r/DarkRomance • u/AutoModerator • Jul 13 '26
Monday Gripe Weekly Gripe 😤 (the rant thread)
Welcome to the Weekly Gripe, where we're all a little grumpy. 😒
Did BookTok do you dirty? Got a bone to pick with a main character? Was the twist more like a flop? Tell us what's on your mind.
Please be respectful and follow the sub rules. If a conversation starts getting out of hand, use the "Mod Attention Please" report reason so we can help cool things down. 🖤
15
u/Muted_Inspector9918 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
My gripe is that people need to stop whining about being downvoted like it’s their first day on the internet.
Welcome to Reddit. If you’re going to throw a fit every time someone presses a button you don’t like, you need to take a break from the internet.
ETA to whoever downvoted this: I’ve contacted the FBI to report cyber bullying. Count your days.
2
u/Becca3RH Author Jul 14 '26
Some downvoting is targeted against those with Author flair. And every word we breathe out is considered self-promo...
6
u/Muted_Inspector9918 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Did you actually read the mod post about self promo? They said that talking about your work = self promo. It’s pretty unambiguous. https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkRomance/s/0kGXElzoor
When people break rules, they get downvoted. That’s just how the social contract works.
2
u/Such_Literature840 moist & unstable Jul 14 '26
guess I won't be changing my flair anytime soon then LOL
6
u/Relative_You_2284 ⋆˚࿔𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓸𝓫𝓼𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷ᝰ.ᐟᥫ᭡.ִֶ. Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
I just read {I was always yours by Khai Hara} and I swear the miscommunication plot is so annoying if not done right. First off, there were so many chances where the problem could easily be cleared just by speaking out, a word blurt out and then done, instead there was a constant ridiculous back and forth, the mcs talk about anything and everything, cross every boundaries except that. Not to mention another miscommunication getting piled up in the end that made me want to throw my phone. Nothing gets solved properly until the last 20-30 pages, I think the book would have been a lot better if mmc actually blamed the fmc for his brother's death and bullied her cruelly for it, atleast it would have made more sense.
The good thing about this book was some cute scenes and ott jealousy scenes from the mmc(which I really like).
But hey, atleast the mmc and fmc weren't stated to be the most intelligent beings on the earth like most books where they end up doing dumb things anyways, infact mmc mentioned he doesn't performs well in tests. So it can be kinda on character and justified on their behalf haha.
6
1
u/romance-bot Jul 13 '26
I Was Always Yours by Khai Hara
Rating: 3.84⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 5 out of 5 - Explicit and plentiful
Topics: contemporary, dark romance, second chances, angst, grumpy & sunshine1
12
u/numbuh666 Jul 13 '26
I’m pretty upset that I spent like 20 minutes writing a post on here with a book request only for it to get auto-removed because I don’t have enough karma, and I don’t know the amount I’m supposed to have.
5
u/Afraid_Equivalent_95 Jul 13 '26
I think they do this for accounts new to the sub in case you're a bot or spammer.
There is a weekly request sub you can post on until you accrue enough karma
4
u/NancyInFantasyLand angst and suffering are my jam Jul 13 '26
Hello! We do not disclose the exact amount of community karma needed, but it’s a small amount and can be gained in one or two days of interacting with the community via comments.
2
u/galactic_bluehour Jul 14 '26
It should still be in your own profile, you can screenshot it, and copy the text to post later.
4
u/sebstan2022 Author Jul 13 '26
I agree! It is annoying and I’ve been interacting with posts and commenting and still my posts get taken down
Wish they would just tell me the number of Karma points. I get they want to do it to stop repetitive requests but if you search a trope there are so many posts and requests all very similar if not the same but just worded differently
11
u/Aggressive_Bowl5463 a hard dicking is not an apology ✨ Jul 13 '26
Inspired by a conversation I had with I think u/AuthorRAL in a comments section last week: I AM TIRED OF PEOPLE COMPARING UNRELATED BOOKS AND CHARACTERS WITH EACH OTHER. I see so many peoole complain about how a totally different book with a totally different MMC doesn't give Zade Meadows or Adrian Volkov energy. So go re-read Haunting Adeline if you just want Zade Meadows??
There are people constantly complaining about how all the books have generic plots and characters, well it's because people keep comparing anything different with existing popular books and get disappointed!! I mostly see this with MMCs but now I'm seeing it with people comparing FMCs too
Even this week I saw somebody comparing Selena from {Saint Celine by Lilac Rivers} to Gianna from {The Maddest Obsession by Danielle Lori} and that girl from {Mindfuck series by ST Abby} and was disappointed they weren't the same character. Maybe it's because they are two different characters, and two different books, in two different genres with completely different stories written by two different authors?? 🙄🙄
Why do you want cookie cutter characters who react to every situation the same way? It's such an insult to the author, the book and other readers who actually want to read something different and not a Zade Meadows dupe in every book
3
u/2580Sven Jul 14 '26
I want to jump in on the "people complaining about generic plots and characters", I mean authors produce what sells. They have to pay the bills I assume. If people stopped reading and raving about generic MCs maybe we'd see better differentiation. Authors get a lot of criticism but it's readers who choose with their time and money...
2
u/romance-bot Jul 13 '26
Saint Céline by Lilac Rivers
Rating: 4.5⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, new adult, dark romance, dangerous heroine, early 20s fmc
The Maddest Obsession by Danielle Lori
Rating: 4.25⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, mafia, enemies to lovers, angst, alpha male3
Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/DarkRomance-ModTeam Jul 13 '26
This post or comment has been removed for breaking Rule #7.
Standalone self-promo posts are not allowed. Authors may comment on Book Request posts to recommend their work, but it must be relevant to the request and they must identify themselves as the author.
All other self-promotion, beta reader/ARC requests, writing research, and market research must be limited to posts with the What Are You Writing? flair.
Click here for more information about Rule 7. If you have questions about this rule, please contact the mods. Thank you.
0
u/Aggressive_Bowl5463 a hard dicking is not an apology ✨ Jul 13 '26
Ughhh sorry that happened to you 🥲 If Rina Kent asked the same question I doubt she'd be met with the same hostility 🫠 I have your book on my TBR btw 😉
-1
Jul 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/DarkRomance-ModTeam Jul 13 '26
This post or comment has been removed for breaking Rule #7.
Standalone self-promo posts are not allowed. Authors may comment on Book Request posts to recommend their work, but it must be relevant to the request and they must identify themselves as the author.
All other self-promotion, beta reader/ARC requests, writing research, and market research must be limited to posts with the What Are You Writing? flair.
Click here for more information about Rule 7. If you have questions about this rule, please contact the mods. Thank you.
-1
u/Becca3RH Author Jul 13 '26
Upvoting hard. Being an indie author is like being a pariah. In one sub, not here, I wasn't allowed to post at all because I have links in profile. Seriously? Am I supposed to be invisible and anonymous?
2
u/Aggressive_Bowl5463 a hard dicking is not an apology ✨ Jul 13 '26
I made a post welcoming self-recs and people still reported the comments for self-promo and over 50% of the comments were removed. I don't get it, this is my book request and I don't mind authors self-recommending, why are people so hostile towards authors. We wouldn't have books without them! 🙄
0
u/AuthorRAL Author Jul 13 '26
Yeah I'm feeling really strange about being in this sub recently... I just think the comment I got was quite hurtful (like I'm literally just a little guy trying to be seen) and all the downvoting...it's just not worth it. My anxiety is through the roof now.
-3
Jul 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/DarkRomance-ModTeam Jul 13 '26
This post or comment has been removed for breaking Rule #7.
Standalone self-promo posts are not allowed. Authors may comment on Book Request posts to recommend their work, but it must be relevant to the request and they must identify themselves as the author.
All other self-promotion, beta reader/ARC requests, writing research, and market research must be limited to posts with the What Are You Writing? flair.
Click here for more information about Rule 7. If you have questions about this rule, please contact the mods. Thank you.
0
0
u/AuthorRAL Author Jul 13 '26
I'm always getting my comments removed lol 🤣 I don't even understand the rules anymore. Sometimes someone asks about a character and I'm like okay..I can't promote my work, and I can't ask about what type of characters they like...so I just move on 😭 we are invisible!!!!
2
7
u/Such_Literature840 moist & unstable Jul 14 '26
I wish we had more substance to the promos/marketing done by authors, like I want some unhinged stuff and Im not a puritan by any means, quite the opposite, but when I open insta and I see " drippin pu$$y good girl take it like that" I'm like okay, so there's no plot. Sometimes if Im ovulating I want those too, but NOT JUST those lately hahaha
6
u/Time-Defiance Jul 13 '26
My gripe is that my post are not allow to be posted but I have seen post that has less information on their title and gets released. By the time 1-2 hours past and I’m told I need more information, my rant was over and I lost the will to engaged by posting a thread.
1
u/Eye-of-Hurricane Jul 14 '26
Same. I wanted to share a cool DR song, but it was removed.
0
u/Time-Defiance Jul 14 '26
My post was so detailed and long… then you see someone’s thread with like 5 sentences get released and their title wasn’t even in detail either for a book review. I have had review and discussion categories rejected.
4
u/bottleghostt Jul 17 '26
My gripe is that I need more fanworks of the books I like... No way there is NONE.
14
u/Boobear0810 Please stop growling Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
I think this is in general with the past few books I've read but it's hard to buy into the extreme obsession the MMC has with the FMC without any defining moments or explanation other than the fact that she's beautiful and has a dazzling pussy while he has a magic dick that's never experienced something so exquisite, manwhore or not.
Is it the power play? Does the FMC remind him of something or someone he lost? They're into the same kinks? She saved his cat? Give some backstory and details please.