I needed the doctor to suffer so much more for me to like him. I also hate that both of the bottoms were virgins and the tops weren’t lol. Hate that dynamic. I do feel conflicted over Dowha… like obvs brothers are a no.. but I loved how sincere he seems to have always been. I wish their familial tie wasn’t real or he was just a completely other character and Dojuns end game. </3
Agreed.
And honestly I find the whole bottoms being virgins and tops being (acceptably slutty) quite misogynistic. For many BL authors, the ukes are placeholders for women (this has been going on for decades and started with manga). So the relationship is not dissimilar to a straight relationship in manga, albeit with much more painful sex for some reason. And the ukes are written as physically weaker, pretty and shorter than the top.
Anyways, in real life, for centuries women had to be virgins, while men sleeping around was not frowned upon and often encouraged. I feel like this outdated attitude affects many authors perception of ukes and relationship dynamics. And I feel that this attitude is subconscious rather than intentionally derogatory.
THIS. Like why is it so popularized?? It just never feels handled correctly and ruins a big part of their relationships for me. I hope mangas and manwhas are changing and losing some of those “classic” tropes and dynamics. I don’t mind feminine bottoms but it’s always so obvious when it’s not about that and it’s just a stand in for a woman.
Totally agree with you.
I really don’t like the doctor. I was really put off by their first sexual encounter.
I firmly believe though that if Dojun and his brother were not actually brothers (whether blood related or not) his brother would have been a better match. He seems like he would have treated Dojun so much better and valued him so much more than the Doctor ever could. Those depictions of the alternate reality where they were lovers were really beautiful.
But they are brothers.
And - his brother used to be so caring for him in the past, but when that love became something other than brotherly affection it all went to shit. The brother is a huge part of the reason that Dojun became so insecure and desperate for affection (not the sole reason as his classmates didn’t exactly make things easier for him).
It’s cliche but Dojun really needs to love himself before he can be in a relationship. He’s so starved for affection and so desperate for approval that I’m afraid he’ll carry on blaming himself, second guessing himself, and excusing his partner’s bad behaviour.
Despite the author’s attempts to show us the Doctor cares about him it just didn’t feel authentic. There will never be an appropriate balance of power in the relationship.