I think Jaekyung x Heesung would be such an interesting dynamic. Two batshit insane human beings in their own ways. Lowkey can’t stand each other and yet are the only two people presented in this webtoon so far who can actually match each other’s freaks (and strength/power). Two tops. I know the sex would be fucking crazy. I want to see who ends up winning out and beating the other into reluctant/begrudging submission. I think my money’s on Heesung that guy lowkey seems more insane than Jaekyung ngl. Plus there’s simply something satisfying about the idea of that Jaekyung guy getting the cockiness fucked out of him.
What do you like about this webtoon? I’m genuinely asking. I have things that I do like about it but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else articulate what they liked about it other than saying that the art is good (agree, though I have my own stylistic preferences that make me shrug about certain anatomical things) and the plot is good (…disagree). What about the art do you like? What about the plot do you like? Particular characters/characterization? Character design? Story arcs/plotlines? Particular story elements/tropes? The writing overall? I’m curious.
For the people who insist on saying that Jaekyung isn't a rapist...
A lot of you acknowledge that Jaekyung is a violent and abusive asshole though, right? So why is calling him a rapist too much of a stretch for you? If you already think he’s a bad person, then why resist adding the label of rapist, especially when Jaekyung continues rough, sexual activity with Dan at several points throughout the webtoon, even as Dan repeatedly says no? Even without factoring the financial coercion, the threats, the use of physical force, or the power imbalance between them...doesn't no mean no? Isn't it the case that if someone’s no is ignored, then any action that comes afterwards isn't really consensual?
Would calling Jaekyung a rapist disrupt your enjoyment of his character and/or this webtoon?
Because you can still find him entertaining as a character while acknowledging he rapes Dan. I know I've had moments where I had to laugh because of how ridiculously awful he is, but I still recognize what he’s doing. And there are other enjoyable parts of this webtoon, like the art, other characters, their relationships, etc. People who say you're a bad person for reading and enjoying it just because it has rape, even romanticized rape, are being reductive. Enjoyment and acknowledgment can coexist.
Would calling him a rapist mean you could no longer root for him or his and Dan’s relationship?
There mere fact and extent of his abusive behavior, with or without rape, would or should be enough to inspire those thoughts and feelings. Nonetheless you can still want to see how the author “fixes” Jaekyung while acknowledging his actions. Personally, I can't root for the two being together but I still want to see how the author goes about “fixing” him.
Are you differentiating between rape and sexual assault?
The only thing really distinguishing the two is whether or not penetration was involved. And penetration was most certainly involved, which means Jaekyung most certainly raped Dan several times.
Is it because Dan is being paid to endure Jaekyung's treatment of him? Or because at some point he agreed to Jaekyung’s terms?
Financial coercion, or any type of coercion, being used to obtain a "yes" from someone, does not constitute a real "yes." Dan only says yes because saying no would mean him losing life-saving/life-changing money, and him being physically harmed—it isn’t a free and enthusiastic choice. It's like saying a robbery victim “wanted” to give their money to the person holding a gun to their head. And just because Dan agrees to one thing at one point in time, doesn't mean he's agreeing to anything and everything all the time. And even if that IS what he's agreeing on—it doesn't mean he can never, ever take back that agreement. No means no. People generally agree consent can be withdrawn at any time.
Is It because in so much yaoi and in romance in general, no doesn't mean no? That Dan's resistance isn't genuine, and that the story is playing into a rape/noncon/ravishment sexual fantasy?
Even the fantasy is called a rape/noncon fantasy. Rape is the fundamental element of the dynamic between them, even in a fantastical context. So Jaekyung is either raping or "raping" Dan either way.
But to the point of it being a fantasy of some kind...isn't Dan supposed to be shown to enjoy it in some way? Aren't the real consequences of raping someone meant to be put aside for the sake of the fantasy? Dan doesn't start to "enjoy" what's happening until much later on in the webtoon, and it's still only a physical reaction he's having, not a psychological enjoyment. He's still shown to want to have much gentler sex with Jaekyung, not a form of the violent sex that Jaekyung so often subjects him to but just toned down so he isn't physically hurt as much. The webtoon goes out of its way to show how Jaekyung's sexual violence has physical and psychological impacts on Dan. Their first interaction together ends up with Dan staying in bed for days, curled up, sleepless, exhausted, in pain—visibly depressed and anxious. At one point Jaekyung fucks him so hard he passes out, and the doctor who arrives to check him out is horrified by the injuries Dan has sustained because of Jaekyung's treatment. Jaekyung's coach calls out Jaekyung for his mistreatment of Dan for MUCH LESS than what he even knows Jaekyung is and has been doing to him. Even Heesung, shady as he is, finds Jaekyung's treatment of Dan to be awful, knowing full well what it is. What is fantastical about these moments? What is enjoyable?
What about this isn’t this straightforward? I know that why and how the rape is happening may be complicated, but isn’t rape just rape? I genuinely don’t get why there’s so much resistance to calling it that.
For the people who insist on saying that Jaekyung isn't a rapist...
A lot of you acknowledge that Jaekyung is a violent and abusive asshole though, right? So why is calling him a rapist too much of a stretch for you? If you already think he’s a bad person, then why resist adding the label of rapist, especially when Jaekyung continues rough, sexual activity with Dan at several points throughout the webtoon, even as Dan repeatedly says no? Even without factoring the financial coercion, the threats, the use of physical force, or the power imbalance between them...doesn't no mean no? Isn't it the case that if someone’s no is ignored, then any action that comes afterwards isn't really consensual?
Would calling Jaekyung a rapist disrupt your enjoyment of his character and/or this webtoon?
Because you can still find him entertaining as a character while acknowledging he rapes Dan. I know I've had moments where I had to laugh because of how ridiculously awful he is, but I still recognize what he’s doing. And there are other enjoyable parts of this webtoon, like the art, other characters, their relationships, etc. People who say you're a bad person for reading and enjoying it just because it has rape, even romanticized rape, are being reductive. Enjoyment and acknowledgment can coexist.
Would calling him a rapist mean you could no longer root for him or his and Dan’s relationship?
There mere fact and extent of his abusive behavior, with or without rape, would or should be enough to inspire those thoughts and feelings. Nonetheless you can still want to see how the author “fixes” Jaekyung while acknowledging his actions. Personally, I can't root for the two being together but I still want to see how the author goes about “fixing” him.
Are you differentiating between rape and sexual assault?
The only thing really distinguishing the two is whether or not penetration was involved. And penetration was most certainly involved, which means Jaekyung most certainly raped Dan several times.
Is it because Dan is being paid to endure Jaekyung's treatment of him? Or because at some point he agreed to Jaekyung’s terms?
Financial coercion, or any type of coercion, being used to obtain a "yes" from someone, does not constitute a real "yes." Dan only says yes because saying no would mean him losing life-saving/life-changing money, and him being physically harmed—it isn’t a free and enthusiastic choice. It's like saying a robbery victim “wanted” to give their money to the person holding a gun to their head. And just because Dan agrees to one thing at one point in time, doesn't mean he's agreeing to anything and everything all the time. And even if that IS what he's agreeing on—it doesn't mean he can never, ever take back that agreement. No means no. People generally agree consent can be withdrawn at any time.
Is It because in so much yaoi and in romance in general, no doesn't mean no? That Dan's resistance isn't genuine, and that the story is playing into a rape/noncon/ravishment sexual fantasy?
Even the fantasy is called a rape/noncon fantasy. Rape is the fundamental element of the dynamic between them, even in a fantastical context. So Jaekyung is either raping or "raping" Dan either way.
But to the point of it being a fantasy of some kind...isn't Dan supposed to be shown to enjoy it in some way? Aren't the real consequences of raping someone meant to be put aside for the sake of the fantasy? Dan doesn't start to "enjoy" what's happening until much later on in the webtoon, and it's still only a physical reaction he's having, not a psychological enjoyment. He's still shown to want to have much gentler sex with Jaekyung, not a form of the violent sex that Jaekyung so often subjects him to but just toned down so he isn't physically hurt as much. The webtoon goes out of its way to show how Jaekyung's sexual violence has physical and psychological impacts on Dan. Their first interaction together ends up with Dan staying in bed for days, curled up, sleepless, exhausted, in pain—visibly depressed and anxious. At one point Jaekyung fucks him so hard he passes out, and the doctor who arrives to check him out is horrified by the injuries Dan has sustained because of Jaekyung's treatment. Jaekyung's coach calls out Jaekyung for his mistreatment of Dan for MUCH LESS than what he even knows Jaekyung is and has been doing to him. Even Heesung, shady as he is, finds Jaekyung's treatment of Dan to be awful, knowing full well what it is. What is fantastical about these moments? What is enjoyable?
What about this isn’t this straightforward? I know that why and how the rape is happening may be complicated, but isn’t rape just rape? I genuinely don’t get why there’s so much resistance to calling it that.
i generally agree with the underlying ideas the “fiction doesn’t impact reality” crowd have, which are that people shouldn’t immediately assume that what an author depicts in fiction is reflective of their real life morality and that just because something troubling is portrayed in fiction doesn’t mean that it will immediately translate to real life, and that thinking it is the case that fiction can directly impact reality in such a way can lead to real life harm coming to people, or real life censorship and whatnot.
but a lot of you motherfuckers in these comments are making me start to think that maybe stories like these do need some kind of regulation. not because i’m upset that it exists in the way that it does, but because none of you seem to understand or even care to understand what the fuck you’re actually reading, none of you want to critically think about it, and none of you want anyone ELSE to critically think about it. then you use “it’s not that deep, it’s just fiction, fiction doesn’t impact reality” to justify your total disinterest in engaging with anything on a deeper level.
i guess i should start writing black people like monkeys in my story now, right? because it’s just fiction? or should i give all my asian characters slitted eyes and their only defining personality trait should be them being really good at math. it’s just a fictional story, so that should be fine, too. how about i make the women in my stories really dumb and overly emotional, too? since it’s just fiction, and i can do whatever i want, and it doesn’t impact or say anything about anything in real life at all. should i write all my gay men as child predators, too? that would be a fascinating plot line, which has no repercussions and never has had any repercussions on people in real life.
Now I understand that for a lot of people, maybe even the author herself, Dan's purpose in this story is to be no more than a completely weak and helpless little baby bitch boy bottom who is to be fucked relentlessly and look pretty and cute while it’s happening—to be Jaekyung's punching bag and fucktoy until Jaekyung realizes that using people as punching bags and fucktoys (against their will) is bad, actually, and perhaps he should try being nice instead. As it stands, Dan fulfills those roles perfectly. Buuut. I think there is occasionally more to Dan than just being those two things, and much like how I think the webtoon could've/could benefit from leaning further into the abuse portrayed in it, I think it would've been/would benefit from the author leaning more into these moments when Dan rises above his status as a mere punching bag and fucktoy.
Dan and his love and care for others has been both a source of strength and weakness for him. Whenever he has a moment of strength in the webtoon, it’s been for someone else’s sake. He was able to put up with working multiple part time jobs not just because he kind of had to in order to survive, but because his grandma was terminally ill and he wanted to do anything he could to get her treated and to repay her for all that she'd done for him. And he of course, unfortunately, puts up with Jaekyung’s treatment of him, again because of his love for his grandma. Almost conversely, though, it is his love for his grandma that makes him able to stand up to Jaekyung and tell him to fuck off for a bit—I believe they're in the middle of sex when Dan gets an emergency call from the hospital, and Dan more confidently than he's been able to before refuses to continue the act, because his grandma’s wellbeing takes precedence over everything else. We hadn’t seen a moment like that from Dan before, from what I remember. It was to the point where even Jaekyung was surprised by the outburst.
Another moment where we get Dan's strength showing through due to his care for another character is when he challenges Jaekyung to a sparring match for the sake of fulfilling a wish he might have (and, as we know, to try to understand Jaekyung's occupation better so that he can be a better physical therapist to him). He gives it his all despite it seeming impossible for him to win, supposedly for his own, and Jaekyung's, personal gain. But when the fight is over and he ends up winning through almost underhanded means, again shocking Jaekyung, we learn he actually (partially) did it because he wanted to grant Potato's wish of sparring with Jaekyung!!!
Personally, I like these moments a lot—they deepen and complicate Dan's character, showing that despite the rest of his behavior, he does actually have his own hard lines drawn in the sand, and he is, or was, willing to do whatever it takes to defend those lines. They’re fun and interesting and sweet and pleasantly surprising, and they have/had the potential to pave the way for an exciting character arc for him—where he gradually learns to focus more on himself and the people and things he really cares about and learns to stand up for himself and those things more often. Where he, in essence, breaks out of the hell cycle of devaluation that Jaekyung traps him in.
I found myself curious about these moments because of Jaekyung’s reactions to them as well. We don’t get to find out much of what he’s thinking when they happen (although to be fair some details are fuzzy to me so maybe we do) but both times—the incident with Dan’s grandma and the sparring match—Jaekyung seems to be legitimately surprised and even impressed by Dan. Which, to me, similarly hinted at something possibly more complex about Jaekyung’s character. You’d expect him to have lashed out during these moments, but no…again, I don't remember the phone call incident as well, but I believe he really did let Dan go. And similarly, with the sparring match, he does later on allow Dan to express what his own PERSONAL wishes were (though he shuts them down, lol). Something about these moments genuinely take Jaekyung aback enough to not only please him, but also to want to kind of be nicer to Dan, and I couldn’t help but wonder why. I thought that maybe the author might’ve been doing that trope where the asshole character is being like “haha, you’re not like other girls, the other girls just fold under my abuse and/or run away, but you actually stand up to me and I think that’s sexy ". Which, to be clear, is in and of itself a bit of a ridiculous trope, but still interesting in its own right.
Unfortunately, as of season 1 we don’t/didn’t get any more of these moments like I hoped we might, which makes them seem more like one-off moments or complete flukes or mere plot devices (Dan's resistance might've been ultimately for the sake of Jaekyung going to pay off the hospital bills and make Dan feel more indebted to Jaekyung, and the Potato wish thing...well, who knows)—like they weren't deliberate choices made by the author. To be fair though—besides the obvious fact that the webtoon isn’t finished and so we could see more of this in season 2—character development does not have to be linear and it often isn’t. And it would make sense for Dan to have less moments like these over time, considering how much time he has spent isolated in his relationship with Jaekyung who has been nothing but horrible to him. But nonetheless it does feel a little disappointing and like wasted potential (as of now) for us to not have seen more of this side of Dan—Dan who can and will fight back for the people that he loves. I think having more of these moments earlier on not only could’ve added more character complexity to both Dan and Jaekyung, but it also would’ve made even more evident the impact that Jaekyung has on Dan, the way he demoralizes and wears Dan (and all the other people in his life) down, and makes it increasingly difficult to not just want to do whatever he wants to escape his abuse.
tl;dr Dan has moments of strength borne of his loving and caring nature, and I think that the webtoon could've and still could benefit from leaning further into those moments. It makes both Dan and Jaekyung's characters and interactions more interesting and complex.
I think one of the most ironic "criticisms" leveled at me in the wake of my discussions about this webtoon is the idea that I simply can't handle dark and taboo themes. I could sit here and talk about the nature of the art that I regularly create and engage with but I'm not going to because I simply don't have to prove myself to anyone who doesn't care (if you want recommendations though, by all means, ask). The reality is it's not that I can't handle the toxic/abusive relationship presented in Jinx—on the contrary, I think this webtoon could benefit from leaning even more into it. It would make it a stronger story overall AND it would make it a somewhat stronger romance overall.
I'm not saying it was the author's intention to explore the complexities of an abusive relationship, nor do I think she has any particular obligation to do so. But the simple fact of the matter is that Jaekyung is abusive towards Dan. The author has chosen to include that as a key aspect of their relationship. And so, in light of that, one does have to think about how its being portrayed here, whether or not it's an accurate and/or nuanced depiction, and how it serves or harms the story overall.
Something that I think the story actually did well in its setup is providing good justification for why someone like Dan would end up stuck with someone like Jaekyung in the first place—the circumstances one would have to be in to end up in a Jaekyung's hands. We learn very early on the Dan is and has been struggling to make ends meet, that he is deep in debt, and that he has a terminally ill grandmother to take care of. These all provide sufficient and believable motivation for why Dan would not only end up in what is basically sexual slavery to Jaekyung, but also why he would "choose" to stay with him, despite all of his awful treatment—financial support and security. This isn't even to mention the threats of physical violence, amongst other things, that Dan might face from refusing him, but I digress.
What those circumstances don't really explain to me personally is how and why Dan would eventually come to uncritically fall in love with Jaekyung—to not have any doubts about his own feelings towards Jaekyung in the face of all the abuse, emotionally, sexually, physically, etc. Love doesn't typically have any set logic, but also...it kind of does. And stories undoubtedly tend to abide by some type of logic, or else they become incoherent to the reader.
We know that Dan was raised by his grandmother, but she was perfectly loving and caring of him—so she couldn’t have been the source of a bad model of love and relationships in his life. We do know that he was sexually assaulted by his former boss, but he hadn’t liked that former boss. His former boss made his move of his own volition, and Dan seems to have been able to recognize the wrongness in what his former boss had done to him. So how is it that he can fall in love with Jaekyung without seemingly recognizing the wrongness of their relationship, of what Jaekyung has been doing to him? Why is his only concern when he starts catching feelings is that Jaekyung won't reciprocate them? It reads like he is a completely naive and inexperienced/unknowledgeable teenager who has been conditioned by his parents to think that if his schoolmate teases and hits him, it's because he likes him. Dan is innocent and kind to a fault, yes...but he's also a grown ass adult.
What I think would make Dan’s uncritical love for Jaekyung seem more plausible is if the story explored patterns of abuse and conditioning from loved ones in his past. Like, for example, a parent or parents that equated financial support to love, even though they were emotionally distant/absent and/or outright abusive. Or if Dan had been in romantic relationships that involved elements of financial coercion before—a partner who gave gifts but always with the subtle pressure of getting something specific out of Dan, the idea that Dan should "make up" for said gifts. These are real things that people experience, and can set them up for engaging and getting stuck in abusive relationships in the future. It would make more sense for Dan to be forgiving and unresentful of Jaekyung and to even fall for him if that was something that he was taught to do in the past. But we simply don’t get that. Jaekyung is never kind to Dan in a way that seems to me like it might perpetuate the cycle of abuse—he is abusive from the get-go and does not change at all. He doesn't make any promises to treat Dan better to lure him into any false sense of security or hope, as is what commonly happens in abusive relationships. If anything, he gets worse as the webtoon progresses.
And worse yet, up till now, we have no understanding of WHY Jaekyung behaves the way he does, other than because he is simply a selfish, ungrateful, entitled prick. We don't know what happened throughout his own life for him to have become how he is as we see him. And honestly, at this point, for me at least, we have missed the narrative window on a backstory being something that might make me extend empathy towards him, or change my view of him. You could tell me he was bullied through all his years of school and I would not care. I bring this up mainly because another reason why people tend to choose to stay in abusive relationships is because they feel some sense of empathy for their abuser, or they feel responsible for making them better—the infamous "I can fix him." We get moments of Dan showing empathy towards Jaekyung and the stress he endures as a public figure and as an MMA fighter at that, and the insomnia he suffers from which...while fair, still does not really explain the sheer extent to which Dan is seemingly willing to forgive and/or excuse Jaekyung's actions and behaviors, and blame himself instead.
tl;dr the story could've benefited in a lot of ways from delving deeper and more seriously into its portrayal of abuse. it would've made the story more believable (to me) because the characters, their thoughts, feelings, and motivations would've made more sense, and would've been more interesting.
My concern has never been about the existence of Jinx, nor has it ever been about people reading and enjoying Jinx. People will always write stories like Jinx. People will always like stories like Jinx. There is nothing in the goddamn fucking world that I can do about that that would not fall under fascistic dictatorship, and I simply do not care enough about the continued existence and consumption of this one single story enough to become a fucking fascist.
My concern has always been about the audience reception and interpretation of Jinx, and what impact it can have on real life victims of sexual assault. Yes, the story is fucking fictional. Yes, the story is in many parts (sexual) fantasy. Yes, the relationship between Dan and Jaekyung has some degree of nuance to it. Yes, those things are important to how the story should be interpreted. But also, your interpretation of this story is not fictional. Your beliefs and attitudes surrounding sex, sexuality, consent, and rape are not fictional. And any story, fictional/fantastical or not, can and does utilize elements of realism in order to make itself coherent to the reader, and in order to make itself seem at least somewhat believable. Any story can and often will say something about the real world, whether it is saying something new, or reiterating something old, whether it is rejecting the reality we live in, or embracing it. That is the fundamental nature of storytelling. That is why we engage with stories in the first place. Do not dare chat to me about "media literacy" if you don't know or understand this. You would not know media literacy if it payed $5,000 dollars to fuck you.
Let me be abundantly clear, because perhaps I have not been before. If you read this story and come away from it with the conclusion that Jaekyung does not ever rape Dan, or if you read this story and come to the conclusion that Dan is at fault, partially or wholly, for his victimization, however you define it—you would not be able to identify an instance of rape in real life. You would not be able to identify if it happened to a friend, or a family member, or yourself, unless it fit a VERY narrow set of parameters. And even then. You would not be able to respond properly—with understanding, with compassion—to it happening to yourself, or to anyone else. You would blame yourself for your victimization. You would blame someone else for their victimization. You would blame the victim.
Someone posted their story of having been sexually assaulted by a former partner on these forums yesterday, I believe. Another person today offered their "condolences," and then proceeded, completely unprompted, to rattle off nearly every single line from the victim blamer's book. "You should have chosen a better partner." "You should've known better." "You should've given a firmer no." "You should've fought back (harder)." On and on. Almost every single thing that people, including myself, have raised concerns about and explained in long, explicit detail. Here. Don't take my word for it. https://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/16888661/
THIS is the fucking issue. If you do not see or understand that after having read all this—if you do not see what is wrong in telling a victim of rape and/or sexual assault that what happened to them was THEIR FAULT because of some extenuating and ultimately irrelevant and/or completely nonexistence circumstance—then I cannot help you.
I'm not discussing this matter any further with anyone else unless they want to engage in a good faith and honest discussion. I am tired of going out of my way to be abundantly kind to people who don't deserve it, and being abundantly thorough in my explanations to people who do not care to read it. I am tired of talking to people who have nothing new to add to the conversation except to chirp away with the same braindead talking points, only to turn around and call ME stupid for engaging with them and engaging with this stupid disappointment of a webtoon more than they could ever hope to. I am betting my bottom dollar they will not read any of this—that even if they do, they will leave a comment along the lines of "why are you taking it so seriously" "why did you write a novel about this" "i'm not reading all of that" "you're wrong lol". That's fine. I am writing it for you, just as much as I'm writing it for myself. I've already lost faith in you.
Anyway! That aside, I am genuinely interested in talking about all the ways Jinx doesn't work as a narrative. I think I'm a bigger fan of this story than its actual so-called fans. See, I'm not afraid to admit that. I really do see it as a story that could've done some interesting things but just repeatedly fumbled the bag. And while I think things could turn for the better, I have many doubts about this author's ability to properly pull off a satisfying ending. We'll see. But I want to talk about where it is/what it's done as of now so far.
i would just like to remind everyone that this story in its entirety is a clear depiction AND romanticization of rape and sexual assault. i don’t care that they had an agreement for “sex”. consent is when BOTH parties willingly, ENTHUSIASTICALLY agree to engage with one another. IT CAN BE REVOKED AT ANY TIME. there are so many points dan clearly says NO yet jaekyung continues. other times dan is clearly only engaging with jaekyung our of coercion. THIS IS RAPE. i am so goddamn tired of people not understanding the basic concept of consent.
CONSENT IS ONLY GIVEN WHEN ALL PARTIES GENUINELY WANT TO ENGAGE. CONSENT CAN BE REVOKED AT ANY TIME.
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TW - my own experience (m4m)
about half a year ago i was raped. now, i want people to understand that rape doesn’t immediately mean extremely violent. this rape was “subtle”. i won’t get too detailed about it, but i what i will say is that i really liked this guy before everything happened. we were getting very romantic and eventually went back to his car and things started getting frisky. there was a point where he wanted to have unprotected sex, i said no (nervously, but still no). instead of respecting this, he push me down and penetrated me anyway. telling me “i know you want this”. at the time, i really felt like i did. and physically? i felt good. mentally? i knew i didn’t want it.
—
after time away from the situation i realized he had raped me. i tell this story now not for sympathy but because people need to understand consent can be taken back at any time. i took mine back, but this man did not respect it. in fanfiction terms, that was a hot steamy care session. in real life terms, i was assaulted.
so please, take into consideration of what consent is. i’d like to think no one is using jinx as a point of reference, but considering some of the horrendous replies i’ve seen make me question that.
//
stay safe and mindful. and thank you to those who read this in it’s entirety
So many ways this story could’ve actually been good so many relatively little tweaks to what exists here as it is right now!!! That could’ve instantly added so much more depth to the characters and the narrative and made things make more sense gosh!!!
Watch Interview With The Vampire if you really want to see something along the lines of what this manhwa could’ve been.
People are more than allowed to enjoy anything they want, and I can believe that, for the most part, the people approaching this story wouldn’t condone what is portrayed here in real life at all. But people should be aware of and understand precisely what they’re reading, ESPECIALLY when it comes to dark literature (but all literature, really, any art you engage with). I know I myself have been concerned about some people reading Jinx, not because I hate this story and what it’s portraying and think it’s inherently morally corrupting or whatever (although I do have issues with it for a variety of reasons—it should be known that no matter what you’re reading, that thing IS trying to convey some message about reality, how it is and/or how it should be, and it can reinforce and/or critique the preexisting narratives we tell ourselves) but because it feels like some people, for some reason, aren’t willing to just…be honest about what’s happening in this story. I find it worrying when people cannot identify rape as being rape. They’re allowed to like it, but they should know that that’s what’s happening, y’know?
Of course in the realm of fiction, you can make anything happen. I’m someone who loves reading and writing fantasy so I know more than anyone how fun and enjoyable it can be to come up with those “what if” scenarios and then try to write my way through it. But the thing about any fantasy that wants to be good, any storytelling that wants to be good, really, is that at the end of the day…things have to be believable. Things have to be (internally) logically consistent, they have to make sense, they have to be convincing. Writing often is an exercise in persuasion—persuading the reader that what you have written has some “truth” to it. Speaking for myself, I am interested in seeing how Jinx will attempt to write its way into the happy, healthy relationship that it wants Dan and Jaekyung to end up being in. But from what I’ve seen thus far of their relationship, and from what I know and understand about happy, healthy relationships, I know that I will need a whole lot of persuading to be able to believe in the happiness and healthiness of their relationship in the end.
Ah, it would’ve been so good if it committed to and explored its themes through and through…
Nothing to add for now, the time, space, and energy I would need to detail all of my thoughts on all this exceeds every limit presented to me here. I need to see the story to completion before I make any final judgements. It did some things that I thought were genuinely interesting and praiseworthy at first and then began to fumble the bag with stupid plot devices and, well, mishandling the things it’d been doing well at first.
Look. If you’re into rape/non-con that’s fine. If you’re into the toxic shit that’s fine, so long as you understand that that is, in fact, what you’re reading. I’ll self-disclose and say I, too, enjoy those things (in a purely fictional context). But the fact that I am seeing several people in these comments trying to argue that what Jaekyung is/has been doing throughout this Webtoon WASN’T rape is deeply, deeply concerning to me. Usually I would blame the author for framing things in such a way as to make things ambiguous for reasons that have little to do with the story. But it is not the case here. Jaekyang is a wealthy man with status and power, physical and otherwise. He used those qualities from the get go and all throughout the Webtoon in order to get Dan, someone in a ridiculously desperate financial situation and with no leverage of his own to have sex with him. That is the gross abuse of power being used to coerce someone otherwise completely unwilling to have sex with you—that is rape. And it is a real and horrific thing that happens ALL the time in reality.
So don’t come at me with “technicalities” about this shit just because it’s fiction or whatever the fuck, because some of y’all aren’t talking about this as if it is, some of y’all aren’t applying nuance to this for the sake of having a worthwhile conversation. It’s genuinely scary to me that some of you seem to be unaware of the precise nature of what is going on here. Not that you’re reading the Webtoon, but that you don’t seem to be understanding it. It’s emblematic of many cultures’ poor sex ed and poor attitudes towards sex and consent. Because I don’t think anyone who has been educated enough should be able to walk away from this being unable to distinguish between rape and actual, consensual sex, especially when it is as clear-cut as it is here. I DO have to worry about how you guys would react to hearing someone in your real life in this kind of situation, or, and I hope it is never, ever the case, YOU being in this situation. Would you excuse it? Because you “agreed” to it? Would you relentlessly blame yourself like Dan does? Would you really be able to articulate your experience to get the help you need? Would you be able to respond well to someone else in this situation?