Unnecessary past

Plot is an adaptation of selkie folklore where some men would take selkie wives by stealing their seal skins, leading to an unhappy marriage. Then the selkies return to the sea after finding their skins either with help or on their home.

I'm glad I drop this shit.

Why?? Her past isn't graphic and the storytelling is intriguing.

It's actually pretty accurate of that time..

This story doesn’t even feel like the author has a rape/abuse fetish. Is this theme present in their other works?

The other work is a korean palace setting where a yokai fox lady comes across a mysterious person that can see her true form. This person is also secretly being held captive at the palace because she’s treated as an ingredient/elixir of immortality for the emperor. The fox lady is trying to help the captive person escape while working to uncover the conspiracy surrounding why this person is special. I won’t spoil, but the concept of an “elixir of immortality” being chased after by an emperor has historical roots and people would imagine all kinds of “medicinal” ingredients, like mercury or “snake oil,” or “mermaid flesh.”

People can avoid reading stories that include rape/abuse because they are indeed heavy and sensitive topics and should be treated with the seriousness they deserve. However, the author doesn’t have a rape/abuse fetish because the impact of rape/abuse on the character and setting isn’t ignored. In fact, the author never portrays them as “positive” experiences and even takes good care of the pacing when covering these topics. Taking a close look, the historical selkie folklore that the plot is based on can be problematic because some are stories of men almost “getting away with it,” when really the selkies were the ones at a loss the entire time. If you completely write off a story without understanding why it’s adapting specific elements of folklore and history, you might also potentially miss the point.

For example: if you want to try and analyze: the author is adapting historical folklore that framed women-like beings and non-humans as needing to be “tamed” or “acquired” for a man’s benefit, and recentring the stories around women’s survival, freedom, love, and more. (As you can tell, I am a nerd).

You put this into words so well!! I also felt the same with how the author incorporated the selkie's past and what the author intended.

That was such beautiful wording twin and with the recent updates the selkie folklore is a really interesting story and idk what this guy is on about with the author so called fetishes bc they literally aren’t plus the story is perfectly paced out well and isn’t rushing any part of it and if this guy didn’t properly read and actually understand the whole story and is just spouting bs I think he needs to gtfo bc clearly this isn’t his cup of tea then we don’t need his comments

Thank you, twins!!! Ngl, I think it's a little concerning if the sight of mature subject matter makes a person jump to a fetish assumption rather than trying to figure out if an author is trying to create a meaningful portrayal of a real issue. Hot take, but I think that kind of quick dismissal is its own sort of violence because people should know that the act and consequences of rape and abuse do not always look the same, that the topic should be taken seriously, and that we need to dismantle the structures that allow this power abuse to continue. I absolutely hate all those toxic yaois that start with rape because they romanticize coercion, but I also understand that they're almost a satirical joke. Like, imagine the double standards of a red pill man forced to read that stuff. Men's security and comfort around other men should not come at the expense of a woman's dignity!!!!