So I've been reading these two webtoons lately about female leads stuck in very toxic and unhealthy relationships (while being aware of it), and I'm loving every second of it!
If you know me, you know I just love a badass cool female lead and I also love seeing characters stuck in very difficult situations and watching how they use their brains and/or skills to get out of it, and both comics excel at these aspects!
First series is "Trapped", a comic about this taxi driver who got tangled by accident with a vampire who develops an obsession with both her and her blood after she manages to outsmart him a couple of times, something that hasn't happened to him in years.
It feels very "Tom and Jerry" with both characters trying to get the upper hand on their relationship, and you would think it would be super one-sided but vampires actually have quite a bit of annoying rules on how they work that severely limit their freedom and our female lead exploits as many of them as she can to make him eat sh*t! It's just glorious!
"Dreaming Freedom" is... somehow less dark, and at the same time way darker of a series.
It's not as violent or gory but it deals with more realistic problems that hit closer to home for some like school bullying, abandonment, harassment, family abuse, and so on.
The premise is that our female lead teams up with a guy that has the power to use dreams to affect people in the real world, and they use this ability to get revenge on all the girl's classmates that harassed her, but the more our female lead does that, more the male lead gets obsessed with her and we later find out that he has some serious anger issues making him extremely dangerous.
Our lead basically goes from "I can use him to get payback!" to "Oh my God, I'm the only thing that's keeping this dude under control and away from people!"
It feels like you're being handed a living knife that you just pray won't run out of control or turn itself against you. It's so uncomfortable but at the same time so thrilling!
While I really don't like when unhealthy relationships are glamorized and used to send some kind of "Oh, he's kinda dangerous... But at least he loves you, so it's okay, right?" message, I do like it when the unhealthiness of the relationship is the focus AND is painted as a problem that needs to be fixed.
I like how both female leads always call the male leads on their bs and keep them in check whenever they start going too far, and it's fun to see how they use them whenever they're backed into a corner by the antagonists of the stories.
Also like the themes these series explore, about how when you keep dealing with people that act like monsters you see yourself slowly turning into a monster yourself and start to attract other monsters as well, eventually making you question how far can you go? How far should you go? Can you get back from it? And so on.
But most of all, I like that both series make sure to show that these "bad boys" were their last freaking options. Not the first, not the second, but the very bottom of the barrel. They went to them only after they felt they had no other choices and were sure that nobody else would take their side.
This isn't just "Oh, I went to him because he's a hot bad boy", this is "The world turned its back on me so I'm gonna use the only cards that I have left."
They basically made a deal with their devils and now the fun is watching to see how/if they're gonna get out of it.
This is how I like to see problematic relationships. You don't paint them as something normal or something good, you paint them as a hardship that needs to be dealt with and use it to do clever commentary on the worst aspects of humanity so we can learn how to be better and as a source for good and intense drama to make us worried for the main characters and invested in seeing them get out okay.
Hello there! I have to admit, unpopular as it may be, that I DNF Bad Buddy. Idk why. Right before they ran off together to have some time to themselves I just sort of… lost interest? I do know how the rest plays out, thanks Tumblr, and don’t feel like I missed out on anything, ha. Don’t get me wrong the series was ok but I didn’t fall victim to the obsession and hype, just didn’t do it for me. What are some series that you DNF?? Did you ever learn how a series ends and feel like you need to back and give it a chance or remain confident in your decision to DNF?
I DNF a lot these days. I usually hear how the end. Or sometimes i just jump in and watch the final episode.
You should feel fine dnf’ing anything that doesn’t entertain you. This is entertainment, after all.
As of Oct 2022:
all the BL I’ve dnfed
I'll Be With You (Naega Gati Isseojulge) - Korea
Something, Crunchy Crunchy - Korea
Customized Companion - China
Glass Heart - China
The Teacher - Taiwan
Amore - Pinoy
Ghost Runner - Thai
I Told The Sunset About You - Thai
In Between (Sa Pagitan ng Kamusta at Paalam) - Pinoy
The Shore - Pinoy
Call it What You Want - Thai
Call it What You Want 2 - Thai
Country Boy - Thai
Country Boy 2 - Thai
Hidden Love - Thai
I Promised You the Moon - Thai
Jack & Jill - Pinoy
Love is the series - Pinoy
Love Poison 2 - Thai
My Boy - Thai
On His Turf AKA On My Turf - Korea
Stuck on You - Pinoy
180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us - Thai
7 Days 7 Boys - Thai
Accomplishment of Fudanshi Bartender (Fudanshi Bartender no Tashinami) - Japan
Getaway - Singapore
In a Relationship (Thailand's Gameboys) - Thai
My Roommate - Thai
On Cloud Nine - Thai
Rak Diao (BL sitcom) - Thai
Restarted AKA Restart(ed) - Thai
The Miracle of Teddy Bear - Thai
The Next Door Crush - Vietnam
A list of the ones I’ve not watched because I cannot get hold of them
Rice Rhapsody AKA Hainan Chicken Rice (Hainan ji fan HK
Miss Kicki Ni hong xin) - Taiwan
Somewhere I Have Never Travelled - Taiwan
Attraction (original) - Korea
Life Of Silence - Taiwan
Lie - Thai
Hurt - Singapore
Yandai byway no.10 - Season 1 (YanDaiXie Street No.10 AKA Yandaixiejie St. No. 10) - China
Let Me Kiss You AKA Our Kiss (Juup Khaawng Rao) - Thai
Way Out AKA The Power of Love (Chu Kou) - Taiwan
The Judgement AKA The Judgement Like... Dai Rueng AKA Like a Story (Não Me Julgue AKA Bewertung) - Thai
Gentleman Spa - Taiwan
Journey to the Shore AKA Peter Pan's Dream (Piteopaen-ui kkum) - Korea
2gether the movie - Thai
Half a Kiss and Half a Spice - Korea
What Did You Eat Yesterday the movie (Kinou Nani Tabeta?) - Japan
Both Me and Him are the Grooms (Boku mo Aitsu mo Shinrodesu) - Japan
Cherry Magic the movie AKA Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!: The Movie AKA 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii (Japan)
(wj stands for wonjinnie!!! (wonjin), and wb stands for woobin!!! I don't rlly talk abt him, so u prob have no idea who ruby (that's woobin's nickname) is, lolll,,, then again, I dont rlly talk abt wonjinnie mjch, either :"))
*instead of yoongi’s bridge, yoonmi has her own verse talking about coming to terms with and having to face the fear of being left alone no matter how much it tore her apart and made her cry, then it goes to hoseok’s verse*
I ' M F I N E
"Gwaenchana uriga anieodo seulpeumi nal jiwodo
Meokgureumeun tto kkigo na kkeuteomneun kkum sogieodo