Even though I'm not a fan of rape being put in the bl i read, i gotta be honest, we saw this coming, this author likes to mess around with obsessive, toxic tops, like all of their other works are like this. It was already pretty messed up that since the beginning, we were shown that the top already had tried turning the mc into an omega without his knowledge but failed, and also, he tricked him into having sex with him.
I wish with all my soul that this time around they won't end up together but considering the author's preference, I don't think it'll end that way :/
now that escalated quickly. It went from them being a little awkward after getting together to literal assault???? the MC told him explicitly that he didn't like giving or receiving oral and ML just ignored it and forced it upon him???? What,,, WHAT. THAT'S TEXTBOOK SA!! why is it becoming worse and worse as it goes? Before this it was relatively going fine but now ML heterocompulsivity and toxic behavior are off the charts, like, my dude, that's your boyfriend, not your XVIII century wife who is supposed to give in to your every wish and whim. Honestly, how disappointing...
So, just to add my grain of salt. I personally I'm really disliking Riftan. I haven't been his biggest fan from the beginning, but in the latest chapters, he comes across as controlling.
Yeah, Maxi made a mistake, it was a serious mistake that could have gotten her killed, but at the end of the day, she's still learning and she had just barely dipping her toes in what it means to be, relatively, free to pursue her interests and to start to understand herself. She has a lot of self-esteem issues rooted in the abuse she suffered, and since the beginning, Riftan has treated her as nothing more than a trophy to be encased behind a glass case.
He definitely has an inferiority complex towards her, thinking her to be oh, so much better than he is. Deserving of more than he could ever provide. But the thing is that he barely talks to her, there's no trust between them, he doesn't know her and he hasn't bothered to do so at all. The only intimacy they share is sex and cuddles, but they don't really talk. Riftan really put Maxi on a pedestal and now she's stuck there.
Riftan treats Maxi as an object, really. Like a shiny toy he couldn't stand if it broke. So, instead he cages her.
Maxi also hadn't tried communicating with him, but honestly it has to be really fucking hard even if she tried, given he's never around. And so she just fullfils her duty as a wife and opens her legs pliantly whenever he wants to. She has to ask him for permission before even trying to do anything, otherwise he gets angry and lashes out at her. There's a kinda fucked up power dynamic that comes along with their arranged marriage and the seemingly medieval setting of the story (tho it's fantasy and therefore we can't really assume how the cultural landscape around relationship is like, maybe it's not the norm to be an ass to your wife over there, maybe they're as misogynistic as in real life medieval times, who knows) but anyway.
Fuck Riftan, he has to get his shit together otherwise I'm stealing Maxi away. SHE HAS HAD ENOUGH TRAUMA AS IT IS.
Honestly I don't think Cirrus is that big of a sociopath knowing the way he was raised. His father literally made it so that he was always in a high-stress environment, removing anyone who could have functioned as an anchor and basically driving him insane and chronically lonely. I think that he's actually somewhat well adjusted considering all the abuse, psychological and otherwise, that he had to endure from such a young age. I bet that, given the opportunity, he would thrive in a normal environmental where he's just not constantly being put through hell and back, me thinks. And istg I can't wait for it, genuinely it's the thing I'm hoping for the most, that somehow, Cirrus and Skylar can become a safe place for the other and that the can heal from all the shit they have been put through. And for the love of everything that's good, PUT THAT GODDAMN PIECE OF SHIT OF A FATHER IN JAIL.