This is really interesting because Luhan is essentially written as an undercover nice guy. He became obsessed with her over a single interaction (with one sided emotional significance on his part).
He deliberately waged an elaborate information war to sabotage every other marriage option she had, to the point it became so well known it negatively affected her reputation in society. Even while this was happening throughout an entire decade, he never actually stepped up to put his hat in the ring. He never tried to court her, confess his feelings, or win her over.
His entire game plan is just controlling her environment until he’s the only option, and once he got there he still didn’t try to make an honest attempt to win her over. He came up with a plan to manufacture a trap to allow him to socially blackmail her family to force a marriage with him.
He gets to the altar and surprise, surprise, a marriage certificate doesn’t magically create romantic affection. He doesn’t understand the most basic realities of relationships. He only knows her superficially and objectifies her while trying put on a “husband performance” to secure her affection. He isn’t actually trying to get to know or connect with her, but panics constantly over her lack of interest/commitment.
He thinks the issue is that he needs to do a good job as her husband when the reality is that she just doesn’t know him and isn’t terribly interested in sparking a relationship beyond what is mandated by their marriage itself. He has a very superficial understanding of what actually creates a relationship.
He puts so much effort into limiting her choices and looking “successful”, but doesn’t bother trying to get to know or connect with her, then gets upset that she’s not head over heels for him.
He’s panicking over the potential for divorce and where are the first places his mind goes to prevent it? Physically imprisoning her and using magic to brainwash her, not trying to get to know her more, not going on outings, not actually pursuing a real relationship like he should have from the beginning.
Luhan does not love her, he does not have a crush on her. He wants to possess her and mistakes that desire for love. He has no regard for her opinions, emotions, or autonomy. Almost every single action he has taken or considered taking to secure/solidify this marriage has been at her expense. He has risked nothing of his own, but done plenty of damage to her.
His interference with the suitors was so well known that she became a laughingstock because she was perceived to be so undesirable that literally not a single person in high society would even consider courting her. She had no choice in her marriage to him because he manufactured a situation that would be extremely harmful to her and her family if it got out, so it really was her loss.
He casually considers chaining her up, preventing her from going anywhere without him as well as full on brainwashing her with magic to be loyal/loving to him. Problematic for obvious reasons, but I think really illustrates exactly what he thinks of her. He has said that he admires her strength, competence, and upright actions, but the second she might slip away from him, he’s considering destroying all of that as long as she can stay in his possession. He’s not interested in a genuine connection because if he was, forced confinement and mind control wouldn’t be on the table.
He wants compliance with his fantasy of a relationship more than he wants an actual relationship. The only reason he has largely gotten away with it is that he has ML privileges. In most stories he would be the villain in opposition to the ML.
He is a chillingly realistic, menacing, and manipulative nice guy character. He is not the type to throw a tantrum after not getting his way and this be rendered unable to find a relationship, but rather the kind whose relationship explodes 10 years in after his SO discovers his grievous deceptions and manipulations.
10/10 assessment, no notes.
All I hear is him whining about the predictable consequences of his own actions
He is a bit delulu but I think it's fine (=・ω・=)
I don’t like this trend of using amnesia as a plot device to excuse abuse. The fact that he is an abusive rapist doesn’t magically change once he can’t remember what he did and acts differently. In the end, they are willing and capable of acting like that, so no matter how nice, innocent, vulnerable, sensitive, or cutesy they act once their memories vanish they’re still ticking time bombs.
I’ve also seen at least a few comics where the main characters were in a normal/healthy relationship until one of them (always the top) gets amnesia and proceeds to be very hurtful, toxic, and abusive to their partner who is just doing their best to stick it out until the memories and their living partner come back.
Sometimes I wonder if Korean authors are cursed to suffer excruciating agony if they attempt to write a “relationship” with no toxicity, abuse, or SA.
I think this is a unique take because Taebeom is clearly sneaky and manipulative in his scheme to get with MC, but at the last chapter it’s revealed that MC suspected and basically didn’t press it because he didn’t mind since he also got a relationship he wanted.
Usually the MC in this position is written as a naive doormat in the palm of the manipulator’s hand, but in this case he retains his autonomy by being at least partially aware of the scheme and deliberately choosing not to press it since he liked the result.
Now their entire game plan is going to go into the shitter because they couldn’t even pretend to be slightly nice to her. They couldn’t even just not be mean to her. Now the crown prince is humiliated, the Madeline’s are pissed and embarrassed, and Estella is going to be served up to the royals like a roasted pig.
On top of that, it’s going to be way more difficult for the prince and Ethel to maintain their relationship because once Estella becomes his fiancée the Duke will use his power and influence to force him to treat his daughter properly and probably whack Ethel’s family to keep her in line
So not only did they mistreat him and sell him off into marriage once, but lured him back home with his sick/dying father so they could break the first marriage to sell him off again?! At first I didn’t understand why they couldn’t just send their unmarried princess instead to keep the first marriage intact and avoid political conflict over it, then I REALIZED.
The new country is an enemy “barbarian” nation which is likely underdeveloped and hostile towards people from their enemy nation. He just wants to dump the omega into a hostile wasteland while the alpha princess gets to live comfortably in the beautiful desert society.
I also feel really bad for Huey since it’s clear that he’s a good kid suffering from shitty parenting. Unlike with girls and boys, it’s not obvious at birth what trait, if any, a child could develop. And there’s no way to hide it once it hits. He may look down on omegas now, but he has no idea whether that might become his fate.
I think he was sold off for his own safety by his father because it was a decision that he clearly made by himself and his brain he was probably taught that omega or valuable and worthy is just plain ass human beings by his son understanding that love most likely changed them by that time everything was too late a part of me genuinely believes this like he changed and he most likely sold him to the country he did because he knew that he was gonna get treated better and he was going to have a lot more freedom. Also two birds, one stone he needed the money anyways, and his son would be safe and not get into some gross asshole.
Yeah, he may have considered MC as an inferior son, but there was no reason to deliberately send his somewhere he wouldn’t be treated well when the desert nation was an option. As long as he got what he needed out of him (resources from the marriage agreement) he would want to give him the best life possible.
Thorne is just way more extreme in his bigotry and may be trying to send MC as hostage because he plans to violate the peace treaty and needs the hostage to be someone he doesn’t care about getting killed, which is why he’s fine with marrying off his alpha princess to MC’s husband.
Recent chapter is very interesting in how it illustrates the relationship dynamics. There are some hallmarks of abusive relationships. Henrik pins Mason so hard his shoulder dislocated over false rumors about him and other women (they are not dating at this point). Definitely possessive, aggressive, and inappropriate behavior towards a potential partner (or anyone really).
Right after, Mason is gifted a hermit crab from him, a touching and thoughtful gift that sort of distracts him from what just happened. This is how cycles of abuse work. There is mistreatment, but also loving and supportive gestures that make the victim hesitate to judge or leave their partner. There are almost always good times sprinkled in that push the victim to tolerate the bad times, when in reality they are mistreatment
I do understand but do not forget that Henry isn't normal in the first place because of the x something substance inject in their bodies so and probably before that too so I don't think we gonna face a normal relationship with both of them I don't think so
Yeah I get that he’s altered, but my point was about how their relationship demonstrates behaviors consistent in the cycle of abuse. The what is more important than the why here
That's true sadly ,hoping by identify his feeling he gonna stop it soon before causing something irreversible to our uke
“He’s willing to shift his views on omegas for me” is not a flex. Congratulations, your boss decided to stop actively degrading and discriminating against the entirety of a specific demographic to date you, a member of that demographic.
He reminds me of guys who were raised by misogynistic fathers and hate all women because they resent their mothers for leaving, divorcing, cheating, or whatever.
Your mom being a cheater, crappy person, or shirt motherdoesn’t justify bigotry against all women or all omegas.
What MC seems to see as some grand gesture and proof of love is actually just Taeoh crawling up to the bare minimum
Right?????
This guy literally went, "You're not like other girls; other girls are worthless and have nothing to offer except their organs."
Dude, this is so messed up.
At best, it gives those vibes like when fathers just casually talk about how they never saw women as people until they had a daughter. Like, wtf!?
Also like those white guys that date/marry women of racial or ethnic minorities while still looking down on them because “you’re different from the others”.
Large scale yikes
Harry is being so dumb rn I’m actually pissed off. “I wonder if they’re discussing something dangerous” yeah, gang warfare, hired hits, prison shankings, and murder right in front of you. Yes, you should be concerned
(╯°Д °)╯╧╧
I KNEW IT. The stable, kind, objectively great love interest with zero emotional baggage ALWAYS gets randomly nerfed with secret degeneracy or closet skeletons to make the FL get back with the toxic trainwreck OG ML