- #1
I disagree with Alexania's review, the top isn't insulted by the idea he will be a bottom, he just isn't one. As there are alien races and genders involved, the shame on his partner's side is usually linked to those concepts (like a male zerg bottoming to him, who is a 'female' zerg is unthinkable), it's not related to our human impressions of what it means to top/bottom. The MC is an exclusive top who has no interest in bottoming though, so why should he? Is he supposed to let himself be r*ped just because zerg society says so? While he refuses to be the receptive partner, he never expresses that it's because bottoming is insulting (in fact he lets everyone think he IS the bottom, so if it were just about 'insult' that wouldn't be happening), it's just not something he wants to do.As a top I was really excited for this one, since protagonist tops are super rare, and I'm scarred from all the BL stories that force tops to bottom... 😅 so a story that respects a top's identity/preferences was actually really cathartic in the beginning! It lost a star from me instantly though when in the first arc Spoiler
the MC got pregnant.
[collapse] Feels like it defeats the entire setup of the story, and a hard squick for me, but to each their own I guess!So far I've liked the first arc the least, and the second and third the most (mermaids and mind-melding, fun!). But it sucks that for a story all about s*x, it cuts all of the s*x scenes out! Many of the most important parts of the relationships are hidden behind fades to black or confusing metaphor, so it just makes for a mess of a story that can be hard to follow right when you're most intrigued. I do enjoy the premise and world building though, so I'm still reading for now!