#the FL but has actually been in love w the ML the whole time (i put too much thought into this for no reason)

[surreal-duck]

live drama adaptations (1/?)

[meaningofaeons]

Hi! What manhwas do you use as a source of inspiration? 👀 Gepard and Sampo being a knight and a mage love interests kinda reminds me about "actually, I was the real one" and I'm a sucker for the "villainess reverses the roles" stories so I'm curious about your recommendations now

HI ANON !!! (=^･ｪ･^=))ﾉ彡☆

so far, my inspirations for majesty specifically have been the following (under a cut since it gets a bit long! my recs will also be under cut :)

"father, I don't want this marriage!" for the whole mc-thinks-dad-hates-her thing (except reader's dad isn't doting/sweet like the fl's dad in that manhwa is ;w; and he probably won't Become doting/sweet, though this is still up in the air. FYI, the reader's dad is actually canon to honkai star rail lore! look him up on the wiki for some more clues on how he'll be -- louis fleming!) "who made me a princess" is going to be the main inspiration for the dynamic between reader and sampo. take that as you will! "roxana/how to save the female lead's older brother" is the very loose inspiration for the four duchies in the stellaron empire. there are many manhwa with this setup of like "three/four/five important/powerful noble families" but roxana is the primary manhwa I took inspo from for this! "actually, I was the real one" is actually part of my inspiration for gepard's dynamic with reader! sampo not as much mainly since I haven't read it in a while, I gotta reread this one lol "the villainess turns the hourglass" is quite a big OVERALL inspiration for majesty. without giving too much away, let's just say that the reader will NOT be a pushover by any means, and will also not be a perfect angel in her second chance at life. also, the ML from this manhwa is a minor inspo for the dynamic between jing yuan and reader! "the remarried empress" is another inspiration for jing yuan. that being prince heinrey! the dynamic between heinrey and navier will reflect somewhat in reader and jing yuan's dynamic "villains are destined to die" has so many good characters, it was a shoe-in for inspiration! dan heng and reader's dynamic will be similar to the one between the FL and winter verdandi, the white-haired love interest. this is because, since dan heng backed down when reader was punished in her first life, she is wary of him in the second. also, the dynamic between reader and blade will be seen as very similar to the crown prince callisto regulus and FL, but maybe with less banter/crown prince being a cheeky bastard lol

that's all I can think of for the time being! I will inform if more inspirations crop up :)

just for clarity, I'll make a list of the PRIMARY inspirations for the dynamics between reader and each of the romanceable characters. some of these may be looser than others! don't take this as like HARD proof/indication for how the dynamics will be, some of these manhwa I haven't read in a while! dan heng x reader -> "villains are destined to die", winter x penelope jing yuan x reader -> "the remarried empress", heinrey x navier kafka x reader -> "the tyrant wants to live a virtuous life", ethan x dorothea stelle x reader -> "beware the villainess!", nine x melissa blade x reader -> "the villainess is a marionette", raphael x cayena sampo x reader -> "who made me a princess", lucas x athanasia gepard x reader -> "actually, I was the real one", joseph x keira ▉▉▉▉▉▉ -> "the villainess turns the hourglass", asterope x aria (this is the only hint you'll get as to who this mysterious love interest is! I tried to think of a better example but this one's ok :)

as for recommendations, I certainly recommend any of the manhwa I just listed. the remarried empress, while not a villainess-reverses-the-roles type, is a VERY good case of revenge served cold and characters you love to hate getting their just desserts. I also like "not-sew-wicked stepmom" for a bit of a less revenge-y but still flipping the script type of manhwa!

thanks for the ask!! （งΦ Д Φ）ง

[cherchersketch]

Writing my Male Lead’s Happily Ever After / I Will Take Responsibility for the Welfare of the Male Lead

It’s the same artist as  50 Tea Recipes from the Duchess :3

Summary How do all these authors end up isekai-ing into their own novels? Lol That’s what happens to our girl, but she finds out some details in her current life aren’t anything she even wrote about? This villainess suddenly applied to be the caretaker of ML’s (adopted) children?? She tries to screw up the interview until she sees how the kids are getting punished, so of course she has to intervene. Our girl’s the new caretaker now! And of course, to quash rumours of the duchy’s downfall, the ML proposes a ~contract engagement~. This will totally not come back to bite him in the ass at all.

Tropes   - isekai-ed as the villainess   - yo some details ain’t adding up from the original novel (even though she’s the OG author?!??)   - original character and isekai character actually meet   - just throw this whole family away   - cute babies doing cute baby things   - 21st century thinking in a historical setting   - this is a totally FAKE and not at all real RELATIONSHIP   - what do you mean I’ve drastically changed the plot the original FL and ML definitely still belong together

FL - Lady Laria Sherwood

 - it’s fun to write the *~angst~* until you’re the one having to live through it ;w;  - shoulda finished writing your novel, girl.   - conveniently a preschool teacher in her past life. yey  - of course there’s always a depressing backstory. why else would she attempt to write a hurt/comfort novel for ~catharsis~ 🙃

ML - Grand Duke Nocturn Blackwell

 - *real nobles* don’t know what ~proper childcare~  - hereditary ~madness disease~ mmm the backstory angst is *chefs kiss*  - him eyes glow when him ANGRY  - I love it when a guy do the blushublushu ///UwU///  - the guy always falls in love first ;w;  - mans gotta keep them yandere tendencies in check tho

babies - Mikhail Blackwell, Janet Blackwell

 - why is it always the (dead) older brother’s kid(s)  - sweet summer children precious cinnamon roll  - protecc the cinnamon rolls  - manhwa children always be a mix-and-match of the parents’ hair and eye colour

Rating: I enjoyed my time reading this It’s a fun little read Status (as of 23 Feb 2023) Ongoing. Nearly 60 episodes in but there hasn’t been any sign of the OG!FL (yet).

Same Same but Different  - Author of My Own Destiny  - I found a Husband when I picked up the Male Lead  - Daisy - How to become the Duke’s Fiancee

full rec list

[marimopeace]

there's a limit on how much you can be an isekai intellectual...

a bunch of analyses have been popping up before me all day so i wanted to throw my hat into the ring. all love to ppl who are exercising their creative minds + ppl like geoff here who just talk about these things because of fan interest but i feel like there reaches a point where exploring the "types" of isekai is pointless? i've seen ppl list out the different types of villainess revenge isekai or fantasy mmorpg isekai but eh why fit them all into separate boxes like that?

i think it's easier to think of isekai as a "type" (genre) of itself with only two categories: 1) a focus on isekai (lit. another world) 2) tensei (lit. to be reborn). this allows for a variety of applications and thus tropes that ppl see so many trends of!

with isekai - in another world

you see everything from:

pure fantasy (inuyasha, digimon wait maybe not the best example but in my childhood mind i count digimon as pure fantasy, fushigi yugi)

mmorpg inspired fantasy/adventure (.hack//legend of twilight, sao ugh, log horizon, overlord (LOVE OVERLORD!)

otome game-esque worlds >>> this is where it gets complicated with "villainess routes" since i admit there are multiple villainess tropes but this is why it's nice to not think of this as a "sub-type/genre" bc it frees you from those complications! (the saint's magic power is omnipotent, the white cat's revenge as plotted from the dragon king's lap soso cute!, the savior's book cafe in another world, i'm a villainous daughter so i'm going to keep the last boss wait i can't remember if she's reborn in this one lmaooo see this is why rules make everything hard)

with tensei storylines - being reincarnated/reborn in another world as *insert character/role*

you see...

the same tropes!!

pure fantasy (a returner's magic should be special, reminiscence adonis, the lady and the beast, light and shadow, i can't think of a manga off the top of my head for this ah)

mmorpg inspired fantasy/adventure (so i'm a spider so what i stan kumoko so hard, her majesty's swarm, can't name another off the top of my head ah i hate lists shorter than two things...)

self-insert based games/novels (fiance's observation log of a self-proclaimed villainess, who made me a princess, death is the only ending for the villainess, the villainess wants to marry a commoner, honestly games vs novels are different applications but i'm not in the headspace to try to remember a bunch of both lol)

*insert line break to give random ppl a break from scrolling but tl; dr just enjoy things for what they are no need to micro analyze*

similar variations occur in both genres (if ppl want to be super technical i guess i'm arguing that isekai itself is a massive genre that has the "another world" subgenre and "reincarnation" subgenre tl; dr) so i think it's honestly a huge pain to try to separate all these trends into so many different types of stories. for me personally it's easier to not get overwhelmed by this gigantic umbrella of "isekai" that spans light novels, manhwa, manga, and mobile games by just stripping each story down into its trademark tropes (aka character archetypes, story structures) and slapping "oh this is a person going to a world that's not ours" and "this person gets reborn as blank in another world". none of this "omg this power fantasy is such a this kind of isekai moment" or "there are 14 different types of villainess revenge stories and this series fits into this" bc AH labels! limitations! circle-jerks via ppl trying to compartmentalize everything and sound smart for leaving a comment on story analysis instead of ooh-ahhing over a character's face! dividing things into light novel manga vs manga vs korean manhwa ft. female characters!

the last bit is mainly why i feel frustrated by ppl's insistence to group everything?

the video linked at the beginning of the post (honestly good video essay, i enjoyed it, i just kept thinking in my head the whole time "marimo these are tropes do not take the genre talk literally") has a baby comment thread talking about "korean isekai manhwas" as a genre featuring nothing but reincarnated villainess' and i can't.

like i cannot acknowledge that as a genre of any sort. the energy i felt reading through some of those insights takes me back to 2012 when all yt americans discovered k-pop and deemed all korean music k-pop from then on! (ppl still do this now, yes you are seen and don't talk to me pls i don't like you. k-pop is korean pop music and nothing less and nothing more. take a few seconds and try to parse apart aspects of korean culture instead of slamming everything into a monolithic label that has the letter k and a hyphen.) it feels so odd to see a bunch of young ppl on ig and tiktok acknowledge korean media that happens to be in the form of a webtoon as "oh stories all about young girls becoming villains in stories they made/played" bc it feels so reductive u.u

(positionality disclaimer that i'm praying isn't actually necessary: i am a 3rd-generation korean of japanese descent do not fite me i am exhausted irl of ppl asking for validation/verification bc massive shove off.)

breaking news! korean manhwa...is just as multifaceted as japanese manga...bc how can comics as an art-form not have multiple genres...huh such a shocker?!?! same likely applies to media in other parts of the world like chinese manhwa and french comics--not my place to explain either of those i just know those industries exist bc of wakfu and donghua shows by Tencent.

at the end of the day it's not like analyzing any kind of isekai is wrong--absolutely not!! i think it can be super fun to think about how isekai elements complicate a story (MCs trying to go back home, ppl from the og world, reincarnation plot-twists) or maybe even bash a series for including some kind of other world element when they could have just written a super fun fantasy.

insert marimo's brief ramble that hey you can get sick of truck-kun's hitting disillusioned guys who happen to be super duper smart or girls who happen to be master chefs/craftsmen but transporting a fully-grown being into a fantasy setting is the ultimate cheat code for making mundane modern technology seem cool and overpowered, and being reincarnated as a fully grown person in a world with a pre-made story/game set-up completely bypasses the need for an author to slowly flesh out world-building in a natural progression so isekai is actually a really smart writing tool it's just that there are some series where the author didn't use it well at all and it's cheesy or clearly isekai was misused as a vehicle for character/story development and it was pointless *DEEP BREATH OUT*

in this essay i will argue...lol i am such a culture studies major!! if i were an english major i would be talking all about writing but here i am having a side-tangent about world-building via someone being reborn wow i love this for me (don't get me started on when an author has someone reincarnate as a baby and the story is mostly them having warm fluffy moments with their family--typically father figures--and getting lots of powers i could and would and probably will rant about east asian toxicity)

but anyway am i crazy????? like yes for being passionate about the technical use of a word like genre (i am a scorpio rising let me be fussy pls) but i don't think it's a lot to ask for ppl to not unironically see "villainess revenge isekai" as the definition of korean manhwa.

idk as someone who resonates with why japanese isekai is so popular domestically + why a lot of korean manhwa feat. the same tropes (it's not for great reasons lads it's actually depressing tbh) i'm just starting to feel kind of pained by the generalization and need to separate "cute japanese girl in an otome game"/"japanese boy finds a harem in another world" from "korean girl dies and comes back as a villainess" bc they are just! applications to the same story device!!

recommendations for any who makes it this far down below <3

// also gladly recommend any of the examples i've listed in the above rant as i've read/watched all of them and adore them v much! //

save me princess

super refreshing fantasy manhwa ft. a princess and her ex-boyfriend having to save the world!

the beginning after the end

an AMERICAN web novel turned into a comic (but see it being not korean/japanese doesn't really matter when you just consider isekai as a genre...isn't it nice to not overthink it?) ft. a super-powerful wizard king reincarnated into another world and starting from scratch--gives mushoku tensei vibes but huge twists!

the reason why raeliana ended up at the duke's mansion

love love LOVE this story--read the title and you'll learn how this girl reincarnated as the character raeliana in a book gets married to a duke!

trash of the count's family

such a good novel!! a guy gets reborn as a lazy oaf and he takes the hero of the story under his wing...plot twists come up later on!

this time i will definitely be happy!

v good and refreshing for a shorter series! she's been reborn 3 times and remembers every time the hero's stabbed her in the back, and now she just wants to break up with him!

silver diamond

older manga but v good adventure w intrigue! a boy who loves plants get sucked into a desert world with demonic lizards and a mysterious bodyguard by his side. shonen-ai not BL but wonderful vibes nonetheless + great side characters!

the princess imprints a traitor

adore everything in this from the world (not in that way this society makes me so angry) to the machinations at play and the dynamic between the fl and ml

[cherchersketch]

I will be the Matriarch in this Life / I will Master this Family

ahhh she’s so cute. I usually can’t wait to fast forward to the fully grown version but I’m really enjoying little Firentia and her antics. (and the poor ML because she’s still dumb. hahaha)

Summary Our main girl, Firentia, accidentally dies from overwork and is reborn as a daughter in a powerful family but because her mother was a commoner, some of the other members look down on her ;x; Though she tries her best, and is acknowledged by Grandpa on his deathbed ;x;, the asshole cousins still kick her out after her Dad and Grandpa die.  And of course they’re useless so the family gets ruined. But wait, she gets into an accident (again) and reawakens as her 8-year old self. Time to use all the future knowledge to manipulate people prove herself and become the head of the family (oh also accidentally win over the second prince I guess lol)

Tropes   - Truck-kun Carriage-kun strikes again   - who run the world? GIRLS   - OMG the Tudor fashions are so *chef’s kiss*   - died and came back to life to MASTER THIS FAMILY   - just throw these asshole relatives away

FL - Firentia Lombardi

 - employers love her: the 8 year old with 30 years of work experience  - 10 steps ahead of everyone (being from the future helps)  - gaslight gatekeep GIRLBOSS  - abandoned child comes back to life to be superior to her trash family WE LOVE TO SEE IT  - 100% oblivious to ML’s love  - what do you mean I’ve drastically changed the past the ML and that one lady I saw next to him from a distance will definitely still belong together

Daddy - Gallahan Lombardi

 - i love him  - precious cinnamon roll has never done anything wrong ever  - smarter than he looks (once he finally gets braver ;w;)  - papa bear

Ojii-sama - Lulac Lombardi

 - daddy’s daddy  - actually a great guy how did he get 2 useless sons  - actually acknowledges when people are great, regardless of background  - hope he lives longer in this timeline since there’s less stress ;w;

yea there’s also an ML lol - Perez

 - the couple progression is basically like if we extended the childhood portion of Author of My Own Destiny  - precious cinnamon roll   - the guy always falls in love first ;w;  - when will FL notice my ~feelings~  - just throw his whole family away  - of course he had a ~traumatic childhood~ (technically still in his childhood)  - him eyes glow when him ANGRY

when will we see them again

Rating: Yes PLEASE READ THIS if you’re ok with the fact that it’s been 100+ episodes and they’re still children. hahaha Status (as of 2 Mar 2023) Ongoing~ This is gonna be a loooooong series

Same Same but Different   - Iris: The Lady and Her Smartphone   - The Monster Duchess and Contract Princess   - I’ll Save this Damned Family!

[cherchersketch]

Daisy - How to become the Duke’s Fiancee

Is this another ~contract marriage~ with a stoic duke marquess (but not from the north)? Yes. Yes it is.

The artstyle changes halfway through but I think it still looks ok. Though you can really tell the difference when they put in flashbacks with the previous artwork. Lol

Summary Our main girl, Daisy, travels back in time after being drowned to death. Back to the day one of her useless dad’s creditors showed up to the house. Instead of blending into the background as she did before, this time she boldly approaches the ~cold duke marquess~ with an offer of marriage. Because he’s totes going to need that in 3 years when grandad kicks the bucket and his will states that his successor needs to have been married (happily) for 3 years or more. It’s a win-win because she’s sworn off love after the events of the previous life and he doesn’t believe in love because of his family’s history. Of course, they eventually fall in love, even though it’s just meant to be a ~contract marriage~. Come on, it’s a shoujo manhwa after all. 

Tropes   - died and came back to life X years before to escape the death flags   - just throw this gambling-addicted father away   - this is just a contract marriage he/she would never love me   - these grandad dukes really love putting in a no-marriage no-inheritance clause

FL - Daisy Filberlin D’Essel

 - oh no it’s the ~middle child~ syndrome ;w;  - so glad she is now never gonna get together with the trash man ;w; (though I’m interested to see if he’ll ever show up in the current timeline)  - employers love her: the 20 year old with 20 years of work experience  - 10 steps ahead of everyone (being from the future helps)  - gaslight gatekeep girlboss  - a lady’s battlefield is tea parties and banquets

ML - Marquess Killian D’Essel

 - wow a rich noble who actually works (and not like sits behind a desk of paperwork all day)  - not a duke yet but he already has the cold duke of the north personality nailed  - richer than you’ll ever be  - the guy always falls in love first ;w;  - put him in horny jail

this series doesn’t really have cute little chibi scenes ;x;

Rating: I enjoyed my time reading this It’s a chill, cute romance. Hehe Status (as of 11 Nov 2023) Ongoing. Honestly, it’s probably way longer than it needs to be. We’re just barely touching on the whole ~madness of the OG Duke family~ plot. But as a bingeable series it’s fairly interesting I guess. Though it should really be like half the length ;;;

Same Same but Different  - The Predator’s Fiancee  - The Villainess Lives Twice  - No more Nice Sis

full rec list

[cherchersketch]

My Secretly Hot Husband / My Husband hides his Beauty

It’s like medieval Beauty and the Beast, except with MLMs (wait what)

Summary Our girl has been reincarnated into this medieval life (because it helps the plot and gives her a fear of fire backstory. lol) Because of trash family reasons, she has to be married to the ~monster duke~. But don’t worry, it’s only a 3-year age gap and he actually looks *fine* but nobody can tell him that because of ~plot reasons~ Anyway, demons/devils exist and the way to defeat them, according to some ancient sage, is through the power of CAPITALISM! That’s right, our girl can read the ~mysterious ancient language~ written by an ancient prophet (a.k.a hangul). Using the power of fraud, she’s gonna go up the demon tier list to defeat them all and help hubby break his family curse. UwU

Tropes   - past life explained in one frame   - just throw this whole family away      - this is just an arranged marriage he/she would never love me   - the TRUE EVIL is late-stage CAPITALISM   - modern technology = magic

FL - Letitia el Halstead

- conquering devils and kingdoms with the power of BUSINESS FRAUD - literally harnessing the power of “The Art of the Deal” against actual demons - gaslight gatekeep girlboss

ML - Erden el Halstead

- hiding his ~*beauty*~ behind a mask - such a cute little puppy //sob Letitia please lift his curse soon - divorce my wife speedrun any% extreme monster hard mode (because Letitia would never)

Rating: Loved this so much I spent real life money in that I binged and then decided to pay for the weekly updates on tapas Status (as of 30 Nov 2023) Ongoing. Season 2 just ended so it’s yet another ~hiatus time~  Stopped at a pretty decent place though, not a cliffhanger, so it’s a good time to binge right now. 100% completed ;w; 

Same Same but Different   - Leveling up my Husband to the Max

full rec list

[cherchersketch]

Cheerful Countess Sisters / Countess and the Blade

Not one, but 2 badass girlboss FLs. But in general, it’s just a switch-off-your-brain fun little romance read.

Summary Our main FL has a real pos father. Everyone knows this, even the grandfather, so when he passes away, all the inheritance is given to her instead. Of course, the trash doesn’t throw itself out, father-of-the-year decides to locate the one illegitimate daughter who hasn’t been bought off by granddad.  Sike! She’s actually a decent person so when the 2 daughters meet up, they unite to throw away the trash instead. And then it’s time to find themselves some MLs to get that sweet Happily Ever After.

Tropes   - just throw this whole family away   - who run the world? GIRLS

main FL - Charlotte de Perrol

 - protecc the cinnamon roll  - richer than you’ll ever be  - gaslight gatekeep GIRLBOSS  - of course there’s always a depressing backstory

other FL - Kara 

 - precious cinnamon roll has never done anything wrong ever  - gaslight gatekeep girlboss

main ML - Arthur Cardiff

 - the royal family in this manhwa messy af (but then again what’s new)  - precious cinnamon roll has never done anything wrong ever  - super special awesome ~*magic*~ user  - of course there’s always a depressing backstory  - it’s unrealistic af but I love a cute ~soulmates~ trope ;w;

other ML - Brandon Russell

 - PUPPY  - precious cinnamon roll has never done anything wrong ever

Rating: I enjoyed my time reading this Status (as of 15 May 2023) 100% complete.

Same Same but Different  - Cassmire: The Loyal Sword

full rec list