#adele vivi

current top 4 fls for visuals alone

I've recently gone down the manhwa rabbit hole and I thought I'd share a few that I'm enjoying in case anyone else was looking for something to occupy their brain space. First off is High Society by Gyeonu and Surreuk Comics.

The premise of this story is that Caesar Bounaparte, the highest ranked noble on the island of Santenare, is, though the usual manhwa legal highjinks, engaged to marry Lucrezia Della Valle, a woman that's been obsessed with him for years. He's deeply opposed to the marriage but because its an old contract that someone of House Bounaparte must marry someone from the Della Valle family - and he's his family's only child, there's no way out for him. Enter Adele Vivi, a woman that's disguised herself as a man to survive in the slums of Santenare. Unfortunately for Adele, her secret has recently been discovered and there are people who intend to make a profit selling her to a brothel. What's a problem for Caesar, Adele sees as an opportunity and proposes a solution to benefit them both. She will pretend to be his long lost sister and marry Lucrezia's brother, fulfilling the contract. Its still selling herself but its a solution she's willing to take. And so begins our story of Adele's lessons to become the high society lady worthy to be called Caesar's sister - and Caesar's growing desire to keep her for himself.

So - yeah, it has the delicious premises that most bodice rippers of the 80s did with an updated way of dealing with it and I would eat that stuff with a spoon because the dynamics can be so delicious but what really sets this story apart is how non-route the parts are.

First lets talk world building. Santenare has this wonderful New Orleans feel to it deep in its bones. This is an island where beauty is worshiped, where the glitter is brighter and so the shadows are so much darker in response. The island is beloved by a goddess of the ocean, so the saying goes and there's the faint hint of salt and too deep dark water that threads under just about everything. High society glitters but they're cruel in an almost ravenous way. There's hints of shark's teeth under their smiles and they're much colder - and more accepting of that cold response - than most 'high society' setting are. The ocean, and the hidden goddess, is the flavoring of everything they do from their greetings to the way they punish traitors. Life is cheap, from the highest reach to the lowest and beauty and violence are the only powers that matter. The story doesn't shy away from darker tones, the 'fairy tale in the raw' vibes.

And then you've got the characters themselves.

Caesar is a bastard - but he's a charming bastard that doesn't hide the fact he's a bastard. He's the only one that matters in his world and he's not shy about enforcing that. He'll do what needs to be done to get what he wants and he'll never apologize for it. And yet he's written so well that you end up liking him because its so much fun to watch him dominating the society around him. He gets what he wants because he's both clever and charismatic and its just downright enjoyable to watch him work. And yet you're entirely comfortable disliking him at the same time for being such a jerk. As a matter of fact, its kind of fun to watch him be a jerk because he always gets consequences that hit him in the heart when he does and that's very rewarding to watch. You can watch him getting wound, one twist at a time in deliciously slow pacing. Several chapters back he badly damaged Adele and I have been enjoying watching him suffering with her response to that action for multiple chapters now. I am looking forward to more suffering on his part because his actions always have consequences and he's intelligent enough to recognize what they are when they hit him.

As for Adele, she's a quiet heroine. She's got fire in her but she's also come to a place in her life where she's willing to accept a great deal, things dropped into the deep ocean that simply get swallowed up and fall forever. She will push herself before she pushes others. It makes her a bit more passive than I usually like my Female Leads but it works with her and the story because she is also written so darned intelligent. She recognizes before she even makes a move that each action will have consequences and she carefully weighs whether those are consequences she's willing to suffer to reach wherever the action causing them would take her. She's still a bit naive, she's still a bit vulnerable but she's an observer and while she's in a new life and struggling to adjust, each chapter she gets closer to learning how to survive - and than manipulate - her circumstances. She doesn't have pride to get in the way - she's a survivor and whatever that takes is her priority. She started the story off by weighing being sold to a brothel or being sold in marriage to an aristocrat and she approaches each new situation with that same level mindset. She wears the masks necessary to protect herself and she'll switch to whatever one suits her best to survive. Currently, we're in the 'withdraw who I really am from you because you can't be trusted to protect me' part of her relationship with Caesar and let me tell you it is delicious watching him bleed during every interaction just because her eyes have gone hollow for him.

Also I'm half-rooting for the bodyguard and her. I know the story won't go that route but in another universe I want to read their story (the horse race just got to me, okay?).

She's also got something else going on with her that she doesn't seem aware of but the story is dropping wonderful hints about.

Now lets talk about how pretty this story is drawn

the bodyguard who makes her smile

Lucrezia who is not even trying to hide the obsession she's got going on

and Caesar's current favorite memory of Adele. Yes, she was threatening to cut his throat with a pair of scissors.

Rating: PG13+

Finished: no

warnings: blood, sexual situations threatened/implied, ML is an asshole, physical abuse (people get beat up, the governess is an asshole, talk about dying and the above threatening with scissors, etc), fear of crowds/being touched in crowds, child neglect