• manga,  Uncategorized

    MANGA: Shinobeyo! Stalker

    Shinobeyo! Stalker โ€“ Fujiwara Asahi

    As a runaway ninja, Benimaru has little to no prospects in life. As he was lying in the woods, contemplating his death, a stranger approaches him and gives him back his will to live. Benimaru finds out that the man was none other than the provinceโ€™s feudal lordโ€™s son, Lord Shinosuke Kiyohisa Yamato. Putting his skills to use, Benimaru sneaks around and secretly looks after Lord Shinosuke, who may be much more clueless than he lets onโ€ฆ

    Benimaruโ€™s pretty face on the cover grabbed my attention. I was expecting gritty ninja action, but it turned out this manga has scenes so completely ridiculous one character consigned them all to perdition and high-tailed it out of the scene. If he could break the fourth wall and run out the panel, he would.

    Benimaru, at one point, was at the lowest he has been, with no desire to live. The kind-hearted Lord Shinosuke found him and encouraged him to find a reason to live. Benimaru did just that, falling in love with Shinosuke and secretly taking care of him from the shadows.

    The opening panels showed Benimaru stalking the young lord. Things were pretty benign here. Then, it got a turn for the best? Worst? Or just plain silly where medicines were oh so conveniently given in error. Medicines that โ€œmake certain parts more energeticโ€ making that a cue for our naive ninja to help his beloved lord release tension.

    Add a voice of reason in the chaos in the form of Shouta, a young ninja who admires Benimaru and wants him to come to his senses, a.k.a. return to their village. I expected a love triangle, but no. Shouta was the only sensible character who nudges our heroes in the right direction, popping up just in time when needed.

    This is one of the most hilarious stories Iโ€™ve read this year, with Gintama humor and clueless characters finding themselves in one silly situation after another. Itโ€™s also one of the cutest romances too!


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  • book,  Uncategorized

    REVIEW: Where the Devil Says Goodnight by K.A. Merikan

    Folk Lore: Where the Devil Says Goodnight โ€“ K.A. Merikan

    โ€” Forgive me, Father, for I will sin โ€”

    Adam. Catholic priest. Celibate. Does not yield to temptation.
    Emil. Sinner. Seducer. Snake. Hot as hell itself.

    After a sheltered childhood ruled by religion, all Adam wants is to be a good priest and make his parents proud. But itโ€™s hard to stay virtuous in a big city like Warsaw, and when he makes one slip up, his life spirals into ruin. He is sent to a tiny mountain village where he hopes to live down his shame and work on restraint.

    But staying celibate becomes far from easy when he meets Emil, a local man with long dark hair, a mysterious past, and as little morality as he has luck. Emil has no qualms about flirting with a priest. Worse still, he seems hell-bent on tasting forbidden fruit and unearthing the desires Adam has always kept hidden.

    The odd village hides secrets far more sinister than Adamโ€™s insatiable lust for Emil. Old Slavic magic looms everywhere. Superstition mixes with reality. Someone is watching his every move. Someone follows him in the dark, lurking in the shadows of the ancient forest. Adam is plagued by disturbing events, and Emil could be his only salvation even if he is the devil himself.

    Can a priest shepherd the black sheep to safety or has he been the wolf all along?

    POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
    Genre: Dark, paranormal M/M romance
    Erotic content: Scorching hot, emotional, explicit scenes
    Themes: Occult, witchcraft, Slavic superstition and myth, folklore, priest, forbidden love, hurt/comfort, metalhead, little town, temptation, religion, paganism, cult, old gods, possession, demons, magic, homophobia, bigotry, prejudice, coming out, fish out of water, soul mates, mysterious man, tease and denial
    Length: ~ 120,000 words (standalone)

    WARNING: This story contains scenes of violence, offensive language, self-harm, and morally ambiguous characters.


    Iโ€™ve wanted to read this ever since they unveiled that gorgeous cover. The thing is, K.A. Merikan is a hit or miss with me. It took two tries before this book finally stuck.

    Where The Devil Says Goodnight has a setting rarely seen in MM romance. The story mostly took place in a small Polish village of Dybukowo, picturesque, eerie, and timeless in a way that feels jarring whenever they mention modern technology like internet or cellphones.

    Father Adam, a young priest caught with a porn mag in his room, was sent from Warsaw to the village to keep him away from temptation. But temptation came in the form of a tattooed metalhead and village pariah Emil. At first, Adam tried offering just his friendship, but the lure was too strong, and with a dark entity giving him all his deepest, darkest desires, it wasnโ€™t long until Emil and he became secret lovers.

    I was ready to dive deep into everything the story promised to offer. Occultism, Slavic paganism, dark magic and how they blend and clash with Catholicism is fascinating to someone whose own country, halfway across the world from Poland, is similarly influenced. These are the best parts of the story, and they made the horror elements extra creepy.

    Sadly, the book didnโ€™t delve deeply enough into these, just touching the surface. The plot straddles the line between paranormal and horror. The midnight church scene scared me the most when narrator Wyatt Baker used special effects for his demon voice. Man, it gave me a jolt! And that was when I fully committed.

    The paranormal elements were mostly lowkey, the kind that Adam would shrug off as his imagination or thought he was being gaslighted. I preferred the paranormal to be more overt, just so there would be excitement to keep the plot from dragging. The story moved slowly, with only the narratorโ€™s energetic delivery to keep me going. And itโ€™s a long ass book too.

    I am not a fan of religious officials as gay romantic leads because they tend to be miserably hard on themselves. The story is in dual POV. Adamโ€™s internal dialogue is childishly naive, self-flagellatory and mistrustful, making him pathetic rather than sympathetic. The man willingly sleeps with Emil, then gives me whiplash with his denials and accusations right after.

    I hate it when people, cheaters especially, donโ€™t take responsibility for their actions. Instead they blame the โ€œseducer,โ€ the โ€œtempter,โ€ or the devil for leading them into sin. Almost always after they do the deed, Adam would blame Emil for leading him away from the righteous path, even accusing the poor guy of putting a spell on him. Dude, you can always say no and walk away. Emil wasnโ€™t holding a gun to your head.

    Emil is the more interesting character, a country bad boy whoโ€™s more worldly than the virgin city mouse while also a cinnamon roll of sorts. The villagers consider him as a cursed good-for-nothing. He comes from a family of whisperer women, a kind of witch or shaman dealing with the old gods of the land. His most loyal companion is his black stallion, Jinx.

    Emil tries his hand at various endeavors, from palm reading to wine making, so he could earn enough money to leave. The man really tried but with his abysmal bad luck, thereโ€™s always one reason or another he cannot leave the village. A lonely gay man with few options and a non-believer, he has no qualms sleeping with a closeted priest he soon fell in love with.

    The romance was my least favorite simply because I wasnโ€™t convinced it would work. Thereโ€™s too much lack of trust for them to function as a couple. But Iโ€™m glad I stuck around till the end, because when Adam let his beast out, and a fabulous beast he is, he was way more likable. I wish he did it earlier, because it was almost too late, but he and Emil finally convinced me they were it.

    Where The Devil Says Goodnight was a tough read but worth it in the end. The almost unconvincing romance and unlikable MC was offset by the atmospheric setting, the fascinating glimpse into Slavic culture, and a satisfying conclusion that made all the difference. YMMV but all in all, a mix bag of blessings and curses.

    Rating:
    3.5 Stars โ€“ that place between like and love

    Soundtrack: Tethered Bones
    Artist: Talos
    Album:


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  • song,  Uncategorized

    SOUNDTRACK: Tethered Bones by Talos

    Soundtrack to Folk Lore: Where the Devils Says Goodnight by K.A. Merikan

    Tethered Bones by Talos for a books about a priest and a bad boy tethered to the land, to each other, and to a demon.

    Iโ€™m forested
    I live alone
    Iโ€™m islands in the sea
    Iโ€™m tethered to your bones

    Iโ€™m forested
    I live alone
    Iโ€™m islands in the sea

    In the pouring rain
    We did oscillate
    Has our fastening meant endlessness for our love?

  • quote,  Uncategorized

    Iโ€™m forested
    I live alone
    Iโ€™m islands in the sea
    Iโ€™m tethered to your bones

    Iโ€™m forested
    I live alone
    Iโ€™m islands in the sea

    In the pouring rain
    We did oscillate
    Has our fastening meant endlessness for our love?

    In the pouring rain
    We did oscillate
    Has our fastening meant endlessness for our love?

    In the pouring rain
    We did oscillate
    Has our fastening meant endlessness for our loveโ€ฆ

    I could be heartache
    I could be tender
    I could be liar
    I could be saint
    I could be the darkness breaking at your window
    Or the pale light keeping you awake

    I could be heartache
    I could be tender
    I could be liar
    I could be saint
    I could be the darkness breaking at your window
    Or the pale light keeping you awake

    Iโ€™m forested
    With tethered bones
    Your faceless when you sleep
    Donโ€™t ever bare it all

    Iโ€™m forested
    I live alone
    Iโ€™m islands in the sea

    In the pouring rain
    We did oscillate
    Has our fastening meant endlessness for our love?
    Has our fastening meant endlessness for our loveโ€ฆ