beta
*real vs fake daughter trope* tried looking for it but alas no tags for it here or on baka.. trying my chances. plsthxurelectricbye ＾▽＾
Have you read this one?
https://www.mangago.me/read-manga/actually_i_was_the_real_one/
It’s not exactly fake vs real but it sorta has the same vibe
https://www.mangago.me/read-manga/suddenly_became_a_princess_one_day/
looking for dark reads w a morally grey/subjectively evil female main character. someone like siche (shards of a broken glass slipper) or medea (your throne) or nerys (price is your everything (she's a lighter grey than the other two but she's still beloved)). plsthxkbye ♡
if it feels like the story is moving slowly, that's bc it is but it isn't stuck, it is still. I understand it can be frustrating or boring to be still but stillness is the point and demand of melancholy: the central theme of tears on a withered flower (clear indicator hello one of the most melancholic (albeit basic) titles of ever). the narrative focus of melancholy is introspection and self-reflection which require characters to sit w their thoughts, emotions, and history. that's why we get an entire chapter of feelings and monologues. the characters use them to pull the story along slowly as their emotional states evolve as opposed to action-driven stories where progress is quicker due to the plot pushing characters into conflict and resolution. in a melancholic work, the conflict is largely internal so the resolution is found not fought. okay I'm done w the 101 so I just wanna say I appreciate melancholy. it's something I tend to look for in stories (films n tv too not just lit), as an introvert who requires extended periods of alone time w my inner world in order to process the world and interact w it. and for anyone who often wonders what you'd find if you could just unscrew the top of another person's head to see inside their mind, I think (hope) you can enjoy such stories as much as I do.