seapicklesupremacy

Seonu Lee, an omega, has agreed to carry a child for Beom Yoo, an alpha from a powerful crime family. Have the baby, take the money, and get out of Beom’s life. Sound simple, right? But behind Beom’s tough exterior is just another softie looking for love. Good food, walks on the beach, and steamy encounters—how could Seonu not fall for him? However, not everyone in Beom’s family is excited about this budding relationship. Will Beom be able to keep Seonu safe?

My Rate: 8 (tapas.io/series/tigers-den-mature/info)

Tiger's Den could have been practically perfect if not for some misstep: Beom Yoo, the alpha character, is always behaving more like a jester than a gangster, but then, sometime, he kills people for reason that really didn't deserve it. Sure, Seonu Lee was mistreated by his former lover, but not to a level that deserve for this lover to be killed. A beating, maybe having him loose his job, yes, but kill him is too much. If you can forget these details, that doesn't happen often in the course of the story, this is basically a pure comedy. I'm always smiling when Beom Yoo tries to get sexy, and Seonu Lee is always thinking to food... Seonu Lee is basically a bottomless pit and the way to his heart is for sure passing through his stomach! The graphic is nice and funny as well, their chibi are so cute, that even when they are in a sexy situation, having them transformed to chibi, put the mood more to comedy than erotic.

prettygoodword

polyamory (pol-ee-AM-er-ee) - n., the state or practice of having romantic or sexual relationships with multiple partners with the knowledge and consent of all involved.

Okay, so poly- means many rather than specifically large, but that's because operates on discrete rather than continuous sets. It comes from Ancient Greek polús, many, from a PIE root that meant both many and much, so agnostic on the discrete/continuum divide. As for the word, it was formed in 1992* as a derivative of polyamorous, which was coined in 1990 pairing it with Latin amor, love. Other words with poly- include polygamy ("many marriages"), which was used as a pattern for coining polyamory, and polyglot ("[speaking] many languages").

* Interestingly, the first recorded use is the proposal to create the Usenet group alt.polyamory.

Bonus prefix: I wanted to also use super- but it has many meanings other than just large, most related to being either over or above in literal or metaphoric ways. So it's a bonus.

And that wraps up a week of 'large' prefixes. While it's tempting to go onto a week of prefixes that are actually large/long, time to return to the regular mix next week.

---L.

prettygoodword

maxicab (MAKS-ee-kab) - (Hong Kong) n., a minibus used as a shared taxi.

Maxi- gets used to indicate something larger than typical. Its etymology is less direct than others so far -- created in English by clipping maximum on the model of how mini- was apparently clipped from minimum (narrator: it wasn't, it was clipped from miniature). Maximum itself is from Latin maximus, the superlative of magnus, great, making it a cognate with mega-. Other words with maxi- include maxipad ("large [sanitary] pad") and maxiskirt ("large/long skirt," specifically ankle-length).

---L.

reviews_and_ramblings

When a rich old man croaks during a passionate round of bedroom escapades, Soheon is accused of being his partner. Not long after, Seoho, the CEO of the company Soheon works for, presents him with a video of the incident... and makes him an offer just can't refuse.

My Rate: 8 (www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/swapping)

This time I cannot say that it was the colored graphic that made me want to read this one... it's actually quite scaring, when Soheon and Seoho are making love, it's almost like Soheon is going through hell and return, at least according to his facial expression... if that is the idea of the artist of someone enjoying himself, well, then, there is some problem here. Anyway, skipping the awkardness of the sex scenes, the story is quite complex, the plot instead of unveiling itself episode after episode becomes even more complex. The bad boys or the villains are not the one you would expect, and everyone is basically a faulty character. Even Soheon, that according to standard, should be the good one, is actually quite greedy, and makes a lot of mistakes, some of them causing deep hurt to people around him. So yes, complex story that keep you till the end. And if you manage to go over the unsexy sex, good romance too.

prettygoodword

megafauna (MEG-uh-faw-nuh) - n., large animals, esp. relatively large for a particular region, period, or habitat; (outdated) animals large enough to be seen with the unaided eye.

Ancient Greek mégas meant great/large/mighty, cognate with Latin magnus and English much, is the source of today's prefix, which got a popularity boost for being used in the metric system to mean a million-x unit (though the scaling is modified to 2²⁰ in computing contexts). The most recent ice ages were known for animals that were larger than their modern counterparts, which is the most common use for megafauna that I meet. The term was coined in 1876 by Alfred Russel Wallace, though it was not commonly used until the 1920s. Other words with mega- include megaton ("a million tons") and megabrew ("large-batch beer").

---L.

prettygoodword

hyperspace (HAI-per-spays) - n., (math.) a Euclidean space of more than three dimensions; (science fiction) a notional space orthogonal to the usual dimensions of space-time often used for faster-than-light travel.

The mathematical term came first, coined in 1867 when mathematicians were first working through concepts of n-dimensional topology. Using higher dimensions as a shortcut emerged as a concept in the late 1920s, in stories by Kirk Meadowcroft and John Campbell (hyper-drive, a mechanism for traveling through hyperspace, was coined in 1941). The prefix hyper- (from Ancient Greek hupér, over) can many anything from over/above and beyond to excessive and intensely as well as huge/giant -- several meanings apply here, but "extra" more or less encompasses all of them. Other words with hyper- include hyperactive ("excessively active") and hypertext ("text that is beyond [the current text]").

---L.

reviews_and_ramblings

“I missed you, Dad. Did you miss me too?” Gang member Ryu Nanmu may be one of the top dogs in his “organization,” but in life he’s hit rock bottom. He dreamed of building a family once, with his boss’ mistress and her son Pil-gyun, but he’s had to pay dearly for coveting something that could never be his. After several long years, the hope for a family had become barely anything more than a nostalgic memory for Nanmu...until a grown-up Pil-gyun dramatically reappears in Nanmu’s life. Except, this isn’t the child that Nanmu remembers. Pil-gyun is calculated, deadly, and obsessively in love with him. Although Nanmu knows he should put an end to this futile relationship, Pil-gyun’s tender words of love can’t help but tug at his heartstrings…

My Rate: 8 (www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/miscreants)

In general I like the story from Brothers without a tomorrow, and Miscreants and Mayhem is no exception. Sure you have to go over the fact that, at the base of the story there is the fact that Ryu Nanmu is the victim of continuous rape for years, and that Pil-gyun is not exactly his saviour, but probably yet another man who takes advantage of Ryu. Ryu is yes a mafia boss, but he is also an abused child, someone who, instead of reacting to abuses with even more abuses, is someone who dreams for a family, for an ordinary life, for love... Pil-gyun fills that void, in his own perverted way. Anyway, as usual, the graphic is perfect, and the story, a little twisted and contorted, is indeed original.

reviews_and_ramblings

After-hours paperwork isn’t the only thing heating up at BL Corporation. From HR to R&D, Secretarial to Marketing, a group of college friends all find themselves working under the same roof—and tangled in office romances no one saw coming. Whether it’s a shy developer revealing an unexpected secret, a longtime friend pushing the boundaries of “just colleagues,” or a bold assistant making a move that’s way above their pay grade, each story proves that love in the workplace is rarely by the book. Four departments. Four love stories. One HR nightmare waiting to happen.

My Rate: 7 (www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/pending)

There are pro and cons about this manhwa: pro, the 4 stories are nice, even if short, 5 episodes each, they are well rounded and with their own meaning; cons, there is maybe a little too much sex and the design is really different story per story, so much that sometime I didn't even recognize the same characters from one story to the other. The reason for this is that the artists are not the same. But this is just my pet peeve, and all in all, the four stories work well as standalone and the connections between them make them nice to read one after the other.

prettygoodword

Another theme week -- following on 'all' prefixes with 'large' prefixes, and following on the universe with the:

macrocosm (MAK-ruh-koz-uhm) - n., the universe considered as a whole; the total or entire complex structure of something; a complex structure, such as a society, considered as a single entity that contains numerous similar, smaller-scale structures.

Coined in Medieval Latin (and taken into English via French around 1600) from Ancient Greek roots makrós, large/long/far + kósmos, the universe -- which sounds like a redundancy: The universe already contains all, so why additionally specify that it's large? That last sense is the key one, as philosophers needed words for the concepts of macrocosm and microcosm, that the whole is reflected in its parts -- that as on earth so in heaven, and that there's correspondences between, for example, the human body and the heavens:

Thanks, WikiMedia!

This is a very common concept in ancient philosophies worldwide, including Ancient Greece, and theorizing about it continued in the European Middle Ages and Renaissance. Other words with macro- include macrobiotic ("prolonging life") and macrometer ("large/long measurement"). (I was going to use macron, but that's not a prefix but rather noun use of the neuter of makrós, and not prefixing anything.)

---L.

reviews_and_ramblings

My bride, Neungso, has so many wonderful qualities! He’s as pretty as freshly fallen snow, as big and strong as a mountain, and has a hu... HUGE summer squash between his legs! I thought having a bride meant having someone to take care of and make happy, but it turns out he knows just how to make me feel good. I wish I could make him happy too, but I’m not the special moon rabbit he’s looking for, so I know he’ll leave me one day. Maybe it would’ve been better if Habibi never brought my bride home. Maybe then, I wouldn’t have to feel this pain…

My Rate: 8 (tapas.io/series/cheeky-habits-of-my-rabbits-mature/info)

When you read Cheeky Habits of My Rabbits you don't have to begin with much expectations, it's just cute smut. It's for sure a light comedy, there basically no dark side, even the villain (that you can recognize immediately considering how they are designed) are more a little nuisance than a real danger. Moreover there are some points that do not have a logic explanation: what about Haru's parents? Is it really possible that Habibi is basically a drunk woman who doesn't understand another person is living in her house? Why Neungso's mother had to go back living with her father? Why they say it's Neungso's fault if she died?... so no, you don't have to search for those answers, you have just to enjoy the smut, with a nice graphic, and cute bunnies and kittens all around.

reviews_and_ramblings

"Will this make you happy?" Namwoo wakes up one night to find bills sprawled all over his room - along with the hazy memory of a handsome stranger. Even in his wildest dreams, all Namwoo wants is to have enough money to survive each month. Si-eon, on the other hand, has everything he could ever want except happiness. Intrigued by Namwoo's humble wishes, Si-eon offers him the money he wants - the catch being, he has to date him.

My Rate: 8 (www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/loveforsale)

I liked this story, not the least because almost all the characters are well rounded in both personality and graphic, actually the character of Si-eon is so well drawn that I can almost feel his thoughts even if he is not talking. The story between Si-eaon and Namwoo could be considered a classic thrope of South Korean manhwa, rich, older man versus student with empty pockets but a lot of potential, but in the end, neither one of them is an ordinary character. Namwoo is actually quite immature, but also sincere with his feelings, and what I loved the most about him is that he doesn't run away when Si-eon pushes him, like almost always happens in such occasion in other manhwa. Si-eon is very much imperfect in his emotional stunt but I liked that he is never harsh or mean with other people, not even when he would have the right to be so. That doesn't mean he is weak, but just that he doesn't have in him to be mean. As I said, also good supporting characters, with the potential, at least in two cases, of their own story (mayve between them).

reviews_and_ramblings

Oh Jae-gyu is an actor known throughout the country. He has been loved for his brilliant acting since his years as a child actor, but he is exhausted by the unjust rumours that constantly follow him and keeps his distance from people. One day, while feeding some cats, Jae-gyu is approached by a strange man. Jae-gyu is wary of the man, who turns out to be his neighbour, Yoon Cheong-rok. After being followed to the elevator, Jae-gyu mistakes Cheong-rok for a stalker, but to his surprise, Cheong-rok doesn’t recognise him at all. Jae-gyu’s pride is hurt after meeting someone who doesn’t recognise him for the first time, but a subtle excitement is brewing inside him. Later that night, Cheong-rok appears in Jae-gyu’s dreams...

My Rate: 9

Release Your Persona is the perfect example of manhwa that I wouldn't mind if it lasted even 100 episodes... and it's only 9! The love story between famous actor Oh Jae-gyu and ordinary man Yoon Cheong-rok is so perfect that I would have wanted to spend more time with them. Even the way they dealt with the drama (it's always necessary for a good romance to have a little bit of drama) it's perfect. Actually the starting point is very similar to the plot bunny I have always thought I wanted to write, two men met in a park (I imagined dogs instead of cats) one of them very famous, the other unaware of it. Really, this one hit the spot for me. And the graphic is nice too.

reviews_and_ramblings

Kang Shi-hyeon, A.K.A Red Candy, is one of the best agents at Vulture, a private security company. When he is entrusted with the task of getting up-close and personal with Park Hajun, the son of a suspected criminal, Shi-hyeon finds himself getting more than what he had bargained for. Not one to back down, he bravely ventures into unchartered territory and ends up in more than one compromising position... Hajun on the other hand is unaware of the fact that he is a pawn in an international investigation into his father… Will he figure out his new companion is a spy undercover, or will Shi-hyeon’s mission end up being successful?

My Rate: 8 (www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/redcandy_en)

I'm not really able to pinpoint what didn't convince me about this story, but there was something that didn't make me completely enjoy it. Maybe it was that the pace wasn't fast and going over 100 episodes was a little too much. But other than that, the story had its merit, the turn of events not always predictable, and for once, the sex wasn't censored. But maybe there was also a little too much sex and it was sometime more like a gymnastic training, a little bit deprived of romanticism. Said that, I have read way worse, and Red Candy was a really nice power bottom.

reviews_and_ramblings

Jinha, an overworked developer, gets the worst news of his life—he’s a recessive Omega! He’s now extra sensitive to alphas, and the only thing that calms him is his boss Hyeonjun’s pheromones. This is a nightmare, especially since Jinha’s been stashing money in a “murder for hire” account to cope with how annoying Hyeonjun is. As if that’s not enough, a creepy stalker starts showering him with pheromones. Now, Jinha’s stuck under the protection of his infuriatingly handsome boss!

My Rate: 9 (tapas.io/series/romance-not-romantic-mature/info)

Overall I liked this one, it was mostly a comedy, that is what I like the best, and the relationship between Jinha and Hyeonjun was nicely developed. There is just something that I didn't understand: all the flashbacks of when Jinha first joined the company, what was that upset Hyeonjun; and if Jinha really wanted to use his saved money to hire a killer :-) I don't think so, but then where all the money went? Anyway these are details that are not detrimental to the overall story. A quite classic omegaverse universe, but without all the drama and sort of social ghettoization that is usual linked to the role of Alpha and Omega. Here it's more like the difference between women and men in the work field, that I'm not saying it's right to exist, but alas, that is the reality.

epicurean

My ma says that I'm really good whenever I want to and honestly, before today I didn't believe her. Sooooo turns out I got my credit card confiscated (by my family, no less! lol) because honestly, I was spending too much. But I had to get gas so my ma gave me my bro's CC. Which didn't work. When I was already at the gas station. Getting charged for the gas.

I ended up paying cash but was so mad. So long story short: I ended up learning how to set up my digital CC in case I don't carry my physical CC. And I only did it because I was so mad that, the little bit of cash I had for the rest of the month was used on gas lmaooooooo

reviews_and_ramblings

Craig has been thinking a lot about death lately. Working thirteen-hour shifts to pay off his father’s insurmountable debt, taking care of his little brother in between, exasperated and ready to collapse, Craig can’t help but wonder: would it be easier to end it all? It was just an ordinary day like this when Craig stumbled onto the scene of a bloody murder. Now Craig is on the run, pursued by a criminal organization’s most lethal member: Dean. In the hunt, however, the two soon find themselves chasing anything but death.

My Rate: 9 (tapas.io/series/athousandcranes/info)

Basically A Thousand Cranes has 1 big fault, it's in Black&White. But if you go over that fault, the graphic is quite nice, the love story is romantic, the dark side of the story is there, but it's not overwhelming the romance, and basically both Craig and Dean are perfect in their own persona. I like basically everything of this manhwa, not the least the fact it's not too long, sometime I think some manhwa with more than 100 episode, sometime even 200, are basically diluiting the story; here instead the pace is packed, and the story flows nicely, also their intimacy that even if it happens fast, it doesn't seem happening too soon.

prettygoodword

universe (YOO-nuh-vurs) - n., all of spacetime and all it contains; a hypothetical spacetime-and-contents that supposed to exist simultaneously with but different from this universe; whole world in the sense of perspective or social setting, a sphere of interest, activity, or understanding.

And other extended meanings, including a set of stories/films/etc. that share a continuity. Dates to a little before 1400 (insert Chaucer citation), Middle English form identical to Modern English, from either Old French univers or Italian universo, from Latin ūniversum, all things/as a whole/the universe, noun use of the neuter of ūniversus, all together/whole, literally "turned into one," from uni-, combining form of unus, one + versus turned (perfect passive participle of vertō, to turn). Other words with uni- include uniform ("having one form/shape") and unibrow ("having one [eye]brow").

And that wraps up a week of all prefixes -- er, 'all' prefixes.

---L.

reviews_and_ramblings

Yeonwoo is a perfectly competent secretary. However, he’s secretly in love with his boss, an extreme alpha named Keith, who has zero interest in male omegas. After a traumatic incident leaves Yeonwoo fearful of all alphas but Keith, he resigns to hide at home. Keith, inconvenienced by the absence of his trusty secretary, takes on the task of helping Yeonwoo recover. Will proximity and pheromones cause love to blossom in this working relationship?

My Rate: 8 (https://tapas.io/series/kiss-me-liar-mature/info)

I liked Kiss Me, Liar, but it didn't have full point, since, sometime, I felt like the author of the story was missing some steps. It could be that the adaptation from novel to manhwa has lost those points, but I don't think so. For example, Yeonwoo has been turned to Omega from an heated encounter with Keith, and it was not something small for Keith, since it was the first time he kissed a man. How it could be that, just few years later, he doesn't recognize Yeonwoo? It was too farfetched, if you really wanted for us to believe it, you should have Keith losing his memory, like it happened when he marked Yeonwoo. Anyway, aside the first cruel words Keith says to Yeonwoo when he is assaulted by Keith's friends, Keith after that believes as the dream lover he should be. But than he again commits a bad mistake, probably due to his upbringing, and his beliefs that sex is not connected to feelings, but it's just relief valve. That is the reason why this story doesn't get full point from me, but it's all in all, worthy the time to read it.

prettygoodword

holocaust (HOL-uh-kawst, HOH-luh-kawst) - n., a sacrifice that is completely burned to ashes, burnt offering; complete destruction by fire, the thing so destroyed; (usually as the Holocaust) the mass slaughter of European civilians and especially Jews by the Nazis during World War II; any mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life esp. by human agency.

A lot to unpack here. :deep breath: The burnt offering sense dates to the 1300s, used to translate Hebrew ‘ōlâ, "that which goes up [in smoke]," in Biblical contexts, from Late Latin holocaustum, from Ancient Greek holókauston, neuter of holókaustos, wholly burnt, used of sacrifices burnt to ashes rather than shared with the celebrants, from holo-, whole/entire + kaustós, burnt. The first extended sense developed in the 1600s, and was broadened in the 1900s to encompass other types of catastrophes, a usage now deprecated. It was first applied to what the Nazis did in 1942, but the proper noun doesn't appear until the late 1950s and wasn't widespread until around 1970. Because of that specialized use, the application to other destruction has become mostly restricted to human agency. :exhales: Other words with holo- include hologram ("whole stroke/line [i.e. drawing]") and holistic ("pertaining to the whole").

---L.

reviews_and_ramblings

Suh Yoonseul has had life easy—everyone likes him, he’s good at his job, basically everything has always worked out as smooth as butter. However, there’s something that brings all of his good luck down, and it’s the infrequent dreams he has of Kang Jun. Who knew that rejecting a guy once would hang so heavy on your life? To make things worse, after he runs into Jun the dreams keep on coming daily. At his wit’s end, Yoonseul takes some advice from a friend so that he can free himself from this jinx. It’s simple. Make Kang Jun think that he’s a nice person. That can’t be hard, right?

My Rate: 9 (Third Ending - chovom - Webtoons - Lezhin Comics and Third Ending - Extended - chovom - Webtoons - Lezhin Comics)

Even if I gave an high rate to this one, due to the romance and the graphic, there is one thing that didn't sit completely right with me: the main lead, Suh Yoonseul, is an egocentric prick! Sure he falls in love with Kang Jun, and he makes all the right moves, courtship and so on, but guys, he is so selfconscious: like when Kang Jun says he doesn't want to do penetrative sex, and instead they ended up having a sex marathon... sure it's not rape, since Suh Yoonseul coaxed Kang Jun in changing idea, but still... and how Suh Yoonseul beahved with Kang Jun's coworker, making it seems he doesn't have any fault, and instead he was the first to ignite the fire... Anyway, that is also a proof that the story is well written and that the characters have strong personality, they are not just a copycat of other stories.

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May 2025

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