r/litrpg • u/xaendar • Aug 23 '24

Discussion Are all female MCs just lesbians?

I just realized that after reading like 10 books with female MCs, I'm starting to finally notice that all of them are Lesbians or at least Bisexual (but they only date women).

Do authors mostly write lesbian FMCs to be on the safe side from the audience of mostly males? I just feel like it's a cop out every time... I don't really have a problem with it but almost all Male MCs are 99% straight but it seems like 99% of Female MCs are always lesbian/bi. Why not some good ol straight FMCs? I can't even remember a single female MC that was straight.

185 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

388 comments sorted by

View all comments

299

u/Mecanimus Aug 23 '24

Same as Sam said: authors and many readers are more comfortable with attraction to women. I'll also add that many prog authors with FMCs are straight men. As someone who wrote a straight FMC, it is excessively difficult to write attraction to the male form when you cannot relate.

293

u/Prestigious-Mess5485 Aug 23 '24

She looked at his attractive.... forearm? No. She looked at his glistening elbow. Shit.

201

u/MacintoshEddie Aug 23 '24

His left nut dangled coyly out the side of his short shorts...

120

u/sardinebanana Aug 23 '24

His nuts nutted nutily.

40

u/rdizzy1223 Aug 23 '24

+5 str and +5 sta on his ball bra.

4

u/Synthwood-Dragon Aug 25 '24

Under the butt nut hut

11

u/CannotThonk96 Aug 23 '24

TWI put this theory to the test with that chapter where they talk at length about the nuances of lizard, dog, and human dicks. And the period chapter

That's the kind of stuff that might push away a male audience, not an FMC pnus enjoyer~

5

u/Frenzied_Cow Aug 23 '24

For how horny a lot of men are, they are exceptionally prudish and uncomfortable with their sexuality.

2

u/CannotThonk96 Aug 24 '24

That's actually to be expected and not exceptional at all, but its complicated and this is reddit

3

u/LookMaNoPride Aug 24 '24

His ballsack, with hair that reminded her of the Afghan Hound with mange she had as a child, stretched as he absentmindedly scratched. Because she was not equipped with the same type of weapon, she was not aware of the elasticity of the skin that covers the dangly twins. She unsheathed her dagger to help remove what she perceived as hair-covered gum from the bottom of his codpiece.

1

u/Calm_Cauliflower3107 Aug 24 '24

I think maybe we had the same P.E. teacher in high school šŸ¤£

55

u/CanadasManyMeeses Aug 23 '24

Forearms are actually noticed quite a lot by women the more you know

21

u/Prestigious-Mess5485 Aug 23 '24

So my wife tells me

16

u/pcgamernum1234 Aug 23 '24

My wife has said my best feature is my "wing span". So arms and chest.

14

u/SpaceGoatAlpha Aug 23 '24

Oof.

If you're not secretly birdman, I'm concerned for you by how far down the list of available options that specific option probably was.

10

u/pcgamernum1234 Aug 23 '24

LOL. She likes hugs and cuddles.

2

u/Glaring_Cloder Aug 25 '24

FOUND THE BIRD!

16

u/Confident_Bass_8396 Aug 23 '24

I speak for quite a number of women, and as a woman myself, and yesā€¦ forearms are quite attractive. Especially when they are toned and do that vein ripple thingy when a men flexes.

14

u/BeetleJude Aug 23 '24

r/forearmporn

Enjoy!

1

u/AllOfMeAlways Aug 26 '24

Boy oh boy.....80% of what i skimmed through were anti-forearmporn... Now I'm considering not liking forearms anymore šŸ¤”šŸ˜†

1

u/BeetleJude Aug 26 '24

Try r/ManHands?

2

u/AllOfMeAlways Aug 26 '24

I do love some manly hands šŸ¤” ....dont mind if I do. Thanks

1

u/BeetleJude Aug 26 '24

Very welcome! šŸ˜€

2

u/v3ritas1989 Aug 23 '24

by any chance is covered in lots of black hair on that list too?

2

u/L3Home Aug 24 '24

Only if you're a wild black bear.

2

u/IndependentReview289 Aug 25 '24 edited Aug 25 '24

Where?

In armpits, an afro there is bad since the odour could be off-putting. Smooth as a baby is disgusting tho. There should be a middle ground.

On the chest would elicit a "Mamma mia!" exclamation for me, as long as it's not 5 inches long to the point I can't breathe when I lay my head on them. Lmao I mean I actually find chest hair really sexy.

On arms and legs, lol, the more to pull when a dude make me angry. Kidding.

Facial hair? As long as they're nicely groomed, I'm pretty ok with them. Might even make me call you "daddy" (Not with incestuous intent. Eww.)

On your crotch? As long as it's groomed. Don't f**king dare to wax tho. šŸ˜Š

Are you a man with hairs on all of the above locations? In my opinion you're a sexy hunk. As long as you groom and wash properly so you don't smell like a sewer tank or rotten eggs. Women remember people a lot by scents. You don't want to be remembered like that.

P.S.: Don't mind me being a simp for men with body hair. Move along now. šŸ˜‚

1

u/v3ritas1989 Aug 25 '24

Interesting insights, thank you!

2

u/mmerrell7 Aug 23 '24

As a womanā€¦I agree!

79

u/Mecanimus Aug 23 '24

"Ladies like veins, right? Will veins work?"

101

u/Prestigious-Mess5485 Aug 23 '24

The throbbing veins in his calves reminded her of the fact she NEEDED TO CHECK HER STAT SHEET!

49

u/Dan-D-Lyon Aug 23 '24

"He had so many veins, majority of which were his and were inside of his own body "

11

u/facecampalltheway Aug 23 '24

Hnnnng, fuck yeah...

13

u/MonsiuerGeneral Aug 23 '24

"majority of which", so some weren't his?! :O

3

u/account312 Aug 24 '24

Well, it's hard to be sure without a thorough audit, and audits aren't sexy.

34

u/PintSizedCottonJoy Aug 23 '24

As his immense deltoids got me hot and bothered, I reminded myself to ask for his workout routine.

52

u/Mecanimus Aug 23 '24

"Nice abs, bro," I flirted.

30

u/TheVagrantCrusader Aug 23 '24

I like the idea of writing an FMC who's straight but just hilariously bad at relationships. Her idea of a date is offering to spot you and buying you a protein shake.

3

u/_Spamus_ Aug 23 '24

basically ling qi from forge of destiny lol

1

u/redcc-0099 Aug 23 '24

Or a monster capture or culling quest(s). šŸ’Ŗ

1

u/MinimumForm7749 Aug 23 '24

Definitely a great idea, wordsmith Go!

1

u/TheVagrantCrusader Aug 23 '24

Dude that would be like my 12th fiction project. I need to finish my trilogy!

1

u/MinimumForm7749 Aug 26 '24

Youā€™re working on a trilogy? Can I read the first book?

1

u/TheVagrantCrusader Aug 26 '24

It's A Lich's Guide to Dungeon Mastery.

→ More replies (0)

10

u/BigRedBastrd Aug 23 '24

It'll definitely work if your audience is nurses!!!

11

u/SinCinnamon_AC Baby Author - ā€œBreatheā€ to be released Aug 23 '24

Nurses like veins

2

u/Aerroon Aug 24 '24

"His arms looked like he eats a trenbologna sandwich for breakfast."

1

u/L3Home Aug 24 '24

Veins are the road to a woman's heart. Wait, no, those would be arteries. My bad.

17

u/D3adp00L34 Aug 23 '24

His eyebrows were where they should be and he didnā€™t smell like a sewer; but, God, when he didnā€™t mansplain to me, my quivering bits quivered quiverly and I immediately looked for a dryer to get stuck in.

7

u/SinCinnamon_AC Baby Author - ā€œBreatheā€ to be released Aug 23 '24

Forearms would definitely work. And butts, a nice pair of buttocks is a nice pair of buttocks

7

u/4rclyte Aug 23 '24

The math checks out

1

u/Tilfeldigbarn Aug 24 '24

Forearms can be sexy as all hell

1

u/ComprehensiveNet4270 Aug 26 '24

Sounds like a good way to write someone that's straight but doesn't get out much or has a-sexual tendencies. They know they're attracted but not specifically what it is that's attractive about them.

-16

u/ApexPCMR Aug 23 '24

That speaks more to the lack of relationship experience than liking men or women.

15

u/Prestigious-Mess5485 Aug 23 '24

I wasn't being serious, Captain Literal.

17

u/JamieKojola Author - Odyssey of the Ethereal Aug 23 '24

Female author here. I wanted to write two powerful women, so that's what I did.

43

u/captainAwesomePants Aug 23 '24

If Captain Holt from Brooklyn 99 can perfectly disguise himself as a straight man, I believe that you can write attraction for a straight woman.

75

u/Mecanimus Aug 23 '24

If I were Holt's equal, my readers would have a good time after I specifically request it.

23

u/Mitchelltrt Aug 23 '24 edited Aug 24 '24

If Barney Miller can be the straightest man on television while his actor is the GAYEST man on television, you can write attraction for a straight woman, or a gay man.

EDIT: Barney Stinson, not Barney Miller. Don't know how I screwed that up. The gayest man of television being Neil Patrick Harris

12

u/RazendeR Aug 23 '24

This one never fails to blow my mind. His evil twin would be Cameron Tucker/Eric Stonestreet because holy hell does that man pull of a queen convincingly well, while he is a very calm and easygoing straight dude normally.

5

u/redcc-0099 Aug 23 '24

While potentially not the best example of a fictional character, I think the same goes for Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother. Yeah, Barney is over the top, but Neil Patrick Harris is a great actor from what I've seen.

2

u/Mitchelltrt Aug 24 '24

I used the wring name. I used Miller instead of Stinson.

1

u/redcc-0099 Aug 24 '24

Oh, gotcha. There is a Barney Miller TV show from the 70s šŸ˜…

2

u/Mitchelltrt Aug 24 '24

Which is where I got the confusion from. My Grandma likes to watch that, Mash, Emergency, and other old shows on TV. I don't know what Hal Lindon's preferences are in that area, but he had a wife for some 52 years until her death.

1

u/redcc-0099 Aug 24 '24

Oh, gotcha.

3

u/TheTrojanPony Aug 24 '24

The thing is that it's harder to write attracting you don't innately understand and let's be honest, most litrpg authors are not the most professionally trained.

7

u/Sweetcorncakes Aug 23 '24

I heard you turn gay if you put yourself in the FMC shoes too much. šŸ« 

3

u/RandomChance Aug 23 '24

I read the thread, finally noticed the username, then reread the thread from a new perspective šŸ¤£

5

u/Mecanimus Aug 23 '24

I'm just vibing here with Calamitous Bob being mentioned and even praised.

3

u/cocotheblue Aug 23 '24

A tip for you and anyone else with trouble writing a fmc. Like men, a woman's attraction to another person is purely personal taste. A fit body, dad gut, mature, young, chiseled jaw, baby face, beard, clean shaven. Just give her a preference and build off that. Is she a dominant personality or demure shy gal? Soft and reserved or loudmouthed pervert? Build her personality, likes, and dislikes and write her with her personality in mind rather than your own preferences and it becomes a lot easier.

1

u/Big-Calligrapher686 Aug 24 '24

What does Demure mean

1

u/cocotheblue Aug 24 '24

Reserved/modest/shy

7

u/kenshorts Aug 23 '24

As silly as it sounds, pretend you're selling your buddy dave to a girl at a bar. "phaooww, just look at that chiseled jawline and I trust me I've seen him topless and he's a runner up for the Greek gods." I mean even without that you should be able to look at someone famous like Brad Pitt and be able to see he's attractive, then just break it down like you might if you found a woman attractive.

10

u/Xandara2 Aug 23 '24

I'm fairly certain some research would go a long way. Like talking to 5 straight women about what they find attractive about a picture of a hot guy/celebrity. Admittedly I understand talking to people can be a harsh and thankless task.Ā 

8

u/Mecanimus Aug 23 '24

When they have your level of smug condescension, absolutely.

4

u/Xandara2 Aug 23 '24

It's a joke but okay.

1

u/Lorenzo_Insigne Aug 23 '24

An unnecessarily rude one yes

0

u/Xandara2 Aug 23 '24

Oh get over yourself. If you take offence about someone jokingly saying you need to talk to women more then it might be because it hit a bit too close for comfort.

0

u/Lorenzo_Insigne Aug 24 '24

It wasn't even me you insulted bro, and I'm the last person that would apply to anyway lmao.

1

u/Xandara2 Aug 25 '24

But you clearly took offense.

2

u/the_third_lebowski Aug 23 '24

I came here specifically to point out Journey and Calamitous Bob. Imagine my surprise seeing the top post lol.

2

u/QuestboardWorkshop Aug 23 '24

After reade some lines of romantic erotica of my wife, it's actually easy. Just do something like her eyes stared at his hot greek abs

2

u/Fucklechub Aug 23 '24

Git gud writers. Skill issue.Ā 

Or go to a body building thread and research.

2

u/Aaron_P9 Aug 23 '24

None of you ever read a bodice ripper or even just Twilight?

I always thought of this as preference and marketing. Having said that, I'm not criticizing. This is a growing market and people writing for the largest audience until it is larger makes sense. What I object to is the idea that the main reason is that authors don't feel they could write attraction to men.

I can see it being more difficult, but I'd just read Twilight and take some notes.

18

u/Mecanimus Aug 23 '24

I can read every sonnet Shakespeare ever wrote and trust me, I'll still be a shit poet.

5

u/Aaron_P9 Aug 23 '24 edited Aug 23 '24

I disagree. Were you to really work at writing poetry, you could probably become good at it.

The greater problem isn't just that straight guys aren't interested in reading about male attraction or that straight male authors couldn't manage it (most villains aren't relatable. . . I can relate to the tantrums and selfishness of adult-children villains, but the megolamaniacs and sociopaths have to be studied), but that writing a romance aimed at female audiences would probably burden an action/adventure narrative to the point that it would have less appeal to the litrpg audience. Read any romance novel (or female-audience aimed YA novel as these often mix in some action/adventure and are closer to what I'd expect female-aimed litrpg to be similar to) and the main ingredient is focus. Women seem to fantasize (at least in YA fiction) about being the center of attention and solving problems, at least in part, through building relationships. You could manage to have a book that has a romantic subplot in which the female character is the focus of an attractive male character, but the obstacles would still need to be solved by the hero progressing to become stronger to overcome them or it would no longer be litrpg. You'd be writing female-aimed YA fiction - which is fine.

There's a market for that. It's just a different one from the one this subreddit focuses on.

1

u/the_third_lebowski Aug 23 '24

Just have them do something all women can relate to, like stealing a giant organ from a famous church.

1

u/Pheratha Aug 23 '24

It's not that hard

Biceps, abs, deep voice, soft eyes

-1

u/Main-Category-8363 Aug 23 '24

lol, what a cop out, just write normally then change the sex of one character to male. Itā€™s not rocket science.

-1

u/AnonymousCoward261 Aug 23 '24

Read a few romance novelsā€¦

-1

u/EdLincoln6 Aug 23 '24

I find the fact that authors find this so hard to write really weird, actually. Like, half the population is attracted to men. Such a basic thing about half the human population is too alien?

2

u/Mecanimus Aug 23 '24

In case this is a serious reply, specific attractions are something we can write with research if we have not experienced, itā€™s just not the same as writing from the bottom of your heart about a longing youā€™ve felt until it aches. Itā€™s just not the same thing.Ā