Hmmm, I get what you're saying. I, too, suffered some strong second-hand 'Oh hell no, I would be deeply uncomfortable myself in that position' feelings during the ring scene with Sha Ya. But I also think there's more than a bit of audience-projection going on if we try to super-impose that feeling onto the characters themselves.
Because like, whereas in that situation, I would have probably reacted with an eye roll and an 'Okay, no thanks then, keep the icky coercive present, I really don't want it enough to say something I'm not fully comfortable with', that's demonstrably not how Sha Ya reacts... she squirms a little, but she is also clearly smiling, and willingly plays along, and is really obviously emoting delight, acceptance, and is deeply touched by the thoughtfulness of the gift. Shen Wei is similar, he's clearly a little uncomfortable in one specific moment, but it's pretty obviously because of the intimate nature of the message he was asked to pass along for her to say, which is why he leans over to whisper it privately rather than boldly announcing it in 'public'... and he's the one who points out that maybe the reason the gift wasn't activating was because she was speaking too softly at first, prompting her to sincerely smile again and yell it out exuberantly the second time because she wants to see what Lin Jing has given her. If he was inwardly cringing about the hints of coercive/uncomfy elements to it, I don't know why he would have proactively prompted her to try speaking louder when she clearly still wanted to activate it, rather than just letting it pass.
TLDR: While I, personally, would have been uncomfortable in that situation and would have rejected a gift that came with strings like that outright, I really don't see anything to indicate that any of the characters actually involved in the scene feel that way about it.
But, hey, that's just my take, I'm certainly not trying to dictate how you interpret it yourself!
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2021-01-22 04:05 am (UTC)Because like, whereas in that situation, I would have probably reacted with an eye roll and an 'Okay, no thanks then, keep the icky coercive present, I really don't want it enough to say something I'm not fully comfortable with', that's demonstrably not how Sha Ya reacts... she squirms a little, but she is also clearly smiling, and willingly plays along, and is really obviously emoting delight, acceptance, and is deeply touched by the thoughtfulness of the gift. Shen Wei is similar, he's clearly a little uncomfortable in one specific moment, but it's pretty obviously because of the intimate nature of the message he was asked to pass along for her to say, which is why he leans over to whisper it privately rather than boldly announcing it in 'public'... and he's the one who points out that maybe the reason the gift wasn't activating was because she was speaking too softly at first, prompting her to sincerely smile again and yell it out exuberantly the second time because she wants to see what Lin Jing has given her. If he was inwardly cringing about the hints of coercive/uncomfy elements to it, I don't know why he would have proactively prompted her to try speaking louder when she clearly still wanted to activate it, rather than just letting it pass.
TLDR: While I, personally, would have been uncomfortable in that situation and would have rejected a gift that came with strings like that outright, I really don't see anything to indicate that any of the characters actually involved in the scene feel that way about it.
But, hey, that's just my take, I'm certainly not trying to dictate how you interpret it yourself!