Be careful bestie there are ANIMALS in this comment section
I 100% agree, that man has done jack shit to redeem himself.
I mean tbf I doubt people who have issues with the story due to their own trauma are actually reading it
I feel as long as there are proper trigger warnings in place (idk if there are in Jinx) it's fine
what usually bothers me with these kinds of stories is that the redemption arc is just written horribly. Like you said there's no actual redemption arc most of the time, it's just the top crying for 1 chapter and that's it, lol
Out of genuine curiosity, what do you think his redemption should look like? Like what could he do to redeem himself?
I can't judge how well this works in Jinx since I haven't really read it fully and only kinda followed what was going on out of curiosity.
In general a well written redemption arc looks roughly like this:
1. have a character that's redeemable in the first place (which I think is the case in jinx), otherwise the change in how the character suddenly acts feels like an asspull just to give the story a happy end.
2. Ideally the redemption starts with the character looking into themselves to at least try to understand WHAT the did wrong, HOW that affected the other person, and WHY he did it
There's nothing more worthless than an apology when the person doesn't even know why and what they're apologizing for
3. The character has to show through his actions that he changed. He should actively treat the person better.
Don't just have the character kneel and cry pathetically for 3 panels.
Put the characters in a similar situation as the past and have the character act differently this time, better. If SA was involved, show him be extra careful, prove that he understood what he did wrong in the past and that he really tries to be better this time.
Bonus points if the character has to actually sacrifice something to get the person back that he wants. It shows that he's actually really putting effort in and is earnest in his change.
4. Have the wronged character not just brush it all off and immediately cave, otherwise there's no point in the whole arc to begin with If he would've easily forgiven him anyway
Most of the time toxic stories just straight up skip point 2 and 4 entirely, and 3 boils down to the character just simply not being an absolute asshole abuser anymore, which can be fine if the rest is done well.
I'll leave the judgement of how well Jinx followed this up to the people who actually read it from start to finish.
PS.: I had to rewrite this whole essay because mangago glitched and I hope I found the right words again ╥﹏╥
wow, you just gave authors a step by step guide on how to write a proper redemption arc, yet jinx barely even meets the first step. jaekyungs actions are justified through his sorry excuse for a "sad backstory" rather than actually being addressed. its just as you said, points 2 and 4 were COMPLETELY skipped. jaekyung wakes up one day and realizes "hey i actually kinda like the guy! let me stop raping him because he's burnt out and suicidal lolol. but i need to focus on my career so right when i actually stop treating him like a human piece of garbage and get him to think we're finally getting along, ill turn into a bitch again! perfect!". the story paints kim dan as a STUPID FUCKING IDIOT, which completely undermines the trauma victims go through as jaekyung did not take accountability for his actions AT ALL, AND KIM DAN WAS COMPLETELY FINE WITH THIS. nevertheless, i appreciate your input as it helps
readers put into perspective how dogshit this redemption arc (and the whole story) really is. ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶
my apologies for seeing this so late, but if you scroll down a bit you'll see a reply by someone named leilei. they summarize what a proper redemption arc should look like
i've honestly only stuck around this long despite the uncomfortable and explicit depictions of literal rape and verbal abuse to see how this shit plays out. jaekyung has done absolutely NOTHING to redeem himself but to pathetically cry and beg for his victim back, only for the victim to comply and actually accept his "apology". are we fucking serious? do we not realize how harmful it is to display a victim falling in love with their abuser?? you're telling me after ALL this time, kim dan genuinely managed to love his abuser...this is some deep rooted trauma for kim dan that has caused him to act this way and i feel as though this piece of media is normalizing this. i will never understand jinx defenders because this is genuinely SO harmful. imagine a victim being in the same situation reading this, how would they react? would they think their feelings are invalid? YES! THEY WOULD! THEY WOULD SUCCUMB TO PATHETIC ATTEMPTS TO WIN THEM OVER BY THEIR LITERAL ABUSER! i rest my case, i hate jinx AND its defenders