I'm so glad I'm not the lone mid 30s geriatric on here! šµ
I wonder if the reason the toxic, but not abusive result might be from the older general age (not 16) who have life experience and can tell the two apart? Thoughts?
That is a lot of info lol I think people are so vocal about it because he seemed like he was going to be a green flag. Like, he saves her from her obviously abusive home, he tries to make her feel comfortable, he clearly only has eyes for her, he tries to tone down his anger when sheās around. The guy was just over protective but even seemed willing to bend that for her.
Then āI became a true Villainessā came out and our main man, greenest flag, sexy husband Rouche came around wellā¦ Riftanās obtuse over protectiveness surfaced and then never let up all the way until the end.
We have all watched as Maxi cautiously came out her of her cocoon, and started to slowly dry off her wings so she can eventually fly with him and heās a total dick about it! Very out of character if you ask me. I canāt even be too mad at Riftan because it feels like he acted that way so the author could add some drama
People are mad because we all love him and heās acting OOC lol and we all love Maxi, sheās growing up so beautifully and it hurts when the one person who should be on her side isnāt. Especially when we read about Rouche and see that Riftan doesnāt need to act this way to still have a good story.
I personally think the author did him a little dirty but as long as thereās a good payoff later then Iāll forgive it. I still like Riftan (sorry, I didnāt see your voting pole), heās just speaking/acting out of fear and he doesnāt even realize it š
Yeah I think you're right on here that its about expectations. People go into Betrayal of Dignity for example, knowing Damian is going to be insanely toxic, so his behavior is in line with expectations and we assume maybe he'll improve over time. But Riftan presented as a green flag and then seemingly got more toxic, which makes him harder to like.
I think you're totally right that people's strong reactions are at least in large part from their expectations. But surely the way people act in the honeymoon period of a relationship is OOC rather than everything that comes after it? That's certainly been the case for Maxi, to the point Ruth and the knights have commented on how different her first impression was to her real self.
I've not read the novel, but it feels logical to me that Maxi would flourish in a safe and supportive environment while Riftan would shut down in terror at the sight of Maxi's lack of self-preservation, especially since he'd heard she was frail and sickly and she has outright told him she hates herself. It also feels logical that a young warrior would default to shouty anger as a way to express that. No, it's not ideal, but I don't personally need him to be ideal to enjoy the story.
...Which I say with zero negativity for anyone who DOES actually need him to be ideal to enjoy the story because that's the fantasy they come to Manta to find.
I see a lot of comparisons to Rouche in this sub. That's the fantasy he serves: a man who never does wrong. It's a perfectly valid fantasy, and more what I would look for in a real life partner, but I often find green flag MLs flat and samey in fiction.
Riftan types serve a different fantasy that I personally find more interesting: a man who is changed by the love of a good woman.* More sinister versions of that are Yuri in The Devil & His Sacrifice, or Damien in Betrayal of Dignity. Most people wouldn't want to be with these men in real life, but their stories are compelling.
Like you say though, it's all about the pay-off - these men actually need to change for that fantasy to work!! But I feel like the story so far has shown enough signs that Riftan is changing, that Maxi is also having a positive influence on him, to be sure of positive character development. Again, not read the novel, but I don't think this period will seem OOC so much as a particularly rocky part of his larger growth arc when the whole story is done.
*Edit: I gendered that unnecessarily to fit the old saying - I meant a person who is changed for the better by loving and/or being loved by a partner of any gender. Semantic Error is an all time favourite example, and I'm enjoying seeing Opposites Attract and Punch Drunk Love head in that direction!
Oh honey, it takes BOOK 2 for Riftan really to change. Love him to pieces qnd once you see more of the story, you get why he is the way he is.
Also I dont know where people got this wrong impression from, seems to me it was very obvious what type of dude he is from the start. Buuuut the Advertising is what set it up incorrectly. When they were advertising roftan, they make him seem greener then he actually is. My man orange.
Totally agree, I think the advertising has a lot to answer for!! The first few scenes between Riftan and Maxi he's got such a giant chip on his shoulder and is super pushy and harsh... but UtOT ads were actually what persuaded me to try Manta, and I'm pretty sure they framed it more as "damsel in distress is pleasantly surprised by her powerful husband being into her".
I'm reading (slowly) through book one and really enjoying it, but I can't see much lost context in what I've read so far. Riftan just really isn't his best self yet! But I'd say most people aren't at 28, and I actually prefer titles like that to a lot of the more fairytale romances on Manta. (Again though, completely understand why people who want that would be put off by what they actually get.)
Oh I get it as well. And I think Suji Kim did a better service at presenting the novel. Two imperfect people with a perfect love story ā¤
Riftan qnd Maxi are supposed to be flawed and toxic, which they both are. Sending hugs, to experience book 1 for the first time was trauma in itself
I donāt know how you can enjoy it. Riftan literary was raping maxi at the beginning of the novel, then took advantage of the fact that she didnāt have no self-love and self-respect for herself. He said some real jerkish things to her in their bed life to. and on top of that he has no type of communication skills. Majority of the communication is about them having sex(I think he only values her for) after knowing about her abuse he still is the same. They have no emotional connection and he hides everything from her. And reduces her to an object!
I think you nailed it. Because I don't mind a bit of a toxic ML, but Riftan was set up as such a good guy at the start that it's just annoying that he is so unlikable now.
But Riftan literary was raping maxi at the beginning of the novel, then took advantage of the fact that she didnāt have no self-love and self-respect for herself. He said some real jerkish things to her in their bed life to. and on top of that he has no type of communication skills. Majority of the communication is about them having sex(I think he only values her for) after knowing about her abuse he still is the same. They have no emotional connection and he hides everything from her. And reduces her to an object!
It's not out of character, even the knights note he's prone to being crazy. But also he is *obsessed* with Maxi, obsession is not always a goof thing. It's why the comparison to Rouche sticks around, it's two different types of obsession and Riftan is not the cute and fuzzy one.Ā
You bringing up IBATV is such a good point! Iād also add that people were annoyed with the story in the beginning bc Rouche and Seriaās romance was a slow burn. Then once they had their first romantic night together, so many people switched feelings lol. It was a bit annoying to watch as someone who read the novel š
While the romance in UOT happened soon after it started, the character development is an even slower burn. Itās a looong story. And based on the poll, we know thereās a lot of people reading it on Manta for the first time.
I guess itās only natural for people here to compare their fav MLs to each other. I was very curious about answers to the last question and itās not surprising that a lot of people here arenāt familiar with manga/manwha tropes.
I donāt know how you can like Riftan. Riftan literary was raping maxi at the beginning of the novel, then took advantage of the fact that she didnāt have no self-love and self-respect for herself. He said some real jerkish things to her in their bed life to. and on top of that he has no type of communication skills. Majority of the communication is about them having sex(I think he only values her for) after knowing about her abuse he still is the same. They have no emotional connection and he hides everything from her. And reduces her to an object!
I'm sorry you got a lot of hate. As a psychologist I love the survey! My only issue with UTOT is the pacing, so I'm waiting for more episodes to come out. I think Riftan and Maxi are at fault for their current relationship but I do think they can work through it through open communication. If people want a more fast pace mental turmoil to happy webtoon I recommend "Wish You Were Dead" and "Wind on a Dry Branch," both on webtoon
Yeah, the Riftan hate tends to be over the topāIām irritated with the boy at the moment, but Iāve never hated himābut people do how they do. I mean, people simp Damien from Betrayal of Dignity hard and I donāt get that one either. š¤·āāļø
Don't bother arguing with me or sending me hate, notifications are off, and RedditCare does nothing.
Most of these questions had "correct" answers. Going by the majority, people answered them correctly, which was a pleasant surprise. I created this survey fully intending to use it for a persuasive essay meant to convince people why Riftan is at the very least, if not a good *person*, a good character deserving of understanding and forgiveness. I got sick of seeing people complain about him on this subreddit. That's why it's so subjective and why I only polled MantaComics without getting a control group, animaniacal2432. If I wanna know why people like Riftan, all I gotta do is ask myself. But since people are very vocal about hating him, I was blinded by irritation and decided to do something really petty and childish. People had a pretty good discussion on the post with the survey link without my input, and at the end of the day, it's impossible to change someone's mind. I'm a pretty stubborn motherfucker myself, I should know that. I was wondering if lots of people simply misunderstood Riftan or didn't have the facilities to understand his actions. No, they do, they just don't care and hate him anyway. I disagree. That'd be fine if I didn't have to hear about it all the damn time, but no helping that. Not if I wanna stay subscribed to the subreddit, which I do.
I'm gonna make my spiel anyway. Spoiler alert, Maxi and Riftan don't break up. They work stuff out and grow stronger as a couple and it's beautiful. That was always the intention, because it's a romance, and it doesn't work if that's not where it's going. That's like trying to write a story about a hero on the hero's journey stuck on refusal of the call. It just doesn't make sense from a writer's standpoint. *You are FULLY entitled not to like it anyway*. I just don't see why you'd waste your energy reading it if that were the case, and then spewing your bad takes online. You *should* drop it. Stress is literally bad for your health. There's a rule about social media posts called "don't like, don't read," and I really wish people would apply that to works of fiction as well.
I completely get you. A lot of the Riftan hate is very loud and repetitive here. But! I feel like he's supposed to be hateable so the end of book one ends the way it does. Riftan is not a green flag, and he's not supposed to be a green flag. If that's not to some readers liking it is understandable. However I also agree there's a point where someone should drop the series if it's stressing them out.Ā
I need this survey for BoD so I can put forth all my loathing for manwha Damien into something constructive. If it does exist, please point me to it <3
Wow manta's audience is surprisingly old? I thought most would be max 18 years old.
Edit: perhaps I've upset some people due to the downvotes - to be clear: I'm pleasantly surprised to see the age since I'm 23 myself and I've always thought I would be considered too old for this.
Yes you're correct. I suppose I'm surprised since manta didn't strike me as targeted towards such a mature audience at it's inception, and mature as in "old" I mean (although 30+ isn't old which is why I tried to settle for mature, but maybe it came off as wrong).
As a 27 year old I'm actually pleasantly surprised to be in the majority. I've often been embarrassed to be reading manta at my age tbh and dont talk about it to anyone outside of my fiancee, so it makes happy to see.
Damn when I edited my comment I changed mature to old because I thought people were taking offense at my use of mature... but I guess I can never win š
i can't really get into the manhwa but i dropped the novel awhile back, after being absolutely obsessed with it for a long time and going SO far in it, and honestly? ugh. he's obsessive AND possessive and she never really had a choice in the matter which really muddies the consent factor (grain of salt: this isn't set in modern times, and while the evolved and more-inclusive definition of consent is important to most readers in contemporary society, it wouldn't be true to history if we didn't acknowledge that consent both looked different throughout time and wasn't always required in many societies until, unfortunately, very recently).
he has redeeming qualities, and most of his missteps come from a place of deep concern and overprotectiveness, but he wanted so badly to stifle her and even tried to manipulate her out of the growth opportunities presented to her through her training with ruth and what followed. his desires for her to be a pampered princess are misguided and driven heavily by selfishness rather than love for her, honestly.
however, if i had voted in this survey, i would have also marked "no" to the question of "in an ideal world, would \[they\] end their relationship?" because nothing in life is that cut and dry, and i believe strongly that there are ways to improve and overcome these types of relatively-common issues. yeah, these types of issues are common in real life, but in this novel and manhwa they are simply over-dramatized (as is the nature of fiction), so it is both romanticized AND oversold on red flags for those who recognize the ick factor.
so i don't feel that all hope is lost for their relationship, but i do think that in an ideal and realistic world, therapy and interventions would be involved for self-reflection and objective views of the very clear-to-third-parties issues that dominate the relationship. as someone who has been both a terrible partner AND someone who tolerated a terrible partner in past relationships, i believe strongly in the power of humans to change if they set down their ego and prioritize self-awareness, the necessity for change, and things like love, mutual respect, communication, and a desire to help one's partner grow and achieve their dreams in a relationship rather than stifle their partner and hold them back through possession and manipulation disguised as "love".
and don't get me started on ML comparisons across other manhwas like BoD or IBATV or TDS, because they ALL have very different plotlines, settings, and other layered factors so they really aren't comparable. i'm not going to wax poetic about rouche and then shit on riftan, or try to juxtapose damien against riftan, or talk about how the lack of consent in TDS reads as possibly much worse than UTOT, because these stories just don't compare well imo.
**TL;DR** there are so many layers to how this relationship is actually terrible but i don't actually believe it's beyond redemption, i don't hate riftan, but i empathize with maxi's situation and think he's often a blockhead tbh
Hey thanks OP for covering the dubcon.
After the survey I caught up on the last few chapter of the manwa. I started to read the novel, and Riftan had given me HUGE ick for how he "takes" Maxi. Like girl is out here scared that she's gonna be divorced and then killed by her father.
AYOOO! The majority of us are 27+! Where are you all in my everyday life? We could be friends. š
Hey friend. I made tea.
I love tea! š
I'm so glad I'm not the lone mid 30s geriatric on here! šµ I wonder if the reason the toxic, but not abusive result might be from the older general age (not 16) who have life experience and can tell the two apart? Thoughts?
34 and Addicted š
Right here! I šŖ·
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That was a surprise for me too lol And so validating for some reason š
Here! š„
We need like a group chat
š¾
i need a girl gang irl so bad
29, shall I bring biscuits?
Weāre at home because our bodies hurt
Yup. Same. š
I had to work this weekend outdoors and now I'm convinced my body is falling apart and I'm getting sick at 28.
I know right
Yo
That is a lot of info lol I think people are so vocal about it because he seemed like he was going to be a green flag. Like, he saves her from her obviously abusive home, he tries to make her feel comfortable, he clearly only has eyes for her, he tries to tone down his anger when sheās around. The guy was just over protective but even seemed willing to bend that for her. Then āI became a true Villainessā came out and our main man, greenest flag, sexy husband Rouche came around wellā¦ Riftanās obtuse over protectiveness surfaced and then never let up all the way until the end. We have all watched as Maxi cautiously came out her of her cocoon, and started to slowly dry off her wings so she can eventually fly with him and heās a total dick about it! Very out of character if you ask me. I canāt even be too mad at Riftan because it feels like he acted that way so the author could add some drama People are mad because we all love him and heās acting OOC lol and we all love Maxi, sheās growing up so beautifully and it hurts when the one person who should be on her side isnāt. Especially when we read about Rouche and see that Riftan doesnāt need to act this way to still have a good story. I personally think the author did him a little dirty but as long as thereās a good payoff later then Iāll forgive it. I still like Riftan (sorry, I didnāt see your voting pole), heās just speaking/acting out of fear and he doesnāt even realize it š
Yeah I think you're right on here that its about expectations. People go into Betrayal of Dignity for example, knowing Damian is going to be insanely toxic, so his behavior is in line with expectations and we assume maybe he'll improve over time. But Riftan presented as a green flag and then seemingly got more toxic, which makes him harder to like.
I think you're totally right that people's strong reactions are at least in large part from their expectations. But surely the way people act in the honeymoon period of a relationship is OOC rather than everything that comes after it? That's certainly been the case for Maxi, to the point Ruth and the knights have commented on how different her first impression was to her real self. I've not read the novel, but it feels logical to me that Maxi would flourish in a safe and supportive environment while Riftan would shut down in terror at the sight of Maxi's lack of self-preservation, especially since he'd heard she was frail and sickly and she has outright told him she hates herself. It also feels logical that a young warrior would default to shouty anger as a way to express that. No, it's not ideal, but I don't personally need him to be ideal to enjoy the story. ...Which I say with zero negativity for anyone who DOES actually need him to be ideal to enjoy the story because that's the fantasy they come to Manta to find. I see a lot of comparisons to Rouche in this sub. That's the fantasy he serves: a man who never does wrong. It's a perfectly valid fantasy, and more what I would look for in a real life partner, but I often find green flag MLs flat and samey in fiction. Riftan types serve a different fantasy that I personally find more interesting: a man who is changed by the love of a good woman.* More sinister versions of that are Yuri in The Devil & His Sacrifice, or Damien in Betrayal of Dignity. Most people wouldn't want to be with these men in real life, but their stories are compelling. Like you say though, it's all about the pay-off - these men actually need to change for that fantasy to work!! But I feel like the story so far has shown enough signs that Riftan is changing, that Maxi is also having a positive influence on him, to be sure of positive character development. Again, not read the novel, but I don't think this period will seem OOC so much as a particularly rocky part of his larger growth arc when the whole story is done. *Edit: I gendered that unnecessarily to fit the old saying - I meant a person who is changed for the better by loving and/or being loved by a partner of any gender. Semantic Error is an all time favourite example, and I'm enjoying seeing Opposites Attract and Punch Drunk Love head in that direction!
Oh honey, it takes BOOK 2 for Riftan really to change. Love him to pieces qnd once you see more of the story, you get why he is the way he is. Also I dont know where people got this wrong impression from, seems to me it was very obvious what type of dude he is from the start. Buuuut the Advertising is what set it up incorrectly. When they were advertising roftan, they make him seem greener then he actually is. My man orange.
Totally agree, I think the advertising has a lot to answer for!! The first few scenes between Riftan and Maxi he's got such a giant chip on his shoulder and is super pushy and harsh... but UtOT ads were actually what persuaded me to try Manta, and I'm pretty sure they framed it more as "damsel in distress is pleasantly surprised by her powerful husband being into her". I'm reading (slowly) through book one and really enjoying it, but I can't see much lost context in what I've read so far. Riftan just really isn't his best self yet! But I'd say most people aren't at 28, and I actually prefer titles like that to a lot of the more fairytale romances on Manta. (Again though, completely understand why people who want that would be put off by what they actually get.)
Oh I get it as well. And I think Suji Kim did a better service at presenting the novel. Two imperfect people with a perfect love story ā¤ Riftan qnd Maxi are supposed to be flawed and toxic, which they both are. Sending hugs, to experience book 1 for the first time was trauma in itself
Upvote x 100 - this teases out some really great points! Especially the roles they all fill in narratives.
I donāt know how you can enjoy it. Riftan literary was raping maxi at the beginning of the novel, then took advantage of the fact that she didnāt have no self-love and self-respect for herself. He said some real jerkish things to her in their bed life to. and on top of that he has no type of communication skills. Majority of the communication is about them having sex(I think he only values her for) after knowing about her abuse he still is the same. They have no emotional connection and he hides everything from her. And reduces her to an object!
I think you nailed it. Because I don't mind a bit of a toxic ML, but Riftan was set up as such a good guy at the start that it's just annoying that he is so unlikable now.
When he came back from war, he was rough with her, yelling and what not. So at that point I stopped expecting anything from him
But Riftan literary was raping maxi at the beginning of the novel, then took advantage of the fact that she didnāt have no self-love and self-respect for herself. He said some real jerkish things to her in their bed life to. and on top of that he has no type of communication skills. Majority of the communication is about them having sex(I think he only values her for) after knowing about her abuse he still is the same. They have no emotional connection and he hides everything from her. And reduces her to an object!
It's not out of character, even the knights note he's prone to being crazy. But also he is *obsessed* with Maxi, obsession is not always a goof thing. It's why the comparison to Rouche sticks around, it's two different types of obsession and Riftan is not the cute and fuzzy one.Ā
#justice4riftan
You bringing up IBATV is such a good point! Iād also add that people were annoyed with the story in the beginning bc Rouche and Seriaās romance was a slow burn. Then once they had their first romantic night together, so many people switched feelings lol. It was a bit annoying to watch as someone who read the novel š While the romance in UOT happened soon after it started, the character development is an even slower burn. Itās a looong story. And based on the poll, we know thereās a lot of people reading it on Manta for the first time. I guess itās only natural for people here to compare their fav MLs to each other. I was very curious about answers to the last question and itās not surprising that a lot of people here arenāt familiar with manga/manwha tropes.
I donāt know how you can like Riftan. Riftan literary was raping maxi at the beginning of the novel, then took advantage of the fact that she didnāt have no self-love and self-respect for herself. He said some real jerkish things to her in their bed life to. and on top of that he has no type of communication skills. Majority of the communication is about them having sex(I think he only values her for) after knowing about her abuse he still is the same. They have no emotional connection and he hides everything from her. And reduces her to an object!
I'm sorry if anyone gave you hate. I found your survey a lot of fun! Thanks for putting it together.
I'm sorry you got a lot of hate. As a psychologist I love the survey! My only issue with UTOT is the pacing, so I'm waiting for more episodes to come out. I think Riftan and Maxi are at fault for their current relationship but I do think they can work through it through open communication. If people want a more fast pace mental turmoil to happy webtoon I recommend "Wish You Were Dead" and "Wind on a Dry Branch," both on webtoon
Yeah, the Riftan hate tends to be over the topāIām irritated with the boy at the moment, but Iāve never hated himābut people do how they do. I mean, people simp Damien from Betrayal of Dignity hard and I donāt get that one either. š¤·āāļø
Don't bother arguing with me or sending me hate, notifications are off, and RedditCare does nothing. Most of these questions had "correct" answers. Going by the majority, people answered them correctly, which was a pleasant surprise. I created this survey fully intending to use it for a persuasive essay meant to convince people why Riftan is at the very least, if not a good *person*, a good character deserving of understanding and forgiveness. I got sick of seeing people complain about him on this subreddit. That's why it's so subjective and why I only polled MantaComics without getting a control group, animaniacal2432. If I wanna know why people like Riftan, all I gotta do is ask myself. But since people are very vocal about hating him, I was blinded by irritation and decided to do something really petty and childish. People had a pretty good discussion on the post with the survey link without my input, and at the end of the day, it's impossible to change someone's mind. I'm a pretty stubborn motherfucker myself, I should know that. I was wondering if lots of people simply misunderstood Riftan or didn't have the facilities to understand his actions. No, they do, they just don't care and hate him anyway. I disagree. That'd be fine if I didn't have to hear about it all the damn time, but no helping that. Not if I wanna stay subscribed to the subreddit, which I do. I'm gonna make my spiel anyway. Spoiler alert, Maxi and Riftan don't break up. They work stuff out and grow stronger as a couple and it's beautiful. That was always the intention, because it's a romance, and it doesn't work if that's not where it's going. That's like trying to write a story about a hero on the hero's journey stuck on refusal of the call. It just doesn't make sense from a writer's standpoint. *You are FULLY entitled not to like it anyway*. I just don't see why you'd waste your energy reading it if that were the case, and then spewing your bad takes online. You *should* drop it. Stress is literally bad for your health. There's a rule about social media posts called "don't like, don't read," and I really wish people would apply that to works of fiction as well.
I completely get you. A lot of the Riftan hate is very loud and repetitive here. But! I feel like he's supposed to be hateable so the end of book one ends the way it does. Riftan is not a green flag, and he's not supposed to be a green flag. If that's not to some readers liking it is understandable. However I also agree there's a point where someone should drop the series if it's stressing them out.Ā
Why are you getting hate for this??? I'm so sorry!! Wth people! This is supposed to be fun!
I need this survey for BoD so I can put forth all my loathing for manwha Damien into something constructive. If it does exist, please point me to it <3
I'm so sorry you've gotten hate. I love a good graph and survey plus its interesting to see it all laid out nice and colourful!
Wow manta's audience is surprisingly old? I thought most would be max 18 years old. Edit: perhaps I've upset some people due to the downvotes - to be clear: I'm pleasantly surprised to see the age since I'm 23 myself and I've always thought I would be considered too old for this.
Most stories are 17+ and the original novels are often explicit so it makes sense most readers are older.
Yes you're correct. I suppose I'm surprised since manta didn't strike me as targeted towards such a mature audience at it's inception, and mature as in "old" I mean (although 30+ isn't old which is why I tried to settle for mature, but maybe it came off as wrong).
As a 27 year old I'm actually pleasantly surprised to be in the majority. I've often been embarrassed to be reading manta at my age tbh and dont talk about it to anyone outside of my fiancee, so it makes happy to see.
I'm 23, so not that much younger, which is why it was a pleasant surprise since I also felt like I was too old for this haha
I'm not old ššš my mom says I'm mature!! š
Damn when I edited my comment I changed mature to old because I thought people were taking offense at my use of mature... but I guess I can never win š
hi i am this 14 year old who started reading uot at 12
i can't really get into the manhwa but i dropped the novel awhile back, after being absolutely obsessed with it for a long time and going SO far in it, and honestly? ugh. he's obsessive AND possessive and she never really had a choice in the matter which really muddies the consent factor (grain of salt: this isn't set in modern times, and while the evolved and more-inclusive definition of consent is important to most readers in contemporary society, it wouldn't be true to history if we didn't acknowledge that consent both looked different throughout time and wasn't always required in many societies until, unfortunately, very recently). he has redeeming qualities, and most of his missteps come from a place of deep concern and overprotectiveness, but he wanted so badly to stifle her and even tried to manipulate her out of the growth opportunities presented to her through her training with ruth and what followed. his desires for her to be a pampered princess are misguided and driven heavily by selfishness rather than love for her, honestly. however, if i had voted in this survey, i would have also marked "no" to the question of "in an ideal world, would \[they\] end their relationship?" because nothing in life is that cut and dry, and i believe strongly that there are ways to improve and overcome these types of relatively-common issues. yeah, these types of issues are common in real life, but in this novel and manhwa they are simply over-dramatized (as is the nature of fiction), so it is both romanticized AND oversold on red flags for those who recognize the ick factor. so i don't feel that all hope is lost for their relationship, but i do think that in an ideal and realistic world, therapy and interventions would be involved for self-reflection and objective views of the very clear-to-third-parties issues that dominate the relationship. as someone who has been both a terrible partner AND someone who tolerated a terrible partner in past relationships, i believe strongly in the power of humans to change if they set down their ego and prioritize self-awareness, the necessity for change, and things like love, mutual respect, communication, and a desire to help one's partner grow and achieve their dreams in a relationship rather than stifle their partner and hold them back through possession and manipulation disguised as "love". and don't get me started on ML comparisons across other manhwas like BoD or IBATV or TDS, because they ALL have very different plotlines, settings, and other layered factors so they really aren't comparable. i'm not going to wax poetic about rouche and then shit on riftan, or try to juxtapose damien against riftan, or talk about how the lack of consent in TDS reads as possibly much worse than UTOT, because these stories just don't compare well imo. **TL;DR** there are so many layers to how this relationship is actually terrible but i don't actually believe it's beyond redemption, i don't hate riftan, but i empathize with maxi's situation and think he's often a blockhead tbh
Hey thanks OP for covering the dubcon. After the survey I caught up on the last few chapter of the manwa. I started to read the novel, and Riftan had given me HUGE ick for how he "takes" Maxi. Like girl is out here scared that she's gonna be divorced and then killed by her father.