TLDR: 58 was the nail in the coffin for this one for me. It solidified that this story will epitomize rape and Stockholm syndrome. Artist used the wrong color pallet for this tragedy.
Rant/Explanation: And don't get me wrong, I’m totes down for toxic and psychologically messed up stories 100%. But, like… own up to it? Don’t start putting flowers around the cuddle panels at the end of rape sessions. That’s legit trying to romanticize a fucked up situation. NOT fantasy (which folks are trying to use as an excuse). Fantasy is the world building, NOT the plot or portrayal of scenes. When folks keep pushing that fantasy means it’s ok to show rape as redeemable and Stockholm syndrome as potentially ok (although this work is trying to make it endearing even with the flowery art), that makes me question their values as a person, because these are pretty big things to just skip over and nonchalantly wave away because it’s a story. A person wrote/drew this way, giving insight into their psyche.. which concerns me. Note: Hogu Hagyeongsu, Killing Stalking, and even Jinx are FANTASTIC examples of psychological and even trauma related stories done well - I’m honestly surprised at how well Jinx has been handling its redemption arc from how bad it had the relationship start (disclaimer: I’ve only read up to ch 94 so far, so unaware of it messes up after that part). There’s others that do it well too, like Pawn’s Revenge, but I wanted to mention ones that had more of an imbalance of who was more sane (although KS kinda had both partners not being all there, but there’s a big difference between a stalker and a psychopathic serial killer), so they’d be more comparable to this work in terms of potential.
And how the hell would Asil not throw in his face that he’s holding his brother hostage the second the dude admits he has feelings for him and won’t do things he doesn’t want (when he said he wouldn’t have sex with him if he didn’t want it and he immediately said ‘then don’t’)?? His brother is the only person that hasn’t betrayed him and I’m pretty sure is one of the few reasons he hasn’t offed himself yet (maybe his sis is a reason too since she more directly threw him back in hell - but he knows that Valery did something messed up to force her to do that, even if he doesn’t know exactly what).
Don’t know if I’ll bother finishing this since it looks like it’s gearing to have them end up together while they’re still young. Like even in effed up relationships, I see the one true lead in the story as the one that got abused so their happy ending would be without their abuser either permanently or for DECADES (30+ years) so they enjoy finding happiness and living a life while the abuser suffers being without them (and potentially even knowing that they’re SO much happier WITHOUT them - depends on how the relationship is and the type of mental confuckulation the abuser has) and then MAYBE they can get with a majorly reformed (and probably still broken, but maybe in a way that’s now in their benefit) version of said abuser. THAT’S my fairy tale ending (since people actually suffer consequences in that case, unlike how fucked up people get away with things because of money or society being a mess in the real world). Or, y’know just keep the messed up endings but make it obvious to the reader that, yes it’s unfortunate but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
God, those rape flowers really disturbed the crap outta me.
TLDR: 58 was the nail in the coffin for this one for me. It solidified that this story will epitomize rape and Stockholm syndrome. Artist used the wrong color pallet for this tragedy.
Rant/Explanation:
And don't get me wrong, I’m totes down for toxic and psychologically messed up stories 100%. But, like… own up to it? Don’t start putting flowers around the cuddle panels at the end of rape sessions. That’s legit trying to romanticize a fucked up situation. NOT fantasy (which folks are trying to use as an excuse). Fantasy is the world building, NOT the plot or portrayal of scenes. When folks keep pushing that fantasy means it’s ok to show rape as redeemable and Stockholm syndrome as potentially ok (although this work is trying to make it endearing even with the flowery art), that makes me question their values as a person, because these are pretty big things to just skip over and nonchalantly wave away because it’s a story. A person wrote/drew this way, giving insight into their psyche.. which concerns me.
Note: Hogu Hagyeongsu, Killing Stalking, and even Jinx are FANTASTIC examples of psychological and even trauma related stories done well - I’m honestly surprised at how well Jinx has been handling its redemption arc from how bad it had the relationship start (disclaimer: I’ve only read up to ch 94 so far, so unaware of it messes up after that part). There’s others that do it well too, like Pawn’s Revenge, but I wanted to mention ones that had more of an imbalance of who was more sane (although KS kinda had both partners not being all there, but there’s a big difference between a stalker and a psychopathic serial killer), so they’d be more comparable to this work in terms of potential.
And how the hell would Asil not throw in his face that he’s holding his brother hostage the second the dude admits he has feelings for him and won’t do things he doesn’t want (when he said he wouldn’t have sex with him if he didn’t want it and he immediately said ‘then don’t’)?? His brother is the only person that hasn’t betrayed him and I’m pretty sure is one of the few reasons he hasn’t offed himself yet (maybe his sis is a reason too since she more directly threw him back in hell - but he knows that Valery did something messed up to force her to do that, even if he doesn’t know exactly what).
Don’t know if I’ll bother finishing this since it looks like it’s gearing to have them end up together while they’re still young. Like even in effed up relationships, I see the one true lead in the story as the one that got abused so their happy ending would be without their abuser either permanently or for DECADES (30+ years) so they enjoy finding happiness and living a life while the abuser suffers being without them (and potentially even knowing that they’re SO much happier WITHOUT them - depends on how the relationship is and the type of mental confuckulation the abuser has) and then MAYBE they can get with a majorly reformed (and probably still broken, but maybe in a way that’s now in their benefit) version of said abuser. THAT’S my fairy tale ending (since people actually suffer consequences in that case, unlike how fucked up people get away with things because of money or society being a mess in the real world). Or, y’know just keep the messed up endings but make it obvious to the reader that, yes it’s unfortunate but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
God, those rape flowers really disturbed the crap outta me.