#a lot like booktok and their obsession with tropes

[hausdellamorte]

please don't jump me for this, mary kirby is a fantastic writer but i have a very glaring issue with lucanis' writing that really makes me cringe every time i think about it and it's the fact that he was very clearly written around the millennial tumblr joke of "running on spite and coffee" and the like and it doesn't really give him a lot more room for more character depth. a lot of veilguards comedy feels a lot like the writers in the writing room tried to predict what memes would be made and created those characters around it, instead of creating fully rounded characters and let the jokes happen naturally

[nikethestatue]

I blame TikTok/BookTok for a lot of things, but one for the biggest disservices that it did to the general reading public was it popularized the idea of 'trope writing'. it's one of the worst things to ever happen in writing, and it's the low hanging fruit for those who have bastardized the whole romance genre. Grumpy and sunshine, age gap, single dad, enemies to lovers...The list is long and...boring.

Trope writing gives a blueprint to unimaginative stories and their proliferation in the romantasy and romance genre is what's making it a joke now. There are so many 'Court of' and any combo of the words of blood, roses', and stars and it's...well, it's this:

The problem with SJM's fandom and the shipwar as a whole is very kind of simple and sad at the same time.

A HUGE number of Gwynriels came from TikTok and learned about SJM on there, and they've been lied to this entire time. Because the thing is, SJM is NOT a trope writer. Sure, there are a few tropes in her books, but they don't drive her narrative. SJM is a STORYTELLER. That's what she is and those who found her before/outside of TikTok were drawn to the story and the characters, not ships.

We didn't read ACOTAR, and then ACOMAF for 'ships'. We read it for the story--we didn't know who'll end up with who and that wasn't the main reason why we read. We loved the actual world of Feyre and Rhys, of Tamlin of Prythian, of the IC and Hybern. It was interesting to read.

TikTok ushered in the 'trope revolution' where talentless and mediocre authors are churning out boring, unoriginal books that fit into these tropes.

SJM doesn't do that. And while I know it's way too late now, I wish Gwynriels understood that early on. I mean, they would've had to read the books actually, and not just look at IG and TikTok videos, but it would've saved them a lot of time and energy if they did. Because what they want is 'grumpy and sunshine' trope with Azriel and Gwyn. 'Friends to lovers'. 'Teacher and student'. That's why they've struggles SO HARD for 4 years to come up with an actual story for their 'Gwynriel book'. They vacillated between 'it's Azriel's book!' and 'it's about healing!' or 'they'll redeem Illyria', and then, when they couldn't really concoct much of anything, they decide to make Gwyn Starborn and they've been obsessing about her paternity.

The 'problem' with SJM is that she has a story FIRST, and then certain tropes fall into that story, but she doesn't start off with a trope and then build a story from there. Which is what GAs want and think she'll do. For Eluciens, the downfall is their belief that 'SJM is a fated mates writer'. They dug themselves into a hole, because 'fated mates' is a trope and it's pretty obvious that this is NOT where SJM is going with Elucien. They'd rather ignore every mention of the Cauldron being wrong, and falsely assume that none of it matters because well, but 'fated mates'!

What they all keep ignoring and dismissing is that Elain has a story of her own. Yes, there is a grumpy/sunshine vibe with Elriel, but that's not the driver of the narrative. The driver is that she is a Seer, and that she is Made, and that the Cauldron WAS WRONG, and that she doesn't like her mate but likes another guy altogether, and that Azriel is a mystery and a Shadowsinger, and we don't know what any of this means, and somehow, he is carrying a Made dagger and he gave it to Elain, and he is in love with her knowing that he shouldn't be, and he said 'i am getting her back' and he got her back....THAT'S the story that SJM is writing. And it's not your basic and boring 'grumpy and sunshine' trope.

I think when Elriels have doubts or see something on TikTok, they should remember this. SJM predates TikTok by over a decade and no matter how people try to spin it, she is NOT a TikTok writer. She is actually a talented and best-selling romantasy writer who wrote this:

“Fireheart. Fireheart, why do you cry?"

"Because I am lost. And I do not know the way." "You have been very brave. You have been very brave, for so very long. But you must be brave a little while longer, my Fireheart. You must be brave a little while longer, and remember..." Her mother placed a phantom hand over Aelins heart. "It is the strength of this that matters. No matter where you are, no matter how far, this will lead you home. It is the strength of this that matters, Aelin. The strength of this. You are my daughter. You were born of two mighty bloodlines. That strength flows through you. Lives in you. You do not yield. You do not yield.”

And she made us cry.

And then she wrote this:

“There you are. I've been looking for you.

His first words to me— not a lie at all, not a threat to keep those faeries away.

And she made us fall in love.

“Even when this world is a forgotten whisper of dust between the stars, I will always love you.”

[multi-fandom-lunatic]

not going to lie I don't know about the whole book boyfriends thing but all I will say is that a lot of the people in booktok seem to glorify and prioritise toxic cis men as the ideal romantic partners. Obviously it depends on the people you are engaging with on booktok, but this unfortunately seems to be a major problem with the community on that platform.

I blame Colleen Hoover. Her books are genuinely horrifying, justifying abusive men's behaviour to sell as some fucked up idea of romance. I know that a lot of people nowadays do hate CoHo but we can't ignore that her archetype of writing men has affected the whole Fantasy-Romance YA genre as a whole.

Booktok people looove their hyper masc shadow daddies (oh ew I think I might vomit), but their idea of masculinity is just really fucking toxic possessiveness, how good the dudes are in bed, and abs, which results in the blandest character who's packaged as morally grey with at least fifteen red flags and the worst one-liners you've ever heard.

Booktokers really excuse any completely horrid behaviour from dudes as "morally grey", like Rhysand being a rapist and let me repeat this, rapist, to justify liking him. And of course, women in books usually remain unliked and actively hated unless they're the vanilla, vaguely badass white assassin. God forbid a woman of colour act remotely questionably. Booktok would simply crash.

I think it's because the Booktok girlies of today were once the Wattpad-Ao3 tropey fanfiction lovers. And don't get me wrong, I love fanfiction (I write fanfiction), but that's all it is: fanfiction. Free, indulgent works that are intentionally tropey to just have fun reading. The commercialisation of fanfic is truly the downfall of not only fanfic, but literature in general. Dear god I am sick of desperate authors selling glorified twilight fanfiction for a quick buck.

I try to avoid Booktok as much as I can. Though, I do go on there to check if what I'm writing in my responses to asks are accurate. And they usually are. Booktok is still obsessed with shitty misogynistic tropes and the worst book boyfriends ever.

Thanks for the ask! I've done quite a few of these now so I'll probably link them in my intro. BTW, I've written more on the racism in Booktok here.

[lovelaurs]

my own silly mystreet characters headcanon list!

aphmau:

has the worst "hear me out" takes you'll ever hear. like seriously. she can very much point to a yield sign and say "would" to everyone's dismay.

knows every line in moulin rouge as she is OBSESSED with the film. she and laurance preform the elephant medley as dramaticly as possible whenever they watch it for movie night.

obsessed with pre-endgame marvel movies.

ao3 writer! she writes fics for the nichest of fandoms, so she doesn't get that many reads.

one of the few reliable booktok users you can TRUST will give you a good recommendation to read!

garroth:

obsessed with the movie megamind. like seriously. will talk to you for hours on and WILL defend the "sequel movie" and show because, in fact, they are NOT that bad.

can infodump about a topic he's interested in for hours on end.

actually really smart and kind, but ever since he found out he made zane insecure he tries to tone it down. he used to show off a lot but wants to make sure his brother shines as well.

carries stress balls on him so he doesn't use his strength unnecessarily.

always organizes group movie nights with all his friends.

laurance:

loves to listen to and read AITA (am i the asshole?) reddit posts when bored.

an amazing listener, will listen to someone for hours on end and provide insight when needed (perfect for having a conversation with garroth).

loves gossiping. he has really good hearing so he tends to hear others share secrets nearby. he's like the wine aunt you just KNOW has the most interesting stories to tell.

likes to go on vacations a lot, explaining why he is absent sometimes during big group events.

he sometimes returns home to his family farm to take care of it when his parents are out of town.

he often voluntarily babysits caleb to impress aphmau and garroth with his caretaker skills (he's a showoff).

katelyn:

she loves the show big time rush and watches it in her freetime.

OBSESSED with musical theatre and visits broadway shows often. if the friends she brought along even DARE to suggest skipping the stagedoor? they receive a glare that could kill thousands.

adores singing and often sings in her room when the others aren't home.

continues to play volleyball with her friends after a long day of work (she's a freelance writer).

her music taste can range from alternative music like waterparks to kpop groups like red velvet!

KC:

an ao3 writer as well! she and Aphmau gift eachother fics from time to time! she mostly writes x reader fics for tumblr sexyman.

has taken a liking to cooking outside of baking! she especially likes to grill! she even wears an apron that says "kiss the cook" as well as a hat that says "fish fear me women love me".

watches any and all trending animated shows like tangled the series, adventure time, avatar, etc.

has her own tumblr blog where she writes reviews on shows and posts art! her page is quite popular.

dresses in mainly lolita fashion! she has a flare for the beauty of style and loves to recommend people styles and outfits whenever they go out shopping!

travis:

calls katelyn, zane, and dante hot nonchalantly

has attempted.

dante:

loves to bake and nana teaches him all kinds of recipes to make. he supplies the snacks at movie night.

takes taekwondo lessons. "can never be too careful" he says while living in a pretty standard upper middle class neighborhood. why is he like this.

works at a pet shelter and takes care of the dogs and cats left behind. he adopts any that have been there for years, thus making his house full of many different pets.

the designated driver for whenever they go out to clubs. he doesn't like to drink so he usually takes everyone home by the end of the night.

travis (the actual headcanons):

actually respects others and doesn't harass them like he did early on (that was a weird trope and i HATED it). he's just a flirt and if someone he flirts with flirts back he gets all flustered.

the group gamer. spends hours grinding on all sorts of games just to brag about it on his steam profile. specifically a fan of the spider-man games on playstation.

loves to cosplay! he, aphmau, and nana go to lots of conventions together in group cosplay. their last one was the powerpuff girls! they dragged garroth along and made him mojo jojo.

can recite everything and anything about the ninjago lore. this man is obsessed with any lego product or franchise and has many sets built in his room.

practices talking to himself in the mirror every morning to give him confidence. he has very low self esteem.

aaron:

dream stan.

probably friends with dream.

uhhhh idk probably streams the song "mask" by dream.

minecraft streamer.

dream.

those are all my headcanons! i hope you enjoyed! (slandering mystreet aaron is a passion of mine i'm sorry)

[cherries-in-wine]

My thoughts on Colleen Hoover:

okay hear me out: colleen hoover is for the people who skipped their fan fiction phase.

Hi just a warning this contains spoilers for colleen hoover books and English isn't my first language so I apologise for any mistakes. These are just me sharing my thoughts feel free to disagree just please don't be mean about it.

So I read a few of her books because I love torturing myself and just wanted to feel something (also my cousin was obsessed with her) and honestly I don't regret it because now I have valid reason shit on it. 

Just fyi I'm a teenage girl in high school so I'm definitely in her target audience, and here's what I've gathered:

None of her main characters really have a personality. they feel more like shells that the reader can self insert themselves into. The books aren't really about two people getting to know each other and falling in love it feels more as a bunch of tropes and generic scenarios thrown together. I think this is one of the reason booktok girlies act with Colleen Hoover the way I did when I found out fanfics exists. 

It also just reads like fanfiction? like because there's not much to dwell on and they're so easy to digest you can finish them in just a few hours. plus the main characters just feels like y/n: a shell to self insert yourself into, dead/abusive father, just normal girl who finds herself in these situations etc.

Here's the thing about fan fiction though: the reason why it's so fun to read is because you already know the people/characters in it so you can get right into the scenarios and imagines because they don't really need any background or development. 

But the difference is when you write these books you have to develop these characters and introduce them to the readers otherwise I'm just like "I don't even know these people so why the fuck would I care?"

Comparing her to fanfic is honestly an insult to fanfic writers because at least they have the decency to tag their posts properly (calling the abuse, abuse dark themes, dark themes etc) plus they're just so much better.

Colleen Hoover fans will say that she brings up difficult topics in her books in order to defend her but here's the thing: writing about difficult topics doesn't exactly exempt you from criticism + she doesn't even write about them?? they just feel like lazy add ons to spice up the story and add some drama. if you're gonna write about difficult topics you need to discuss and write them properly not just use them to further the plot.

I don't like any of the love interests either. 99% of them are just abusive, piece of shit bland boiled chicken ass people with the unsexiest names I've ever heard of.

Also a lot of these have very much women hating women undertones? I feel like it's the author's misogyny being reflected in her books (extra heart breaking coming from a woman herself). It's very much "you're not like the other girls you're different" kinda themes.

I thought maybe people just enjoyed it because of the smut but the smut is SO BAD oh my god I wanted to kms.

My thoughts are a little all over the place right now (they always are) but maybe i'll update if I remember any more points

thank you so much for reading mwah <33

[guys-in-distress-database]

Random thought:

With Disney's current obsession over challenging their old tropes and more active heroines who take control of their destiny, why haven't we had a role-reversal fairy tale from them yet?

You know, like a heroic princess who saves a young man from an evil villain. Disney has a LOT of dudes in distress, no doubt, but not any who are rescued in the traditional "damsel" sense by their love interest. They always either rescue themselves or are helped by their sidekick or both. The closest is MAYBE Return to Neverland, but that's stretching the idea. I'm honestly surprised they have yet to make a movie that completely swaps the roles.

Hey! People obsessed with rewriting their favourite childhood movies and tropes as fantasy romance fiction on booktok! Get on it!

[itmeblog]

My obsession with "clean" books: an explanation

My obsession with books that self-ID as clean has to do with the fact that I think there's some language fuckery going on right now. And I mostly started to suspect this when I started clicking through like the accounts of books that do this because like

THIS is sorta weird. A sizeable part of the feed's like this. And in the two videos I don't circle it's literally just the screen shot, when you click the first thing you're greeted with is "Clean Fantasy" AND THERE ARE A LOT OF ACCOUNTS LIKE THIS. (At least a lot of accounts in the corner of Youtube I've been thrust into)

But in most literature clean is defined as

Clean reads are stories without graphic violence, explicit sexuality, or strong profanity. They may or may not also have religious content.

But like he instantly compares it to PERCY GODDAMN JACKSON. PERCY JACKSON!!

PERCY WHO IN LIKE THE FIRST 2 CHAPTERS STABS A WOMAN IN THE HEART! (And Harry Potter which also violent! Avatar the Last Airbender also violent! Straight up murder on screen!! Zuko hitting Aang with that lightening bolt is a core memory of my childhood)

So I started reading reviews and it's not just this guy, but several of the books that try to self-categorize like this contain a lot of violence varying from explicit to extremely graphic and I'm sitting here like...

Why are these authors using this category specifically? Why are they pushing so hard to indicate that a YA book (the ones I've come across tend to be YA) doesn't have sex? And like a considerable portion is pushing it to the point of absurdity?? Uh, for example, I've come across something that roughly went like this:

Author: Do you want to read my YA fantasy about how a boy and his autistic brother survive the apocalypse together? (I do not suggest this book from the reviews it's sorta giving Autism Speaks vibes) BookTok Reader: Does it have spice (sex scenes)? Author: Well , no but- BookTok Reader: Then I'm not interested!

And like in what fucking world would someone hear about a book about 2 brothers and immediately ask if there's a sex scene?? LIKE BETWEEN WHO?? THE BROTHERS???

So not only are they pushing that their books have no smut, but they're doing it in increasingly like straw man heavy ways?? So obviously, I've become obsessed.

That's when I started wondering if there was something else going on. Why make a straw man to fit a category where you will almost primarily pride yourself on defining your book on what it doesn't offer while sorta simultaneously disparaging books that do have smut.

Like I've followed other authors! I see how they sell books! Iron Widow's author right now is real obsessed with pegging but that's not all their feed is about, they also talk about the world, their inspirations, their successes, their process, their regrets, their experience in the industry, they make jokes and do behind the scenes things. Dainsdreth's Assassin's author follows something similar (moderately devout) but she's more interested in talking about world building and tropes and research (and very occasionally faith)!

But then I went further and started reading more reviews, I realized while not all of these authors fall into the category a Good Strong Portion of them are Christian! Christian authors!! Writing moderately violent fantasy and labeling them as clean!

So now my hypothesis is that this is a new sort of identifier! It's a way to signal to others in the know that you are indeed a good reputable Christian Author and perhaps your piece is somehow related to God and his teachings in a fantasy setting! BUT what's happening is that a lot of people are also tired of smut violence.

For a variety of reasons! Parents are wary, there's been a lot of push back against "deviant" behaviors in terms of LGBTQ+ stuff, and politically aware books. A lot of those BookTok books are straight up bad (looking at you 4th wing and Chasing Adeline). There's a purity culture wave going through America right now!

So what might be happening is that people (mostly YA readers but also some parents) looking for age appropriate books that are clean in the traditional way or parents trying to coax their kids to read, are stumbling on this specific definition of clean on BookTok and BookTube and are knowingly/unknowingly exposing themselves/or their children to radicalized christian/purity culture talking points! And honestly? This can happen to anyone trying to find "clean/sex-free" books if the terminology has been co-opted! It could happen to adults who favor romance!

And there's nothing specifically anything wrong with this (I mean... there's the whole tithe thing but I sorta forgot about that... sooo, like just know if you buy a book by like Brandon Sanderson a portion of his proceeds will likely go to the Mormon church because he is a full fledged member and it's sort of a requirement) if you are aware of what you're reading and know how to interact with it. I just know that at YA age I didn't and I wasn't and boy oh boy was I reading a lot of Mormon fantasy books and losing a fucking battle with purity culture like you wouldn't believe. Like I have receipts in my own fantasy writing and it is baaaaaddd.

(Disclaimer: Sometimes someone who loves the church just writes a book, okay? Not all authors who are aligned with Christianity are trying to do something, but if they're using straw man arguments and shit to prove a point about some sort of perceived purity or seem a little too obsessed with the fact that their underage characters aren't banging sloppy on the page, you might want to think about which brand of Christianity they're preaching)

[kyliafanfiction]

Lol this is a slight confession to make, but I just found your blog and when I find a HP blog I always first things first search "dramione" in there because people are so weird about dramione as a concept, and it's so refreshing to see a person who is actually not lost in the dramione sauce (is not constantly regurgitating the same 10 tiktok fics reccing them ad nauseum) and is also defending the ship from all the stupid bullshit people spew on it.

I left the community and the ship actually because it felt like both reader and writers changed in those years. Readers especially with their awful entitlement, but that also changed the writers too who became very metric obsessed.

I wish dramione wasn't exposed to so many people because I feel like most of the writers utterly don't understand what the ship is about and the readers welp they don't care they see a rec on tiktok and read the fic like it's an enemies to lovers book from booktok.

Its sad really.

Sorry for yelling into your askbox randomly about this.

I don't spend a lot of time in Dramione spaces, and I go through spurts of actually focusing on Dramione fics to the exclusion of other stuff and then not touching Dramione for months for a while, so I can't really speak to this.

I'm aware a lot of recent popular romance stuff is written by former Dramione writers, but Reylo and Bella/Edward and so many other ships have had that happen too, so it's hardly a Dramione issue.

Nor, in the last time I read recent Dramione fic, had I felt like there was a lot of 'metric driven' stuff or 'not understanding the ship'. Certainly there are people whose take on the ship or their dynamic does not line up with mine - a lot of newer Dramione fans do have a different take on the ship and on Draco than an older class, and the older class has changed over time, but I'd hesitate to call it wrong, and it's hard to articulate exactly what the difference is.

Dramione, like any popular ship, does suffer from an overly tropifying of the characters, and overuse of archetypes and too many fusion/genre AUs where characters are wedged into roles, but that happens. You filter through and read the stuff you like.

Which is one reason I like the sheer size of the fanficdom, because there's always something good to find, and even if it's a less common trope (like Hermione topping Draco, or better yet, her pegging him) there's still a decent amount of it out there.

I do appreciate that it can be annoying to have a shipdom wildly disagree with your interpretations, or keep seeing the same 'ten tiktok recs', but I can't really relate to that experience. That said, your experience is valid, and I'm always up for hearing about other people's POVs.

[prpfz]

── 🗡 a little about me » (21F writer. gmt tmz. experienced writer.). hello!! i'm an experienced, adv.lit–novella writer (with replies spanning to multiple discord messages), currently on the look out for other 18+ writers that may want to collaborate in a dark romance 1x1 rp featuring a variety of darker themes and tropes, with some booktok inspirations mixed in!! oc x oc ships only!!

── current tastes » i am dying to write oc x oc rps inspired by some booktok favourites, especially booktok college dark romance picks. DEVILS NIGHT by pen douglas and LEGACY OF GODS by rina kent are two of my favourite series, and i would die if plots similar to these series were utilised!! additionally, i love the vibes that OUTER BANKS, elite, and EUPHORIA give off, alongside enjoying the movie CULPA MIA and some KDRAMAS energy. it's not necessary to have read either or watched any of these, i am open to just describing the plots & providing snippets of my favourite scenes, but i do need to reiterate that these books (especially) have the exact vibes that i'm looking for within an rp & i will be geeking out heavily over them as i provide plot ideas/inspiration.

── plot energy interests » dark romance, college setting, dark academia, gothic vibes, characters ranging from 18 to earlier 20s. bullying/torment, mind games/mindbreaking & gaslighting, rich kids gone wild, small town with a clear hierarchy, heavy into revenge plotlines. tropes of: enemies-to-lovers, childhood friends, revenge, bully romance, step siblings/half-siblings, brother's best friend, love triangle / reverse harem, blackmailed into a relationship, arranged marriage – these are all currently very appealing to me.

── other notes »

– fellow ramblers, this ad is aimed at you !! i can go off about a plot, oc, or a pairing for entire lenghy messages of content, and i love people who have that same level of enthusiasm, or at least appreciate and give some of the same energy back. if you're one of those people whose default response is one-word-replies, then we likely won't get along. i need you to feed my soul and muse, i want us to be mutually sick from brainrot and obsessed over our characters, pairing, and plot !!

– a little cliche, but as of now, i'd prefer playing F roles in *mxf rp* and writing with other F/non-cis-male writers. need to note that i'm not a fast rp replier at all (nor do i require you to be fast and prefer a more lax energy with replies), but i'm quick with OOC and enjoy text/semi-lit threads to bridge the time between lengthier novella replies. plus, i engage in lots of headcanoning and planning for rps, including sharing aesthetics & tiktoks. just don't be dry, contribute, and we'll get on well!

– i am fine with dead-dove & darker themes, so come at me with your dark, complex, twisted ocs, and i might also write some darker twisted ocs against them, or ones that may be slowly corrupted by them. honestly, i'm open to writing most dead dove themes & darker kinks (albeit the ones utilised depend on the oc that i plan to use & develop) and am open to some taboo themes such as incest/stepcest (i do need to quickly mention that i do NOT enjoy large age gaps that exceed +5 years). we can discuss limits and triggers in dms.

give a like and anon will get back to you

[novella-writers]

── 🗡 a little about me » (21F writer. gmt tmz. experienced writer.). hello!! i'm an experienced, adv.lit–novella writer (with replies spanning to multiple discord messages), currently on the look out for other 18+ writers that may want to collaborate in a dark romance 1x1 rp featuring a variety of darker themes and tropes, with some booktok inspirations mixed in!! oc x oc ships only!!

── current tastes » i am dying to write oc x oc rps inspired by some booktok favourites, especially booktok college dark romance picks. DEVILS NIGHT by pen douglas and LEGACY OF GODS by rina kent are two of my favourite series, and i would die if plots similar to these series were utilised!! additionally, i love the vibes that OUTER BANKS, elite, and EUPHORIA give off, alongside enjoying the movie CULPA MIA and some KDRAMAS energy. it's not necessary to have read either or watched any of these, i am open to just describing the plots & providing snippets of my favourite scenes, but i do need to reiterate that these books (especially) have the exact vibes that i'm looking for within an rp & i will be geeking out heavily over them as i provide plot ideas/inspiration.

── plot energy interests » dark romance, college setting, dark academia, gothic vibes, characters ranging from 18 to earlier 20s. bullying/torment, mind games/mindbreaking & gaslighting, rich kids gone wild, small town with a clear hierarchy, heavy into revenge plotlines. tropes of: enemies-to-lovers, childhood friends, revenge, bully romance, step siblings/half-siblings, brother's best friend, love triangle / reverse harem, blackmailed into a relationship, arranged marriage – these are all currently very appealing to me.

── other notes »

– fellow ramblers, this ad is aimed at you !! i can go off about a plot, oc, or a pairing for entire lenghy messages of content, and i love people who have that same level of enthusiasm, or at least appreciate and give some of the same energy back. if you're one of those people whose default response is one-word-replies, then we likely won't get along. i need you to feed my soul and muse, i want us to be mutually sick from brainrot and obsessed over our characters, pairing, and plot !!

– a little cliche, but as of now, i'd prefer playing F roles in *mxf rp* and writing with other F/non-cis-male writers. need to note that i'm not a fast rp replier at all (nor do i require you to be fast and prefer a more lax energy with replies), but i'm quick with OOC and enjoy text/semi-lit threads to bridge the time between lengthier novella replies. plus, i engage in lots of headcanoning and planning for rps, including sharing aesthetics & tiktoks. just don't be dry, contribute, and we'll get on well!

– i am fine with dead-dove & darker themes, so come at me with your dark, complex, twisted ocs, and i might also write some darker twisted ocs against them, or ones that may be slowly corrupted by them. honestly, i'm open to writing most dead dove themes & darker kinks (albeit the ones utilised depend on the oc that i plan to use & develop) and am open to some taboo themes such as incest/stepcest (i do need to quickly mention that i do NOT enjoy large age gaps that exceed +5 years). we can discuss limits and triggers in dms.

Like if interested!

[patrocles]

*guy who knows fuck all about twilight voice* i cannot even begin to describe how interested i am in your extremely specific thoughts on twilight. especially in regard to its takes on classism

I appreciate you so much for saying that especially since everything following this will be so deeply incoherent.

This is mainly in regards to the films since I've seen them recently and I haven't read the books since I was like 14.

The thing about Twilight is that the two defining discourses that dominated this series were "Is Bella a bad Feminist" and "Team Edward vs Team Jacob".

The idea that Bella (aged 17), upon meeting Edward (aged 109) and begins dating him, is ready to give up everything in her life to marry him, die, and become a vampire and devoting her entire life to him; does this set back womanhood decades or is this simply Bella exercising her free will. And the other being which guy is better for Bella, the mega wealthy Edward who can provide everything for her or working class poor Jacob who's the childhood friend.

Twilight didnt define the tropes of love triangles or even the concept of the girl plucked from obscurity and given the fairytale life by someone so insanely rich who could have chosen anyone but still chooses her. It's not even an objectively bad fantasy to explore. But I think what's kinda unique to Twilight and I think what a lot of bad booktok romance novels can trace their tropes back to in Twilight, is this idea that wealth can excuse any wrong-doing.

Edward is deeply controlling of Bella, he's condescending and belittles her, he grooms her, he leaves her deeply traumatized when he randomly abandons her in the second book/novel to the point of near catatonic depression. But ultimately at the end of the day it's fine because what Edward can provide for Bella makes it all worth it! He can take her places and buy her things, of course she'll be humble but that's why she's so #real. Hell it doesn't even matter that we don't even know what they even like about each other beyond mutual obsession and possession in the general sense. And this is something that's so pervasive in the romance genre, it's what spawned 50 Shades specifically. Abuse, physical or emotional, is excused by obscene wealth because what's temporary discomfort and domineering misogyny to private jets and mansions.

If we're being honest, the question of whether or not Bella is a good or bad feminist character is sort of moot when what we're actually seeing is just a sad story of an emotionally isolated girl have her entire existence wrapped up in Edward and know that she's never going to have a come-to-Jesus moment and value her own self worth over Edward. There's a scene in Eclipse when she tells Jacob that immediately after graduation, she's going to marry Edward and become a vampire like him. Jacob is angry about this but it's not even a "pick him over me" moment, but as a friend who doesn't want to see his best friend give up her entire existence to this guy. Even says, "he's got his hooks in you so deep". There's another scene when her father, (the MVP), just wants her to see her other friends outside of Edward and have some sort of life outside of Edward and it's almost like a metatextual awareness that SOMEONE in this story recognizes that Bella is being groomed and that this is all really REALLY toxic. It's a horror story! But of course it immediately pivots back to star crossed lovers bullshit because LOOK, Edward took her to a private island and they can travel the world. But more than anything it feels like they’re trying to establish a sort or attempt at a balance but what’s scary is knowing that Jacob and Charlie’s concerns and reservations are essentially pointless and empty compared to Edward’s financial and physical capabilities and the depth of his grooming in Bella. It’s actually charming that Charlie thinks he can realistically stand a chance against Edward if he really wanted to establish true parental control over his child. Like it’s genuinely sad to watch, actually.

And sure, so much of that we can write off as just being dated at worst. But definitely not end of the world stuff especially considering where that kind of trope has grown into way more severe cases of straight of kidnap/rape fantasy in mafia romance erotica we see today. Which is kind of MAD when you think about what teen girls were reading in the 00s versus what the teens of today are reading. I guess thanks Steph for being Mormon and keeping it PG???

But for ME, PERSONALLY, what's been kinda itching my brain in relation to this is how this pertains to Jacob. It is hard to view Twilight as mere late 00s nostalgia campy mess when I think about how absolutely awful Jacob is treated by the narrative for the sole crime of not being Edward, and by extension, wealthy. This isn't even about which guy was better for Bella, but how the story decides it was necessary for the reader to know that Jacob was NOT the correct option. He goes from earnest good guy who genuinely cares for Bella's physical and emotional well being as just a friend to her when Edward abandoned her, to basically a fucking incel who can't respect boundaries, and then Edward and Bella's lapdog in their happily ever after for no other reason than the narrative demanding it happen for Bella and Edward to be together. And for you the reader to want that to happen.

I've never been able to divorce the racial and classist undertones to this narrative choice to this. In a lot of media that came after that deals with love triangles, the "Jacob archetype" eventually became the often times not white, best friend, good guy type who was never really The One, but just another option for our Main Girl to explore until she gets back to the The One.

But thing is, Jacob was never just random guy option 2. He was working class poor and indigenous. A lot of his character is defined by this and his culture. And this HONESTLY made the Cullens animosity towards Jacob and the Pack kind of actually ridiculous and racist. Like I get Steph was just using the trope of Vampires and Werewolves: eternal enemies, but that isn't really applicable here when the shapeshifting isn't an trait that can be passed on to anyone like vampirism, but something unique to these specific people whose land they're infringing upon. So the little side digs and remarks and the absolute audacity that the Quileutes are just being so unreasonable when the Cullens have the money and means to live anywhere, but choose this boundary of a poor people who're merely trying to keep what's theirs, and we're still supposed to root for the Cullens because they're the Good Ones is like........... girl okay.

And this is all completely secondary to the way Steph appropriated the Quileute tribe, fucked around with their cultural traditions to invent her own lore, never financially compensated the tribe despite her and the producers of the films making MILLIONS, and two of the actors featured in the first film were recast for New Moon because they wouldn't cut their hair. BUT I DIGRESS.

I watched the New Moon special features where Chaske Spencer (who plays Sam) talks about how Jacob's house was extremely authentic to places he lived on his reservation. I'm not indigenous, but I did grow up working class poor and I personally always loved that this was a factor to Jacob and the pack. It didn't define them as people, but provided a sort of grounding depth and relatability that makes you want to explore them more. It isn't a lot but it's something. And hell, even Bella comes from a working class background which I genuinely liked especially as a youth when I'm trying to find some way to connect to this perfectly pretty white character.

But what's kinda frustrating in so many ways is how despite the alleged importance of Jacob and the Pack to the overall story, they are shelved so much. So we really don't get to see them, explore them as characters, their dynamics, and the tribe much as much as they could have been except for the very few times it's relevant to Bella and Edward. And given that Breaking Dawn specifically was TWO FILMS, there was no excuse for it. And it feels insulting to have the concept of the Pack, but we have to save our precious screen time for Bella and Edward playing chess.

I don’t even think people really understand just how almost non existent it is to see authentic depictions of lower/working class people in these kinds of stories. If you’ve never grown up poor it’s probably not something you even notice, just how default upper middle class almost everything (especially in YA) actually is. I think it’s something people don’t want to have to tackle so it just gets avoided? Unless we specifically need the 1 side character who is The Poor Friend, we need to have characters be in financially comfortable positions so the Plot can happen without having to worry about pesky things like bills. And so again, in that sort of authenticity it’s a double edged sword because while that is great to have included in a series like this, the classist undertones are so pervasive in how so much of Edward’s allure to Bella is rooted in wealth. A sort of inherent superiority to her own simple, non important life because of the trappings of his dress, his car, his mansion. There’s an unearned moral goodness that’s applied to Edward because of how we as a society view wealthy people as being inherently good and well meaning despite their actions consistently contradicting this. And it isn’t hard to see the ways in which this grooms Bella and that we the viewer must applaud this, cheer this, and would be aghast and disgusted if Bella was put off by the grandeur and wealth and wanted nothing to do with it because why would you possibly give that up? Again she can have the allusion of financial independence with a cute little job, but we know it isn’t necessary. We arent really meant to support the Quileute’s animosity towards the Cullens because they’re being irrational despite having bigger stakes that are considered frivolous and irrelevant to the Cullens (like retaining land autonomy). The best that Jacob could ever achieve in this story is to be at service to the Cullens and that’s meant to be a happy ending for him. Whatever his hopes and dreams were are inherently inferior to how important being the guard dog to a half vampire miracle child.

So yeah. I get the whole Twilight Renaissance, I get why people go back to it especially as it pertains to girlhood nostalgia. The soundtracks remain in constant rotation. I get why people want to reclaim the thing that made them happy in their youth when society shamed them for it as being just Cringe Girl Stuff. But for ME, it is hard for me to watch these and not be icked with how a lot of things were portrayed especially when it could have been a better story.

[findroleplay]

hello everyone ! i'm on the lookout for a couple of 18+ writers who may be up for writing oc x oc rps within the dark romance genre, which may or may not heavily favour booktok vibes for rp inspiration (ifykyk 🫡). yours truly is an adv.lit–novella writer (this means i'll max out the discord message limits multiple times per reply and i would like that reciprocated to some extent though i will adjust to your general length and shift my lengths according to what the scene needs. though 2 messages is my minimum, and my max is untested as of yet, so bring all the details and pretty prose to me because i'll devour it like the cookie monster 🍽). and to provide some info on me, i'm a twenty+, she/her writer who favours the third person perspective and has a hard-on for writing f characters in mxf, with an additional preference towards writing with other f writers (so mdni) and for everyone else be rest reassured that my f characters are far from typical, my girls are often dark, twisted and obsessive in their own ways and will send your boys on the ride of a lifetime, scouts honour to that.

i might write a lot, but i do also reply slowly and am a very understanding partner, so an average of 1 reply per week is very brilliant per my standards and all i'll truly require is for the space between replies to be bridged with ooc planning and sharing of headcanons, plot dev, using tuppers for small text ideas, etc. on this note, if you can not communicate effectively or hold a conversation with equal effort to what i'm putting in, then i'm likely not the writer for you. your girl is a certified and proud yapper who has an undying love for analysing our ocs, plots, and dynamics !! i'm a huge sucker for collaboration regarding the plot and i will push for brainstorming headcanons and plotlines before we start the rp, for sharing pinboards, tiktok vibes, music and media that remind us of the ocs, and i sincerely need this interaction to upkeep my interest so please give it to me !!

for tropes, i'd love to explore ones like possessiveness**, obsession**, rich kids gone wild**, step-siblings** (plsplspls), toxic x toxic, power imbalances, killer x stalker, dark side of the entertainment industry (music, acting, hollywood or kpop/jrock), modern aristocracy, old money v new money, dark academia, sports, arranged marriages and more.

and a side note here, but i'm mainly interested in writing ocs between the ages of 18 – and 26 as of now (flashbacks to younger ages are fine) and i do NOT enjoy large age gaps so please come at me with oc ideas within this same age range. i also need to leave a note that i have a preference for model fcs or lesser-known actor fcs– the only exception for popular actors would be if they're foreign such as kdrama actors or if you ask for suggestions and i mention it but otherwise, i'm not interested in the common fcs and am fine with using no fcs too. i'm totally with writing smut, cool with darker kinks too or doing fade-to-black based on your preference. but dear god, i need our ocs to be villainous and toxic and just a little problematic.

if this ad appeals to you, then hit the post with a like, and i'll get back to you asap.

-

[multi-fandom-lunatic]

I think overall, the misogyny, sexism and racism in booktok is so prevalent because the fans who are recommending these tropes/seeing them as good and fine are very socially privileged. It makes it hard to criticise those tropes without getting verbally abused online by those refusing to acknowledge the harm done, so people have had to make an 'anti booktok' space when that shouldn't actually be the case. The racism in play is massive because those white people essentially think of poc as tokens - little bits of diversity here and there do they can point at us to prove they're not racist. The thing is, fiction is caused by reality. A lot of the white people who are fine with these racist tropes (Black best friend, quiet Asian nerd etc.) do actually tokenise us in real life and see us as a tickbox they can use, rather than a human being they can be friends with...and I think this mindset is absolutely encourage by what fiction has done for years - placed Black people in the best friend role with no shot at romance, refused to let the Asian exist without being awkward and out-of-touch, and making the queer best friend fashionable and a hype person without letting them be the main character. It's no wonder that the people obsessed with making adult lit like YA and putting high school level drama and romance into adult settings, have racist mindsets; most of the tropes I mentioned come from coming-of-age/high school movies for teens. It's just a mess.

I think nostalgia is a big part of it. The people who consume this content (white, abled, Christian, cishet women) saw this as the only kind of main character during the 2000s/2010s, and even though we've socially progressed since that time, nostalgia and their privilege doesn't let them remember the bigotry present. That's why, even though there are more POC and queer shows/media, it's all written to be digestible for these women and it just... irks me.

It's absolutely tokenising, and it's honestly disgusting. They don't understand that there is such thing as bad representation - if they see a person of a marginalised group, they'll consider it good representation, no matter how forced, stereotypical and poorly written it is. They see these stereotypes in real life and apply it to POC. And maybe this is a me thing, because I still mentally struggle with "fitting into the boxes". For context, I am Asian, and while I'm not a genius, I am fairly nerdy. But constantly being told to "not be like the other girls" and showing these other girls as 2D stereotypes, it's always been hard for me to embrace myself without feeling guilty about "being a part of the stereotype". I'm kind of getting the hang of not being afraid to have interests/hobbies that would put me inside the box now (Now I realise, it's completely the fault of the people who create those boxes), but it's still hard sometimes. Okay, done with that personal tangent.

I have an equation. Social privilege + nostalgia = tropey BS. Or at least, a taste for tropey BS.

And yeah, it definately plays into the whole merging of YA and Adult Lit, because nostalgia just keeps these people tethered to these tropes, and it bleeds into not only reality but also the way we write different genres. Worst part is, it's not even exclusively a Booktok problem. It's so glaringly obvious in teen movies/shows/literally any media. And adult ones too. I'm so ready for this BS to die out.

[findyourrp]

hello everyone ! i'm on the lookout for a couple of 18+ writers who may be up for writing oc x oc rps within the dark romance genre, which may or may not heavily favour booktok vibes for rp inspiration (ifykyk 🫡). yours truly is an adv.lit–novella writer (this means i'll max out the discord message limits multiple times per reply and i would like that reciprocated to some extent though i will adjust to your general length and shift my lengths according to what the scene needs. though 2 messages is my minimum, and my max is untested as of yet, so bring all the details and pretty prose to me because i'll devour it like the cookie monster 🍽). and to provide some info on me, i'm a twenty+, she/her writer who favours the third person perspective and has a hard-on for writing f characters in mxf, with an additional preference towards writing with other f writers (so mdni) and for everyone else be reassured that my f characters are far from typical, my girls are often dark, twisted and obsessive in their own ways and will send your boys on the ride of a lifetime, scouts honour to that.

i might write a lot, but i do also reply slowly and am a very understanding partner, so an average of 1 reply per week is very brilliant per my standards and all i'll truly require is for the space between replies to be bridged with ooc planning and sharing of headcanons, plot dev, using tuppers for small text ideas, etc. on this note, if you can not communicate effectively or hold a conversation with equal effort to what i'm putting in, then i'm likely not the writer for you. your girl is a certified and proud yapper who has an undying love for analysing our ocs, plots, and dynamics !! i'm a huge sucker for collaboration regarding the plot and i will push for brainstorming headcanons and plotlines before we start the rp, for sharing pinboards, tiktok vibes, music and media that remind us of the ocs, and i sincerely need this interaction to upkeep my interest so please give it to me !!

for tropes, i'd love to explore ones like possessiveness**, obsession**, rich kids gone wild**, step-siblings** (plsplspls), toxic x toxic, power imbalances, killer x stalker, dark side of the entertainment industry (music, acting, hollywood or kpop/jrock), modern aristocracy, old money v new money, dark academia, sports, arranged marriages and more.

and a side note here, but i'm mainly interested in writing ocs between the ages of 18 – and 26 as of now (flashbacks to younger ages are fine) and i do NOT enjoy large age gaps so please come at me with oc ideas within this same age range. i also need to leave a note that i have a preference for model fcs or lesser-known actor fcs– the only exception for popular actors would be if they're foreign such as kdrama actors or if you ask for suggestions and i mention it but otherwise, i'm not interested in the common fcs and am fine with using no fcs too. i'm totally with writing smut, cool with darker kinks too or doing fade-to-black based on your preference. but dear god, i need our ocs to be villainous and toxic and just a little problematic.

if this ad appeals to you, then hit the post with a like, and i'll get back to you asap.

.

[3terna15unshin3]

hi!! as ”miss este”, so to speak, do you have any recs of romantic books?? Some that are about young adults who fall in love and all that and that make u feel the same way as fanfics do sorta…. i’m taking up reading again (honestly….. a lot to do with reading your fic - it was amazing) but i’ve not found a lot of romantic books that arent like super cheesy or for way older women or children. i want them in their 20s!!! so yes i noticed your books of ’23 and thought maybe you were the right person to ask??

this is like the best message ever to get😭💖 i love that you’re taking up reading again!!!

i’m so honored to be part of that and that you thought of me but honestly i haven’t been much into romance this year! most of my pile was either nonfiction or literary fiction but not much romance. i agree - most romance nowadays is sooo cheesy which is why i don’t really dabble much. i find that most of the ‘BookTok’ resurgence of reading is very millennial, i’ve tried to get into a few recommendations from there and the writing just is not great🥲🥲

i have loved Emily Henry’s books tho - Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation are ones by her i read back in 2021. they’re not technically in the romance category they’re just shelved in general fiction so they’re not overly cheesy. very reminiscent to fanfiction, plenty of tropes that i love are in them! she has two more books and i’ve heard great stuff about them too, you should check those out! Beach Read is sort of enemies to lovers and PWMOV is friends to lovers :)))) i was kicking my feet and giggling when reading them.

otherwise, for something a bit different - i really love Persuasion by Jane Austen which is a classic and has a ton of pining! it is a bit hard to get into tho just bc Jane Austen can be a bit old timey and wordy but i listened to the audiobook on Spotify as i read back in 2021 as well and that made it way easier.

any other romance-adjacent i’ve read recently have been queer because i’m Gay hahaha. i read one called Body Grammar by Jules Ohman which is a queer coming of age book, there’s a long time best friends to lovers pipeline that runs through the whole thing that was sooo amazing to read. i was obsessed when i first finished it hahah thread of gold which is my second matty fic is sort of based off of it💀 (if you’re not opposed to queer stories I read another called Sirens & Muses which was amazing too. another coming of age artsy pretentious college love ish story drama!)

Normal People by Sally Rooney is also an all time fav of mine - devastatingly sad but definitely a story of two people falling in love. highly recommend!!!!

anyway sorry for rambling and i apologize that i don’t have many good romance recs but i hope these will suffice x

[alphinias]

No but I feel you on the disappointing romance books…. There’s just nothing good left to read, booktok keeps claiming all these new books are steamy and full of tension but they are all soooo lacking nowadays and generic! There’s no well developed chemistry and they almost always get together way too early and the storylines are just so mediocre! There’s no substance, nothing memorable that really makes you feel every emotion to your bones and keeps you up all night reading! Just like how most tv shows are now…. I miss how it used to be 😔

Little late answering this (what else is new) but RIGHT?

I know not every book ship is gonna have my new kanej or my new feysand. But I would love to at least feel invested instead of just vaguely disappointed by so many ships nowadays. A bunch of tropes in a blender doesn’t make a good ship! Your characters still have to have chemistry and depth and I have to find it believable that they even like each other. A lot of authors try to lean into enemies to lovers but make it Insta-lusty and just all around weird. It’s like they’re afraid we’ll get bored.

Booktok is such a slippery slope because sometimes they are exactly right but 75% of the time I’m just like “what the hell” 😭 still enjoy watching them though. They’re also OBSESSED with spice (which is totally fine and a personal taste thing). Which, I also quite like smut in my books, but I like the emotional build up and belief in the ship more, so just smut without that doesn’t do a lot for me usually. I want the angst and pining!!!

I also tend to overhype books to myself (which is a me problem) when I hear the hype from so many directions and then that’s partially what leaves me disappointed a lot. Overhype is definitely what got me with the bridge kingdom because it was fine, just definitely not a new fav for me like I was hoping.