Kim's Topics (4)

I agree… and the manga wasn’t even developed enough to say that racism was portrayed in a positive light??? In my opinion, I think it was trying to be subversive to the idea of racist standards

you don't understand them cause you're not in their position im afraid, it is THAT deep

Yeah, I agree with you too, I think they were just trying to create a regular bl manhwa that is in no way promoting racism or slavery, but contradictory towards that people saw this manhwa as something making light of slavery and overall, just racist. Which again is understandable.

Exactly what position are you referring to?

That is exactly what I think—finally. I believe that by "position," he means the situation of being subjected to racism or ending up in slavery.

I think its also the fact that the authors has most likely done little to no research about the civil war or civil rights. Albeit theres only been 1 chapter, but to just have the MC come in and be like "yall are free whatever" is giving white saviour. On top of the fact that it is slave owner x slave, to include a mixed native character with blue eyes is dubious too. I'm not that well educated on native Americans but why is his hair short? What tribe is he from? Again it's only 1 chapter so it may have been revealed later on but based on the exposition provided its giving hes just there for exoticity. I can understand why people are angry/upset

Ezra is of mixed native heritage; that’s why he has blue eyes. I’m only answering this point because I’m already discussing the rest with others.

As an african american, this is only halfway our place to speak, the main guy is an ambiguous native guy.. maybe this story had the chance to become something but throwing money to a selection of slaves and saying "go" is already ignorant of the hardships freemen faced, most slaves didnt even have an education yet theyre supposed to split the money between themselves, find shelter, food.. he even arrogantly says "find your family" ...

I think there was a justified basis for suspicion and skepticism from the one chapter given. the foundation a story is built on, and it's execution, determines the strength of the final story. even though I can think of ways this could have beaten expectations, this story was on shaky ground to begin with, starting with the setting and characters, and ending with the "I'm your slave" line.

of all the kinds of people and stories you could tell about this time period in this place, why are these the ones chosen? what's the appeal of their dynamic? how is the setting and time period relevant to that?
as it stands, it looks like a very deliberate choice to write around the existence of Black people who lived during that time even though their presence is integral to the livelihoods of the MCs. maybe the author thought they'd avoid the backlash they got by doing that, but that's still an expression of racism, by ignoring that Black people are also people who want their stories and experiences told and treated with respect. and if the author didn't want to include Black people, which they're ultimately not obligated to do, they would have been better off choosing another topic and setting to write about, because like it or not, when writing about American history, you'll have to grapple with the racial dynamics of this country one way or another, to say nothing of the civil war era (even postwar) where the crux of the conflict was "what are we going to do with Black people (are they even people?)". to then make the only Black people in the story be faceless mobs seemingly only with the intention of making the white MC look good and ethical, just rubs salt in that wound. if the author wanted an interracial cowboy romance with this particular dynamic, they had other options for time and setting (and not to mention that those power and racial dynamics are present in other times as well).
every choice a creator makes in their story reflects their knowledge and interests, which are not free from bias. intentional or not, there were many opportunities for missteps here. presumably the author or publisher didn't want to risk that, so here we are.

Yeah I said that. but how many mixed native Americans (theres not a lot) have BLUE eyes... 1st of all, around the time period, I dont think his parents got together out of love... not impossible but highly rare that they were. 2. Im just being scientific here but brown eyes are usually dominant (yeah he could have recessive genes or mutations are whatever, but once again rare). I mean im not expecting realism but i think having him "mixed" with blue eyes and shoulder length hair is just to throw in some exoticity. He could be compared to a tanned white guy and on top of that to put him on a horse and give him a cowboy hat saying "im your humble slave" ('ー')/~~

Thanks for sharing this; I didn't do much research so I didn't know that the "white guy" was actually native, and when you put it through the slave perspective it really showed me how freaked up it is for the native to tell the slaves "Find your family", knowing they probably been separated from their family for years and have nowhere to go.

I don't know how genetics works, maybe it was on purpose to give him those eyes, like you said.
Maybe there's a chance, even if slim, that it was born from a consensual relationship? And yes, I looked it up before writing, and it seemed possible.

Most of the comments I saw that pointed out racism were about the black background characters not having faces drawn but isn't that very common? Background characters rarely have faces especially when the art of the manhwa is as beautiful as this.
I'm not black nor white I'm a brown person so maybe I'm not understanding how racist it is but honestly if a black person said they're a white person's slave in a bl context I don't think it counts as racism. And he only said he's his slave because he actually was... I feel like this would've been a great manhwa

The slaves solely existed to show the audience he was one of the good ones while simultaneously proving his ignorance (or rather, the author's ignorance) by throwing money at them and saying they were free. Telling them they are not property to be passed around and not even dignifying them with faces.. sigh

The rest of your comment is confusing.. what is a "BL context"? In terms of storytelling, it was poor choice of a hitch to have the native guy go "im your humble slave", an uncomfortable "white savior" dynamic, honestly no one else has said this yet but east asians seem to enjoy the vaguely brown ML who's rougher and more.. animalistic too.. though I have nothing to truly say about Ezra and his personality

No, as the author said herself, she did poor research, ofc, the manhwa couldve been something, I doubt their power dynamic was so very unbalanced but Jaxx had no ability to do this kind of story justice

making unimportant background characters faceless is a common time/effort saving choice in comics. it's also a choice that reflects poorly on the creator's intentions and priorities in telling this story, considering the setting and time period that was chosen. it's very suspicious to have a story where the civil war and its aftermath are significant to the narrative and characters, and then only feature Black people as background props to assure modern readers that the protagonist isn't a bad person by their standards. maybe there would have been actual Black characters done well in future chapters, but that initial presentation does not inspire confidence in the creator since they were not even aware of the implications of what they drew in chapter one. and if they were aware of the implications and making choices for shock value in the first chapter, like the "I'm your slave" line, then the response to those choices shows that the creator needed to reconsider their approach if they wanted better, more favorable reactions.

it's not just one or two things in isolation, it's multiple choices adding up that leads me to conclude that there was some unconscious, subtle racism present in the formulation of this series, which wasn't a good sign that the creator would be able to do well in telling the story with knowledge, depth, and sensitivity as it went on. ignorance by itself isn't a crime, but failing or choosing not to learn and be informed is a problem, especially when it comes to the topics this series would have dealt with.

"honestly if a black person said they're a white person's slave in a bl context I don't think it counts as racism."
what is the "bl context" and why does it make that statement not racist?
does it ever occur to you that you might not be as good at recognizing the problems and nuances of things affecting other people, compared to situations you are more familiar with? if you are brown and don't live in the US, what gives you the confidence to speak definitively on what counts as racism, especially when it concerns or is targeted at groups you don't belong to?

"Does it ever occur to you?" YES IT DID AND I MENTIONED SO. RELAX.
"What gives you the confidence" I don't have it that's why I replied to a comment and did not make a comment myself. I'm not speaking in a public press conference relax.
I'm open to learning you guys need to be less triggered

Ohhhh yeah the white savior complex makes sense. Thank you so much

And it's really true how they like to present brown people as hot barbarians honestly very annoying

?
I thought we could all handle a reasonable and serious discussion about serious things.
what did I say that warrants being told to relax twice, and a mention of being "triggered"? i didn't use all caps or exclamation points, or any insults. I suppose I could have thrown in an emoji or something to soften the tone, but I didn't say anything harsh. just communicating and asking questions plainly because I wanted to understand where you were coming from, so that I could make my point understood.
how much more calmly or softly can I type, anyways, if that was too much for you?

unfortunately, it's hard to read tone in text, so, just like you seem to be interpreting what I said in one way, I read your initial reply in the context of the many other comments and topics on here telling anyone who took issue with the premise and execution of this story that they were overreacting and unreasonable, that there was no way there were any problems with this story, and no way that it could possibly be racist, even though in my view, if they were as knowledgeable about history and racism as they postured, then they wouldn't be saying that and would be more understanding of the negative reaction. many people were acting like just because they knew the basics of the topic, they had the authority to identify and judge what was and wasn't racism and what was or wasn't a reasonable response to it. there was a lot of condescension and misplaced confidence coming from people who hadn't done any research beyond whatever they learned in school (at best), and who didn't have any skin in the game beyond telling people to shut up and wanting to get another story from a creator they liked. this isn't to say that only Black Americans determine what racism is, but that if you're not of that background, it would be easy to miss things about it that would be clear to someone else.
so when you said:
"honestly if a black person said they're a white person's slave in a bl context I don't think it counts as racism." after saying "I'm not black nor white I'm a brown person so maybe I'm not understanding how racist it is," it gave me the vibes of those commenters, and I was frustrated with that attitude, which is why I asked those questions. I wanted to know why people thought and said such things.
I explained my interpretation and thoughts about the story, so if you're serious about learning and understanding the negative reactions, there you go.

sorry for being too serious about something I can only take seriously, I guess.

Sottovoce you have the patience of a saint, for breaking things down the way you did. Very well done, never apologize for going in-depth on subjects that absolutely deserve it !
I'm a french-american black woman and honeslty reading your comments warmed my heart a lot :') thank you for thinking critically about important things !

aw, thanks! (●'◡'●)ﾉ
I'm a big believer in education, so I try to contribute where I can.

Thanks you so much. I'll keep this on hole till I get your review ╥﹏╥

No need to wait. I will answer this for you. If you like persistent, simp, a bit crazy, will-do-anything-for-him kind of Top, yearning Top, childish in annoying way Top, manipulative Top. You will like Yuri. Seonwoo is a good guy who tried to be the mature one but he needs a time to realize his own feelings and what he actually wants. Some readers find Yuri frustrating, but since I like that kind of top I really love this story, and Yuri has a big dick so that is a plus. I like the unusual plot as well. They fall for each other through the the door of their sympathy for each other. Though I'd say Yuri the first one to fall for Seonwoo, body and then Seonwoo's personality, and using Seonwoo's traits to get himself closer to Seonwoo.

If you find me crazy I'd understand but please don't say anything bad I can get hurt.

Lmao ε=ε=(ノ≧∇≦)ノ ... Sounds nice will give it a try

Thanks

You're welcome ^^

We got Shen Qingqiu writing a positive review before gta6
Did the last reincarnation scare you, cucumber bro?

actually, gta6 just came out

4 Week Lovers is a great read! One of my all time favorites, please read!

its rally good, def give it a try!

Omg update