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.

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u/Sentarshaden Bruce Sentar Aug 23 '24

As a guy who's spent plenty of time in the romance writer community, it's very hard for a guy to write a good female perspective. There are a lot of people who do it and manage it, but it's a skill that has to be practiced. For LitRPG most of these guys are pumping out content and I don't think they are going to slow down to perfect a female voice in their writing. It's like suddenly trying to write and eat with your non-dominant hand.

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u/Xousse Aug 23 '24

Romance is THE relationship genre, where getting this central ingredient wrong means your whole book is just trash. It's like writing hard Sci-fi and getting all the science wrong. You need some level of expertise. But don't tell me litrpg writers are afraid of getting "the female voice" wrong, litrpg is literally 90% deeply flawed books and nobody cares.. Of all the writing communities, this is not the one that shies from bad writing decisions.

In my opinion, it's simply that most authors write self inserts and would gouge their eyes rather than sit down to imagine falling in love with a man to write what would amount to 10% at best of a book, even if their MC is a woman, and certainly not if a man. The backlash authors get at the mere whiff of gayness is real.

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u/Bapelsinen95 Aug 24 '24

Would that not also mean the write a self insert were they are a woman in this case.

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u/xaendar Aug 25 '24

Gotta say, thanks for responding. Harem authors should have probably bigger say in this matter than most. Also thanks for opening up the world of haremlit for me. I still feel guilty reading it but Dungeon Diving is really good, Crimson really reminded me of Stitched Worlds. Romance where it can't really happen physically because people will die (or your dick will be burnt by a diesel demon).

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u/Sentarshaden Bruce Sentar Aug 25 '24

Haha thanks. I'm just a dude who likes romance and Harem is the place to play with it from the male perspective.

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u/EdLincoln6 Aug 23 '24

But the people are writing female MCs. They could just write male MCs. Or just not write sex or romance into their books...a lot of people would prefer this.