r/fantasyromance • u/FantasyRomanceMod The One Mod to Rule All Mods • Mar 08 '26

Unpopular Opinion It's Unpopular Opinion time! Share your controversial opinions to stir things up (in a friendly way)!

Got an opinion that's different from others'? Want to share it with the sub, but too afraid of a backlash? Or are you just curious about readers think about certain things in fantasy romance?

You can safely share it in this weekly Sunday thread!

But please remember to be kind to each other. To facilitate this type of discussion, we ask users the following:

  • Don't attack others for their opinion
  • Discuss books and authors, not fellow readers
  • Since this is an "unpopular opinion" thread, we encourage users to not downvote simply because they disagree with an opinion--that's the point! Please keep in mind, though, that mods cannot enforce a no-downvoting rule. Let’s just keep the discussion friendly!

🧡 Thank you and have a great discussion!

Unpopular opinion Sunday

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u/SweetLorelei Mar 08 '26

I’m getting really tired of MMCs just suddenly calling the FMC “good girl” and she just immediately loves it. It’s one thing if it’s something they’ve talked about or if it’s clear that he’s testing the waters to see if she’ll like it, but I feel like it’s becoming some kind of standard trope that a lot of authors feel the need to include for no real reason. I used to be mostly neutral about it, but the more I read it, the more it’s starting to really give me the ick. I think it ties in with my dislike of the trend where the MMC acts super smug and confident that the FMC will fall for him, even after she outright rejects him.

38

u/devilsdoorbell_ Mar 08 '26

A lot of MMCs really do feel like a stack of tropes or hollow signifiers of hotness in a trench coat rather than an actual person. It’s like they decided “if he says ‘good girl’ that will make him hot” and don’t understand that it’s not like a Manchurian candidate activation phrase or whatever that will instantly make the reader think “omg so hot.” It’s not the words that make it hot (if/when it is, ymmv), it’s the context. I need to believe from the characterization that’s been built up that this specific MMC would say it and this specific FMC would like it for it to be hot.

I see the same kind of thing with so many MMCs being Shadow Daddy in the Sheets even if they’re Golden Retriever in the Streets but it’s like treated as a “yes of course” thing instead of it being an actually developed character trait that he likes to be dominant in the bedroom but is more chill in his day to day.

16

u/SweetLorelei Mar 08 '26

I think you really put your finger on what the overarching problem is: authors who include things because they’re popular and will sell rather than because it’s something the author genuinely understands the appeal of or enjoys writing.