Riftan Is No Longer Emotionally Constipated

26 she/her, minors dni

[under-the-oof-tree]

hello, the tag for under the oak tree is depressingly empty, so i'm going to start filling it up with my various reactions to each chapter and miscellaneous thoughts about the story. you can call me rudis, please send me asks! and unfortunately because under the oak tree is a mature story, no minors on this blog.

chapter reactions will be tagged as "rudis reacts" and miscellaneous thoughts will be tagged as "rudis rants". now that introductions are out of the way, let's have fun :D

[under-the-oof-tree]

someone recently said riftan is a side character in maxi's story and it really seems that way considering the manhwa artist can barely fuckin draw him

[under-the-oof-tree]

i take it back holy shit everything about the most recent chapter was SO DAMN GOOD- THE RAGE, THE SHOCK, THE HEARTBREAK-

[under-the-oof-tree]

someone recently said riftan is a side character in maxi's story and it really seems that way considering the manhwa artist can barely fuckin draw him

[narutosidebitch]

RIFTAN CAN YOU PLEASE LET YOURSELF BE LOVED AND TAKEN CARE OF BY MAXIIII????

[under-the-oof-tree]

I replied to this post in a haha funny way but actually I wanna take this opportunity to explore feminism in Under the Oak Tree (spoilers for Riftan's side story and early Season 2 of the novel)

Wedon is a misogynistic country. The only way to gain power as a woman is to either a. Be the Actual Princess, b. Become a mage (requires mana affinity), or c. Marry into it. Maxi and Rosetta are both completely at the mercy of their extremely sexist and abusive father; we see it much more with Maxi obviously, but we also know that Rosetta was forced to watch every time Maxi was beaten, and isn't particularly enthused about marrying the Prince (I forget how she feels about her son honestly but I think she loves him). Agnes is pretty unrestricted but that's because she's the Actual Princess and also a mage of Nornui, meaning she's under their protection (and their equality) even when she isn't at the tower. The only other non-maid women in the story are the mages Maxi meets, as well as the women who have to disguise themselves to help with the battle at Eth Lene.

This is all background to say that because the real world has so much experience with misogynistic societies, we can extrapolate about other ways it manifests in Wedon, and Riftan is an INCREDIBLE example.

Riftan's whole gig is that he NEEDS Maxi. He doesn't just want or love her, he NEEDS her. She's like air to him. He'd do anything to be with her. For Riftan, this manifests in protectiveness and spoiling her with material wealth, because he thinks that's his job as a man. He grew up watching his stepfather take care of his deeply unwell and suicidal mother until her death, knowing she was always waiting for Riftan's father, without batting an eye. Then he took care of Riftan even after she died, and it's implied that he really didn't have to. This was Riftan's example of a good man; protecting your woman no matter what. "Protecting" also means "providing for", of course, and since he thinks Maxi is this extremely rich noble woman (when in truth she never got to enjoy the splendor of her social class), she has to be provided with a lot more to be happy. So he writes her an eternal blank check and refuses to do anything that would put her in danger, because to him, that's what it means to be a good husband. He's so engrossed in it that he can't hear Maxi telling him that it isn't what she wants. He's that terrified of losing her. Additionally, he has to protect her from himself - his stepfather never burdened his mother with any of his baggage, after all. I certainly don't think she was well enough to care for Riftan's stepbrother. So because Riftan is following that example, he desperately conceals how much he needs Maxi and never relies on her for anything, otherwise he's be failing to protect her and he'd lose her.

This is a very romantic take on the same phenomenon we see happening to (usually cishet) men today; they perform stoicism and fantasize about being this end-all-be-all provider. Except in the real world, they don't do it because they're just that in love with their wives, they do it because they think society and especially other men will reject them.

In short, feminism could probably cut the whole story in half.

[mxalexwhat]

What I absolutely love about Under the Oak Tree is that its marketed as a romantasy, which it is, but there are long lengths of the story where Riftan is gone and Maxi is just on her own.

So the story feels less about the romance and more about her as a person, coming into her own and finding her voice and self-worth. I love that she's also frail and delicate and that it takes forever for her abilities to grow and even that her abilities are so limited. She's learning to work within her limitations and that her limitations are not a negative thing; they just are what they are and she'll have to find a different way to overcome an obstacle.

Yeah, it starts because she wants to be better for Riftan, but the journey to self-actualization doesn't often start with one's self. There's usually a goal outside of themselves that gives a person to shoot for. If at the end of this, she didn't stay with Riftan, it wouldn't ruin the story, because she's a thousand miles ahead of where she started as a person.

That's good writing.

[duvetdaybooks]

IT’S THE CHAIR 🥳🫡👏👏👏👏

[under-the-oof-tree]

OUR GOAT!!!!!!!!

[duvetdaybooks]

This is the point where Riftan doubts all the stories of how Maxi’s father adores her. So much so that he shelters away safely at home.

He is now beginning to see that the stories are just that stories. He hides her as he doesn’t love her but despises her. He doesn’t protect her but abuses her.

He is stunned first and as the reality sinks in a protective fury begins to explode…

[under-the-oof-tree]

if i make a really terrible joke will this four-person fandom cancel me

[under-the-oof-tree]

OK HERE GOES...

[under-the-oof-tree]

if i make a really terrible joke will this four-person fandom cancel me

[under-the-oof-tree]

YOU GUYS, YOU GUYS, YOU GUYS

MARK YOUR FUCKING CALENDARS

april 25th

MANHWA READERS WILL UNDERSTAND WHY NOVEL READERS LOVE CHAIRS SO MUCH

LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOO

[sorceress-botan]

[under-the-oof-tree]

YOU GUYS, YOU GUYS, YOU GUYS

MARK YOUR FUCKING CALENDARS

april 25th

MANHWA READERS WILL UNDERSTAND WHY NOVEL READERS LOVE CHAIRS SO MUCH

LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOO

[under-the-oof-tree]

if you come into my coffee shop and shit in my coffee don't act like i'm the one out of line when i say "why the fuck did you shit in my coffee?"

[duvetdaybooks]

This man is bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders and can’t even explain to his wife anything as he is trying to protect her. He is sacrificing his mental and emotional well being to protect her.

It’s not explained fully yet but this scene holds so much torment people don’t even effing realise yet….

Oh this series will break me before putting me back together again!!!!

[x-light-of-hope]

Under the oak tree ch 137-138

My first fave point in the story, The day she became a worldwide hero…and….

The price she had to pay for it…..💔💔💔🥺😭😭😭

[x-light-of-hope]

Under the oak tree ch 139-140

The faces that hid the bitter truth…

And the grave misunderstanding that leads to my second fav part..💔💔💔

And the hopeless feeling of guilt eating up some ppl..

[under-the-oof-tree]

ngl. I absolutely went looking for a scanslated chapter 144 of the manhwa after the most recent episode 😂😂 I don't think it exists honestly bc I couldn't find it (I know UTOT updates at the same time in the US as Korea rather than waiting for midnight here but I didn't realize the Korean vers wasn't ahead) but I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR SO LONG. I DO NOT KNOW THAT I CAN WAIT ANOTHER WEEK LMAO

[duvetdaybooks]

Oh poor Riftan if only people actually realised all of the reasons he was so upset here…