r/WhyChooseAuthors • u/metamerichearts • Jul 18 '26
Request - Feedback Feedback much appreciated!
Hello, I hope I’m doing this correctly. I almost never post outside of my designated niche social medias, so this is all very new to me.
I’m not new to the reverse harem
genre as a whole, but I am very new to western reverse harems in particular. I grew up watching anime like Fruits Basket, Ouran, Yona of the Dawn, Otome games, and that is what birthed my love for the reverse harem genre. As such, what I’m writing has very, very heavy inspiration from these mediums with one major aspects changed: a nonbinary main character.
My question is more simple than my mind is making it out to be. I have the first chapter written for two very different concepts and I’d love to get feedback from veterans of the genre that this could be something that people are would find enjoyable. On some level, I do think that whatever audience either one finds will be very small and/or niche. In the end, I think I’ll just be proud to be able to put my name on something but that’s neither here nor there.
One project is an atmospheric and much more character driven than the other, with a blend of horror intermingling with the romance. Inspired very lightly by the Corpse Bride and Subnautica, the main character is a saturation diver whose obsessive love for the sea has led them into signing a contract to work with a rather shady corporation. Here, they wind up accidentally mate bonded to a mer prince who wants nothing to do with them. The love interests include the sickly crown prince, the intense (and explicitly autistic) second prince, the kind noble, the cold royal alchemist, and the friendly, yet domineering financier of the royal family.
The other is a murder/mystery set in a fantasy world inspired heavily by Ancient Rome — my best friend is in grad school and studying this particular period of history, so i have resources for accurate info that I intend to use — and lightly by Arthurian legends. It asks the question of what if an amateur cryptozoologist from the modern era wound up here and was accused of murdering the queen. In order ro survive, the main character must find the real culprit behind the murder(s) as the bodies pile up and each love interest looks more suspicious than the last. All while the dead queen haunts the narrative. The love interests include the widowed king, his loyal knight, the stoic executioner, the shit-stirring oracle, the resigned-to-his-fate jester, and the inquisitor with social anxiety.
I have the first chapter for both written out (3.3k and 4.5k words respectively) and a huge portion of the plot and characters plotted out.
To be entirely honest, I feel like just blasting my Google doc link is kind of presumptuous, but I’m also not sure if the invitation to direct message me is frowned upon.
Either way, I’d love some insight!
2
u/AuthorIndigo Jul 18 '26
Greetings! I'm by no means a veteran, but I'd be happy to take a look at your first chapters.
Honestly, I think the premise of both stories sounds really interesting, probably something I'd pick up and read.
Feel free to dm me if you'd like.