MCs actually earning their worth

[NotaNuffian]

Maybe it is the blood that left my legs as I can't feel them both while on the shitter again, but I am so sick and tired of MCs getting handouts from either karma or the author.

It is always the same, MC imba, MC good dog, MC gets a new treat in the form of a living cock sleeve, a more imba kungfu/ dildo or both.

As I flex my legs to get the tingling sensation back so as to not fall over like last time and eat chocorice on the cubicle floor, I thought about the issue why the wish fulfilment can be so sickening. It is the lack of tension (ie infodump wall text) and MC being either an obnoxious cunt just like everyone else in the book or MC being so goody that I almost mistook him for the ideal citizen by the government. The authors can try their best in saying shits like "the MC earned it, they work hard for it!" and all I could do is shrug my shoulders, if I end up emphathizing the other characters who have to watch MC being imba, something is excrutiatingly wrong.

In Sword of Coming, MC suffers a lot, like closing to torture porn level with tons of ideology preaching that I have to struggle to read. MC "earns" his rewards as "he is good",

, the ball busting difficulty that he gone through justified it or straight up because of face. I don't hate the book like I don't hate Ze Tian Ji, I hate it for being long winded as it tries merticulously crafts the world while I spam the skip button.

Then at the other spectrum with obnoxious MCs, namely from A Will Eternal with a schizophrenic MC similar to Cultivation 40K who earns all his shit with ease from spamming the "hardwork" button. Maybe the book rubs me off the wrong way by looking at me as it says "why don't you work harder?" as my life crumbles around me due to minimal selfcare, the fact that in the book, hardwork = instant success pisses me off all the way. In SOC, even the MC knows that hardwork =/= always success while no hardwork = instant failure and in the work, I seen him stubbed his toes a lot of times and that feels fine.

In most of the books with competition I read, the MC will always get the first prize, beating the geniuses and other hardworking folks just because. This wasn't the case back when I was still young and reading hongkong manhuas, the MC can lose, there is no definite win and no "return to clear the shame" rematch. The loss is a loss, just because you are hardworking and/ or being a genius doesn't mean you get to win all the time. That is it, no padding to say "participation reward", just take the L and go home.

I know it is due to what I read and due to pandering, but you can't always expect to pull a W out of nowhere.

 

[MyukiMruieast]

Maybe it is the blood that left my legs as I can't feel them both while on the shitter again, but I am so sick and tired of MCs getting handouts from either karma or the author.

It is always the same, MC imba, MC good dog, MC gets a new treat in the form of a living cock sleeve, a more imba kungfu/ dildo or both.

As I flex my legs to get the tingling sensation back so as to not fall over like last time and eat chocorice on the cubicle floor, I thought about the issue why the wish fulfilment can be so sickening. It is the lack of tension (ie infodump wall text) and MC being either an obnoxious cunt just like everyone else in the book or MC being so goody that I almost mistook him for the ideal citizen by the government. The authors can try their best in saying shits like "the MC earned it, they work hard for it!" and all I could do is shrug my shoulders, if I end up emphathizing the other characters who have to watch MC being imba, something is excrutiatingly wrong.

In Sword of Coming, MC suffers a lot, like closing to torture porn level with tons of ideology preaching that I have to struggle to read. MC "earns" his rewards as "he is good",

, the ball busting difficulty that he gone through justified it or straight up because of face. I don't hate the book like I don't hate Ze Tian Ji, I hate it for being long winded as it tries merticulously crafts the world while I spam the skip button.

Then at the other spectrum with obnoxious MCs, namely from A Will Eternal with a schizophrenic MC similar to Cultivation 40K who earns all his shit with ease from spamming the "hardwork" button. Maybe the book rubs me off the wrong way by looking at me as it says "why don't you work harder?" as my life crumbles around me due to minimal selfcare, the fact that in the book, hardwork = instant success pisses me off all the way. In SOC, even the MC knows that hardwork =/= always success while no hardwork = instant failure and in the work, I seen him stubbed his toes a lot of times and that feels fine.

In most of the books with competition I read, the MC will always get the first prize, beating the geniuses and other hardworking folks just because. This wasn't the case back when I was still young and reading hongkong manhuas, the MC can lose, there is no definite win and no "return to clear the shame" rematch. The loss is a loss, just because you are hardworking and/ or being a genius doesn't mean you get to win all the time. That is it, no padding to say "participation reward", just take the L and go home.

I know it is due to what I read and due to pandering, but you can't always expect to pull a W out of nowhere.

I read a book about a girl who transmigrated into the cultivation world as someone with poor talents. She worked hard in the only way she could gain footing (alchemy) but despite how hard working she was, she was still a poor talent. Then she died, and reborn back into her old world. There she only gained back her high IQ and her talent just got a little better but still worse. She advanced about one stage in a decade and all she could do was study and study and then.... Nah, ain't gonna spoil anymore.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

I read a book about a girl who transmigrated into the cultivation world as someone with poor talents. She worked hard in the only way she could gain footing (alchemy) but despite how hard working she was, she was still a poor talent. Then she died, and reborn back into her old world. There she only gained back her high IQ and her talent just got a little better but still worse. She advanced about one stage in a decade and all she could do was study and study and then.... Nah, ain't gonna spoil anymore.

Link?

 

[farmer]

Any sort of struggle that an author make in their story is artificial. When I read a story where the MC has to fail a bunch of times, the impression it gives me is that the author just want to add word count to delay the fun part, or he just intentionally want to frustrate their reader.
I hate Savage Divinity so much.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Any sort of struggle that an author make in their story is artificial. When I read a story where the MC has to fail a bunch of times, the impression it gives me is that the author just want to add word count to delay the fun part, or he just intentionally want to frustrate their reader.
I hate Savage Divinity so much.

See, this is also one of the problems as an author, if the reader doesn't click with your story mule ie the protag, then everything else can go eat shit.

I unfortunately know how that feels, like getting your face dragged along the asphalt as you fall off the speeding bike. Everything goes from "its a fun disney ride" to "OH MY GOD, A LOOSE WIRE HAS STRUCK MY FACE!!!" sort of vibe as you lose interest and drop said novel.

The reason why I made such a thread is to try and locate a balance in novels. Sometimes the authors try too hard as they give out gold stars to even the most insignificant thing like peeing properly into the urinal and sometimes they sauce so hard that it turns the CBT from a kinky experience into a trip to the ICU.

 

[TotallyHuman]

maybe Worm?

 

[NotaNuffian]

maybe Worm?

I did.

 

[Jemini]

Sounds like you are honing in on the negative examples that prove the subject of your rant while ignoring the instances that go against it, even while noting you have already read them. This is also known as "confirmation bias."

I will admit though, giving the MC hand-outs is a fairly common flaw in writing now days. (This is also known as wish fulfillment.) That being said, stories that are more brutal to their protagonists are still around. It just happens to be in smaller percentage proportions compared to the old days of convectional publishing.

I've been writing my own series in such a way where the world does no favors for my cast. They start off with a lot of power strictly because of how they were born, but that's the only thing they have going in their favor. It's really more like I use the fact that they are strong as permission to start immediately throwing stuff at them. And I do mean immediately. They have to solve their first major life-or-death crisis at the age of 2. I've had readers comment that this world is playing on ultra hard-mode.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Sounds like you are honing in on the negative examples that prove the subject of your rant while ignoring the instances that go against it, even while noting you have already read them. This is also known as "confirmation bias."

Yeah, that is how I write my paper, now both you and I know why my GP is always D+.

That and grammar and spelling errors.

My counterargument for my point of MCs receiving free handouts is Renegade Immortal. God dammit as I falls back to it to enjoy the highs and lows of MC as the world shits all over him while he clenches his teeth to fuck it back. Him getting the ancient god is well earned as a neardead god is hounding him while he embroils into schemes after schemes.

I often try to look out for hardworking MCs and not "hardworking" MCs who say they are hardworking but either they are not as they oneshot clear out their issue or the author screw it up by thinking too minimalistic and shorten the grind to one single sentence.

I've been writing my own series in such a way where the world does no favors for my cast. They start off with a lot of power strictly because of how they were born, but that's the only thing they have going in their favor. It's really more like I use the fact that they are strong as permission to start immediately throwing stuff at them. And I do mean immediately. They have to solve their first major life-or-death crisis at the age of 2. I've had readers comment that this world is playing on ultra hard-mode.

I will have to take a look at your work then. It sounds fair and I know that power scaling is difficult to pull, especially when you buff the MC too hard at the start and if the world created is crap, then either you have to limit them through BS or come up with something too imba that shove the storyline out of whack.

 

[greyblob]

i think i found the root of the problem: every example you listed is a cultivation novel. they follow a linear, one-dimentional plot line (somewhat similar to litrpgs), where "levels" constitute progress. train and work hard and you'll be rewarded. it's a working man's fantasy

 

[LostLibrarian]

One problem is also that we are discussing webnovels. And most webnovels are targeted toward people who want to get away from stress and problems and just want to switch off their brains. Hence, the majority of these stories concentrate on wish fulfillment or at least happy ends where hard work is always rewarded.

It's like the usual "all modern movies are shit!" while only talking about transformer sequels...

 

[MyukiMruieast]

Link?

Here: Beware That this move might be boring but I you're studying, it's a good tool for motivation.

Not the real title, just placed that text there to warn.
Cultivation rarely appears in it.

 

[SakeVision]

Since you claim to be in university, I think it's time to stop reading trash aimed at shounen demographic, also known as progression fantasy.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Since you claim to be in university, I think it's time to stop reading trash aimed at shounen demographic, also known as progression fantasy.

Nah, I already left the uni and has now in the workforce for years!

If you mean progressive in terms of JP novels, fuck that shitshow.

Also, my knees are weak, I regret eating the entire Skippy Chunky jar.

 

[SakeVision]

Nah, I already left the uni and has now in the workforce for years!

If you mean progressive in terms of JP novels, fuck that shitshow.

Also, my knees are weak, I regret eating the entire Skippy Chunky jar.

Well, what I meant is that the target audience of these novels actually likes the things you complain about.

Btw, what do knees have to do with peanut butter?

 

[NotaNuffian]

Btw, what do knees have to do with peanut butter?

Diarrhea.

 

[SailusGebel]

I'm always baffled by your rants. I get the feeling that you might ask a question or want a discussion, but I rarely understand your stream of consciousness.

 

[paradigmfriday]

I don't mind the MCs having to properly earn their successes and go through actual ups and downs...Yet, I prefer an MC with a bright halo, compared to one where the author feels compelled to kick sand into both the MCs and the reader's mouths every few arcs...Which is why though I love the author's writing style, and characterization, I'm probably gonna keep a good distance away from the author of the Silverfox and the Western Hero...That's an author who's played the "your princesss is another castle" so many times that I've basically stopped trusting them, or the story...It's also, why I'm probably gonna just wiki the ending to game of thrones when it finally comes out.

For me, if it ain't the horror genre, I feel like real life is already hard enough, and I don't really need to indulge in simulated misery.

 

[greyblob]

I'm always baffled by your rants. I get the feeling that you might ask a question or want a discussion, but I rarely understand your stream of consciousness.

he's an old man - he's losing his marbles. it's inevitable

 

[NotaNuffian]

I'm always baffled by your rants. I get the feeling that you might ask a question or want a discussion, but I rarely understand your stream of consciousness.

Cuz they are as unfinished as the first bullet train of China?

he's an old man - he's losing his marbles. it's inevitable

Hard to lose something that I never had.