I think including from the raws makes it confusing I not much I can say about that. I'm okay with how you feel about my response, but that is exactly how I feel about your post - coloring the events with your own preferences. You didn't note a lot of the things that happened in the series specifically and went more into analytics of background and how that applies to the real world and your understanding of how Chang works and thinks.
The fact that you day Chang only said only 2 bad things and talked normally misses the nuances of their relationship having soured. From this and your other posts it seems like you expect Ed to understand objectively what's going on and I find that unfair to him if I were to imagine these as people I know. You're really giving Chang a huge break in his behavior and actions to justify his means while not doing the same for Ed. I'll have to go back and read your other replies since I haven't and talk there since you say you've already responded
And sorry about the page breaking I have to do this on mobile I hate it laptop is way better
Yes there is some writing and character behavior that I agree you highlight that people can choose to believe as not believable and I'm not going to comment I'm just choosing to take the characters as they were written. I suspend disbelief in overall plot inconsistencies if it hasn't been ruined for my yet and I want to read to completion before concluding my thoughts. I don't think it's so terrible that I would drop yet
I am giving Ed a break on everything actually which is why I haven't mentioned anything about how paradoxical his internal monologue is.
And no I don't think I missed much. Legit I dont see those things as verbal abuse and you're reaching for it. Yeah their relationship has soured and then yeah Chang is making attempts to fix it. Doesn't make sense then that the author throws away his character. That's all.
And people give Glen way too much credit. He's a disgusting rapist too but hes just not portrayed that way and so people think it's fine.
And yes I would expect Ed to do his part in the relationship just like he does with Glen. He claims they were the only ones who understood each other so where did it all go?
I'm not one to suspend disbelief and I don't appreciate when the author uses it to carry out shallow narrative points.
And I didn't go into details of the debt and loan sharking because the novel and webtoon portrayal of it doesnt actually make sense. Irl loansharking in the US targets gamblers and is done at 1 to 5 points of interests and frequently if principles are paid multiple times over the loanshark will let go of the debt because it's good to get return business.
Secondly, this is a debt with no collateral so Chang doesn't have anything he can threaten Ed with if Ed is unable to pay it.
Thirdly, the repossession of the laundry should have paid the debt so idk what the author was doing or thinking.
Finally if we're considering that they're chinese mafia, kidnapping or beating up Ed over a small scale debt is too much of a threat to business and that happens more wet large scale operations. They don't want to gather unnecessary attention. It's very different from the asias and it's different from how it was in the 80s. Further, Ed doesnt have a family they can threaten so he can really just leave town.
And just because a relationship is soured doesn't mean verbal abuse and manipulation is involved.
"Choosing to take the characters as they were written" means nothing except for choosing to uncritically consume the work.
Also I'm curious how old you are
Okay I read all your replies and the own you're referring to is the reply to my original reply? I still think you are biased towards Chang and against Ed - you use against Ed a lot of things Chang takes care to hide from him. Little hints of caring or maybe to you huge hints of caring are not the same as actually sharing and communicating.
This is not directly correlating but I think of my dad. Deep down he loves me. He has never said it. My childhood was ruined because of his anger problems. He used to beat me with rugs, wooden sticks whenever I angered him. I was traumatized my whole life and still am. I confronted him once years ago and it was a frustrating conversation and he never apologized. Years later I have calmed down and realized he shows his love through things like coming to get me after my car accident. Trauma stays with you, especially if the person you care for refuses to talk about what is wrong in your relationship. I still live with my dad's harsh way of speaking and bear it.
In my long no break post I cover Ed's perspective and why he wouldn't catch the subtle cues. I went over pretty much everything I could see from his side and you didn't reply to that from what I can see in these replies in the part I go over end orphaned and alone wanting to imitate Xiao Ling for grandma and feeling hesitant to admit he's Chang's family in public to friends because deep down he's scared and knows they're not actually related and that can all be taken from him
How Chang acted after the accident confirmed his fear and ruined heir relationship. I know Chang was struggling with his feelings of realization of love etc but Ed does not know that. They are looking at the coin from two different sides. It's tragic but that's how it happened. From then on any conversation they had was cold and strained due to this so I wouldn't expect Ed to catch Chang's subtleties. His own world view was shattered and yes all he can selfishly think about is how to reduce and pay back his debt. They have different love languages and Chang really should have said something. The farther the story went the deeper the misunderstanding.
You say Chang didn't really say anything bad and ignored my post on him mocking Ed for doing porn and literally humiliating him for it chapters 47-51. Hence their interaction right before the rape. You say Chang said no. Ed realizing Chang really was going to fuck him said no ten times over and was raped and beaten down. You say gripping the thigh wasng anything but you don't try to access Ed's feelings and discount his feelings while you sympathize with Chang. I see a lot of defense of Chang's inner monologue and true hidden feelings but I don't see your argument for the things Chang has literally done to Ed and mistreatment from his terrible communication skills. I ask that you are as open minded to Ed as you are to Chang. You're dismissive of Ed as a character and blame him for every situation which is completely unfair.
I'm 30.
You're being very factual about how you take this story which is fine. I'm focusing on the characters and how they were portrayed. The historic portions you wrote about were interesting and I don't disagree that it makes the sorry more absurd. I just don't like that you tore down Ed and ignore his perspective and raise up Chang and are understanding of his point of view
Hey look thanks for sharing your personal story with your father. I also have a similar one and with not just my father but plenty of friends of over 10 and 15 years. The thing is, eventually you realize that people are weak and imperfect and terrible but also doing what they can.
I legit do not think Chang was humiliating Ed where you claim it was humiliation. Their communication is stunted but that is about it.
I do not think Ed is wrong to be hurt by Chang. I think that Ed would reasonably have reached the place me and you are at about our own negative relationships because that's what it means to be human in a less than perfect world.
Does that make sense? I am not critiquing Ed I am critiquing the author's handling of his internal monologue where she creates a hierarchy of Glen over Chang at all costs.
The issue is that all of Glen's sins are then dismissed and Chang's misled but good intentions are also dismissed. Do you see how that can be harmful? Someone who sells your body politely but with a smile on their face is much worse than someone who speaks their mind and doesn't always sound nice.
But I get that Ed was hurt, I've been there. My whole life from 15-24 was about that -- and I've seen my fair share of Glens too.
I also really mostly wanted to focus on the way porno is normalized here and how that's dangerous.
Also girl I'm sorry but I SAID Chang raping Ed is wrong and brutal. I just also mentioned that the way the author wrote it is irresponsible because it erases certain kinds of assault.
And grabbing a thigh here or there is legit not an offense lmfao, Chang let's go of it immediately and leaves. That's just how they interact and it may not be how you prefer to be interacted with but it's their dynamic.
Cool we same. think we're just coming from different aspects of the story. I do have respect for why you feel certain things were offensive and for why you relate to Ed.
I personally don't relate to Chang myself, I relate to Ed too, but that's also from the perspective of someone who was told to get an only fans at their lowest point, or told that theyd make a great center piece for shibari. Lool the sexual abuse stuff is forgiven too easily for the sex trafficking aspect of this work and I seriously worry about that.
Also I don't forgive Chang for anything he does. I am just saying that the context of the work is dark and a broader view of all the infractions committed by different characters need to be considered.
And also that when I have been Ed in my own relationships, I have never thought someone was inhuman because of what they were doing. The small things stood out and I could understand that a relationship would need rebuilding -- at my pace.
My issue is that clean apologies are often empty and we have to wade through a lot of emotional grey area in life. For a work that is so serious, it ties up loose ends too easily and values superficial reasoning over the reality of long human relationships.
Starting from the thigh thing - I don't think Ed preferred to be interacted with given the circumstances.
No problem about my personal story, our trauma is part of what shapes us so we just have to try to do the best we can to improve. Thank you for sharing your experiences as well.
I understand where you're coming from trying to improve negative relationships but I have never had a brother like figure who I was scared to call a brother out loud in fear of them abandoning me turn into my loan shark after my life changing accident and turn his back coldly on me. So I don't know if I would try to fix in this situation it's darker than what I can understand.
Yes, Ed could have tried to talk to Chang but trauma can make you fearful and have misconceptions and assumptions that you don't want to talk about. They obviously are both prideful to the point of spite or they would have had a talk long ago instead of getting to where they have.
I see you point about rape and assault and desensitization of the porno world reading yaoi. Ed may be running on delusions and not comparing the two plot points but is it crazy for someone to ignore that in his shoes? He's starved for love and in depths of misery brought by his current situation. I won't get into the McQueen side of things but at the very least McQueen has started talking about his wrongs and they are communicating to solve them. I agree that the author glosses over the darkness of the porn industry and McQueens behavior and attitude but it is slowly being addressed along the way and I hope they do more of that.
Okay I think you're making Ed out to be more scared of Chang than he is. He calls him hyung still in the first scene they meet, he talks back to him plenty, he claims he tries to understand him and like you said he maintains a fondness for him despite what's happened.
The graveyard scene is a hard scene but Chang clearly looks sad. Ed seems to misattributed emotions to various people after his porn comes out. For instance he cuts of Derek too (I love Derek too btw).
Also there are details in the book about how they still retain physical intimacy. So Chang will touch Ed casually and Ed is receptive of it to the point that it annoys Glen.
I think I have a lot more background on Ed and Chang's relationship because I read the books so perhaps that's also a point we are not quite experiencing the same story on.
With what's shown in the webtoon alone, I might agree with you but again I'm already tainted, I read the books.
And with Glen it absolutely makes sense that Ed would be vulnerable to falling into something with him -- but it's with a man who shot his porno and eventually says some real fucked up shit to him before disappearing.
The author cleans that up real slick. Again, I've read the books and the raws so I know to what extent Glen apologizes. It's not enough and it wreaks of authorial irresponsibility.
I think part of my issue is that if Glen can be forgiven so easily, surely Chang should be dealt with more kindly.
The issue remains the authorial deceit of making the porn seem not that bad an all counts and the debt seem unreasonably bad on all accounts. At the end of the day, debt is scary to people because they don't want to end up trafficked -- Ed volunteers himself for it and everyone who is reading is applauding it.
Nice. I agree we're coming from different aspects of the story. I more I deliberate I see more and more what you are saying of the writing butchering Chang's character to have the audience accept and ending with Ed and McQueen.
It is unsettling reading about your facts and information about the porn industry. I will say as a consumer every time there is a new story involving any buzz word of mafia, porn, prostitution, I resent it. I don't think any yaoi series has logically or successfully tackled integrating these elements into the storyline so I agree with your well worded passages about how the story is misusing these elements. I do re-think about McQueen after reading your analysis but I can only hope the author talks about their issues in-depth later on.
Don't get me wrong, I am the hugest time and time again sucker for the misunderstanding trope where one person loves another but through misunderstandings their feelings don't reach. I bang my hand on the floor seeing Chang chase desperately after the love of his life but then say something. Tell him everything. Open up to him and maybe there would be a different outcome. He does everything the opposite of how he feels until Ed confronts him with the possibility he's in love with Ed. Stop showing you care by giving your clothes, driving Ed around and making excuses to see him. Tell him these things. Ed is stunted as a person I see him missing the passive gestures and taking everything on a conversational basis.
I'm very sorry to hear about your own experiences relating to sex occupations. I hope you are safe and through your writing I see a great future for your talent and I hope you have an environment to continue in this field.
Also curious, what is your Meyer Briggs? I think we may be coming from different schools of thinking based on our brain patterns. I'm an ENFP
I also wish I was on a laptop I would be able to better edit my arguments for clarity and have a problem with run-ons and not getting to my point clearly without one. Thanks for taking the time to read bad comprehend my thought process. Honestly I think if we just had a phone call on this discussion we would have come to conclusion
Well darn. Reading information you're providing from the novel does make a difference and is a shame. I didn't know about the intimacy not that Ed was receptive and it bothered Glen. Unfortunately I have a different picture based solely on the manhwa. Maybe Jaxx saw this issue and minimized these points to get us to Ed and Glen end game without questioning about the failures of acknowledging Chang and Ed's relationship.
I think Ed is in denial of wanting to see Chang as anything other than his suppressor in current times. He is flawed and wants to blame him for the bad while ignoring how Chang tries to show he cares. and that's a real shame.
For the graveyard scene yes they are both in anguish for different reasons and Chang's communication did not go through to Ed. I think I focused too much on how Chang treated Ed when re-reading I didn't focus enough on his micro-expressions and goodwill intent so thank you for bringing those up
It makes me sad reading about your take on the Glen aspect and I agree with your point of view after more discussion. It's hard for me to read stories about porn and prostitution so I detach myself to try to have a semblance of enjoyment for the story. I see since you have knowledge on these sectors how grating it is to read about it
Hahah I just moved on to my laptop because I was having trouble. Hahaha. My myers-briggs is ISFP.
First – I'm old enough now to be able to tell people who casually try to get me to sell my body to fuck off. But I won't say that I haven't been convinced to try stupid things in the realm of sex because other people normalized it for me when I was younger. I'm stuck in the quarantine, safe, and mostly spending my time being annoyed by this story hahahahaha. Also I think we're on the same timezone cuz when you said it was 4 / 5 AM for you, it was 4ish AM for me too : ' ); and yes I am considering continuing in writing since that's what I've defaulted to in my boredom here.
And I agree, it's not possible for Yaoi to fully integrate these, but some do. Saezuru Tori Wa Habatakanai is a good one, and I'm forgetting but I've read decent enough depictions in older manga, that were considerate of the larger context of the grey world around these themes. I think *because* I have those comparison points and generally a large amount of reading of difficult topics under my belt, I find issue with this one's handling of the themes.
And I totally agree Chang should have just told Ed his feelings and been way clearer about communicating and none of this would have happened. I think what you said about their love languages or what not is correct for the most part. Chang's is touching and gift giving, whereas Ed's seems to be ??? I don't actually know. He also does gift giving (exchanging sandwiches, appreciating the play), but something else seems to be more important. I don't think it's acts of service though because he doesn't get those from Glen as much as he does from Chang. Anyway, I think a big part of this is contrived for the plot. I wish he could have been open, I would have loved to see it, but there was clearly a different narrative role for him. Hahahah... [SPOILER]
He does tell Ed he loves him in the most recent chapter, but it's too late for him now. He raped Ed so it makes sense that Ed doesn't see him kindly. At the same time, Glen did some things that I would consider as rape as well, but Ed has no issues forgiving him for it on the basis of a verbal apology. [END SPOILER]
I haven't said this yet, but I do think that the author used the rape as a plot device to finalize Chang as evil and make Glen the only logical option left, and that's just another reason I have an issue with the work. It feels like an irresponsible use of rape as a plot device and now it seems moot for Glen's issues to have to be discussed at length and so we will never get that. I don't want to spoil for you, but I hope we can talk about it after that chapter comes out. It's in 20 days!
Haha oh no, now I've passed some of the sadness on to you. I have tons of great Chang and Ed details if you ever want to hear about them, and some downright funny Chang details (like how he organizes takeout containers in his fridge by size and type and has his beers organized by brand and grinds his coffee beans right before he makes coffee, or how he gives Ed indoor slippers when Ed comes into his house; also dark ones like how he has a compulsion to click a pen three times).
And I can agree that Ed could be in denial and be very intent on seeing Chang negatively and that would be an expression of his trauma. That's almost what I've been getting at – but I wouldn't blame him for being this way at all. However, with the narrative choices with forgiveness of McQueen I'm still kind of like..... oof.
Thanks for rereading the graveyard scene! Totally don't think Chang should have choked Ed but totally agree they were both in anguish for different reasons. Made me so sad.
It's hard for all of us and we all detach from the reality of it I think. But in this scenario, detaching from the reality of it when we do have a character who is a drug addict and has a child, and another character who has his life destroyed by his porno coming out... it's a little too much, you know?
But thanks! I'm so glad we were able to talk about all of this and I totally see where you are coming from and I'm glad you've been able to see where I came from. I understand that my post would have seemed Chang defense heavy, but in some ways, it had to to open the way into the critique.
This conversation was wonderful!
After reading through this thread, I'm curious about what you think: can anyone ever be in the porn industry and not be negatively impacted? What sex work is harmful and what is not (and why? I'm inclined to think that selling your body can never be a good thing and allows others to objectify you)? Are things like Only Fans harmful since the person selling their body is in charge of all aspects? Do you know any statistics about the reasons that people enter the porn industry (couldn't find any)?
I know you want to hate Chang and love McQueen but I'm about to come at you with more facts than yall ready to handle out here.
Criticisms of Chang:
1. He gave Ed a debt with sky high interest
2. He's in the Chinese Mafia
3. He rapes Ed
4. He and Ed get violent with each other (it's not always Chang who throws the first punch or gets handsy first).
Defense of Chang:
1. He tries to give Ed outs on the debt on multiple occasions
2. He tries to save Ed from escorting
3. He beats the shit out of McQueen for making Ed's porno and asks McQueen to sell the licenses to him so he can stamp that bullshit out of existence (the cost would be $500,000+, but he doesn't care what the cost is)
3.2. He asks McQueen wtf kind of man makes a porno of his lover
4. He protects the image Ed has of Granny Lingbao so he can receive love and affection despite the fact that Lingbao abused him for years.
5. SPOILER He takes Ed in as family and is considerate of his feelings for many years (giving him a Bruce Lee poster when he's upset, listening to him recite lines from his play).
6. He supports Ed's acting interest (Bruce Lee poster, taking him to see Othello).
7. He would give Ed a sweater off his back if Ed asks
Criticisms of McQueen:
1. He is a porn director and player type
2. He shot a rape porno of Ryan which fucked Ryan up deeply
3. He lived with Ryan and Cecil for three years and abandoned Ryan at his lowest
4. He started dating an employee of his own company
5. He abandoned Ed when the going got rough and only apologized about what he said, not about how he left when things got difficult.
6. When he is jealous, he does not let Ed speak and takes things out on him with angry, rough sex.
7. He didn't know about Ed's debt or reasons for doing porn (so that seems like a deep relationship lol).
Defenses of McQueen:
1. He has not raped Ed
2. Some people think they look hot together
3. Some people think that McQueen knows how to make adult apologies
4. He gave Ed the money he made off of selling the rights to Ed's pornos
5. He eventually apologizes to Ryan
Now, I know this comment section is full of people who love to proselytize and say porn is okay and fine, Chang made Ed do it, there's nothing wrong with McQueen, and the only reason I am stepping in to say anything at all is because there are children here reading this when they shouldn't be.
So first.
The porn industry is not a safe environment. The avg lifespan of a porn star is 37 years (compare to 70+ for the rest of the population). They face coercion, unsafe work environments, and pressure from male stars and directors to do scenes they're not comfortable with. We see this for Ed. He loses his anal virginity on camera to a man that he didn't even know he was shooting with that day. He says that he doesn't care, but later we see that it does bother him (from his own internal monologue). The psychological blowback of this is unconsidered because McQueen is the main ship and we can't be having too much darkness there.
In the work, Ed's porno pays $6000 to $7000. Considering this would have been in the 2000s based on setting, that is incorrect and porn scenes actually pay closer to $1000. If Ed's debt is say around $300,000 max, that means he needs to appear in more than 300 pornos, and the production quantity of pornos is not high enough to support this. Porno was never really something that was going to get him out of debt.
Next, Ed says he would rather help McQueen in his work with porn than Chang who exploits people.
Surprise, surprise, the entire porn industry is funded by Italian mafia money laundering schemes and porn shops and website are completely run by organized crime. So he's running from the hands of the Chinese mafia to the hands of the Italian one. This is unconsidered either because the author did not do the research and does not know, or because Chang is supposed to be one true bad guy whereas McQueen is one true good guy.
Finally, the writer chose to write an asian american male (a group that has difficulty making it in hollywood and acting), had him give up on his dream, had his debut in film be a porno, and then had him uncritically fall in love with the man who shot his porn and fucked him in it. I'm sorry guys but Harvey Weinstein is in jail for a reason.
Again, the psychological blowback of this goes uncriticized because we're supposed to believe that Ed made these choices and he was forced by a shitty situation with Chang to do so.
As a plot, this is disgusting and it would be fine if it was just a shitty BL that didn't masquerade as deep but it does masquerade as deep.
So next, we have Chang's character. He is an orphan who has lost his mother and father, and is taking care of a dementia addled woman who is not his relative, who also hates him and wishes he would have died. He has been doing this since he was 12. He is growing up in low-income housing in New York, living on ostensibly peanuts from the government. He gets involved with the Mafia because poverty and gangs go hand in hand, and he has no support system, no parental love, and no opportunities.
It's really easy for people to hate him, but I don't know how many of you have grown up in the states or grown up in major cities of the states. Inner city experiences mess people up.
Within this he has Ed, someone who grows to be like family to him and eventually someone he likes romantically. However, Ed is not gay and so Chang keeps it to himself. He sees Ed dating women and he's respectful of it though it hurts him. When Ed's porn comes out, note that Chang says "then why did I hold back for so long?"
But despite having held back, he still doesn't make a move on Ed even after finding out about the porno. He's doing his own thing when he finds Ed selling himself. When he finds out about that, he still makes it clear that he's not trying to have sex with Ed. When Ed asks if Chang is going to do it, he tells Ed to know his place and come to work.
Chang has created a distance between him and Ed because he doesn't know how to love without it destroying his peace, but that makes sense. He's someone who grew up without love and though Ed is precious to him, the anxiety of loving someone makes him push him away. I'm not defending it, but I am saying this is a common defense mechanism.
Now let's talk about the Mafia right quick. Apparently Chang gave Ed a really high interest debt as a form of loan sharking. This loan was legal because Ed declared bankruptcy at one point and was denied (ostensibly due to Chang's intervention). If Ed can declare bankruptcy on the debt, then it's not a secret illegal debt. However, at times, the work makes it seem like Chang has an illegal bookmaking business and Ed pays into that.
Regardless of which it is, going into porn is not going to solve the issue for him, but also the US govt does not look kindly on illegal book making operations. There have been several FBI stings of illegal loansharking and gambling dens, and California Senator Leland Yee went to jail for his ties with the mafia. If a senator can go down, Chang isn't all powerful like the author seems to imagine he is.
Secondly, Ed decides to not pay the debt eventually though that's not translated. Which begs to ask the question, what's the point of this fucking plot?
Now let's look at what we're all reacting to here.
Ed/Yeowoon starts out as a sensical character who loves Chang's grandma and Chang to the extent that he feels they were family and Chang was the only one who understood his loneliness. However, he's damn fast at turning on Chang when he learns Chang has given him a loan. He goes from "we were family" to "he hated me all along". Forgive me but you guys have been friends / family for 15 years at this point. That's quite the jump to make.
For Ed, everything revolves around his own self and he isn't able to imagine the motives of other people. I don't know why this is, because Chang's character is decently fleshed out emotionally and psychologically, but Ed's reasoning is legitimately "I'm angry at Chang because he turned on me, I will never pay attention to his efforts at starting a conversation (when he asks for them to get dinner), making amends (multiple job offers, multiple check ins), helping me out (stopping the prostitution from happening)."
On the other hand, Ed sees everything McQueen does as golden. "He can hurt me and I will heal." When McQueen continues to have sex with others despite them being in a relationship. Feeling like he wants to die, but fine when McQueen comes back to him and gives him a flimsy apology about how he said mean things. I say this is a flimsy apology because the fact that McQueen has an abandonment kink is never addressed, not by McQueen, not by the plot, and not by Ed. At the end of the day, McQueen apologizes to Ryan about what he did, but we as readers only know the following things about McQueen:
1. He's good at sex
2. He gtfo's when the going gets rough
3. He doesn't care what people think about his porn
4. He likes to make celibate looking people cry
Going back to Ed though, for someone who loved Chang dearly, he doesn't for a second think about Chang's pain even when he finds out about it. He goes so far as rejecting Chang because he's a weak man who couldn't show love. However, Ed does acknowledge that saying I love you was difficult for him (at McQueen) and that apologies are difficult as adults. This consideration, however, is only applied to McQueen, and never Chang.
This is what we call bad writing. If you're going to take a character and just turn him into angst porn, then don't do it with such a serious plot. These writers seriously fumbled every aspect of American immigrant life, from poverty to race relations, and these are real, legitimate issues.
Chang's character makes no sense. On the one hand he is the only one speaking sense about Ed's porno and trying to protect him, and on the other hand he is this callous evil man. Forget that Ed has known him forever and knows almost everything there is to know about how he ticks. Forget that Ed is supposed to care for him so at some point would have tried to understand what's going on under there. Forget that Ed grew up with Youyu, Youyu's mom, and the restaurant crew and could have easily talked to someone about what was going on with him and Chang (there's a picture of them at the restaurant opening).
Ed's character also makes no sense. On the one hand he is yelling at Chang, throwing away offers to have his debt's interest frozen, or having his debt paid off; on the other hand he is putty in the hands of a man he barely knows (legit they're together for like three months), and forgives that man for indirectly ruining his life and then *disappearing*. Taking an extra week or two to get back together with someone is not enough here. The conversation needed to discuss trust, reliability, commitment and instead it's like "I thought about you but you're with Chang now???"
Glen's character doesn't even get screentime. You guys realize we see the story from Ed's perspective, we see it from Chang's perspective twice (one is coming up in the raws), but we never see it from Glen's perspective? Because there's nothing there. He's just a dildo ken doll with no character development outside of edgy lover movie director buff white dude.
And finally the contrived rape scene. Rape happens. Rape is terrible. It is mishandled in BL all of the time, but I have never seen a grander fuck up of a rape scene than the one in this webtoon.
What Ed does is assault. It doesn't matter if he didn't think Chang wanted sex (that's WORSE cuz he's just assaulting someone for funs). It doesn't matter if Ed was in an escorting situation. Ed had asked if Chang was going to do it and Chang had already indicated no. Chang says no about 4 times.
And then he flips. Now this is EVEN worse. Because usually, when we look at rape scenes, we understand that one person did it to another person and the other person was not responsible for anything. But in this situation, they both legitimately assault each other.
If they went to court over it, Ed would go to jail too. They are gay men. Telling a man to bend over so you can fuck him is assault. And obviously what Chang does is assault/rape.
But, from what we can understand, someone sat there behind a computer, typing and minimized one type of assault and made a victim story for the other character. This is horrendous mishandling. Like what the absolute fuck, you needed a plot device so bad that you did this???
Especially coming from a character who has managed to hold back for 9 years. What's one more night for him? He was trying to convince his childhood friend and person he likes to stop selling his body and then the plot powers created this garbage?
It's irresponsible to people who have been raped, it's irresponsible to males who are sexually assaulted because it erases certain types of assault, and it's an absolute insult to rhetoric around assault because we trust that when people say they didn't do anything to start the violence, they didn't. In this case, Ed instigates violence where there was none up until that point.
Anyway, this has gotten long, I will leave my comment with this.
Walk on Water portrays selling your body as something equivalent to bagging groceries. There's no psychological blowback, there's no pain, there's no hurt. This is not true of the real world. Despite destigmatizing sex work, sex workers still need mental health services because the actual work hurts them.
The only person in the whole work who recognizes this is Chang, and he tries to protect Ed from it on multiple occasions. Everyone else sees porn as fine and okay, until the end of the plot where Glen suddenly sees the error of his ways for the past decade and randomly decides he was trying to get out of porn all along and is therefore selling his company.
We don't see him logically reach this point, but the narrative wants him to reach it. We are left off in the end with Glen is the better man because he knew how to change his ways and because he knew how to apologize. But where was Glen's struggle? He says he never cares about what people said and he only cares that he hurt Ed with his words. What kind of power does Ed have over him after barely 3 months of knowing each other. Also what kind of reasoning is that? There's no consideration of the ethical implications, no struggle with his own self. TF? He just changes because that's what the plot needs for the story to end.
But the real question is, did he really? At what point did we see that? Real convenient that suddenly everything goes to Ed's happily ever after.
So let's see we have one (1) decently fleshed out character, one (1) mary sue / wish fulfillment vehicle that loses all semblance of his own thoughts and feelings as a previously straight man when he decides to start doing porn, and one (1) walking orange dildo who we learn nothing about except that he is the bigger man who knows how to change his ways despite having benefitted off of the 100s of actors that came before Ed.
COol Cool cool cool cool. I wish this garbage would unpublish itself.