forum Things You Want LESS Of In Books

Started January 21, 2019 by @HighPockets group

tune

Anyone have any advice on how to pair a human with a fae without the age gap being nasty af?

I did that with a god. I made the girl older than the guy.

DUDE!!!!!! What if there was like a thirty year old woman and a teen god who was actually 300???!!!!!!!

I think I might have it so that Fae spend their first 100 years like developing and stuff, kind of like hutts, so even though Cedar is 120, he has the mentality of a 20 year old?

My 300+ has the mental maturity of a sixteen year old.

ehhhhhh any age gap is gonna be weird no matter what you do. But it cannot be avoided…. who wants to be with a young inexperienced Fae/God/Immortal being? XD

_{Giana just wants to be with her rugged fae woodcutter}

_{I adore him already. Let them eat cake.}

_{I also have the Political Power Couple, the Pure Beans, and the Sweet and Salty Lesbians}

Bump

Have we mentioned sex yet? Jeez I hate that. 99% of it isn't necessary at all.

Yeah, honestly. If I wanna read a ~naughty~ scene, I'll pick up a steamy romance novel, thank you very much.
In most cases, if it's necessary to the plot, implying it works fine.

Yes! And as Blimey Cow says, "All it does is show that two characters really like each other."

I mean… if that's what it takes to show two characters really like each other, then you shouldn't even pair those two characters imo.
Now, it's different if you imply it and it's a plot device, such as you know… some big cheating scandal or something, but usually, it doesn't do anything.

Exactly! If it's the consequences of the sex that matter, there might be a reason. But if the sex is the entire point, there is no reason for it to be there.

Yeah, sex can be unnecessary. But it doesn't bother me as long as they don't go into detail. Like if anyone has read the book It Devours! the main characters do have sex but it happens and nothing is awkward about it. I really like how that book handled the romance cause they split up at the end but remained friends like mature adults.

Tbh I feel like I don't really encounter a lot of sex in books, which tells me that I'm reading the right books.

Fab

I feel like sex in books as fine as long as:

• You're following what's appropriate for the genre (I'm sick of descriptive sex in books that may be 'new adult' but are shelved in YA.)
• The sex is healthy/realistic (C O N S E N T!!!!!!!!!)
• The characters are both the age of consent or older

Yes! And as Blimey Cow says, "All it does is show that two characters really like each other."

And if the author follows the Kiss Test, it shouldn't be needed to say that??
For anyone who doesn't know, the Kiss Test basically means 'if it takes the characters kissing (or I guess also having sex) to show you that they're in love, then you messed up.'
Also saying that it's just to show how 'in lurrrrrve!!!!' they are, that's kinda insensitive to aces/people who dislike sex/people who are uncomfortable having sex for any reason

I'd like less romantic subplots, especially in YA kind of for a couple reasons.

1. Not everyone finds their soulmate in their teen years. In fact a lot of people don't.
2. A subpoint of the above, but not everyone even dates during their teen years and when every protagonist in every book you read is involved in some type of romance it kind of makes you feel like you have to date during your teens and if you don't it's not normal when that's not really true.
3. It's really unnecessary in a lot of cases. There's lots of more interesting, and quite frankly more original ways to add extra drama/ tension.
4. If 👏 I 👏 wanted 👏 to 👏 read 👏 about 👏 a 👏 romance 👏 I 👏would 👏 have 👏 picked 👏 up 👏 a 👏 romance 👏 novel 👏 not 👏 a 👏 fantasy 👏 or 👏 sci-fi 👏

I agree with you on 4

Mine is a faery who uses his magic to seduce young women into becoming his brides (I used plurals because he does this 3 times, 2 pre-story and one in-story) so he can have an heir (he thinks he's the heir of a lost fae court) and left one of them mute so she couldn't condemn him for it. He's also a dramatic little fucker and physically attractive so I just know people will try to excuse what he does.

Sounds interesting!

Thanks!

Idk if this was mentioned but Happily Ever Afters.
Just….let there be misery.