Cressida's manga / #I absolutely ADORE this Author(9)

One of the most unique takes I have seen on the old Cinderella trope. A marvelous aspect of this story is how it deals with incredibly heavy topics without losing humor and warmth. Our main character had a very hard life; his mother abandoned him when he was little, his father was an alcoholic, he dropped out of college, and has been taking care of himself for most of his life. What puts the story in motion is the fact his father dies and leaves him with a huge debt. On the same day, he founds out about this, he re-encounters a classmate from middle school, who happens to be the only person who has always treated him with respect and kindness among his peers. This guy offers to help right away, which the uke refuses profusely, saying he doesn't need pity and charity, especially from someone as privileged as him. What differentiates this manga from others of the same genre is the constant communication, in other Cinderella formats the person who needs help and the person who desperately wants to help them don't really talk, and it feels claustrophobic and sad. The first thing that is established about these two is that they really like each other, and the only thing keeping them apart is the class divide and the uke's last shred of pride. Our poor main character makes his feelings clear from the beginning, it is really hard for him to accept this person in his life because of his inferiority complex, regardless of how much they love each other. But the seme is extremely honest and determined, therefore continuing to reassure him of how important he is until he believes it. It's as sweet as a story about poverty and debt collectors could be.

Unfortunately, we barely get to see them together as a couple, by the time the misunderstandings are cleared it's literally half a chapter of fluff. This is understandable, since the manga is clearly aiming for more comedy than romance. I suppose it was refreshing to see people acknowledging how disrespectful it is to speculate about a person's sexuality out loud, basically creating a rumor that could destroy a life.

This manga really made me reevaluate how I view the concept of pity. So basically the seme approaches the uke because he sees him crying alone (after having broken up with his cheating boyfriend), throughout the story, he second-guesses the seme's feelings and intentions believing to be humiliating that they may have begun as pity and not attraction. The story refutes that by understanding that the type of pity the seme felt is not the kind where you look down on someone for how unfortunate they are and that makes you feel uncomfortable, so you help them in some way to make yourself feel better. The kind of pity he felt was seeing a person in pain and wholeheartedly wanting them to feel better, (then after getting to know the uke better and falling in love with him) wanting to be the person that makes him happy after all he went through. There is nothing wrong with needing and accepting help, sometimes you meet someone wonderful who loves you wholeheartedly and genuinely wants to make you happy, so don't let pride get in the way, just enjoy. In case I hadn't made it clear already, I absolutely adore this couple with all my heart.

Lovely to see an actual socially awkward person talk about how hard it is to express yourself while in a relationship.

The seme is a lonely scary guy, but the uke approaches him anyway because he's nosy, seme falls in love extremely fast, and is quite pushy with the uke. It's pretty generic, but it has some cute moments.

A simple reencounter story, with some amazing artwork and heartfelt script. Adorable and wholesome.

This gives me life, I feel all the happiness they feel(which is a lot).

This one is a classic to me, also one of the first Yaoi I read back in the day. It is quite a heavy concept, thinking your significant other would be better off without you and fully seizing the opportunity of letting them go against their will. The uke has a lot of anxiety regarding their present and future as a gay couple living in a homophobic society and thinks he shouldn't give up on a "normal life" just for him. Of course, it's wrong to take that decision out of his hands, but we can empathize with someone who knows what being shunned and disowned feels like. "If you say my happiness is important to you, then stay by my side and smile"