Just finished the main story, haven't finished sides yet (though idk what even is the point of the side stories tbh since this is a different MC and ML).
I think MC is a well done power fantasy character. She's imperfect, her logic is flawed, and she's not infallible, and I loved that. But she's really the only well written character, relatively. ML ended up being her accessory. Aside from the initial massacre, he ended up being a nothingburger. The story keeps trying to push him as some "problem" but he literally was nothing but the deus ex machina.
Now, for my big rant: I HATE how they did three characters dirty. Terion, Caspelios, and Miloyd. Terion was a character that did not need to exist. He was sidelined early on, then it's like the author just remembered him near the end. Literal zero impact on the story and should never have been brought in. He could've been MC's morality pet or something, but no, he was thrown away.
Caspelios... another promising character that the author utterly failed. He could've been a no name mage, and nothing would've changed. With all the enigma around him, I thought he would be this important character. Heck, I thought he was Lagris and was a double agent, but no. Story literally did nothing for him. Main story didn't even reveal his identity despite all the buildup around him being this mysterious, important figure of the Tower. He even had his own flashback segment which... ultimately led to nothing.
Finally... Miloyd. Man, my heart aches for him. Literally the biggest victim in this entire story. For the record, I loved Valeta's final monologue towards him because it encapsulates her character perfectly: both her rights and wrongs. It was a monologue from her perspective and it neatly tied up her relationship with Miloyd (though it felt rushed af. She didn't even say it to hin directly. Ironic considering she calls him a coward.) Seriously, Miloyd is just as much of a victim as MC and ML are. Difference is, he didn't know he was a victim until it was too late. He genuinely loved MC. He even tried to fight his father, but the manipulation ran deep. MC berated him for "choosing to do nothing" but he literally couldn't do anything because he was manipulated at such a young age and trapped in a gilded cage. He was literally powerless, and unlike MC, he didn't have the mind of an adult as a child. I absolutely felt bad for him that MC hated his guts because she thought he assumed she has a happy life (she hated how he expected her to have led the same life as him), but at the same time, she expected him to break free from abuse and manipulation like she did... too bad for him, he didn't have the mind of an adult, the foresight of having read the novel, and an OP character by his side to massacre his abusive family and give him a new life. Yes, he was a coward, but when your manipulator is Satan incarnate, it's kinda hard to do anything. Heck, he even believed until the last minute that his father loved him, only for him to get stabbed for it... then the love of his life just told him to "kys" because he wasn't strong enough or smart enough. And for the record, I think he never even willingly used the binding necklace on her. MC just thought he did, which made her hate him even more... which adds to his tragedy.
Which is also why the side story gave me the ick. Not only did it give us a different version of MC and ML (who coerced OG MC into making love, btw) but it also villified Miloyd so hard for no good reason. Like, why did the side story make him a pathetic caricature of his father? It's as if the author hates him or something.
I always knew his fate would either dying in the hands of his father as an ally or dying to MC and ML as a full blown pathetic villain... I didn't expect he'd fall into a coma after being sidelined...
I still loved the story, and I enjoyed Valeta for all her rights and wrongs... but all the other characters are just... sad. ML's a terrible ML, Terion, Pel and Miloyd were wasted... oh, at least the two duke were pretty much a married gay couple, so there's that.
This really reminds me of those well written slice of life shows. Just people living through their lives. It's so poignantly beautiful. Not a lot of drama and the conflicts are so grounded. It almost feels nostalgic.
Funnily enough, despite the characters being adults, it also feels like a coming of age in a way. Everyone is o beautifully flawed. I'm so glad I gave this a read.
But I'm glad I didn't. It ended on the best pace since the main plot was already done. It would've dragged out otherwise.
Chanhee really was Mina's morality pet, huh? She really started losing her way after his coma, and her next "justified" (in HEAVY quotations) actions happened after he woke up.
I wish Chairwoman lady suffered a bit more doe. I also thought the ending would have both Mina and Unc kill each other, but I think her continuing being a hitman/savior was a nicer closure with a better denoument.
Also one of the few times a psychopath/sociopath type character was handled well imo. Most of these types of characters are usually portrayed as just evil so it's refreshing to see one that is morally grey (might even be on the lighter side). Though I'm not sure if she counts since she clearly has emotional attachments to Unc, Chanhee, and her family.
Overall, good read!
Lol this reminds me of My Possession Story Became a Ghost Story. Both head empty cinnamon roll MCs being treated like eldritch horrors
That's it. And not just MC and FL, everyone is so well written. Heck, Nina had like 5 chapters of screen time and I adore her already lol.
I also adore ro-fans that are seen from the Male MCs perspective. Just makes our baddies look extra special.
Everything beyond felt side story-ish, specially after their high school mini arc. I don't know, but things kinda got boring from there, specially since the writing became more monologue-ey and novel-y. No dialogues, lots of tell-not-show, etc. Even the good luck bad luck felt forced, as if it's a different manhwa altogether. And they included a lot of gratuitous "sex scenes" that aren't shown, which kinda make no sense too since it's clear it isn't R19. Ngl, I can kinda see why it got discontinued despite how amazing the main story was.
I think the last shot of Taekin looking at them with warmness wraps up the manhwa pretty neatly, and their high school past is a nice set of side stories.
Seriously, the OG premise is as vanilla as it can bet, but turn it BL with an unhinged power bottom (I'm assuming) MC with side of GL involving supportive FL and we've got something amazing on our hands.
Everything about this was great except for how the plot developed. Specially by the middle, things felt stagnant and the climax of the story didn't feel climactic at all.
Also, was lowkey hoping viscount dude and young lord got together at some point lol. Like, they were pretty much attached at the hip and in the plot for no reason, might as well make them the 2nd couple. Also, young lord's chamberlain also just disappeared randomly somewhere along the way lolm
It was cute but... eh.
Title and premise is clickbait. Seriously, the "honey scent" was relevant for like half a chapter. One would think one of the main plot points would be MC navigating his life as a cloyingly smelly guide in a den of horny eSpers, but no. It was literally mentioned twice and was used as a convenient plot device for the two to get together and was never mentioned again. Wdym the honey scent in the fcking title and the synopsis literally cannot be smelled by anyone else???? And I thought his honey scent isnalso the reason he doesnt like deeper guiding... but no, it was a different.plot point pulled out of nowhere. Seriously it was right there.
Speakong of the other guild members, you can literally erase them and nothing changes. They were relevant for 10 chapters max. You'd think Coda or even Czerny would pine for MC, but no. Wtf is even with long haired sleepy dudes split personality? And wtf is that threesome imagine spot with the twins?
At the very least, I was expecting some tension and even spicy partner changes but no.
Also, the entire Ano subplot was... eh. Literally got swept under the rug without any actual effect on the plot. So much potential for angst and healing / character development, but no. Nothing.
Finally, the way MC and ML got together was so contrived. Like... the PoS ML who dgaf played around a and MC just agreed? The infatuation was out of nowhere.
Long haired bitch bishie guide is the most interesting part of this story lol. Queen just wanna stir up drama everywhere he goes.
I just wish they could've tied up loose ends... like MeowieMeowMeow's admirer or the review bomber of Earth Cafe (they left that quite vague).
It's so easy to tell that the ending was rushed. I'm pretty sure the season has just begun too. The author was also setting up a sort of relationship between Hyunsung and Yise before the series's hiatus(?) that I'm willing to bet that they have an entire plotline of the two of them coexisting planned out. Seriously even the OffBeat subplot was suddenly dropped. I'm so sad for the author that they didn't get to tell the story they wanted. The series was so good the entire time except for the rushed ending.
I first read this way back during the pandemic when it only had 20 or so chapters. It was a classic "sweet potato" story filled with frustration at the time. Eventually, I stopped reading webtoons altogether for a while, last I read was around ch40... I started reading again recently, finally picking this up once more and finishing it.
It's so... healing to see how the two leads are so broken and despite all their flaws, managed to work through their problems and heal together. I love how Violet eventually settled into her own, powerful peraon without losing her gentless, kindness, and rigidity. I love how Winter lslowly learned what love really is, with his toxicity eventually transforming into a proper love language. Even 'till the end, they still had some flaws, but their growth overshadowed those flaws and it's so... happily poignant to see their ending and love for each other. Definitely not the best story out there, but it will always have a special place in my heart. I will remember Violet and Winter's story for a very very long time.
Really, the story only started getting some semblance of coherence at around ch80 when the Shinhwa guild became the focus and MC settled into his mentor tyoe role. Before that it's just... all over the place. Heck, I had hope about that one crine syndicate boss... and he ended up self destructing in just 2 chapters without input from the characters lol.
And then the Rainbow 6 keeps getting mentioned but only three of then got revealed. So much wasted potential.
Setting aside how Julia was practically shoehorned into Theon's arms... because honestly, of all the cast, Julia seemed to be the one most fitting to be free spirited and independent, and even she found the idea of dating Theon to be repulsive (Justice for her as well). Ray and Theon had more chenistry lol.
Anyway, setting Ray's doomed yaoi aside, I really hope we get to see Dorothy finally eating Ray's tomatoes. Y'ALL HAVE NO IDEA HOW SAD IT MADE ME WHEN DOROTHY REJECTED OUR POOR BOY'S TOMATOES AND PROMISED HARVEST EARLY ON IN THE STORY, SPECIALLY SINCE IT WAS PROBABLY HIS MOST HEARTFELT GIFT. As someone who grows vegetables as well, that I REALLY empathized with Ray then. I really hope Ray's precious tomatoes make a comeback.
... is the fact that Liza will always be just like a fleeting dream to Jihun... and it hurts a lot.
Damn, I was lajghing so hard at Yeonwoo's pozza shenanigans I just had to read the entire second half again... then I noticed the hoof prints scattered around the cafe. Well shit.
Her sisters were such wasted potential for a compelling storyline, like honestly they might as well not exist. The plot doesn't feel like it's moving forward either. I was expecting some angst, specially considering she knew that her adoptive family killed her sisters (she was aware who the marquis was because the knight mentioned the family name during the massacre... and she recognized the name when the "father" was introduced). Honestly, the father might as well not exist too.
Honestly, red hair and princess had 0 chemistry. It's like they woke up one day and chose to like each other. It wouldve been more believable if Arjen and red hair HAD a thing because the plot kept going on about how Arjen is more strongly connected with red hair thus they had stronger feelings for each other. I was actually waiting for angst from princess girlie because of some formnof insecurity.
AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ABOUT HOW MESSILY THE HEIBI BLOODLINE PLOT WAS HANDLED. So they're literally just gonna sweep her bloodline uner the rug? There could've been a wholeass character arc for princess girlie about coming to terms with her bloodline but no, they decided to just ignore it altogether.
What happened to Riolu? What happened to young Lord Rosea? Heck, where tf is Ishina? Honestly, all the other characters felt like plot devices. Father (Idk his name, btw) and Sidwell are deus ex machina, Alex is token healer, Lloyd and Eiji might as well not exist. And it hurts to see Arjen go from main character to accessory. This webtoon had a lot of promise. I was actually expecting character growth from their struggles to open up to their family, to coming to terms with their bloodline, to their mana disparity (which was POORLY EXPLAINED, btw and had no significance in the story like honestly it was made to make princess even more of a Mary Sue), heck I would've even wanted red hair struggling and finally accepting his growing feelings for princess! I was expecting the other guardians to step in or smth when green hair and dragon(?) Seemingly disapproved or was bewildered with a guardian falling for their master but NO it was glossed over. The academy might as well not exist. AND EVEN THE ENDING WAS RUSHED.
And let's not even talk about Arjen literally not getting his own arc. Srsly, even when he was kidnapped, EVERYONE WAS MORE WORRIED ABOUT PRINCESS GIRLIE LOSING HER TWIN THAN ARJEN ACTUALLY DYING (not rly but yall get the point).
I knew there was a reason I dropped this webtoon, and I regret pouring time catching up to it.
Cliff: is an outright ass to Edith, forces Killian to go with her girl.
Comments: Please don't judge. He's just controlled by the plot. The novel says blah blah blah
Lize: Never outright hostile but you know is kinda cooking up smth.
Comments: HAH! BITCH IDC IF THE PLOT OR W/E GO DIE IN THE DITCH.
I just hope Killian and Edith gets their happy endinng, Cliff dies in a ditch, and I can't care less about Lize so long as she doesn't act up.