This turned from a guidebook of what to do to a guidebook of what not to do. I still think it's a step forward when it comes to BDSM representation, but there's still a long way to go and this story fell into the same BDSM traps I've seen in other stories - where consent and rules start to get murky and way too exploited for my liking. What a shame. I like the ML's unhinged facial expressions and all, but at the same time, he feels like wolf in sheep's clothing and despite trying to be educational and all about consent, kinda ends up being coercive or uses sub/dom to process shit he shouldn't be processing through BDSM alone. The fact he pushed the MC to give up his financial rights by exchanging a shit ass generic 'honey' pet name is also... A choice. Also, lemme be honest, the MC is kinda dumb lol. He's a himbo, that's not bad and all, I like me a cute, fun himbo, but he's a bit of a boring and annoying himbo.
The whole shitty friend + stalker subplot - YAWN. I can't anymore with that shit. We could've seen development within their actual relationship instead of whatever that was. A whole wasted season of fucking nothing, and it didn't advance anything because the plot here isn't that spectacular, so WHY try to force it. It's all about a BDSM dynamic and imo, that was the strength of the story and it should've been kept at that, not stirring up drama and pLoT. Challenges could've been introduced without the stalker+ shit friend subplot.
This turned from a guidebook of what to do to a guidebook of what not to do. I still think it's a step forward when it comes to BDSM representation, but there's still a long way to go and this story fell into the same BDSM traps I've seen in other stories - where consent and rules start to get murky and way too exploited for my liking. What a shame. I like the ML's unhinged facial expressions and all, but at the same time, he feels like wolf in sheep's clothing and despite trying to be educational and all about consent, kinda ends up being coercive or uses sub/dom to process shit he shouldn't be processing through BDSM alone. The fact he pushed the MC to give up his financial rights by exchanging a shit ass generic 'honey' pet name is also... A choice. Also, lemme be honest, the MC is kinda dumb lol. He's a himbo, that's not bad and all, I like me a cute, fun himbo, but he's a bit of a boring and annoying himbo.
The whole shitty friend + stalker subplot - YAWN. I can't anymore with that shit. We could've seen development within their actual relationship instead of whatever that was. A whole wasted season of fucking nothing, and it didn't advance anything because the plot here isn't that spectacular, so WHY try to force it. It's all about a BDSM dynamic and imo, that was the strength of the story and it should've been kept at that, not stirring up drama and pLoT. Challenges could've been introduced without the stalker+ shit friend subplot.