Replacing the Evil Way Chapter 105 Discussion

I like my romance like I like my chai—a mix of various ingredients. If it's laced with just romance, the story fails to capture me, thus making this story exactly my cup of tea.

Replacing the evil way—neither the title nor the summary prepared me for the twists and turns on this rollercoaster.

So, let's break it down. What was the journey like?

1. What? Where?? How???

Everything, everywhere, all at once....'s younger, more testosterone-pumped brother is how I would describe some parts of the story. Our leads, conversely, are a ride-or-die kind of couple, much like Romeo and Juliet, if she wasn't a minor, they were both men and detectives, and it was a happy ending. Space and time are just constructs, and so are people in this story, in a fun way! I have sprinkled some more story bits in other sections without spoiling too much.

2. You + Me = ∞

The story is mostly told from the perspective of our MC, a given. Though I found that the ML's perspectives add so much more substance and good chaos to the story, which, as you read on, you realize we dont get enough of (ᗒᗣᗕ) ՞

Spoiler

I honestly like every version of them as individuals and as a couple.

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Their worlds collide, quite literally, and the hoops they go through to get to each other is perfectly in tune with the mayhem around them. They are solid characters that I came to care about a great deal. They're not my favorite couple in the whole wide world, but they're pretty grounded, which I appreciate. I actually like them more as individuals and less as a couple, which is a flaw that I will talk about later.

3. Chess pieces for daaaayyysss!

There are about a handful of side characters that the author focuses on more than the rest at different points for different reasons. But more number of side characters confuse me much, my brain no handle, mush it become! But, I get it, 'tis be the art and necessity of world building. When reading, I felt there were some characters that the author was focusing on more than they needed to, but, in hindsight, I realize that this perspective helps the reader understand the main characters and the story a little better. Do I have a favorite? YES! One character in particular I liked more than the ML ⸜ (｡˃ ᵕ ˂) ⸝♡ but it's more of a personal preference than a jab at the character writing. Spoiler

Oh! A special message to the non-human side character: you are a goddamn God among us mere mortals and you deserve the best of the best and I love you so very much (ಥ◡ಥ) ❤️ ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

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4. Love is a peeping tom~

Ok, so the author focuses more on the sci-fi stuff, which I absolutely looooveeedddd. Head over heels, boots down, beam me up Scotty cause the nerds are in town! And the area where the story suffered the most was, unfortunately, the L of the BL. I honestly don't get why and how they got together so soon...? Hear me out! They have chemistry, no doubt. It just felt like at the end of a chapter I was reading about how the MC was reluctant about being in any sort of non-platonic relationship with the ML, and the start of the next chapter 💥Σ (°△° ꪱꪱꪱ) 💥 they are a couple! The ML's transition from "I find you fascinating and an equal in my field" to "I want to do so much steamy horizontal tango with you" made me wonder if I had slipped into a time warp and skipped a few chapters. That being said, there's actually not much to be said about the romance. The theme of love is entertwined with the main story and the cases the detectives solved. So, what is driving both MC and ML towards each other in the story is the power of love, but it's not romantic ya know. Their lack of introspection about "falling in love with someone from the same s*x but I am not gay" was concerning and frustrating. Spoiler

I actually find the half-a-chapter long romantic relationship of Employee HE and Pianist CZ more endearing, sweet, and well, ROMANTIC.

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In confusion conclusion... I loved the story. It pulled me in, held me down, and embraced me very hard. Months prior to finding this story, I had been in a loop of my own—a loop where I would read a few chapters of a new story and then toss the story into the abyss. RTEW tore through that mobious strip and made me feel like a new person again (dramamamama) !

That's all folks!