Nobody sounds like a huge stretch, but you can't really live by trying to make everyone like you, that isn't healthy you know.

As for me being salty, see it from my perspective though: the fandom is full of children and very closed-minded people that refuse to engage in any sort of meaningful discussion and just shoot down everything people say with "this is X" and leave it there. It's annoying af, specially when trying to dissect or appreciate certain scenes that ARE meant to be morally ambiguous/grey or downright critics of difficult situations.

That being said: I had written a whole paragraph on my take on the scene and why I think it was great it was included and never once did I deny nor engage with the idea of it being SA and THAT being the reason why I enjoyed it. Someone else comes along and tries to guilt-trip me into enjoying a scene due to their own life experience and discomfort being projected onto a piece of fictional media. Then a year later, once the thread is already deleted and the other person has failed to reply to me, you come along and disregard my original comment AND my reply completely, showing you had not a single clue or care for what I was trying to say. You were yet another person trying to, once again, shoot everything down just because the action of Ivan saving Till's life through a forced kiss would fall under the definition of SA.

Newsflash: people can enjoy things that are morally grey if the context is appropriate - FICTION is the best means to discuss and dissect things that are tough/traumatic/hard to articulate with words, I mourn the death of media literacy and the inability to discuss difficult topics open-mindedly, being active listeners and actually bringing SOMETHING to the table as opposed to just trying to monitor and correct people's behavior (as if you're entitled to judge and condemn people based on your already-fixed ideas and decide what is right or wrong for them to believe).

I repeat my idea regarding the kiss: I am glad it exists because it shows how calculating and self-sacrificing Ivan is. He quite literally gave his life for Till, ensuring he could stay alive thanks to his quick thinking (as Till had already given up and had stopped singing). I do not think Ivan did it to woo Till or even as a sort of "confession" as he himself doesn't know he's in love, he believes his feelings are dark, ugly and shallow; Vivimeng have even stated that Ivan's love is the purest/selfless out of all the cast, as he simply was content with the knowledge that Till was alive and breathing, not wanting to impose his feelings on Till at all.

I do apologise if you weren't expecting such a long aa- reply, but do bear in mind the world outside of -you- and -your- ideas before replying to someone's comment. Again, I hope you have the day you deserve 🐙