You ate with this fr. The rape apologist rhetoric is so common in BL community. I know this is fiction and specially with something like omegaverse that's non-existent. But I still can't help but feel put off with how Ash has been treating Lyle. It's not cute or hot. It just feels like such a huge downgrade compared to the main story.
Truly! It's that EXACT rhetoric that makes it slim to impossible for male victims of DV and SA to speak up and get help. Like, word for word, the rhetoric that keep victims silent and often unaware that they've gone through violence. People can have their fantasies and read these stories, but this mentality doesn't stay here; it spreads into every day life. People aren't conscious of that, which makes it super dangerous.
Normalising these dynamics means normalising it in real life, because, surprise, media does a significant amount in normalising things. It's vital that people speak up when reading stories like Jinx or stories where an adult is preying on a minor, or where sexual coercion and rape occur (specifically when it's not outright framed/labeled as such), etc, because those conversations need to be had.
I agree with this so much
I know it's fiction and blablabla "omg u cant seperate fiction from reality" like stfu and let people have opinions on media...
"Karyle is an alpha he could have defended himself"
"Karyle and Ash both had a safe word"
Ok but tell me how Karyle is into toys??
The silence is loud....
Was he enjoying it? F no the only "like" here is that Karyle loves Ash but I still doubt he likes the bdsm toys
Karyle didn't want this...point blank
Do we really need to justify more from Ash's side?? Like no.... He had an intention of making Karyle confess what he was hiding through bdsm toys....and take this with a pinch of salt: I think he knows Karyle isn't into it like he is, that's why he knew he would get his answer...you can fill in the blanks in that statement
Worst part is that the communication is just not there?? I mean Karyle just proposed in the saddest way possible, that's the worst part of everything but yadayada life goes on they're getting married they're happy "couples fight and make up" but I'm not gonna act like that chapter was fully consensual or okay
Also, safewords become effectively obsolete the second it's the Dom choosing them for the sub and when the safewords in question are things that the Dom assumes the sub won't be comfortable saying. Like? What the fuck? Safewords should be so incredibly accessible for both/all partners, at all times! The entire point of a safeword is to make it safe and consensual.
Even in CNC and/or safeword play (you play around with the idea of the Dom ignoring a fake safeword) there are real safe words. Do we all know what safeword means? It's literally right there in the word!
Someone told me that the Dom's, or in this case, Ash's, job is to push Karlyle and get him to explore – but like, it's never anyone's right to try to convince someone else that their soft and hard limits aren't valid? If karlyle says that he doesn't like toys then that's that? Why would Ash, as his partner, EVER feel comfortable putting Karlyle in a situation like this?
No, I think you're right, because otherwise he would have given karlyle another (real) 'out' than confessing what he'd been keeping silent about. He knew they were going to engage in something that made karlyle uncomfortable, he made safe words inaccessible, ignored his discomfort and then only allowed the admission as a way out. That's horrifying. Had my friend or someone been in this dynamic I would've been FREAKING tf out. Its sexual coercion, AT BEST.
The proposal was heartbreaking, because it had to be revealed in this way and because it means that karlyle still doesn't see anything fundamentally wrong with ash's behaviour. Ugh, yeah no, I really am not enjoying this side story.
Some of y'all were fighting actual ghosts trying to justify this under-negotiated bdsm scene and barking at anyone in the comments like chihuahus, – now that it's confirmed that karlyle didn't enjoy it it's quiet. This is categorically abusive behaviour, no matter how you try to frame it. "Better than other tops" "could be worse" doesn't change ANYTHING and doesn't make any of the criticism less valid.
Whatever happens in this story aside, I desperately need some of you to actually take a look at how consent is defined and how it's legally understood (i.e. you can take it back at any point, you don't have to say no for it to be SA, etc); sexual crimes, including sexual coercion; and how there's no such thing as a perfect victim profile. You can be a victim and be the biggest, biggest, strongest man alive – the people saying shit like "Lyle is a strong alpha who can protect himself if he's uncomfortable" is rape apologist rhetoric! Disregarding this story entirely, that's terrifying and incredibly harmful! Anyone can be a victim and sexual violence is not always (it's RARELY) black and white.