I’m fine with an acid trip plotline, but mc is a fucking rapist. Don’t waste your time
So ML:
1. Left her in the forest
2. Told her to wait for him but didn’t comeback for her
3. Got a publicly known fiancée for 2 years (and led her on)
4. Didn’t recognize her when they met again
And he has a self esteem issue? More like a common sense, awareness of cause and effect issue.
“Why did you forget me”? Did Itae forget the part where she lost all her memories before her mother’s death?! Dumbass
I didn’t even read this because the comments tell me all I’ll need to know. WHY CANT I HAVE FEMDOM WITHOUT DEGENERACY AND LITERAL CRIMES!!!!!!!!!
(╯°Д °)╯╧╧
And another mediocre Korean author who seems to be allergic to consent (╯°Д °)╯╧╧
So the woman you supposedly care about is critically wounded and in urgent need of medical attention, but instead of focusing on that, you get jealous that the senior priest (who is a man) needs to look at and touch her body to treat her effectively, so you waste time by preventing him from working on her and make his subordinate (a woman) who is likely less experienced or knowledgeable do it. Sure, she might get delayed, subpar treatment as a result, but thank god another man didn’t get to touch your property!
This was a really telling moment that showed how self centered he is. He wants to keep her safe..because he gets satisfaction/gratification/support from having her around, but when it came down to it, his first priority was possessiveness, not her safety.
Another mediocre “romance” that basically consists of the ml being pushy and demanding, and the fl doing a personality 180 just rolling over and going along. Took 50+ chapters to devolve, but definitely don’t bother unless you like insipid relationships generated by shallow characters and obvious plot forcing
It’s just become obvious that the ml feels entitled to her. He didn’t ask, he told her how it was going to be. He didn’t stop to think about her dreams (the ones she excitedly told him about which involved freedom away from the duties of Empress). If he truly respected her, he wouldn’t be able to act like that. He sees how miserable and exhausted she is with her current marriage and the job of empress, and he just suckered her into it again. She talked his ear off about everything she wanted to do once she was free while he acted so supportive, and I guess that just didn’t matter to him in the end. He wants what he wants and decided that he would get it.
And she would have the extra stigma of:
1. Getting married immediately after a divorce
2. Getting married to your ex husband’s sibling, which is considered weird/tacky in most cultures, but even incestuous/scandalous in some
I feel kind of weird about the regression thing. So ml just gets to start over since Yan conveniently forgot about all the abuse and neglect in their past? It’s great that ml finally realized how horrible he was, but that doesn’t erase Yan’s trauma and I feel like the amnesia development is a cop out that lets l start over and show “character development” without actually atoning for any of his previous action
I hate it when the ml infantilizes the emotional responses of the fl. It’s such a common trope where a massive secret gets suddenly revealed about the ml’s origins, intentions, or actions, and the fl had a reasonable confused, angry, upset, or betrayed response. And the reaction from the ml is usually dismissive and condescending like “well I did this for us so don’t be so dramatic with your silly little feelings”.
Louise found out he was secretly the crown prince AND that she will likely be expected to marry him as soon as her divorce is finalized. Those are big betrayals from a supposed friend, and she didn’t even get that angry about, just a bit upset and wanted time to process, but his reaction to her hesitance was basically “lol you’re so cute with those hissy feeling, but you should really get over it because this is great (for me lol)”. She is struggling to escape a lopsided marriage and regain her freedom outside of the duties of empress, and now someone she had trusted has now publicly entrapped her into another one, where she will still have to fulfill the role as empress.
I also think the princess carry trope is infantilizing unless the fl is sick, tired, injuries, or there is a legitimate reason. It just looks ridiculous since she’s perfectly capable of walking on her own, and it was really more of a mechanism for preventing her from exiting the conversation as she wants. He blatantly ignores her when she tells him to put her down and just keeps talking to her. It just shows a certain degree of disrespect for her autonomy within their personal interactions.
Like Taylor Swift said “women are expected to absorb male behavior” without rejecting it, and that mentality definitely carries over into how a lot of fls and straight relationship dynamics are written. It really does cheapen the depth and quality of the relationship and story as well.
The “friend/acquaintance suddenly gets jealous and starts pursuing the mc after they get into a relationship” trope really annoys me. It sucks when you miss your chance to be with the person you like, but in most cases, the rival has been around the mc for years without making any moves. You snooze you lose, but jealousy isn’t a justification for trying to break up your crush’s happy relationship. I see it as a betrayal of their friendship that illustrates that the rival cares more about getting the mc to themself than they do about the mc’s personal happiness
And of course the dumb kid randomly almost drowned so Killian could swoop in with a grand heroic gesture to save the day.
The only actual development Killian got is:
1. I’m so grief stricken that my girlfriend and kid died right before I was about to marry another woman (grief is valid, but the entire situation was necessitated by his bs)
2. I’m going blind now, look at how sad and pathetic I am
3. I’m “choosing to let her go” mentality, aka basic respect for the free will and autonomy of his former partner and not viewing her as his property
4. Being helpful in random situations designed solely to give me a chance to be heroic/helpful
This man literally forgot he owned a spacecraft!!! ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶
Do Korean authors spontaneously combust if they write a “romance” that doesn’t involve coercion, abuse, toxicity, or controlling behavior? If this is the mentality towards relationships in that country I understand why so many women are shunning relationships in the 4B movement.
So homosexuality is illegal and you can go to prison for it. Cop guy coerces roommate into engaging in sex acts with him to protect other gay guy from getting imprisoned for kissing another man. A totally healthy relationship which is not problematic in any way.
I have to say that while this might not be the most compelling story out there, the relationship dynamics and development are far better than 99% of the other stuff out there
Nora:avoids his parents like the plague to avoid violence ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ
Nora’s dad: why is my kid so maladjusted? I always ignore him to spend time with another kid and make sure to beat him whenever he shows a shred of noncompliance with my impossible and draconian expectations. ╮(￣▽￣)╭
Normal people: wtf is wrong with these parents (⊙…⊙ )
I don’t really get why they’re so afraid of the marriage contract being revealed by that scumbag. Sure, they aren’t in love, but they both have full citizenship, are legally married, living together, and basically do everything that a real couple would do, so it’s not like there’s any fraud involved. Sure, it might be a bit awkward, but people get married for all sorts of reasons, to meet mutual needs, to care for an unexpected child, to have kids before biological time runs out, etc... ╮(￣▽￣)╭
Ok I get that they’re not biological or even step siblings, but could he stop referring to her as “sister” while trying to figure out how to confess to her? ┗( T﹏T )┛
Dongwook is incredibly self centered and arrogant in their relationship. The entire emotional burden of maintaining and progressing the relationship is dumped squarely on Leehyun’s shoulders. He notices Leehyun’s feelings years earlier, but says nothing and waits for him to confess, all the while playing around with women and doing nothing to indicate any romantic interest or make Leehyun confident in the security of their relationship. Despite this, Dongwook blames Leehyun for anything he does or doesn’t do that doesn’t align with his plans, despite giving zero indication of a willingness for a genuine relationship. He basically gets off on knowing that his close friend is constantly lining for him, but can’t be bothered taking any steps to solidify a relationship himself.