Wednesday, July 23, 2025

LycoRogue's Reading Corner: July 2025

Est. Read Time: 20min
This Month's Font: Playpen Sans

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Phew! I gotta say, 40 was a ROUGH year. Here's hoping 41 goes a LOT smoother. The fact that this month's LycoRogue's Reading Corner is nearly 10 days late is not a good start. But I can blame that on the suckiness of being 40. New start. New page. Time to hit the Reset button!

But, speaking of "40 sucked".... You probably noticed that I now have back-to-back LRRC updates, but I don't have my June writing update.

Cropped Trade Offer meme

Sucks that I failed myself again. But also... I had nothing to talk about. I kept pondering and pondering and doing mental gymnastics to try to come up with SOMETHING, but... I didn't write in June. Like... AT. ALL.

I didn't really go on the Discord server. I clearly didn't work on blog updates. I gave NO thoughts to any of my WIPs, nor did I come up with anything new. For a while, I was at least brewing up new characters or alien races for Scum & Villainy, but that more-or-less died out in June.

When I said that my head was empty; no thoughts, I was not kidding.

The limited "me time" I found in June was instead spent finally playing video games again since I haven't PLAYED in such a long time.

I couldn't even think of a monthly blessing. Sure, I could note things like my mom celebrating 30 years since she beat breast cancer.

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Edited by LycoRogue

I could also note that my youngest cousins graduated from high school, or the successful turnout of the US's No Kings protests. However, all of that are blessings on other people that I also found joy in. As for something that blessed specifically me or my life, I couldn't think of anything.

Yet another reason why a June writing update would just be fluff.

We're already over half-way through July, and not much has changed, just so you are forewarned. I had a packed schedule for this week in celebration of my birthday, so I'll at least have that to discuss in a week or so. But actual WRITING updates for my Writing-Update blog post? Eeeeeeeh?

In the meantime, though, along with using my free time to play computer/video games instead of writing, I've also gotten back into binge-reading.

Having either completed or nearly-completed the two Lemon Frog adaptations I was reading, I figured it was time to cycle in another one.

LF's webnovels have been, in order:

With the exception of Crimson Karma, which doesn't seem to have a manhwa on Webtoon, and A Slave of Rubelfast, which seems to be too new of a webnovel to get an adaptation yet, I have read nearly all other adaptations of LF's stories. The two I had remaining were What the Evil Dragon Lives For and Duchess in Ruins. Seemed like the perfect time to pick one to bring in to replace NYTRS and/or AoA.

Maybe it was because it's a newer series, or maybe because it better fit the style of romantasy I've been reading, but Duchess in Ruins was the one that Webtoon was really pushing on me via in-app ads. So, I figured, "Sure. Seems like the perfect time to try this one out."

Edele Lancaster is the perfect noble lady who has been groomed for the job. But when her husband whom she married reluctantly commits treason, she is branded a traitor and becomes a slave. Distraught, she tries to kill herself to preserve honor as a noble lady, but her new master, Count Laslo Krissus prevents her from doing so. Will Edele be able to find freedom and happiness in her new life as Count Krissus’ maid?

    - Official Webtoon Summary

This story reminds me a little of LF's earlier story: The Duke's Cursed Charm. In that story, Duke Carhel is presented as this cold, bloodthirsty noble who wanted nothing to do with women. He then took Lena as a prisoner after dispatching her treasonous family, and made her his personal maid. Many outside of Carhel's home assumed that this was a "worse-than-death" sort of torture for Lena.

What actually happened, however, is Carhel was revealed to be a sweet, kind, loving, (mostly) gentle, and generous person. He only killed whom he needed to in order to protect the empire. He was never needlessly cruel, and even took great pains to prevent being cruel. He was afraid of women due to the trauma his curse gave him as a child, but quickly grew affectionate towards Lena. The happiest part of Lena's young life was when she was Carhel's maid and personal attendant/assistant. That was when she was treated with the most kindness and compassion, and when her opinion was most valued.

Jump to Duchess in Ruins. You have the same basic opening plot beats. Count Laslo Krissus is a former-mercenary-turned-noble, known for being a cold, bloodthirsty hound of the emperor. He has never been seen courting any woman (despite the emperor's clear attempts to set him up), and so people wonder if (a) he wants nothing to do with women, or (b) he is only interested in using them for their body and moving on. Either way, not the best reputation with women.

He's more-or-less forced to take former-duchess Edele as Spoils of War after Laslo stopped the duke's attempted secession from the empire. Laslo decided he'd use Edele as another maid, since he was short-staffed anyway. Many outside of Laslo's home assumed Edele would live a "fate worse than death" where he'd routinely torture her, humble her, and/or use her for her body.

What has actually happened, however, is that Laslo is a kind, humble, awkward little bean who has no clue what he's doing and is fumbling with the whole "fake it till you make it" thing. He was only a mercenary because it was his best chance to provide for himself, his kid sister Lynnia, and the kind elderly couple who took them in after becoming orphaned. He only attacks and kills for the emperor when the empire is in trouble, and it's basically at war. He didn't even necessarily want the title of Count, because he feared the responsibilities tied to that title, as well as knowing that meant full fealty to the emperor. He only accepted the title because (a) he was kind of strong-armed into it, and (b) he thought that would provide his sister with a better dating pool to find a spouse that could better provide for her and maybe treat her kinder than commoners. (He had no clue at the time how cruel the aristocracy were to their wives.)

As for the women thing... guy is just awkward. His priority his whole life has been to provide for his sister, protect his family, and be a soldier to keep food in everyone's mouths. He never really had a chance to even interact with women or show a kind front. Now that he's living a relatively peaceful life, he has no clue what to do with himself. Especially since he's in his late-twenties now. A bit late to be socialized with "the fairer sex". 

He also clearly became smitten with Edele the moment he saw her at her engagement party three years prior (when Laslo first became a count). She was out of his reach then (being engaged to a duke) and she's still out of his reach now (being his maid; he won't abuse their power dynamic). It's a major green flag that he has promised himself that he will ignore his feelings for Edele and never touch her in a romantic/sexual manner. It is also incredibly frustrating as a romance reader who WANTS THIS SHIP TO SAIL! DAMN YOUR INTEGRETY, LASLO!

Getting back to the parallels between DIR and DCC, much like Lena living her best life as Carhel's assistant, Edele has also found happiness as Laslo's maid. She made friends for the first time. She also connected with Laslo's sister, who reminded Edele of her own beloved younger sister. Edele is now living a simple life of few amenities and creature comforts, but is genuinely smiling for the first time since she was a child (maybe even first time ever. Period). Laslo also proved himself to be a kind employer, despite clearly not knowing a thing about running a noble household or county. Thankfully, he now has Edele to help him.

With only 30 episodes out so far, I ended up binging the whole thing in one sitting. I just spent one of my days off - when I wasn't really feeling well to begin with anyway - tucked in bed and endlessly reading.

Unfortunately, it seems the production schedule for a Webtoon Original weekly release was too much for the small production team. The artist Candlebambi actually burnt themselves out to the point of needing hospitalization!!!! The story adaptor and storyboarder Saedle wasn't doing much better, also having to go to the ER for an IV drip. 

Due to the health issues, their production director (I'm assuming that's what PD stands for) put the series on hiatus mid-May. There's no word as to how long they will be on hiatus. I know the PD wants them to obviously recover, first and foremost, and then have a decent backlog of work so the updates are more manageable without sacrificing their health again or the quality of the series. I wish everyone involved in Duchess in Ruins good health, quick recovery, and a less grueling production schedule. In the meantime, I will patiently await its return.

At least they were able to get to a good season-finale stopping spot before their forced hiatus. That way I'm not stuck on too much of a cliffhanger. It was a (mostly) satisfactory ending for now.

The not-satisfactory part? Wellllllll.... I can't blame Candlebambi or Saedle for this. Based on the cover art for Spoils of War Duchess, this was Lemon Frog's doing.

See, when we're first introduced to Count Laslo, he's still very much in the mindset of a mercenary despite being a noble for about 3 years. He still has that gruff soldier appearance. Long, shaggy hair and a scruffy, but still well-kept beard. He had this "Dangerous" aura that so many of us readers vibed with. Myself included. We were all like, "oooo! A non-pretty-boy male lead! Refreshing!" Many top comments even affectionately referred to Laslo as "Beard-kun" (which uses the Japanese honorific 'kun' for a European-designed character from a South Korean writer, but don't worry about that...)

I mean, look at this rugged guy!

Panel from Episode 4 of Duchess in Ruins
art by Candlebambi

Unfortunately, the season finale included a little confrontation between Laslo and his sister. A confrontation I actually predicted would happen as soon as I read that Laslo largely agreed to accept the title of Count in order to help his sister find a better marriage match. A confrontation that I almost perfectly predicted the dialogue for. So, yay me!

As predicted, Lynnia called Laslo out on the stupidity of becoming a Count for her, but not changing his outward appearance or reputation at all. How is him becoming a count supposed to give her a better marriage pool when no one is willing to meet with him in order to strike up a match? The other nobles either look down their noses at him since he used to be a commoner, or they fear him because of his gruff appearance and history of being a mercenary. Instead of improving Lynnia's marriage pool, he shrunk it. The nobles want nothing to do with her because of him, and now she's out of reach for a commoner to be her perspective spouse.

The only way he can make it all up to her is to improve his standing within the nobles (perhaps finding a wife for himself first). Which means: Make Over Time!

Farewell, rugged, unique-designed Laslo. You will be missed.

Ozon's Salute meme

Our poor, awkward, fish-out-of-water Laslo is now yet another Romantasy Male Lead pretty boy. I mean, I'm not mad at how he looks. He truly is handsome, and I would have been happy if this is what he looked like the whole time. However, since we were gifted the beauty that is Gruff Male Lead to start off with, this does feel a little bit like a downgrade.

Panel from Episode 30 of Duchess in Ruins
art by Candlebambi

Yeeeeaaaaah, we, the readers, had the same reaction, Laslo. What did they do to our boy!?

I'm assuming it's going to be a plot point, but I also have a different concern about Laslo's new look aside from "he's Generic Male Lead now." See, there's a weird vibe coming off of the newly crowned emperor. He presents as maybe cruel and manipulative, just like so many emperors in these romantasy manhwas. But he also gives this playful "truly wishes to be friends with Laslo" vibe?

The other nobles mock that Laslo is only a count due to favoritism from the emperor, and it's done in a way that feels petty, like they only think there's this close bond there because they can't accept that Laslo actually earned his title. At the same time, the emperor privately notes that he quickly clocked Laslo's interest in Edele during her engagement party. He KNEW his boy was smitten. He also knew that Edele likely had nothing to do with her husband going to war with the empire, which is why he specifically ordered for her to be captured alive as a prisoner of war. The emperor then made a point of "gifting" Edele to Laslo as Spoils of War. Me thinks he's trying to set his boy up. The new emperor is also disliked by a lot of the noble families because he was a warrior prince. So, I feel like there might be an honest battlefield-bond and true affection for Laslo on the Emperor's behalf.

What does all of this have to do with Laslo's new look? Well, the series has also been real careful to censor out who Laslo's parents were. He was about 12 (and Lynnia 3) when their parents died. However, in Laslo's flashback, he's sprinting away from home with Lynnia on his back. It's strongly implied that their parents didn't just tragically die. They were killed. And when the kind elderly couple found them on the streets and took them in, Laslo paused before saying his name. Again implying that perhaps Laslo isn't actually his birth name, but a new identity he took on when he was 12 to hide who he and his sister truly are. Lynnia was probably too young to realize that Laslo wasn't going by his real name anymore, and definitely too young to now remember what his true name actually is. (He did give Lynnia's name right away, so I'm assuming that's not an alias).

Anyway, all of this cloak-and-dagger makes me think that perhaps Laslo is a Secret Prince or something. The emperor's younger half-brother, or maybe a 1st cousin or something. Maybe the emperor even knows this, but decides to keep that fact hidden? Not sure yet. Just got that vibe.

To add to the "Laslo and Lynnia are secretly part of the imperial family" theory... I present yet again Laslo's new look.

Comparatively, here's the emperor. Keep in mind, the above image of Laslo is him looking in a mirror, so his part is actually over his right eye, not the left, as depicted.

Panel from Episode 1 of Duchess in Ruins
art by Candlebambi

Like.... those designs are near-identical, right? Like, Prince and the Pauper levels of similar. It will definitely be interesting the next time we see Laslo and Emperor Demarkus in the same room.... Why do that - design Laslo and Demarkus so similarly - if they aren't meant to be close blood-relations?

The series definitely leaves a lot of questions. And the artwork, as you can see, is gorgeous. I am excited to give those first 30 episodes a detailed reread once the hiatus is done to get myself re-invested in the story. In the meantime, however, I still needed a replacement story for Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story and The Age of Arrogance.

Which is when I turned to the last available manwha adaptation of a Lemon Frog story: What the Evil Dragon Lives For.

Unwanted from birth, illegitimate child Elaine Newt knows better than anyone that life’s not fair—especially when she's chosen as a human sacrifice to appease the wrath of evil dragon Rabeth, who’s sworn vengeance on the empire for sealing him away for 500 years. But to her surprise, Rabeth grants her three wishes for waking him up from his slumber. When Elaine uses her first wish to stop Rabeth from destroying the empire, she finds herself transported back to the past with a chance to live her life all over again… but this time, with a dragon by her side!

    - Official Webtoon Summary

OK. So. This series is actually already completed! The creators of this series - Honaran and manubi - really tore through this! Started a couple of months after NYTRS premiered, but ended their 105-episode run at roughly the same time. As of July 19th, the first 88 episodes are unlocked for free reading. I know I'll regret this decision, but I couldn't help it; I've been binging this series as well. Moreso this past week than the June 15 - July 15th span that this reading update is supposed to cover, but to-may-to; to-mah-to.

Monday, I was feeling like absolute crap (exactly what you want when you're on vacation), and I spent hours in bed with a sore back and hip (growing old is fun....). Before passing out for about an hour - after which I felt a LOT better - I spent a good two-plus hours just reading more of this awesome series. And each night I can't resist reading 2 or 3 episodes before falling asleep.

This is a bit different from your classic romantasy story. As evidenced that the two leads are the standard female lead - Elaine - and a FLIPPIN' DRAGON as the "male lead"!

Rabeth, despite not being the standard male lead, is definitely Best Boy.

In this world's lore, a dragon can only hatch one of two ways: brooded by its parents, as per standard "egg hatching", or by a non-dragon if their blood and tears soak the egg. If a dragon is hatched by a non-dragon via blood and tears, the dragon is then contractually obligated to grant the hatcher - the dragon's Contractor - 3 wishes. There is also this unspoken bond between the Contractor and dragon, akin to how Dragon Riders and Dragons are typically portrayed.

We learn that the human who originally hatched Rabeth - Lansus - ended up betraying him, sealing him back into his egg, where he waited 500 years to be re-released. Elaine then unintendedly hatched Rabeth on her 16th birthday when her cousin struck her in the head with Rabeth's egg, thinking it a simple rock. In Elaine's initial life, she was so distressed by her cousin tossing a rock at her head, that she ran away before Rabeth fully hatched. Therefore, she didn't realize it even happened, and Rabeth had no clue who his Contractor was. Instead, he was simply filled with rage from the betrayal of his original Contractor, and spent the next decade growing in power until he could finally destroy the empire that trapped him. Coincidentally, to try to appease Rabeth, the empire used Elaine as a human sacrifice. Rabeth was appalled by the practice, and then instantly noticed two things about Elaine. 1) She had the mark of his Contractor, and 2) she was the reincarnation of Lansus. Rabeth was torn in his feelings and growled out his obligation to grant her 3 wishes. He demanded she make them quickly so he can break the Contract bond and get on his way. He didn't expect her to use her first wish to save the empire by forbidding him from destroying it (at least, as long as she's alive, and Rabeth can't harm her).

Rabeth had purposefully corrupted himself in an attempt to get as powerful as possible in as short a time as possible in order to enact his revenge. There was literally no way for him to grant Elaine's wish without self-destructing. His only option was to rewind time to before he corrupted himself: to the moment he re-hatched.

Transmigrated into their younger selves, Rabeth and Elaine kept their knowledge of the next ten years, and this time, Elaine stuck around to witness Rabeth's hatching. He used his draconic powers to make it so she is the only one who can see him, that way he can stay by her side until she makes her final two wishes. He can also manipulate his body in a way that no mortal creature can. Yes, he was small and baby when he hatched, but that's because his egg was small. If he wished, he could revert to his adult body at any time. He could also transform into his human form at will. And THERE is where we get our romantic male lead!

EXCEPT! It takes 28 episodes for Elaine to meet Rabeth in his human form, she doesn't realize he's Rabeth, and it's only a brief encounter. So, here I am, binged 44 episodes in, and no actual romance between Elaine and Rabeth - or Rabeth's human persona Sergei - has actually started. Although, Rabeth has definitely been catching feels more-or-less from episode 1, despite himself.

As I mentioned, Rabeth can control which form he takes, and so, to make things easier on Elaine, he usually keeps his "travel-size" hatchling form. He's basically the size of a house cat, and Elaine tends to treat him as such. Letting him perch on her shoulders. Cradling him in her arms and pulling him in for cuddles. Petting him and giving him affectionate kisses on the crown of his head. The fandom has taken to calling "travel-size" Rabeth "Baby Toothless." Because, well...

Panel from Episode 7 of What the Evil Dragon Lives For
art by manubi

Elaine, in some of the later episodes I've read, notes that 500 years (and change) isn't really that long for a dragon to live. Especially if their soul is trapped for the majority of it. As far as other dragons are concerned, Rabeth is probably still a child. She then muses over this fact and how Rabeth does act quite childish at points. She's not wrong. It's kind of adorable though. He's definitely in that preteen "I want to show affection but don't want to look weak, so I'll pretend I don't actually care" mental maturity level.

As I said before, when Rabeth first met Elaine he tried to pressure her into making her wishes as soon as possible so he can end the bond and be rid of her. Almost instantly after reverting time and seeing how cruelly Elaine is treated, Rabeth offers to use his powers to better her life. He then specifically tells her that he wouldn't consider doing so as part of her wishes. He's simply trying to show off how powerful he is.

Uh-huh. Sure. Has nothing to do with you not wanting her to actually use her wishes and breaking your bond, right????

Nearly half-way through the series, and Elaine has literally only made that initial wish that Rabeth not destroy the empire. The other wishes haven't even really been mentioned outside the opening few episodes. Rabeth clearly isn't pushing Elaine to use them anymore.

He also routinely defaults to his Murder-Vengeance mindset that made him want to raze the empire in the first place. You wrong someone, be prepared to be killed as a form of justice for your cruelty! This time, however, it is on Elaine's behalf. Naturally, she is appalled by the idea and routinely yells at Rabeth that, no, she is NEVER going to wish death upon her cruel cousins or her other bullies. No murder!!! Rabeth calls her a fool and pouts that she won't let him do a murder.

Soon enough, however, Rabeth won't even openly use his powers to prank Elaine's tormentors, because he fears disappointing her by seeking revenge on her behalf. Even so, he DOES still sneak his revenge. Things like causing Elaine's female cousin Ellie to trip and drop her cake on top of her brother Martin's head after Martin and Ellie taunted Elaine at tea. Or Rabeth secretly trapping Martin inside the horse shed for hours after Martin trapped Elaine inside the temple morgue.

Rabeth has also used his powers to help Elaine with her chores, since she was given the Cinderella treatment and forced to work like a maid. He also magically caught Elaine when her cruel cousins pushed her down a flight of stairs, so she landed softly and didn't injure herself.

The first time the readers got to see Rabeth's human form (which takes on the appearance of a man in his early-to-mid 20s), it was while Elaine was sleeping. He wanted the chance to softly pet her head to comfort her the same way she showed him affection. In the episodes I recently read, he also transformed while she was asleep so he could tenderly kiss her hurt knuckles, telling himself it was probably fine that he showed such affection even though he's not "her mate".

Speaking of, he routinely notes that his new goal is to find her a proper mate to care for her. He then asks her what she's looking for in a partner. Since she never had the opportunity to consider marrying for love or even affection, she hadn't given it much thought outside of "someone who truly cares for me and loves me and will protect me". Naturally, our Best Boy Rabeth starts offering up HIS traits as things she should look for in a mate. Also, when Elaine mentioned meeting "Sergei" briefly, Rabeth INSTANTLY was like, "Oh! What did you think of him? Is he someone you'd consider breeding with?" (his way of asking if she finds someone attractive)

Like, boy, chill!

Rabeth has fallen HARD and has NO CLUE how to handle these feelings since he's never experienced human love before, and he's still trying to present himself as this intimidating, superior, and massively powerful creature. Humans are below him, pfft! At the same time, though, the reason he came to Elaine as Sergei was because he knew she was in trouble and he could only come to her rescue in his human form. He was disappointed that she met him that way, though. He wanted to first be this powerful human that all the aristocrats talked about, and then show up at a grand party that Elaine would - for some reason - be invited to. She'd see him as this great man at the center of all the attention. Clearly the most eligible bachelor within the nobility. And THEN he'd introduce himself to her.

Why is it so important that THIS was Elaine's first impression of your human persona, Rabeth? Hmmmm????

Oh! And the real heart-skip moments? When Rabeth clearly pictures himself interacting with Elaine in his human form instead, but can't transform because ReasonsTM. So, we get a superimposed Sergei instead. Adorable! 10/10. Makes my heart flutter each time. Love it!

Panel from Episode 39 of What the Evil Dragon Lives For
art by manubi

Like I said, Rabeth is Best Boy. He's this little homicidal ball of chaos in the best way. Kind of reminds me of early-series Plagg from Miraculous Ladybug, before Adrien got Plagg to genuinely care for his partner and humans in general.

Also, Elaine is just Optimism personified. Reminds me a little of Adrien in that regard. She even has blonde hair and green eyes!

....

Am I saying I love this series so much because it's a Plagg/Adrien romance if Adrien were a woman???? I'll have to self-reflect on that.

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Edited by LycoRogue

Anyway, I'm not thinking this series is going to last too much longer for me. Right now, the final 17 episodes of the series are locked, so that will eventually slow me down, but either way, that means I'll be done with this series by mid-October. Maybe Duchess in Ruins will be back by then? Maybe A Slave of Rubelfast will have its own adaptation by then. Otherwise, I'll be without a LF adaptation to read for the first time since reading Webtoon in earnest. That will be a sad end of an era.

Maybe use that void as an excuse to actually read Lemon Frog's translated webnovels????

In the meantime, here's my current reading list. I need to find a Daily Read story again. Although I do seem to be using WTEDLF for that purpose right now, as I pointed out, I'll be hitting a paywall soon enough. Seems time to go back to the Subscription list. For now, though, this is what I've got on my plate.

Now, to resist just hiding in the corner and binge the rest of the free episodes of WTEDLF. Instead, Hubby and I are curled up on the loveseat and playing catch-up on all of the Cloudward, Ho! episodes of Dimension 20 we've missed because of his late work schedule lately. (I may even finally get to watching season 6 of ML... we'll see)

Super chill way to ring in my 41st. Here's to this year going smoother than the last one.

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Wednesday, July 2, 2025

LycoRogue's Reading Corner: June 2025

Est. Read Time: 40min
This Month's Font: Comic Neue

Yup. Not even going to dance around it. Not going to be cute about it. Just going to accept the fact that (a) June's LycoRogue's Reading Corner is BEYOND late, making June the first (and hopefully only) month where I missed both updates entirely, (b) I don't really have much to say, which is why this update is so late, (c) I have no clue if anyone even noticed that it was missing and/or if this would be missed if I didn't publish it at all, and (d) I am literally forcing myself to write this because of a promise I made to myself at the beginning of the year that I'm trying desperately to keep, and I'm already pissed off at myself that I DID entirely miss June. I'd be livid for days on end if I just foregone this update entirely.

All because this is still basically me:

Panel from Shut Up, Takamori!
by Kamiharu Haruno
Crude edit by LycoRogue

Same deal as when I talked about it in my end-of-month May update, so I won't rehash it here. I'm just so burnt out. I'm going to need that week-long vacation for my birthday in a couple of weeks.

The burnout not only sapped me of any motivation to write (both fiction and this month's blog updates), but it also drained me of virtually any passion for reading, with a few exceptions. Which means, instead of adding to my list, like I have been doing every previous month, I've actually lessened how much content I'm consuming. Which is another big reason for this update's delay.

I have nothing new to really tell everyone.

To demonstrate my point, instead of keeping it at the end of the update, as I normally do, I've decided to share my reading list right at the top. So, as of May, this was everything I was reading.

Stories, such as I Am The Villain and At Your Mercy concluded their seasons and are currently on hiatus. So there's two down. Others, such as Mythic Item Obtained and Writer's Legacy I haven't kept up with because I'm just not feeling action comics again. Even Ultimate Shut-in tends to be at the bottom of my list. That's one where I only seem to read it when I'm in the app already, have read the other things I wanted to read, still feel like reading, look at my backlog, and then go, "Oh yeah. I guess I can read more of this."

I'm just not really feeling the action stories right now...

Tangentially, there's Fantasy High which I'm very much still itching to read to see how the adaptation resembles the original DnD Actual Play. However, since we watched the series together, and Hubby was kinda-sorta reading over my shoulder when I started up Fantasy High on Webtoon, I now save that for when Hubby and I can read it together. Which has put us 3 weeks behind as of this writing.

On top of those stories that I've been neglecting, there's also Dark Water. After being on hiatus since before I even started reading it (May 9, 2024), it is FINALLY back! Except, it's been so long that I can't really remember where the story left off when it went on hiatus in the first place (especially because it wasn't a season finale and therefore a natural stopping point). So, I have to more-or-less reread the story from the beginning, and I didn't have the energy for that. Which means this story is also just kind of hovering in limbo.... Honestly? I'm perfectly fine with that. It looks like Dark Water might be an abandoned series and Webtoon just finally unlocked the last 5 Fast Pass episodes since it has been on hiatus for over a year??? Soooooo, that series may stay on the To Read pile for a while....

Also, while this more-so affects July's LRRC as opposed to June's, another series just concluded and a 2nd soon will (I'll talk about each of those in a moment). Which reminds me, I never did go back to read the epilogue/spin-off episodes of Office Romance from Hell. So those are still there - along with the final epilogue for I Abdicate My Title of Empress and the final episodes of Divorcing My Tyrant Husband. (There's also the 3rd season of Lore Olympus that is still in my backlog....) Finally, since Hubby seems to be fixated on going through the vast Dropout back catalog, now that we can access it, as well as checking out shows via Hulu, since we also recently got that subscription, it seems like he fell off the KDrama kick for now. Which means no real need to tear through The Girl Downstairs (Doona!) anymore. Shifting THAT story to the back burner as well drops my reading list down to:

  • Daily Read:
    • The Makeup Remover
  • Sunday:
    • You Can't Kill Me: The Secret Bride of the Black Wolf
    • A Savage Proposal
  • Monday:
    • Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story
    • Seabird and the Wolf
    • Fantasy High (sorta... behind on this)
  • Tuesday:
    • I Will Live the Life of a Villainess
    • Lock Me Up, Duke!
    • Ultimate Shut-in (sometimes)
  • Wednesday:
    • Back to having nothing to read, currently
  • Thursday:
    • The Age of Arrogance
    • Maybe Meant to Be
  • Friday:
    • My Child Will Have a Different Father
  • Saturday:
    • Obsidian Bride

Yes, it's still 13 stories, but, man, does this list just LOOK so small.... Maybe because it's only consistently 11 stories out of the 19 I was reading last month?

Also, I am caught up on Dracula Daily, but June is the Slow Month for the story, as is the beginning of July. This is probably part of the reason I have a hard time sticking with it. I get hyped in May. I read the updates daily. Then there's a week-long pause. Then one or two entries. Then another week-long pause. Then another short entry. Then ANOTHER week-long pause.

You do other things with your life while waiting for the next entry; falling off of your reading rhythm in the meantime. You come up with a routine - like reading the Dracula entry while eating breakfast, or something - but then there's no entry so you do something else to fill that void. But you do the filler so many days in a row that when the one, lone entry drops in, you go "Oh, I'll read that later" and continue with the filler routine instead. You do that for nearly a month straight, and now the filler IS the routine and you have to figure out what you're going to do for Dracula Daily again come end of July.

Plus, the story gets back into the swing of things via the Log of the Demeter, which takes place my birthday week. So I'm usually on some sort of vacation for my birthday, and thrown off my normal day-to-day routine. Making wedging in Dracula Daily even MORE back-of-mind.

In the end, I don't really get back into a consistent reading rhythm again until August. By then, I'm nearly 2 months behind on entries and it's hard to catch up!

Tanuki Facebook sticker
by Yanare Ku

At least this year I'm staying caught up, even if I am a day or two late in reading the entry. Hopefully, by the time we get to the part of the book I haven't read yet, I'll be back into a daily routine and can once more enjoy the added flavor of reading the entries in real-time and feeling that time between updates.

In other words, my reading routine has been consistently keeping up with 11 Webtoons series, read a 12th if the mood strikes, read a 13th if Hubby is up to reading over my shoulder, and read the occasional Dracula update.

OH! And zenmisery started up yet another story, so I did eventually read that... after it sat in my notifications for a month!

Zen's latest foray into the world of Miraculous Ladybug AUs asks the question, "What if Marinette's class - including Adrien - had all actually met in kindergarten, but didn't remember that was their first meeting?"

The interactions between Adrien and Marinette are so friggen cute. Seeing Adrien get his first crush is all I needed to hook me. However, Zen's Muse moves fast and uncontrollably, so who knows if it will have her continue this story, add more chapters to any of the other WIPs she has going on, if she'll think of yet ANOTHER new story to try her hand at, or if she'll vanish for months again before hitting us with another surprise sneak attack of a writing update a few months down the road.

I can't really say much, though, since my writing schedule - despite myself - is equally unpredictable.

But let's talk about what I have been reading. Since I don't really have much to say in general about my June reads, it feels like a good time for some Recap Updates. I can think of things to say if I'm trying to recap 13 different stories.... Might make this late upload worth it. Who knows?

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Let's start with the story that concluded this week! Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story!

This is a rough one for me. Monday night, I read the series finale of NYTRS. I started up this story March 2024, and have been reading the free-release updates weekly ever since. Over a year I have been locked into this story. It helped inspire one of my most popular fanfics. And it will soon be gone. Concluded. Only fanfic left to fill my need to consume more Edith and Killian content. I don't think I'm ready!

There's spin-off/epilogue episodes planned for this series. So I still have a LITTLE more canon content to look forward to. Which is good, because the series finale left some pretty big loose ends still dangling.

The main plot is more-or-less concluded and wrapped up. Nearly all mysteries are solved. We've met OG novel Edith and the 12 transmigrated souls that also embodied Edith at one point. We also discovered who The Creator was, how their novel became its own living and breathing world (sorta), and how they became in charge of the stipulations on Edith's possessing souls. Suna Choi's version of Edith got to the ending of the original novel. I won't spoil anything by telling you how Suna's story turned out compared to the original novel (with the exception of saying she obviously survives).

We got more of Rhyse's original backstory and how she got wrapped up in everything as the original novel's protagonist.

Everything with Edith and Rhyse and Killian and the Rudwicks and even Rhyse's original family the Sinclairs has been nicely wrapped up.

But there's still a major plotline about the two brothers Cliff and Killian and their father that needs to be concluded. There was a hint of Edith maybe being pregnant that hasn't been confirmed. There's more side-plot with Princess Katrin that feels like it wasn't properly resolved yet. With everything that happened, I feel like Killian's mother has a lot of guilt that she should be relieved of, since none of it was her fault; it was The Creator's will forcing her hand.

I love that there will be more story via spin-off/epilogue episodes after a brief hiatus, but I also feel like a lot of this "extra" content should have been included in the main storyline. I'll have to read the English translation of Lemon Frog's webnovel to see if these "extra" bits were in the novel proper.

Either way, I may have to cope with this series ending by using its conclusion as an excuse to just reread the whole thing from the beginning. Something I'm planning on doing with another series, but I'll save that one for last...

Now, let's go in order, starting with my Sunday line-up: You Can't Kill Me: The Secret Bride of the Black Wolf

I reached the season 1 finale of YCKM, but there wasn't even a week-long break before the creator posted episode 1 of season 2! So, I got season 2's premiere this past Sunday!

It's been awesome to see Yeonwu coming more into her own. Becoming stronger. Standing up more for herself. It was tragic enough to know that she was tricked into an abusive marriage to Hyojo her first life. Extra tragic to know that she was forced into that same abusive marriage in her second life. A life that broke her to the point of committing a public suicide! But to THEN find out that the abuse actually started YEARS before she even met Hyojo? At the hands of her own family!? That's a new kind of rough.

Turns out that she had that classic rearing of "you're the older sibling, so you're essentially an extra parent for your younger sibling." Yeonwu's sister was babied and pampered and spoiled. If the house was a mess because her sister refused to clean, it was somehow Yeonwu's fault for either (a) not getting her sister to clean against her will, or (b) not sucking it up and cleaning the massive mess herself without being scolded by her mother to do so.

Their mother had no time for her children, and it took a lot of courage for elementary-aged Yeonwu to say how much that hurt. She expressed her feelings and then asked her mother if she could go to a sort of Career Day event at her school. Despite Yeonwu simply and earnestly saying how she felt, her mother spun it as Yeonwu guilt-tripping her into going. THEN came the accident!

Yeonwu's mother did go to Career Day. After school concluded, her mother spotted someone she needed to talk to across the street from the school. She told Yeonwu to watch her younger sister, then crossed the street to chat. Despite Yeonwu holding firm to her sister's hand and trying to explain to her sister that she needs to stay put, her sister was desperate to be with their mother. She broke free of Yeonwu's grip and sprinted across the street to their mother. Through traffic!

Yeonwu - who, again, was maybe 10 or so? - sprinted after her sister and shoved her out of the way of a truck. Her sister was still badly injured, but alive, and Yeonwu had a severe head injury along with other injuries after taking the brunt of the hit.

Even so, Yeonwu's mother blamed her for not taking better care of watching her sister to prevent the accident from happening at all. She also friggen blamed Yeonwu for the massive medical bills that crippled their family finances! They were forced to move and suffered other financial hardships, but that's just life sometimes! Instead, Yeonwu's mother vocally blamed Yeonwu for all of it. And her father stayed silent; not once standing up for his child, noting that everything was because their younger daughter wouldn't listen to Yeonwu, or simply pointing out that it was an accident and there should be no one to blame.

Yeonwu was then forced to constantly prove her worth to her family; forced to "make up" for all of the hardships "she caused" the family!

In her early adulthood, she excitedly became a music composer, and even started to get paid for her music! She was elated to share this joy with her family. Her mother, on the other hand, simply pointed out that Yeonwu therefore has more money that she can send to her family to help them stay afloat since they were still financially recovering from her medical bills.... SUCH. JERKS!

Knowing HOW MUCH Yeonwu was abused her WHOLE LIFE, it is so refreshing to see her finally stand up against her abusers and become stronger, thanks to Hwita's companionship and support.

EXCEPT! There's this new mystery! Hwita's twin Yuta (who maybe ISN'T a twin and is just Hwita's split personality??? Jury is still out on that) keeps trying to sabotage Yeonwu's relationship with Hwita. Telling her that Hwita isn't to be trusted. Trying to get her to be with him instead. He admitted - close to the end of season 1 - that he was there at Hyojo's birthday celebration during Yeonwu's second life. He witnessed her suicide. He was the one she saw crying over her death. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? He had brown hair then, but Yuta has white hair (compared to Hwita who still has brown hair). Did Yuta do something that caused both his own and Yeonwu's hair to turn white on this life reset? Why does he keep pushing the narrative that Hwita isn't to be trusted? What is he trying to tell Yeonwu, and why can't he simply say it?

Yeonwu does ask Hwita about it, and he admits that he hasn't been entirely truthful with her. There is this thing - The Wife of the Reaper - that is this almost prophesized woman. Hwita admits that he's both a Reaper ("like my brother") and that he originally took Yeonwu in because her hair turning white is the first sign that she was potentially the Wife of the Reaper he had been searching for. The mark on her shoulder was another indicator. He promises that while he first took her in as a political bride due to his suspicions of her being the Wife of the Reaper, he has since grown actual affection for her, and he never once faked his feelings for her. That seems to be enough to get Yeonwu to trust him again. In truth, it was enough for me too.

Season 1 ended with Hyojo bursting in on a ceremony to declare to both Hwita and Yeonwu that Hyojo's father - the king of the Underworld - had died (possibly due to Hyojo poisoning him, but that's just speculation right now). It's implied that Hyojo, who is the new king, is about to pull some shenanigans either against Hwita, in a bid to steal Yeonwu away, or probably both. It was quite the cliffhanger!

A Savage Proposal

For this one, I have to almost ignore the comments section. No one seems to know how to put themselves into the mindset of the protag Princess Liene. Nearly all of the comments are frustrated with her deception and meekness (mostly because it's holding back the romance plot between her and Lord Tiwakan). No one seems to understand WHY Liene makes the decisions she does. They don't realize she doesn't have the information we, the readers, do. They can't grasp the complicated 4D Chess Liene has to mentally play at all times. She is a political head-of-state by title alone, with no real power behind it. She does all in her power to keep what little strenuous peace she can. She has this complicated balancing act. The other readers don't seem to understand that at all.

It's been implied that Liene's mother is still alive-and-well, but divorced or otherwise left Liene's father. Then, her father died while she was still relatively young (12? 13? 14? Somewhere in there). So Liene was essentially orphaned as a young teen; too young to actually hold political power. Which meant it more-or-less was passed to the chancellor: Kleinfelter. Chancellor Kleinfelter was then the one who kept financially backing Liene as she depleted the royal coffers in an attempt to keep her kingdom afloat and her people fed. It was Kleinfelter who arranged the betrothal between Liene and his nephew Lafitte, a betrothal she accepted because she felt she owed the Chancellor, and she feared he would withdrawal his support otherwise.

While Lafitte was originally presented as Liene's beloved when coming up with reasons for her to deny Lord Tiwakan's proposal, it's later revealed to the readers that Liene never cared for Lafitte, and he actually annoyed her. She feels like she's betraying her people if she admits that she much prefers her engagement to Lord Tiwakan than staying trapped with Lafitte. So she's already walking that tightrope.

It doesn't help that Liene originally tried to convince Lord Tiwakan to withdrawal his proposal by claiming that Lafitte is indeed her true love and that she's pregnant with his child (both lies). The lies backfired, but Liene felt that she was not in a position to then confess to Lord Tiwakan that her gambit failed and that she is neither pregnant nor in love with Lafitte. Besides, at the time, Lord Tiwakan was the aggressor who blackmailed her into a political marriage to stop a siege on her kingdom. Meanwhile, Lafitte was an annoying brat, but at least he seemed the better option for her people at the time. Why would she put herself further on the back foot by confessing her failed bluff to a man she wasn't sure she could trust? Despite the readers not understanding, I get how that would be a DUMB MOVE as far as Liene was concerned (given what she knew).

Complicating things further, Lafitte is OBSESSESSED with Liene and desperately possessive of her. So he's constantly trying to sneak into the castle to be with her, constantly trying to steal her away, and even plotted a shotgun wedding! Liene keeps denying him and trying to shoo him away. Desperate to spare his life for fear of Chancellor Kleinfelter causing a civil war to avenge Lafitte if Liene lets the man die/calls for his execution. Unfortunately, Lord Tiwakan sees all of the moments between Lafitte and Liene without seeing Liene's distress or Lafitte's aggression or manipulation. Despite Liene being afraid of Lafitte and desperate to get away from him, Tiwakan only sees Liene being gentle with Lafitte (in an effort to de-escalate the situation). Since Liene already led Lord Tiwakan to believe that Lafitte was genuinely her lover, Lord Tiwakan sees these de-escalation moments and decisions of mercy (to not start a civil war) as proof that Liene still loves Lafitte. He is quickly losing his trust and faith in her all while becoming more desperate for her affection himself. Worse yet, Liene feels like she can't just explain the situation - Lafitte cannot be harmed or it could cause a civil war - because it will also be a confession of her lack of power. It makes her even MORE vulnerable, and possibly not a good enough political bargaining chip to bother to marry and/or even keep alive.

Again, the readers are largely on Lord Tiwakan's side. We see his gentle moments and his sincere moments. Especially compared to Lafitte. We want the romance to blossom and we know that Tiwakan seems to genuinely care for Liene. We're rooting for them, so it frustrates readers that Liene is fighting against it. For me, though? That's fantastic writing. The author isn't letting Liene be genre savvy. She doesn't know she's in a romance story. She thinks she's in friggen Game of Thrones and can't make one misstep otherwise she dies, her kingdom falls, her people starve, there's a civil war, etc. She has 20 plates up in the air and doesn't realize Lord Tiwakan is there to help her catch them (she thinks he's one of the plates).

Gaaaah! It's just so frustrating to see the comments whining to the author about how much they can't stand Liene and how she's making every wrong decision by not trusting Lord Tiwakan despite all he's done for her. Completely ignoring that Liene SEES everything he's done for her, she IS falling for him, but then she has all the nobles and her people being vague about how Tiwakan is there for revenge and to not trust him. And, seeing how Lafitte manipulates things, it's easy to believe that Liene suspects Lord Tiwakan is also trying to play her for a fool. So all of his genuine gestures to prove his affections for her reads as ploys to get her to let down her guard. I get that! That's her mental state. I love that the author has her there. Now if the other readers could just understand that as well. The misunderstandings and misconceptions ARE the drama of the story. They're the conflict. That's the point.

There are plenty of other stories on Webtoon that clear up misunderstandings quickly, and I'll see the author praised for precisely that: “Thank you, author, for not dragging out misunderstandings just for the drama. That's so annoying.” If misunderstanding-led drama isn't your thing, if political chess matches aren't your thing, if someone struggling to learn to trust again after nearly a decade of having that trust abused isn't your thing, then give up on the whole “oo, sexy romance” of this story and move on. Enough with the whining!

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Seabird and the Wolf

For this one, we've gotten more backstory for the main portion of the Black Ocean crew.

We've learned that Keyelo (the male lead) and his fellow Vice Captain Utuguru are half-brothers not even a year apart. Utuguru is Captain Clusdo's legitimate son, and Keyelo's the captain's second son via his favorite prostitute. Keyelo was raised more-or-less in the brothel until his mother died, and then he was taken in by his father. For obvious reasons, Utuguru's mother - who is still Captain Clusdo's legal wife - can't stand Keyelo and is cruel to him. So, he moved out into a little hut on his own as soon as he was able.

We also recently discovered that Utuguru has been suffering abuse from his mother, who does not fear viciously verbally berating or straight up physically harming her own son if he doesn't match her impossibly high standards. In the last episode I read, Lott (the main character) jumped in front of Utuguru to protect him from a full porcelain tea cup his mother threw at him. Here's hoping that helps those two bond a bit more.

We also discovered that the ship's resident ray of sunshine - deckhand Domem - was actually orphaned after the dreaded Woohoppiage pirates (the same ones that kidnapped Lott's sister Raltia) raided the Black Ocean crew's home island. His parents are buried in front of his now-abandoned family home, and he crashes with his bestie Keyelo whenever the crew docks at their home base.

Speaking of the Woohoppiage pirates (I still HATE that name... sheesh!), we were given a little flash of Raltia's capture. Seems she was part of an attempted escape plot with some of the other villagers from her hometown. The pirates executed all of the others involved in the plot, and forced Raltia to watch as her punishment. However, they're purposefully keeping her alive as bait for Lott. Seems they know that Lott's pet bird Balca is the last fabled Sea Bird, and they want Balca's divine navigation and protection from the sea for themselves.

Aaaaand speaking of, Lott has met with a few mystical beings of the ocean. One was the Sea Witch Rurumi, who spoke an ominous premonition to Lott before gifting her some pearls to take as pills to ease the intense stomach cramps that have been crippling Lott ever since she joined the Black Ocean crew; a symptom of a mysterious curse put on Lott.

The second was a mob of sea monsters collectively called Aurora. Bipedal creatures with praying-mantis-like clawed arms, and human-like faces on pearls within oyster-like heads. Aurora are ghost-like monsters that glow a pearlescent pinkish purple, but are usually invisible. They were thought to be the souls of children lost at sea, but one that Lott fought had her father's face! Could her father have become an Aurora somehow? The Aurora also know that Lott can hear them when no one else can, and they beg her to help them find their ways home.

The third mythical being Lott encountered was a deity known as the Master of the Forest Sea, Ernori, and her pet/guardian, Quetzalcoatl. Just like Rurumi, Ernori mentioned that Lott reminded her of "an old friend." A lot of us fans are wondering if Lott is somehow an avatar or reincarnation of the killed God of the Sea. Ernori also gifts Lott something to ease the pain from the curse - two leaves from her crown - but lets Lott know that they are no cure. She'll have to figure that out herself.

We also met the crew of the Celipharm, a pirate crew made entirely of women (keep in mind, Lott disguised herself as a man because most people believe women are bad-luck out on the ocean). The Celipharm is captained by Scarlett, former lover of the Woohoppiage's Captain Feder. The Black Ocean was given some intel from Scarlett, and they rushed back to their home island, rumored to have been recently attacked by the Woohoppiage!

Side note: Despite all of us readers wondering if the members of the Celipharm were able to sniff out that Lott was a woman, and/or if she'd shift loyalties to the Celipharm, the status quo was upheld. No one is the wiser about Lott's actual gender, and she gleefully stayed with the Black Ocean.

Anyway, where I left off, the Black Ocean returned home. Yes, the Woohoppiage had attacked, but were chased off with minimal damage to the island. Even so, Captain Clusdo is using this oportunity to gift his "men" land leave while he sorts out where they should go next to continue their hunt of the Woohoppiage. Also, Utuguru's mother kind of strong-armed her husband - Clusdo - to stay for at least a little while.

Fantasy High

Where I left off with this series, we met the Halfling family The Cubbies; we were introduced to The Bad Kids' future favorite hang, Basrar's Soda Fountain and Ice Cream Parlor; Fabian took possession of Johnny Spells' demon-possessed motorcycle (which Fabian then names The Hangman); The Bad Kids are trying to sort out who Johnny was supposed to be meeting up with and how it may relate to the missing Adventuring Academy students; and the closing shot is of the cracked ruby that is imprisoning the devil Gorthalax (Spoilers, but... Fig's biological father).

I Will Live the Life of a Villainess

Somehow it feels like a LOT has happened but also virtually nothing?

I think the last update I gave you fine folks was while the main character Elena was dealing with curbing a pandemic. She succeeded, and returned to the imperial capital. There, she was honored for her efforts, and she shared the spotlight with some of her friends to help those ladies garner more political pull. In turn, it gives them more independence, especially from their fathers.

There was then a small time-jump, where the emperor has fallen ill, and Crown Prince Kaizen has attempted to step up and take over his father's duties. He hadn't been a terrible leader, at first, but then quickly became the entitled brat everyone knew him to be. Despite his father being on death's door (yes, due to being poisoned by the Crown Prince and his fiancée Rosetta), Kaizen planned to have a large engagement ceremony for himself and Rosetta. Meanwhile, Prince Lloyd has been dealing with some strange health complications of his own. He keeps suffering horrendous luck, resulting in a lot of injuries from incredibly benign activities; Final Destination style. Poor Elena even caught Lloyd not breathing as he napped, and she struggled to wake him back up. The duo now suspects that, since Lloyd died in the original novel, perhaps Seojun Lee was never meant to possess the character of the first prince. Perhaps Lloyd was destined to die, and Seojun's transmigration into that doomed character was a mistake. One that the God of Destiny - or whatever - of this world is now trying to correct. Again, Final Destination style.

Soooo, along with thwarting Crown Prince Kaizen's assassination attempt of the emperor, Elena has to figure out why she and Lloyd were transmigrated in the first place, why Lloyd's luck seems to have turned quite dangerous for him, and if there's a way to stop it so Lloyd stays safe.

Where I last left off, Elena, through a lot of help from her friends again, managed to prove the emperor was poisoned, prove that Rosetta was the one poisoning him (with Kaizen likely a co-conspirator/accomplice), and gave the emperor a remedy for the poison. Kaizen was able to whisk Rosetta away and claim sanctuary to keep them both safe, but Rosetta had her back against the wall. She realized Kaizen was never going to become emperor over Lloyd now, which meant he was no longer any value to her.

**SPOILER**
        Rosetta, in a horribly ill-conceived attempt to tie up loose ends, murders Crown Prince Kaizen!!!! She is then captured as she attempted to flee the palace in her still blood-stained clothes. The idiot....

Lock Me Up, Duke!

The romantic leads Jayna and Theo have easily and fully fallen for each other. Jayna is quickly discovering that the "locked up" ending she was originally gunning for may not be the heavenly lazy life she originally believed. Perhaps the game designers knew what they were doing when they had it as a bad ending?

Thankfully, Jayna is not a shy girl, and is very vocal about her wants, desires, and needs. She calls Theo out, and he's quick to course-correct to make her happy. Especially when she never asks for anything that would put a burden on him. With one exception.

It's not yet explained, but Jayna apparently has this GIFT to tame notoriously dangerous and fierce monsters with a simple word. She discovered a lost cub, which resembles a lion with a thick mane, fluffy tail, and little horns. She named her Cotton Candy and wanted to keep her as a pet. Theo was going to immediately put the cub down before it could grow into a dangerous beast, but eventually relented to letting Jayna keep Cotton Candy as a pet, as long as Jayna agreed to VERY strict restrictions on Cotton Candy to keep everyone in the castle safe.

Most recently, Jayna, tamed what is essentially a dire wolf. She realized that she had advanced to the part of the game where, if Theo went into town alone, he was killed. However, Theo, not wanting to disturb Jayna by waking her, decided to go into town alone, obviously clueless of the scripted mortal danger this put him in. As Jayna rushed to try to find him and keep him safe from assassins, she got kidnapped by slavers. She was then tossed into a room with this monstrous wolf as the beast's meal. Instead, Jayna was able to turn the wolf into a loyal puppy with a simple word. The wolf then helped Jayna bust both herself and a little girl free of the slavers. Jayna then came to Theo's rescue, with the help of her new pet wolf. Once again, fearing the monster would show its feral nature and attack Jayna, himself, or the residents of the castle, Theo wanted to put the wolf down. Jayna again got him to stay his hand, and she's quickly building up a menagerie of monsters.....

Theo still showcases the overly possessive/protective/obsessive personality that he had in the video game. However, it seems like the Jayna possessed by transmigrated A-Min Kim is able to tame Theo right along with all of those monsters. He's slowly becoming less intense, and more open to listen to her. She's also proving to him that she can hold her own, and so he doesn't have to worry as much about having to protect her and/or keep her safe. It's still a long road and Theo does still show red flags/toxic traits, but his love for her seems sincere and beautiful. Their romance is adorable. And I'm excited to see a Green Flag version of Theo in the near future.

Ultimate Shut-in

So far the drama of the series is still focused on Human Survivors vs monsters, and Jaehyeon (the main character) leveling up and gaining new powers. He's created new incentives for the survivors under his protection. His protective bubble has expanded to include basically the entire apartment complex he lives in. He can set up a shop - which he's placed on the first floor - that he can remotely fill with an endless supply of goods he scans in. He still has limited spots for individual items, but he's sorted out workarounds.

For instance, he can scan in an entire toolbox to fill one of the inventory slots, but he can then sell the individual tools from the toolbox without a hammer or tape measurer or screwdriver or nails each taking up individual store inventory slots. Same deal with first aid items. He scanned in a first-aid kid, but can now provide gauze, bandages, antiseptic creams, etc individually.

He also managed to arrange for the one woman's murdered young son to be revived for a single day as a reward for clearing out the goblin population around the apartment complex. We haven't seen the reunion yet. I feel like that is going to be rough. She says it's all she wants: just one more day with her son. However, how much more will it hurt when the day ends and she has to lose him a second time?

I like that THIS is the style of drama we're getting, and not necessarily survivors vs survivors yet. You can still have a compelling story with a lot of drama without it including internal fighting per se. That said, there was a little blip of that already. One of the new perks that Jaehyeon provided was to open up vacant apartments within the building, turning the water and power back on in those rooms, and offering the apartments as rewards for monster-hunting parties who kill x-number of y-type of monster first. This way the survivors that have migrated into Jaehyeon's building could have homes of their own, instead of having to camp out in the apartment building hallways. One party tried to work the system and use one of their partymates as bait; putting him in danger in an attempt to kill monsters faster with no regard of the partymate's wellbeing. Jaehyeon purposefully did NOT reward that sort of behavior, and even offered the abused party member an alternative in case he wanted to leave the group he was with.

I appreciate that in-fighting and cut-throat behaviors between the survivors is being kind of nipped in the bud. A way for the main character to establish a more unified community of survivors. One where they all help each other out. Bravo to both Jaehyeon and the author of the series.

Where I last left off, Jaehyeon had just leveled up again and unlocked a new power: Outposts. If one of his "knights" (one of the higher-level survivors that he then knights with his power) is in an area, and Jaehyeon's willing to spend the small fortune to establish one, he can create an outpost. A place outside of his apartment building that he can protect as if it were part of his home base. Aside from the exorbitant cost to establish an outpost, the other kink in the system is that he has to station at least 3 knights there at all times, otherwise the outpost loses protection and may be taken back by the monsters. It will be tricky for him to balance the value of having an outpost vs the monetary cost of setting one up and the security cost of not having access to three of his knights.

Obviously, Jaehyeon decided that if ANYWHERE was worth the cost, it's his parents' home. His next goal is to send his knights out to his parents' home, hope they are still safe, and then establish their home as an outpost. That does abandon some of his knights with his parents. So, again, there's bound to be some sort of drama there over that. I'm excited to see it, but, oddly enough, not excited enough to actually read the updates the day they come out.

It's a weird limbo where I still really enjoy this series - as I do Mythic Item Obtained and Writer's Legacy - but the romance vibes are still the ones calling out to me, so I focus those stories first-and-foremost.

The Age of Arrogance

We're in the home stretch. Most of the storylines are tied up. We've witnessed two different character weddings. The Happily Ever After is about to conclude the final panel. We're currently reading through Asha's backstory a bit more. We're learning more about her childhood in the war-torn land of Pervaz, how and why she trained to be a warrior instead of a Lady of Court, what happened to Asha's mother, and the pain of Asha watching her father and older brothers all fall in battle. It's a sad tale, but knowing that Asha has a happy ending - and seeing Carlisle comfort her as she tells it - helps with this bittersweet backstory.

It will be hard to see this story go. Especially so soon after completing another of Lemon Frog's stories (NYTRS).

Maybe Meant to Be

I'm still purposefully behind on this one. That way I have a little bit of a buffer in case I can't handle a cliffhanger and HAVE to go right into the next episode.

I will be honest, though, while this season is still cute, outside of the first few episodes where Jia and Mincheol were "stranded on a deserted island", this season hasn't really had me itching to get to the next episode. Not the way I did with the first season. I'm 28 episodes into the 2nd season, and it does NOT feel like I'm that far in. While a LOT happened in a short timeframe in season 1, it feels like virtually nothing has happened in season 2 yet.

Jia and Mincheol were caught in a nasty storm while out fishing with Jia's parents, and our favorite couple got washed up on a beach. They survived a few days on that beach with little-to-no supplies before being "rescued" (turns out they were just a couple of miles from the resort where Jia's parents ended up. Mincheol just never ventured far enough to find civilization.... whoops).

After those initial 8 intense episodes that very much kept the same chaotic vibe as season 1, the storyline slowed WAY down. Before heading home from their fishing trip, Jia and Mincheol were interviewed about their time lost on the beach after being swept overboard. During the outdoor interview, Mincheol, not thinking, held up his hand to shade Jia's eyes from the sun. Everyone found it adorable, and the interview went viral. This caught the attention of this big wig. I still don't really know who she is or what her significance is. She did, however, use the opportunity to talk to Jia's original publisher/agent/manager/whomever he was: Mr. Na.

The next 20-some episodes were just this lady strong-arming Mr. Na into getting Jia back into the public spotlight in any way possible. He and Jia's old college friend Yeonju tried a few more ploys at Yeonju's cafe where Jia works to try to lure her back into writing. When that didn't work, Mr. Na brought in a reality show director/producer to film something in the cafe, in hopes that watching HIM would convince Jia to write.

There's just this focus on getting her back into writing now that the main plot of Jia and Mincheol falling in love and admitting their feelings for each other concluded in season 1. There was a long backstory where Jia talks about how she wrote her first novel and got it published in the first place, but then how writer's block crept in and how she because so stressed that she swore off writing ever again. Really hits home, and I'm still invested in the series both for Jia's writer's arc and because she and Mincheol are still adorable little beans. But the "I have to know what happens next RIGHT NOW" itch from season 1 just didn't carry over.

On top of all that, the secondary couple of Sang-U and Suyeon have been more-or-less sidelined. There's mentions in passing that they're still trying to act professional at work, but everyone knows that they're dating and are just waiting for them to finally publically admit it. This led to a small side-plot of Mincheol finally learning how to drive so he didn't have to carpool with Sang-U and Suyeon to and from work anymore, given how awkward it was with the couple trying to hide that they're dating around him.

That's it. That's all that happened in season 2 thus far:

  • Jia and Mincheol have a pseudo honeymoon redo after believing they were stranded on an island for days
  • Mincheol shades Jia's eyes from the sun after she agrees to do a quick outdoor interview, and the video goes viral, which then kickstarts Mr. Na hounding Jia again about getting back into writing
  • Mincheol feels awkward about carpooling with Sang-U and Suyeon still when they're trying to hide that they're a couple. However, Mincheol doesn't know how to drive, so Jia teaches him and he successfully gets his license.
  • Mr. Na teams up with Yeonju as they plot ways to try to trick Jia into writing again/finding joy in writing again.
  • Jia tells Mincheol how she became a famous writer and why she stopped writing (which takes up 4 episodes alone)
  • Somewhere in there Jia realizes she forgot Mincheol's 32nd birthday, but stumbled into the perfect gift for him
  • Mr. Na sets up a reality show shoot at Yeonju's cafe as yet another ploy to try to lure Jia back into writing

Aaaaand that's everything for those 28 episodes....

My Child Will Have a Different Father

The romance is blooming in this one. The further in you get, the more you see how much Prince Lutz is falling for Hinael. He tries to spoil her. He listens to her. He compliments her. He drops everything to free up time for her. He does all that he can to help her thrive within the royal family and gets viciously defensive towards anyone cruel to his bride.

On the flipside, Hinael is seeing the effort Lutz is putting into their marriage, and she's starting to believe that Lutz isn't just preferable to her murderous first husband Chetaire; she may even learn to actually love Lutz.

Plot wise, the crown prince is on death's door, likely poisoned by third prince Kylo. While, as far as the characters are concerned, there was no evidence, there is also a near-absolute possibility that Kylo had plotted with Chetaire to have the Count kidnap Hinael. Kylo also purposefully spooked Hinael's horse while she was learning to ride, in hopes of injuring her. On the flipside, Kylo's mother - the current empress - invited Hinael to have tea with herself and her two other daughters-in-law. With Hinael's lady-in-waiting Deia's intel and Lutz's wallet, Hinael was able to get personalized gifts for the three imperial ladies that more-or-less won them over.

Hinael is now plotting to buddy up with Kylo's wife in order to hopefully get more intel from her about what Kylo's plotting. Meanwhile, she uses her memories from her first life to try to feed information to Lutz in an attempt to help him secure the crown for himself. The couple is working together beautifully to try to take down Kylo with little-to-no bloodshed. That way, either the crown prince's life can be spared, or, upon the prince's death, the emperor will instead name Lutz as the replacement crown prince.

Some Game-Of-Thrones-like political intrigue and plotting, mixed with some sensual romantic plotline. Totally my cup of tea right now!

Obsidian Bride

I'm not entirely sure how much longer this series is going to go, since the finale hasn't published yet. However, it does feel like it's coming close to the end. We know the true identities of most of the Jewel Box participants, and we've seen the true form of about half of them. We learned who The Moon Owl truly is. Lueri (the main character) discovered the true identity of the mystery boy from the library: her first, and only, love whose flame she has held since she was about 12. The missing Marianne has been found, and how/why she went missing has been revealed to the reader. Just about all of the Jewels have paired up, so the TV series Jewel Box should be coming to a close. Can't imagine the Webtoon series Obsidian Bride continuing much longer after that. But I could be wrong.

There is now a lot of political intrigue going on. The true reason behind the Jewel Box has been revealed. It seems that a handful of the Jewels - along with Moon Owl himself - wish to topple the empire. The pro-empire propaganda is starting to fail. Perhaps the fifth Jewel Box concluding ends up knocking down political dominos, and we end up following the ramifications of that. There could be a whole new season of the series just based off of that alone.

Also, there's a water dragon who needs to be hatched and magical creatures need to return to the empire!

Who knows? Maybe I'm NOT close to the end.

Either way, I hope Lueri and her true love get to be together soon, and can hold each other tight. Seeing them kiss now fully knowing who the other is and why they missed each other when they agreed to meet up as children... it was so beautiful. Did my heart good.

This is another one, along with My Child Will Have a Different Father, A Savage Proposal, You Can't Kill Me, Seabird and the Wolf, and both Lemon Frog stories, that I itch to consume as soon as the latest free update goes live.

The Makeup Remover

OK. So. This one. THIS ONE! This used to be a Daily Pass read. Then, I guess Webtoon did away with the Daily Passes???? Instead, all of my Daily Pass stories turned into Ad-Unlock ones. Just like how they've always worked in the app, if you watch a short ad (about 15-30sec) the episode will unlock for 3 days. So, no more "read as much as you want within 14 days" that you got with Daily Pass unlocks. However, it also means unlimited binge reading, as long as you are willing to sit through an ad before each episode. And, after 3 days, you can unlock that episode again with just a short ad as well.

I've grown to have a love-hate relationship with this new set-up.

On the one hand, I am ELATED that I can binge-read these stories. ESPECIALLY The Makeup Remover. On the other hand, what happened to my guardrail forcing me to keep this to a once-daily read???

Anyway, as I mentioned, I'm LOVING that I can binge this story in particular. Because holy smokes! It's addicting! The writing is so good. The makeup design choices are so engaging and beautiful. The character arcs are amazing and keep you in such a chokehold. The cliffhangers smack you around until you beg for the next episode. It is so hard to find a good stop point. You just want more and more and more. It is, by and large, the comic equivalent of a "page turner" story, and it should be getting more attention than it has in the 4 years since it published.

I started reading this series mid-April, and I'm already 123 episodes into a 129-episode series! How am I nearly done already!? If I let myself just binge the last six episodes (since I seem to be reading this series in 6-episode chunks), I could have it done TONIGHT! I'm not ready to let it go!!!!

It's been exciting to watch Yeseul (the main character) grow more confident in herself. In both her skills and her looks. She's learned to stand up for herself and become more vocal when she's uncomfortable or sees an injustice.

Heewon, the "popular girl" from the same college year as Yeseul, has also grown so much. She's no longer the snotty, typical "entitled, internet-famous model". She's realizing the impact she has on others, how lucky she is to have been famous to begin with, and that she may not want that internet-famous life after-all. She's also become a fierce defender of her new bestie: Yeseul! Watching Heewon's character arc has been as rewarding as watching Yeseul's!

Then there's the secondary protagonist: Yuseong, the "genius" makeup artist. He went from only focusing on the makeup competition Face-Off Cinderella to full-on falling in love with Yeseul. What's extra sweet is that he knew full-well that Yeseul already had feelings for her classmate Seungwoo, so Yuseong tried his hardest to hide his growing affections, not wanting to burden Yeseul with a love confession when she already had so much on her plate.

Speaking of Seungwoo, he was the only character I was disappointed in. When we're first introduced to him, he's the most popular guy in college. Handsome. Kind. Giving. Charismatic. Helpful. He seemed the whole package. So, naturally, Yeseul thought she wasn't worthy of his attention. Instead, she was (mostly) content with just admiring him from afar and fantasizing about having a relationship with him. Then, early in the series, Yuseong happens to run into Seungwoo, and Seungwoo takes Yuseong to an exibition of the photography students' work. Seungwoo points out a photo of himself that Yeseul took. He then noted how Yeseul saw him in a way no one else ever seemed to, and that made him want to know more about her in return. He seemed so smitten, and I was excited that someone Yeseul thought was out of her league was lowkey thinking the same thing about her.

Based on Yeseul and Yuseong being in the cover art, and based on them being the main characters of the series, it was pretty evident that they were supposed to be end-game. Even so, I had hoped that maybe Seungwoo was as sweet as he appeared, and the moral of his story was that no one is out of anyone else's league. That everyone has their own insecurities and everyone just wishes to be seen for who they truly are. I was hoping that the series would have Seungwoo eventually connect with Yeseul, and the two would date, just as Yeseul had fantasized. But, maybe Seungwoo and Yeseul just didn't click as much as she thought they would. Maybe Seungwoo indeed possessed all of those social traits that Yeseul saw - kind, friendly, defender of the weak, brilliant photographer, etc - but they didn't really have anything to say to each other outside of photography. Maybe they had no shared interests. Maybe they did click, but then Yeseul realized that she liked Seungwoo more as a friend than a romantic partner. Maybe she realizes that she gets butterflies around Yuseong that she doesn't get around Seungwoo now that she's no longer admiring him from afar. There isn't anything wrong with Seungwoo, but he just isn't the right fit, romantically.

Instead, the author went with Seungwoo secretly being a gaslighter and massive manipulator.

The lessons that the story taught about abuse, how to recognize toxic relationships, and how to break out of such relationships is an important one. I praise the story for everything it did with that storyline. I just wish Seungwoo was presented differently if that was the direction the author was going. It felt very "Han from Frozen heel-turn". Despite so many of the other readers calling it from a mile away (maybe because they knew the trope and knew Seungwoo was too good to be true?), I felt like the villain reveal was a bit of a sucker-punch from left field.

But that's the kind of thing that had me devouring this story. That, along with finding out what each team comes up with for the next round of the makeup competition. Or seeing how Yeseul and Yuseong come up with their concept. Or watching Yeseul deal with Seungwoo. Or sympathize with Yuseong as he struggles with his feelings for Yeseul. Or Heewon getting smacked by reality and learning to cope. Or cliffhanger misunderstandings (that, thankfully, get resolved in the next episode; the author doesn't like to draw out miscommunication).

In fact, this was the one series I was thinking of when I said people who can't stand the miscommunication-induced drama of Savage Proposal should just find stories without it. There's plenty. And so many in the comments of The Makeup Remover praise the author for NOT dragging out the miscommunication for drama purposes (a dig at series like Savage Proposal). So.... yeah.... if those people like slowburn romances that don't center on miscommunication, they should just read this series instead.....

Anyway, this series is so good. I'm excited to go back and rebinge it a second time once I've finished it. Now that I know all the twists and turns, I'm excited to start it over again and seeing certain scenes in a new light. Now knowing better what's going through the character's minds.

Man, now I want to just curl up in a corner and finish up The Makeup Remover instead of finishing this blog update.

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Also, the heel-turn of Seungwoo vs how I wanted it to go down lowkey has me thinking of my Hey Arnold! story What Is Truly Meant To Be. Mainly because I wanted Helga to have that "you're a great guy, but not for me" moment with Brainy. Maybe I need to step fully away from Miraculous Ladybug (especially since I still haven't started season 6 yet, so it's been over a year since I've watched the show), and return to HA instead....

BUT this isn't my writing update portion of my blog, so I'll save further contemplations for that.

Speaking of, I guess I should start working on that, huh? Here's hoping I'll catch you all again in a couple of days???

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