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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.