You know when this manhwa was ongoing years ago, nobody blamed jaeha for his actions neither i did most of new readers don't know what emotional ties actually means , according to jaeha Eunho is straight and young may be he can be with a girl since eunho's family supported him and only people in jaeha life is eunho family his mother was supportive of him more than his own mom how could he think of ruining her child's life by making him going through same miserable life of gay he been through seriously current readers slut shame jaeha is one of most disappointing thing I can experience with new readers .
I completely agree with everything you said and I also feel like new readers simply misunderstood the series? They view Eunho as a saint (he was also somewhat toxic from the start) and I feel like it's because his love is unrequited and he's a 'victim' in this relationship hence they defend him and completely overlook his actions and when it comes to the whole theme and moral of the story they overlooked that too. Tbh anyone who shames Jaeha without trying to understand his character speaks volumes of their own ideals and personality....
From my pov , eunho was innocent boy with pure intention but his actions of forcing his own love on jaeha was somewhat slightest toxic but not that much back then like how usually semes used to blackmail or rape uke's for having their own way so according to that time eunho was one of the most greenest flag you can consider , jaeha was not wrong his circumstances also define his behaviour for him eunho can lead a happy and society based life (straight marriage ) than dragging himself into jaeha world (that is dark and different from society) author did great work on showing how much lives of gay people work in aisan society for me back then it was first time considering characters not sex maniac but people with emotions and realistic touch.. jaeha or not eunho is wrong people just wanna take side to defile another character.
Thank youuuu this story was actually quite realistic and humanistic in a sense that all the characters were flawed in some way because ofc at the end of the day they're just people. Readers however wanted someone to blame for all the frustrations that they experienced reading this. But I would argue that EVERYONE in this story was flawed. Eunho was a textbook 'love bomber' and people don't realise that it's a red flag. Also Eunho was not innocent at all....he got rejected multiple times in the past (it's safe to say that jaeha tried his best not to lead him on prior to his divorce ofc) and yet he continued to overwhelm jaeha by forcing his love on him completely disrespecting jaeha's boundaries in the process, and even shamed jaeha multiple times when things didn't go his way. Honestly anyone who's dated a love bomber would understand how suffocating people like Eunho can be (speaking from experience). But once again I believe that all the characters were flawed however they all underwent major character growth.
I respect your opinion on eunho part but for me he was not big red flag he was young boy just wanted to love a guy 8 years older than him age differences and sexual preferences boundrying both of them, if it's opposite that jaeha going after eunho situation would have become worst since he is pursuing a young boy if author didn't made him desperate and pushy guy most readers wouldn't have accepted their relationship in the first place. As jaeha already broken in life people like eunho come as saviour, either way gay are relationship is pretty complicated not easy as west made as adulting gay part i can tell by my gay friends experience so you have your experience anyway characters develop later on so it's basically best end up.
Holy shit someone with a brain I'm so bloody done seeing new readers ask a clearly depressed and emotionally unavailable person to make healthy good decisions. That's like saying mental conflicts can be overcome if you 'wanted' to and it angers me to see how realistic portrayals of these very human flaws are getting so much hate. Like FR hypocritical much??
You're definitely right when it comes to how difficult it is being gay in a strict society and I respect your opinion about Eunho too and I see your point with him. Overall they were all well written characters and none of them were perfect which just makes them more lovable and realistic.
Agreed....the thing is though, I don't mind if people shit on characters for making bad decisions (that's their ideals speaking) but the funny thing for me is that in this series, all the characters make bad decisions....and characters from other stories have made WORSE decisions. But people only blame one specific character and forgive the others...pretty hypocritical-
Fr like I've read so many BL where people are defending rape, pedophilia, super toxic relationships that have extreme non con scenes and everyone's like 'They are so cute omg' what the hell is wrong with these people. So frustrated seeing the most fucked up characters in other comics getting away with shit and then seeing these comments like this here in lover boy
Tho even if it's their ideals they shouldn't be projecting on characters who clearly have so many different circumstance and experiences than themselves. Goes to show how frankly emotionally immature they are, that they can't even sympathise and show some understanding. I'm not saying the characters in Lover Boy have ever made good decisions but I think every one of them has a reason for why they do the thinks they do and it's a beautiful portrayal of what it means to be human. And while reasons are most certainly not a free pass to be an asshole, it demands an extent of understanding from those around them which clearly no one is giving these characters (ESPECIALLY Jaeha :(( ) double standards fr that pisses me off how shallow opinions chase away others from genuinely good writing
I think you perfectly captured everything I thought while reading the comments bashing this story and your analysis was on point. Also the way that people reacted to this story made me realise that society really expects everybody to "love in a certain way" and completely diminish others who love differently. People are born with different ideals, they have different upbringings and go through different experiences, they will inevitably have different perceptions of love. Not everybody can develop a secure attachment style or develop good habits when it comes to relationships and it's not their fault because they're either wired that way or the experiences they faced made them that way. To completely shame a character/person for not being able to be a healthy partner while disregarding their issues is highly insensitive and ENTITLED.
Nah!! That's not true, even before when this story was ongoing they blamed jaeha, I mean you can simply look at comments and you'll find proof, yeah all of them made mistakes but jaeha was unbearable!!
Tho I do agree that this story is beautifully written showing many aspects of one relationship.
Jaeha is just annoying and stupid like most bottoms. But what makes it worse is that he keeps sleeping with his sex friend despite having feelings for Eunho and refusing Eunho.
And no you are wrong, ukes are forgiven for most of what they do because they are the MCs. Meanwhile tops are easily blamed for things that are sometimes the bottoms' fault xD.
In this case, i think the hare is strong because Jaeha made Eunho suffer like the entire story. Of course Jaeha is free to do whatever the fuck he wants, but HE is the character that makes the story frustrating.
The only characters that usually get a free pass for being the worst people are actually the antagonist tops. For example Chang from Tide on Waters or the tan dude from Back to School. Both of these ruined the life of the MC and even raped them. And both seems to be the favorite character for fans and authors
Fewer but not many I was ongoing that time with people on comment section they blame jaeha or said bad thing but knowing his circumstances they accepted it but never called him slut as much as people saying now.
That's a good point about Back to School and Tide on Waters, they really are people favorites, don't know why!!!
1. They are sexy
1.5 They didnt get much sexy screen time. Most people prefer something new than what we already get. Therefore, they are "fresher" meat than than the male leads.
2. they "love" rhe MC. And people assume they would have been good partners if they were loved back. Therefore they think "in MC's shoes, i would have taken him.and everythi g would have been perfect"
3. Its fiction so probably less bothered by what they did
4. They have the cold / bad boy attitude which many people think is cool and are attracted to it.
Just my theories.
And then people pretend its because they are more "realistic" or "3D" characters, even though they are just walking clichés that hardly make any sense.
Thats true!!!
The tan dude from back to school even got his own side story with MC in parallel universe as he was so liked by everyone.
The author said the tan dude was her/his favorite character too lol
Am I the only one who feels like people give jaeha a lot of shit because he's a bottom. Like multiple tops in other bl stories have made even more horrible decisions and yet people forgive them or just brush over their actions. But here people slut shame jaeha and blame him for literally everything. Perhaps they can't fathom a bottom for being selfish or cold hearted because it's a 'tops thing' not a 'bottoms thing'. Just an interesting thought