I’m actually a fan of a little-known Korean series called Yureka (or iD_eNTITY) which (according to Wikipedia) is actually about 2 years older then .Hack. True, the characters aren’t actually trapped in the video game until a good chunk into the story (and then on and off as it progresses), but in my opinion, that actually works better, as it shows far better the way the virtual world and real world interconnect.
Yeah, Inuyasha isn’t Isekai in today’s standards. However it planted the seed in the mind of many Mangala. I think ultately Isekai is about bringing modern knowledge into a fantastical medieval setting. Inuyasha fulfilled that requirement nicely. Yes she was only transported back to the past but it was a fantasy type past (unless yokai was real back in feudal Japan). The most important aspect about Inuyasha is that it was wildly popular, paving the way for later Isekai stories.
I know Dragon Quest is huge, it’s practically the most important JRPG ever. It’s provide the fantasy framework for Isekai stories. For example orcs as pig-people instead of the western orcs and slime as common enemies that you see a lot in manga (anime Isekai is still catching up)
A more to the point answer however is that I do often, but not always, like the trope of evil aristo’s. 
So while democracies can produce such tyrants they are still more likely or at least less restrained when they are monarchs or aristo’s lording it over the plebs.
Or maybe it’s simply me assuming that most aristo’s will be evil, while I do not do so with presidents and other democratically elected government officials.
I suppose there’s also some variation in terms of how absolute the monarchy in question is 
oftentimes monarchs face powerful forces constraining them. But in a monarchy those forces often aren’t democratic themselves, so they wouldn’t exaclty help things.
Just, say, Absolutist France, Tsarist Russia, and Imperial China would be good examples of monarchies that operated radically differently from each other. (For that matter, France, Russia, and China changed tremendously over the course of their monarchies.) So while there are plenty of tropes associated with tyrants from both monarchic and republican origin (the French and Russian Revolutions seem to be favorite models for writers…), I like it when people get down into the details and really work out something that has specifics of its own.
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Indeed enough puppet “kings” to go around but most often their nobility or the church serve as the constraining forces and they themselves lack any sort of accountability or oversight.
I’m a fan of Sarcasm Failure. Where a usually funny character is unable to make a joke due to the situation being too strange or emotionally charged.
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The silent warrior, mysterious and forthright. The pale rider, that sort of cliche has always gotten to me, it goes hand in hand with that same rider being unstoppable.
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Thanks for reminding me of how much I hated Judith Tarr’s A Fall of Princes. AGHHH!!! HATED SO MUCH!!! Way back in the day it was on a list of fantasy books with gay protagonists.
The two male characters are more than half in love already, the best solution for solving the conflict between their nations is a Perfectly Arranged Marriage, same-sex marriage is not an option, and the required magic ritual is explicitly irreversible
Grump grump! I literally threw the book against the wall.
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I’m weak for the rags to riches trope, romance or otherwise. I just like seeing a poor or normal person get pushed into the world of money and extravagance for some reason. My fave version of this is the cinderella kind, when a wealthy guy falls in love with a poor/normal girl especially when she’s not into him at first.
I also love the Jerk with a Heart of Gold trope. Where the person either seems like they are terrible or just acts like they don’t care for whatever reason, but everyone knows or learns that deep down they are nice. Maybe that’s why I always go for the jerks/bad boys in games.
I don’t know the name of this trope or even if it has a name but I’m attracted to these people in fiction and irl both romantic and platonic wise. They are the witty type that always has something interesting to say. The ones who can think of a dumb/cute nickname for you on the spot and start/continue using it as if it were really your name in normal conversation. The closest I could find to what I was thinking of was the Snarker trope (and its many subtropes) and the Charmer trope in some combination with those genius and too clever for their own good tropes.
I also love the tropes about characters who aren’t what they initially seem like the Bitch in sheep’s clothing trope, Uncanny Valley Girl trope, the Stepford Smiler trope, etc.
The Platonic Life Partners trope is good too. I’m all for romance but it just warms my heart when I see two or sometimes more people using this trope to its fullest. Both parties have to have mutual platonic feelings for each other though, I don’t like one sided love that drags on for too long because it breaks my heart.
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So like anti-heroes or anti-villians? I know that there is a difference, I just keep forgetting what it is.
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I tend to like the reverse better as that shows us what somebody is really made of. Played true I only tend to like it if the character’s rise to riches happens through their own talents and ambition, rather than purely due to “destiny” or other outside forces.
It can be fun to read about though many of my “normal” or poor characters tend to hate it if it happens to them suddenly and completely unannounced. Rising through ambition and clever use of the character’s talents and connections, which naturally tends to be a more gradual process, is something I do like very much.
Which is also why I’m not particularly fond of the “ambition is evil” trope or the various “you have to be happy with your (meagre) lot in life” tropes.
Well to each their own, most of my mc’s tend to (greatly) dislike having to depend on a partner’s wealth or fame though. Something that ultimately probably isn’t healthy for the relationship, but then again few supposedly “happy ever afters” are ever explored in detail in fiction.
Ugh, don’t tell me, my most hated trope at work and one of them wasn’t a boy anymore at the end or something?
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Exactly. It was so frustrating. I can’t even remember the book anymore. Only that the resolution of it was that one of them was magically changed into a woman so that they could be married. It would have been different if one of the princes was a transwoman, but that didn’t even seem to be the case. It was just a one of the Princes will become a woman, by magic, so that they can get married and have children and unite their peoples.
Rant rant grumble grumble.
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Ugh, that’s exactly my most hated trope at work. That “sacrifice” would be a fate worse than death for me (and obviously most of my male mc’s too).
Particularly since that trope dictates those transformations are never temporary they always and inevitably turn out to be permanent. 
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Perhaps “pushed” is too strong of a word. I like it when they are suddenly thrust into the world of wealth sure, but I also enjoy it when they make it to the top using their own skill and wits. I enjoy every form of rags to riches as long as the character it’s being used on is old enough to recall what life was like before things changed. Their reactions to their new lifestyles, whether good, bad, or just neutral and reminiscent of their less lucrative past, are what I enjoy.
I don’t like having characters depend to heavily on their wealthy partner when the Cinderella subtrope of rags to riches is used. I enjoy the subtrope because when the prince(ss) character falls for the pauper, they usually try everything in their considerable power to get the pauper’s attention despite probably being able to easily attract someone else. When the pauper falls for them first is also interesting because they usually feel inferior and attempt to unsuccessfully hide their feelings or they actually have the confidence to make a gesture which they know may not be as grand as anything the prince(ss) is used to, but is endearing in the thought of all the effort put into it. I also greatly enjoy situations where the prince(ss)'s gestures are perceived as too grand and/or insincere by the pauper so they end up racking their brains to think of something more intimate and meaningful.
I realize that I really just love opposite couples but the Cinderella subtrope just happens to be my favorite because of my love for the rags to riches trope. And by opposite I mean anything from a giant and tiny person couple, a gruff dragon and a kind unicorn type couple, or even a struggling to understand each other due to different cultures type couple. Not necessarily start crossed lovers though.
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What the holy flying infernal cactus demon stomach-acid-spewing monster is that? 
That’s just horrifying and flabbergasting. Especially given the whole issue in Iran of gay men being pushed into reassignment surgery and the history behind gay men being forced to undergo chemical castration. This is not something that can be portrayed in a positive light. Plus also the baggage of portraying a same-sex relationship as inferior and something that must be “fixed.” If one of the princes is magically changed that way, that doesn’t even make him a woman… if anything, that transforms him from a cis man into a trans man. Which maybe could be interesting if somebody actually wanted to write a story about the implications of all that, but it’s sure not a way to wrap a bow around an ending. It trivializes actual trans-ness, as if it’s not an important part of who someone is, but a special effect that can be jerked around for convenience, and it outright disrespects homosexuality.
These can be interesting storylines 
though I might happen to prefer it if it’s a wealthy guy falling for a poor/normal guy 
I like it best when it’s explored more so that we see how people end up getting on with each other’s friends and families… really getting into the convergence of two separate worlds, I guess.
That would be interesting, though 
since rich&poor romance can be pretty entertaining, seeing how a character copes with their new inlaws would be pretty fun. (And means that you are probably going to break me down into providing a gay or bi son of a rich family in Uprising…)
Just Ella is Cinderalla aftermath YA book I read that explores what happens after Cinderella marries the prince.
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Is it any good? Might help with my damned insomnia if it is, since the doc says I shouldn’t read from illuminated screens when trying to sleep?
Probably though note that my mc will first and foremost try to rise be his own ingenuity, skills and talents as he’d prefer things of his own to the charity of a boyfriend. Though I guess most of the in-law drama will remain, even if my mc should be that point be fabulously wealthy himself, as one tends to remain a jumped-up vulgar commoner in the eyes of much of the “nobility” or just old-money families for at least two generations. 
And that is not even speaking of the mc’s extended family including his siblings and the in-laws of course.
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It’s been a while since I read it, so my memory isn’t too sharp, but I remember thinking it was plenty good, but not outstanding. It does examine a lot of the kinds of issues with Cinderella-type story that I think you personally would find interesting. Applies a dose of realism, but still an overall hopeful tone. It is quite short, and maybe not as sophisticated as some, but neither of those are really flaws; it presents a bit of a deconstruction of Cinderella problems in a way that’s accessible to readers who would steer clear of more complex social commentary. And while the heroine keeps her spirit and without losing a humanistic quality.
I’m sure I can promise you that
Just marry into their family and let your new family be your patrons in life and you’ll be one of them now… one of them considered entirely their social dependent… expected to accept their largess and assimilate to your new role… oh, yes, I’m sure Verdant norms for peasant-born spouses would rankle
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Yeah, that’s not something my mc would like all that much, so he’d probably hold off on making anything official with said far richer boyfriend until he can at least come close in wealth (business empire goal, remember) and fashion sense and style.
That would be the understatement of the century or something, considering how I want my mc there to develop and especially if he’s got his own source of wealth and power. I expect those norms would expect us to turn any such “assets” over to the control of our spouse and in-laws, which is definitely something that wouldn’t fly with my mc. 
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Closer to an anti-villain I guess. They do terrible things for good reasons, while an anti hero is more of a regular hero who lacks heroic qualities.
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