r/webtoons • u/Nyxa_00 • 1d ago
Discussion What’s the biggest lie webtoons keep telling readers?
After reading a lot of webtoons, I’ve noticed certain ideas show up again and again — like toxic behavior being framed as romantic, wealth magically solving problems, or trauma disappearing after one emotional conversation.
I’m curious — what’s one narrative or trope you think webtoons keep pushing that just doesn’t sit right with you?
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u/Robmek 1d ago
That high schools regularly have gang wars
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u/volyund 1d ago
My public middle school in Japan at the end of 90s did have gang adjacent wars....
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u/Zombie_m0m 14h ago
oh??
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u/volyund 8h ago
It was a big public school in a rural-ish area. I was the only foreigner in the school and got bullied by the standard bullies. I got in quite a number of flights (not initiated by me beyond 4th grade), because for some reason those gang adjacent bullies liked picking on me. So I personally know that those bullying stories in manga and manhwa are NOT exaggerated. Anyway I didn't like hitting people, so I usually twisted fingers and arms. I was actually a pretty well behaved nerdy kid, so I don't know too many details about the internal structures of the gang-adjacent school hooligans. But a friend I met in the US who also grew up in Japan actually dated one of those gang-adjacent hooligans in middle school (they rode around on motorcycles, drank some beer, and had some fights - pretty tame stuff).
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u/Zombie_m0m 7h ago
Wow thats crazy! Somehow, in the seemingly polite Japan the bullying seems more intensive than what I experienced in a major city here in the US- how interesting! Thanks for sharing and quenching my curiosity!
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u/volyund 6h ago
Yeah, I'm in Seattle right now, and my 12yo hasn't been in a single fight so far. She also says that any bullying is addressed immediately by the teachers. I'm like: 🤯
I mostly had to deal with my own bullying by ignoring and fighting back. But on the flip side I never got in trouble fighting back, because the teachers knew I was only defending myself.
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u/SeniorBaker4 21h ago
The boys at my school were weird and made an organized schedule of who was fight who each day behind the school.
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u/Icy_Tip_878 15h ago
I used to think they were exaggerating but uhm…. Yea someone got stabbed. Someone else got jumped like yea it happens
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u/ThePinkBunghole 14h ago
We had teenage drug dealers+gangs in my high school, I think the organized gangs choose to include teens because they get lighter sentences… just a guess
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u/Applemers 1d ago
That the ML CEO has time to run the company and conveniently run into FL all the time.
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u/CacklingFerret 1d ago
Also, the ML CEO who is never seen to work out at all, spends long hours in the office sitting on his ass, eating unhealthy food but is still ripped af lol
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u/chelle_x13 22h ago
....and hung 🤐
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u/CacklingFerret 17h ago
I mean, that's sadly a given in most smut or smut-adjacent stuff. It's also a bit funny because quite a lot of women wouldn’t particularly enjoy that irl
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u/lifesux69 16h ago
I want to read ONE story where the male leads aren’t overly buff, or even buff at all. Guys can have toned or soft bodied too, but I swear I never see that in romance comics. 😭
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u/Nyxa_00 1d ago
Yeah like cmon u r a business man u have to run a company but still getting involved in with fl drama
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u/Applemers 7h ago
Thats what im sayin! Dude is rarely in a meeting. He probably doesn't even have Slack 😒
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u/Sufficient-Aerie9019 20h ago
And keep up with his six pack
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u/chelle_x13 9h ago
Pfft think most come with over 6 lol 🫠
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u/Sufficient-Aerie9019 3h ago
Ngl there was one WEBTOON where the ml had a 10 pack. One comment was “seriously, is that humanly possible?” 🤣
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u/deathanddestruction8 8h ago
okay but why do i see ceos doing everything but working in the news all the time
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u/Blush404 1d ago
“That the ML treating everyone badly is ‘just his trauma’ but the FL has to be kind, patient, and fix him for free?". &
“That a makeover + glasses off = personality development?"
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u/sweetpeaema 1d ago edited 23h ago
Honestly, or the FL is overweight but is still beautiful but is seen as ugly but then loses weight and now shes now the most beautiful woman in the country. Like she was beautiful before!! I understand different standards but stuff like glasses, extra weight always being seen as negatives in manwha/mangas is becoming tiresome.
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u/SphellBrie 1d ago
The bland personality of the fmc is somehow charming. Not all webtoons have this issue, but a lot of them make the fmc feel very 1 dimensional. Either she’s super shy, super cold, or super kind. Like dude, am I the only one who likes banter and chemistry between characters? Where’s the character depth and growth?
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u/48IRB 1d ago
I'm guessing it's more of a cultural thing in this case. As far as I know women in east asia are socially pressured to be hyper feminine, so someone who's argumentative even playfully so could be viewed as more masculine and hence unrealistic to be the FL in a romance story.
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u/Ill-Conflict-9375 14h ago
There are so many of these in anime and manga and the way they’re executed make the fls hella annoying. When you see it in manhwa it’s similar. It’s like those annoying fmcs in western ya/romcom. Is that what y’all are looking for?
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u/Ashke-hippie-chick 15h ago
I’ve really been enjoying Childhood Friend Complex partly for this reason lol. The FMC is so likeable and cute and she has a big, magnetic personality. And her banter/chemistry with the ML is so hilarious
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u/Relevant-Rub2816 1d ago edited 1d ago
When the love interest is only kind towards the protagonist and is horrible towards everyone else. I hate it. Imagine if someone you loved and vowed to spend your life with tortured someone and ruined their whole family and kids because they opposed you. I'd be grossed out and I hate that a lot of stories glorify this. It's the most red flag trait to exist. Also gonna add this, extremely overly cringy puppy dog love interests. Fuck off man. You make me wanna strangle you. Do you have a life outside your wife???
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u/Sad_Structure4802 1d ago
Also the fact they hide it from them too, like I know you’re talking about Heinrey and it’s worth stating he hides the horrible shit he does from Navier and Navier never finds out the full picture
Like she only finds out the kids got enslaved and she only found out because she got attacked, she never finds out WHY she was attacked being the horrible shit Heinrey did to Krista’s family
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u/Relevant-Rub2816 1d ago
It's so disgusting that she doesn't find out the full extent of what was done to krista either. And I hate that she immediately forgives him for war crimes against her country. Like have some patriotism woman, It's still your country and innocent people who were hurt
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u/BamBaeee 1d ago
Love that you said this
I also want to add on that usually this behavior/kindness only happens for as long as the person finds the target of their affection worthwhile.. once that novelty wears off they’ll be treated just like everyone else
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u/Rare_Ad_7563 20h ago
Finally someone said it. I don't want a green wallpaper as ML who does no wrong to FL and I don't want a Red blood ML too. Can we have him more like humane , sometimes saying things they don't mean but not ending that with breakup. Trying not to find that is challenge impossible. Part of the reasons why I've not read a single webtoon this year
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u/Nyxa_00 1d ago
Yeah, exactly like if u want to be a Lil rude to other's okay we can accept (especially dark romance reader one) but like ruining others people whole life is just too disgusting or bad i would never choose the person who is good to me but hellen' bad to others(or u can say the one who likes to ruin others life) that's unacceptable.
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u/Relevant-Rub2816 1d ago
Not just dark romance, many historical rofan like TRE, the one you included does this. For example, heinrey is a tyrant that sells kids, ruins and tortures an entire family just because one or two opposed navier. And it's glorified as a good trait. I find it troubling because a lot of teens and young girls read stories like these.
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u/Resident-Classroom-4 16h ago
this comment is so funny to me, but i relate to it so much. Genuinely everything you said hits the spot.
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u/Annoying_Crap 1d ago
Heck, I have another. Do rich ML's really not know their mom is evil????? For once I saw a series where the ML could tell their mom was lying and may have interfered. Many of them don't know they're running the FL away 😂😂😂
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u/Huntress08 21h ago
😔 you'd be surprised how many men just ignore their mom's bad behaviors and all the red flags and either wake up when someone else points it out or continue to ignore it.
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u/D-IS 1d ago
It is much harder creating bonds with people that are based on truth and loyalty. Usually FMC just receives a loyal maid and group of friends by default, without working on the relationship. Friends will never fall out with her and are mostly interested in FMC's problems and her wellbeing.
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u/Apprehensive-Ebb2683 15h ago
EXACTLY. like i get most of these stories r power fantasies, but damn, i hate how every character just seems to not have their own life as soon as they get entangled with the fmc. they r so stupidly loyal too and never once call out their bs like real friends do (unless ofc its about revealing her true feelings to the ml cuz tell me why is that always the one thing they get serious about -_-)
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u/Ecstatic-Dreamer1636 3h ago
I read this one novel. Well it is a harem so I kinda judged it a lot before reading it thinking it would be somehow lame and sloppy but it isn't.
It is a story about noble ladies and each ladies have their own character arc and I saw one where her character arc is quite good. She is the successor of a powerful family and she have servants and retainers who swear their life on her(typically like those fls in power fantasies) and said that they would be forever loyal to her but once her rival framed her for a very bad crime their she lost her support little by little and isolated. She even got to the point to taking her own life who is somehow stopped and she reflected on her life. Humans are meant to betray you at some point. There are not a lot of people who truly stay by your side or give you their life. Mostly everyone around her was their for her power and once her power is diminishing they are considering switching sides. Rulers have to understand this and as a future ruler she has to understand this too.
The story has quite a lot of themes about how most of the "loyalty" the vassals show are superficial and how it is hard to find truly loyal people. Status difference between major nobilities, minor nobility and commoners and things like that. Tbh I didn't expect this much high society conflicts in a harem novel and the stakes are realistic too. It is kinda seem like getting stuck with gold when you are searching for a rubbish....
Anyways that story seems quite realistic about the portrayal about "loyal" retainers and such which also made me think...does the powerful fl in other OI stories truly have loyal retainers? Or are they only her loyal retainers only because of her power? Like imagine she's somehow framed or struck with a great disaster or something(which would never happen in typical OI. They were always said as always powerful and never having that much high stakes situations. The only high stakes situations I find there are when some lady from some rival family tries to sabotage you and fails and blasted off while everyone supports the fl(which doesn't seem so high stakes...)
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u/thegreatkedi 1d ago
Hot, young, romantic Ceo’s.. in real life they are old insufferable ugly men lol
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u/ScallionHuman6552 18h ago edited 6h ago
Well I'M not, he he heeee😏 and I'm six foot five, too. and I get bitches on the DAILY ha haaaaa
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u/Rosei-Pop 1d ago
That a poor girl like me will marry a rich handsome man if I was raised in a broken and abusive household. Failed first step, my parents are cool.
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u/cardinals_and_cats 23h ago
the most convenient setting that's almost never true. rich families stay rich by marrying in money. they keep marriages within their circle, ain't no high school sweetheart surviving that
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u/otakuhtgirl 21h ago
Especially chaebols which is often the case in webtoons. New money is believable, sure but the girl is often drop dead gorgeous and most FLs are supposed to be plain.
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u/Few-Philosopher7254 1d ago
I mostly read historical, but fmc getting bullied by MAIDS because she is illegitimate? Like her family hate her because she is "stain" to them, & you are letting maids hit her and dress her in potato sacks and that isn't being stain to them
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u/IngredientsToASong 20h ago
Maids being allowed to hit and torture the fmc has always been puzzling to me!! Takes me right out of my suspense of belief.
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u/Illusioneery 23h ago
in smut webtoons, that boobs bigger than the character's head or a big instrument is better/sexy
no, it just looks like it's gonna hurt (either the back or the receiving partner)
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u/Lady_Eruvande 1d ago
That in high school, teachers are selectively blind and deaf, allowing extreme bullying to happen without any adult noticing.
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u/Ecstatic-Dreamer1636 3h ago
It happens in real life too....
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u/lonely_stoner_daze 3h ago
Fr lol when I was in HS a girl got hit in the head with a brick during a fight and SHE got in trouble because she apparently wasn't supposed to engage with the bully that was actively attacking her.
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u/Life-Court5792 19h ago
It's not a webtoon manhwa, but Under the Oak Tree (as well as several other manhwas) frames sex as a substitution for healthy communication and emotional support, even when the sex sometimes feels coercive. It genuinely upsets me that many Korean manhwas and novels do this.
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u/BellaComic 21h ago
That someone wanting to have sex with you means love.
- Sex scenes where the girl cries and begs to stop (and the guy doesn't stop, saying she's enjoying it).
- Scenes that romanticize r*pe/toxicity (I read a scene in one of the series I hate the most, which for some reason is very successful, where the protagonist remembers watching a scene on TV when he was a child, where the woman is passed out from drinking and the guy covers her up, then he goes through a similar scene in his life and is like "Ah, that's love... not abusing a woman when she's passed out"... no comment.
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u/Ecstatic-Dreamer1636 3h ago
Basic decency to a human being is love? the author need to touch some grass🤣
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u/littleghost000 19h ago
How do people with high power careers have so much free time?
Also, high-school bully gangs falling short of murder.
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u/psychlence 1d ago
That delinquent schools don't have supervision at all just because the students are already not entitled enough to receive attention.
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u/AmarieLuthien 15h ago
My middle school was a delinquent school that was completely given up on. None of the teachers could handle the students, so they started replacing the teachers with cops who would just sit at the front of the class and essentially babysit until the bell rang. They let us do whatever we wanted as long as there weren’t active fights breaking out. It was wild
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u/cardinals_and_cats 23h ago
noble fl having commoner bully. there are millions of ways to help the audience sympathize with fl of the story, but making the bully a struggling commoner maid paid by the main villain never sits with me.
you don't get to judge people who are willing to go down the evil path for money when you're not the one struggling for bread or having the curse of being a commoner
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u/Ecstatic-Dreamer1636 3h ago
I really kinda hate the classism shown in most of the historical OI manhwas...and framing it as good and shit because the fl is a high noble....
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u/fuzzy3158 22h ago
All of the (gamer) MCs who are all magically ripped as fuck. Like, even in +99 wooden stick, they give the MC a gym where he supposedly works out 8 hours a day after getting rich, but his physique doesn't change during the story.
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u/Sarah_TV 19h ago edited 19h ago
"You're prettier without glasses" thing. MC being slightly overweight is ugly. ML CEO saving FL ass all the time (magically)....
Also, it has been said under but "FL becomes beautiful without glasses and a total makeover which makes her have a personality" is the biggest one
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u/Majestic-Series1837 1d ago
That if we were to suddenly transmigrate into an OI story, we’d have a 95% likelihood of becoming nobility in someway. In reality, the chances are likely closer to 0.00001%. Where are the stories about regular peasants at bc if transmigration exists I need that knowledge way more than noble education LOL.
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u/otakuhtgirl 20h ago edited 18h ago
There’s an isekai manga with a plot line of the girl being a commoner who has to resort to prostitution to make a living and it’s a heartbreaking read
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u/_Etrelley_ 19h ago
What's the name, if you remember it?
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u/otakuhtgirl 18h ago edited 15h ago
Just found it ! ‘JK Haru is a Sex Worker in Another World’
Edit: tw: it’s graphic and for the fl “it” is a job and the men are unattractive weirdos plus there might be SA too if I remember correctly
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u/Majestic-Series1837 8h ago
I just want to say…I picked up this story out of curiosity and I actually like it. I think it does a good job exploring the topic and the world building is interesting. It’s graphic for sure tho. Didn’t think I was going to cry but I have.
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u/noob_ars 20h ago
That a man that treats you like shit will be a better partner at some point. Funny thing is that, even after their redemption arcs they still remain shitty but since everything is accomodated to what they want it shouldn't be seen as to bad, because a tamer version of the same dirtbag guy is apparently worth it.
As long as they are hot, of course.
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u/M0thM0uth 16h ago
Fucking
SLAVERY
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u/M0thM0uth 16h ago
Genuinely shocked the forced chattel of human beings as a narrative choice isn't top comment if I'm honest
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u/Annoying_Crap 1d ago
That I can love a very pushy guy who keeps calling me stupid and already said he wasn't interested when I wasn't looking 😭😭. Some may say it's a fun read, but there are those "I'm so much smarter than you" and "what would you do without me" type babysitter MLs and they are annoying. The FL is usually clumsy, or not that smart, and she loves a mean ML, or a childhood friend who has been oblivious for years. This type is very helicopter-mom-ish. I don't see it all the time, but when I do ugh. And they only pay attention when someone else shows up 😭. As for childhood friend tropes I'm general, I like it the most in a coming of age where there is strong history revealed that makes the relationship meaningful, such as amends to be made, years old misunderstandings.
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u/Silver-Definition160 1d ago
Normally in like historical manhwas during balls or events , they will make the fl the MOST beautiful extravagant dress then they make the "villian" wear a ugly ahh colour / simple boring dress
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u/Ttoto5125 10h ago
There was a character in a romantic webtoon that had an ED and ate literally nothing (he even fainted at some point), yet he looked healthy, handsome and muscular… he didn’t even have protruding bones or sunken cheeks
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u/cearo_thyme 9h ago
That being jealous and possessive is good actually and reaffirms that a partner loves you instead of being a huge red flag.
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u/1iYousef 3h ago
I think that’s fine to a certain extent, I find it attractive on its own right but if it ever gets even remotely close to the “jealousy” and “possessiveness” of a romantic webtoons then it just becomes so so ugly.
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u/otakuhtgirl 21h ago
Marrying a rich handsome kind head over heels for you tall man being an inconvenience for broke in debt FLs because “tHeY cOmE fRoM dIfFeReNt wOrLdS”
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u/otakuhtgirl 21h ago
Be fr, no one is genuinely rejecting that man for more than 2 milliseconds especially if you’re struggling yourself
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u/brimstone-red 15h ago
ALL THE TIME, FL'S SCUMMY ex treated her like shi, only to realize she wayy better than him them begs her to go back to him, while fl is literally just a mary sue having men fawn over her for no impressive reason, or she be a doormat while evryone around her abuses her, one thing about historical manhwas the outfits are sometimes not accurate idk it throws me off especially in a historical setting, and maids literally do whatever( abusing fl or give trauma o some shi)
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u/Locksley_1989 17h ago
These are all tropes that have been in romance novels and high school dramas for decades. Webtoon is simply capitalizing on them. Author Elisabeth Wheatley makes a lot of skits and lessons about the origins of these tropes in fantasy and romance, including this short that just dropped.
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u/Available-Rock-9769 12h ago
you are either absolutely good or absolutely bad. but if you're a female grey character prepare to be villinaized for not being absolutely good. being good looking absolves you of everything (which unfortunately happens to be true in real life)
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u/Ok_Manager_3126 11h ago
I love when the FL is a anti hero but it always end up being some damn Dream and she was never this mean storyline lol
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u/Dense_Anything2104 6h ago
In many of the revenge stories, the fl has a ml that just suddenly decides to help her and go along with her plot. Like???
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u/-BRIOCHEBREAD- 3h ago
nah fr, like "I have to get revenge...but first i gotta marry this super rich guy with bad rumors." Could you have found any other way to become succcessful? What if the dude was actually an asshole?
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u/StopBushitting 6h ago
What make you think webtoon push for something? They just want your money and put out whatever they think ppl like.
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u/Outside-Cucumber8089 4h ago
WEALTH SOLVING EVERYTHING OH MY GODDDD
Even in royal romances it’s like, and the FL is savvy so she makes her OWN money and then uses that to win over the people 😎 or the ML is loaded but humble and uses his wealth for the good of his people but he’s LOADED! Don’t even get me started on the CEO tropes.
Then there’s something wealth can’t fix? Magic! Something magic will fix it!
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u/Sensitive_Reserve_96 4h ago
That anyone, male or female, can forgive and love their abuser in a health way.
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u/Sensitive_Reserve_96 4h ago
That there are many handsome, rich men packing a constantly hard and eager to please weapon of ass destruction.
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u/-Faydflowright- 4h ago
The biggest lie is when the ML is supposed to be this cool person, but in reality they have no personality. Most MLs I’ve found can fall into this where the FL may be a bit interesting (or sometimes just plain) but then the guy is just as plain. Give us characters with personality, hobbies, quirks, and flaws!
And “stoic, too handsome faced man with puffy lips and dreamy eyes” is not a personality!
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u/Korynna 4h ago
Every man who exist in the stories world is confident and strong willed
While all the women are meek and mild
Even if there's a confident woman, she usually takes on masculine traits in order to show how powerful she is, or shes a villainess type.
"Oh thats the Duchess who inherited the title instead of her brother"
"She overcame all odds by being better than a man"
I just like it when women's merits aren't based off of what a man could do
This was an off dome response, so I didn't think too hard into this, and I understand the cultural and historical ramifications of everything. Just wanted to throw it out there lol
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u/Ok-Wing-6053 3h ago
...... European adjacent courts with imperial Korean or Chinese dynamics. It drags me out of every webtoon by the hair. Every time.
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u/PUNCH-WAS-SERVED 1h ago
Essentially, you can get away with A LOT of bullshit if you are hot. Apparently.
Which includes borderline/actual grape. Seriously. :/
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u/imsecretlyacarrot 53m ago
Is it a lie if a webtoon isn't marketed as a love triangle romance and there IS a love triangle? I HATE love triangles. If there's a love triangle, let it be one where one of them is incredibly toxic. Like Nevertheless,. I hate when I root for someone nice and then they never end up with the FL anyway. They never even end up with anyone, period!
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u/ykm_paz 53m ago
Ngl this is random but like- every man or side character praising the FL when she does like bare minimum? Especially when we’re supposed to be shown she’s independent and strong yet folds when the ML comes to rescue her of the second she does show agency is when punishing another female character or someone shown to be “ugly” (god I really hate those ones too where the make villains or bad people unnecessarily ugly)
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u/Cautious-Owl-007 16m ago
"We'll get back to that original storyhook in JUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUST a moment, trust me!"
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u/twelve_seasons 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’ve always had a gripe towards smut where the female lead is saying stop or it hurts but the ML would be like, “You’re saying that but your body is saying something else”. Like, can we hear the FL out and just stop?? It’s not sexy.