What Do You Look For In A Story?

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Wujigege, Feb 14, 2021.

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  1. asriu

    asriu fu~ fu~ fu~

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    for grey moral or thing like that is rare on current translated novel scene, even on traditional published book such theme may pop up as side trope such oh this antagonist become that cuz of yyy or blablabla, or this is war so go to hell with morality! not really dwell on grey theme itself but that plenty.
    or maybe cuz this cat just read some history event that make this cat think eh the grey not so grey.... maybe better look on usual book that have classified as literatures or something

    as for tragedy there some....
    there beauty on sadness....
     
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  2. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    I'd say that schadenfreude is a very different concept and they engage very different parts of the brain. I do like it, but mostly only in its comeuppance version. Seeing, for example, Nazis get hoisted on their own petard because they're horrible people is pretty great. I find that it also works the other way and that it's hard to enjoy most books with villain protagonists.

    I'm almost the opposite with this. Complex and interesting villains are cool and all but I'm generally not that interested in them. Then again I guess this goes with the books I prefer and how they rarely have any main villain. They will often have lots of villainous figures, but nobody that you could point to as the main enemy.
     
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  3. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    I don't look for it in villains per se. I just like it being prevalent.
    It is the reason I enjoy Japanese romance dramas.
    The male lead usually gets crushed by his love interest eg Moteki and Shitsuren Chocolatier.
    I love it when the protagonist fails. It makes later success more satisfying.
    That's why I can't stand your average xianxia.
    I don't rate Lord of Mysteries either.
     
  4. adurian

    adurian Active Member

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    Reasonable characters, both the good guys and the bad guys, the lead or the love interest. I don't need every evil character to have a novel's length of morally grey reasoning, but at least put some effort into explaining why the evil party or rival behaves like so, don't have someone behaving comically badly just for the sake of being slapped down by the lead. Similarly I expect reasonable interactions between MCs with their friends and suitors, not have the entire world revolving around them (yeah I know thats the point of the fiction but not everyone understands subtlety).

    What has been irking me lately has been male love interest though, I'm getting tired of shounen esque edgy power fantasy and has slowly been moving to more shoujo/josei isekais from jap/ch/kr but have been repeatedly repulsed by the male love interest. Maybe I just can't appreciate it since I'm not sexually interested in males, but the amount of bad boy billionaires only the FL can tame is grating my nerves, ranging from overly possessive rich perfect lads to creepy batman tsun uncles who's wooing high school aged girls or even younger. They're all just so.... creepy and the way the FL always goes doe eyed over them just seems so disrespectful of the idea that ladies can be independently successful.
     
  5. MarkWalker

    MarkWalker New Member

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    I am looking for emotions that I lack in everyday life
     
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  6. Darkcrow.

    Darkcrow. Foul Tarnished

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    Mature MC and No Harem (No problem with Harem, It's just that, It gets retard when MC have like dozens of Love interest), That's all.
    Oh, also non-simp MC.
     
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  7. pastlover

    pastlover Well-Known Member

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    I'd say for most part is how the MC hoards riches especially if the author gives the villains thought processing.
     
  8. Bakareader

    Bakareader Active Member

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    Development and progression in plot and characters. Especially plot. This only applies to WN though, considering the amount of repeated plot.
    I dislike romances. It has come to the point where i would drop my favourite book if it had romance in it. Maybe i dont dislike the genre, but how it is usually written. I also believe thats the reason for my obsession for apathetic mcs.
    A functioning MC who has common sense. Literally.
     
  9. k_leh

    k_leh New Member

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    I love the chemistry between the main character and a sidekick. Also, a good comedian sidekick sometimes saves the day :)
     
  10. mia16

    mia16 Well-Known Member

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    A clear goal and a connection to the main character. I don’t put on my thinking cap when reading unless it’s for school so it’s not often I pick up plot holes or inconsistent behavior by the characters. I can even let dumb MC go by because my intelligence is basically at their level when I’m reading for fun. I’m fine with a relaxing slice of life story or action pack story, as long as it isn’t boring.
     
    Last edited: Feb 24, 2021
  11. Mikhail-san

    Mikhail-san 『 Mika 』『 Mikshroom 』『 Your cute daughtah 』

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    I really like to see strong and smart MCs but not OP, and an adventure type of setting where every scene/arc or happenings fits perfectly and makes sense. Not just, it's there because the author likes it. Or it's there because 'fanservice'. But it's there because it's another piece to a whole big puzzle and it's needed. Examples are novels like the Omniscient reader's viewpoint. It really gets me hooked for months. ‎(≧◡≦)
     
  12. Latata

    Latata Well-Known Member

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    Right now I have interest in transmigration to the past or rebirth in novel. I love to read how they will try to make themself change theirs life to be better than the last and have a happy ending without to much dogblood just want to read fluff. I feel that in this moment kinda hard to read angst. Just hope by reading I also will feel the hope and happiness of the mc even without romance. Yeah have a nice day everyone.
     
  13. gws

    gws Member

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    I look for the Mc's personality and the plot of the story are what I look for. Though the Mc is really what I look for because a bad Mc can really ruin or make it a lot less enjoyable the story. Since even if everything else is good and the Mc is bad it makes it much harder to enjoy. While if the Mc, even if the rest of the story is mediocre I will find it interesting.
     
  14. Ekisiel

    Ekisiel Well-Known Member

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    Relatability, I can go deeper but at the end of the day all I want is a relatable protagonist or just a relatable story. It doesn't have to be a 1:1 similarity with myself or with reality but as long as there's something familiar that I can root for, I'll continue reading until my immersion breaks.
     
  15. Daresan

    Daresan Well-Known CN Master

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    As someone already pointed out, it must be common sense which is lacking in many stories.
    Common sense is raped so brutually at times that i wonder if author and i are living in same world or not.

    Its fine if you want to write fantasy world but please do not rape my pooor little common sense.
     
  16. Raven Evernight

    Raven Evernight But they never just accepted me for the way I was…

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    I like cute little boys (I like it when the bad boy character has a cute little brother that they like to baby) or cute little animals that act cute a lot or hot half naked guys if they are fully naked I’ll watch it also gay romantic moments
     
  17. Vermouth

    Vermouth Older but none the wiser.

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    • High ratings
    • Recommendation from someone who I think has similar tastes in books as me
    • Tropes, genres, and tags I like
    It pretty much boils down to those three. Bonus points if it checks all those boxes.

    I cycle between different things though, so it’s hard to say if I have something particular I’m looking for in each book.
     
  18. CicadaCicada

    CicadaCicada Member

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    Cute, clever and determined fmc with overall good art.
     
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