- #1
I love this story. This is such a genuinely healthy and loving partnership, it's a breath of fresh air in a genre populated with toxic and dub-con relationships. Shen Qingshu and Han Cheng are really kind to each other, they communicate, they compromise, they collaborate on mutual goals. Every chapter is full of them respecting each other's opinions, values, goals, autonomy and health. The s*x is - and I cannot stress this enough - fully consensual every time and it's always discussed in advance what they're both willing to do. It's fade to black for the actual deed, but the discussion of it before and after is almost always shown. I'm so amazed by this aspect of the story that even if the rest was bad, it would make the story readable.
But the rest isn't bad, the rest is amazing too. Shen Qingshu and Han Cheng are so damn hilarious, every chapter made me laugh. They're into role-playing, so the whole plot of the fic so far is just them trolling all their family and friends. They haven't yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if they started role-playing during s*x too at some point.
The familial relationships are on point. Han Cheng's healthy family dynamic contrasted with Shen Qingshu's toxic one makes for a really compelling parallel. Han Cheng's brother is a national treasure and I will defend him until the day I die. I'm president of Han Yu's fan club, please and thank you. He's always teasing Han Cheng but also always defending him. Shen Qingshu's brother, Shen Qingyu, is something of a mixed bag. He's awful but also pitiable, disgusting and tragic at the same time. He's trying to survive, it's just that he thinks the only way to do it is to pull Shen Qingshu down. In his defense, the Shen parents are so terrible that it probably is the only way for him to survive.
There are a lot of friendships so far too. Han Cheng's group of friends are hilarious, especially when they tease Han Cheng, and the main couple's friendship with Bai Xuege, an underage acting star, is really cute and hilarious.
There isn't any relationship drama so far. The 'white moonlight' showed up but it didn't upset Han Cheng's and Shen Qingshu's relationship at all, they trust each other too mush for that. The only relationship drama is them trolling others and making up scandals for their own twisted amusement.
[collapse]All in all, this story is a gem, and I highly recommend it to anyone grossed out by all the coercion, manipulation and outright ab*se so common in most bl c-novels.