I’ve read some real masterpieces on ao3 that need to be published for the world to see. Unfortunately, it seems only the deep dark trenches of ao3 writing gets published
Ways to increase your chances of finding a good story on ao3: Minimum words: 40-50k Status: complete Make sure the word to chapter ratio makes sense, at least double the number of chapters. For instance, a 10 chapter fic should have at least 20k words. The higher the word count ratio the better. You know it may not be as good or serious if there or 40 chapters and 32k words. Look at the tags, and filter out tags for tropes or ships you don't like. It may take a couple of scrolls to find what you want but I've found a BUNCH of amazing fics with this, at least in the DCU Fandom. the filter system is also a lot better than wattpad and a lot easier to navigate. Plus ao3 isn't as bad as wattpad💀, I swear that app is just mostly kids with the worst tropes in mind
@@loveemily1589there are physical copies of all the young boys (the big hp fan series) And also at least one of Jeff the killer that I know about do to Jenny Nicolson
29:33 say what you will - there is something so delightful about this cartoon character of a man with a fanny pack full of grenades. it’s like the author has actually never gone outside or had a conversation. it’s so detached from reality
Hehe I am sat, comfortable, and ready to get kidnapped by a mafia boss, go clubbing, get kidnapped AGAIN by his rival at the club, and then be saved, BUT THEN actually fall in love with his rival instead of himm!!! 🤭🤭🤭
the way i was so ready to cozy up with a new lexi vlog and forget about finals season and then the first book starts slandering my entire nation 😭😭 (i'm polish)
sometimes i just put on videos out loud while my bf is playing video games in the bg so he will like tune in and out. the way we both just stopped what we were doing when u were explaining some of the stuff from den of vipers. i looked over to see if he was paying attention or if I was just suffering alone and he had paused the game and had his head in his hands. excellent video. now I just wish we cld all forget den of vipers.
@@newlynova i read four books in the series trying to figure out what the russians were planning in the b plot, and came to the conclusions that the russians don't know they're supposed to be planning something
wow! i’m so early 😭 anyways, just wanted to say that Sophie Lark is honestly the only Dark Romance author I really enjoy. I like her FMCs and the respect she gives them by allowing them to process their feelings and the situations they get into with the MMCs. Every other author seems to gloss over the traumas and turmoils, and go straight to what always ends up being just a watered down version of Stockholm Syndrome. - Just my personal opinion though! 💕
When you said this felt like Wattpad and what you really wanted is AO3 I instantly knew what you meant, how did you describe something so specific so well
Hiii, just wanted to say thank you so much for documenting your periods of struggles. They really helped me cope with my soul crushing A level exam stress knowing that other ppl can also be going through it. It made me feel seen. Thank you so much for displaying the more human side of content creation, it rlly makes a difference :))
"these codes were her Frankenstein" does she mean Frankenstein's monster?? Or were the codes just an annoying scientist who thought he was above the laws of nature and gets his ass handed to him for it? Intellectual my ass.
The fourth books author 100% got told by her editor how repetitive her writing was and instead of fixing it she just said it a part of the characters personality.... Top tier writing right here, folks (also... If something isn't obvious enough that you need to write a PSA about it, you did it badly 😭)
You reading den of vipers actually saved me from purgatory so for your IMMENSE sacrifice… thanks! If you do end up doing another instalment of mafia romance read-through, I’m so down and ready.
I've had den of vipers on my Wishlist for the longest time... It's now being removed. Thank you so much for saving my life;-; I don't know if I would have survived reading that book. The number of times I cringed when you read out quotes from the book ahfiughwifhskfjdsdfnweiughfwe
The way I was out loud saying the Den of Vipers quotes were reading like My Immortal and then you went and said it... Crying, shaking, throwing up that we've come to this.
I do wonder what the first girl who wrote the "i was sold to one direction" fanfic thinks about her random middle school fanfic becoming a widely referenced trope.
all that time ago when den of vipers was running around booktok, it was sold to me as a "dark romance" and i think i trauma blocked it out because seeing you read it here is reminding me of so much that really wanted to stay hidden apparently 😭😭 good on u for getting through it 💪🏼💪🏼
My favorite part of all these videos is when you read the parts of the men who are supposed to be really masculine and tough in this super nerdy voice. It makes these quotes that much more ridiculous 😂
I would like to recommend gay mafia romance for the fun of the genre. It tends to have a vibe of “one of them is an absolute (very hot) psychopath and the other is mostly normal, but with a psychopathic streak and finds the psychopath very hot; they get up to sex and violence in together and match each other’s crazy” vibes. I feel like the “match each other’s crazy (& violence)” is the ideal mafia romance vibe, but it’s much more often found in gay, rather than straight, romance
Referring to the last book: you just know the author had a lot of comments on how the repetition just wasn't working and instead of fixing it she doubled down and was like, "you just don't understand, she's super smart and thinks in patterns, it was like totally intentional, okay? Because she's smart." So she had to tell the reader in the opening of the book just in case anyone else got any ideas about calling out the poorly executed repetition. It's giving me as a high schooler thinking I was The Shit at writing when I was in fact shit at writing.
Omg I died for your review of the predator. Every time I read something like this I feel like the 13-year-old in me lives on. I have a dirty book club with my friends and even to them I couldn't admit the travesty of what I sometimes engage with lol
The Green Bone Saga is contemporary magic mafia but truly excellent worldbuilding and chatacters and politics. I love it so much, if you are ever able to recover from Mafia burnount you should definitely look into!
I cannot lie, from that last book were you highlighted a few sentences as mid-trasgy fanfic, if I'd put them in my fic (I'm above 30yrs), I'd thought I ate and left no crumbs 😂😂😂 I think I'd edi it down a lil but I can see where the headshakes come from 😂 Also omg I remember those late night sherlock/Watson first ❤❤😂
My favorite thing about you is when I see you in goodreads reviews with the most out of pocket sentence Ive ever heard in my life but like at the same time its like wait, I get it though. like no your so valid
“No reason at all, just vibes” describes how all of these books go. And I’m kinda here for it. Sometimes I wanna turn my brain off and read cheesy word vomit.
“The bar is in a place worse than hell” I literally thought that was a line from the book until I realize you meant the bar of quality and expectation and honestly it would have fit right in with the story if it was a line 😂😂😂
kinda random but i would love if u ever do a bookshelf tour cuz EVERY TIME i watch one of your videos i end up getting distracted by your bookshelf😭😭 i recognize some books just by the spine but i would love to see all of them up close
The fact I used to love books like these, in a genuine sense rather than ironic, and now would only read them to hate read cause I love to suffer, is true character growth
I have to say, despite absolutely HATING the mafia trope, I love this video. It feels like my bestie telling me all her horrible literary decisions that she impulse-bought at 3am on a Thursday night
is it bad that the first thought i had when lexi mentioned mafia books was the all for the game series? genuinely would love to hear lexi's thoughts on niche books like aftg because it's such a treasure with an insanely niche cult following HAHAHA
Den of vipers was the only book that i dnf ed I couldn’t take it anymore it disgusted me profusely 😭 the whole “shes mine she will be my wife im gonna make her mine” FROM ALL FOUR OF THEM 😭😭😭😭😭😭
I just binged three of your latest videos. Thank you for helping me get through a hard time by putting yourself through the grueling process of reading these books (actually thank you, though)
lol thanks for doing the work for me so o don’t have to. I always thought mafia romances wouldn’t be my thing but I’m fully sure I’ve made the right choice in not having picked one up 😂
This is a out of the box rec, but the Japanese light novel series Baccano! is about immortal mafia gangsters in the 1900s and the romances (multiple) are weirdly very good, like the author has a knack for writing compelling relationships.
am i the only one who wouldn’t find it hot like at all if someone told me that they know how to shoot someone without making it fatal while a gun is actively being pressed to your gut? hand on the nape or not that’s just gonna make me piss myself in fear
This fully affirmed my theory that I would hate mafia romances without me having to read one to confirm lol. Thank you for taking the bullet for the rest of us
When I heard “if you would like the Mafia men to not know what you're browsing on the internet,” I was like OMG LEXI ARE WE SPONSORED BY NORDVPN!? WHOOP WHOOP 🍾🎉💃🏽🕺🏽
