@@woozie164See, this is why I just prefer unapologetically unironic power fantasies because at least they’re more consistent. I don’t care if I can’t relate to the main character because I want to mainly read escapist stories. (If I want to relate to the main character, I wouldn’t be reading a story set in a fantastical setting.)
In the second book, another love interest is introduced, Pumpernickel Bluejay who has light hair and soft brown eyes. Unlike Zarin, he's completely and utterly patient, compassionate, and virtuous but is roughly as willing to take a swan dive off a cliff if Leotrix ends up marrying Zarin.
And although Pumpernickel is seemingly the best person to ever exist (HE IS A KIND FEMINIST AND LOVES BAGELS. CHOOSE HIM), Leotrix ends up marrying Zarin, despite the fact that he's an insensitive, controlling little shit, and Pumpernickel DOES take a swan dive off a cliff because apparently he has no life without Leotrix and is unable to move on.
@HelenaCross No, he didn't. He wasted six years of college education, his loving family, a girl who genuinely loved him but was seen as "the villain," and a bright future ahead of him for some girl and her knockoff Edward Cullen.
@@Bookworm5000or so we’re led to believe. In the third book, we learn that bluejay had been secretly crafting himself Icarus style wings, and his plunge off the cliff was a faking of his own death which allowed him to catch the villain unawares. I should have known better than to expect a bluejay to give up so easily!
Hilarious how She could afford books but not a piece of cloth with all those hunting sessions, at some point she would get a fashionable leather coat or sth😂
@littlejohn8435 that's not really a good example. You can buy a pc and keep it for years, it's not a recurring purchase (at least not a short term one). Meanwhile for clothes and books, the books are the more frequently recurring purchase. Not only that but they would be more expensive than the clothes considering the setting. A better example would be someone who can't afford to change thier worn out shoes, but can somehow afford daily 8$ coffee at Starbucks. Which makes no sense.
But if she had cloth then that would have meant having to sew, which of course Leotrix hates more than anything else, even though she is excellent at it and could, if she so chose, craft herself a luxurious gown from squirrel furs alone.
@@jasonpatterson8091 this seem to fit perfectly into the setting. In fact, she might made a dress out of bird feathers by wood strings, leaves and sheer skill of craftsmanship.
Also her dad is a hardworking man with an average, small-wage job who, after losing his wife in a car accident, does literally anything to provide the best life for his daughters, but Leotrix will treat him like trash and will have a huge arguement with him cause he dared to say maybe it's not a good idea to marry a boy she met like 4 weeks ago
"She had red hair and purple eyes, and was considered plain, but let's be honest. If you saw this girl in real life, she'd be so pretty you'd want to slit your own wrists." And let's not forget the character not even realizing she is attractive even when others openly consider her to be. 0:56, Also, the sudden accent change caught me off guard.
@@marcosgonzalez4207, Fair point, and in the context of these settings, usually there are more important things to worry about than who's considered attractive.
@@marcosgonzalez4207yea, they're not pretty, but has 2 to 5 different ultra hot male characters that range from prince's to bounty hunters to werewolves completely obsessed and madly in love with her in particular despite her being both not pretty and totally average, just like irl 😂
@@marcosgonzalez4207 yes wow anime, something from a completely different culture on the other side of the world that literally has no equivalent on the west because while women having a bunch of hit guys obsessed with her is girlboss and good in our society, a guy doing the same, while considered as some obvious fantasy for men, you will literally will be stomped out and thrown out of any medium to large publishing house if you try to publish a story about that, because it is seen by the feminist "left" that dominates the industry as completely intolerable. Have a nice one.
To me, it depends on what she means by red hair. Does she mean ginger or actual tomato red hair? Cause if it’s the former, then violet eyes can fit in my opinion, but with the latter? Not so much.
Every single time I read the back of a romance book at a bookshop it goes something like: "Alani Morninghope is a girl like just any other in a small town with no hopes and dreams, trying to make ends meet with her mother's rock-collecting company. An obsessed ex, a mortgage and a dog with pneumonia overtaking her life. What will happen when Dorian Lovegood, a billionaire from Austria comes to stir the pot?" - As soon as the main character's name tries to be unique or the mention of a billionaire, a CEO or someone mysterious is on the back, I'm dipping the f out 😂 Like men's writing is another thing but jesus christ women writers, step up your game as well.
I already hate it when the 'adventures' of the female main needs a love interest. Can't they at least bring this up in the second book? Why can't we just get introduced to the girl at first?
I have read so much of this that I have literally dropped reading YA fantasy as a whole because I was so sick of it 😭. Adult sci-fi has saved me from the endless copy-pasting of a lame trope. I might have enjoyed it the first time, but the 3rd? The 5th? If I ever publish a novel I need to avoid this
Have you ever tried reading Powerless by Lauren Roberts? It's a trilogy series with the final installation coming out next year. It's an enemies to lovers YA fantasy novel and the book have an incredible plot. I think you might enjoy it
@@CAmbrose-072 I actually just borrowed that book from the library yesterday after having read a lot of good reviews! I’m hoping I’ll like it. It’ll be my first delve back into YA haha. Your review gives me hope!
If you ever want to read a low fantasy adult novel that was written by a Nobel prize winner, I would recommend, Waiting for the Barbarians by J M Coetzee.
Not the girl who has a father and sister that are criminals, and a mother who went to jail as well 😭🤚 (her backstory is irriading y/n energy, i can't 😭)
@@MacabreIngenue2 ... greek mythology lol, unless i am missing some crucial connection that would make this related to a specific book series i don't know of
I find this inaccurate, largely because there was no “comically unreasonable, overbearing and one-note patriarchal character obviously only inserted due to author’s insecurities surrounding masculinity” mentioned.
Why would she have "insecurities about masculinity?" Do you seriously think most women are jealous of the men in their lives or something? Some tropes are cliches for a reason. living under a patriarchal society, I'm sure most actually CAN point to a overbearing male "leader" in their lives.
It's really so frustrating to see characters ONLY like this, like teenagers-- they have so many different personalities BUT all the YA fmcs must have this one persona in particular, like i need the HORMONES, the DEPRESSION (maybe) , the mental impact of growing up/ reaching adulthood in a fantasy setting that imposes danger, the struggle to deal with situations from a still not fully developed brain's POV... so much potential But nuh uh, you're getting one persona and millions of its variants.
A bunch of editors will tell you that's the only way you should do it, because they know what sells. Oh, and btw, your book also needs to reflect the political sensibilities of the publisher that represents a viewpoint only shared by 10% of the population. Trust me, this is the way.
I feel like the books pre 2010 did that a lot better. Nearly everything after 2015 is just recycling popular tropes and Fourth Wing won the gold medal for it 😂
Making a traumatic backstory or mental illness is an “easy” way to create complexity to your character, just like all the manga/anime protags with dead parents. Ofc if everyone is doing the trope then it gets tiresome. Perhaps we’re at a point where “I grew up happy in a normal family” may actually feel novel now. Tho I also suspect that a lot of ppl who are troubled turn to writing as an outlet, hence all the depression. Tangential quote by I forgot who said it: “Art comforts the disturbed, and disturbs the comforted”
The worst part is how "Quiet and shy" are already PERFECTLY fitting atributes for a hunter. Being "outgoing" and "bold" is probably something you'll actually wanna keep in check when going into the wilderness. Don't want to put yourself in needless risk nor call attention to yourself. Meanwhile, if you can already have a tendency to keep to yourself and avoid little attention... You're probably gonna do way better in stalking/ambushing prey.
@@donotdoit8428 Them being the most renowned doesn't mean they're the best. I can't remember who said it, but there was a quote attributed to some famous musician that said, "The greatest guitarist in the world isn't playing on stage in front of a sold out crowd. He's sitting in his mom's basement practicing guitar."
@@Gigantotherium I was going to reply to the other guy, but honestly? I don't think they can connect the dots between being "non-shy" and loud to being more prolific than the dude who stays off radar
I ship her with Bob the Baker who briefly appeared in book 4, him knowing she liked rye bread more than mouldy bread had more chemistry and consideration than Zarin ever could or would.
I would say something about Sarah J Maas, but my words would be wasted. The rest of the comments section is already well aware of the dumpster fire that is ACOTAR-
Hahaha yeah this is literally Feyre. I am also convinced that Feyre is a very deep Mary Sue situation. Didn't stop me from rabidly reading the entire series last week. My friend describes it as "brain candy"
@@strangecobra9454and that is why these tropes are still being written - even if ppl dislike it there are some that will still read it, they may even be the same people 😅
Also, Zarin is later revealed to be the son of a wealthy noble, but he makes no effort to help Leotrix’s family out of poverty or improve the lives of the poor. Quite the contrary, when Leotrix marries Zarin and comes to court with him, her humble roots are largely forgotten except for when her survival skills prove useful on her future adventures. Her family and sisters are quietly forgotten about only to be brought two books later when Leotrix and Zarin are on the run from the dark lord and need a safe place to hide out.
They do. I know people like to shit on these books. But honestly these are tropes more then anything. Take any common action and reuse it a million times its going to get boring. Anyway if you want to see women written accuracy just switch to any other gener besides the mainstream ones
You forgot my favorite trope: this girl is genuinely 100 percent plain but when this gets a film adaptation she’ll be drop dead gorgeous with….i dont know, glasses? Slightly less makeup? And then we’ll discover she’s beautiful all along so we can stop pretending.
Hey! I mean, it's true, but we had other equally cringe ways of making characters we think are cool! I mean, OG Conan was described as having "hair that more resembled a mane", was simultaneously a brooding type with no friends and the life of the party, and somehow managed to seduce damn near every woman he came in contact with despite having little to no social skills! Also did I mention that he walked around with his chest naked? When it was snowing? Or that he "could climb his cradle's walls before he could crawl"? He seems to like mentioning the latter a lot.
For some reason i imagined the sisters were all naked except when its their turn to wear the dress. Except the MC who, ONLY wear leather pants and knee high boots which mean no top.
Idea: woman writing YA male lead. Blue eyes, a prince or a captain even though they're 18, unhealthily obsessed with the female lead to a stalkerish degree. No other personality traits.
You either get a YA fantasy novel or a personal fanfiction of a novel not ever published where the pick-me girl author was never picked. Orbs for eyes, paper-cutting male jaws, and really bad sex scenes where the dude gets pretty abusive but they are suppose to be a romantic couple everyone is jealous of. Oh, and he’s always some rich snob for some reason.
Because girls like to be dominated, within safe levels. I’ve literally never dated a girl in my 15 years of adulthood who was dominant in bed, even woman who were unmoving mountains in pulbic or professional life wanted a hand around their throat in bed. That’s just how it be.
@@Dap1ssmonk This is more of a socialization issue. Women and men are more often subjected to this dynamic than the reverse. Even in young adult books, like those by Sarah J. Maas, we see themes that come uncomfortably close to ąbuśę or even straight-up sęxuaI assąuIt, depending on how you interpret them. Her audience is mostly very young, with many girls starting their journey into fantasy or fantasy romance through her books. I believe this can be harmful, as they may struggle to differentiate between fiction and reality, and may not always understand what constitutes a healthy versus unhealthy relationship. Ch0kíng, for example, is not safe, no matter how short or gentle the act may be. It's a significant risk and may cause permanent brain damage. There's a difference between consensual dominance in a relationship and acts like ch0king or sIapping, which often originate from p0rn0graphy and, in my opinion, are incredibly misguided. These acts contribute to the objęctificątion, humiIiation, and mistreatment of women, and it's proven by various studies, and the fact that some men find pleasure in this, is incredibly disturbing, to say the least.. I wish authors would label such content as adult fiction rather than young adult. Young readers may not be equipped to handle these themes, and it's important to be responsible with the messages we're sending through literature..
0:47 reminds me of Red Queen, Mare constantly reminding the reader how short and petite and tiny is compared to the rest of the characters who are all apparently tall giraffes 😂
I take not feeling called out by these kinds of videos so often as a sign my characterization skills are improving. Regarding hair and eye color; a good beginner's rule to follow is that your main character can have ONE of those be an unusual color. Two if one of them ties in narratively, ie., Targaryen white hair + violet eyes, or Harry Potter having his dad's hair and mom's eyes. Otherwise it's just spoiling yourself, and in the course of trying to make your character more unique, you've more often accomplished making them '*™Unique*' like every other 'original OC do not steal'.
Xaden Riarson (or however that name is spelled) really sounded like such a trope made up name I had to laugh 😂 Well Fourth wing would have won a gold medal for smushing all tropes into one book if it was a competition
Once you notice how eager costume designers are to give medieval-esque characters leather pants and modern-looking jackets for some reason, you'll never unsee it.
I just read the Harry Potter series and its laughable the way Ginny Weasley is written. She is the smartest, most self aware, most beautiful person in the story and its just hinted at constantly and never really said. All the boys love her, all the girls love her, shes smart and funny and witty and the best quidditch player and the best at spells
It's pretty weird how frequently, if not mostly women seem to openly fantasize about the things they insist men should never assume they actually want. Maybe this is akin to intrusive thoughts, I don't know.
I am thinking the same thing about fanfiction. You'd be surprised the number of women whose only fantasy seems to be dominated and degraded by a big strong man all the while acting as though this is empowering. Don't get me wrong everyone is entitled to their own taste, but I can't help but wonder if there isn't at least a bit of internalised misogyny involved.
@@lise7538 Maybe this is a given, because obviously I was mostly responding to the last line of the video, but even the fan fictions that aren't kinky at all have shades of this, from what I've heard they get very trad-wifey.
And let's not forget about they hating each other at first, then the male controlling female and doing morally dubious things that are creepy in real life, but the book treats it as if it's not bad at all, and the overall toxic relationship
As a man, accurate. They are typically written as the dream self of the writer, like the person they desperately wish they were, cool, pretty, smart, powerful, independent, other adjectives that fit.
the contradicting personality traits is so real. the number of times i've read about an introverted female character with social anxiety, who had at least seven friends and two guys lusting for her, is unreal. she's apparently super awkward and scared to talk to people, but also has no problem boldly bantering with the male lead as soon as they met for the first time.
@@gabrielpazos8404there are a number of ppl that consider YA to be infantile (tho not that term specifically, the attitude is synonymous). Regardless, Harry Potter the series is considered YA
I showed this to my wife and she began speaking in tounges very passionately. "THIS WAS AKATAR AND THE INTERNET HAS NEVER BEEN THE SAME EVER SINCE" idk what's going on 😂😂😂 she also said something about Feyre?
I mean... Kinda. You can have a few extra tools to help you out, but the crossbow is still pretty inefficient when it comes to launching shit compared to a bow. It's a big reason why bows with much lower draw weights can still be on par with crossbows of much higher poundage when it comes to the damage they inflict. If you're going to just be drawing the string by hand on that crossbow, you'll have to go for a lot more strength to match what the bow is gonna be doing.
@@rafaelcastor2089 Where did you get your information from? Crossbows require less training to handle and generally provide better armor penetration. Hence why they were adopted to quickly.
@@blam320 First hand, by shooting both. You require less training to reliably hit a target, but that's about it if you're not leveraging tools to much higher weights than a bow would allow you to; And then quarrel doesn't fly so well due Mechanics, it's not as efficient with the energy as drawing and releasing the bow is going to be. And crossbows didn't actually provide "better armor penetration", the tools to load higher poundage just made it easier to punch above your weight if you have half a minute or so before every shot and even then you're not really punching through properly made armor if it's not a particularly powerful crossbow. Crossbows were adapted mainly because it's easy to train people to shoot one and that's about it. Bows remained kings up until firearms became widespread, as those were about as easy to use as crossbows, didn't require strength at all and actually had an easier time piercing armor... kinda; It was a funny little practice at the time that once a plate cuirass was finished, the smith would demonstrate the quality by shooting it with a pistol. Carbines didn't do too well either, you had to be pretty close to actually get the bullet to punch through. It's really only the muskets that will have an easy time punching through plates.
I would love to read a book exactly like this x). Just making fun of itself the whole way and then finally developing the character, and the narrator being like oh she actually made a healthy decision for once, wow. And then it would be quickly thwarted. And then it would become even more meta because I’m pretty sure that idea has been somewhat done before and the narrator would meet another author who would make fun of her and the book would go off the rails as the narrator’s personal vendetta and conflicts seeped more and more into the story. Someone write it for me 😭.
New idea. The stranger in the woods is a fey that hypnotized her slowly convincing her that it was HER idea to go live in the woods with him. Second book is about one of the useless sisters going to rescue the oldest one from her curse because... The oldest one was the only one who knew how to hunt and the only one brave enough to defend the younger sisters from old men wanting to marry them. That's a series I'd love to read.
These tropes are the reason I had a "pick-me" or "not-like-other-girls" phase. And the thing is, it's not just in YA novels. These characters exist in manga too, particularly in the shoujo genre.
In both my stories the male protagonist is younger as well as shorter, first story stays as a short king whole way through however the second grows super tall much to the annoyance of one of the female leads who had stunted growth while the others reaction is just "ooh vantage point" *stands on shoulders to scout*
This is literally the same as one book i read that i remember the name. All i kniw is some shape shifting wolf took her from her family that used to be rich and is now poor. Also ths faeires are evil and stuff
How is this girl affording books, leather clothes and swords but can’t buy her sisters new clothes? 😅 Ok maybe she made the leather clothes herself from her hunting but what about everything else?
In Zarin's defense, he was secretly a fey prince, so its likely he used some magic or pheremones or something to hypnotize and control her, which is apparently sext now.
Do not lie me, is that blonde ninja that used the power of and ancient spirit to defeat another child that trained since he learned to walk, for him, the hell conditioning of the Hyuga's clan was not enough, so he trained in secret to get more stronger
Very funny and accurate. But where are the Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Orcs, Cat Folk, Kitsune, Dragonians, Merfolk, Rabbit Folk, Kobold, Lizard Folk, Goblins, Trolls, Minotaur and Satyr?
As a Robin McKinley reader I don’t recognize this sort of character. Highly recommend her books for a vast variety of characters and skills, awkwardness and body types that don’t change, but they come to terms with, age gaps, and so forth. Of course, she loathes her books being put in YA. Hanna Sandvig’s good too. K.M. Shea. Anne McCaffrey. Diana Wynne Jones.
Quiet and shy and bold and outgoing 😂
Fits more actors and frontmen than you might think.
Authors when they use their reclusive main characters as a tool to vent their ideals onto minor characters.
First part to relate to the book reader, second part because it’s a power fantasy
@@woozie164See, this is why I just prefer unapologetically unironic power fantasies because at least they’re more consistent. I don’t care if I can’t relate to the main character because I want to mainly read escapist stories. (If I want to relate to the main character, I wouldn’t be reading a story set in a fantastical setting.)
The OC itself is a walking contradiction
In the second book, another love interest is introduced, Pumpernickel Bluejay who has light hair and soft brown eyes. Unlike Zarin, he's completely and utterly patient, compassionate, and virtuous but is roughly as willing to take a swan dive off a cliff if Leotrix ends up marrying Zarin.
Oh no, how will she decide?
And although Pumpernickel is seemingly the best person to ever exist (HE IS A KIND FEMINIST AND LOVES BAGELS. CHOOSE HIM), Leotrix ends up marrying Zarin, despite the fact that he's an insensitive, controlling little shit, and Pumpernickel DOES take a swan dive off a cliff because apparently he has no life without Leotrix and is unable to move on.
@HelenaCross No, he didn't. He wasted six years of college education, his loving family, a girl who genuinely loved him but was seen as "the villain," and a bright future ahead of him for some girl and her knockoff Edward Cullen.
@@Bookworm5000or so we’re led to believe.
In the third book, we learn that bluejay had been secretly crafting himself Icarus style wings, and his plunge off the cliff was a faking of his own death which allowed him to catch the villain unawares.
I should have known better than to expect a bluejay to give up so easily!
@@SigFigNewton I love how people are building an entire novel off of my dumbass comment LMFAO
Hilarious how She could afford books but not a piece of cloth with all those hunting sessions, at some point she would get a fashionable leather coat or sth😂
Same reason gamers eat cup noodles while owning high end gaming pc. Just different priorities from conventional.
@littlejohn8435 that's not really a good example. You can buy a pc and keep it for years, it's not a recurring purchase (at least not a short term one).
Meanwhile for clothes and books, the books are the more frequently recurring purchase. Not only that but they would be more expensive than the clothes considering the setting.
A better example would be someone who can't afford to change thier worn out shoes, but can somehow afford daily 8$ coffee at Starbucks. Which makes no sense.
This is a fantasy world, books would be really expensive
But if she had cloth then that would have meant having to sew, which of course Leotrix hates more than anything else, even though she is excellent at it and could, if she so chose, craft herself a luxurious gown from squirrel furs alone.
@@jasonpatterson8091 this seem to fit perfectly into the setting.
In fact, she might made a dress out of bird feathers by wood strings, leaves and sheer skill of craftsmanship.
Also her dad is a hardworking man with an average, small-wage job who, after losing his wife in a car accident, does literally anything to provide the best life for his daughters, but Leotrix will treat him like trash and will have a huge arguement with him cause he dared to say maybe it's not a good idea to marry a boy she met like 4 weeks ago
Met four weeks ago, at age 16* but she's so beautiful that intelligence doesn't matter because love 😘
She's also the daughter that resembles her late mother the most and she's her father's favourite
Charlie swan??
"in a car accident"
*in a cart accident
It's fantasy after all.
or the dad is also useless
Why is it always "quiet and shy" but never "reserved and introspective"?? 😂
The authors of these things don't find introspection very relatable.
Or taciturn 😔
The ridiculous sounding first names with a normal last name is spot on
how is "cotswaddle" a normal sounding name?
Opposite of Luke Skywalker
Cotswaddle?
@@slkjvlkfsvnlsdfhgdght5447 I have a teacher named Cummings and another named Sexton. There are weirder even in the english language.
this is how real given names work in Venezuela, I kid you not
Men writing women🫱🏻🫲🏽Women writing women
I love how both suck but on entirely different ways. Honestly, it seems like only nonbinary people should be allowed to write women.
@@hungariangiraffe6361 bahahah frrr
@@hungariangiraffe6361 Because the women write them as self insert characters and men write them as their fantasy girlfriends. Lol
Wtf
Faiirr haha@@qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm3093
I like how she’s not even touching the keyboard
I only realised it after reading this comment and now i cant stop looking at it
I mean this kind of story writes itself
The genre is fantasy. Magic is to be expected.
I was wondering how her fingers were moving without much resistance.😆
@@damiang1442Well spoken.
"She had red hair and purple eyes, and was considered plain, but let's be honest. If you saw this girl in real life, she'd be so pretty you'd want to slit your own wrists."
And let's not forget the character not even realizing she is attractive even when others openly consider her to be.
0:56, Also, the sudden accent change caught me off guard.
No, usually they are not pretty, but the hollywood adaptation bring the hottest model for the role
@@marcosgonzalez4207, Fair point, and in the context of these settings, usually there are more important things to worry about than who's considered attractive.
@@marcosgonzalez4207yea, they're not pretty, but has 2 to 5 different ultra hot male characters that range from prince's to bounty hunters to werewolves completely obsessed and madly in love with her in particular despite her being both not pretty and totally average, just like irl 😂
@@ceejay1476 in anime, five girls fall in love for a completely random guy
@@marcosgonzalez4207 yes wow anime, something from a completely different culture on the other side of the world that literally has no equivalent on the west because while women having a bunch of hit guys obsessed with her is girlboss and good in our society, a guy doing the same, while considered as some obvious fantasy for men, you will literally will be stomped out and thrown out of any medium to large publishing house if you try to publish a story about that, because it is seen by the feminist "left" that dominates the industry as completely intolerable. Have a nice one.
"... and promptly threw all her feminist ideas out the window for." 😂😂
Paedyn gray core as much as I love her
The red hair and purple eyes clash so hard in my mind.
same,,,
To me, it depends on what she means by red hair. Does she mean ginger or actual tomato red hair? Cause if it’s the former, then violet eyes can fit in my opinion, but with the latter? Not so much.
works for anime characters
IDK, I think it could look fine if it was animated. Live action, probably not.
KNUCKLES THE ENCHIDNA
Every single time I read the back of a romance book at a bookshop it goes something like: "Alani Morninghope is a girl like just any other in a small town with no hopes and dreams, trying to make ends meet with her mother's rock-collecting company. An obsessed ex, a mortgage and a dog with pneumonia overtaking her life. What will happen when Dorian Lovegood, a billionaire from Austria comes to stir the pot?" - As soon as the main character's name tries to be unique or the mention of a billionaire, a CEO or someone mysterious is on the back, I'm dipping the f out 😂 Like men's writing is another thing but jesus christ women writers, step up your game as well.
😂😂😂😂the pneumonia dog ended me
I already hate it when the 'adventures' of the female main needs a love interest. Can't they at least bring this up in the second book? Why can't we just get introduced to the girl at first?
I have read so much of this that I have literally dropped reading YA fantasy as a whole because I was so sick of it 😭. Adult sci-fi has saved me from the endless copy-pasting of a lame trope. I might have enjoyed it the first time, but the 3rd? The 5th? If I ever publish a novel I need to avoid this
Have you ever tried reading Powerless by Lauren Roberts? It's a trilogy series with the final installation coming out next year. It's an enemies to lovers YA fantasy novel and the book have an incredible plot. I think you might enjoy it
@@CAmbrose-072 I actually just borrowed that book from the library yesterday after having read a lot of good reviews! I’m hoping I’ll like it. It’ll be my first delve back into YA haha. Your review gives me hope!
@@valentinaembers5713 I hope you enjoy it and could you come back and reply to this comment, telling me if you did. I'd love to hear your opinion
If you ever want to read a low fantasy adult novel that was written by a Nobel prize winner, I would recommend, Waiting for the Barbarians by J M Coetzee.
@@misterx1342 Thanks! I’ll check it out.
This is Artemis, you have memed Artemis 😂
Edit: I meant the goddess, holy shit y'all.
Not the girl who has a father and sister that are criminals, and a mother who went to jail as well 😭🤚 (her backstory is irriading y/n energy, i can't 😭)
What series ?
And ACOTAR. Ever since Katniss they all hunt. But she also must be Belle and read books and see inner beauty.
@@MacabreIngenue2 ... greek mythology lol, unless i am missing some crucial connection that would make this related to a specific book series i don't know of
@@aliceplays5092 not everyone knows greek mythology and all of its figures.
I find this inaccurate, largely because there was no “comically unreasonable, overbearing and one-note patriarchal character obviously only inserted due to author’s insecurities surrounding masculinity” mentioned.
I think the uploader is criticising it from a feminist perspective,so she doesn't object to that part.
The ones ive seen aren't even that over the top, theyre just saying the quiet part out loud.
It's men who have insecurities surrounding masculinity, friend.
Well said, lol
Why would she have "insecurities about masculinity?" Do you seriously think most women are jealous of the men in their lives or something? Some tropes are cliches for a reason. living under a patriarchal society, I'm sure most actually CAN point to a overbearing male "leader" in their lives.
I swear they're always teenagers 1 to 2 years younger than the male lead, have the i need no man mentality and with a bunch of sisters.
Well, they do have to appeal to the fantasy.
It's really so frustrating to see characters ONLY like this, like teenagers-- they have so many different personalities BUT all the YA fmcs must have this one persona in particular, like i need the HORMONES, the DEPRESSION (maybe) , the mental impact of growing up/ reaching adulthood in a fantasy setting that imposes danger, the struggle to deal with situations from a still not fully developed brain's POV... so much potential
But nuh uh, you're getting one persona and millions of its variants.
Uh… no what you need is PLOT.
You can read some contemporary books if you want all that anguish
A bunch of editors will tell you that's the only way you should do it, because they know what sells. Oh, and btw, your book also needs to reflect the political sensibilities of the publisher that represents a viewpoint only shared by 10% of the population. Trust me, this is the way.
I feel like the books pre 2010 did that a lot better. Nearly everything after 2015 is just recycling popular tropes and Fourth Wing won the gold medal for it 😂
Making a traumatic backstory or mental illness is an “easy” way to create complexity to your character, just like all the manga/anime protags with dead parents. Ofc if everyone is doing the trope then it gets tiresome. Perhaps we’re at a point where “I grew up happy in a normal family” may actually feel novel now. Tho I also suspect that a lot of ppl who are troubled turn to writing as an outlet, hence all the depression. Tangential quote by I forgot who said it: “Art comforts the disturbed, and disturbs the comforted”
@@MrEvldreamr Plot schmot, just put a chick in it and make her lame and gay!
I always see the ones about men writing about women. I'm so glad to see one about women writing about women to 😂
I needed this.
The worst part is how "Quiet and shy" are already PERFECTLY fitting atributes for a hunter.
Being "outgoing" and "bold" is probably something you'll actually wanna keep in check when going into the wilderness. Don't want to put yourself in needless risk nor call attention to yourself.
Meanwhile, if you can already have a tendency to keep to yourself and avoid little attention... You're probably gonna do way better in stalking/ambushing prey.
She's 5'0 90lbs, proficient with a longsword and crossbow- that actually makes too much sense.
Yet most renowned hunters are the most influential and non-shy ones. Its like reserving work mindset only for work.
@@donotdoit8428 Them being the most renowned doesn't mean they're the best. I can't remember who said it, but there was a quote attributed to some famous musician that said, "The greatest guitarist in the world isn't playing on stage in front of a sold out crowd. He's sitting in his mom's basement practicing guitar."
At least Katness had to adapt just to survive the politics which made her boldness came naturally later on
@@Gigantotherium I was going to reply to the other guy, but honestly? I don't think they can connect the dots between being "non-shy" and loud to being more prolific than the dude who stays off radar
I ship her with Bob the Baker who briefly appeared in book 4, him knowing she liked rye bread more than mouldy bread had more chemistry and consideration than Zarin ever could or would.
Say you're reading Sarah j Maas without saying it
Real 💀 Nesta and Elain were basically useless and Feyre was the only one who actually got her hands dirty 💀💀
I KNEW I RECOGNIZED THE BOOK, BUT DIDN'T KNOW THE NAME
@@strawberrysal910 ikr 💀 literally feyra is the pickme-est of all bruh
@@princessm6832 it's court of thorns and roses I think
Minus the "protagonist was only 1 year younger then the love interest" 😅 lets just add the 500+ year age gap for Rhysand
I would say something about Sarah J Maas, but my words would be wasted. The rest of the comments section is already well aware of the dumpster fire that is ACOTAR-
As a fan of ACOTAR I understand but am saddened by it 🥲
@@rosylagoon3600 Welp if you enjoy it, great! (At least its doing _some_ good in the world)
FINALLY MORE ACOTAR HATERS
Hahaha yeah this is literally Feyre. I am also convinced that Feyre is a very deep Mary Sue situation. Didn't stop me from rabidly reading the entire series last week. My friend describes it as "brain candy"
@@strangecobra9454and that is why these tropes are still being written - even if ppl dislike it there are some that will still read it, they may even be the same people 😅
9/10 not enough dark academy
Who wrote it?
Also, Zarin is later revealed to be the son of a wealthy noble, but he makes no effort to help Leotrix’s family out of poverty or improve the lives of the poor.
Quite the contrary, when Leotrix marries Zarin and comes to court with him, her humble roots are largely forgotten except for when her survival skills prove useful on her future adventures.
Her family and sisters are quietly forgotten about only to be brought two books later when Leotrix and Zarin are on the run from the dark lord and need a safe place to hide out.
*cough cough* FEYRE *cough cough*
i was looking for this 😂
Real 💀 the two older sisters were the definition of useless 💀
I knew i recognized her
@@strawberrysal910 and feyre was perfectly a nothing-personality
YES!! 😲
All I learned is that nobody knows how to write women
The veil is lifted, hack writing discriminates not. Rejoice, a victory for equality is won this day!
They do. I know people like to shit on these books. But honestly these are tropes more then anything. Take any common action and reuse it a million times its going to get boring.
Anyway if you want to see women written accuracy just switch to any other gener besides the mainstream ones
I believe even women doesn't understand women.
@@shaktimishra9710 no crap, there are 4 billions of them. How I'm supposed to know all of them?
@@bune1035 well you are right
You forgot my favorite trope: this girl is genuinely 100 percent plain but when this gets a film adaptation she’ll be drop dead gorgeous with….i dont know, glasses? Slightly less makeup? And then we’ll discover she’s beautiful all along so we can stop pretending.
Glasses and one single pimple
If purple-eyed redheads are considered "plain," then I'd be really interested in seeing the other women in this universe 😮
Shimmering rainbow hair that glows. And Golden feline eyes.
Skin literally sparkle under sunlight.
Wind blowing hair anywhere she goes even indoors.
Time literally slows down for anyone in her aura zone.
Plot twist: Purple eyes and red hair is super common, but brown eyes and black hair are rare and beautiful....
And that's about where I stopped reading A Court of Thorns and Roses; I appreciate the recap.
Men writing men in fantasy be like: He is a mountain of muscles
Hey! I mean, it's true, but we had other equally cringe ways of making characters we think are cool!
I mean, OG Conan was described as having "hair that more resembled a mane", was simultaneously a brooding type with no friends and the life of the party, and somehow managed to seduce damn near every woman he came in contact with despite having little to no social skills! Also did I mention that he walked around with his chest naked? When it was snowing? Or that he "could climb his cradle's walls before he could crawl"? He seems to like mentioning the latter a lot.
@@marcospatricio8283how come you didn't mention that Conan was literally BORN ON A BATTLEFIELD is beyond me 😤
He was a mountain of muscles, but the dwarves delved too greedily and too deep.
Nah bro, men writing men in fantasy is now like: He is depressed
like bilbo, the original fantasy gigachad
She will proceed to haunt my own self-image and ideals unconsciously for the next ten years.
This screams Sarah J Maas and perfectly articulates why I found ACOTAR so frustrating!
For some reason i imagined the sisters were all naked except when its their turn to wear the dress. Except the MC who, ONLY wear leather pants and knee high boots which mean no top.
i do believe that's what the op meant
Idea: woman writing YA male lead.
Blue eyes, a prince or a captain even though they're 18, unhealthily obsessed with the female lead to a stalkerish degree. No other personality traits.
You either get a YA fantasy novel or a personal fanfiction of a novel not ever published where the pick-me girl author was never picked.
Orbs for eyes, paper-cutting male jaws, and really bad sex scenes where the dude gets pretty abusive but they are suppose to be a romantic couple everyone is jealous of.
Oh, and he’s always some rich snob for some reason.
Because girls like to be dominated, within safe levels. I’ve literally never dated a girl in my 15 years of adulthood who was dominant in bed, even woman who were unmoving mountains in pulbic or professional life wanted a hand around their throat in bed. That’s just how it be.
@@Dap1ssmonk This is more of a socialization issue. Women and men are more often subjected to this dynamic than the reverse. Even in young adult books, like those by Sarah J. Maas, we see themes that come uncomfortably close to ąbuśę or even straight-up sęxuaI assąuIt, depending on how you interpret them. Her audience is mostly very young, with many girls starting their journey into fantasy or fantasy romance through her books. I believe this can be harmful, as they may struggle to differentiate between fiction and reality, and may not always understand what constitutes a healthy versus unhealthy relationship.
Ch0kíng, for example, is not safe, no matter how short or gentle the act may be. It's a significant risk and may cause permanent brain damage. There's a difference between consensual dominance in a relationship and acts like ch0king or sIapping, which often originate from p0rn0graphy and, in my opinion, are incredibly misguided. These acts contribute to the objęctificątion, humiIiation, and mistreatment of women, and it's proven by various studies, and the fact that some men find pleasure in this, is incredibly disturbing, to say the least..
I wish authors would label such content as adult fiction rather than young adult. Young readers may not be equipped to handle these themes, and it's important to be responsible with the messages we're sending through literature..
Omg why do the men always have dark hair and green eyes?!?! 😂😂
Because the reader of this WISHES that it’s humanly big cat instead…!
Oh look, it's Twilight wearing another book's clothes for Halloween
0:47 reminds me of Red Queen, Mare constantly reminding the reader how short and petite and tiny is compared to the rest of the characters who are all apparently tall giraffes 😂
I take not feeling called out by these kinds of videos so often as a sign my characterization skills are improving. Regarding hair and eye color; a good beginner's rule to follow is that your main character can have ONE of those be an unusual color. Two if one of them ties in narratively, ie., Targaryen white hair + violet eyes, or Harry Potter having his dad's hair and mom's eyes. Otherwise it's just spoiling yourself, and in the course of trying to make your character more unique, you've more often accomplished making them '*™Unique*' like every other 'original OC do not steal'.
there can be both, i personally have an oc with pink hair and yellow eyes
make sure the colours don't clash though
Xaden Riarson (or however that name is spelled) really sounded like such a trope made up name I had to laugh 😂
Well Fourth wing would have won a gold medal for smushing all tropes into one book if it was a competition
FINALLY someone did it. I can’t tell you how many times I ran into this.
Once you notice how eager costume designers are to give medieval-esque characters leather pants and modern-looking jackets for some reason, you'll never unsee it.
I just read the Harry Potter series and its laughable the way Ginny Weasley is written. She is the smartest, most self aware, most beautiful person in the story and its just hinted at constantly and never really said. All the boys love her, all the girls love her, shes smart and funny and witty and the best quidditch player and the best at spells
She's also written as the "perfect" girlfriend for Harry 🙄
It's pretty weird how frequently, if not mostly women seem to openly fantasize about the things they insist men should never assume they actually want. Maybe this is akin to intrusive thoughts, I don't know.
Many people don't actually want what they fantasize about, because IRL it's not safe therefore not appealing. Like a zombie apocalypse.
@@creature_maria I don't fantasize about zombie apocalypses, I don't know what kind of person would do that either.
I am thinking the same thing about fanfiction. You'd be surprised the number of women whose only fantasy seems to be dominated and degraded by a big strong man all the while acting as though this is empowering. Don't get me wrong everyone is entitled to their own taste, but I can't help but wonder if there isn't at least a bit of internalised misogyny involved.
@@lise7538 Maybe this is a given, because obviously I was mostly responding to the last line of the video, but even the fan fictions that aren't kinky at all have shades of this, from what I've heard they get very trad-wifey.
If i imagine myself fighting a war against a demoniac army, that doesn't mean that i want to be a soldier
The irresistible urge to write a Mary Sue 😅
"Make you want to slit your own wrists" wtf didn't see that one coming 😂😂
Feyre from ACOTAR
LMFAO I just realized where I got my “i love men with green eyes and black hair” mentality from 💀
Someone send this to WithCindy I can’t-😂😂😂
I tried rewording one bit and ended up with: all the beautiful aspects of ordinary was plastered on her face ❤
this is going to be weirdly specific, but you have 'narrator from my lady jane' energy and i love it
And let's not forget about they hating each other at first, then the male controlling female and doing morally dubious things that are creepy in real life, but the book treats it as if it's not bad at all, and the overall toxic relationship
Ok tbf almost every romance storyline has some sort of toxicness or creepiness or both in them. There are some good one out there but vary rare
5’0” and 90 pounds 😂 could still wield a crossbow.
Hilarious. And accurate.
I still love the short FMC 😂😂😂😂
No Feyre Archeron was harmed in this video 😂
All I got from the end is that women are down bad too
This is the Plot of ACOTAR. Word for Word!!!
As a man, accurate. They are typically written as the dream self of the writer, like the person they desperately wish they were, cool, pretty, smart, powerful, independent, other adjectives that fit.
“Self insert” and depending on the character possibly a “Mary Sue”
the contradicting personality traits is so real. the number of times i've read about an introverted female character with social anxiety, who had at least seven friends and two guys lusting for her, is unreal. she's apparently super awkward and scared to talk to people, but also has no problem boldly bantering with the male lead as soon as they met for the first time.
I dont think ive ever read a YA fantasy novel written by a woman but this sounds exactly as I imagined it would be
Have you ever read Harry Potter?
@@uikmnhj4me oh yeah true true you got me there
@@uikmnhj4me although isnt that more of an infantile book? Not really "young adult", no?
@@gabrielpazos8404It’s YA. People die, there’s murders, and multiple people get roofied, plus depression.
@@gabrielpazos8404there are a number of ppl that consider YA to be infantile (tho not that term specifically, the attitude is synonymous). Regardless, Harry Potter the series is considered YA
I showed this to my wife and she began speaking in tounges very passionately. "THIS WAS AKATAR AND THE INTERNET HAS NEVER BEEN THE SAME EVER SINCE" idk what's going on 😂😂😂 she also said something about Feyre?
did she say ACOTAR
cause thats a book series called a court of thornes and roses with a main character named Feyre which is simular tothe tropes in the video
Funnily enough, crossbows require less strength to use than longbows
Yeah...but she also expertly wields a broadsword...so...
@@Youre-Welcome swords are meant to be light
Only some curved swords like the machete or the katana are not made to be like a metal feather
I mean... Kinda.
You can have a few extra tools to help you out, but the crossbow is still pretty inefficient when it comes to launching shit compared to a bow. It's a big reason why bows with much lower draw weights can still be on par with crossbows of much higher poundage when it comes to the damage they inflict.
If you're going to just be drawing the string by hand on that crossbow, you'll have to go for a lot more strength to match what the bow is gonna be doing.
@@rafaelcastor2089 Where did you get your information from? Crossbows require less training to handle and generally provide better armor penetration. Hence why they were adopted to quickly.
@@blam320 First hand, by shooting both.
You require less training to reliably hit a target, but that's about it if you're not leveraging tools to much higher weights than a bow would allow you to; And then quarrel doesn't fly so well due Mechanics, it's not as efficient with the energy as drawing and releasing the bow is going to be.
And crossbows didn't actually provide "better armor penetration", the tools to load higher poundage just made it easier to punch above your weight if you have half a minute or so before every shot and even then you're not really punching through properly made armor if it's not a particularly powerful crossbow.
Crossbows were adapted mainly because it's easy to train people to shoot one and that's about it. Bows remained kings up until firearms became widespread, as those were about as easy to use as crossbows, didn't require strength at all and actually had an easier time piercing armor... kinda; It was a funny little practice at the time that once a plate cuirass was finished, the smith would demonstrate the quality by shooting it with a pistol. Carbines didn't do too well either, you had to be pretty close to actually get the bullet to punch through. It's really only the muskets that will have an easy time punching through plates.
I hate how real this is T.T
I feel so called out rn 😂
Oh thank you! I laughed, and loved this. This is so true and SUCH A BIG problem with ya stories. Can't read them (seriously at least).
It’s okay you can say A Court of Thorns and Roses
wattpad writing:
Somehow they can barely feed the family but have enough money for mc to buys/rent books.
Literally all of them 😂
I would love to read a book exactly like this x). Just making fun of itself the whole way and then finally developing the character, and the narrator being like oh she actually made a healthy decision for once, wow. And then it would be quickly thwarted.
And then it would become even more meta because I’m pretty sure that idea has been somewhat done before and the narrator would meet another author who would make fun of her and the book would go off the rails as the narrator’s personal vendetta and conflicts seeped more and more into the story.
Someone write it for me 😭.
Dark haired green eyes was all I ever wrote about for the love interest 😂
New idea. The stranger in the woods is a fey that hypnotized her slowly convincing her that it was HER idea to go live in the woods with him.
Second book is about one of the useless sisters going to rescue the oldest one from her curse because... The oldest one was the only one who knew how to hunt and the only one brave enough to defend the younger sisters from old men wanting to marry them.
That's a series I'd love to read.
I swear there are a gazillion male protagonists with black hair and green eyes 👀
These tropes are the reason I had a "pick-me" or "not-like-other-girls" phase. And the thing is, it's not just in YA novels. These characters exist in manga too, particularly in the shoujo genre.
Am I the only one who made a male protag 1 year YOUNGER than a female side char?
Me too actually
I did.😁
You can say Kirito.
Tasteful people are unfortunately not the majority.
In both my stories the male protagonist is younger as well as shorter, first story stays as a short king whole way through however the second grows super tall much to the annoyance of one of the female leads who had stunted growth while the others reaction is just "ooh vantage point" *stands on shoulders to scout*
She's cool in any way that I, the writer, wish I was cool
Dang, this is literally my favourite genre of book! 😅
Tropes like these are why my sister stopped reading these kinds of books and just reads detective stories now.
"She had red hair and purple eyes but was considered plain but if you met her in real life-" SIR ALANNA OF TREBOND YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS
This is literally the same as one book i read that i remember the name. All i kniw is some shape shifting wolf took her from her family that used to be rich and is now poor. Also ths faeires are evil and stuff
@HelenaCross yes, im pretty sure
Leather pants to hunt in? Yooo…. The sweat and chaffing.
And not once has she actually pushed any key. Just brilliant!
Book Villain Name: Selfin Evolman
You nailed it on the weird eye color.
“preloaded” LOL!!
How is this girl affording books, leather clothes and swords but can’t buy her sisters new clothes? 😅 Ok maybe she made the leather clothes herself from her hunting but what about everything else?
Lmao this is accurate to a tee
I subbed just bc of this video lmaooo love it 😂
Its hilarious how many MC's she just described.
There's always a Zarin.
As a person who secretly loves A Court of Thorns and Roses….this is painful.
A court of thorns and roses be like
This is why Diana Wynne Jones is GOAT
In Zarin's defense, he was secretly a fey prince, so its likely he used some magic or pheremones or something to hypnotize and control her, which is apparently sext now.
As a writer, the only thing worse than teeth-crunching cliches are the horrors of ridiculous contradictory characteristics.
Do not lie me, is that blonde ninja that used the power of and ancient spirit to defeat another child that trained since he learned to walk, for him, the hell conditioning of the Hyuga's clan was not enough, so he trained in secret to get more stronger
the comments section is better than a whhole stand up comedy show omg !! and video had me turn my insides out !!
Very funny and accurate. But where are the Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Orcs, Cat Folk, Kitsune, Dragonians, Merfolk, Rabbit Folk, Kobold, Lizard Folk, Goblins, Trolls, Minotaur and Satyr?
BRUH I'm 5'1" and my doctor said I was unheathily underweight when I used to weigh 90 pounds!
My immortal aesthetic
WHAT, Zarin left Penelope for Leotrix??!?!?!
As a Robin McKinley reader I don’t recognize this sort of character. Highly recommend her books for a vast variety of characters and skills, awkwardness and body types that don’t change, but they come to terms with, age gaps, and so forth. Of course, she loathes her books being put in YA. Hanna Sandvig’s good too. K.M. Shea. Anne McCaffrey. Diana Wynne Jones.