Star-Crossed Myth: Leon

L’État c’est Moi

A Conversation

Me: Gah! You mean I have to PLAY the bastard?? 😉
The Librarian: You will learn to… tolerate him. 😝😝
Me: The hair will probably save him. And [my] having read Zyglavis’ sequel.
The Librarian: As it does most Leos. He might actually be more up your alley than Scorpio. The MC is required to be a bit more forceful and brash to get along with him.
Me: Damn. Now I’m almost excited!
The Librarian: Pro tip: shoot Zyglavis dirty looks whenever you can.
Me: I COULD NEVER! He’s my man. 🖤 Wait. That means you totally did!
The Librarian: No, I didn’t!!! I didn’t even know him and couldn’t. But it was one of the options and in the POV it’s made clear that it was the correct choice.

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So, Voltage has finally transferred Star-Crossed Myth to Love365, and as a treat, they offered us Leon’s route for free. Well then. I guess I have no choice but to read it. The things I’ll do in the interest of… uh… SCIENCE! Yes. Science.

Synopsis

As the MC is about to plunge to her death, she (inexplicably) calls out for Leon to save her, and he obliges. Now, of course, she is indebted to him, and he plans to never let her forget that. Like the other five gods of the first series, he is on earth because he committed a sin that got him expelled from heaven, and he has his own ideas about how to get rid of his mark.
Immediately, he takes the MC to the mansion, where he uses his birth gift on her: his mere touch causes great pleasure in the recipient. In this case, completely against her will. The MC only wants to get intimate with a person she loves. Upon hearing this, Leon scoffs outright: he does not believe in love. It is an illusion, a crutch for the weak.

After finally letting the MC go home, he summons her again the next day, via a bell ringing in her head. Seriously. Never give a man a bell. Leon has decided that the MC is to be his handmaiden, doing menial jobs around his room, since he was sent to earth sans his servants. While she picks up his paperwork, he lounges on the bed. Again, she is free to go as long as she shows up promptly when he rings.

He happens to ring next when she’s in the bathtub. This woman and bathtubs, it’s a thing. Since she doesn’t teleport to the mansion immediately, and because Leon has no concept of ordinary human decency, he waltzes right into her bathroom to complain about her tardiness. When she finally arrives at the house of the gods – hastily dressed and with wet hair – she is greeted by a surly Leon and a cheerful and cute little girl called Vega. Apparently, Leon is not very dedicated to the concept of hard work, which is why dearest Vega has come down from the heavens with work orders from Karno, the Vice Minister of Wishes. The three exiles are to do their job, and since they cannot use their powers unless they touch the MC, she must help them.

Back in Leon’s room, they look into the magical fountain that shows the gods the humans on earth, and they hear a little boy’s wish to become stronger so that he can help his grandma more. Leon again scoffs at all this human attachment, which he considers a weakness. He grants the wish but does not care to see the happiness he caused. The MC points out that granting the wishes of humanity could be considered a form of love.

Seeing as he granted, like, one entire wish, Leon proclaims that he is tired. Having just thought of a way to… relax, he takes the MC to the baths, and again, we all know what a lousy history this MC has with baths. Predictably, Leon gets almost naked, and the MC is to serve him while he relaxes. Suddenly, she realizes that the mark on his chest has faded ever so slightly, and when she points it out to him, they both deduce that, apparently, he just needs to do his (effing) job in order to get back to heaven.

The next time the MC shows up, Leon’s magical fountain has become so contaminated “by the filth on earth”, that the two of them take a field trip. The woman who’s wish they happen to hear is none other than Hiyori, the MC’s best friend from work. In an effort to deliberately misinterpret her heart’s desire, Leon grants the literal opposite of what Hiyori was really wishing for. It’s almost as if he sabotages love on purpose. Back at the mansion, Leon immediately disappears into his secret room, while Hue and Teorus cannot believe that the Minister actually granted a wish regarding love.

But by then, of course, a shift has already begun within Leon. He comes to understand the concept of love not just as an abstract, but on a distinctly personal level. The trouble is, love between a human and a god is prohibited by the laws of the heavens. It is not long before the Minister of the Department of Punishments shows up to take Leon to trial over his transgression. As a result, his godhood, if not his very existence, is at stake.

Epilogue

Yet again, the guy is oblivious to how to behave in a sufficiently “couply” manner, and the MC has to take matters into her own hands. After talking him into going on a date with her, she wakes up in the morning to a pretty, new bra lying on her pillow, and a note asking her to wear it to the date. (I know, could be Leon, but sounds more like the Duo Infernale, Teo and Ikky.)

Again, in her head she is both wanting to have sex with Leon and being embarrassed about wanting to have sex with Leon, so we’re at the usual point in the story where the lady will protest too much.
Predictably, the MC has planned an outing to the amusement park, because, apparently, that’s the only place one can go in Tokyo. What’s funny is that, on the way there, a great number of men are making advances towards the MC, and she is increasingly having trouble fending them off. Meanwhile, Leon is somewhere between blasé and assholish.

When one guy takes it too far, Leon finally catches on. It’s the bra. He takes the MC back home. There, they discuss – and by “discuss” I mean, Leon stipulates, and the MC accepts – the forms in which they are going to express their feelings to each other.

The Chemistry

Leon is a Domineering Asshole if ever I’ve seen one. Which, as we know, is mostly fine with both me and the MC: we heart Scorpio. What is truly problematic is his rapey behavior in the first few chapters. It made my skin crawl. FYI, “pleasurable” and “welcome” are not the same thing. And then it also suddenly stops; apparently when Leon realizes that it won’t absolve him from his sin.

Leon is the poster child of this set of stories, he’s the one in the title sequence. As such, his story was probably the first to be written. It touches on all the cornerstones of the basic tsundere pattern, and it does it well. Leon is both intimidating and charming, and the MC is suitably exasperated and fascinated. She is also remarkably headstrong, which does a lot to level the playing field. He might get his way, but not without a fight, and definitely not all the time.

Rather than a gradual approach between the two, Leon and the MC clash from the very beginning on all possible levels, and then they just have to sort their feelings out. Once they get there, everything is… epic. As it should, I guess. I mean, look at the guy: nothing else will do.

The Love Meter

The Love Meter here was hilarious. It finished pretty much in the middle, so whatever I did in episode 12 must have pushed it ever so slightly into Blessed. I have also seen the Forbidden Ending, and I must say, that shit was high drama, on a level with the Greek drama of antiquity.

Bottom Line

Oh man, I don’t know. My friend The Librarian is correct: I have learned to tolerate Leon. Kudos to him for standing by his woman so unequivocally. Maybe my thoughts on this story would have been kinder if I hadn’t met other characters before him: the egregious mischaracterization of Zyglavis was extremely hard to stomach. Having met him in his own and other people’s stories, we know that he takes no joy in punishing people, be it god or human. Sadism is Scorpio’s job. The King was really cool in this story, and I appreciated Leon seeing through His Majesty’s scheme. It’s a good story. Just read it before you actually meet Zyglavis; that way you can shoot him dirty looks where needed.