Because the ML in this story isn’t your typical “pretty boy” with those scars on his face so readers are quick to forgive and forget POTN ML’s brutal abuse towards the MC because he’s “hot” whereas this ML isn’t seen as such. And people love to shit on anything that’s not their fave when drawing parallels that frankly don’t exist just to put another manhwa down. The two stories couldn’t be more different from the characterizations, to the plot, their dynamic, motives etc.
I agree with all the points you mentioned and why their dynamic is so interesting to read. Those who claim the MC is starting to fall for the ML clearly need to go back and have a re-read, the hate is absolutely palpable and we’re just in the very beginning of the story where the two of them are still testing one another to see how far each will go. It’s a game of cat and mouse and we still don’t know who’s the cat and who’s the mouse.
my main point of hat is the translation wheeeze like i....cannot take this serious at all. mood killer af. i'm still here reading but like "HANKERING FOR MY PENIS" LOL STOP IT fire whoever comes up with these lines they're pure pain
Good points all around, especially about the sort of unknown elements of their cat and mouse dynamic.
And it’s actually interesting you mention the attractiveness bias. I have noticed people generally more negatively about the ML’s scars and appearance. It’s interesting because that’s actually my favorite part of his design and what makes him so interesting—not only do the scars have a sort of implication about the stuff he’s survived and what he’s capable of, but his skin tone is interesting in the context of the story too. In feudal Korea pale skin was considered for nobility while brown was thought of as “peasant appearance”, if we’re keeping that in mind I wonder if he’s got a more “humble roots” backstory than the main character. It might explain that they’re both survivors—and even if it’s not the reason, there’s some visual storytelling there that sort of signifies that he’s not like other nobles.
You made really good points. However while I love POTN and have been gladly paying to read new episodes, I won't waste a dime on this story. POTN is hella toxic, but it was damn good storytelling. This one isn't up to par in that regard.
I read this Chinese novel, Brother. In it, this guy started sleeping with his mentally challenged blood brother (no step-brother bullshit). This is after said brother almost raped him. Even with such immoral characters, I still found myself rooting for them and wishing them happiness (because so many fucked up things happened to them). That's the power of good storytelling.
Exactly, it's this attractiveness bias the reason why readers worship MLs like Seungho, another one that comes to mind is the Jinx ML - both have absolutely no problem brutalizing their partners and the response is largely still positive towards them. I'm of course not excusing this ML either, but he's backed off in a few instances when he felt as if he was forcing himself on someone who didn't want it (because for him, where's the fun in that?). It's more complicated in this scenario since the MC is forcing himself into this situation for his revenge, and the ML is fully aware of his hatred and disdain and is amused at how far the MC is willing to go.
The ML's ruggedness is what makes this so interesting, he's hated by other nobles but loved by the king, and people simply follow him because they're scared of him; there's no love spared by the people around him, anyone can and will backstab him at any point and I fully believe we will witness this - which will likely be the catalyst for the MC to finally make a choice regarding his revenge. The scars are indications of his rough past, whether he was lower class, forced into wars or perhaps born from a concubine, I believe the ML had to fight and backstab for everything he has now. More realistically though, his noble title was probably a gift from the king for helping him during a war (this is my main guess). He needs to remain vigilant and he can't trust anybody, especially the MC who he knows is plotting revenge. But I think we will learn of a potential twist, the reason why the ML participated in the downfall of the MC's family, so I for one am sticking around to find out! (that and I'm a total sucker for power dynamics that aren't one sided)
Oh yeah, I by no means disliked POTN. I find myself interested in darker stories and concepts that really challenge me. When while it wasn’t my cup of tea, I did find myself really wanting them to figure it out in POTN and was interested in seeing that outcome. I’ve always loved explorations of darker romance, and LOVE when an author can take something (like you’re talking about with brother) that I’m immediately like disturbed by and make me root for them. Almost how like in that movie psycho you’re left with Norman Bates halfway through. It’s incredible to read when done correctly.
YES YES YES!! You get it. YOU GET IT. All of that is exactly my feelings too.
I suspect the same thing about his title too, and I suspect that MC’s family was by no means as good as he remembered them to be/thinks they are. I find their dynamic just so interesting because he’s fully aware of the MC’s motives, which arguably makes him one of the only people he can trust, since revenge plots are straightforward and trump most other political machinations. Meaning, the only person he can trust is the guy that wants to kill him because he knows *why* he wants to kill him; he wants to kill him for who he is NOT for leverage or power, which puts him in a really unique place.
I’m also a total sucker for inverted power dynamics. I love when the tables turn and just seeing what characters do, and I’m really excited for the hopefully eventual occurrence of that happening to MC, perhaps with MC regaining his title and holding a social advantage over ML, or ML falling for him first and MC holding an an emotional advantage over him.
If you like all this stuff and haven’t read it, you should check out the series Captive Prince. M/M political fantasy novel that explores power dynamics with a lot of good twists, it’s really good.
Thank you for the Captive Prince rec, I've actually had it on my list for a very long time so it's probably time to get to it! I'm thinking we need to swap recs because we're into the same things but our lists likely overlap a lot already. Feel free to hit me up if you want to get into deeper discussions, my current faves are The Ghost's Nocturne and Shutline among many others and I can talk about them all day!
commenting just to say i agree with everything both of you said and that captive prince is amazing and you should totally read it!!! if you're in need of the pdf version i have it and i could send it to you :)
This story is so fun, honestly I don’t really understand why people are hating on it. It’s tense, it’s political, it’s got steam, the enemies to lovers aspect *actually* has them start as enemies and neither of them are particularly good people. it’s Like they’ve played chess their entire lives but haven’t found another player to match each other until now. It’s refreshing to see actually amoral characters. I often see it compared to POTN, but while I enjoyed POTN to an extent, I found the MC too inactive and innocent and the ML too rapey and cruel without reason for my personal tastes—their dynamic wasn’t particularly interesting to me because it went one direction. Here, there’s a game of tug of war and exploration of power. In this story both characters are morally grey, the MC is proactive, scheming, and manipulative, and so is the ML, who I feel is incredibly compelling. The author has no scruples about having him be not a great person who’s fully aware of what he does and his place in the world. Despite the imbalance in their current situation, I find the MC and ML evenly matched in a lot of ways, and feel that they have a sort of tacit understanding about the kind of people each other are. There isn’t room for cheesy misunderstandings and drama when they see each other so plainly. I look forward to their relationship development.