Totally agree—I was waiting for the ‘love conquers all’ trope, but their love only served to encourage the two to choose each other every day, which way more aligned with reality. Honestly thought it was great. Typically smutty yaoi is just that—no plot or a plot that is so full of clichés and stereotypes and shit that is entirely removed from reality that it’s frustrating and boring to read so you’re there really just for the smutty yaoi thing. But I really like how this story also gave us a solid plot for a psychological thriller, character development and beautiful art. 5/5 for me. (I’d say the only BL with these elements that tops it…and by a lot…is Killing Stalking. But still this one is great)
Also, I find it really interesting that the creator so clearly conveys that the two love each other without the characters explicitly saying it even once.
Mann I liked Killing Stalking too. The story really was well written, as nobody literally nobody can change all of a sudden just because they found someone as their lover.
I didn't see a single "I love you" here but still their relationship didnt need constant clarification cuz they understood each other. Lol majority of times all i ever saw uke saying in bed was "son of a bitch" XD
Lol. I thought it made it even better that they never said I love you. I did find it really weird that the creator insisted Kirin is straight. He’s clearly fluid to the extent that he’d maybe be considered demisexual in terms of his relationship w Moo. I see this pretty often and it’s sort of offensive. What do U think?
I see sexuality as fluid concept overall for everyone. Just like the introvert-extrovert spectrum. There are some traits that we are born with and some that we acquire through life experiences. I think all humans are capable of loving other romantically irrespective of gender but gender and sexuality biases are so largely predominant in society that more than half of the people never explore their own sexuality and go with the orientation that the were expected to since they were a child. Its not that they do it without their consent but that they were conditioned by societal norms. In case of Kirin he was dating girls as per the norms or bc he initially had hetero tendencies. Being with Moo made him uncomfortable at first but he did learn that he wasn't averse to it all as a whole. So I'd say he developed his homosexual tendencies that either pre-existed but went unnoticed or were entirely new, after getting entangled with Moo. I dont think the author is at fault bc a persons sexuality can only be known best by themselves compared to a third party. Also I dont think the author wants to highlight that Kirin is straight even if he is dating Moo but rather that, that is how their relationship is being percieved by others bc the inticacies that are enveloped in their relationship are only known to them and any third party will percieve their relationship to be very superficial especially bc of Kirin's initial expression of sexual orientation.
*intricacies
Thanks for taking the time to give such a thoughtful answer. I agree with what you said with the exception of the author being a third party. The audience, even the other characters are third party, but the author is not. They created this character and know the qualities, inner thoughts, nuances, etc of Kirin. Characters often take on a life of their own so maybe some of these things eventually become unknown to the author, but I’d argue they know the internal experience of Kirin’s sexuality since they are the source of it. I’m thinking how the creator expresses it and how they identify it is more reflective of the culture the creator grew up in. I’m not sure I understand your other point about the creator assuming the perspective of how other ppl see their relationship/Kirin being straight.
Well although at the end he was fluid but if he wasnt pushed by the circumstances he would have been straight and would have a straight end according to the norms of the society. I would say that he was only aware that he was straight but after being with Moo he developed as a demisexual person. Although I agree people normally dont go deep into classification of sexualisation of characters, it gets lost in the plot once they are aware of loving each other.
Most of the stories that have a straight guy and a gay guy end together doesnt state that the straight guy had demisexual tendencies rather than that it just simply state that the straight guy fell in love with the gay guy cuz of his personality or other traits or how he isnt like the other guys. The development drama and other things added.
They dont really normally show the torture of a straight guy who may end bottoming and their true mental state, the progress and the courage one has to make up to be walking on a path that was not originally theirs. Such sensitive topics gets covered and lost but again this community has really come far and one day I will be happy reading if a story shows what really lies on the other side rather than love concurs it all magically.
Ohh yes, that would be a great story. Much needed.
I think what irked me was that the author (both in this and KS) made it a point to identify the character as straight. In doing so, it feels a bit shaming. Why not just say something ambiguous (since sexuality is generally fluid and gender is truly a social construct) or nothing at all?
Well there may many reasons that the author does that, maybe they are born in a conservative surrounding and dont have advance knowledge about sexual classifications or maybe they do it because it will be easier for the audience to understand or maybe the concept of explanation about this topic isnt accepted well and they may feel uncomfortable or maybe the story when classified didnt sit will with the company's editor. There are list of assumptions we can make on our side, we can only voice our opinions. And that in itself would be enough I think. Hoping for a better way of explanation of a person's sexuality is all we can do as at the end of the day its on the author and their company to whether publish it or not.
But mann i didnt think we would have such a broad discussion here lol it was a pleasant experience though.
Well it’s a good thing right? Glad you took the time to discuss it. It’s such an important subject to explore if for no other reason than to shed light on the fact that such experience exists.
Yes I definitely agree on that. I am grateful to you too that you replied too.
It was really a good psychological bl read. I liked that fact of him being psychologically challenged was not cured all of a sudden just because he had a lover and was more on the realistic side about the struggles one faces in this state. The characters grew well too throughout the story.