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I don’t subscribe to the narrative that Nakyum is a “weak crybaby.” What is he supposed to do? I believe Nakyum is actually incredibly strong. It’s important to remember that Nakyum is being held against his will, under threats to his safety and the safety of the people around him. Despite this, he does try to run away, only to discover the one person he trusts (the scholar) tells Nakyum to remain in his abusive situation for the scholar’s benefit. We see Nakyum talk back to Seungho, telling him to leave him alone (which he gets hit for). Nakyum also boldly states that Seungho scares him. And he jumps in to save the servant who was getting beaten up by Seungho, even though it could’ve endangered Nakyum. Nakyum is always in a state of fight or flight, since he never knows how Seungho will react; despite this he tries his best to acclimate to his situation by shutting off his feelings and convincing himself the abuse is ok as long as it feels good. At this point Nakyum has no one. He has no one to run to for help and nowhere to go. He then gets kidnapped and is very nearly killed. After the one person he trusted did not believe him, Nakyum cannot disclose what has happened to him because he’s been conditioned to think no one is there for him. Saying that Nakyum should’ve just told Seungho he was kidnapped and then none of this would’ve happened is victim blaming and ignores all of Seungho’s past and current behaviors that make Nakyum hesitant. This story is not a romance. It’s not supposed to be cute with little misunderstandings that get easily resolved through communication. It’s a look into the life of a deeply disturbed individual with a god complex and how it affects the people around him. Personally, if the two end up happy together (which I don’t think is possible) I will never take Nakyum’s feeling for Seungho as anything more than Stockholm syndrome. Not to say this isn’t a good story, with interesting conflicts and complex characters. It’s important to point out things like this when reading media that explores abusive situations, so we don’t glorify or normalize them. Ok, that’s my peace. I will need a couple weeks to recover from this chapter.
Say it louder for the people in the back!
There still no development of the uke.....so its coming across as pure torture porn at this point.
I love dark reads....but we have no insight of why the Seme feels that way or what causes his "unhinged" behavior.
There's alot of art and conversations, going nowhere but in a circle. I think that's why peiple are annoyed
Well said
I don’t think people understand this but. This is a fucking story, which means that we expect character growth and plot progression, and expect it in a timely manner. Otherwise people will rightfully be bored and frustrated and angry.
Do people in real life stay stuck in horrible situations and not learn from their experiences for years or if ever? Obviously yes. But that’s not the point. The point is that this is a STORY and we expect some progression in the story after goddamn 63 long chapters. We’re reading the same sex scene with slight variations in trauma over and over again, with minimal plot but maximal sex.
Nakyum is static as a character, forever the weak and naive beauty, never learning from his traumas or experiences or mistakes and forever being silenced or taken advantaged of. Does this happen in real life? Yes. Is Nakyum not a real life character but something we are consuming for entertainment? YES. So we expect growth and we expect plot and we expect it not to take forever and a year for both these things to happen.
Honestly I don’t care about Nakyum’s current situation right now. It’s not the crux of my point. My point is that Nakyum (and Seungho) have not significantly grown since the beginning despite it being 63 long chapters, and there’s barely been any plot. So regardless of where he is right now, Nakyum has not grown as a character, and in the context that this is a story for entertainment, that means he is a failure.
People have the right to be pissed at this story.
The whole time I was reading Taesung’s inner dialogue I was like “oh ok, cool. He’s insane.” Also I love how he just casually glossed over the fact that Soo Young had a bloodied face the first time they met cuz he’d just beat the shit out of him. Honestly I don’t mind it. I would rather Taesung be insane then portrayed as “being in his right mind” and doing shit like this.
On an unrelated note: My baby Soo Young is so strong!