I never thought I'd cry over a fucking YANDERE of all people
I love the ending, but it had me crying my eyes out. He loves her so truly, but has no idea how to love someone properly (nor appropriately or healthily), my poor boy! I hope he finds someone to make his life shine the way Sian did someday, but with a better frame of mind, so he can do right by that person.
What really made me cry was the good memories between Yul and Sian being remembered by Sian instead of Yul this time. That pulled so fucking hard that I had to stifle my cries into my pillow.
Don't get me wrong, this is the best ending all three of them could've gotten- I'd actually be pretty sad, mad, and disappointed if Sian ended up with Yul somehow. Would I have loved and cried more if there was another scene, like Sian writing back a final 'I forgive you' sort of letter? Probably, but no, because what we got truly made the most sense. And made me absolutely bawl my eyes out— seriously! I am so sensitive right now, I just want to cradle Yul's head in my hands and shield him from the bad in this world. Want to shield him from the pain of the shadows and insects that intrude his mind. Want to show him what loving someone really looks like. (Not me, but like, I want to watch another character do that to him.)
Same with Sian, but she has Yujin to do that for her, and it really did add happy tears to the bittersweet ones when I was reading. Never was I rooting for Yul to get with her, but I definitely always felt bad for him in one way or another with each chapter that was in his POV or heavily involved him.
I say this like Yul is my favorite, he's not (not entirely, anyways), I am actually in love with Sian, she's my favorite. She's just so goddamn precious and kind, and I love her dynamic with Yujin! Ugh, this whole manga was just such a fucking banger, and I'm probably gonna cry some more about it.
(Sorry if the Topic Title is misleading, I couldn't think of anything XD)
I haven't read the new chapter, I haven't even read any new topics (except maybe one), but it still somehow came back around to me through direct messages, because of how heated it's getting. It honestly makes me wonder, about a few things actually.
I am an avid reader of Ao3 content (a fandom site where you can freely read and write fanfiction), and have been for years now. I consistently and constantly come across some of the most darkest themes and the unhealthiest of relationship dynamics you could possibly read, but the comments are never really negative. Surprised, shocked maybe, or perhaps even passive aggressive, but never being so forth right about preconceived notions or personal negative biases about a particular topic of the literature, or of the creator themselves, as people can be here. And I think I know why.
One, the comments feed directly to the writer, rather than being set up as a group discussion type commenting, where readers talk to each other about the work. I feel this to be a rather big deterrent when it comes to boldly and loudly criticizing and hating the characterization, writing, or events that happen in the story. At least not without also praising the writing in some way.
Second, which I believe is probably the most important, with how Ao3's tagging system works, it's easy to make it clear your stance on the realities of the thing you're writing about in a fictional sense. Tags like, "Dead Dove: Do Not Eat" "This is Messed Up" "Do Not Read" "Unhealthy Relationships" and just being able to be very explicit and clear with tagging. Even if you don't read fanfiction, I suggest checking out the tagging system, because I believe it to be the most efficient way of implementing a tagging system, and most effective in purpose (you can also find some really fun and funny tags that can be hilariously meta about the writer themselves).
These tags being applied and established by the author/writer themselves, I think, is the final nail in the coffin that makes it hard for people to even want to criticize, critique, or even just hate on a piece of work. Granted, fanwork is completely different from original work in general (as well as manga just being wholely different from Fanfiction in many ways, but they're similar enough in some ways for me to make the distinction and comparison), so levels of critique vary due to that reasoning as well.
It just depends, but I do feel like people would be a lot more reassured and less... Urged to make the comments and topics they do if the Mangaka (Mingwa) would have made these kind of warnings and personal disclaimers themselves. Not everyone, most certainly not. And these topics don't go directly to Mingwa, so there would be no real deterrent. But it's something somewhat fascinating to compare and think about, and I was simply dying to make such a comparison, because I find it interesting. Feel free to add onto this, give your own thoughts, opposal, or don't. Whatever it is, I don't mind.
[I don't really have the energy to debate anyone anymore (or at least right now, and for this chapter) about the ethicalness and morality of Jinx's premise and simple existence, so I won't be joining in or commenting on anyone else's topics. I'll reiterate, I simply thought it'd be nice to openly talk about and compare two sites I regularly, actively, use; where one has a much more healthier community, system, and setup all around.]
Even if no one else is reassured or deterred by this fact, it has certainly given me some peace of mind. I already figured this was most likely the case, but the language barrier and not knowing any of Mingwa's socials where they would post said feelings, I was never able to confirm. Granted, I didn't necessarily go searching when I could've, but reiterating, I had already figured this to be the case. Though it's nice knowing for sure, so thank you for informing me of such!
Not... Not necessarily. Have you read fanfics from Archive of Our Own (Ao3) that have tags like "Dead Dove: Do Not Eat"? Plus, there's nothing in this manga that's really indicating that it's being passed off as romantic. Jinx is a dark, messed up story, and just because you might interpret it doing as such, doesn't mean that was the *intent* that Mingwa was going for. And... Idk about you, but I've read many, MANY of these dark and messed up fanfics, and many of them DO romanticize the fucked up shit, usually for porn and horny purposes, but in almost all of those said Fanfics, the author makes it VERY clear-cut that their writing does not, in anyway, represent their beliefs, views, or actual healthy relationship dynamics in real life. I'm not sure where this claim exactly came from, if it wasn't an assumption about fanworks in general.
I'm also not sure where you get the idea that this is being passed off as romantic? Or, at least, where this is claiming to portray something actually romantic or healthy in real life, if that's what you mean? I guess, having read fanfics that romanticize super unhealthy, and even toxic, traits like being obsessively possessive, controlling, power imbalances, while also having those notes and tags from the author/writer that explicitly disclaims knowing that these are completely unrealistic and unhealthy portrayals of how relationships should actually be, makes it easier for me to assume Mingwa had the same intentions behind Jinx (rightly so, if their socials with disclaimer posts are anything to go by).
The real difference, is that this Manga doesn't explicitly disclaim those things, even though Mingwa has expressed knowing this is extremely dark and unhealthy on their own social media accounts. Which, you did say at the end of your reply, the 'as long as it's labeled as such', but you made it seem like there are no fanworks romanticizing toxic and horrible relationship dynamics and character traits purely for the fact of it being fictional, with the writer being extremely straightforward and blunt about how disgusting these things are in real life, and just in general- when that simply isn't true.
They're not afraid to call the Seme in their own fanworks a disgusting individual, or talking about how horrible they are in their work of writing. I've come across and seen it so often on Ao3, and it's exactly why I love it so much. The potential for the author to be so open about themselves lends itself to people being able to discern where the author comes from and how genuine they are as, not only a writer, but a moral person.
[To be brutally honest, I've seen some fanworks that have actually romanticized rape, and it's always those ones that have the most disclaimers from the author, the most explicit and fair warning tags.]
If fictional dark romance isn't your genre, then that's fine! But it's a genre that nobody needs to explain themselves in liking, especially when they themselves know the difference of these types of relationships in fiction and reality. Which almost every single fanwork I've read (with maybe the exception of two) have demonstrated the writer vehemently expressing having that exact distinction and understanding of how wrong these things are in real life.
There's just... With how Ao3's system is, and how the community communicates, I've seen it to be the most healthiest media platform there is. I'm not sure how far your experiences with Fanfiction specifically on Ao3 goes, as you didn't quite clarify that (which is fine), but I have used it for years now, at this point. I know what romanticizing something looks like, and I also know that romanticizing something in a fictional story does not automatically reflect the writers beliefs, nor does it automatically have the purpose of reflecting what the writer believes to be an authentic and realistic portrayal of what actual romance or healthy relationships look like.
[Hell, I've even read casual fanfics that don't inherently read as if a dark fic, but still romanticize toxic, if sometimes even abusive, behavior, but the writer still almost *always* makes a disclaimer that it is an unhealthy dynamic, and not at all a realistic or healthy portrayal of an actual loving relationship.]
[Tl:Dr] I know that this reply is kind of all over the place (I'm tired, it's been a long Month), and my points don't flow or connect the best in a way that would communicate them better, but they're still points I want to iterate to you, since a dark story (and/or fanworks) absolutely has romanticization of unhealthy (and even sometimes horrific) dynamics, while still having positive, and even encouraging, feed back from the comments. And I believe that to be because of how personal the writer can get in their notes, and that the comments feed/send directly to the author. The author who has made it clear they understand how horrible and unhealthy their story would be in a real scenario, and that their writing is purely fictitious with no actual realistic portrayals of anything healthy. Jinx isn't a story being passed off as *actual* romance. At most, it's being passed off as *dark romance*.
If you misunderstand any of what I'm trying to say, let's just agree to disagree, because I'm on too low of a battery to have enough brain function to formulate a better worded counterpoint. Or, you simply disagree, which is completely fine! Everyone has differing views and beliefs that influence our opinions and biases towards certain things and notions. It's inevitable that people are gonna disagree, even if they fully understand your point. Anyways, I'm sorry for rambling, I'm just rather passionate about things like this in general. I also love Ao3, I'm probably addicted to that site- ╮(^▽^`)╭
I'm also sorry for any typos or inconsistent phrasing—
I'm surprised how many dislikes this has. It makes me wonder what about it hit such a cord that they felt compelled to dislike it... I wish they'd leave a reply or comment about what it is they seem to disagree with, because of all my topics about Jinx, this one feels (to me, at least) like it should be the least controversial...
Perhaps it's how I say and worded it. Probably comes across condescending or even patronizing in a way. I can see it. If that's the problem. I did feel like I was using words that were inherently too confident for the topic I was talking about. Though, it could simply be a sever disinterest in what I decided to ramble on about. But, to be fair, I fucking love Ao3 X3
Don't mind me, I'm just openly contemplating the possible reason why this ended up being my most disliked topic. Just surprised, is all. Feel free to correct my reasonings if the person reading this happens to be someone who leaves (or leaved) a dislike on my topic.
Despite this short ramble, I actually don't mind. This is simply an opinion of mine and a comparison I wanted to share. I'm honestly more curious on disagreeing people's thoughts, if anything. And extremely intrigued by what's making this my most controversial topic, because I'm not 100% sure.
When I made my last comment I only read her last comment but I seen the chain of replies. Now that I have read the thread. Your messages did not go to waste.
"Dead Dove: Do Not Eat" ? Should I ask?
I have not been on Ao3. Tm has but I don't think he join it. I have many comments with dislikes it is surprising but I think it is because of me.
If she read your comment she would had explain to you that here on Mangago it is tagged with romance but I don't think the Korean version is.
" Jinx isn't a story being passed off as *actual* romance. At most, it's being passed off as *dark romance*. Exact if you call this romance at all. Let's see how it would be romance when their relationship changes.
Some of the dislike could be because they did not read. They don't like long messages here. lol They will call it an essay or something. They get offend by them. They are here to read stories and this area is where you talk about the story. I don't understand their logical. Long messages help understand you better and gets the point across.
I don't have the link. TM does. I have a snapshot with 16 tags for the Korean version. I don't know if it is all the tags. I don't see romance as one of the 16 tags.
It will be a romance later from the hiatus but I don't know why mangago has it set for a romance now. I guess it is set for when it will be.
Dead Dove: Do Not Eat is a tag on Ao3 that writers will often use when they also have tags from mild to extremely messed up in context. Examples like "Torture", "Gore", "Rape/Non-con Elements" for the extremely messed up, and the Dead Dove: Do Not Eat is to say, "There's no exaggeration of these tags, this is stuff you'll actually find in this fanfic, if that's not for you, do not read." That's the meaning of the tag Dead Dove: Do Not Eat.
It can be applied to tags as mild as simply "Bad BDSM Etiquette" or just really kinky fanfics where consent is iffy and dubious at certain points. So they'll use Dead Dove: Do Not Eat to tell off and warn people that the tags are of no exaggeration, and that if any of the tags are not to you're liking or of your taste, to not read the Fanfic. Does that make sense?
With the plural of "Bitch", I'm making the assumption I was included in that statement, which... I've been nothing but respectful about the things I've said, and much of what I say is backed by numerous personal experiences that make me confident about the things I believe. If someone were to give me valid examples, or even their own personal experiences that might contradict my own views, then maybe they would change my mind, but no one's provided as such. Most of them... they'd rather be combative and uselessly insulting.
The human psyche and mind is a complex matter and unique to each and every individual. I'm sorry you are of the false opinion that we come off as delusional people, but others having differing beliefs and experiences from you does not make your statement and comment here, a valid one.
Granted, you have every right to do what you want with your time, and if you decided insulting strangers online is a worthwhile endeavor, then go for it! No one's stopping you from making an ass of yourself. Shows your character flawlessly! ; -)
I'm glad you got something positive out of all the notifications I'm sure you must be getting about this Topic Section, which, I apologize for. I know what it's like to get incessantly bombarded by notifications on here because of typing a simple reply to someone else's Topic. I had somewhat worried you were rather annoyed by it. Which, understandable, if so. I had not expected the amount of replies this would get, and the type of interaction it would have. Was expecting something totally different, to be honest XD
THX . I think it is against us all. I don't understand the problem with long messages.
Your message are great btw. I don't know what to say. Tora and TM are the deep conversations talkers.
You would not know but Neko would understand because Neko has seen a range of my replies. Tora has told me I should change my name to Whiplash.
⁄(⁄ ⁄·⁄ω⁄·⁄ ⁄)⁄
At this point, I give up. People are gonna have their opinions that they have a right to post and talk about. No fault of anyone's own, but Jinx has not only reached people who like it, but the author being as well know as they are, is gonna reach unintended audiences and has done so already.
It's become clear to me at this point that this story may not even be about any sort of redemption or their relationship reaching any sort of healthy standards. It's a fictional dark romance manga, where obsession and possession tend to mean and equal feelings of love- if there's even any form of that from either of them. Dark Romance takes the darkest parts of what love can be and amplifies them to unhealthy degrees while muddling the purest aspects and feelings associated with love. I know that the entertained audience who actually likes this is probably bigger than the negative viewers (who stick around for their own varied reasons), but they have taken over the topics. And that's fine, but I think it's why the majority of people who actually like what the story has been offering, have not been in the topics so much. I suppose it's simply just somewhat unfortunate that the intended audience doesn't get to have majority of this space for themselves without having to deal with obnoxiously repeated negative sentiments. Understandable why not, but still.
I don't really care what type of reception this gets, I just felt like saying my thoughts aloud, because I'm too tired to bar them.
They are getting boring to read. When someone from the intended audience responds they get attacked. TMSM has started to add a disclaimer at the beginning *Haters will be blocked and spammed by articles. he has endless supplies. The haters are trying to silence the intended audience and shame them when they can express their obnoxiously repeated negative sentiments and attack people. They need to block the comments again. This is totally abusive and TMSM isn't the intended audience, he just defends the readers and the story. The same with me and Rose. We see what is happening. It is hideous.
https://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/14495563/
https://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/14495614/
what I was talking about
I personally like the engagement that the Topics offer (as it can get a little lonely and boring without them), but you are right. More often than not, the topics are used to complain and/or critique the manga, and if it's a largely know manga that can be considered Dark/Problematic Romance, you see the hateful comments targeted at the intended audience occasionally too. I'd love for the topics to be a place where people could talk positively about the things they found interesting in the manga/new chapter among like minded people, to feel validated and vindicated with those who agree and also wanna gush about the same thing. I see it sometimes in some mangas, but they are usually the ones with a passingly healthy relationship between the couple.
It does suck, giving the bad apple people who thrive off of making others miserable a space they can so easily shove their hateful rhetoric down the throats of the intended audience. Without the topics, it would certainly be harder for those hateful people to make sure the intended audience sees their bullshit comments. With how Twitter and other platforms are set up, you'd have to purposely tag the name of the manga to maybe trick a few people into seeing your message, and that's if someone searches that tag on Twitter X. Which is scummy in and of itself to tag like that.
You are right though, I'm getting seriously bored of seeing the same stupid utterances and remarks that are all blending together at this point. I feel bad for TSMS. I do believe if they worded their messages a bit differently and changed their tone the slightest bit, their messages might have been a bit more affective. But not much, considering many of the people I've seen them interact with and message showed no sign of remorse, with their stubborn outlook and prospect on the finer aspects of life not budging a single inch. Leaving no appreciation or space for nuance in the conversations.
This is why I hate TikTok, because it's FILLED to the brim with people so oblivious and ignorant about the type of shit they post. Commented on a few on TikToks directly (I don't think it's many readers from Mangago that are posting these things since we have the topics section, so commenting here I feel like might not help as much), but I don't have the time or patience to do more right now.
My suggestion is you all do the same. The more people who comment on their videos, the better and likelier chance they'll listen. They might even delete some. If people can't find these sites with how easy it is already to do without direction or guidance, they probably shouldn't be on this site to begin with.
To those who are doing it from this site- you've read the notice and other people's own comments on this themselves if you're reading mine. Don't ruin this for us. We just got Topics back, and people really missed these. Not to mention, many are loving this manga (I being one of them).
Don't. Ruin. This.
People are still gonna complain about this, and there will always be comments. However, I'm just glad that most newer ones aren't talking about how this manga shouldn't exist, that Mingwa's talents are being wasted, or that anyone who likes this is horrible anymore. It's more along the lines of exasperation and annoyance at the character's, JK's, typical antics and wondering how in the world he's gonna be redeemed at this point.
This is the type of interaction with this kind of manga that I like to see. It's not quite as intense and hateful in the comments, and people can openly express things they like about the story now that most of the more critical commenters have left. I actually really like seeing people hating JK's character instead of the Mangaka for making this. It's better this way.
That being said, I'm glad Kim Dan is taking pleasure from these acts now. It was hard to read JK practically torturing him in the beginning. This doesn't excuse JK at all in my eyes, but I've always been here for sweet little Kim Dan, and even if it's from a bad and/or wrong place, his blissful expression is still something that's kept me coming back. I'm sorry, but he's just so fucking adorable and hot, I simply can't help myself–
I fully agree with you !!!!! People finally acknowledged they cannot drop this story, they stopped bashing others and insulting them for reading it. It’s one of the most popular BL right now, it got us hooked !
I still see a few comments criticizing Mingwa’s choices in the plot’s direction but hey, still reading lol !
I’m glad we can finally discuss this manwha “peacefully”
Honestly, I still see at least one topic for every new chapter that ends up bashing people or Mingwa, it's just a far cry difference to the earlier chapters when almost every single topic WAS negative towards the Mangaka or people who expressed any sort of like towards this story. It's intended audience obviously isn't them, and a lot of those people thinned out in numbers and left, because they didn't like the story, which is the best course of action they could've taken. So, yes, mostly peaceful, and that's good. This manga is intended for people who like dark/toxic romances and BLs, hopefully more people catch onto that.
Not gonna lie, this feels almost like a tamer, watered-down version of Jinx. It's definitely not as intense, and even though this is somewhat my kind of taste in manga, I understand the hate and/or criticism of it. I haven't finished it, but even in the beginning, it's obvious the Seme is definitely a mentally unstable and unhealthy individual. Good thing this is all fictional! Takes me out of my head and lets me escape reality with how unrealistic it is... (–/// ω///–)
I was surprised by almost all the topics being negative in some way or another. I felt like some people might be able to relate in some way. Maybe not to the "shipping real people" aspect of it, but to shipping two characters in general and sometimes being unable to help thinking that way when reading/watching/playing something new. Besides, even if it's unethical and slightly immoral to ship two real people together (I personally believe it's fine if you don't go shoving it down their throats, pushing it onto other people, or drawing realistic porn of them, but I still get where others are coming from on the topic), we need to remember that this is fictional, and he's technically shipping two fictional people together, not real people, even if they're real to him. I don't even care for those parts, I could honestly go without them, but it's the principle of the matter being that they're fictional. I understand some not liking this because his behavior makes them uncomfortable though...
Anyways, I personally really liked this manga, mostly because of the character dynamics. They were fun.
I literally LOVE Yul, don't get me wrong, but the people victim-blaming Sian are BATSHIT CRAZY! Holy SHIT. I actually can not fucking believe that I'm seeing topics that are like 'it's all Sian's fault!' Bitch? No?? It's not?? AT ALL??? I'm so- just- kind of pissed right now. You don't do that. It was the fault of Yul's parents, the bullies, and maybe even Sian's mom, but you can't put ANY of this on Sian- like, da fuq? NO!