I love when something tragic happens to the brooding masculine guy's love interest (Something out of her control, maybe gets injured during war or something) and he goes FULL beast mode.... then he gets sad.
My favorite is when the one person in the relationship has had a really crappy past and is very untrusting/closed off from others at first and the other person loves them through it and helps them heal throughout the story. Typically this is a slow burn type trope so I agree with that one as well!
slow burn is my number one favorite and if i ever write a book there will definitely be slow burn. also i absolutely love when i see characters genuinely feel for the other character. it's absolutely amazing and realistic. i get that we're reading fiction books but i like realistic relationships lmao.
Honestly, i think what i like most about love in stories is summed up by the word " realistic ". So many times it's just hard to believe people actually think or say or do the things regarding love that they do in books. So when it really feels like actual characters actually loving each other it's really easy to empathise with them.
I agree! And it’s weird how often that’s not the case 😆
5 лет назад
I love when a relationship has a lot of banter and teasing going on and then a very minor harm comes to one of them (not too bad on the relative spectrum of fantasy) and the other is all soft and gooey, idk
Man, it is a sad thing that one has to specify "romances where the characters actually care about each other and have specific things they like about each other". I mean, that is true, but it is weird that so many stories try to do romance without that.
These are all great ones that I love. Unfortunately you don’t see a lot of these very much in books. You should do a video recommending some good ones. My favorite is the friends to lovers trope. There is just something so sweet and satisfying about two people who have known each other forever and been through some stuff together finding love with one another.
I also looovve slow burn for a similar reason. I’m a sucker for enemies to friends then to lovers, but perhaps simply because going through all of that requires really slow burn ❤️
Does anybody else feel like they’ve been watching Eliot for so long now that she just feels like one of your friends that you know & are just enjoying listening to a friend talk about fantasy? It’s grear
Slow romance is the awesome lol. Authors just need to be careful, because the longer it goes, the higher chance for “misunderstandings” and poor communication to be used as a way to keep the couple apart. I also like when the other character actually likes the protagonist first and it’s done in a mature way. I’d love to see more characters in fantasy that have been in relationships before the protagonist comes around, or have the protagonist have been in a relationship that doesn’t last (either before or during the story) feels a bit more realistic. this happens, just not as often.
I love it when the two characters initially think the other is annoying. Usually they have the same motive, they just mask it differently, and once that mask is removed and they start to bond unintentionally and realise they have so much more in common than they do with anyone else and start to respect each other and protect each other because they finally understand... I live for that. Or when they think the other person is a know-it-all, but part of them is also kinda in awe at how intelligent they are and find it kinda hot.
Just found your channel, and I'm so here for this tropes list. I especially love the slow (slow slow slow) burn. Especially if the characters have shared passions outside of their relationship. Could you do a recs video on all these tropes? I'd be really interested to see, New sub!
Blood Song has a great couple! And while they’ve not “officially” started their romance, I have a feeling the book Shadow of the Fox-in its sequel-will have some of that :) It’s not quite the same thing, but Geralt in the Witcher is super protective of his adoptive daughter. Not the same thing, but I love it 💗
"oh wait, supermodel good-looking, without realizing it" was so funny (★≧▽^))★☆ I absolutely loved this video, you're really good at pointing out things that I love but hadn't realized I loved. Does that make sense? I was thinking "oh yes love that one!" every 5 seconds haha
You described what I love so much about Jamie and Claire from Outlander...... They communicate and listen to one another. The respect and like each other. They genuinely want the best for the other. Yeah they have a lot of sexy times but they are friends...they enjoy the character traits the other one has and enjoy spending time together. They forgive each other...and I think that This is one of my favorite characteristics of their relationship. Any healthy relationship must include the ability to forgive. It doesn't mean you don't get angry....but the ability to say, "you hurt me with your actions, but I love you and after talking about it I will forgive you." And finally they are willing to sacrifice for each other. Real love can at times be selfless and contain the willingness to give of themselves so that other person can be safe and happy. It isn't just about what you get from a relationship....sometimes giving is just as important. Quotes: "Forgiveness is not a single act, but a matter of constant practice." "Whatever problems we might be facing - and I knew there were plenty - we were together. Forever. And that was enough" "Not for the first time, I reflected that intimacy and romance are not synonymous." "All I want, is for you to love me. Not because of what I can do or what I look like, or because I love you - just because I am." "Torn between the impulse to stroke his head, and the urge to cave it in with a rock, I did neither." What the author said about Outlander: "I didn't want to tell the story of what makes two people come together, although that's a theme of great power and universality. I wanted to find out what it takes for two people to stay together for fifty years -- or more. I wanted to tell not the story of courtship, but the story of marriage." He kissed my forehead gently. "Loving you has put me through hell more than once, Sassenach; I'll risk it again, if need be." "Bah," I said. "And you think loving you has been a bed of roses, do you?" This time he laughed out loud. "No," he said, "but you'll maybe keep doing it?" "Maybe I will, at that." "You're a verra stubborn woman," he said, the smile clear in his voice." "my hand tight. "You are my courage, as I am your conscience," he whispered, "You are my heart-- I am your compassion. We are neither of us whole, alone. Do ye not know that, Sassenach?"" "To have ye with me again--to talk wi' you--to know I can say anything, not guard my words or hide my thoughts--God, Sassenach," he said, "the Lord knows I am lust-crazed as a lad, and I canna keep my hands from you--or anything else--"he added, wryly," but I would count that all well lost, had I no more than the pleasure of havin' ye by me, and to tell ye all my heart." .... "So tell me all your heart,"I said. "If there's time."" "A man who had never spoken love to me, who had never needed to, for I knew he loved me, as surely as I knew I lived. For where all love is, the speaking is unnecessary. It is all. It is undying. And it is enough." "Like Likes: 14 I have loved ye since I saw you, Sassenach,” he said very quietly, holding my eyes with his own, bloodshot and lined with tiredness but very blue. “I will love ye forever. It doesna matter if ye sleep with the whole English army-well, no,” he corrected himself, “it would matter, but it wouldna stop me loving you."
I love a good romance sub-plot, but they can be so hard to find! I don’t know exactly what does it for me, but Tidus and Yuna are an example of a romance I absolutely ate up...ah, all the feels. 😊 Great list!
I love " love forever" trope like "Till death do us part"". Like in the notebook by Nicholas Sparks or the infernak devices by cassandra clare. My fav romances.
Ooooh I love slow-burn romances! I love it when a character monologues about their love interest's personality, too! Like, when they think about how clever, or funny, or kind their love interest is. Not just how beautiful their eyes are, or how well-defined their jaw-line is XD
Yes, exactly! I have a video coming up about favorite and least favorite couples, and for the favorites, one couple made the list solely because of their monologues. Those are great :D
Haha I think I'm one of the few people who actually wants characters to get together earlier in the series (but not insta-love). I love reading about them in the relationship and facing obstacles together. But yes, I am so on board with other stuff you said, especially both people being their own person! I also love protectiveness and a good shut-down. And my absolute favorite trope is best friends to lovers.
I love me a good slow burn romance! The book I’m writing features a slow burn, respectful and caring partners, most of the things that you’ve got here on this list, actually.
When you talked about forbbiden love and I was just sitting here and thought about two specific characters that are the guardians of two specific objects... and I was like oooh I see what you did there 😂
Skyward is a good example of a very slow burn in romance, I did not detect any in book 1 at least. I have not picked up on any heavy romance in the first two books of the storm light archive. Thanks for another great video Elle
I love that couple who do it all and are crazy busy but still find ways to support one another and make time to kindle their romance. Like she's a knight and a mother of four orphans and he's a frantic prince trying to save his country from famine and monster (both political and actual) and yet here they are in love and making it work. That wasn't a real book but now I'm thinking it should haha.
I like slow burning romances too because I’m not a huge fan of instalove. I wouldn’t consider Sarai and Lazlo’s romance to be slow burning but I LOVE their love. 100% my fave bookish couple. Also, totally random but I love how regularly you post! And you always respond to us which makes me feel like we’re friends.
I like the Mutt and Jeff trope. The two that are so different and come from very different worlds and levels of looks (like she is beautiful and he is brutally ugly, fat vs thin,), the love you look at and people do not see "WHY" but somehow they make it work. With conflict comes others trying to get with one of them and trying to push the other out.
My favourite type of a romance is one when there’s a series of unfortunate events that leads to many misconceptions and hence to many misunderstandings. Then at the end it turns out the characters had different intentions. I’m afraid that one of the things that falls under this concept is the hate to love relationship. But I can’t help it, I just love it. 🥰 Pride and Prejudice is still one of my favourite romances of all times. 😄 Even if Mr Darcy is way too perfect, haha.
I actually love a good romance in story depending on what im reading. I love lots of detail of the romance & of course if they like someone for their character. I love a romance that doesn't take forever for the couple together. I hate the playing hard to get stuff both in stories & real life. But hey that's what makes books cool is there's something for everyone & it's based on our opinion. I love any character thats nurturing & protective cuz i love women who are that way. Heck im kinda that way 😅. Anyways this was a fun topic Elliot. Hope you have a lovely love day 💜
So basically, you like healthy relationships!! Seriously though, I agree 100% with all of these. Some of my own favorite tropes are: macho, seemingly emotionless dude who goes completely softy for his girl (you already mentioned that one); the couple that is just completely comfortable around each other, AND everyone else is comfortable around them. They don't have the need to be all over each other, but they're often holding hands, and no one is awkwarded out by it because they don't make it awkward, and they can just have comfortable, normal conversations; that time when one of them gets hurt and the other completely demolishes the person who hurt them. Sometimes it's physically demolishing them but I like it even better when it's verbal; the playful banter; the guy who shows his protectiveness by little things, like taking a menacing step towards someone threatening her, or subconsciously taking her hand when she's scared of something.
The Scarlet Pimpernel has the only romance that I actually like in literature. It's hard to explain without spoiling it, (and it's a short, super fast and enjoyable read) but basically husband and wife are estranged for reasons. Wife wishes her husband were more like the titular masked hero, husband (who is the masked hero, no spoiler there) must keep up a facade till at one point it breaks and he literally worships the ground she walks on. Such a well written moment, still gives me chills.
This and the worst romance tropes you did made me feel like I finally found a twin. I enjoy romances (as a sub plot only) but most are just... poorly executed in many fantasy books. Have you read The Queen’s Thief series? The first book is a chore to get through, seeing as it’s almost all worldbuilding, but book 2 is when it gets really complicated. The main character, a thief, stole an entire country. Oh and the Queen’s heart, in only a few chapters. Yep! The romance portions was short but OMG IT WAS WORTH IT. IT WAS SO HEART-THUDDINGLY PERFECT AND SATISFYING. And then it was all delicious kingdom politics. Same with the third book, the romance was brief, but fuuuuuuk. The build up to it was so damn satisfying
Elliot Brooks it’s mostly kingdom politics and power-play after fleshing out the main character in book 1. I loved the entire series. Megan Whalen Turner also fleshes out side characters really well. I also really love her writing style. I hope you get to read them!
Have you read the queens of renthia series? Starting in the second book there's a romance that gives me the warm and fuzzies because it's too damn cute due to a lot of these tropes you named. I also dont care for romance but I was rooting for this one from the beginning!
I loved this video and totally agree on most of these, although I do love romance and really don’t mind books centered around it. Would love to hear about some of your favorite romances/bookish couples 😍
This is some good shipping material here ✔👌👍❤, liked seeing you getting lowkey excited at every point, your inner shipper showing !! we agree on every point actually !!
My favorite romance in SFF is definitely Roland and Gwenivere in book 3 .... oopsie what year is this, I am kind of confused about all that time travels I did recently!
I too love it when the cool static guy get’s tonguetwisted and flustered in front of the girl he likes. It is sooo fucking adorable and cute!! 😍😍😍😍 (I love it just as much vice versa, or same gender, or what ever else. It’s just cute 😆.)
Only good in the bedroom? Feyra as of A Court of Frost and Starlight. It says there on the damn PAGE! And yet she still thinks Tamlin is a possessive son of a bitch and Rhys can do no wrong, is a goddamn saint and gives her absolute freedom - he's not like Tamlin shut up you don't know what you're talking about, Rhys is not Tamlin 2.0!!! >.- . Text says otherwise :/
Awesome!!! I love when the to love interest don't get together till the end of the book or in a sequel book down the line!!! Like I'm in the second book in the Air Awakens series an the main character just realized she in love!!! But like the other one you talked about, the forbidden romance, she can't be with him! I was screaming at the book!!! Loved it!!!
Um sorry to be that guy but you left out the part where in the first book the Male lead THROWS HER OUT OF A TOWER ON PURPOSE AND SHE NEARLY DIES so bad example sorry
I love it when the book ends with the live interests breaking up, or just for whatever reason not ending up together. I love a good hopeful but bittersweet ending where all the ends aren't quite tied up neatly and you're left thinking about what might have happened after the book ended.
