As a fan of bdsm, I enjoyed the spank and tears. I see no wrongs with how they went about ...

Honestly I think it's pretty in character, considering how Ash always took charge of things in the bedroom and then that rut scene-- the worst I would say abt this scenario rn is that going out to buy toys and then immediately getting freaky was kind of sudden in relation to where we were story-wise lolol

OMG I agree with you so much! It does annoy me to see people commenting that Ash is too much, out of line, being mean, becoming a red flag, etc.

But before this we were shown that Ash used a ribbon to tie Lyle's p, right? Wouldn't that be a tiny hint that Ash is interested in SM kinda play..?

As someone who engages in BDSM irl, this is an unhealthy depiction of BDSM. Lyle struggles to say no. He would probably feel concerned about disappointing Ash if he safeworded, considering he’s worried Ash will hate him for being aroused by the play. He is uncomfortable with the terms of the play. A sub should never be in a situation where they feel like they have to safe word (as currently it seems Lyle’s options are “spill or safeword”). A dom should never put a sub in a situation where they feel they might have to safeword. A sub should pick the safe word and feel comfortable using it. A sub should have an idea of what’s going to happen during the scene.

I think the problem here lies not so much in it being an "unhealthy depiction" of bdsm, but rather as it being a "fictional depiction" of bdsm; a lot of things will be extrapolated and characters will remain in internal conflict for as long as the narrative demands them to. But more than that, there is the typical fictional depiction of pleasure and being absolved of guilt (of wanting pleasure), which happens inside the narrative but is never discussed in-narrative. While there has been the establishment of an actual play (of sorts) the fiction part of it will keep the characters and their actions "dubious" until it is narratively suitable-- so the bdsm here is more of a mean to an end than it is a guide or proper representation on bdsm.

But, this isn't to discredit your stance or anything,/s it's just that sometimes fiction will be fiction and it doesn't necessarily mean anything bad by it.

Oh I agree tbh! My issue more so lies with people insisting there is like… nothing wrong with this depiction, everything is good, etc. which can I think be a harmful mindset when it comes to dubious depictions of things. If someone told me this happened to them irl I would urge them to break up with this person ASAP, y’know?

I’m also personally just more sensitive to ‘dubcon’ stuff, as the mindsets and attitudes around it are much more similar to my own sexual assault than most depictions of rape are. Unfortunately this chapter triggered me. As a kinkster I get worried when I see people seemingly overlook unsafe fictional depictions, since I have both been harmed by misunderstandings of kink as portrayed through fiction and I know others have as well. All of this second paragraph is mostly to say, I wish I added a bit of what you said in my previous comment! I agree w/ you.

I want to reiterate that I only said that because I don't believe this is genuine "bdsm" either, as noted I stated this is pretty non-serious. The only thing they properly established to be part of a play is the safe word but everything else is hardly considered a real play. BDSM is not the theme of this story so there's no expectation for a proper portrayal to begin with.

what do you mean by “hardly considered a real play”? bcus the entire chapter is a punishment/discipline play scene.
like. this is very much still bdsm play, even if it’s improperly portrayed?

I just mean it's non-serious. I'm agreeing with you it is improper. When I think of "real" play, I think of both partners agreeing and discussing it thoroughly prior to starting the play. In this, they just went into it with minimal agreement on both ends, which is why I don't consider this "real" play. This a non-serious play. And given that it was non-serious to begin with, I don't see anything wrong with it, because at least they got a safe word out. The bare minimum ig. If I wanted to see a real serious bdsm play, I definitely am not considering this as one of them. Sure this's punishment/discipline, but if we were to consider this real, then wouldnt this whole thing just be SA? I'd rather not think that deep into this and give it other meanings, when the point was the tone was non-serious to begin with.