This is actually such a complex question omg.. I am answering in reference to rofans but this can be equally applied to all manhwa

1. Visuals.
Im shallow like that fr, but not only the quality of the art but if the character design/fashion is good or thematic I always get a bit giddy, what makes stuff more memorable is when it perfectly manages to capture a very specific vibe that only good creative direction could manage. This also includes matters of personal preference like brown haired mls 😼👍
- Examples with distinct visuals/vibes include, Spark in ur eyes, How to Survive as a maid in a horror game, Regina Rena, Where the shooting star falls, Your eternal lies, Suhee0, Morgana & Oz, Jungle Juice etc etc

2. Things have to connect
I actually don't care about realism and I really hate the idea that a good story is one with "no hero/villain", i think this a reductive judgement for art. Rather, that characters can be as they like, as long as writers don't skimp on making solid explanations for why a character does what they do. Not only this, but a character shouldn't just be explained but integrated into the story, their actions should impact other actions - and other characters should thus exist within the periphery of that impact whether direct or indirect or completely by the theme or morale - I hate a character that will have sufficient explanation but little weight to how it matters in the story. A good example of this is Daily Jojo

3. Setting integration
A stellar story for me is when the setting adapts/integrates with the character/s and the setting doesn't simply exist as a static background for the characters to interact with - in fact, I dislike when any art analysis/metacommentary hyper-emphasises the role of the living as an occupant of the seemingly inanimate, a roFAN shouldn't ever just be a setting - when u sign up for fantasy, you're signing up for the setting too. Sometimes I don't mind the nonsense of an isekai rofan that barely implements the genre into the story, but what really frustrates me is when authors create loopholes that could have simply not been made had they just decided to not make it an isekai. It's so frustrating, because it could have been a perfectly solid story had they at least known their bounds as a writer - it's one thing to decide to be a bit silly and random but it's another to be so silly and random you leave the story feeling like there was a mistake.

4. Things have to loop
I also like when the full story loops back, things that have happened before should be explained at the end - even better if it is explained by the driving force of the author/artist to push the audience into the exact emotional levity required to make "redemption" appropriate for certain characters, which is why i despise most redemption stories, people take it too lightly for what is usually quite serious subject matter, and the question of redemption should never be simply that of redemption but a collection of instances, situations, feelings, emotions, redemption is a an unending process that never cuts clean. What also frustrates me is making the protagonist the sole arbitrator for telling us who & when someone is "good/bad", i don't like when the story stops at the character, as I said the setting needs to have a life of it's own and authors need to at least hint that other characters have a life outside of the protagonist, so when a character is made - but not followed up on bc they did their "job", the loop is essentially broken for me.

5. Stories need to end when they end
I hate stories that drag. Lots of seinens make this mistake but a lot of manhwa really does just drag for the sake of dragging and totally ruins the novelty of the story, it's like "what filler episode am i getting this week?", it's so frustrating. Also, lots of stories don't SET out to offer any promise for us stick around, so it feels like it's dragging when you're barely a few chapters in, bc the author failed to set the scene from the get go, as the relationship w the author/audience is almost a push and pull to maintain enticement. This is for sure a personal preference, but starting a rofan with "once upon a time" gets VERY tiring VERY quickly because you know you're up for a lore dump and I am not a lore lover, ik i said I prefer when they mean fantasy but that was just an example - I hate stuff that goes too hard on fantasy to the point it's basically a sci fi where you have to learn all this politics and lore and worldbuilding and you're flipping through a trillion lore dumps that the author for some reason thinks I'm going to remember?? Once with "kill a villainess" i just skipped all the lore and the story still went rlly hard, like I didn't really NEED to know all that and since i hate knowing about all that I will skip it if it's boring asf.

6. Characters/Side characters
I referred to this at the end of point 4, but I always really hate a rofan with a maid character that is the very conception of loyalty, it really pisses me off, bc to what end do they have that loyalty? There are too many questions unanswered for a character usually SO important to the protagonists success/emotional needs/story etc. and yet they themselves are barely explored outside of their undying obsession for the FL's success. Occasionally the maid/butler will take care of a family that might kick off an arc for the fl/ml to demonstrate their kindness and re-remind the audience why the maid/butler is just sooo dedicated - but that's far from enough, bc that side character still exists AROUND the protagonist and that incident usually just serves to explain the dynamic with the protagonist - had it been another character, the story would be no different. Integrating things outside of the good ole "she saved me & I owe her with my life QQ" narrative is so frustrating to see time and time again because no human being lays out their life that quickly. It makes me question the author's perception of human rights, like a character who is just that obsessed with fl/ml can get kind of questionable - does this character, exist, outside of being the "good" one?? A really good example of a faithful maid explored well is in "Tears of a Jester" which captures one of my alltime favourite rofan scenes, where the maid converses w what is her "enemy" to almost reflect on the way this maid's humanity hinges on her faithfulness to a young girl that is suffering from the story, this not only says a TON about the maid, but it says a lot about who she is caring for, what her personality is like and to what extent she willl fight for it & why, I also see reference to the setting - in that just bc she wants to do it, makes it no less her duty - but the fact she will go further, is literally just her duty as a good person to protect the weak and young. I'm fr not asking for much, "the portrait" covers this really fuckin well esp with the servants of the duke, and even that one sort of has pitfalls with making side characters suspiciously loyal - dont even get me started on the way they worshipped the duke - and yet I really enjoyed the way everything was employed bc the writer worked their darnedest to make these characters have lives of their own and not of ones that revolve the fl/ml. (Special mentions: I hate when stories depict side characters as strong & supposed to protect and they don't protect just so the ML can do that it's so grrrr - I also hate the maid trope of the maid constantly bitching about the fl being adventurous or whatever, gets so tiring coz honestly there'd be more there to say ab how the maid would likely be punished if the lady randomly disappeared from the manor like bffr)

6.5. Socio Politics
Following on from point 6, if you make a character in a place of power - don't forget they're in a place of power - and while a good story can be a good story, for sure, there is always potential in a story that doesn't ignore power dynamics & the moment a writer takes a step back to re-analyse the sociopolitical dynamics of each character outside of their "good will", we see so much more to be said and done about how legitimate their personalities actually ARE and what their actions truly mean within that context. Don't pretend the servants are loyal to the fl/ml at their own expense when that is their literal livelihood, don't pretend the money the duke has is fair and good money, don't pretend the lady can be totally benevolent when she has clothes worth more than a servant's yearly salary, don't pretend a king/queen has a "good and proper vision for the future" when they js so happened to care about poor people a bit more than the avg noble, so many rofans just sound like silly propaganda sometimes, and you can tell when you see the type of depictions they have of CERTAIN groups of people. Anyways! A GREAT example of this is "wall of glass" where the characters relationships hinge on their socioeconomic class & the major divets n the story & characters personalities in that world are dependent on that dynamic, in the example of Edward, when he eventually becomes rich enough, he reflects on the unethical standards of the rich people he used to serve to shape his interactions with his own servants & major conflicts with himself and his close ones. While I'm not a huge fan of the Edward being "New bourgeois" from a rlly objective standpoint, we still get a reflection on why 1. his status is a good thing in this specific period 2. that his position is not one of butterfly and rainbows for sure

Anyways yeah i rlly hope you enjoyed, love u ella ;3

LOL i dont talk ab my ocs in public a lot but i had a fave for a long time who was a guy that died in an altruistic suicide and got "punished" for it by being a reaper who collects peoples souls in the form of "diaries" of their lives. n he must watch the person before they die for a few days so he follows them to the end of their lives js to collect their souls with no break (and no pay lol) but it's basically a type of divine punishment for people who kill themselves bc the job serves to constantly remind them of the harrowing nature of death, including watching some of his own fam members/friends die. the point being that he's unjustly serving a punishment for something he technically didnt even do bc he died just to save someone else. he often faces problems where people he used to know/knows blame things on his death (as if he did it on purpose) bc they can't process their own problems. his family also cant see him (literally) so he watches his family live on while knowing he cant be part of it anymore. lovely story! hes my boy. lives in a shack full of books & is quite charming and amicable but if yget to know him hes a huge gloating egotist. i dont draw him. but i obsessively wrote about him for almost a decade :). but if u have any more q let me know i love talking ab my ocs haha

Ouh oUHH okay

Manga:

1. Atsushi from natsuyuki Rendezvous - His character is more tragic than the story gives him credit for, I get that it's about shimao's development but there's such depth in atsushi's character and the ending didn't do justice to show that bc wtf do u mean he just has to get over it, no resolve whatsoever, he loses at the end and it's not a good thing js bc "shimao gets to move on" rolls eyes

Rofan:

1. Henry from YEL - I love his character a lot because he is such an interesting character, he doesn't get a love interest and also gets a rlly shitty ending where he's just kind of brushed off? But I think he adopts this little girl and their dynamic is so cute that i might kill myself if they don't make a spinoff centred on those two? I mean his character is such a serious part of the moral (anti-war) because he depicts the fruitlessness and the almost vulnerability that prompted the type of situation they're in. In that, after the war, it never really ended because they're now like damaged toys. I love how he interacts with the characters around him, and the journey of realisation and how that epiphany helps him understand more about himself and his relationship with those around him, especially ML & his extended family. I'm really sad we didn't get a lot of him at the end, like fuck the romance, WHAT ABOUT HENRY

2. Not rlly a character but the relationship dynamic between the fl/ml in wind on a dry branch makes me think a lot about the fleeting part of a relationship and how grief can be remediated with space and time rather than aggressive and often unhealthy, impulsive and insecure relationships

3. Nocturne, it was all a mistake - I LIKE HIS CHARACTER he really is just a weird guy
   3.5. Alice.. honestly all of the characters. I really love them and could talk about them in depth esp w how well they loop into the story

4. Millard - Rev princess eve. - Didn't so much like the other characters but millard is sort of a hidden gem, his circumstances are taken quite seriously in the story and the way millard deals with it and such is very fascinating and also a pretty cool comparison to the way Mikhael deals with the same type of (fetishism? per se) but the story with mikhael is more urm, sensationalised and unserious

5. Agatha duhhhhhhhhh

6. Adelheid & Rose - so many intersects n different journeys of the woman's experience, such a curious dynamic i love it

Modrom:

1. Seasons of Blossom - honestly i forgot but i used to talk about the characters in depth but i havent read it in ages since it ended

2. Jung - citt, he's just my favourite type of character, so much to say xox

there's more i forget tho </3

WOAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH LMFAOO SOMEONE SAW MY POST COMPLAINING AB NO QUESTIONS okay good question hmmmm i'd rather it be in between? I like politics but i prefer politics with a bit of unseriousness coz there's only so much i can say yk? But I'd rather the questions not be about things that are controversial enough to be either really boring or overwhelming; if someone is going to ask a controversial question it should be something niche that i am passionate about otherwise i will give a brief answer.

but overall i like when they ask things:
1. they are genuinely curious about
2. personal grievances, i love giving advice and sometimes fantasize ab being an agony aunt, it's true
3. Niche things - can be political
4. Media analyses
5. Lifestyle questions
6. Critique - i love discussing types of critique, theory & academia obvi but also just critique in general even when someone disagrees with my idea they can always just tell me why and we can talk about that as long as it's not being dragged beyond like 1 or 2 questions

But to be honest i rlly dislike super silly questions. i dont rlly care about answering them, i want to feel like im actually talking to someone and not that im just answering a blank wall of template questions

1. It was all a mistake is a masterpiece
2. Rofans arent made for those with high standards (actually curious how agreeable this is)
3. Rofans are racist in nature (i still read them dont come for me)
4. The fanbase should praise Agatha more as a moral necessity
5. Orientalist manhwa should burn and are direct replications of imperialist propaganda at their peak villainy
6. What does miscommunication trope even mean 6.5 everything people hate for miscommunication doesnt make sense to me because half the time it is not that bad and the other half it doesnt even read as miscommunication since it runs smoothly with normal dialogue
7. A lot of people in the fanbase arent interested in exploring the potential of the genre and are perfectly happy enjoying it for all the same tropes it is known for.+which i actually really really respect but it would be cool to see more ambition from the audience :')

I am not better than any of the above except the racist one