u/Lazy-Impression2361

Hi all! I've loved romantasy as long as I can remember, reading OG Amelia Atwater books in middle school and finding random gems on book shelves over the years.

Recently, as I tried to get back into reading (adulthood drop off in reading and all that), I've gotten pickier because I reemerged into the BookTok era.

I appreciate what it has done for readership, but it feels much harder to parse out a book I think I'll like now. But then I read the Ever King books and the Broken Kingdoms series by LJ Andrews, and I've felt book-hooked in a way I haven't in over a decade!

As such, I was wondering if anybody had any recommendations on books or series that are similarly written/break outside of some of the usual TikTok book formulas? ( Don't get me wrong, I know these aren't completely unique in terms of formula, but the writing is just so 👌 🤌)

TL,DR

What I'm looking for: I don't mind spice, but I'm not into spice-heavy books, and still miss escaping into romantasy! Adult FMCs, maybe a MMC that isn't shadow powered 😅 but still have immersive world building, lack of miscommunication trope (emotional vulnerability, my beloved), has a sense of maturity to the characters that doesn't make them feel like aged up teenagers, etc. Can obviously be M/F but I'm open to M/M or F/F too, esp as I'm in a same-sex marriage! My wife and I are always looking for good F/F books 😊

That was so long, but thanks for sticking if you did!

Let's start with where we left off in the Blue Valentine lore.

As seen in the last webtoon chapter, we know the girls finally overcame the Blue Valentine Stage, reconciled with love for one another, and reached Mixxtopia... only to find a barren and desolate planet.

Until, that is, they arrived and began to wander and unconsciously terraform the planet into something once again wild and habitable.

https://preview.redd.it/sgv3fvl1peyg1.png?width=587&format=png&auto=webp&s=05aa40dfa31d72a0d61ce958bf6ffcf31c2a2dc5

After noticing and following a Dodo bird from a distance, Lily looks up to see a maelstrom of doves. I imagine this might play into the Heavy Serenade teaser where we see her burst into doves from the rooftop.

https://preview.redd.it/rsmm86ahoeyg1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=7742c7f2660003ab2a8f797cfb2a367e0cea09b6

From there, the birds turn into water, promptly pelting the girls with a hard falling rain that I believe leads to a flood.

https://preview.redd.it/7uu5dwa2peyg1.png?width=463&format=png&auto=webp&s=b92788b3b6690b9c8f5a8b60ed6601d9e9c0c995

After holding each other for safety and comfort, they begin to slowly look up. We close with Haewon pressing her ear down into a puddle with the lines:

"At that time, we all heard it. A sound we had never heard before. Ringing out clearly, unmistakably towards us. The rhythm of everything blending together. Perhaps, a sound that would become a new milestone of this new land..."

Is this sound they're hearing, this rhythm, a Heavy Serenade of the Mixxtopia to come? The Mixxtopia they are creating in real time with their love?

With that all in mind, let's to Heavy Serenade and the newest Crescendo MV.

We open with Jiwoo alone in an enclosed room, which she refers to as the "CPR room" in the BTS video. From there, she moves in a way she self-describes as "sleepwalking," which is to say is it jerky and disorienting.

At times she has a respirator in her mouth, the likes of which we actually see Sullyoon take out of her mouth. Later in the video, we also see Sullyoon perform a CPR press on the ground before it transitions to Jiwoo's drop down into the ocean.

Did Sullyoon, our doctor on this journey, have to remove Jiwoo's respirator to perform emergency CPR? Is Jiwoo dreaming or hallucinating as she loses consciousness in the water (hence the sleepwalking reference)?

While removing the respirator could be seen as a sinister move, we know they reconciled in Blue Valentine... and that this particular comeback is themed around love, so I am inclined to think she did this in good faith.

Note, also, that Sullyoon is the only member we ever see in the CPR room with Jiwoo. At one point, Sullyoon even pushes Jiwoo back onto the bed. Does the force of the press from CPR translate through to Jiwoo's dream/hallucination?

By the end of the MV, there are even water droplets on the glass walls of the CPR room.

https://preview.redd.it/gwofl7o7reyg1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=b516d09f7672930150e83b19d10ecb2cc471ff55

https://preview.redd.it/zpqtb7o7reyg1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=0d44cbc3a2252efec50aa0fc701b81d4d3221d36

In the music video, we also see Lily with a respirator attached to her wings. (Confirmed by her in the BTS). However, we see her outside of the room Jiwoo is in with all of the members. So if she couldn't breathe at one point, we can infer she didn't end up in the same dire situation as Jiwoo.

During the tug-of-war scene, Jiwoo is also the only member missing.

This leads me to believe they were all drowning following the Blue Valentine flood. But while the others pulled through, Jiwoo is struggling, floating just out of reach. And they are trying to wake her up; to pull her back, if you will.

https://preview.redd.it/xk2zoizkseyg1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=362790dc4fad51e6f9bb0f1a249647f553565172

This flooding is significant, of course, because the ocean itself is closely tied to NMIXX's lore. Not only had they originally set off in a pirate ship to go find Mixxtopia around debut, but ocean animals are consistently present in their imagery, with NSWER's symbol of the whale being the most prominent.

But let's not forget they also have a song called Ocean. In it, they sing:

https://preview.redd.it/kuyutet3teyg1.jpg?width=340&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=44d3e2347840e418ec539827a82a9801ec8dcbb7

So is it any wonder we get this image/lyric shot of Jiwoo in the Crescendo video while she is potentially in the ocean and ostensibly drowning? It could also explain how they are "deep in shallow," as this is only the beginning.

(The flood is, perhaps, the force of their hearts and love manifested on Mixxtopia.)

https://preview.redd.it/khp7l3a7teyg1.jpg?width=919&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e48a19e0ef9dd0eefbeae67c2e31f53af923f7c0

That being said, we can conclude the members do eventually succeed in saving Jiwoo and pulling her back, as she is not seen actively engaged with the others—fully awake and present—until the end of the music video where she is pushing Sullyoon on a swing.

Here, the tug-of-war rope is tied to the tree that bloomed in their presence; they are all anchored together and finally on dry land. And, of course, Captain Haewon is the one standing by and holding it down.

https://preview.redd.it/q0zjyioyueyg1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=f66ed3059073cf1ecf586651e37505ab497c0050

Okay, so we know:

1. They are terraforming the planet, making Mixxtopia newly habitable. Water is also a necessary precursor to planetary life, so this flooding is a logical event.

2. Jiwoo is drowning as a result of this flood. The others try to save her, and Sullyoon's CPR saves her life, thereby reuniting all six members as the planet continues to flourish.

But what about the others? Were they really drowning too, at first? I think so. Not only because Lily had her own respirator at some point, but...

a) Because of the opening imagery

More specifically, because of how Kyujin explains their white costuming around the CPR room in the BTS video. She says:

"The current outfit has a very pale and cold tone, with a suffocating type of theme."

Pale, cold, and suffocating all sound rather descriptive of drowning, don't you think?

b) Because of the flashlights in the dark

We see Haewon, Bae, and Kyujin wandering around in the dark with lights at some point in the video. This could allude to their search for the light, their desire to escape the dark waters and find air at the surface. But maybe I'm just reaching here.

c) Because of Haewon's Heavy Serenade trailer clip

She's seen pouring water on herself, intentionally overflowing a cup, and then sitting amidst many vases and containers filled with water. Behind her is a projection of white lilies, which are symbols of both death (drowning) and love (a major theme of this comeback overall).

https://preview.redd.it/3onu06kwzeyg1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=9e5e4e7ef16ed8de8d5b3bb766bf31ba400169ac

That said, there are still some things I haven't puzzled out that I would love to hear your thoughts on!

Like Bae with the hammer:

She is hammering down Kyujin's hair. Why? Is this another attempt to anchor a member? Is she holding her down for another reason?

As she hammers, she also breaks the glass to where Haewon is waiting alone in her "drowning" outfit. Did Bae save Kyujin, and is now unwittingly helping Haewon to the surface?

https://preview.redd.it/133x3xoo0fyg1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=13bbfc33a6017802eba683d2fc827f746249867a

Is there more to Lily's wings?

What about the butterflies on Sullyoon's fingertips? Does this symbolize transformation? Is she helping Jiwoo enter some semblance of rebirth as she saves her?

What could the flashlight search mean? Am I wrong and it alludes to their search for Jiwoo in the flood waters?

Could they be drowning because there was a bad actor, perhaps on Monopole's side, aboard the MMU that has begun sabotaging them already?

This may be a bit messy of a theory post, but if you read this long, thanks for sticking with me and my red strings!

EDIT: I just realized this drowning sequence with Sullyoon and Jiwoo actually mirrors the Fe304 Stick Out story film. This video opens with Sullyoon sitting in front of the wreckage of their original ship and finds/saves Jiwoo in the water, where she is locked in the dream with the black sheep.