One of the things I hate the most about cnovels is how there seems to only be 5 people in each world with actual human decency. Even then, they all bow down to those with strength and are still terrible people. In each and every one of the modern fl romance novels I've read, all of the doctors are basically corrupt. For some reason, they totally forget all of their ethics. The one I'm reading right now, for example, has a female lead very depressed, her body is really weak, and she's feeling guilty over her sister's supposed death (there's something sus about her death). The doctors, who are supposed to- and definitely know about- the thing about patient privacy and how their health should only concern the patient unless the patient says otherwise, won't tell her what's wrong with her body (under the ml's order *gags*). Under the mls order, they sent two nurses to the bathroom (while the fl was in there) and starting talking about how the ml was actually the one who took care of all her hospital stuff when she was in a coma for two years, and her parents didn't pay anything. He did this with the intention of making the fl feel guilty and grateful to him, as well as to erase any suspicions that he was involved in her sister's death. Then, a couple days later, she goes to meet up with her personal doctor (who has had a hand in everything and is lying to her patient about her health and circumstances). This doctor as well was told to tell a specific story to the fl, again, to make the fl feel guilty, admiration, gratitude, etc,. Next, the house maids that are always in these novels, completely ignore any illegal things the ml is doing to the fl. Such as rape, choking her, holding her hostage, slapping her, and all the other wonderful things these toxic mls do in cn novels. And then there's always the butler, or that old lady who cooks, who feels pity for the fl, but doesn't ever help her. Instead, they say stuff like "He has a reason for doing these things, you'll understand one day. He loves you!" Tf? Where's the love? I neither see it, hear it, or feel it. These same occurrences happen.. every. Single. Time. Surely, there are average people somewhere in the cnovel world. Our fls though, never get a chance to meet them. Okay.. I'm done with my rant.
And there's me who's sick of every regressed Korean doctor, lawyer or businessman protagonist being set up as a paragon of virtue and justice...
This nonsense is exactly why I dont do FL romances anymore. They romantize abuse like nobody's business. Yes, it's the same in BLs as well, but it is easier to find a proper healthy relationship in same-sex novels (because none of them is a woman, I guess).
I remember someone was also complaining about that. There was this one american author who writes novels about the most toxic and abusive relationships possible to, "process her trauma". This author is highly acclaimed for her novels though, and so many people love them. Its really disturbing, why would anyone romanticized abuse and such behaviours like that? This author is so much worst then what you are talking about because the fl is in la la land thinking how everything is so perfect. There this inhumane/robotic feel to these fls. Last night I was reading a bl and the mc gets raped by the ml. I usually play it out in my head as roleplaying and try not to pay too much attention. But this one was really bad, really distiblingly bad. And later on its revealed the ml drug-raped mc also previously also. I just felt really bad for the mc. I was really hoping that both of them were going through character arcs and they would come out as better people but nope, its was heavily romanticized and present as a "proper couple." So many people were rating 10 stars also, like 1k+ votes. All I can hope for is just not to become such a thing myself. Humans are scary like that. Staring into the abyss and whatnot.
If you're reading the same kind of books over and over again, and they crop up with the same kinds of problems, it's probably time to switch to something different. I do get it though, Chinese Romance novels often cater to a very specific fantasy, and if you don't ascribe to it, there's a good chance you're not going to like them. I've grown to be very picky when checking out these books because they tend to be full of awful minefields that can ruin the experience. My current rule of thumb is to read the description of the book, and if it talks about or hints at how awesome the male love interest is, that's an automatic no-go. It doesn't help that NU is generally pretty bad in general in regards to giving recommendations, but it's especially bad for Romance novels in that people will avoid mentioning all sorts of problematic things in the story.
i really hate the hypocrite chinese mcs in some wuxia novels, where they stand up to bullies using their strength against weaker people and its treated like they're some caring person. What does the MC do when he gets his plot armor power upgrades, he bullies the hell out of people weaker than him and will outright just kill them (sometimes even baiting/provoking them to come at him)
They seem to be set in a society that exaggerates the corruption level, such that you can only gain power by stepping on people, and therefore all the good people are poor and have no influence. But then poor people are so downtrodden by the people with power abusing it that they inevitably want to gain that type of power for themselves, and so too become corrupt. That's not really how our society works, and I doubt things are that bad in China, either, but it is a society realistic enough that I would tolerate it in a fantasy or sci-fi setting, and therefore also choose to just imagine modern novels like this are set in an alternate universe with a slightly different culture.
Since when does this happen in wuxia novels? I've read a lot of them, and I've seen it happen once. And that in that story, the protagonist is specifically set up as an anti-hero.
classic wuxia (jin yong, gu long, woon swee oan) tend to have "with great power comes great responsibility" mindset. the latest wuxia (manhua) i read is blood n steel with many upright men willing to fight for ideals despite the odds. - the duke of mount deer is the exception with the anti-hero mc. xianxia genre - garbage: aphoteosis, swallowed star - i agree with ur sentiment for these - cultivation chat group, i might be a fake cultivator are not the same as above 2.
And I'm sick with either type(righteous/evil) of regressed doctor/lawyer/businessman. I just want a protagonist whose scale doesn't tip towards either extreme. I.e. I just want a believable character who is functional in human society. Though I doubt that's possible considering most of these authors probably have no idea of what society actually is....
Fr. I enjoy other characters too, they should add some spice to the plot at least. But the main character is just destined to overpower them all and make them all seem worthless, un needed and dull. The side characters never have a single thing the mc doesn't have. Which is so annoying istg