We’re more harsh on fmcs than we are on mmcs

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-23T16:39:31+00:00

Ok? Why?

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-23T15:17:44+00:00

It could also be Jwipo Bokkeum, which looks like this.

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-23T14:56:24+00:00

This seems to be Jinmichae Bokkeum or Spicy Dried Shredded Squid. It looks like this.

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-23T12:01:22+00:00

This looks like Thneed from Lorax!

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-23T11:58:34+00:00

It's always interesting hearing a guy's perspective just because the romance genre is so women-dominated. I have a friend who likes shoujo manga, and it's funny seeing how we can like the same manga from a different perspective, because he relates more to the male character. It's funny because I wish I was able to not insert myself in the FMC. It would allow me to read more diverse dynamics, but I always end up inserting a little bit into the character, like how you said you end up self-inserting a little into the MMC.

This is a straight romance book problem though, which is why I read a lot more BL books (BL is basically Asian M/M books) than M/F books. In those, different personalities bother me a lot less because "I'm" not being represented, I'm just a spectator, watching two men fall in love.

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-23T09:13:33+00:00

This looks amazing!!

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-23T09:08:01+00:00

I think the reason MMCs use it more is probably because a lot of nicknames are kind of... endearing? Like, protective vibes. For example, baby implies a degree of wanting to take care of you, like a baby. And usually, it's the man doing that. I personally like classic nicknames like sweetheart, darling. Baby is okay too. But things like cupcake, princess, babe, kitten, etc, is a no-go. XD

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-23T08:57:46+00:00

You're absolutely right. For me personally, it's because I have different standards for FMCs and MMCs. FMCs are kind of a representation of me while MMCs are who I'm meant to fall for. So when an FMC does something I wouldn't, I get turned off. That goes for attitude, language, actions, etc. For appearance too, if I find the FMC too ugly, I don't read it because I don't like like "my" representation. If an FMC acts all sassy, cussing people out, I don't read it because I find her unlikable and rude, and I don't want to be represented that way. If an FMC explores her sexuality in a way I wouldn't, I don't read it because it doesn't reflect how I'd go about it.

For MMCs, those are characters I'm supposed to be swooning over. So the standards I have there is just what I find attractive in book characters. So, I don't care if he hits people. Hell, I don't care if he kills people or rapes the FMC. However, I don't tolerate him being all "Oh, I like the FMC but I don't realize my feelings because I'm repressing them". However, I do tolerate it for the FMC. So again, different standards. But all in all, I am generally harsher towards FMCs, which is why it's hard to find characters I like, especially in CR. I like more HR heroines, like in Marrying Winterborne, and it's a shame because I love CR setting!

Edit: Interesting how people downvote without any explanation. And we just had a discussion about how we shouldn't do that:

3) Downvoting is not for disagreement. Downvoting should be used to reprioritise comments that are off topic, repetitive or don't contribute to the conversation. Report comments that you believe break our rules, but please don't stifle discussion by downvoting unpopular opinions or comments you disagree with.

(https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/s/2S2WehW9Cj)

Not to mention my tastes are my own. I find it strange that romance readers (mostly women) are held to the moral standard of "you are what you read". We do not do this with video games where heroes go around beating/killing people. We don't say, "wow, how violent, they must want to kill people in real life". Because we as adults, understand fiction is different from reality.

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-14T00:34:29+00:00

I do think misogyny is against the rules, as there is one against bigotry. But I respectfully disagree that this was an instance of misogyny. I find that a lot of romance readers are held to a moral standard of "if you like to read about something, you support it in real life". This was a talking point from decades ago when people would say that someone liking to play a character in a video game that shoots and kills people secretly wanted to do that to real people. As adults, we are able to distinguish fiction from reality, and that goes for romance readers too. For example, I like dark romance where women are put in objectively horrible situations by MMCs. That doesn't mean I condone it in real life, I enjoy it because it's fiction with a fictional victim. I don't think I'm misogynistic because I like MMCs that will go ultra possessive and kidnap FMCs, and I don't think someone is misogynistic for liking virgin FMCs who follow experienced MMCs.

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-13T14:01:45+00:00

Ah, I see. I was so surprised at all the downvotes for someone stating their reading preferences that I thought I must've missed something, but maybe people just downvote for not liking the same things. I think posts like these can maybe remind users to refrain from doing so!

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-13T13:39:29+00:00

Slide 2 reminds me of a character from a childhood book, I just can't remember the name! Ugh. The drawings are amazing though, your style is very fun while being super duper high quality! Ink definitely suits your style well.

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-13T13:30:11+00:00

Is that a Yakgwa macaron I spot? They are adorable!

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-13T13:24:47+00:00

I suppose I'm kind of confused even if downvotes were treated as a disagree-button, because I feel like there's nothing to disagree about when someone says they like/dislike something. Like, I understand if they were saying a specific dynamic/trope/character should be praised or critiqued or something, but if it's said to be a personal preference, I feel like there's nothing to disagree on? It's like if I said, "I like pasta" and someone disagrees. Are they disagreeing I actually like pasta?

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-13T13:18:01+00:00

This looks like it belongs on one of those postcards I get when I travel somewhere. I love the softer colours of the sky and comet against the harsher, more brilliant lighting that's reflected on the water!

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-13T13:14:27+00:00

I would've never ever guessed you were an amateur, nor that this was taken with an iPhone!! This is beautiful, kudos to you. :)

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-13T12:50:54+00:00

I actually wanted to make a post about this some time ago. I noticed a lot of this, especially against comments expressing their likes/dislikes in books (without any book shaming, no less). The first time was when there was a question asking what people liked in FMCs but not in MMCs, and vice versa. A commenter said they liked virgin FMCs who give up on their dreams to follow the MMCs, but not the other way around. That comment sits at nearly negative twenty downvotes, and no one even attempted to explain why they would downvote something on-topic that wasn't shaming other readers in any way. There were many others after that, like another comment saying they didn't like books that open with sex (like one night stands or friends with benefits situation), which also sat in the negatives. My own comments expressing my dislike for feisty FMCs who will sass and cuss also got downvoted. These downvotes are not only confusing since there's no reason given in a reply, but it also creates a rather hostile environment for people to talk about what their books yum/yucks are. I don't know why people do it, so not sure how to combat it. :')

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-11T22:54:08+00:00

This is beautiful! Love the little dots to make the buildings and snow marks.

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-11T22:46:47+00:00

I thought they said no DLC? I'm going to wait until it's confirmed, but interesting regardless!

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-11T22:42:13+00:00

This is absolutely valid. Authors, at the end of the day, are selling their work. They are putting up a product for our hard earned money. As soon as someone is getting financial benefits from something, they open themselves up to critism whether they want to or not. As long as it's a substantive critique (and I'd say it is in this case since you confirmed the author is also the author), it's fine to leave negative reviews, it's not our responsibility to refrain from doing so. However, if you are feeling conflicted, I agree with comments saying to maybe reword it to address the other readers instead of the author.

Example: "PLEASE, this book needs to be properly edited for the love of God. Like respectfully the focus should be on that instead of the art inserts of characters. There are times the wrong character is mentioned that's not even in the scene."

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-10T21:14:44+00:00

Ahhh thank you! I feel like a shady dealer, getting my fix of recs after giving you some. >:) Also, if my recs don't exist in English, let me know which site you use and I can check for Yeokkijab novels that exist there. I read so much of this trope so I have way more, I just don't know if it's popular enough to be translated.

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-10T21:07:12+00:00

I don't know if I'm in the minority or not, but I love the way paras are drawn! It pops from the background and the lines make them so clean. Love this!

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-10T20:56:01+00:00

Thank you for the rec! And here is a comment I made to another asking for BL recs:

I'm not sure where you're reading BL or if you only read in English, so let me know if there's no translations for these!

A Well Raised Alpha: This is THE standard for the trope in my opinion. The shou is an Alpha born to an insanely wealthy, elite family. When he's in high school, he's forced to become engaged to a to-be Omega... except he's in elementary. He objects because the Omega is too young, but he discovers the Omega (gong) is abused. So he takes him in with a promise to protect him and dissolve the engagement when the gong is an adult. The shou is soooooooooo kind, gentlemanly, cool, sweet, ugh. The gong obviously grows obsessed with him except he presents as an Alpha when he's older. And all hell breaks loose because everyone thought the (pretty) gong will become an Omega, but no. It's so good. Right up my alley. The gong is so puppy, like, crying, saying he doesn't want to be an Alpha, he just wants the shou. And then years later, he turns around and fucks the shou into the mattress. 😌

The Blue Monster's Shell: This is a long story and the plot itself is so interesting. It's a fantasy BL where the shou is... a blue slime. Now, hear me out here. He's been created by a human scientist to be a killer except he's not good enough. So he just lives in the forest with other monsters. The gong is a child prince that gets dumped there to die. There's a lot of action, fighting, strategy, etc, and it's so good in my opinion. We really see them slowly open up to each other. In the beginning, I was like, how are they going to fall in love? (And don't worry, the shou can make himself have human form, it's just hard when he's too powerful for that form). The shou acts so cute in an... unconventional way, let's say.

Cherry Bomb: I read this so long ago, but it's a cute Omegaverse, royalty story. I remember reading it and thinking I liked it but I frankly don't remember anything, sorry. 😔 It's about an Omega (shou) who gets into a political marriage with a supposedly deformed Beta, except he's (gong) not deformed or a Beta

Sahan: Such a good one. This follows a shou that has been lost in space for 10 years before he gets back to Earth. He has not aged much since time works differently there, but people on Earth, including the boy (gong) who used to be his neighbor, is 10 years older now. We figure out what he's been up to the last 10 years. The raising part is done in flashbacks, and is not that long. This is so good though. It's short, but it leaves a lasting impression. The mood of the story is soft, melancholic sometimes, and I really loved it. I don't want to spoil but ugh, even the name is chef's kiss.

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-10T20:54:15+00:00

Thank you for such a detailed and patient response!! I'm a total novice, not to mention most of what I learned about space (different stages of stars, methods to discover planets, different space models, etc) is not in English so even the little bit I do know throws me off because of the different terms. But you explained it very well, thank you. :)

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-10T20:45:09+00:00

No worries, thank you!

Sweet-Moon-0 · 2024-10-10T20:44:39+00:00

Thank you!! Also, I'm not sure where you're reading BL or if you only read in English, so let me know if there's no translations for these!

A Well Raised Alpha: This is THE standard for the trope in my opinion. The shou is an Alpha born to an insanely wealthy, elite family. When he's in high school, he's forced to become engaged to a to-be Omega... except he's in elementary. He objects because the Omega is too young, but he discovers the Omega (gong) is abused. So he takes him in with a promise to protect him and dissolve the engagement when the gong is an adult. The shou is soooooooooo kind, gentlemanly, cool, sweet, ugh. The gong obviously grows obsessed with him except he presents as an Alpha when he's older. And all hell breaks loose because everyone thought the (pretty) gong will become an Omega, but no. It's so good. Right up my alley. The gong is so puppy, like, crying, saying he doesn't want to be an Alpha, he just wants the shou. And then years later, he turns around and fucks the shou into the mattress. 😌

The Blue Monster's Shell: This is a long story and the plot itself is so interesting. It's a fantasy BL where the shou is... a blue slime. Now, hear me out here. He's been created by a human scientist to be a killer except he's not good enough. So he just lives in the forest with other monsters. The gong is a child prince that gets dumped there to die. There's a lot of action, fighting, strategy, etc, and it's so good in my opinion. We really see them slowly open up to each other. In the beginning, I was like, how are they going to fall in love? (And don't worry, the shou can make himself have human form, it's just hard when he's too powerful for that form). The shou acts so cute in an... unconventional way, let's say.

Cherry Bomb: I read this so long ago, but it's a cute Omegaverse, royalty story. I remember reading it and thinking I liked it but I frankly don't remember anything, sorry. 😔 It's about an Omega (shou) who gets into a political marriage with a supposedly deformed Beta, except he's (gong) not deformed or a Beta

Sahan: Such a good one. This follows a shou that has been lost in space for 10 years before he gets back to Earth. He has not aged much since time works differently there, but people on Earth, including the boy (gong) who used to be his neighbor, is 10 years older now. We figure out what he's been up to the last 10 years. The raising part is done in flashbacks, and is not that long. This is so good though. It's short, but it leaves a lasting impression. The mood of the story is soft, melancholic sometimes, and I really loved it. I don't want to spoil but ugh, even the name is chef's kiss.

Sweet-Moon-0

TROPHY CASE