So Taerin straight up states that he knows that the power imbalance between him and Shiwon is lopsided, then proceeds to call it off because Shiwon is behaving in a manner that suggests that he is hyper aware of that imbalance. I get that there is affection, but Shiwoo has major trauma related to exploitation, so he’s just trying to protect himself emotionally by yielding all deciding power to Taerin. If their relationship gets exposed, Shiwoo has much more to lose. He is just barely gaining some confidence and emotional stability, so his mentality isn’t a slight against Taerin, but rather a survival mechanism reminiscent of his low self esteem and prior trauma. Since Taerin is aware of all the toxicity and trauma he endured, he should just focus on making Shiwoo feel secure in the relationship and understand how things are different now
U ate with this
Thanks ヾ(❀╹◡╹)ﾉ~
Seeing how he also contributed to said trauma and was happy to see Shiwoo get kicked when he was down, Taerim should be the one begging for the relationship. If Shiwoo is insecure it is be cause Taerim made all decisions one-sidedly. No one on this planet would enter a gay relationship with a chaebol and expect them to marry considering how those families work. So it’s not just Shiwoo being insecure, it’s also just common sense. Taerim is expecting Shiwoo to expect a miracle.
That said, Taerim also made it quite clear at the “end” of their relationship so Shiwoo should be more aware by now. I don’t think it’s fair of Taerim to dangle that in front of Shiwoo though.
I agree with you but this is only 50% of the problem. The other 50% is that Shiwoo is always ready to break up, he has one foot out the door at all times. Would anyone be cpmfortable dating someone who would break up and let you go as soon as you say 'lets break up'. Shiwoo dpesn't think he should be holding onto a relationship with Taerim if Taerim wants to let go, which is a good thing the relationship ought to go both ways. But the problem lies in the fact that Shiwoo would never try to work it out or fight for your relationship. When you consider the stability one gains from being in a relationship, Shiwoo isn't exactly a stellar partner to be with. The problem is not the trauma or his insecurities but his absolute refusal to even try to work on them.
Shiwoo definitely has trauma and problematic mentalities which prevent him from having a serious relationship, but my point was that Taerin seems to have a clear understanding of Shiwoo’s complex relationship trauma and self esteem issues, but still expects him to behave like an average person who doesn’t have those issues. I know you can’t grade relationships on a curve, but he should understand that it will take a lot more self work, trust building, and external validation for someone like Shiwoo to be able to have a normal relationship
The political and social norms have a lot more to do with why Shiwoo doesn’t want to put both feet in.
He was basically told that he would be constantly monitored, was no longer allowed to go out freely, had to get married to a man he didn’t know or choose, have children whether he wanted them or not, live his entire life fulfilling the role of queen, and give up all of his dreams just because the royal family wanted it, and was just expected to be cool with it. The royal family basically leveraged his medical condition to force his parents to “agree”. Crown prince shouldn’t be shocked that the partner his family all but purchased for him isn’t happy about the situation. The level of disregard for his supposed love’s choices and goals is actually breathtaking. Stories like this usually conjure up random problems (such as even bigger assholes) for the narcissistic ml to magically “solve” to justify their behavior and explain why the mc somehow decides to like them.
I feel like even when they have good intentions, a lot of male characters don’t consider certain things which can put the women they’re trying to help or support at a disadvantage. I get that the emperor is just trying to help (though he is definitely attracted to her), but there have already been rumors that she is his mistress and that she got the job because of that, rather than her skills. Her moving into the palace would be like pouring gas on the fire. Their society is already misogynistic enough, so the tiniest flaw or mistake can be used to harm or invalidate a woman’s expertise and standing. He’s more thinking about safety and convenience, but in doing so it’s very likely that her respect and authority would be undermined. He doesn’t quite seem to understand that his authority and permission alone are not enough to keep her in good standing. I just think it would be great if characters actually had a conscious discussion about it, rather than skirting around the issue even as it causes so many problems for them.
This sounded interesting at first, but I was proven wrong very quickly. Mamori is kidnapped, held against his will, mind controlled, and forced to have a baby (which obviously requires sex) because his distant ancestor made a contract. Kamui basically assaulted him because he looked him in the eyes and suddenly couldn’t move and got all out of it emotionally (part of his ability which he does use on fans, though not to such an extreme degree). He didn’t get Mamori to agree to any of it, just bulldozed through. The author just tries to gloss over it because Mamori is written as an airhead who is catching feelings and doesn’t behave as if he’s been overtly traumatized by the abusive and dehumidify way he’s being treated. I hate it when authors try use a bubbly, universally forgiving, immune to trauma mc to justify insane, toxic, and abusive behaviors and relationship dynamics. Kamui is an abuser and Mamori is written to accommodate that behavior without making him look like the villain he is. This is such a common practice in toxic romance. Mamori is unrealistic, disjointed, and unrelatable as a character because if he was written to have realistic psychological responses, it would be impossible to paint Kamui as anything other than a narcissistic criminal.
FFS Killian how kind of you to generously choose to “let her go”. Wow 10/10 boyfriend points for treating the mother of your child like a human being with free will instead of your property. All it took was years of treating her like shit, a staged death, and a suicide attempt to get him to treat her with the bare minimum of respect and pseudo-affection. Even his supposed redemption arc is trash.
It’s so wild that she gets shit on for being crippled (in general but also) because it was a direct result of leaving potent medicine within reach of an unsupervised toddler. Apparently she ate really strong, valuable, impossible to remake medicine (that destroyed her internal qi structure)….which wasn’t put away or guarded at all. They left a toddler unsupervised, then act like it’s her fault for wasting something so valuable as if she hadn’t been a literal baby at the time and almost died as the result of their negligence. They are one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the country, but they couldn’t be bothered to hire a proper maid or babysitter just because she was illegitimate.
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It was actually her aunt faults. She put a poison in the medicine Yeon took that causes qi deviation and made her the way she is now. She tries to do exactly the same thing with Yeon cousin, Myung, (the older one, who has a sister) but Yeon arrives on time and is able to save him. She is also the one who exposes the aunt. It’s a very satisfying arc in the novel.
So seme acts like a spoiled entitled brat to the uke, deliberately drenches him in pheromones to turn him into an omega (without permission or warning), doesn’t tell uke that he’s an omega once he manifests, proceeds to sleep with the uke while he’s in heat (uke didn’t know what was happening because he had no idea he was an omega) with no birth control which resulted in an unplanned pregnancy. The only way this dumpster fire of a relationship maintains any sense of tolerability is that the uke magically decides to be fine with everything without getting mad, feeling betrayed, or any form of normal reaction. So uke’s body is permanently altered, and now he’s knocked up. Other than blatant violence, this is literally one of the worst dynamics.
Helena better keep that man He’s hot, accomplished, head over heels, and pulls his weight in the house
Godo literally declared his hatred for all serpents within 5 minutes, deliberately exacerbated racial tensions, then berated them for not working well as an integrated team. Then he had the audacity to gripe at Sawahyun for failing to properly teach them while he was away. Nobody expects everyone to magically be best buddies after such a long and bloody war, but everyone was reasonably respectful, cooperative, and friendly until he started shit for no reason.
These are exactly my thoughts and I find the defenses of him I've seen a bit strange. Like he was full on a violent racist and that was just kinda...brushed past by many people? I'm wondering if I should continue this bc he pissed me off pretty bad lol
He definitely plays more of an antagonistic role so far. I think there’s also an issue of trauma from the war. Any racism is embedded with a lot of loss, ptsd, and tensions which came from the fact that they were all actively trying to kill each other recently. There really hasn’t been any time to cool down or heal. That doesn’t mean they have a blank check to do whatever they want though.
I thought it was really compelling that the author showed many different sides of the cultural exchange and racial tensions. Neither side is depicted as a monolith. Some people are able to bond, heal, and collaborate more quickly than others. Most stories simplify those conflicts to a ridiculous degree or just don’t include them at all.
I still think it’s worth continuing because the author/story is definitely not condoning or glorifying his mentality, but rather using his antagonistic nature to flesh out conflicts that occur in real life from many different angles.
eh I understand but I don't really feel like putting my thoughts into words my mind isn't working today. I didn't like the way it was written up to where I stopped because I felt like none of the other characters gave a damn about the things he said and did. There's not way NONE of them wouldn't say something and it just really rubbed me the wrong way. The fact that he continues this behavior is also frustrating. I like when actions have consequences and I don't know if I really want to see a "redemption arc" the way that they're usually written; nothing really changes they just "grow as a person" and it's just accepted.
I know things are more complicated than just expecting someone not to hold a bias after a bloody battle, but that doesn't give him an excuse to use his position to do and say the things that he did. He himself can make his own decisions as to whether he wants to continue to hate them or not, but his behavior should not be accepted in a workplace such as this, especially when others have been able to coexist. There will always be tension the psychology of it is complicated but my main gripe comes from the fact that he goes out of his way to discriminate against a whole race of people which in turn just ended up causing more issues. For me it just felt like the behavior went on for far too long unchecked.
That’s fair, but remember that he is one of the top ten most powerful people in his nation both politically, magically, and physically. He’s also regarded as a war hero. It’s not easy to speak out against someone who is known to be volatile, has a lot of power over you (and in general), and really can’t be avoided or removed from his position.
Even though peace has been negotiated there is definitely still tension, so both nations would want to maintain a strong front to avoid looking weak/vulnerable. Godo is literally irreplaceable because there are so few others that possess his level of skill and power.
Also remember that Godo is not the mc, so his growth is less of a focus, so he is more of an example of the other end of the spectrum.
The serpent and avian nations are made up of different races and they have been at war for centuries. It’s unfortunate, but the identities of their enemies have been mixed up in hostility. It’s unrealistic for there to be no racism during/after such a conflict, but the author has really done a good job of showing the students learn how to break down barriers, accept other cultures, and release harmful mindsets. Of course there are always disrupters who refuse to get on board and cause trouble
I understand all that but it doesn't change the fact that it's frustrating to watch and puts me off reading the story. I just don't think it's for me.
I just can’t get over the level of disregard every single person has for Baekwoo. He’s being forced into marriage because the royal family is leveraging his health and safety to coerce him into it after they did the same to get his family to “agree” years ago. He was told to rearrange his entire life, give up his dreams of being an architect, and basically be an obedient little womb/puppet for whatever the royal family wants. Sure, the prince isn’t outright abusive, but he bargains with Baekwoo by dangling basic freedoms in front of him while gaslighting him to distract from the fact that the “rewards” he’s working towards are all basic rights that were taken from him overnight at the whim of the royal family. No matter how nice or protective he acts, the prince doesn’t respect Baekwoo’s free will and is an accomplice in his life being controlled. He basically gets to reap the benefits by playing good cop and swooping in when he’s vulnerable to score points, but the fact that he doesn’t fight for Baekwoo’s freedom makes him just as guilty as everyone else.