Dani

they/he | 22 this is just my diary lol

[danitheibsdiva]

Dani’s Intro

Quick overview:

- I’m 22

- I’m a grad student (send help)

- they/he

- queer

My interests:

- bl manga/manhwa/manhua/danmei,

- jujutsu kaisen, chainsaw man, link click, other animes

- dc comics, literature, acnh, cats, fashion dolls, etc

My favorite long posts / analyses:

- jae-shin & humanity (pt.1, pt.2)

- pearl boy review

- incomplete combustion season 1 review

- master-peace first 10 episodes review

(all of them can be found under #fudanshidanisrambles)

(photo: a still from the manga Takara’s Treasure)

[danitheibsdiva]

I absolutely adore the smut in Flashlight but, after reading the season 2 finale, I think I’ll actually go back and reread the first 2 seasons to evaluate its actual plot and characterizations beyond just the really amazing smut (it’s my cup of tea, personally)

[9-93]

[danitheibsdiva]

Jae-shin and Humanity (pt. 2)

This is a continuation of my last post (here), this time focusing more on Jae-shin being a “half-breed” and his inferiority complex surrounding that :)

Interestingly, while Jae-shin sees himself as above both vermin spirits and humans, he has a deep rooted insecurity about being a “half-breed” and unlovable. In pretty much every single chapter with Jae-shin being in the afterworld or speaking to spirits such as Yeom, he is called a “half-breed,” “mongrel,” or “defective” because he needs yin energy from humans for survival (see: chapter 15, special episode 1, special episode 2, etc). This constant belittlement creates the need for Jae-shin to be better than humans, and likely pushes his disdain for them. He uses them as toys, refers to them as “things,” and sees having “mortal blood” as his biggest flaw (special episode 1). This inferiority complex over his own humanity is likely what pushes him to treat humans so poorly, to refuse to see their agency, and why he cannot fathom Lee Nok and his feelings throughout the narrative. He also ends up having to rely on those pesky spirits, their humanity and love, and Lee Nok in order to successfully take down Han Chae-hee. I don’t actually have much to analyze here besides the fact that I find his superiority to humans (and vermin spirits) deeply rooted in his insecurity over being half-mortal and likely what pushes him to separate himself from any amount of humanity or morals in the beginning of the story. Jae-shin even struggles to comprehend that he could possibly love a human because he sees himself as so incredibly separated from humans (“there’s no way I would care for a human” in special episode 1, “how did I come to love a human?” in chapter 62). His emphasis is on Lee Nok being a human, rather than the emotion of love– which he does previously write off as being foolish, frivolous, a waste of time, etc. I also find Jae-shin’s aversion to love interesting which goes with the conversation of him being half-human. Jae-shin’s mother’s death and subsequent reincarnation is what taught Jae-shin that love is worthless– because it does not survive reincarnation (the story of which is seen in chapter 72 and both special episodes). He ends up writing off love (ie: “as if a thing like love mattered…” in chapter 42), but still longing for it and fearing being abandoned (plus unloveable) all the same. In chapter 55, he gets devastated that he “mean[s] nothing” to Lee Nok; in chapter 56, he wonders why he is so hard to care for; he repeatedly begs Lee Nok not to leave his side; he obsesses over how to keep him “his” because he fears being outcast yet again; he panics when Lee Nok finds out about the reason he originally pursued him and tries to explain that he loves Lee Nok regardless of his form; and so on. He sees himself as better than humans, is repeatedly told he’s inferior to other ghosts, thinks of love as worthless– yet he cannot live without humans and has been chasing the love of humans his whole life (his mother, Lee Nok). He is such a layered and interesting character like please.

I have so much I want to talk about I have so many thoughts, especially on Jae-shin and the afterworld and Jae-shin’s character arc being him learning humanity and love but I recognize this is becoming an incomprehensible dump so unfortunately I am gonna stop talking here (I will revisit this soon probably) and just leave these two quotes which I adore and really sum up his character arc:

“That's the way I used to feel about mortals. So fragile and flawed that it’s impossible… to do anything with them. I certainly didn’t expect you to be any different. Just a means to an end… (…) anyway, that’s what I thought… but you defied all my expectations. It was the first time I ever met a human like that. I’ve never been so baffled by anyone… or so irritated. (…) I couldn’t understand why things that worked so well on other mortals… didn’t seem to work on you at all. I couldn’t stand the way you gave me the cold shoulder while being all smiles with other people. You always seemed to slip away the minute I got close to you… so I couldn’t stop wondering what you were thinking, what you were going through. Until I realized that all I ever thought about was you. I haven’t stopped, actually. I wonder about you all day. (…) I keep finding myself doing things I’ve never done before, because of you” (chapter 72)

“At first, I thought you were an unusually rare find… an object for the taking, like a fine blade of an exquisite jewel. That I could take as much as I wanted and cast you away whenever I was done. But every time I thought I had finally made you mine… I would end up changing back in the morning, fuming. I couldn’t understand why my heart would sink over a single word from you… or how I would lose my cool over your every action. I didn’t have a clue. Now, I’m no longer forced to change my forms against my will. I’m not bound by anything to be here. The only reason I’m still here is because… I love you. For much longer than I realized… and much more than you can imagine” (chapter 94)

*note: my next TGN post will be looking at Lee Nok and strength in vulnerability :)

[danitheibsdiva]

Jae-shin and Humanity (pt. 1)

In the first chapter, we see that Jaeshin views humans as “other” than himself and does not care about their lives or desires. He gets annoyed when someone professes love for them, proclaims “how dare you human” and trades a son’s life for an old man’s because of a bet, “all this fuss over a mortal’s life,” and even his father remarks how he does not care for humans. He is vice reliant and desire driven; smokes, gambles, has sex on his terms without regard— which are all common tropes for supernatural beings such as vampires or ghosts. Whilst I was working on this, I tried to find good sources for Korean mythology to see where a being like Jae-shin and his family would be classified as and to get more background on the mythology this story is based in, but I actually struggled a lot to find anything besides a couple personal blogs. So, while I wish I could provide a more thorough analysis of Jae-shin’s characterization in Korean mythology, I did end up having to go with the second closest supernatural being to base a good amount of my analysis on in regards to his actions: the Western European vampire.

Jae-shin, narratively, is incredibly similar to the Western European vampire that began popping up in novels such as Le Fanu’s Carmilla: he has to sustain himself via “feeding” on something from a human (rather than blood, it is yin energy), has little to no regard for human morals or morality, his representative colors are red (for human blood, stated in the afterword for season 1) and black (for the afterworld, also stated in the afterword for season 1), and he is queer. While he is not a vampire, his characterization is incredibly similar to vampires that have existed in fiction for decades, and he follows many narrative trends of vampires. Two of those trends being his deviant sexuality and disregard for human morals. Jae-shin, in his first evening encounter with Lee Nok (4-6 and the ones in chapters 10-12, 32-34), does explicitly rape Lee Nok. I will not excuse that or say it is okay, neither does the narrative, but I do want to discuss this through the lens of a supernatural creature similar to the vampire (vampires have, historically, been used as euphemisms for rape and queerness). That said, the reason he does not care about consent is because he does not see Lee Nok (nor any human) as anything more than a meager object. He does not care about humans, humanity, anything of that nature. Human lives are trivial to him. He sees Lee Nok as some special human with extra yin energy who is pretty (so he decides to make him “his”) and himself as doing a good deed somehow because he knows the vermin ghosts won’t go after Lee Nok anymore (though he does not care about that for Lee Nok’s sake, only so that his “belonging” isn’t touched). He even qualifies himself as outside of humanity and some idea of consent when he says that it’s useless to beg a ghost to stop. The narrative here is showing how separated Jae-shin is from human morality, which later reflects the humanity he learns throughout the story (asking for consent, realizing he cannot take Lee Nok to the afterworld, etc). (It didn’t have to be so many graphic chapters, though). Jae-shin sees himself as above vermin spirits and human beings, he believes that he is helping Lee Nok through his actions (which he later does for real and because he wants to, but we aren’t there yet) and claiming something precious for himself. Yet, the narrative and characters chastise Jae-shin for his actions and reinforce that he is no better than the vermin spirits who molest Lee Nok. Lee Nok says that he sees no difference between them (chapter 16) and Yeom says that he will never win a human’s heart by forcing himself on him (chapter 13). Jae-shin’s actions are not celebrated, but seen as a source of horror through the first season. It is constantly reinforced that Jae-shin is apart from humanity, does not care for humans, and does not see Lee Nok as more than an object– which Lee Nok objects to in chapters 18 and 23, when he, once again, tells Jae-shin off for his treatment of him: “The things you did may have helped my situation… but that doesn’t make them right. You may try to convince yourself otherwise, but your attitude tells a different story [...] I am not your plaything” (23). While Jae-shin’s role in the first season is that of an antagonistic, immoral, inhuman parasite; his actions are never romanticized nor excused. The narrative is not glorifying his treatment of Lee Nok (though, again, it could be way less graphic), it is showing how inhuman Jae-shin is and enforcing the horror of the world in The Ghost’s Nocturne. (This characterization, in particular, is incredibly similar to Carmilla in Carmilla or other vampires in the 1970’s Western European vampire films, if you’re curious about further research in the queer vampire engaging in nonconsensual sexual acts realm). This is really all I have to say about this subject because we see Jae-shin change, view Lee Nok as a human being, respect and even ask for consent, and, Lee Nok does not hold this against Jae-shin (continued…)

[danitheibsdiva]

December kicked my ass I swear I dropped more manhwas & mangas than I started

[danitheibsdiva]

Unblossomed on Lezhin

[danitheibsdiva]

A manhua I read recently that I highly recommend:

“招财特优生” which roughly translates to “Fortune Bringing Special Student” or “Fortune Bringer’s School Life.” I had to translate the entire thing with a translator so I probably missed some of the more nuanced parts of the comic but it was still so incredibly touching and heartwarming despite being so short. I loved its reflection on money & morality from the prosperity cat’s perspective and how humorous it was! Plus the art is divine!

爱发电 · 连接创作者与粉丝的会员制平台

将创作的自由还给创作者！爱发电是让创作者简单地获得稳定收入的粉丝赞助平台。无论你在创作什么，都能在这里获得持续的资金支持，让创作从此更自由。

^ The trusty link is where you can read it at & support the creator’s other works! (I have a physical copy on the way and I’m so excited)

[danitheibsdiva]

Jae-shin <3 The Ghost’s Nocturne

[danitheibsdiva]

My First Look at “Master-Peace”

So, I decided to read “Master-Peace” now that it has been released on Lezhin US because I kept hearing about it and decided to see if it lived up to the hype (in my opinion). There are a couple caveats, however, being that I was only able to read 10 chapters into the story so this cannot be a full review and that I already went into it knowing I was not a fan of Ju Incheol’s design or the general dynamic between the characters (I’m not the biggest fan of power bottoms if I’m being honest). But, I still did my best to engage with the work despite my own personal preferences and really get into the story! Here’s my take on the first 10 chapters (and please note, I did not like it, so if you’re going to be offended, dni).

I want to start with what I think is well done and what I personally enjoyed: the artwork. I don’t think anybody could say the artwork for this story is not fantastic. It’s incredibly cinematic, perfectly resonates with the gritty and realistic tone of the story, and carries the unspoken tension between Ju Incheol and Ahn Pyeong-hwa perfectly. The paneling is also extremely smooth— it’s super easy to follow along with the art and flow. I also love Ahn Pyeong-hwa’s character design, I think he’s absolutely stunning and fills me with absurd amounts of gender envy to the point of physical pain (shoutout to my fellow trans men). On Ahn Pyeong-hwa, I further think that he is the character with the most intrigue at this point in the story— though it has yet to be truly fleshed out (of course, we’re only on chapter 10).

This is where I get into why I personally did not enjoy the opening chapters, however. I really tried to be open minded because it’s only the first 10 chapters but they simply didn’t hook me and I found myself just wishing for… more. Every single chapter, I just found myself going “and that’s it?” because it felt like so much of nothing was happening. The whole plot around the redevelopment situation is so tedious and with practically no tension. There’s no reason to root for anyone besides maybe your moral standpoint on redevelopment. We know that Ju Incheol is being pressured by his boss to get this done for her votes/job/reputation (she’s a representative) and he’s a workaholic + perfectionist but we don’t know his motivations or why it’s so important to him or what will happen if he isn’t able to get this situation to work out for him. Ahn Pyeong-hwa is in his way and is refusing to sell the gym and the only reason is because of… the fighting ring? When he said he isn’t doing it for money? There’s nothing else that’s been delved into besides some hints about violence being impactful to him on some level (is he suicidal? Is this self harm?) and we know he has no family but there’s no real reason it has to be that gym or why he even runs the gym. There’s just… nothing. Literally nothing. Everything is incredibly surface level and overly simplistic.

I think there’s something to be said about stories that overly rely on art to carry the plot and tension, as well. In a medium where the story is being told with words and visual representations— such as comics or films— there needs to be a correct blend between showing and telling. Let the art (in this case) do an amount of that, and let the words do another amount. Yet, here, it seemed as though the art was the only thing moving the plot forward. Most of the dialogue was surface level and left no room for deeper interpretations to be brought out. Even scenes where it felt like something big was finally happening; such as when Ju Incheon rushes to Ahn Pyeong-hwa’s door on a moment of impulse (thinking “don’t open the door” on repeat), there’s no real payoff. He feels disgusted with himself and leaves but we get no real internal monologue or background into what he’s really struggling with— the desire for control? His sexuality? Guilt for cheating? Guilt over his job? We know his sexuality is something he’s struggling with, as he’s felt nauseous because of his attraction (is it even attraction?) to Ahn Pyeong-hwa, but there’s nothing deeper there. Why is it so hard for him to handle? Why is he so set on Ahn Pyeong-hwa? Why does he even care so much about his job? About control?

For Ahn Pyeong-hwa, himself, we have the seeds of something really interesting that I hope gets explored in depth, but that has been so far just… brushed off in favor of the plot surrounding the redevelopment. He’s clearly masochistic and doesn’t care about life or death— he tells Ju Incheon that he could kill him, he’s seen nearly drowning himself— but we have no substance there. It seems like moments (such as when he says he isn’t fighting for money) that are meant to be deep and tell-alls but they get buried in the tedious discussion of the redevelopment districts and lack of character development.

I’m sure this sounds overly critical for the first 10 chapters and I’m not going to write this off and say there’s no hope for the story; there are elements that I think would make the story fascinating and well done if they’re explored in depth, but, overall, it feels incredibly banal. So much of nothing happens every chapter, the characters are flat and lifeless, the plot itself seems overly reliant on showing (via artwork) and telling NOTHING, and there’s no real chemistry or tension between the characters. It all just feels “fake deep,” in my humble opinion. I hope that “Master-Peace” ends up surprising me, but right now, I’m just disappointed and wanted to rant about that a little bit.

[danitheibsdiva]

I finally finished Under the Green Light and it was a masterpiece!!! I took so many notes I’ll probably ramble about it here later but I just had to update that it’s now in my top 10 ranking :,) <3

[danitheibsdiva]

I think about that one scene in a twisted fate all the time

[9-93]

[9-93]

@/_MinGwa: “Happy Halloween #Jinxmanhwa #징크스” (x)

[9-93]

[danitheibsdiva]

I read the first volume of Sleeping on Paper Boats (I preordered volume 2 no spoilers please) and Teki Yatsuda has done it again. A Home Far Away made me sob and so did the first volume of Sleeping on Paper Boats, I love how she portrays & writes yearning, grief, intimacy, innocence, hope, and “abnormality.” It always strikes a chord with me. Plus the art is, as always, stunning! But then I had to read The Yakuza’s Bias for some comfort!

[danitheibsdiva]

Reluctant Encounters Thoughts!

I just read the all of Reluctant Encounters that’s currently out (as of Saturday 11/1/25) which was the first 30 episodes :) and I neeeed to talk about it (I read on lezhin us) (I know a lot is going on with lezhin right now but I’m limited on options y’know)

So, first of all, I want to say that I always find myself drawn to dark stories. I read and enjoy a lot of problematic content (and sometimes I read solely to be disturbed or feel strong emotions even if they’re negative), and Reluctant Encounters is no different. The official tags have #manipulative, #lovehate, and #romance but I’d say there also needs to be a tag for #revenge as that’s a huge part of the plot that cannot be overlooked (though, I actually forgot about that near the middle). I also want to throw out some trigger warnings quickly for noncon & dubcon, emotional manipulation, coercion, stalking (not necessarily confirmed stalking), and uh yeah did I mention graphic noncon? If you can’t handle those trigger warnings, that’s okay! Protect your peace! You know what’s best for you!

As a dark work dealing with these trigger warnings and topics of obsession, mental instability, revenge, etc— Reluctant Encounters almost feels like it tricks you in the middle of the first season. It starts off with a grim noncon scene in the first few chapters that sets the tone, there’s so many bone chilling panels of the sociopathic (? Unsure if he’s a sociopath or psychopath or if he has other mental health problems but he likely does) ML, reminders of the bullying and the MC’s part in that bullying, and hints of the dark turn that’ll occur come the end of the first season; yet, around chapters 14-25, I found myself completely forgetting all about the dark undertones of the story. The two characters— Song Taeyoon (MC) and Hyun Jaemin (ML)— have an incredibly dynamic and chemistry that work so well together, their dates are full of “badum badum,” the two of them bickering and flirting, and it starts to become almost a slice of life romance; which I think is the genius of this work. It starts out dark, but, as Taeyoon starts to fall for Jaemin, the audience is only given Taeyoon’s thoughts and perspective, only sees their adorable little interactions, and slowly starts to forget about the red flags alongside Taeyoon. It’s also during this stage that Jaemin is drawn to be his most adorable, is the kindest and most… laid back we ever see, and takes into consideration Taeyoon’s wishes and what he enjoys. The narrative perfectly distracts the audience and Taeyoon from the true nature of Jaemin until the bone chilling season finale (and couple chapters leading up to it), where the entire facade comes crumbling down. When Taeyoon gets his heart broken and realizes that the Jaemin he fell for was merely playing him, the audience gets to reckon with the fact that the manhwa tricked us, too. Season 2 starts off just as gritty and insidious as season 1 ended; the charade is fully over.

This is not gonna be a full analysis of Jaemin’s or Taeyoon’s characters because I would need the entire work to be out (and I’m currently writing two different analyses rn), but I just really wanted to talk about how well done I think Reluctant Encounters has been so far! It hasn’t shied away from showing how twisted Jaemin is, in any sense, yet it had me completely distracted from his behavior in the middle to the point that I was caught off guard when I was reminded that’s he’s a yandere! The art is also stunning, I have to say! Plus there are so many humorous moments throughout the manhwa. Overall, I just really enjoyed the first season (& beginning of season 2, despite being uncomfortable at times), and I can’t wait to see how this all plays out!