
i left this story to marinate and oh my god. i have so many thoughts.
first off, i genuinely don’t care if enoch’s mother was under the family curse. i understand she was deeply deeply in love with the emperor, but by no means did that excuse her horrible parenting. she already knew enoch was being abused and discriminated against and in addition to that, she neglected him? she didn’t even try to protect, only ever saying “listen to the emperor” okay you love him, but enough to excuse his behavior towards your child? PLUS she was so neglectful and it pissed me off seeing her favor the fourth prince JUST because he looked like the emperor. truly, she was a horrible mother. not to mention, enoch would’ve gone his whole life unaware of the curse of the fourth prince never brought his mother to this palace that night. you’re telling me the bitch was going to let her son just suffer??? i’m glad she’s dead.
second off, i really love the fourth prince or shall i say the emperor’s character. he is just a well-built character. the only thing i hate is that he was in love with the previous empress. oh my god, could they have not written it out? failing in love with your stepmother who only sees you as her husband? i’m not sure if it was true but it was implied they did sleep together and i just think that’s nasty. the age gap isn’t even the worse thing it’s the fact they’re step-family and the empress never loved him! i would’ve been fine if the author wrote it out to be him wanting power so he stuck to the empress or maybe even him wanting motherly affection. but his first love? how fucking disgusting. korean authors try not to write rape and incest challenge when?
third, i love a complicated character. which is why in addition to loving the emperor, i also love the empress. you guys want complicated, complex, morally gray characters until its a woman. NOW i understand, she’s a rapist! and idc if you guys think it’s not rape because he agreed to it, it was still rape because he only did it to save his brother! i still despise the fact that the empress is a rapist but she is incredibly well written. she’s powerful, ambitious, strong, she’s quite literally one of the best characters in this story. i just hate how the author reduced her to a rapist. you can still be strong and arrogant WITHOUT being a rapist? yk? i’m not sure how i feel about the romance between the emperor and empress, it will take a lot of healing and apologizing and understanding for them to even be able to like each other. i am also completely fine with no romance between them. i just hate that such a powerful character was given to a rapist. OH also before some bitch yaps ting about misogyny and double standards. EVEN IN OTHER MANHWAS where the ML is a RAPIST, i still would hate him!!! using rape as a plot point is seriously lazy writing.
i remember my girl juliet being hated at the beginning and i am a defender til the day i die! imagine being deceived and lied to and SOLD to another country without your consent?? honestly idc how nice the guy is, i got married without my consent, fuck yeah i would resent him also you bitches will complain saying “she could’ve talked to him blah blah blah” just because a man is nice, doesn’t mean she needs to reciprocate it? she was thrown into a foreign country with barely knowing anyone. of course she would go mad. also, again, y’all hate complex characters when it’s a woman! i’m glad she was morally ambiguous and selfish! i’m tired of seeing angels who fall in love within five chapters even after being sold out! she was a real ass character.
now enoch. my love ╮( ̄▽ ̄)╭ ugh i’m an enoch and juliet defender until the day i DIE. my otp fr! i just wish nothing but the best for him. he was abused and neglected by BOTH parents then sent off to die at war and he’s cursed to never be loved by the person he loves like BRO WHAT while i do agree he has self-destructing issues and he is a very bad communicator, once again like i said with juliet, he is a complicated character. and i am a defender. of course he would be self-destructive! his life has been horrible! and he knows he’ll die soon so he’s just waiting for it to end. i just wish he and juliet heal and live together forever.
now regarding that BITCH ass princess sister!!! dude i get it, you’re sad that your fav sibling got killed but YOU got SPARED when everyone else DIED! and your servant got spared because you BEGGED enoch ??? and now you’re just gonna betray him not to mention the fucking terrible reason “who would ever befriend a powerless prince” WELL FUCK YOU CUS HES THE DUKE NOW ?? ugh im so mad, like just when i think enoch can have his happy ending, some bitch tries to ruin it. i think the cutie princess can stay because she’s done nothing but im scared for the other girl since she’s so hell vent on revenge
you’re telling me the title includes the word “father” and he’s not a dilf?? he literally looks like your run of the mill black haired ml. this is dilf bait
I mean... at least he is hot... and doesn't have red eyes paired with the black hair...
He's 500 years old apparently lmao
Dilf bait is so accurate I'm crying on the club
Well he's technically a dilf, he's a dad, even if he adopted them both. That said, they should have made him older, he looks as old as the eldest son ffs
Yk... that's actually one of the things that kinda bothers me. In most "childcare rofan" the child is rarely the biological child of the ML. And let's be clear, this is not about adoption. This is a 100% my problem with a "father" that's never been "in love" or in a relationship with anyone else besides the female mc before. Like, can we stop normalizing or rather romancizing this weird stereotype already? Think about it... 30+yo, rich, powerful, handsome (af), young looking, innocent (relationship wise), virgin, has a child (adopted) and is nice to the kid and mc but cold to everyone else... ain't that a weird setting for a dilf? If you swap genders... a 30+yo beauty with a child that's actually an innocent virgin... that... kinda sounds like bad corn no?
At least make them look a bit older... and experienced... it makes no sense them never have been with anyone before... and nothing wrong with adopting... but also nothing wrong with being a widower or divorced with a bio child...
you’re so real for this. i feel like it comes from this sense of having to “prove” the female lead is “different” or “special” like oh look at this cold hearted man who likes NO ONE but the female lead! yes! she changed him! only she changed him! he likes her and only her! i feel like it kinda ties into purity culture while also tying into the weird insecurity and fetishes some of these readers have with being a “savior” or “someone special” like brother…just because he fucked some bitches does not mean he won’t love you we really need to stop this narrative because it’s weird! it’s okay to have relationships and move on from them!
This is why I read the novel and leave it up to my imagination like in my head he's not supposed to look like that