man what the hell is wrong with haeyoung's brain. i genuinely think he has some kind of disorder or something. ain't no way he's this evil just for fun. haewon is stronger than all the US marines combined, i would've killed myself right in front of the 3 semes by chapter 30
i still like it though teehee
i only tolerate this manhwa because the BL side story (aka peak fiction) wouldn't exist without it, and also because the art is pretty & the sex scenes are hot. other than that, this manhwa is infuriating, and it's mainly because of the main character duna.
listen. i support women's rights and wrongs, and i love a fun irredeemable villain. but she just pisses me offfff. or rather, the way the story treats her pisses me off. the reason i like wookyung but hated duna is because the narrative treats her as an innocent widdle victim who did nothing wrong, and wow she's such an Epic Girlboss(TM) for putting that asshole misogynist minho in his place!!!... motherfucker, you raped him. you are a rapist. that is unforgivable compared to minho's faults. i've said this before, but i would have preferred if duna was just an unabashedly evil bastard like wookyung. that would've been entertaining to see. i want more Evil Femdom, please.
also, haesol wasn't as nice as i remembered. he's a spineless enabler and an accomplice. fuck that boring ass twink, i had to look up his name several times because i keep forgetting about his existence. oh and shoutout to gyerin for not being terrible i guess LMAO. at least she got a good ending.
sidenote, i've seen some people commenting about how awful duna is (which she is) but refer to her being promiscuous as a character flaw, literally calling her a slut or whore (meanwhile wookyung is Right There). there's nothing wrong with having an active sex life as long as you're not cheating and everything's safe and consensual. duna isn't bad because she's a "slut", she's bad because she's a SEX OFFENDER and the story acts like she isn't.
wait did i misspell the MC's name? is it "doona" or "duna"? shit, my bad
So this is trash but the bl side story is peak fiction? Make it sense.
just my personal opinion. i admit it's not the most logical take, considering i enjoy characters like wookyung. i think i just have a personal sore spot when it comes to depictions of women sexually assaulting men and the male victim's trauma being ridiculed or ignored after, because they're a Man and women are "too soft" to abuse/rape men or some bullshit. it hits too close to home for me, i guess.
also i just love yandere characters and their extreme, unwavering obsession & loyalty with their love interest, so that made me like wookyung more and doona less since she cheated and has commitment issues.
i think it's because of the relatability aspect. most people don't personally know any yanderes in real life, but do know a few cheaters or emotionally unavailable partners. so i find doona more unlikeable even though i know wookyung is objectively worse. i find her asshole behavior a little too realistic to be enjoyable, compared to wookyung's almost comical level of villainy. i guess that means the writer did a good job with doona's character. i still don't have to like her though.
i also used to hate minho because of the same realistic asshole behavior, but he goes through so much undeserved suffering that i ended up rooting for him instead. he's kind of like theon greyjoy from game of thrones, in that way.
You basically said: I like a fictional rapist who tried to made someone a living sex-doll but disliking a fictional girl who cheated on her mysoginist boyfriend. A nothing burger paragraph.
hey what can i say, i like my problematic rapeslop :)
if it makes any difference, i still would've liked wookyung if he was changed into a girl and hated doona if she was changed into a guy. hell, i would've LOVED a female wookyung. there needs to be more girl semes in the world. like, the same role as typical semes in BL, except they're a girl. and they wreck the shit outta their male ukes. that would make me explode (positively)
Sure...
good on you for having a properly conducted explanation of your opinion and acknowledgment of character faults this is the kind of discussion I can get behind (also “Doona” is used in the fanlation while “Duna” is the official translation of her name :9 “oo” and “u” can be interchangeable when romanizing korean)
thank you! i've had this manhwa on my mind for a couple of years now, but i've never talked about it with anyone at all since it's a pretty niche work, and 99% of the time i'm just a silent lurker in fandoms. writing my own review and trying to analyze why i like/dislike a story is pretty fun.
(warning: me yapping about my thoughts on this manhwa)
i've been re-reading sadistic beauty side story b for over 5 years now and it's still my personal favorite BL. it's so fucking good man. it's everything i could ever want in a dark romance / dead dove kind of story. perfect for Sick Twisted Perverts (TM) such as myself.
- the art style is gorgeous. i love how the character designs have a good balance between an idealized anime look and realistic proportions. thank you geumsan lee for your amazing art
- wookyung is an extremely possessive, obsessive, batshit insane seme and i love it. i like that the story doesn't shy away from the brutality and awfulness of his actions (despite the visuals being very appealing and sexy; this is still smut after all). the trauma he inflicts on minho is never handwaved and has actual consequences. his behavior is explained but never excused. i hate doona because the main story frames her as an innocent little victim by the end when she literally raped minho. if she was just an unapologetic evil piece of shit, i might have enjoyed her character as much as wookyung, someone who's done much much worse than her. i like that wk never gets redeemed after he apologizes to minho and tries to be gentler with him. it’s more realistic that he remains a scumbag until the end.
- this manhwa is just the right amount of fucked-upness for me. some of the other dark BLs I’ve read is too bleak and disturbing even for me, like non-zero sum. i like that manhwa too but good lord it is hard to stomach during certain parts. i've re-read sadistic beauty BL countless times, but it’s hard for me to re-read NZS (although SB is a lot shorter, so...) also SB just has better writing than NZS. NZS is just nonstop relentless abuse and rape every chapter, to the point that it's almost boring LMAO. idk why i enjoy these kinds of stories. but it's MY trauma and I get to choose the coping mechanism!!!
- i like that wookyung and minho's relationship has been built up since the main story. you technically don't need to read it to read this one. i did and i think it's more impactful when you get to know them both as individuals and their history with each other before they eventually get together (even though the main story's not as good as this one lol). also, seeing wookyung's interest in minho grow from mild to all-consuming is fun. like watching two cars about to crash in slow motion and being unable to stop it
- i think the ending is pretty good. “good” doesn’t necessarily mean “pleasant”, just that it fits with the story. i love me some unhealthy codependency. inject that shit straight into my veins. i'm so sorry minho, you deserved better
Omg so trueee!! Everything you said , based asf.
Also the part about wk being an Irredeemable asshole is so true. I like that he never changes , he never becomes a better person. And am sure even after this ending , minho never gets the happiness he deserves , or at least an escape from wk , because wk wont change. He didnt and he wont and i find that to be very realistic. (though i feel bad for minho)
so if i wanna read sadistic beauty the yuri and yaoi, do i have to read sadistic beauty? i wanna say i read the yuri story a long time ago when i was younger, but i genuinely cant remember..is the guy in this story the same in the main one? and do i also need to read the main to read revenge thinking?
you don't really have to, i just personally find the BL side story more interesting because i've followed the characters from the very start (i didn't read the GL side story). you can just look up summaries if you don't want to read the whole main story.
the uke in this story is the ex-bf of the female protag in the main story
reverse thinking has no relation to sadistic beauty, and is written by a different author. they just have the same illustrator
Whats nzs
"Non Zero Sum", another BL manhwa. it's even more disturbing than Sadistic Beauty, so be careful if you're gonna read it. almost every single chapter has sexual assault, physical / psychological abuse, or both :')
Thank you for your reply!! I think i'll skip it
came for the porn, stayed for the genuinely impressive composition and solid psychological horror. i like the oppressively bleak but mundane tone conveyed through the visuals and dialogue. most of the colors are muted or gray. it's like everyone in this universe has at least One mental illness.
what the hell is wrong with yuwon. i love him, but he worries me. he should just accept his new role as dohun's attic wife. i think it would be an actual improvement from his current life