Screaming into the void

Finished a super short series called Dear Signal, by Suehiro Machi. By short, I mean like in physical format, it'd probably be one volume.

Well, Arashi learned as a kid that he was allergic to love... literally. In this world, children can have an allergic reaction to feelings of love and outgrow it by 20. He started taking the medication that keeps the heart shaped rashes from appearing when he was a kid and, now at 20, was suggested to stop and see if his allergy has gone.

Because of the medication, his thinks his sense of love has been dulled, so every relationship he's been in winds up ending. His childhood friend, Haname, comes over to stay the night and, while half asleep, sits up and kisses him. To his shock, Haname breaks out in the rash, and confesses his feelings for Arashi. Arashi is a dense mother fucker though so it takes him a while to realize who it was that gave him his allergic reaction in the first place.

The love allergy thing is unique, at least. It's a cute series, and pretty short. I think it's worth a read since you can get through it really quick. I don't really know how old Haname is. I guess a couple years younger? Arashi said he was 8 when his allergy first happened, and that Haname was a few grades under him. Maybe 18 then? I dunno.

Another series down. This is My "Toy" is Connected to My Best Friend by Kamon.

Synopsis: Jin is the heir to his family's shrine. Misaki has been his best friend since childhood, and Jin is secretly in love with him. After being plagued by dreams of a naked Misaki coming onto him every night, a friend he knows from a college club gives him a sex toy. The weird thing is, it's almost like it's alive. Not too long after Jin starts using the toy, Misaki says he's being haunted by a ghost. The ghost isn't doing the usual ghost stuff, though, but is fucking him.

The "ghost" fucking Misaki just makes me think of some post I saw a long time ago that talked about fucking a ghost and just said something about "imagine seeing my butthole opening and closing with nothing there" or something like that. That's all I could think about.

There's a lot of back and forth guilt of what the two are secretly doing. Jin being a Shinto priest doesn't have all too much to do with the series, but it's just notable because it's really only the second BL I've read with a Shinto priest in it (except the other is a kinda old shounen-ai, and the priest is just a side character).

It's alright. It's short, so you can get through it pretty quick, but it just feels kind of your average yaoi. It's not bad, just not all too noteworthy. The gimmick is at least unique.

Yesterday was Trans Visibility Day. Whilst screwing around online, I came across this meme.

Unsurprisingly, I'm also on the "trans rights are human rights" side. I can also happily tell everyone that Hirohiko Araki, the creator of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, is also a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. I mean, with Jojo's being... Jojo's, it would be baffling if he didn't.

What baffled me was the amount of transphobes that came pouring into the comments of this particular picture. One of them tried to say that Jonathan would think the whole idea of trans people was "ridiculous"- bruh, hell no. Jonathan didn't even hate Dio after everything Dio did to him. Jonathan is a pure soul and would support and protect trans people.

I could see Jolene punch a transphobe in the throat. XD

It was just weird seeing transphobes in a series that's insanely gender nonconforming. Just makes no sense to me.

I've read this story before, but read it again for this blog. This is Big Apple by Harusari.

Quick Synopsis: Joachim Hjerpe is a sniper for the secret organization, Secret Intelligence Agency. Joachim is a completely normal person in an organization full of people who can use magic. Joachim took the job, despite how dangerous it is, because of his debts, and so is constantly telling himself this job is going to be his last. That, and he's tired of having to hide his real identity from his lover, Juergen Eisler. Joachim tries to leave him because of fear his most recent job will result in Joachim's death, but every time he tries to leave, Juergen holds onto him even more. Joachim also really doesn't know anything about Juergen's life.

So it's like, a fantasy action filler? It's set in the modern day, and what starts off as trying to assassinate the head of an international mafia gets complicated because they're also involved with the Knights Templar. And later, a dragon gets involved.

I can acknowledge some of yall might get a little annoyed about how Joachim can be a little wishy washy with his resolve. Juergen has a bit of a yandere moment. Overall, I like it.

Today I felt like talking about an ongoing, light hearted series that I absolutely adore: 19 Days by Old Xian. It's a Chinese series.

It starts following the first two: Jian Yi and Zhan Zheng Xi. They were close up until middle school, but then Jian Yi disappeared. Now in high school, Jian Yi comes back and tries to get close to Zheng Xi. Jian Yi developed romantic feelings for Zheng Xi, but he's afraid it will push him away. While Zheng Xi may come off as distant and aloof, he actually really cares about Jian Yi.

The other pair are He Tian and Mo Guanshan. He Tian is a rich and popular guy, constantly followed by a gaggle of girls gushing over him. He wasn't a bully or anything, but teases Jian Yi. Not malicious, but the best way to describe He Tian is mischievous. Mo Guanshan starts off as a bully, but after agreeing to take the fall for something, only to find out he was lied to and is now being accused of sexually assaulting a girl, Jian Yi and Zheng Xi burst into the room with proof that Guanshan is innocent. After that, he does become friends with those two. He Tian starts going after the people making Guanshan's life hard after that.

Most of the time, it's the typical teenage boys being dumb. You know, the real meaning of "boys will be boys". It has its emotional moments as well (the last set of images is just a cute example. First time this series made me cry was pretty early on, when Jian Yi suddenly kisses Zheng Xi and runs off because he realized he messed up. Zheng Xi ran after him, and Jian Yi was in tears, terrified that Zheng Xi would be disgusted by him and never want to see him again).

Zheng Xi is the only one with a normal home life. Everyone else, it's complicated.

The chapters are super short, so fortunately and unfortunately, it's easy to get caught up. The art is good, cute story, good characters.

Another one down. This is Blind Play by YD. I've read it before but read it again so I could talk about it on either.

Synopsis: Lee Ah-In is a blind masseuse that doubles as a male prostitute. He has one big secret though: he isn't actually blind.

One day he meets Seo Ilmo, a famous author, who scheduled an appointment with him at his apartment. When Ah-In walks in, however, the first thing he sees is a corpse propped up on the couch. He has to keep himself from reacting to the bodies around Seo's apartment, and Ah-In has the suspicion that Seo Ilmo already knows he isn't really blind.

When Ah-In calls the police to try to report the body, they just laugh him off. So now, on top of keeping up the act of blindness, he tries to get evidence to prove Seo Ilmo is a murderer.

So obviously, it's a much more serious one. Seo Ilmo is a serial killer who flat out says he kills for fun. Ah-In is just an unfortunate guy. He's got no family and really only has one close friend, Myeong-Jun. Because Ah-In's desperate for affection, he has a boyfriend who treats him like a cash cow.

I'm not crazy about the ending. I won't spoil it, of course.

Is it still worth the read? Yeah, I'd say so. Just because I don't really like the ending doesn't mean all too much.

Long time no see!

Today I'll quickly talk about Red Candy by Hanse.

Quick synopsis: Shihyeon is a high ranking agent from the organization called Vulture, code name "Red Candy". He is assigned to protect and observe university professor, Hajun Park, from the men who are after Hajun's father (who has been MIA for years). In order to get close to Hajun, Candy engages in a "honey trap" plan: in order to get close to the target, the agent tries to pursue a romantic relationship with them. Shihyeon's done this sort of thing before, but not with a man before.

So yeah, kind of a spy thing. I've read this series before and enjoyed it. Enjoyed going through it again. It's not super like, I think like less than 100 chapters?

Also, the character, Uno, got his own spin off series called Bad Apple. It's ongoing though.