RECENTLY READ RUMBLINGS pt. 2
Jun. 30th, 2022 06:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
javainkTwo R19 BL manhwas have caught and kept my attention recently. Their art styles drew me in, and then their set-ups kept me hooked. Ironically, both set-ups are tropes that I don't normally go for, mainly because second-hand embarrassment is the number one cause of death for my poor rabbit heart when I read. Somehow I'm leaning into the embarrassment this time, either because of the comedy or because I want to tear apart the couples' psychologies.
(1) Love for Sale, by Dal HyeonJi
pitch: college student Namwoo has never known a life without worrying about money, and his dream is to just make enough so that he can comfortably pay his rent and live in peace. Then he meets Si-eon, who says he'll help him out financially, or give him anything really, if Namwoo will date him. After losing all of his part time jobs thanks to a broken arm, Namwoo takes Si-eon up on his offer.
The more serious of the two manhwas, less comedy. There's a significant age gap between this couple: Namwoo is early 20s, Si-eon is in his 30s. This is not a sugar daddy/sugar baby situation, but it mimics it in a way, so I've been calling Namwoo and Si-eon "the sugar couple" whenever I drop a wall of text messages about it to my friends. It's a low-stakes plot; the relationship is the complete focus. Namwoo only accepts starting the relationship because he's strapped for cash, but as someone who's had to be independent from an early age, he struggles to freely accept Si-eon's support and tries to or prepares himself to pay Si-eon back. This is unnecessary, because all Si-eon wants is to give Namwoo whatever he desires. Si-eon has a stable, wealthy lifestyle, but is interested in finding a partner that he can fully support. He's got a give-give-give spirit, but he rarely, or in fact discourages focusing on his own desires in the relationship. You can imagine why his past relationships failed horribly. So around and around these two go trying to make it work.
Namwoo is a very lovable MC, and Si-eon, while gentle, is a piece of work. I was convinced 80% of the way through that this was a doomed relationship. And then the 60s-range chapters hit, I lost all my sleep, and upon reading Ch. 70, I was brimming with hope. It's been an uphill climb from there.
The new fandom speak over favorite characters on twitter and tumblr is all about "i want to stick him in a cage/shoe box/hamster wheel" etc., and while I usually nod my head at those posts and laugh, I've never quite had a character that popped into my head. Now I do. I want to stick Si-eon down on a doctor's table and draw his blood, I want to run tests on him, I love thinking about how much of a coward he is. And I love watching Namwoo straighten his own spine, turn it to steel, and tell Si-eon he's not giving him up just because Si-eon thinks he won't ever love him back. That he doesn't need his love returned, Namwoo will pour out enough for the both of them.
Ok, I know how that sounds. Giant red flag.
Listen.
Si-eon has a crisis afterwards. He had read a life-shaking letter from his mother beforehand, then Namwoo shows up. It's fantastic. It's like watching a flower break out from the soil into the open air and ask the sky "what the fuck".
Namwoo's speech to Si-eon is not that similar to, but reminds me still of one of my favorite quotes from the 2000 movie "Big Eden":
"Why can't you see how much love there is that people just want to pour on top of you?"
I think I'm talking up this story a bit too much.
Anyway. They're both learning to be vulnerable and how to navigate love, and I'm having a good time.
(2) Punch Drunk Love, by Moscareto and OkDong
pitch: Seon-woo impulsively propositions his crush, one of his office supervisors, into sleeping with him; and said supervisor interprets it as blackmailing, since that's how most of this supervisor's relationships have been like in the past. Their sexual preferences line up directly, but due to their multiple misunderstanding, they both hide their true feelings, which is the key to the tension between these two.
The high-scale comedic of the two. This one has me laughing every chapter, even during the sex scenes. The two leads are living in two very different genres, and they are never on the same page. Our MC, Seon-woo, is the backbone of the whole operation. He's the MC, so he better be, but I cannot emphasize enough how if he was even 1% outrageous and less in his own little world, I would not be as enthralled. Tae-moon, the ML, is the straight man to Seon-woo's funny man, and every time he tries to understand this strange little man, Tae-moon gets it wrong 100% of the time. Like, making up a tragic backstory for Seon-woo, to cope, kind of situation. These two are going to crash and burn, and I am on the edge of my seat waiting for it to start. There's not many chapters out yet, only 20-ish in Korean, and I'm not sure how many are planned. I'm hoping quite a few, since I'm enjoying it so much, but I could see how this could be wrapped up in 50, if they go with the "aggressive other manager amps up his campaign to get rid of Seon-woo" plotline.
And I know. I know Seon-woo is a stack of red-flags packed into a baggy business suit and comically thick glasses. I know. I know he's accidentally tormenting the man of his fantasies and needs to think of Tae-moon as a person before a wet dream. I know.
But he is my little horn-ball baby and I want to carry him around in my arms, stroke his hair like a pet cat. I can't help it.
+++
Reading both of those summaries/reviews back over, I see why they've both got me in a choke-hold. They both star two leads who's motivations and inner circus-ring minds clash, but should go hand in hand if only they'd all stop and be normal for 2 seconds. "Be normal" is a terrible way to describe it, so apologies to these fictional trashcan men, since it's clear from the narratives that at least half of them had certain upbringings that lead them to their present day selves, but it's the only phrase I can think of. If they'd be vulnerable; if they'd open up; if they'd stop thinking of expectations; if they'd listen to their partner and leave their assumptions at the door.
Seon-woo is the clear exception, for now. (He's just a horny little guy. He's got a teacher's pass from me.)
Namwoo has the most on-page character development, and I'm so proud of him. He will drag Si-eon into his happy ending. I believe in him. Seon-woo...not so much. But Tae-moon might get charmed along the way. We'll see.
(1) Love for Sale, by Dal HyeonJi
pitch: college student Namwoo has never known a life without worrying about money, and his dream is to just make enough so that he can comfortably pay his rent and live in peace. Then he meets Si-eon, who says he'll help him out financially, or give him anything really, if Namwoo will date him. After losing all of his part time jobs thanks to a broken arm, Namwoo takes Si-eon up on his offer.
The more serious of the two manhwas, less comedy. There's a significant age gap between this couple: Namwoo is early 20s, Si-eon is in his 30s. This is not a sugar daddy/sugar baby situation, but it mimics it in a way, so I've been calling Namwoo and Si-eon "the sugar couple" whenever I drop a wall of text messages about it to my friends. It's a low-stakes plot; the relationship is the complete focus. Namwoo only accepts starting the relationship because he's strapped for cash, but as someone who's had to be independent from an early age, he struggles to freely accept Si-eon's support and tries to or prepares himself to pay Si-eon back. This is unnecessary, because all Si-eon wants is to give Namwoo whatever he desires. Si-eon has a stable, wealthy lifestyle, but is interested in finding a partner that he can fully support. He's got a give-give-give spirit, but he rarely, or in fact discourages focusing on his own desires in the relationship. You can imagine why his past relationships failed horribly. So around and around these two go trying to make it work.
Namwoo is a very lovable MC, and Si-eon, while gentle, is a piece of work. I was convinced 80% of the way through that this was a doomed relationship. And then the 60s-range chapters hit, I lost all my sleep, and upon reading Ch. 70, I was brimming with hope. It's been an uphill climb from there.
The new fandom speak over favorite characters on twitter and tumblr is all about "i want to stick him in a cage/shoe box/hamster wheel" etc., and while I usually nod my head at those posts and laugh, I've never quite had a character that popped into my head. Now I do. I want to stick Si-eon down on a doctor's table and draw his blood, I want to run tests on him, I love thinking about how much of a coward he is. And I love watching Namwoo straighten his own spine, turn it to steel, and tell Si-eon he's not giving him up just because Si-eon thinks he won't ever love him back. That he doesn't need his love returned, Namwoo will pour out enough for the both of them.
Ok, I know how that sounds. Giant red flag.
Listen.
Si-eon has a crisis afterwards. He had read a life-shaking letter from his mother beforehand, then Namwoo shows up. It's fantastic. It's like watching a flower break out from the soil into the open air and ask the sky "what the fuck".
Namwoo's speech to Si-eon is not that similar to, but reminds me still of one of my favorite quotes from the 2000 movie "Big Eden":
"Why can't you see how much love there is that people just want to pour on top of you?"
I think I'm talking up this story a bit too much.
Anyway. They're both learning to be vulnerable and how to navigate love, and I'm having a good time.
(2) Punch Drunk Love, by Moscareto and OkDong
pitch: Seon-woo impulsively propositions his crush, one of his office supervisors, into sleeping with him; and said supervisor interprets it as blackmailing, since that's how most of this supervisor's relationships have been like in the past. Their sexual preferences line up directly, but due to their multiple misunderstanding, they both hide their true feelings, which is the key to the tension between these two.
The high-scale comedic of the two. This one has me laughing every chapter, even during the sex scenes. The two leads are living in two very different genres, and they are never on the same page. Our MC, Seon-woo, is the backbone of the whole operation. He's the MC, so he better be, but I cannot emphasize enough how if he was even 1% outrageous and less in his own little world, I would not be as enthralled. Tae-moon, the ML, is the straight man to Seon-woo's funny man, and every time he tries to understand this strange little man, Tae-moon gets it wrong 100% of the time. Like, making up a tragic backstory for Seon-woo, to cope, kind of situation. These two are going to crash and burn, and I am on the edge of my seat waiting for it to start. There's not many chapters out yet, only 20-ish in Korean, and I'm not sure how many are planned. I'm hoping quite a few, since I'm enjoying it so much, but I could see how this could be wrapped up in 50, if they go with the "aggressive other manager amps up his campaign to get rid of Seon-woo" plotline.
And I know. I know Seon-woo is a stack of red-flags packed into a baggy business suit and comically thick glasses. I know. I know he's accidentally tormenting the man of his fantasies and needs to think of Tae-moon as a person before a wet dream. I know.
But he is my little horn-ball baby and I want to carry him around in my arms, stroke his hair like a pet cat. I can't help it.
+++
Reading both of those summaries/reviews back over, I see why they've both got me in a choke-hold. They both star two leads who's motivations and inner circus-ring minds clash, but should go hand in hand if only they'd all stop and be normal for 2 seconds. "Be normal" is a terrible way to describe it, so apologies to these fictional trashcan men, since it's clear from the narratives that at least half of them had certain upbringings that lead them to their present day selves, but it's the only phrase I can think of. If they'd be vulnerable; if they'd open up; if they'd stop thinking of expectations; if they'd listen to their partner and leave their assumptions at the door.
Seon-woo is the clear exception, for now. (He's just a horny little guy. He's got a teacher's pass from me.)
Namwoo has the most on-page character development, and I'm so proud of him. He will drag Si-eon into his happy ending. I believe in him. Seon-woo...not so much. But Tae-moon might get charmed along the way. We'll see.
