I had a post in the general chat before I noticed this forum lmaooooo. I'm looking for romance CN/JP/KO novels with a historical/ancient fantasy/etc. setting where the MC and their LIs are all over the age of 18. It doesn't matter if its straight, gay, or lesbian, it just has to be old time setting (fantasy ideal) and everyone down for banging being an adult. I'll swing for 17 in a pinch, but no 17 year old getting pursued by a 25 year old, that shit's nasty. Edit: don't tell me about mxtx or priest novels. I know. Everyone knows. God knows.
Welp... Your normal enough for the clergy not to want you... The under 18 thing gets them all the time...
And see, I always thought it was me being a pagan brown dyke that would scare the Church away, but no, it was not craving underage ass that did it
Oh I think I saw the manga! I didn't know it was a novel... Do you know how old the crazy pretty man is?
Right on the edge.... I'll take it though, thanks for the rec! The plot looks super interesting and the romance seems to be way in the future so it seems ok. If it gets too dodgy I'll just drop it lol
Yeah, it's ominous, sadly. I've been on a similar search for historical novels that suit my tastes. MXTX has ruined me for setting the bar for historical novels so high. I have these two on my to-read list, they look interesting judging from the summary and reviews. You’ve Got Mail: A Cautionary Tale Thousand Autumns I love these two short stories, if you don't mind the short length. The story descriptions are kinda weird and the translations are fairly awkward, but you can definitely feel the sweetness of the characters and the romance coming through. Mo Flower Sharing Rain and Dew
Thanks! Yeah, MXTX ain't perfect but she sure knows how to keep a story rolling and at least MDZS and TCGF keep everything above board.
I'm dying in pieces here, this is genuinely the saddest fucking thing I've experienced. Every single novel out there has sexy baby protagonists? Every single one??
Kiss the Black cat Spoiler it's ancient European fantasy with knights, mages, and castles. The two leads are 27. BL. I have a review of it on the NU page. I sped through the first few chapters of a few on my list that might've filled your request, but I couldn't place their ages. Seven Unfortunate Lifetimes, All Thanks to a Single Moment of Impulse Maybe. They're both immortals from what I remember, it's been a while since I read it.
Sorry, I only read BL, so I can't really comment on the other genres. But there's maybe 3 or 4 pages of BL novels in the historical/xianxia/wuxia/xuanhuan genre when I use the series finder filters. I'm not really into system/transmigration, so that filters out even more from what I've been looking through. But yeah, I do feel there's a fair amount of stories that follow the MC or ML from childhood. Maybe some attempts of kissing when they're 15-16, with a time skip to adulthood for the romance to fully develop. And even if they fit the criteria, I might not want to recommend because I don't care for the writing. Anyway, here's two more titles that seem to fit your criteria, but which I don't necessary recommend. They're not bad, but they don't satisfy the immersion in the world that I crave that somehow MXTX does so effortlessly. Pulling Together a Villain Reformation Strategy A Seductive Gentleman
Thank you both.... I'm starving... It's kind of interesting that gay novels seem to meet this standard more easily. Even otherwise sensible and put together straight novels just slam in a 14 year protagonist and go yeah, that's cool. Maybe it's the sexism...? I mean, not that bl novels never pull that fuckshit (they often do extra, unique to gay novels fuckshit), but just the frequency of it is interesting.
Did you try looking through the new Historical Josei novels thread? Hopefully you might find something that fits. Josei tends to feature older MCs, though I can think of josei manga that features high schoolers too.
I have, actually! Other than Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir, they all fail my requirement. This is not to criticize you! I'm thankful for your help, it's just that this shit is everywhere! Return of the Swallow angers me so much in particular, in that the plot and characters are so interesting, but the MC! is! 14! And every man who isn't either of her family or 70 wants to fuck her so bad. It's especially hilarious when a man chasing a different 14 year old girl is called a pedophile because that girl looks childish, but oh, our MC is the bewitching seductress kind of 14, it's cool to want to bang her. It's all just so much. In the end, it really does come down to reading bl novels because at least you're more likely to clear this on simple hurdle. Not that I mind, really, it's just weird.
Yeah, that just makes me want to steer clear even more. Sorry you're having such a tough time! I would love more historical/fantasy novels to read, so I hope some kind translators pick up some new novels that are promising and to our tastes!