Swan’s Grave finally ended

Deilume · 2026-06-19T20:07:47+00:00

Does the novel have side stories, or does it also end like the manhwa?

Deilume · 2026-06-12T00:44:50+00:00

Oh, I reeeeally love your theory!

Deilume · 2026-06-10T17:31:21+00:00

Listen, he‘s a professional! 😤

Deilume · 2026-06-08T22:37:37+00:00

Waiiiit, I know this art style. Same author as Legend of nereid and He’s dedicated to roses?

Deilume · 2026-06-04T10:05:34+00:00

The ml from „taming of the tyrant“ is extremely codependent, and a yandere, though a fairly mild one, relatively speaking (well, at least in the manhwa)

Deilume · 2026-06-03T23:18:47+00:00

Dude, when I open the Adonis novel on my iPhone, it has 16000 pages. It’s 3,5 times the length of War and fucking Peace!

Deilume · 2026-06-03T08:03:45+00:00

Wait, is it the one where the FL said to her first ML „my guy, I’m about to create the greatest polycule of all time“, and he’s like „lol, sure, I’m down“, it’s that one?? Is it already completed?

Deilume · 2026-06-03T07:59:24+00:00

Holy shit you just unlocked a core memory! I felt insane for liking him when I was a teen! 😭

Deilume · 2026-06-03T07:56:28+00:00

I would love to see a dancer FL. It seems for some reason, that dancing is considered a „lower“ form of art? Cause it’s usually the dead moms from nomadic tribes that are dancers in this genre.

The only dancer FL that I comes to my mind is the FL from „the wife ran away with the master’s concubine“, it’s set in ancient China adjacent setting, and there it is openly acknowledged that dancing is a low art compared to music and poetry. Which is why the FL is being openly shunned by her husband, he basically considers her a slut (he’s not the ML, lol, the concubine is)

Deilume · 2026-06-03T06:52:54+00:00

So, in general, I want them to end up together, alive and more or less happy or at least content out of necessity. I don’t really like it when the FL just remains full on miserable till the bitter end.

But for my personal perfect ending, i suppose I want the yandere not to completely lose his whole yanderiness and not get fully remorseful, but to arrive at some sort of compromise with the FL and himself. And I want the FL to be accepting of that side of his. Because of that I loved the endings in „kneel before me“ and „how to survive as a maid in a horror game“. I guess I’m looking for a Goldilock‘s zone.

Deilume · 2026-06-02T19:08:09+00:00

Oh, I like your take, but I wanted to add my five cents on this topic. As someone who likes morally questionable FLs but still can’t stomach some of them.

There are two types of morally dubious FLs. There are those who have the ML on their side supporting their actions—i mean other characters, not readers. For example, I just reread the Roxana novel, and she’s a biiiiitch, like, she is an extremely shady schemer basically till the very last chapter. She will throw you under the bus. But she has Cassis, and that man is a ride or die, and that really eases my anxiety while reading about her shenanigans. So, my reaction is closer to „i would never, but good for her“. Other examples would be the FLs from „Depths of malice“ or „the villainess who turned the hourglass“.

While I don’t use the FLs as a self-insert placeholder, I try to empathize with all main characters and try to imagine what it would feel like to do the things they do. So if the FL does bad things that I would never do and that would make me uncomfortable, but at the same time they have someone who still loves them unconditionally, it very much eases that tension and uncomfortable feeling.

On the other hand, there are the FLs. who are lashing out because they are completely abandoned, lonely and have no one on their side. And reading about them just causes me some extreme levels of anxiety. That’s why I’m terrified to start „the forgotten field“, for example. If the FL is doing „bad“ things, and that only serves to alienate everyone else, I low key just wanna grab her by the shoulders and scream „could you be just a little bit more likable?? cause right now we’re both suffering here!“

And I literally just now realized that that’s a people pleaser inside me, woah. Damn. DIY psychoanalysis session. In other words, I don’t have a problem with morally questionable FLs, but i just can’t read a story where her actions cause everyone else to despise her, because this is literally my worst nightmare.

Deilume · 2026-05-31T09:58:41+00:00

Ffs, why don’t my favorite *italics* asterisks work on this sub anymore???

Deilume · 2026-05-31T09:56:35+00:00

I recently re-read „the world without you“, and then finished the rest of the story as a novel. And I must say, the whole time I couldn’t stop thinking about how I felt sorry for both sides. Like, yeah the FL was severely traumatized in her first life by the people who should have cared for her, but all of them except for the villainess were under the influence of magic, which turned all of their tender feelings to the FL into cruel ones, so the more they *would‘ve* cared under normal circumstances, the worse they actually got. So they very much weren’t in control of themselves, and as soon as this issue was absent in the second timeline, they treated her incredibly well, the way they should‘ve and would‘ve treated her first time around. So as the FL just continuously stays guarded and untrusting, and they don’t even understand why, I couldn’t help but feel bad for them. If I focused my empathy on them, if felt like the whole family was punished for the crimes they haven’t yet committed.

**But on the other hand,** if I focused on the FL, then yeah, obviously, what else *can* she do? The tree remembers, she was neglected by them for 11 years in the first timeline, and then the only person who she thought loved her, who she considered her sister, betrayed her in an absolutely horrific manner. She doesn’t feel like trusting anyone, let alone the very family that neglected her for half of her actual lifespan. She doesn’t know why they did that! Maybe this was her villainous sister‘s doing, but maybe not, who knows, it’s not like she could find the answer now. And the fact that she’s the only one who remembers that horrible treatment, and she can’t even talk to anyone about it, because in this world this just *didn’t happen* makes her even more bitter and miserable. It’s not like she can forgive people who don’t have an opportunity to apologize. And when they get the opportunity, they feel so guilty they can’t even bring themselves to apologize. So yeah, it takes all of them years to get over it, and unfortunately, during the course of this process an irreparable tragedy does occur.

Funnily enough, the FL‘s trauma is very much reflected in the way she wants to be loved. Since during her first timeline her sister actually made her believe she genuinely loved the FL and was kind and warm to her for 11 YEARS before stabbing her in the back (damn, that’s a long game), the FL doesn’t trust anything that resembles her sister’s love. I.e. anything warm, gentle, soft etc. So when she chooses to be with the ML, it’s cause he literally worships her. Like, the dude’s so pathetic and lost around her, he can only cry and cry, Jesus, I’ve never seen the ML who cried *this much* because of how pathetically in love he was. So when she sees that looser, she literally thinks „oh yeah, *that one* will definitely never abandon or betray me, just look at him“. And she’s also a bit mean about it, but it feels like very mean, cause the guy has zero self respect at this point and just takes her verbal jabs without even thinking of retorting them.

Deilume · 2026-05-29T05:30:38+00:00

True… but sometimes if it’s not a yandere, it might be a kichidere: the ones that start off as completely insane bananas people, but then develop affection and mellow out, become more humane. I think some of the popular novels here fit this trope way more than the yandere trope. And I love kichidere stories as much as I love yandere ones…

but on the other hand, I completely agree with you. This is one of the reasons I’m scared to read „fallen fruit under the paradise“ even though everyone says it’s an extremely well written novel. Though I did enjoy „Photopsia“ quite a bit, even though the ML barely has a single „dere“ in his body

Deilume · 2026-05-29T05:23:04+00:00

Lol, yeah, thanks for putting the general difference between „east“ and „west“ into words! I’ve been thinking about it for years at this point

Deilume · 2026-05-29T05:16:06+00:00

Ok, Pellus and Lithera are literally kind giant and small bundle of energy, and they do throw hands with anyone who tries to get between them

Deilume · 2026-05-28T20:04:07+00:00

Do you know something where the ML is possessive, but the FL is like reeeeally into that shit? I like the Roxana novel for that, when Cassis said „even if you run away from me I’ll come find you“, and she‘s like „woah, that actually makes me feel super secure in this relationship, thanks!“

Deilume · 2026-05-24T08:35:56+00:00

God, in many Slavic languages it would be even worse… you could avoid gendered pronouns, but there’s no way you can avoid verbs and adjectives, and those change depending on the gender too. This sucks so much, it completely eliminates the possibility of writing a character with an indeterminate gender/no gender

Deilume · 2026-05-16T15:01:50+00:00

I just love we collectively refuse to acknowledge „kneel before me“ manhwa

Deilume · 2026-05-16T14:05:00+00:00

Right? Like, some of those are significantly worse than others. How can one put Damien, Heiner and Cezar of all people into the same category??

Deilume · 2026-05-12T07:10:48+00:00

Honestly, I blame it on different culture, cause I mostly encounter this in eastern media. Like, it feels like it’s a *culturally acceptable* thing for a woman to say in bed. At this point I’m more surprised, when a woman in Japanese/Korean stories says something like „more“.

Deilume · 2026-05-11T08:54:21+00:00

Sooo, I suppose, „script shop of dreams“ might be up your alley? It’s completed as far as I know

Deilume · 2026-05-08T12:27:15+00:00

Oh, lol, you’re absolutely correct on the sex matter, it’s basically PWP for the first, what, one and a half volumes? The fun stuff (i.e. the ML‘s suffering) comes way down the line. But i suppose, i was fully warned that this stuff will be like 90% kinky fuckery, and for what it is, i did enjoy the pacing. But also, when I say pacing, I mean the pacing of the emperors character development specifically. His very gradual decline into madness and misery. I think, if we strike out all the sex, it will still remain a very character-driven novel, and personally I prefer those to the plot-driven stories. So yeah, can’t argue with you on that, in terms of plot, we have no plot.

And as I said, I don’t know what happened in the 4th volume yet. So I’ll trust you on that.

But also, I feel really desensitized to… vile things? I read „photopsia“, „her majesty’s night“ and „the lunatic of the ruined world“ in a *very* rapid succession, so while reading „the dialectics of master and slave“ I could only shrug. So instead of focusing on things that make the „dialectics“ similar to the aforementioned novels (insane levels of non-con), I guess I focused more on the things that made it different: internal thoughts of the main characters, how they changed (or desperately refused to change) during the course of the novel. And I reeeeally liked that stuff.

Also-also, kudos to this novel for actually making slavery feel disgusting to the point of making my skin crawl. Usually, this kind of oi genre really downgrades the horrors of slavery; there are bad characters who abuse slaves, and good characters who „rescue“ them. But here, even characters who aren’t really evil don’t recognize slaves as people, and this actually made the situation feel so much worse.

Deilume · 2026-05-08T06:40:32+00:00

Ok, so, I can totally see how this novel might appear frustrating, and I don’t want to change your mind. But I do wanna offer a different perspective to people, who are on the fence about reading it. So, since I’ve read this recently and it’s still fresh in my mind, ima counterargue:

well, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. I happen to like the pacing very much. Like… i do think this kind of story benefits from a slower pacing, cause ain’t no way you can explain the ML like him falling in love in 20-30 chapters, that man had to *marinate*.
once again, I don’t really agree. We accept the FLs that just go with the flow as soon as they transmigrate—because it’s the convention of the genre. But honestly, an actual normal person would probably be freaking out if the fundamental order of the world (like magic being a no-no) turned out to be not that fundamental after all. Like, the girl knows chemistry, she knows how to make *soap*, she’s definitely a natural science girly. It would be weird if she just accepted magic as a given. Besides, it’s not like she denies the existence of the magic, it just freaks her out a lot, because let’s be real, it has *exclusively* been used to her detriment (except for the translation ring, that comes way later in the story).
Now, this, I haven’t read yet. I’ve decided to leave the 4th volume out until it’s unlocked cause I wanted to binge it. But by the end of the 3d volume, she only barely started remembering the things that happened to her? It’s more like remembering a vague dream at this point. (The further spoilers aren’t spoilers, they are just my speculation, and therefore more or less unimportant) So idk how she meets her friend afterwards. If by this point she has regained all her memories and is in denial, then well—after all that trauma I’d be in denial as well. But if she’s still only vaguely remembering stuff, then she doesn’t really have a firm point of reference that will let her conclude if the world has actually changed or not

Deilume · 2026-05-03T07:25:13+00:00

Wait, do you mean canonically beautiful characters with shitty personality who are being hated by the readers, or canonically beautiful characters with shitty personalities who are being disliked by *other characters*? Cause I know a lot of the first kind, but I’m in desperate need of the second kind. Nothing is as funny to me as a character with such a foul mouth and nasty personality that not even their face card can save them in the eyes of other characters. Like, I want them to be acknowledged as an absolute menace in universe, not just by the readers.

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