Just finished the main story, haven't finished sides yet (though idk what even is the point of the side stories tbh since this is a different MC and ML).
I think MC is a well done power fantasy character. She's imperfect, her logic is flawed, and she's not infallible, and I loved that. But she's really the only well written character, relatively. ML ended up being her accessory. Aside from the initial massacre, he ended up being a nothingburger. The story keeps trying to push him as some "problem" but he literally was nothing but the deus ex machina.
Now, for my big rant: I HATE how they did three characters dirty. Terion, Caspelios, and Miloyd. Terion was a character that did not need to exist. He was sidelined early on, then it's like the author just remembered him near the end. Literal zero impact on the story and should never have been brought in. He could've been MC's morality pet or something, but no, he was thrown away.
Caspelios... another promising character that the author utterly failed. He could've been a no name mage, and nothing would've changed. With all the enigma around him, I thought he would be this important character. Heck, I thought he was Lagris and was a double agent, but no. Story literally did nothing for him. Main story didn't even reveal his identity despite all the buildup around him being this mysterious, important figure of the Tower. He even had his own flashback segment which... ultimately led to nothing.
Finally... Miloyd. Man, my heart aches for him. Literally the biggest victim in this entire story. For the record, I loved Valeta's final monologue towards him because it encapsulates her character perfectly: both her rights and wrongs. It was a monologue from her perspective and it neatly tied up her relationship with Miloyd (though it felt rushed af. She didn't even say it to hin directly. Ironic considering she calls him a coward.) Seriously, Miloyd is just as much of a victim as MC and ML are. Difference is, he didn't know he was a victim until it was too late. He genuinely loved MC. He even tried to fight his father, but the manipulation ran deep. MC berated him for "choosing to do nothing" but he literally couldn't do anything because he was manipulated at such a young age and trapped in a gilded cage. He was literally powerless, and unlike MC, he didn't have the mind of an adult as a child. I absolutely felt bad for him that MC hated his guts because she thought he assumed she has a happy life (she hated how he expected her to have led the same life as him), but at the same time, she expected him to break free from abuse and manipulation like she did... too bad for him, he didn't have the mind of an adult, the foresight of having read the novel, and an OP character by his side to massacre his abusive family and give him a new life. Yes, he was a coward, but when your manipulator is Satan incarnate, it's kinda hard to do anything. Heck, he even believed until the last minute that his father loved him, only for him to get stabbed for it... then the love of his life just told him to "kys" because he wasn't strong enough or smart enough. And for the record, I think he never even willingly used the binding necklace on her. MC just thought he did, which made her hate him even more... which adds to his tragedy.
Which is also why the side story gave me the ick. Not only did it give us a different version of MC and ML (who coerced OG MC into making love, btw) but it also villified Miloyd so hard for no good reason. Like, why did the side story make him a pathetic caricature of his father? It's as if the author hates him or something.
I always knew his fate would either dying in the hands of his father as an ally or dying to MC and ML as a full blown pathetic villain... I didn't expect he'd fall into a coma after being sidelined...
I still loved the story, and I enjoyed Valeta for all her rights and wrongs... but all the other characters are just... sad. ML's a terrible ML, Terion, Pel and Miloyd were wasted... oh, at least the two duke were pretty much a married gay couple, so there's that.
Just finished the main story, haven't finished sides yet (though idk what even is the point of the side stories tbh since this is a different MC and ML).
I think MC is a well done power fantasy character. She's imperfect, her logic is flawed, and she's not infallible, and I loved that. But she's really the only well written character, relatively. ML ended up being her accessory. Aside from the initial massacre, he ended up being a nothingburger. The story keeps trying to push him as some "problem" but he literally was nothing but the deus ex machina.
Now, for my big rant: I HATE how they did three characters dirty. Terion, Caspelios, and Miloyd. Terion was a character that did not need to exist. He was sidelined early on, then it's like the author just remembered him near the end. Literal zero impact on the story and should never have been brought in. He could've been MC's morality pet or something, but no, he was thrown away.
Caspelios... another promising character that the author utterly failed. He could've been a no name mage, and nothing would've changed. With all the enigma around him, I thought he would be this important character. Heck, I thought he was Lagris and was a double agent, but no. Story literally did nothing for him. Main story didn't even reveal his identity despite all the buildup around him being this mysterious, important figure of the Tower. He even had his own flashback segment which... ultimately led to nothing.
Finally... Miloyd. Man, my heart aches for him. Literally the biggest victim in this entire story. For the record, I loved Valeta's final monologue towards him because it encapsulates her character perfectly: both her rights and wrongs. It was a monologue from her perspective and it neatly tied up her relationship with Miloyd (though it felt rushed af. She didn't even say it to hin directly. Ironic considering she calls him a coward.) Seriously, Miloyd is just as much of a victim as MC and ML are. Difference is, he didn't know he was a victim until it was too late. He genuinely loved MC. He even tried to fight his father, but the manipulation ran deep. MC berated him for "choosing to do nothing" but he literally couldn't do anything because he was manipulated at such a young age and trapped in a gilded cage. He was literally powerless, and unlike MC, he didn't have the mind of an adult as a child. I absolutely felt bad for him that MC hated his guts because she thought he assumed she has a happy life (she hated how he expected her to have led the same life as him), but at the same time, she expected him to break free from abuse and manipulation like she did... too bad for him, he didn't have the mind of an adult, the foresight of having read the novel, and an OP character by his side to massacre his abusive family and give him a new life. Yes, he was a coward, but when your manipulator is Satan incarnate, it's kinda hard to do anything. Heck, he even believed until the last minute that his father loved him, only for him to get stabbed for it... then the love of his life just told him to "kys" because he wasn't strong enough or smart enough. And for the record, I think he never even willingly used the binding necklace on her. MC just thought he did, which made her hate him even more... which adds to his tragedy.
Which is also why the side story gave me the ick. Not only did it give us a different version of MC and ML (who coerced OG MC into making love, btw) but it also villified Miloyd so hard for no good reason. Like, why did the side story make him a pathetic caricature of his father? It's as if the author hates him or something.
I always knew his fate would either dying in the hands of his father as an ally or dying to MC and ML as a full blown pathetic villain... I didn't expect he'd fall into a coma after being sidelined...
I still loved the story, and I enjoyed Valeta for all her rights and wrongs... but all the other characters are just... sad. ML's a terrible ML, Terion, Pel and Miloyd were wasted... oh, at least the two duke were pretty much a married gay couple, so there's that.