All men do is disappointment

Dead ass, he fucking ain't lol. I laugh at the comments who are swooning and hoping for Riftan to save Maxi even though he was the one who set her away in the first place. Had he not done that, Maxi wouldn't be in this situation right now, not to mention his behavior so far in the story has been dog shit. I'm just waiting for the season finale so that everyone starts fighting each other over what Riftan says to Maxi lololol.

Or at least if he gave her any comfort whatsoever before seeing her off. I get that he was angry that she put herself in danger but she just lost their child and woke up from a coma and needed her husbands comfort. Honestly up until that point, I had faith in him but as soon as he lashed out at her KNOWING what state she was in, I was done. I couldn’t hold out any more hope for him. I need her with the wizard. Riftan can die in war for all I care.

Exactly. It wasn't bad enough that he decided to omitt mentioning Maxi's miscarriage to her, but even ordered everyone else to stay quit about it as well, something that Maxi had every right to know about—even if it would've gutted her—because it was HER CHILD in HER BODY. Even if Maxi had been told about her unknown pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage right after she recovered from her coma, the least Riftan could've done, since he apparently "loves" her so much, was stay by her side and comforted her through the grief of having lost their child, but nope. He doesn't do that. Riftan has only ever thought about his own pain, never once considering Maxi's despair or discomfort because he believes he knows what's best for her, more than SHE does, tf?

Same. They're making it seem like he's her white knight or like he's some unsung hero or something, even though (at least novel purists) forget the fucked up shit he says to her at the end of Book 1. Never apologizes to her for it either, lol.

And that was AFTER we all pretended not to notice his lack of interest in her past or who she was outside of being his trophy wife. A woman who stutters and apologises for it and shrinks herself and tries her hardest to “prove she’s useful” is an abused woman. No matter how you slice it, she’s clearly abused. The fact that he doesn’t notice it at all and that he never once asked her questions or delved deeper and the one to bring it out of her was her mage teacher is appalling. We brushed that off and gave him the benefit of the doubt specifically because he was stressed over his land and his new wife and the wars he was forced to partake in. But we shouldn’t have brushed it off. He never fucking changes. Never.

I will at least give him this. In the season one finale, he did make minimal effort in learning more about Maxi, such as her likes and dislikes, though only for those attempts to be cut short by Riftan wanting (and succeeding) to fuck Maxi outside, under a tree, despite her discomfort and hesitation (guess that's how the series got its name, lol). Anything after that point, it's as if Riftan had given up wanting to get to know Maxi as a person, and would instead default to raw-dogging Maxi or God forbid, Maxi wants to learn more about her husband because then Riftan would dodge or outright shoot down her attempts. Never down to talk but always down to fuck, right?

Honestly, nothing really gets better. They keep arguing and then default to sex as a band-aid fix—sometimes even in the middle of the conflict itself—which only highlights how little they actually resolve. It’s a deeply dysfunctional dynamic, yet Manta and a good chunk of the fanbase still try to pass it off as wholesome or romantic. It never truly grows into something healthy; it just slowly loses steam. By the end of the story, Riftan’s fading passion doesn’t read as maturation—it reads like the natural end of an obsession that was never built on real emotional substance to begin with.

Wow. So you’re saying to quit while we’re behind huh? Good to know.

PREACH. Give us some goddamn FLAVOR. Where's the yearning??? Where's the "Bitch you ain't touching my queen 'cause she will break your stupid ahh dih" Riftan, my man... Give us something we can highkey defend you with.

I'm only excited for him to friggen beat her Father's ass, like thats all there is to it lol