why do people hate hyuluka so much?

genuine question because i really don't understand the amount of hate this ship gets 😭 i'm not saying everyone has to like them, because obviously they're a complicated relationship and i can understand why someone wouldn't enjoy their dynamic. but sometimes the way people talk about hyuluka makes it sound like they're one of the most horribly written or morally irredeemable relationships in alien stage, and i just don't really see it that way.

i especially understand people being uncomfortable with the All-in scene. if you interpret what happened there as sexual assault, then obviously that's going to completely change how you view luka and the relationship, and i don't think people should be attacked for finding that uncomfortable. it's a serious topic and i don't think it should just be brushed off because they're fictional characters.

but what bothers me is when people present that interpretation as if every single detail of the scene has been explicitly confirmed. from what i've seen, the scene has a lot of ambiguity, and the official material surrounding luka and hyuna has given people a lot to interpret. i've also seen people discussing the artbook explanation that the scene was meant to communicate luka's aggression rather than establish a literal sexual assault event. so i don't think it's fair to take one interpretation and then treat anyone who interprets the scene differently as someone who is automatically defending SA.

and honestly, reddit discussions about hyuluka show how divided people are about their entire relationship. some people interpret hyuna as genuinely having romantic feelings for luka but being deeply conflicted because of everything that happened between them. others interpret her feelings as mostly grief, attachment, guilt, or emotional confusion rather than romantic love. there are even people who think luka's feelings are much more one-sided than hyuna's. that's what makes their relationship interesting to me in the first place. it's messy, contradictory, and clearly affected by their childhood and everything that happened with hyunwoo.

another thing i've noticed is how often people reduce luka's entire character to his relationship with hyuna. i've seen people describe him as if he's literally nothing more than an abusive boyfriend who only sees hyuna as an object, while completely ignoring the rest of his characterization and the way his upbringing shaped him. there are even discussions specifically criticizing how badly luka gets mischaracterized by parts of the fandom.

and the same thing happens to hyuna, honestly. people sometimes reduce her to either “the victim of luka” or “luka's love interest”, when she's obviously a character with her own motivations, trauma, goals, and role in the story. her relationship with luka is important to her character, but it isn't the entirety of her character.

i also find the double standard with other ships really interesting. i'm not saying “you can't like ivantill if you dislike hyuluka” because obviously that's ridiculous. but i've seen people criticize hyuluka specifically because of the uncomfortable aspects of their relationship while simultaneously romanticizing similarly disturbing elements in other ships. reddit has had this exact discussion before, especially regarding how the presentation of the relationships affects how fans perceive them.

and then there's the argument that hyuluka is “boring” or “generic” because it's an M/F ship, which i honestly don't understand either. i've seen people point out that if luka and hyunwoo had been romantically involved instead, the exact same tragic history would probably be analyzed as this incredibly complex and beautifully written relationship, whereas because it's luka and hyuna, some people immediately dismiss it as boring or irrelevant. obviously that's subjective, but i do think it's interesting that this criticism exists alongside how much lore there actually is surrounding the two of them.

i also don't think we need to keep reducing the fandom discussion to “is the All-in scene SA or isn't it?” because there are so many more interesting things to talk about with them. why did luka become so attached to hyuna? how much of hyuna's attachment is love versus grief and guilt? how does hyunwoo's death affect the way she sees luka? why does luka remain so emotionally attached to her after all those years? why does hyuna still struggle with her feelings toward him despite everything that happened?

those are WAY more interesting questions to me than arguing about the same scene for the 500th time 😭

again, i'm not saying you have to ship them or even like their relationship. if you think their dynamic is unhealthy, if you interpret the All-in scene as SA, or if you simply don't think their romantic relationship is convincing, that's completely fair. i just don't understand when people go from “i dislike this relationship” to “everyone who likes hyuluka is defending abuse / doesn't understand the story / is weird.” there's enough nuance in their relationship that i don't think either extreme interpretation really does them justice.

i’d really like to hear y’all’s thoughts on this! i’m genuinely open to different interpretations and opinions, so feel free to disagree with me or point out anything i got wrong. if i misunderstood any part of the lore or got misinformation from the discussions i’ve seen, i’m more than willing to take the criticism and correct myself :)

why is hyuluka so hated?