It's called self destructive behavior
i don’t think dan had hope though. i think when he asked that he knew that jaekyung was obviously not gonna say anything i mean that’s the way i interpreted it
My point still stands. In this case, he could've shown more disappointment, but he was just so boringly blank. It's what made it such a bland scene. We didn't see enough of Dan's mental state (or what he's thinking) enough for him to be so blank. They didn't show us his breaking point because he didn't have one yet, so this strange blankness is so out of place. We were still in the process of him declining. There's like a bunch of missing scenes. Lol
I understand that, I really do! But the execution is off and I wanted to explain why in my own perspective. And it's because we have no idea where Dan's mind is.
We know he's mentally unstable, but it doesn't seem to be to THIS extreme. Or it at least, it didn't. All because we never got the build-up from heartbroken & lonely Dan, to breaking point Dan that results in an empty Dan. We didn't see what was Dan's final straw was that made him go from angry to empty. I thought he was still heated after the last time him and Jaekyung had sex, but now it's gone.
Everyone knows he's self-destructing, but I want to know HOW it's helping him. Does he drink because he doesn't want to remember this after? Because it makes him feel the reactions less? What's his thoughts on sleepwalking? Where is his opinion on Jaekyung right now? Obviously, we know everything he's told Jaekyung himself, but what about in his inner thoughts? How does it feel to be apart from his Grandma? Or is he okay being apart from his grandma because he doesn't want her to worry?
Obviously, we can infer these things, but it's less about telling us the obvious and more about telling us what Dan's priorities are by letting us know directly. There's such thing as being too subtle.
According to my understanding, he wants to numb the pain and he has nothing to replace the addiction with, he's depressed he wants to end the pain or numb it for a while which is where the alcohol comes to play, whether he dies after his grandma is inconsequential to him, he doesn't care about his well being that's why he's drinking despite knowing that it's bad for him, as for jaekyung, he's an prick, I have a string of curses that I will not say, but he's not being too helpful, in his head I think he's doing the bare minimum for his pet and I repeat pet, because that's not love that's possession, people who sleep walk are unaware of it, I saw one in a documentary where the person left bed and walked around the house and went right back, strange phenomenon, I think that's Dan's subconscious just expressing the stress , frustration and depression he's going through, he wants it all to stop, his suffering,his mind's working overtime maybe he just wants to black out. Dan knows he'll be alone once granny dies which is soon imagine losing the only person who's ever been on his corner of course he's crashing out and he has no control over anything so he's given up on everything even sleeping with Joo is self harm at this point, he just wants a distraction. Hope it makes sense
Don't worry, I'm not disagreeing with anything! I understand what the story is trying to convey, but the fact that you have to start off wirh, "according to my understanding," or "I think ___ is happening" is my EXACT problem. I hope they would just be more direct with stuff. Being direct makes stuff more impactful. The most care I've had for Dan was back before Jaekyung found him, and that's because he said, OUTRIGHT, "I'm lonely."
I understand the want to be subtle, or preferring people to put pieces together, but this is too vague. Without directly seeing Dan's mindset and thoughts throughout everything, it seems like his emotions are all jumbled. I know they're trying to convey mood swings or something, or even just writing this in Jaekyung's pov, but they don't STICK with anything. They don't commit to Dan's loneliness Schtick, they don't commit to Dan being angry or sad, and they don't commit with developing either Jaekyung or Dan's character.
You named a lot of factors that ARE true, but the problem is that the author isn't going anywhere with it. We're stuck at the same point we've been for the past 10 chapters. It's not fun. :[
i wasn’t arguing with ur point! definitely agree. just don’t think some of it would actually be included bc it’s not completely true. i think his breaking point was actually awhile ago, and this numbness is the result of that. but maybe there’s another one coming. also we can’t have too high expectations because it’s from mingwa so honestly whatever u say makes sense, i don’t put that much energy into understanding this manhwa. good for u tho
sorry that was EXTREMELY passive aggressive
XD No, it's all good! His breaking point, though, I've no idea what it was. Lol I feel like there was just so much bad stuff happening, that there was no distinct breaking point. Like everything was a breaking point. And it's mainly the fact he seemed so normal during the doctor's appointment leading up to their conversation. I would've preferred he showed he was tired of Jaekyung. I do agree he probably lost hope the last time they had sex, so that's the only way I would show that.
Maybe Dan is like, disassociating? I can't tell lol Honestly, it was the beginning of this manhwa that made my high expectations. Maybe they're really rushed and can't put together as good of writing anymore? A real shame then. ToT
I think the scene of Dan coming out of the bathroom and immediately drinking the alcohol is perfect portrayal of what NOT to do when writing a story.
Look, I get what they're trying to do, but it's all jumbled and sudden. Dan just got the news that his condition could lead to DEATH, and it's BAD to mix it with alcohol. And yet, he goes and does it, saying that, "it doesn't matter, the condition isn't THAT bad."
IT IS. And I know what people would argue. "Dan is a doctor, he knows it's bad, but still chose to drink because of the situation." Well then, SHOW ME THAT. What they were critically missing was an in-between scene of Dan acknowledging and ADMITTING that his condition is severe, but believing he's incapable of going through with having sex with Jaekyung unless he's drunk. That he prioritizes having to be drunk over his well-being. The way this was formatted makes Dan come across stupid. I know he isn't, but this story isn't good at making me believe that.
This story never fails to suck at showing mental instability. They just follow through with the easiest portrayal they can think of. "Oh, Dan thinks he's a sex object, let's show no emotion." But you do that AFTER building it up. You could've had Dan SHOW IN HIS EXPRESSION, in the scene before they have sex, that he's believing and hoping, that JUST THIS ONCE, Jaekyung had changed. Maybe going through thoughts. "You're saying you brought me here because you're worried about me?" With hope in his eyes, but after Jaekyung says nothing, he turns away, upset. "That's what I thought." Then cue to sad sex. Maybe even adding Jaekyung with crippling with guilt.
But, NOOOOOO. Instead, you get no build up, no setting. God, even the scene where Dan wants to get out of the car, but Jaekyung keeps him in and continues driving shows the rush in writing and editing. In that car, as Jaekyung is driving him to his place anyway, you could've shown Dan being scared. Shaking, ANYTHING. Don't just show me him having a semi-flashback, GIVE ME REACTIONS. Tell me where his mind is right now! Don't just tell me his mind is in shambles without giving me a peek into it!
This is why the first part of the story was good, because the bad things that happened were already shown to us, so they didn't need to explain their subtleties like Dan having bruises. It doesn't work here because they actually need to explain to us in words instead of just their subtleties.
Is Dan hateful? Does he feel disgust during sex? Is he sad? Regretful? Accepting death? WE DON'T KNOW. PLEASE, I JUST WANNA KNOW. ToT