TLDR; I propose for them to be job friends first, so we can focus on developing the family and their dynamic, the MC’s personality and FL’s personality. Then by FL saving the MC or gaining his trust they would be friends but not developed into something more until the ending of the work, I propose MC on training her and FL helping him be more social and less cocky and open on relying on others and not just shouldering everything so that it should basically give them as much of an equal footing in their friendship. I also propose for MC to fall for instead of the other way around.
With this type of work which is known to be a male power fantasy trope, where the MC can do and get whatever he wants and be an unstoppable badass without much consequences while getting a bad bitch or a bad bitches.
It’s hard to make romance work without the female lead or his friends becoming accessory to the MC and that’s why romance in this type of genre is hard to work with and the girls feels more like fools meant to be saved or humbled than actual characters. That’s why I made MC flawed in the emotional department and have FL to fix it and MC helping FL grow stronger as friends first because romance could compromise it and by doing this could give the two equal power in their relationship and dynamic. This is also the reason why I propose to make ML be the one to fall for FL so she won’t become a Sakura or the same dumb damsels that they usually become once love is involved in this type of works.
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I already have a previous post about this but I can’t get it out of my head. I still think there shouldn’t be romance in this and it would have been more interesting if they just became friends and focused more on the family and their problems but I really want to put my ideas on how romance can be integrated in this instead of the usual implied strong female character become damsel or burden or one of the harem (especially since the other girl in the party seems interested and the mom is hot so maybe she would be part of the harem too, it’s always been a weird design that stood out for me) that usually goes in these kinds of manga or manwha.
~~~~~~~~~This is how it goes; ~~~~~
instead of her falling for him ep19, it would’ve been better to have her be amazed or give him respect points from her. Maybe she would be happy to found a strong hero that can compete with her (since she seemed to be a strong and well respected hero) or someone strong with a good head (since most heroes seems to be scumbags as shown on that C-rank hero guy and his cousin who protects his behavior) as shown how he prioritizes his family first in the restaurant scene.
They become friends or allies or friendly acquaintances after, her helping him go to gates, maybe build connections with other heroes, maybe shielding him from legal troubles or something the similar kind. I really like that he doesn’t join the hero guild but I guess maybe she convinced him to…? Or at least be in good terms with the guild after her endorsements maybe as a consultant or a hire hero, he’s just a little extreme and fucked in the head.
They get paired up in a team or like became a duo, the girl able to pull her weight, maybe helping the MC clear out the dungeons but they aren’t really close yet, like colleagues. He won’t really trust her or the team because of past trauma with how he got betrayed by his old teammates so they’re at arms length and he’s still riding this solo but with extra reliable hands to carry the mana stones and cover him lol.
Have the girl only have appearances in this stage when he’s fighting or interacting with the guild so she’s not really the main focus.
The step mom would still make trouble but he’s able to thwart her, she’ll basically be team rocket. Most of the chapters at this point would focus on the family, there would still be dungeons and fight scene and badassery because of a breakout that heroes can’t handle or because the MC needs more cash or team rocket (stepmom) making trouble so it won’t lose the action that we came here for. Have these chapters without the fights focused on fleshing out the family, how they feel on his actions or change of personality, have us attached to them and why the og bodies loves them. These chapters would form the dynamic between him and the grandma and the sister and him seeing them as his family, his precious thing to protect.
But his relationship with FL is still strictly business partners, FL thinks so too but she respects him more than he does with her seeing FL as more like a key to dungeons and extra pairs of hands than a friend.
What I think would deepen their relationship with FL is this, there would be an emergency, a really dangerous boss monster that appeared or a fuck ton of rifts open. The MC was injured or maybe he’s mentally unstable, either he had a fight with the grandma about his dangerous job and change of a personality or he got injured from a seemingly harmless rift but turns out he got a grave injury that he hid because he is so strong and he doesn’t need anyone and everyone will just slow him down.
It will continue, he’s growing weaker and weaker from the fatigue of countless rifts and monsters and his injuries or he isn’t in the game after his fight with his family, his brain replaying the scene over and over in his head. FL and the team noticed him faltering but didn’t say anything, afraid he might snap or insult them or brushing it off because he’s an op character that seems like he can’t be beaten.
The boss appeared and he was able to do major damage to it but because of fatigue or because he was distracted by the fight between his family that he didn’t notice the monster’s attack and it landed a lot of damage on him, he can’t get up, his team ran off after he was down and the monster rampaged and kept on getting hits on him, he was alone… abandoned and betrayed just like his previous life, but was it even a betrayal when they’re barely a team in the first place? He has to get up, he must, he suffered and survived stronger beasts, he’ll be damned if he let a weak monster send him to the grave. He’s not going to die here without seeing his family again, without even fulfilling the kid’s dream to give that family a good and prosperous life, no, HIS family a happy life.
But he can’t, his injuries too severe, he’s still human and as another one of the monster’s attack was about to rain on his injured body, the girl blocked it. Crying out as it injured her. He was surprised, he thought everyone left him but this girl stayed and saved him. She fought the monster, him starting to instruct her when the monster got the upper hand and with one last cry the girl took it down.
He passed out and when he woke up, he got reunited with his family again thanks to this girl.
Then FL and him became friends, her staying over and bonding with the family, her and him bonding and MC training her to be almost as strong as him. They became best friends, his trusted companion that he can rely on, there’s still lingering doubts that she would betray him but time and time again she proved him wrong. She helped him open up and relay on others and maybe around this time he would tell her that he’s from another world, her being shock but understanding, her wanting the MC to tell it to his family but him refusing because he’s afraid that he would lose them if they knew the truth, that he isn’t their grandson, their brother, HIM. FL would be understanding and comfort him or convince him to confess.
He would confess sooner or later or maybe in the ending and it can be a few chapters of drama before being resolved either by FL or the family accepting that their original brother/grandson was gone and taking MC not as a substitute but as a new member of their family. They would hold a little funeral and the bond between MC and his family would grow.
The rest will basically be FL and MC’s friendship, FL helping MC take down the step mother, hanging out with the family, upgrading their home, FL helping MC make friends, helping him heal with his family until he’s stable.
There would be a big fight and the villain from the first chapter would appear, a drama with FL will happen about how MC is slipping on the same mindset about him being the only one strong enough to kill the guy, and pushing her and the teammate away. And during that drama MC would realize that he has feelings for her, but he pushed it away and ignored it focusing on saving the world or his family or taking the bitch first than romance with her. They would make up but he won’t confess to her yet, after all there’s still a chance he would die on the fight.
Then they would kill the big villain from the first chapter but this time he has friends and FL by his side, if we want ultimate aura farming, maybe FL and the team went down but since they were able to chip down his health MC was able to kill the villain or maybe he killed it together with his team or just with FL.
The world is saved and then the last chapter would be shenanigans of him his team and FL and the world healing, him and Fl and/or with his team bonding with the family, etc etc feel good stuff.
Then after one peaceful morning, while FL was braiding his little sister’s hair and the grandma was chatting with her. He watched the scene with a smile before realizing or finally stopped ignoring it that he was in love with her.
He would confess, her grandma and sister and friends helping and FL would say yes, bam nada bam romance, kiss, happy ever after, fireworks fireworks.
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At least that’s my pitch. But with this it will change the tone of the thing which is badassery and aura farming and make fantasy. I think that’s why I think that romance in this type of manga is not needed or just ruins the plot but if they’re gonna put romance on it, I THINK, IN MY OPINION, this could be one of many ways that it could go better than the direction that I think would go down, which is the classic damsel in distress route or maybe harem.