things that bother me about novels

[mme.cube]

I love books, however- not the ai voiced chinese novel content my mom likes likes to blast on tv.
I'm going to state points of what I dislike about such works.

point 1- The disrespect directed towards og fls
Often in transmigration novels it goes like: main character dies, then possess the body of another person in a different world.
The issue is that this person they possess often are portrayed as awful people.
They are either
A- pompous snob that everyone dislikes, or
B- meek cowardly pushover that are the punching bag for the general population.

These characters act as foils for the main character who is oh~ so wonderful and strong and doesn't take nonsense from nobody. Sometimes it is as if the author wishes to convey the message that the people that the main characters take over were fundamentally inferior people who couldn't be helped. And now that the main character is here everything shall be all and well.
Please no! my kidneys are combusting.
People are generally the same overall (DNA is 99.9% similar). No one really act in ways that don't have reason, and I feel that more compassion should be offered to the original host in transmigration novels. After all, fiction usually reflects reality, and people in reality deserve to be treated with respect.

point 2- That "I'm leaving you and now you're begging for me to come back cliche."
this is personally one that I dislike.
my mother eats this up, reading about it, watching it, quite literally 24/7. I could wake up in the middle of the night to go to the restroom and I would see her on her ipad, reading chinese novels full of this.
It's not solely because of this trope. I know but I can't bring myself to not resent poorly written novels at all. Childhood memories were all filled with the image of my mother on her ipad reading.
She subconsciously emulates the behaviors of the characters in the novels she reads too. Whenever she is upset with me, she'd go like: "I'm leaving you. Whether you live or die is your own problem now. Don't come begging for me."

[insert angry face.jpg] However this is reality with realistic outcomes.


point 3- A general lack of descriptive language.
I notice that there are:

"His eyes were filled with sadness."
Eyes filled with this and that, fury, anguish, happiness.
Only in this media do I see an excessive use of such language. I don't know if it's good or not, but I prefer more subtle ways to hint at an emotion a character is feeling.

it’s just telling the reader: now the character feels [insert emotion], it’s telling and not showing the way that they feel

...

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

I love books, however- not the ai voiced chinese novel content my mom likes likes to blast on tv.
I'm going to state points of what I dislike about such works.

point 1- The disrespect directed towards og fls
Often in transmigration novels it goes like: main character dies, then possess the body of another person in a different world.
The issue is that this person they possess often are portrayed as awful people.
They are either
A- pompous snob that everyone dislikes, or
B- meek cowardly pushover that are the punching bag for the general population.

These characters act as foils for the main character who is oh~ so wonderful and strong and doesn't take nonsense from nobody. Sometimes it is as if the author wishes to convey the message that the people that the main characters take over were fundamentally inferior people who couldn't be helped. And now that the main character is here everything shall be all and well.
Please no! my kidneys are combusting.
People are generally the same overall (DNA is 99.9% similar). No one really act in ways that don't have reason, and I feel that more compassion should be offered to the original host in transmigration novels. After all, fiction usually reflects reality, and people in reality deserve to be treated with respect.

point 2- That "I'm leaving you and now you're begging for me to come back cliche."
this is personally one that I dislike.
my mother eats this up, reading about it, watching it, quite literally 24/7. I could wake up in the middle of the night to go to the restroom and I would see her on her ipad, reading chinese novels full of this.
It's not solely because of this trope. I know but I can't bring myself to not resent poorly written novels at all. Childhood memories were all filled with the image of my mother on her ipad reading.
She subconsciously emulates the behaviors of the characters in the novels she reads too. Whenever she is upset with me, she'd go like: "I'm leaving you. Whether you live or die is your own problem now. Don't come begging for me."

[insert angry face.jpg] However this is reality with realistic outcomes.


point 3- A general lack of descriptive language.
I notice that there are:

"His eyes were filled with sadness."
Eyes filled with this and that, fury, anguish, happiness.
Only in this media do I see an excessive use of such language. I don't know if it's good or not, but I prefer more subtle ways to hint at an emotion a character is feeling.

...

I have quite flowery language too ...As for your mother, from an outsider’s perspective, it sounds quite funny ... Less so from the inside, probably.

 

[Bobple]

Point 1 is always an interesting one.
Its a story by story case, and I think most of the time now their actions or personality is given reasons-usually upbringing, complex, etc. Different stories/genres give more focus on this or not.

But my "favourite" part is when a story has dickish person the mc hopes into, and the mc does there magic becomes (strong, smart, clever, kind, etc) and everyone goes I should've got close to them beforehand (Sometimes this goes hand in hand with Point 2). Now to be honest, I only find my example annoying when it is overdone. I don't actually most mind most mini-plot-points and having a character say "Argh, I should've got closer to the mc before" is fine. But oh boy, when every second character says that, and the same characters repeatably say it does it get tiring.

 

[Corty]

Point 1: it just works, that's the reality

Point 2: people love the feeling of satisfaction they get through the MC when they can tell the opposing character that, nope, it's too late for that.

Point 3: Meh, it's a matter of preference, so everyone should have their own. I dislike when something (a character, a horse, a building or a vase, etc) is being described as if it was 1929 and goes on for too long.

 

[RepresentingDesire]

People are generally the same overall (DNA is 99.9% similar). No one really act in ways that don't have reason, and I feel that more compassion should be offered to the original host in transmigration novels. After all, fiction usually reflects reality, and people in reality deserve to be treated with respect.

The weirdest thing is nature, every brain has inherent characteristics that can only be changed by changing the brain (think of lobotomy as an example), people are born with certain behaviors but when a transmigrator (or whatever the name is) nothing of what might be the bodies nature. If example 1 would be someone with NPD it could be quite impossible to truly stop being like that depending on the awareness.

I know but I can't bring myself to not resent poorly written novels at all. Childhood memories were all filled with the image of my mother on her ipad reading.
She subconsciously emulates the behaviors of the characters in the novels she reads too. Whenever she is upset with me, she'd go like: "I'm leaving you. Whether you live or die is your own problem now. Don't come begging for me."

I honestly believe you don't have novel problems but parent problems.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I love books, however- not the ai voiced chinese novel content my mom likes likes to blast on tv.
I'm going to state points of what I dislike about such works.

point 1- The disrespect directed towards og fls
Often in transmigration novels it goes like: main character dies, then possess the body of another person in a different world.
The issue is that this person they possess often are portrayed as awful people.
They are either
A- pompous snob that everyone dislikes, or
B- meek cowardly pushover that are the punching bag for the general population.

These characters act as foils for the main character who is oh~ so wonderful and strong and doesn't take nonsense from nobody. Sometimes it is as if the author wishes to convey the message that the people that the main characters take over were fundamentally inferior people who couldn't be helped. And now that the main character is here everything shall be all and well.
Please no! my kidneys are combusting.
People are generally the same overall (DNA is 99.9% similar). No one really act in ways that don't have reason, and I feel that more compassion should be offered to the original host in transmigration novels. After all, fiction usually reflects reality, and people in reality deserve to be treated with respect.

point 2- That "I'm leaving you and now you're begging for me to come back cliche."
this is personally one that I dislike.
my mother eats this up, reading about it, watching it, quite literally 24/7. I could wake up in the middle of the night to go to the restroom and I would see her on her ipad, reading chinese novels full of this.
It's not solely because of this trope. I know but I can't bring myself to not resent poorly written novels at all. Childhood memories were all filled with the image of my mother on her ipad reading.
She subconsciously emulates the behaviors of the characters in the novels she reads too. Whenever she is upset with me, she'd go like: "I'm leaving you. Whether you live or die is your own problem now. Don't come begging for me."

[insert angry face.jpg] However this is reality with realistic outcomes.


point 3- A general lack of descriptive language.
I notice that there are:

"His eyes were filled with sadness."
Eyes filled with this and that, fury, anguish, happiness.
Only in this media do I see an excessive use of such language. I don't know if it's good or not, but I prefer more subtle ways to hint at an emotion a character is feeling.

it’s just telling the reader: now the character feels [insert emotion], it’s telling and not showing the way that they feel

...

For Point One, it is not a bad thing per se, but it is WAY WAY WAY overdone, especially for audio novels like PocketFM. It does get grating after a while. Especially since it is almost always a Son or Son-in-Law who gets treated this way (and there is almost always a nasty mother-in-law or stepmother who, even after repeated proof that the MC is somehow no longer a waste of space, continues to treat them as such); I think I have seen exactly one case where it was a Useless Daughter (well, and two where you have an Ugly Duckling becomes Supergirl thing - but then everyone notices and accepts her after a while), and two Useless Kid ones but literally dozens of useless Son (or Son-in-Law) ones.

Point Two: The "Begging me to come back" cliche I have not encountered as much as the "Useless Son (or. more often it seems, Useless Son-In-Law)" one, so it does not annoy me quite as much as you - and it is kind of both realistic and prevalent in a lot of genres when it does pop up. Nothing really wrong with it, again, but it is overused.

for Point Three... oddly enough, PocketFM writers' guidelines kind of suggest keeping this to a minimum, and I have seen critics complain when description is overused. For myself, I remember being in awe of Robert Jodan's ability to describe things in minute detail in "The Eye of the World" and wishing I could write like that. By the third book in the series, though, I was wishing JE wrote more like ME and glossed over the details more often, unless they are critical to the scene! It is a delicate balance and really more a matter of personal taste (for writers and readers) I think.

 

[Deleted member 166465]

Yes yes.
You know i saw that too. And all this isekai, so I tried to go the other way. No isekai, just a normal fantasy with some base in reality. The MC is not an angel from heaven, just a poor normal bastard who got dealed a bad hand by life. A little pervi, but not too much, like we all are. A bit dumb, bt not too much, just a regular guy.
BUUUUUUT. people dont like that, they want the trope of the isekai with a perfect personality... becouse they see themselves as that. In their twisted mind, they are good people. "I never stole anything, never killed anyone, i never..." Yeah, couse is ilegal. What happens when a "normal" and "good person" gets a lot of power, they become a corrupt tirant (in most cases). But no one wanna see themselves as they are, everyone wanna have the moral high ground, couse they are "aswesome good people", is just this world is bad as F. But if they happen to start in a better world, with a shit load of advantage, they will show "how good they really are". is the case of Jessy and Jessica christ, always trying to save something, the planet, the bees, the ocean, the whales, those nails, do some stupid shit, annoy everyone aroung them and then go to starbucks for they doble expreso frapuchino machiano with a taste of the rainbow.
So yeah, we are assholes.
About the eyes filled with stuff... everyone uses it. Im guilty, although i like to think I didnt abuse it. Wold be hypocrite for me to rant about something i used my self. However you must recognize that the eyes of people tell a lot, you know many things by just a simple look.
Anyway, hope you find the stuff you wanna read and go back to enjoy reading.

 

[KonoKei]

Every time I hear anything about Chinese novels it's always negative. I wonder if they're really that bad

 

[Nolff]

I have quite flowery language too ...As for your mother, from an outsider’s perspective, it sounds quite funny ... Less so from the inside, probably.

My mother's similar to cube mother, in this case. Whenever she has free time, she'll watch Korean dramas.

But, instead of slowly acting like a character she watched, she continuously yelled at me and mah bros with the criminal offensive side eye look.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

My mother's similar to cube mother, in this case. Whenever she has free time, she'll watch Korean dramas.

But, instead of slowly acting like a character she watched, she continuously yelled at me and mah bros with the criminal offensive side eye look.

My wife is getting to that point.

 

[Nolff]

Every time I hear anything about Chinese novels it's always negative. I wonder if they're really that bad

It is that bad, often. But, personally, it's a cultural/location difference.

In this forum, I once saw a user complaining about Westerns (generally Americans) playing hard-to-near-impossible games.

"You guys wanted to play realistic games and even impossible ones. Meanwhile, here in China, everyone worked their asses off just to make a living."

And that's when I know why Diablo 3 still has some players.

My wife is getting to that point.

Cube mother's point or mah mother?

 

[CharlesEBrown]

It is that bad, often. But, personally, it's a cultural/location difference.

In this forum, I once saw a user complaining about Westerns (generally Americans) playing hard-to-near-impossible games.

"You guys wanted to play realistic games and even impossible ones. Meanwhile, here in China, everyone worked their asses off just to make a living."

And that's when I know why Diablo 3 still has some players.

Cube mother's point or mah mother?

Watching Korean Dramas and acting like some of the characters. Then again, I've noticed a common trope in Korean television is autistic characters - and their behavior matches a lot of mine, so maybe mom is right (and most of the doctors I've had wrong) and I AM on the spectrum...

 

[Nolff]

Watching Korean Dramas and acting like some of the characters. Then again, I've noticed a common trope in Korean television is autistic characters - and their behavior matches a lot of mine, so maybe mom is right (and most of the doctors I've had wrong) and I AM on the spectrum...

The Spectrum of having speech difficulty and unexplained behavior?

 

[CharlesEBrown]

The Spectrum of having speech difficulty and unexplained behavior?

More the unexplained behavior - things I thought were just nervous habits or muscle spasms show up as regular actions on some of these characters. I don't melt down as easily but I also don't have any single "savant" trait so maybe not but... it makes me wonder of some of the medical diagnoses over the years were incomplete or incorrect.

 

[LoneQuack]

I love books, however- not the ai voiced chinese novel content my mom likes likes to blast on tv.
I'm going to state points of what I dislike about such works.

point 1- The disrespect directed towards og fls
Often in transmigration novels it goes like: main character dies, then possess the body of another person in a different world.
The issue is that this person they possess often are portrayed as awful people.
They are either
A- pompous snob that everyone dislikes, or
B- meek cowardly pushover that are the punching bag for the general population.

These characters act as foils for the main character who is oh~ so wonderful and strong and doesn't take nonsense from nobody. Sometimes it is as if the author wishes to convey the message that the people that the main characters take over were fundamentally inferior people who couldn't be helped. And now that the main character is here everything shall be all and well.
Please no! my kidneys are combusting.
People are generally the same overall (DNA is 99.9% similar). No one really act in ways that don't have reason, and I feel that more compassion should be offered to the original host in transmigration novels. After all, fiction usually reflects reality, and people in reality deserve to be treated with respect.

point 2- That "I'm leaving you and now you're begging for me to come back cliche."
this is personally one that I dislike.
my mother eats this up, reading about it, watching it, quite literally 24/7. I could wake up in the middle of the night to go to the restroom and I would see her on her ipad, reading chinese novels full of this.
It's not solely because of this trope. I know but I can't bring myself to not resent poorly written novels at all. Childhood memories were all filled with the image of my mother on her ipad reading.
She subconsciously emulates the behaviors of the characters in the novels she reads too. Whenever she is upset with me, she'd go like: "I'm leaving you. Whether you live or die is your own problem now. Don't come begging for me."

[insert angry face.jpg] However this is reality with realistic outcomes.


point 3- A general lack of descriptive language.
I notice that there are:

"His eyes were filled with sadness."
Eyes filled with this and that, fury, anguish, happiness.
Only in this media do I see an excessive use of such language. I don't know if it's good or not, but I prefer more subtle ways to hint at an emotion a character is feeling.

it’s just telling the reader: now the character feels [insert emotion], it’s telling and not showing the way that they feel

...

I'm only going to talk about point 1 because I have no experience with 2 and 3 is subjective.

Is it annoying? Hell yeah. Interesting the first time you've seen it (maybe), 'ok sure' the second, and by the third time you go 'oh great another one' before you role your eyes. To me the entire idea feels like lazy writing (for the reasons you listed) and it's not properly explored. The 'bad' thing is that whether it's me, you, or everyone else for that matter, it's not important. Since people are reading, it's gonna come again, and again and again...To this, money is the language not the 'random internet cry babies'. Why risk reinventing the wheel when you already have a successful recipe? It's the same thing with Xiaxia novels. It's barely readable but since it makes money it comes in volumes.

 

[Haku45]

I love books, however- not the ai voiced chinese novel content my mom likes likes to blast on tv.
I'm going to state points of what I dislike about such works.

point 1- The disrespect directed towards og fls
Often in transmigration novels it goes like: main character dies, then possess the body of another person in a different world.
The issue is that this person they possess often are portrayed as awful people.
They are either
A- pompous snob that everyone dislikes, or
B- meek cowardly pushover that are the punching bag for the general population.

These characters act as foils for the main character who is oh~ so wonderful and strong and doesn't take nonsense from nobody. Sometimes it is as if the author wishes to convey the message that the people that the main characters take over were fundamentally inferior people who couldn't be helped. And now that the main character is here everything shall be all and well.
Please no! my kidneys are combusting.
People are generally the same overall (DNA is 99.9% similar). No one really act in ways that don't have reason, and I feel that more compassion should be offered to the original host in transmigration novels. After all, fiction usually reflects reality, and people in reality deserve to be treated with respect.

point 2- That "I'm leaving you and now you're begging for me to come back cliche."
this is personally one that I dislike.
my mother eats this up, reading about it, watching it, quite literally 24/7. I could wake up in the middle of the night to go to the restroom and I would see her on her ipad, reading chinese novels full of this.
It's not solely because of this trope. I know but I can't bring myself to not resent poorly written novels at all. Childhood memories were all filled with the image of my mother on her ipad reading.
She subconsciously emulates the behaviors of the characters in the novels she reads too. Whenever she is upset with me, she'd go like: "I'm leaving you. Whether you live or die is your own problem now. Don't come begging for me."

[insert angry face.jpg] However this is reality with realistic outcomes.


point 3- A general lack of descriptive language.
I notice that there are:

"His eyes were filled with sadness."
Eyes filled with this and that, fury, anguish, happiness.
Only in this media do I see an excessive use of such language. I don't know if it's good or not, but I prefer more subtle ways to hint at an emotion a character is feeling.

it’s just telling the reader: now the character feels [insert emotion], it’s telling and not showing the way that they feel

...

Don't like the 1 one too. Authors often even forget about that. And mc act like he always lived inside the body. But I like when mc and whatever person make deal to each other or become friends. Like kurama inside Naruto. I find it more interesting

 

[Nolff]

More the unexplained behavior - things I thought were just nervous habits or muscle spasms show up as regular actions on some of these characters. I don't melt down as easily but I also don't have any single "savant" trait so maybe not but... it makes me wonder of some of the medical diagnoses over the years were incomplete or incorrect.

So all this time you mistook and were mistaken?

 

[CharlesEBrown]

So all this time you mistook and were mistaken?

No, I WONDER if that is the case, or if by wondering it, I prove it is not. Kind of a Schroedinger's Diagnosis, I guess.

 

[Nolff]

No, I WONDER if that is the case, or if by wondering it, I prove it is not. Kind of a Schroedinger's Diagnosis, I guess.

Ah. How many times you watch KDrama on a daily basis?

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Ah. How many times you watch KDrama on a daily basis?

About one hour less than my wife, so two to four depending on what time the TV goes on... :D