A Cannon Fodder' opinion

Like once...could I have the liberty to express myself as a fully developed character in the world of Chinese webnovels.

{Disclaimer: I have, and will continue to read webnovels with just as much interest and imagination as I did before this post also , as always bearing in mind the points that I shall attempt to objectively present below. This post in no manner is an action to portray any form of negativity I harbor towards webnovels , their readers and of course their brilliant authors . And of course I , a nobody on the internet am NOT SPONSORED (not that they need to sponsor someone).}

For the most if not entirety of last year , I have found a new indulgence for my ambitious, god-complex bearing, sarcasm and face-slapping deprived mind - Webnovel.

{Webnovels are Chinese online stories ( a concept similar to wattpad but much better ) with a 1000 word long chapter in every upload , the uploads can be as frequent as five times a day or quite infrequent , only publishing one chapter a week. Most of them are translated from their Chinese versions while websites such as Qidian also encourage non-Chinese , English speakers to create their own content . Since one chapter is of 1 page the novels can have as many as 800+ chapters and 4 volumes , it really depends on the author and the novel's popularity . Qidian organizes various writing contests , and pays authors if their novels do well , there are also different rankings for both recent novels and all time favorites alike. As a concept it is a very beautiful self-contained system with a very encouraging environment for creativity .}

When you enter this universe , no matter what setting , whether it were a fictional city in modern-day China , a magical world , a fictional medieval-Chinese system/world, a video game , the main leads are ATTRACTIVE , TALENTED (and not just in one field and not just a ...above average level ) , CAN MAKE NO MISTAKES and somehow...luck is always on their side and even if they do not necessarily start out as the "main leads"( a new growing trend with webnovels now-days) , somehow the "leads" are portrayed as lesser or a lot more sinister than the "side characters" .

This lady is a prime example of what adorns the covers of webnovels

Settings in general as listed above are pretty good , I appreciate that there isn't too much/too less focus on it but again the sheer exaggeration of things begin to feel quite overbearing . I used to love the unique way through which webnovels describe people, places , and things but again they feel quite self-assertive. For example , in the mention of a whole country you often find the introduction to the four or five most influential families and their descriptions , what about the country itself?It's culture ? It's people? What about the much more numerous, smaller , less influential families? Does a story always have to find itself firmly entwined with these houses of influence no matter how humble a beginning the protagonist may have ?

I understand that a successful person will definitely come across such people but either the protagonist or their significant other or both end up being higher than any other character in their universe. This leads me to my aforementioned point , no matter what the protagonist is humbled to be at first (a supporting character , an ugly , dumb woman , etc) , they are the most perfect people in the world ! They look ethereal , their physique is better than the best , and their genius is the level of prodigies ! Not to mention , they are ineffable to the degree that luck is always! Always on their side !

The descriptions of the characters are another reason why I often feel frustrated or more so disgusted at times , this could be due to the original meaning being lost in translation(I would very much like to give them the benefit of the doubt ) , or simply to again...show the versatility of the main lead , for example ( this is just for explanatory purposes kindly do not see it as anything more than that and hunt down the author and leave hate comments...they are wonderful people and I am a small fry who has no money , time or skill, thank you.) :

"Coupled with the quiet and gentle dignity of the original host, the powerful contrast between softness and allure was like a hibiscus flower that bloomed in the morning mist.

Definitely a seductive man killer."

What do you mean? one moment she is dignified , gentle...what do you mean man killer ? Can you experience my frustration?

Villains are but cannon fodder , never given a chance to develop into anything more than sinister,jealous , insufferable and appallingly inferior beings! So are the minor characters , the victims , the ignorant guards blocking the protagonists path , the snobby employees of shops , these characters never get the chance to be expressed entirely with their sole purpose being to establish the protagonist as this godly being , kind , cunning and invincible.

God help the inferior creatures of this universe from these two !

Soon all the obstacles faced by the protagonist resemble a broken record , although each obstacle individually is very very creative , well thought out , well researched and well executed , the fact that there is no alternate ending ( the protagonist always wins every chapter) , flattens my level of interest very very quickly ! And that is quite a shame!

No matter how powerful a new foe is portrayed to be ( they do a very good job at doing that ) , you know that at the end of another 50 (at most) chapters out of the 500 you have already read , the main character shall emerge victorious, unscathed and even more powerful than ever!

Another point , why are all characters other than the main two so severely underdeveloped ?! I dare you to go and list more than 5 characteristics of any small fry in these stories , it will be something about their underwhelming , plain appearance , their one dimensional personality, too shallow a motivation and how unjustly they were done off with and the immense emotions it causes the lead to experience momentarily to show us readers the sensitive souls they are.

I cannot deny that these storylines are very inspirational , satisfactory and fun or snicker-worthy to read , however, at the end of the day what will keep me waiting to read the next chapter when there are but perfect characters in a perfect world ?

I would like to end on a slightly positive or at least hopeful note , I do not wish for these stories with their highly creative concepts, well executed and thorough plots , hard working , dedicated and talented authors to compromise quality for quantity , this world is so beautiful it could open up so many possibilities , instead of teen romance best sellers we could have a better variety all from this world of webnovels and I sincerely hope that will happen one day . Until that day , I highly encourage whoever has reached the end of this huge whiny post to please give this world a chance, it is definitely worth it , even with all its imperfections , you shall definitely not regret getting to know this multiverse .

Thank you for sticking it out until here, see you soon!