternatively, let it stay a political marriage in the public eye. Don't explain it's a love marriage at all. Instead of pretending it's for anything but politics, lean into that. Let them fall in love behind the scenes, give us yearning and pining while they desperately want to be intimate in public but are afraid of ruining their current image. Give the sweet moments of softly brushing a hand against another, of light kisses on finger tips, of drawing away subtly when others stumble upon them. Shared glances across the ballroom and sweet, secret looks at each other that end with them both shy and flustered when they make eye contact at last. Have the people around them in public slowly catch on. Let rumors and whispers build, as people first question their relationship, then quietly swoon over it. Have them be oblivious to everyone else catching on and they keep trying to keep the yearning in check but it's so obvious now that others are looking for it. Let the embarrassment sink in, leading to one or both of them wanting to sink into the floor when they realize they've been cause. Let it become an open secret that the nobility laugh about in an affectionate way. The awkward couple that married for political reasons, fell in love and didn't know how to show it.
There's so many ways to make it cute and sweet and gentle and wholesome, to give that fluttery feeling in the pit of your stomach and leave the reader smiling for days. Get rid of these stupid convoluted plots as a cover, you cowards. Make us, the readers, giggle and swoon.
https://www.mangago.me/read-manga/becoming_a_family_with_the_duke_and_his_dear_son_officia/
This is all the way to the 90s. I think it's complete but I can't remember.
All I can hear is Sabrina Carpenter singing her lungs out.
"There's a cuter word for it, I know
Manchild~!"
This is a reminder for myself. Damn, this was painful to read. Got half way thru chapter 7 and couldn't even finish that.
The whole point of the "last 3 years" for the prince was to secretly build up a support system for himself. That's all he was supposed to do. Instead, he did what again? Sat in a mansion, acting as a friend for the FL. Then he takes her out of that mansion WITHOUT the ability to protect her, DESPITE HER LITERALLY HAVING A CONVERSATION ABOUT THIS WITH HIM. She brings it up first, stating she can't leave, because she needs the backing of a noble to fulfill her dreams of the future. He says to her face, no big deal, I am a noble. She points out that it can't be just any noble to go up against her family and he states he can handle it. So that was a fucking lie. If he has no support system, he can't even protect himself, much less her. The very first night he brings her back, he's threatened. When they're preparing for the ball, he's threatened.
Tbh, I'd leave at that point. Look him straight in the eye and tell him that he's the reason I'll have to give up on my dreams in the future. Because that's exactly what he would cause. She left her house for him, which was the right call, but by trusting him, she immediately got on the wrong side of the most powerful nobles of that country. If that isn't selfishness incarnate, idk what is. He ruined her future and I'm not going to read further, pretending that it can be magically fixed.
This manga's readers, in a nutshell. I'm so glad I'm not the only one in this comment section feeling it.
The crash out in chapter 31 was nice, tho. Too bad it can't last.
I want to like this story and under other circumstances, I probably would. I adore the idea of a strong woman and her twink husband. I even like their character dynamics here.
I just can't get over how unfairly Duke Felthard is being treated. I don't usually get second lead syndrome but it's hitting HARD here. And from what little I've read of the comments, it doesn't get better for him. He's constantly stuck in second place. Even if he does get a different partner, it doesn't sound like it'll really be "by choice" but rather, once again an author forcing a pairing to wrap things up in a pretty bow.
He deserves better. He deserves the right to be able to express his feelings without pressure, even if he's rejected. He never got that, of that I'm certain. They'll end up married and he'll either be forever pining over her or forced to give up on her without saying anything. Which is a different kind of hell, because there's no real closure in that regard. I'm just tired reading it. It's not funny, it's not cute, it's emotionally exhausting knowing that he'll be made fun of the entire series, like he has been so far, worth his emotions never taken seriously. I've read manga where that happens to women and it's never treated as a joke. No idea why it's being treated as a joke here.