I feel like why people's reaction towards Lydia are so torn comes down to honestly how the story is written. I don't like how a lot of people come in with guns blazing and accuses ppl that doesn't like Lydia as just being misogynistic, like that's not it. I think a big part of why ppl's feeling towards her are so strong is bcuz in stories similar to this, where the FATHER is the one being neglectful and abusive and the MC is reincarnated or something and tries to "earn" his love or simply just living her life and suddenly he loves her now, those types of story still paint the father as terrible, tho not overt, the story still makes us dislike the father in the beginning, the relationship between father and daughter is still strained and has to be built up slowly (mind you this kind of plot has been done with Mothers too tho not as much as fathers since it's a popular trope, so it's NOT misogyny), our feelings towards these Father's/Parents are usually earned slowly, we don't like them from the get go, the same goes for the MC, they usually are distrustful and at least resentful of the Parent, therefore the parent actually has to deal with consequences.
Whereas here, MC is an absolute saint (literally she's one) and doesn't hold her mom to any accountability, nor does anyone else hold her to any accountability, she herself does yes, but anyone else kinds of glorifies her as this absolutely gorgeous and amazing woman. NOW, don't get me wrong, we love attractive characters, BUT I have notice time and time again that this story uses Lydia's beauty as some sort of shield and tries to paint her as this cool fem-fatale WHICH mind you kind of defeats the whole point about her past, the fact that she was used, abused and that her worth was her beauty. Lydia's beauty could've been a part of her that helps deepens her character, it could've been about how much she struggle with prejudices, jealous ppl AND what she can get away with simply bcuz of how she looks (it's only explored in her past and never brought up again which drives me insane), instead now the only time her beauty is mentioned is always to further glorify her and it's very indicative of pretty privilege, it's similar to how ppl treat celebrities, how a lot of fans will defend their faves behavior simply bcuz of how gorgeous and or handsome they are (ESPECIALLY male actors). Yes she is now known for her intelligence and capabilities yet the story still use her beauty as some sort of crutch, I actually didn't notice it in the beginning when it wasn't so prevalent, but I have noticed a pattern that everytime she shows up, it's always about her beauty (almost like they're trying to use her beauty to distract us from her flaws). The thing is, the story as far as I can tell doesn't really paint Lydia as a mother trying to redeem herself (at time it does and those moments are usually my favorites, like the time Lydia had to stop herself from being controlling towards Lyrica), it feels more like a Heroin love story, nobody holds her accountable and the story itself doesn't really show any strong reaction towards what happened to Lyrica, even Lyrica herself doesn't reacte much, everything just feels like it's being pushed under a rug. This point is why alot of readers are so mad or uncomfortable, bcuz it doesn't feel earned, she's essentially living the heroin live while being a "villain" herself before, now don't start on her backstory, I myself almost fell into the trap of not holding her accountable simply bcuz her backstory was so terrible, BUT it doesn't, it explains her actions and let us understand and empathize with her but DOESN'T excuse her behavior.
Just like today's chapter, when somebody points out HER abuse, suddenly they're the villain. It feels like the author of story itself doesn't really understand the gravity of her actions and tries to make everything sunshine and rainbows ( I understand it's bcuz everything is from Lyrica's perspective but the lack of reaction from other characters are quite jarring too).
It really seems like the story is trying to paint Lydia as this super cool female lead, while it works in stories that are not ABOUT abuse and redemption, it doesn't work here, It feels quite cheap and sometimes immature and cringy. Bcuz we HAVE seen sides of her that are downright atrocious, we already have a subconscious negative opinion and feelings about her, it is further amplified when so far she has not face any consequences and instead praised and worship, nobody calls her out for it, nothing happens to her, she's painted like this perfect person (by other characters) AND the fact that her and the emporer keeps this "talk bad about her and I kill you" kind of act ( i seriously DO NOT like the emporer, he makes me cringe), that conveniently literally FORBIDS any accountability on her part. They have this very y/n and CEO dynamic that just doesn't work here bcuz it directly clashes with her abusive past and her relationship with Lyrica, it's odd to see a character that we know as flawed painted in such a weird light, it comes out as somewhat childish, like TELL ME WHY the emporer and Lydia has MORE screentime than Lydia and her own DAUGHTER. The story doesnt do a good job on the redemption part of the story, it just feels so un-serious.
I actually loved how Lydia was written in the beginning and the glorification of her was in part funny and why I enjoyed it. But I would've thought that as the story progresses we would explore more of her human side, and we might see Lyrica humanize her more and stop glorifying her so much, I thought we would be able to see the mother and daughter bond grow but no, the story stays the same, the feeling overall is very un-serious and nothing changes, and as time passes its just really uncomfortable to read, like the story itself doesn't understand the seriousness of it all. Like she literally called her ABUSE a "secret past", like are you kidding me. It doesn't help that her romance with the emporer, dare I say it, kind of hinders her growth, he kind of like a shield to everything. Overall it feels unjustified.
LONG STORY SHORT ppl are uncomfortable bcuz they're seeing an ABUSER painted in a positive light. Abusers should not be painted as such, we can empathize and understand how they came to be AND cheer them on their road to healing and redemption but definitely NOT glorifying them.
I actually love Lydia and nuanced and complex her character is, I thought that she brings forth such conflicting feelings between so many readers is why she is complex, BUT the story fell flat on how they handled her character, it was not executed with the gravity that it should have had and instead everything is quite sunshine and rainbows and lacks the seriousness that alot of readers crave. Therefore failing to make the readers connect more to Lydia unfortunately.
Thats my take ╮(￣▽￣)╭
Is it just me or after re reading this with a fully developed frontal lobe EVERYTHING IS PISSING ME OFF ONG WOOJIN PISSES ME TF OFF, KIHUN PISSES ME OFF, THE MAIN CHARACTER OR WHATEVER THE HELL HIS NAME WAS PISSES ME OFF BECAUSE OF HIS LACK OF SELF RESPECT. Not in any universe would I EVER think Woojin's behavior was flattering or i'd let it fly. I'm just ranting right now omg, the story is not that bad but everyone behaves in a way that feels like everything was written by a 15 year old who thinks they're edgy (maybe it's because the fact that I'm reading this at 3:00 a.m. and everything is rage-baiting the heck out of me). The way Woojin's reasons were so self-serving and selfish plus how he's always so dismissive towards the MC situation and feelings. (yes I know he cares or at least show whatever the fuck he feels in his inner monologue but his behavior is FOUL). Don't even get me started on the blue haired bitch with a raging superiority complex and how he infantilizes Seohyun, also Seohyun's stupid as love triangle pisses me off too (This shit reminds me so much of the weird tik tok famous books from booktok nowadays where the main character is always so tiny and dainty and needs protection but also super sassy and everybody's in love with them). Don't get me wrong, I don't hate when a character is loved by many people, it's the fact that those author writes it out that everybody around them likes them for their body and sexualizes them but doesn't treat the subject with enough seriousness that it needs to be therefore making it feel like it's more written in a flattering light which is quite harmful, it feels like they just wrote the characters (like Seohyun) out to be sexy and cute and everybody loves them just to add to the edginess or whatever. OH how I would have thrown hands immediately if I were to meet Kihun in real life and of course I would have already assassinated Woojin alr if you're wondering.
Anyways, don't take this rant as an objective criticism to the story because it's not, I'm just pissed off at 3:00 a.m. because I probably need sleep and because everybody's behavior is absolutely crazy, in an annoying cringy kind of way, it just goes to show that as you grow your tastes changes because I gave this a five star just a couple of years ago and now I'm giving it a 3 stars (I'm not giving it a 1 star because it's not the worst thing ever and also not a 2 star because it's not that bad I'm just mad lol). The only saving grace about this story is probably the art style which is also not that fitting for the vibe of the story for some reason. The vibe of the story really gives off that YA/Adult stories like that book Twisted Love but less violent, but the art is giving fluff, it's good but it's putting me off. (Man I just hate how everybody acts, LEGIT NOBODY ACTS LIKE THAT, yes I know it's fiction, yes I'm just pissed for no reason)
Probably the only character that I like in this WHOLE story is the MC's brother and the dude that does chores but even he's kind of weird.
No offense to anybody that loves this story, everybody has their own experience that shaped their values and Outlook, mine just made me hate this book, it has nothing to do with any body but me ok y'all. Have a good day or night because I'm going to sleep now （/TДT)/
After rereading this it's as frustrating as I remembered it to be. Tho how I feel about it is a lot more light-hearted than how I used to . Reading the comments I realized a lot of people were blaming HS and I completely understand it because this shit show was created because of his lies and miscommunication, and honestly that is true but a lot of people also said that this could have easily been solved if he wasn't such a coward and confessed, tho they themselves said at the end that MC and uke wouldn't have met or the MC wouldn't have taken the gig if not for HS lying that uke was his crush. Anyways what I wanted to say was HS could have solved it but it wasn't the only way to solve all the miscommunication because the other way to solve this was MC simply coming clean and admitting that he is interested in the uke to begin with because let's be honest here it was an asshole move to date your best friend's crush behind his back even though you knew his exes's left him cuz of you (even if it wasn't a real crush). And how would HS have guessed that the MC would lead the uke on (accidentally because of his guilt) when he simply could have just told HS out right in the beginning that "hey I want to try pursuing this person". The MC not wanting to tell HS because he didn't want to hurt him was a dumb excuse because if you didn't want to hurt him with the first place why would you secretly FUCK HIS CRUSH???? Honestly nobody in the story is good tbh except for the uke. HS was at least coming from a good place though in a dumb way, MC however was just objectively a horrible friend so idek why y'all would hate HS when the MC himself could've been the person to stop this mess and honestly yes HS did lie a lot but most of his problems with the uke were caused by himself and his guilt, when all of that could have not happened had he just been honest (and not be a FUCKASS friend). I remembered getting hate for pointing this out back when I first read this but I honestly don't care cuz it's my opinion and nobody else has to agree with it, I'm just venting at this point.
With friends like the MC who needs enemies (AND he had AUDACITY to say "we're not selfish" at the end of the story) ╮(￣▽￣)╭
I forgive you lily's mom . I wasn't fully on board back then but after this chapter i changed my mind. This chapter finally let me see the full extent of her guilt and regret
I kinda ship ver and Ian, they honestly have more chemistry than him and ken or cain tbh. (Also Ian's like my fave character so I'm very sad rn )
Okay I think people may have either forgotten or just didn't notice that Danwoo IS somewhat interested in Woori (they did almost fucked in the cinema) so i don't think Woori like did anything un-consensual, it was dubious at most, so I don't get why everybody is suddenly hating on him (while the ML is practically the same), Danwoo was liking it and grinding back too like? Also in the movie chapter he was already wondering if he could "LIKE like" Woori too, and if he only likes the ML because he's the first person he's slept with so he also wanted to experiment and find out (and then they jerked each other of, did everybody forgot about that? And no Woori did not trick him into doing it, although what he said is kind of manipulative about how friends do this or whatever, but we can see it in Danwoo monologue that he wants to try it out to see if he likes Woori too and NOT because he felt pressured, he's not THAT naive and gullible) . I mean this IS a smut, they're all adults (and sluts at that :)), so I don't think there's a big problem (and like at the beginning ML was also kinda dubious, so yk, there is a theme going on here, idk why everybody's only mad NOW). Altho Danwoo is kind of an airhead, he's also a consenting ADULT, and he was enjoying and reciprocating it (he literally was grinding back and thinking about how it would slip right in ot wtv). To me Danwoo is experimenting and figuring himself out right now so I don't think there's anything unconsensual or grapey about this? Either I'm weird or ppl don't have reading comprehension.
╮(￣▽￣)╭
(Also I'm not saying that they're behavior is not bad and should be glorified, I'm just saying Danwoo IS consenting whether they're shitty people or not)
Even ines doesn't care and wanted him to cheat, why should you guys be so hung up on it if she isn't even hung up on it herself ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ
I don't know why everybody is dropping this left and right, like it's quite obvious that this story was going to be horrifying from the start. Also it's only actually starting NOW, we don't know much about anyone, if they're lying or if they're not, we don't know if our MC is an absolute psycho, there's a lot of questions to be explored too. The town could all be lying and they're up to something fishy, or Guwon is gonna have a really deep secret that's like a big plot twist or something. So I don't know why everyone is jumping to conclusion and dropping it when A. The premise of the story was already very dark so what's so bad about it now? and B. There's really too much mystery to jump to conclusion right now so let's at least stick around for a while more? ┗( T﹏T )┛
I really want to forgive the mom and all (and I have I just still don't really like her) but like everytime something (traumatic) happens to Lyrica she's nowhere to be seen comforting her? Like yes she has done a lot for Lyrica's comfort and safety behind the scenes, and has express how regretful and sorry she is, but I don't really ever see her making an effort to bond more with Lyrica emotionally, comforting her, spending time with her, heck after Lyrica just almost died, I don't see her spending more time or comforting her and instead we see her getting comforted instead? Like ofc she should be comforted bcuz her lovely daughter almost died and that's traumatic in itself but I don't like how they used that moment to solidify and rub the romance between her and the emporer in our face? We don't need that (well at least I don't), what we need is more moments between mother and daughter. It's almost as if bcuz lyrica is so understanding and kind, she doesn't make more of an effort bcuz she knows Lyrica doesn't really need it as much, but honestly I think Lyrica really misses her mom and would like more bonding time with her ( yes ik this story is about Lyrica so the mother isn't shown as much but at least give them some more screen time together instead of her and the damn emporer cuz it's getting hella cheesy). Heck even in those shitty abandoned princess stories the dads make effort and actually spend time with their daughter more than her, even tho I won't forgive them bcuz even if they care now they wouldn't have cared if the MC didn't change herself (which is stupid).
The 2nd couple made me cringe tf out omg (especially the bottom oml). Like my guy, way to say ur insecure. The relationship feels kinda shallow too? Idk, it felt a lot more physical then emotional?
Compared to that the 1st couple had a lot more depth. (Obvi cuz they had more chapters)
╮(￣▽￣)╭
Honestly idk how everyone keeps thinking this is gonna be fluff or that Guwon is a green flag??!?! SINCE DAY ONE I have felt something was of and knew something's up, like??? Ain't it hella obvious? It's super noticable that A. Guwon is not what he seems and B. He's OBVIOUSLY some type of zombie....
Hyuk with the buzz cut and dog tag....... It's giving Coriolanus Snow
Y'all are saying you want him to stay in that body so he could get dicked. But really she could just get a strap
Ik I'm gonna get attacked but........That was low-key the most anti climax climax ever OR if I'm being fr that was so bad it's almost trash
LIKE IT WAS SO GOOD I THOUGHT IT WOULD HAVE LIKE A BIG COOL CLIMAX OR SMTH AND I GOT DISAPPOINTED (like everything was so rushed and kinda cringy not gonna lie, idk why but the way it was written was so cliche and the main character was so dumb that it was kinda out of character or just the fact that the dad ain't even scary like I thought he would be, he was just an op angry emo in a bad way, he didn't even make me feel nervous for the mc I was like huh? That's it?, also the 2 consorts got defeated in like 5 panels)
I love how she said she didn't want him to be lonely so she tried to set him up so he'd be happier. Meanwhile trying to destroy a happy relationship and that would make him sad (and saying that she didn't know it was wrong, like what is actually wrong with you???) and then proceeded to say she won't support them even though she said he'd be lonely and she wanted to help that??? If you are trying to help in the first place so he'd not be alone, maybe after realizing what you did is wrong, support him? Just because he's not normal you're ostracizing them now, and you said you didn't want him to be alone and sad, YOU'RE LITERALLY DOING THE EXACT OPPOSITE THING YOU WANTED TO DO (WHICH IS NOT SUPPORTING HIM AND THEREFORE MAKING HIM ALONE!!!???!??) IS SHE DUMB? This just proved that she never did it for his own good, she did it for her own selfish reasons . FOCKING BIATCH :(
I love how she said she didn't want him to be lonely so she tried to set him up so he'd be happier. Meanwhile trying to destroy a happy relationship and that would make him sad (and saying that she didn't know it was wrong, like what is actually wrong with you???) and then proceeded to say she won't support them even though she said he'd be lonely and she wanted to help that??? If you are trying to help in the first place so he'd not be alone, maybe after realizing what you did is wrong, support him? Just because he's not normal you're ostracizing them now, and you said you didn't want him to be alone and sad, YOU'RE LITERALLY DOING THE EXACT OPPOSITE THING YOU WANTED TO DO (WHICH IS NOT SUPPORTING HIM AND THEREFORE MAKING HIM ALONE!!!???!??) IS SHE DUMB?
I read the newest side chapters in the raws and after Jooha fell in the water they got out immediately(so yay they didn't die). He re gained his memory in the water and dooshik saving him is really symbolic in the sense that their first true meeting was him saving dooshik in the water ┗( T﹏T )┛