forum Things You Want LESS Of In Books

Started January 21, 2019 by @evastardust groupRRAAAARRL

tune

I think so but I don't remember anymore. But it was definitely more than one book

I'd love it if we could have less characters who are canonically beautiful and are consistently called beautiful by a bunch of other characters but who still constantly whine about their appearance
I recently read a book where almost every time a character mentioned her appearance she'd go "oof I'm such a freak, I look so weird and strange and I hate it and why can't I just be normal" and literally 90% of the world only mentioned her appearance to compliment it.

like I get it. Anyone can be insecure, insecurity is a fine character trait to have, please give me all the insecure characters in the world so I can love them, but can they not beat me over the head with it all the time
because it usually feels like the author screaming at me "yes, she is beautiful but she is also humble she is not vain she does not care because people who care how they look are bad and she is not; her beauty is effortless and I need to make sure everyone knows this at all times" and it's exhausting

Ill defined cultures! (Do you even know what that says? Lol) A secret elf city should not have a culture that is inwardly indistinctable from the outside mortal world.

I’m in this picture and I don’t like it

Sorry Ig.

I’m just kidding lol. Although it does apply to me and I feel slightly called out. I love seeing fleshed out cultures, but they’re so hard to create. It’s not that I don’t try at all, it’s just sometimes I have world building planned out and it doesn’t make it into the real story.

I would look up The Cultural Iceberg if I were you. I have it as my wallpaper.

Oh, that’s interesting. I haven’t seen that before, but it looks like a helpful model.

I feel like this is a little similar, and it's not something I see often but it drives me absolutely up the wall when I do see it, but when you have a "fantasy language" that's actually a pre-existing language with a few spelling changes. Like, yeah, I understand that making up a language is a lot of work and can be pretty daunting, but it comes across as really lazy writing to me when characters greet each other with the word "bonzour" or whatever like… that's Bootleg French and you're not fooling anyone.

Like, if you're going to make up a language then really commit to it, and actually make up a language instead of just half-assing it.

Tolkien has entered the chat

Dom wonders if he's half-assing it

Bootleg French
I love that

The stupid good girl falls in love with the bad boy.
Can we have a good boy falls in love with bad girl.
Or at least some good romance plot.

Also just the entirety of Pretty Little Liars

Also just the entirety of Pretty Little Liars

yes
Yes
YES

Tried to read one book, just looked up a wikipedia article

I made it through a few, but then I couldn't find audiobooks and I refuse to sit down and waste my time and precious eyeballs doing nothing but reading that trash

I just refuse to read the books because there’s so much unneeded shit

The stupid good girl falls in love with the bad boy.
Can we have a good boy falls in love with bad girl.
Or at least some good romance plot.

Low stakes romance if you get my meaning. Like, not a rushed passionate affair. Not just a slow burn. A relationship that slowly blossoms based on mutual genuine friendship.

The stupid good girl falls in love with the bad boy.
Can we have a good boy falls in love with bad girl.
Or at least some good romance plot.

Low stakes romance if you get my meaning. Like, not a rushed passionate affair. Not just a slow burn. A relationship that slowly blossoms based on mutual genuine friendship.

That too

I just refuse to read the books because there’s so much unneeded shit

ALL of it's unneeded shit

Pickles roasting the fuck out of Pretty Little Liars makes me irrationally happy

awww. she made it so easy, though

I really hate when we have a romance, and it builds slowly over the story until the characters are finally together….
Only for some last-minute plot device to undo all of it for ~tension~.
Bonus points if the plot device is a third love interest

All the points if the third love interest had another love interest already

Infinite points if the sequel has cheating being excused and normalized for the sake of "twue wuv"

I love a good betrayal, but a good one. I've seen a lot of real bad ones, and I'm not a huge fan of it being immediately excused as like, an act to get something (although sometimes it's just the way things absolutely have to happen. I guess)

Don't trash Twue wuv though. It is what bwings us togeder todaay.

Mawwaige!