Its clear the author has certain views and they are not willing to change them. I really like Mantle, i think its superhero elements were fun. But the way the characters are written and even the MC is written in specific situations makes it clear the author wants to project their own beliefs onto the readers not giving them room to question it. Like I saw an ask that talked about this in detail. How the MC doesnt seem to care that Foster sleeps around. The MC never pushes back on this matter. Foster talks shamelessly about ****ing everything that moves and the MC acts like its normal. That ask also mentioned about Foster having commitment problems and i also agree since the MC themselves say that Foster used to jump from one partner to another every week or 2 during High School. But the author said that Foster doesnt have commitment problems at all. The argument with the MC and Foster is fine, they're traumatized and very dependent on the MC. But the fact the author justifies Foster making it official with some rando over a week of dating and inviting said rando to the apartment MC lives in without informing them baffles me. I would lose my **** if my best friend brought in his gf to our apartment to stay the day within the second week of us living in it, all without informing me. The MC also acts like a ***** throughout the confrontation with Foster's partner. And the partner is specifically writen to make MC look as pathetic as possible which the author denies. That partner is purposefully portrayed as this non chalant, self confident, hot person who's lovey dovey with Foster. I would even say it felt like self inserting but i dont want to persume.
Compare this with Split, another IF i like. The authors write some dark stuff, but at the same time the authors also calls us out if we do said dark stuff. For eg, the MC can be someone who sleeps around. If this is the case and we decide to romance one of the RO's who's like this pure angel, one of the side characters will specifically inform this said RO that the MC is a loose cannon with commitment issues, that they sleep around a lot. The author's writing unapologetically calls out every type of MC whenever they do something dark or selectively unappealing. The MC can do the same too despite being a killer Mafia guy. One of the author writes 2 of the ROs in the story. One of the RO is like the most unconventional unappealing toxic af 40 something year old mafia killer guy. The other RO is this angel sent down from heavens, pure, supportive, cliche soulmate kind of romance which i mentioned eariler(not necessarily healthy but mostly appealing). This is what i expect from IF authors. You have to write with the readers in mind. You have to put yourself in the shoes of a reader and write accordingly when youre going to write controversial scenarios and characters. I can understand in specific IF's where the MCs are more of their own person but its still very unsatisfying when the author makes everyone in their if pretend their own beliefs are the only right. Thats why i dropped DYVJ. As much as the premise is promising i cant pretend to like it when all the author does is project their own beliefs onto their work without any room for doubt or disagreement.
