hi!!!! thank you so much!

yes ok to answer your question........ i think of kei as like a victim AND a perpetrator of the kind of systemic violence that happens within the idol industry. in the beginning especially i think he was absolutely exploited, abused, and victimized by the company and I-Land's structure in general. regardless of his age, that environment would be harmful to anyone. this isn't unique to i-land but is especially awful. the isolation, the pressure, the competition, the constant criticism, the lack of autonomy, the live voting aspect... it's awful. all of it. i was a boys planet watcher and then i watched wild idol and peak time and pdx101 and came away with the impression that survival shows have to be the first thing to go when idols finally unionize. they're genuinely so cruel.

so when it comes to kei nowadays, i think he was groomed a lot by the industry into accepting that "this is the way it's always been" and that the system works because it's the thing he went through and he did improve. and so i do think now he seems to function as a sort of member-manager of the group, because while he isn't the leader he does often control the flow of information, the vibe of their content, and the way they show themselves to the world. he also seems to have some control behind the scenes when it comes to the interpersonal relationships of the group. i think in all of this he has to uphold the harmful aspects of the idol system that educated him and honestly helped him succeed because he was willing to part with his autonomy and individuality. and so i do think the sides of him that are more problematic (like his temper, his pridefulness, his spitefulness, his instability) have been repressed and the useful sides of him (his tendency towards overworking, his vanity, his drive, his ambition) have been nurtured by the environment he's in. that extends into the power he can wield over the group.

so i feel very complex feelings towards him. i don't think we've seen anything to suggest he's actually harming anyone in &t but just as a baseline i think he drank the HYBE kool-aid and i can't respect that. and tbh especially now with the boycott in place i super duper can't respect it. i also just think his vibe is bad? lol. like if i met him i wouldn't like him. but i do think he's extremely talented and special and interesting. so it's really a mixed bag of feelings about him. those feelings were super helpful in writing this fic because they're why i can write such a nuanced and complicated story. if i really liked him and thought he was Just a Victim i don't think i would have been able to write mop.

thanks again for these interesting questions!