Oh. My. God.
I've been reading a lot of shoujo-esque, and my god, the tropes are ENDLESS.
What I hate to see: 1.) The main character being absolutely oblivious about the feelings of her love interests. This is especially frusrating because MOST of the time, the character is usually really perceptive about everything else. But, for whatever reason, they can't connect the dots with anything romance related. Sometimes it makes sense (Fruits basket), but sometimes it's so out of character that it's annoying as hell. I've recently gotten into manga/manhwa/anime/light novels that deal with a female character being reborn into a romance novel or otome (Dating sim) game. They know the story by heart, they can read everyone's facial expressions perfectly, but for whatever reason, they NEVER understand when another person likes them. They always fall back on, "oh but in the original story, he falls for another" but doesn't remember the fact that every supposed interaction that Love interest had on the original heroine has been changed due to the MC's interference. So they freaking go onwards thinking that no one likes them, when you have several men literally blushing every 20 seconds around her. LIKE HOW DO YOU NOT REALIZE THIS WHEN YOU ACTIVELY READ ROMANCE NOVELS/PLAY DATING SIMS??? Even if I was in denial, my first thought would be "wait, do they like me? Hahah no way...unless" BUT NO, it takes the person literally spilling their feelings in order for them to understand ANYTHING.
I'm looking at you Inso's law, Survive as the Hero's Wife, The Justice of Villainous Woman, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom.
What I love: Bro, if the male lead in what I'm reading goes to the main character whenever a misunderstanding occurs, that boy instantly becomes a favorite. The whole "misunderstanding so the characters avoid each other" is SO annoying and overplayed. I love some good drama, but it's usually always some dumb thing that was misinterpreted. It's so nice just to see characters talk things out with each other and lean on eachother for support - especially if it's a relationship or coupe-to-be.
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