This is such an important and under discussed take. Imagine being a 19 year old who dropped out of school at 15. Hyeseung raised himself and that meant he went through insane hardships and felt like he had nothing to offer. Even his own parents got married only because of his existence and he watched their marriage fall apart through every single hardship. So many people get mad that his two options in his brain were abort the baby or leave the baby but having grown up in that kind of environment why would he want to put his kid through something similar? Not to mention I feel like this is one of many popular mpreg stories that severely undermines the trauma of rape, no matter how you look at this he was raped multiple times while being imprisoned in his baby daddy’s house while everyone around him gaslit him into thinking he had no other options cause he was a poor omega. I think the main couple has a beautiful relationship now and I think it’s mostly thanks to Byul and their true love for their child. But Hyeseung is a baby, he also never lived as an omega until this moment and lowkey no one gives him the grace he deserves.
that’s so true! so glad to hear your opinion since i’ve been seeing that so many other comments under this manhwa have similar views to the characters that participated in gaslighting hyesung (heesoo etc)
sometimes, i think its the internalized misogyny speaking. i notice a lot of hate for omegas (especially the feminine looking ones) in the comment sections of omegaverse manhwa/novels) since they take the "female" role in the relationship. a lot of ire is directed towards them that directly parallels how fenale characters are hated.
hyesung, written using the archetypes of someone who was baby trapped by a conventionally handsome man (dojin) who is by nature, presented to be his love interest got the worst of it bc "why doesnt he just get along with it, its obviously dojin who he's destined to be with" got the worst of it. he's in a bad situation but people expect characters like him (and other omega characters) to be level headed and choose the "best" option. kinda like how female mcs are treated in getting pregnant plots as well.
this is such a good take honestly. bl readers’ internalised misogyny is another can of worms i’ve been thinking about recently bc i feel like it has been more prominent not only in omegaverse manhwas but also other genres of bl manhwas where the MC is more feminine presenting. it’s so true that the way they talk about them are similar to how they talk about females MCs and women irl
and it’s also so often a class issue like the rich dad poor mom trope is so overused in manga as an excuse to trap the pregnant character using the idea of overall benefit and a better life to hide the fact that it’s literally manipulative. I honestly love how long Hyeseung fought for his individual freedom and how even after their relationship became more loving (although still somewhat forcefully cause he may not have come back without the bonding) he never let up on dojin and didn’t give into his situation. also going back to your misogyny point I feel like omega and female characters are often damned if you do damned if you don’t. if they’re too docile they’re mindless victims and if they fight against their situation they’re annoying try hards.
Agreed, btw in Korean age he was 18, he got baby trapped while being bearly an adult
now that enough time has passed, can i speak honestly abt how readers treat hyesung this is not a critique of the plot as it’s fiction and the author can write whatever they want but more on how the readers react to it. yes hyesung has an irritating and dense personality but people honestly need to be more empathetic? be so fr: he didn’t want the child initially, pregnancy and childbirth are traumatic events, he had a rough childhood where he experienced zero parental love and he’s not so educated. moreover, he’s 20 korean age so in int age, he’s only 19! no shit he’s a little dumb and irrational!
being an mpreg story where byul’s existence is what carried the plot for a lot of us, i get its kinda hard to not hate hyeseung for wanting an abortion and not knowing how to interact with byul but let’s be more understanding? dojin was lowkey holding him hostage and raped him, and he also had so much more power over hyesung. no shit hyesung wouldn’t want to keep the baby but remember that dojin forced him to have the baby by gaslighting him. so obviously with no intention to raise the baby, he wouldn’t have knowledge of developmental milestones and how babies act. seeing the comments when the side stories were coming out was lowkey hard breaking bc if you wanna criticise hyesung, then you should criticise dojin for being a rapist and forcing hyesung to continue a pregnancy he did not want.
it’s kinda similar imo of how kdrama fans reacted to ‘extraordinary attorney woo’ where woo youngwoo’s mother actually wanted to terminate the pregnancy but the father begged her not to saying that she just has to give birth and he’ll raise the baby (hmm doesn’t it sound familiar) and a lot of viewers didn’t like the mom bc of her cold personality towards wyw (idk how the plot progressed bc i stopped after that revelation) and tbh how could you blame her? she didn’t want the kid! she alr booked an appointment to terminate the pregnancy but was gaslighted by the father to carry the child to term!
this rant went on a little too long but i just want readers to be more empathetic? yes it’s a work of fiction and these characters aren’t real but let’s think about the plot more deeply and not be so mean to characters on the get go. idk if this rant made sense or just seems like a cringe selfish holier-than-thou statement but food for thought ig