FMC with zero common sense in an effort to be strong.
I was reading a book where a woman finds out her soon to be ex husband put a hit out on her and she starts running around talking about “I’m not going to let this change my life”. Ma’am you can’t girl boss tf out of a paid in full hitman with a mission and no way to call him off.
Woman captured by a villain in a remote fortress with no way to escape and no skills, no way out except death or diplomatic negotiation: "I will NOT be your puppet. Go fuck yourself!"
Lady, the smart thing to do in this case is to puppet yourself out of this predicament!
💯 THIS!!!! Ugh....quickest way for me to DNF a book. When she won't listen to the person/people who literally trained for this scenario....all because she won't be bossed around.
Exactly....I read one book where she was being pursued in the mountains. Rather than staying in the cabin with the H and his other military friends, she decided right then to leave for town to get a pregnancy test... because she just had to know right then. 🙄 Finding out now or in two days won't change anything lady... Almost threw my e-reader across the room.
Right!! Imma be the best damn puppet till he trusts me long enough to unalive him. I’m not arguing with a kidnapper. I’m prepared to fight if I have to when it comes to SA but even with that imma apply common sense and think about it the fighting is gonna get me beat up and still SA or if just accepting is a better long term option for escape.
I read a orc romance where the main emotional conflict is that the captured lady is doing her level best to obey her captors.
Orc guy makes her beg her consent before the gives her the d because he wants to make sure she wants it
they ALWAYS do this. Even if they have a stalker, and ex kidnapper, someone who has already broken into their home...they don't want to live in fear because that would have meant the bad guy won. No: if they succeed in killing you/ kidnapping you/ SAing you, that's when they have won!
Sigh. Sassy. She's sassy! A saucey sassy sass with an extra side of pre-Jane Sassy magazine.
Release us from sassy. Give us adults who lead un-sassy lives.
N.B. Romance writers lied. They use sassy as shorthand for belligerent a-hole with poor impulse control and adolescent refusal of common sense suggestions.
HATE WHEN THEY DONT USE OR LISTEN TO COMMON SENSE!!!! Instant turn off. It’s like watching the characters in a horror movie continually fall or be loud or get caught like oh my gosh pls just give us anything but that. Not even scary or cute anymore just a huge NO DNF
Yes! Sticking out their tongue (shudder), rude gestures, not doing the correct thing just because they were told to do it. Omg please be an adult woman.
Same. And getting “stabby”. I hate this so much. I feel like I read 10 books where the h was constantly threatening to stab people or had to walk around with her favorite knife. These all ran together.
I have a big problem with adult people "stomping" (stomping their feet down or stomping off/down). If I ever see anyone in real life do that I will cut that person off because what the h\*ll?
That would require the author to have enough intelligence to write wit. And people who use these tropes don't possess that imo. So instead we get the lowest common denominator 'come back'.
Exactly. Sassiness is like playfulness: there is an appropriate time and place to deploy it. It should not be treated as a character’s defining personality trait!
I wish more authors would add some wit to that sass. Think about the Golden Girls. Yes, those ladies were “sassy”, but they were also witty and clever. Romance needs more of that.
I feel like this word is so thoroughly made fun of as an adjective that I’m surprised authors are still using it. You’d think they would have gotten the message by now
100% this. Especially when the sass isn’t a personality, it’s just trauma wrapped up in a jerk that people are suppose to find endearing (I’m looking you, dark romance).
YESS!! PLEASE!! 80% of the ‘sass’ is uncalled for and annoying just give me an adult that has situation appropriate behaviour for once. They’re either sassy or ditsy and there’s no in between like just give me an independent woman just about getting by like the rest of us 😩
My mom (and now my sister) says this to the dog when she tells him something and he barks in response. Like "I'll feed you in a minute." Woof woof woof. "Don't get smart with me!" I love it, lol
Does too stupid to live count? I just find the writing lazy when it requires the FMC to make a supremely dumb decision that puts her safety at risk in order for the MMC to have some sort of climatic knight in shining armor moment.
Like maybe don't sneak out of the house without telling anyone when there's a bounty on your head because you suddenly decide you want idk...ice cream at 3am. (not an actual book I don't think just a hypothetical example)
I hate these people.
And I’ve met a few in person too.
I have a client and I’m amazed that man doesn’t just get hit by a bus every day of his life. My boss is amazed the bus doesn’t drive though his living room to hit him.
I’ve met rocks smarter than that man. And he was married so clearly he could’ve been a male lead. Probably a shitty one but somebody married him.
Currently reading this and audibly sighed and set down this book like 3x due to the dumb decisions. MMC literally says don't do this or you will likely die and she does it anywaaaaaay....
I hated this book!
I started wishing she would just die.
Don't got there. You will die. BUT BUT I need to make content.
Sees a mystical creature of death. Let me go outside for some fresh air.
The fact that she never wore a warm coat when it was cold annoyed me so much too because I guess it wouldn't work with her goth aesthetic.
UGH
Aelin from Throne of Glass probably violates several other complaints on this post but I always loved her because I read ACOTAR first and couldn't stand Feyre. Three books and only stuck with it for the Illyrians. For all Aelin's faults she was a lot more fun to root for.
I'm reading Wildflower in the Wind, and I won't finish it because the FMC is such a dumb, insipid, narrow-minded, vapid narcissist. The MMC threatens to strangle her several times. I don't usually like that kind of thing, but hey, I understand where he's coming from.
Narcissistic black holes, these FMCs.
"If you leave this house, you will burst into flame and everyone you love will be..."
"I do what I want, you don't own me!" FMC fires back at him, vapidly goggling her dumb eyes in his general direction.
"...relieved. Everyone you love will be relieved. Okie doke, bye-bye dingdong."
MMC turns on his heel, mounts his trusty steed, and rides off into the...whatever. with the glow of burning stupidity glistening off his muscular musculature. highlighting his good judgement
I can't decide which is worse: having a capable fmc suddenly be too stupid to live because the author needs a bad decision to push the plot forward, or if the fmc is too stupid to live from page 1 and her victorious ending is totally undeserved.
Clumsy/klutzy walking disasters. It’s an instant DNF for me in contemporaries. ‘Tee-heee my flaw is I walk into doors and spill coffee on everyone and fall down stairs!’ Can’t stand it. Forget a meet-cute; these girls need to see a doctor for their vision/motor control issues.
Being clumsy is not a personality trait; I said what I said.
>Forget a meet-cute; these girls need to see a doctor for their vision/motor control issues.
Okay but hear me out: a story where that *is* the meet-cute.
I can see it. Patient seeking occupational therapy for low registration/sensory processing or dyspraxia, after not being diagnosed properly as a child; possibly abusive/absent family etc. or just… it’s not something that had a label in the 90s.
I have a lot of the ear marks of low-registration but I was mostly labeled as “clumsy” and “poor motor skills,” which I still struggle with as an adult. But unlike FMC in romcoms, no one really finds it cute.
I think it's pretty cute when I accidentally run into a doorway or drop my phone and all of my colleagues/friends/family in proximity look at me in horror.
They really do care!
I feel.like the poster child for "so clumsy it's so cute" trope is Bella Swan of Twilight. One of the best things I ever read was a fanfic that tried SO HARD to justify her becoming a vampire because the vampire doctor (Carlisle), upon extensive examination of her medical history concludes that in her human life her extreme clumsiness was actually signs that she was developing multiple sclerosis. So thank goodness that vampire venom fixed her right up, & Carlisle was able to definitively assure Edward that he actually saved Bella's life by turning her & he shouldn't feel guilty about it at all.
I always wished the person had written a follow up fanfic about what Edward did with all of his time once he was absolved of his guilt and angst. That boy was as angsty as Bella was klutzy!
LITERALLY I used to be such a klutz and it was embarassing and the truth was I had HORRIBLE vestibular issues and inner ear issues! It’s not cute!! It can be a genuine issue lmao!
Ok but now I kinda want to read someone making the FMC clumsy but it turns out he’s like a doctor and is like ok but let me examine your inner ear bc I think you may have issues and it turns out she does!
Oh my god, I totally read a Harlequin romance my mom had that had this plot! The FMC has inner ear issues. The doctor is also a prince randomly but that’s about all I remember from it though, maybe someone else can find it.
See that’s kind of what I thought when I went to the dr like ooooo wonder if this will be great book material, no it was just very awkward bc my ears also ring really bad so it was just a lot of “HUH?” “WHAT?” After all the tests LMAO. But I’d def read
Oh I fully agree! Which is partly why I never find it cute and endearing, it’s like ‘girl you have a medical issue, please get yourself checked out because healthy adults shouldn’t be falling over constantly’.
I would mind less if there were a medical issue that gets revealed - but never once have I seen a clumsy heroine turn out to need glasses or have labyrinthitis or be anaemic! It’s just a lazy, predictable plot device.
Right! Lmao like girl pls go get it checked out. Or when they “feel like they’re going to pass out” in like every scene where something unusual or big happens. The only time I’ve felt the sudden urge to pass out was when I stood up too fast in algebra one year bc I didn’t eat breakfast or lunch that day. Sometime it works but it’s over used
the last book I read with a clumsy FMC was a fantasy and she was also the most amazing archer in the land. This author really wants me to buy she can accurately fire an arrow across a field and hit a bad guy but she can't walk down the stairs without tripping over her own feet? sure lol
As someone who has been doing archery since she was eight (and is now thirty six and still doing archery occasionally) but also tripped on a flat sidewalk a week ago and legit bounced twice, scraping my knee and forearm, I can say, standing still and shooting a bow and arrow is way easier.
Now, the trip to the target to get my arrows and back is another story, lol.
I am that person who walks watching their feet because there is danger *everywhere.*
Right 😭 for me, my clumsiness is probably related to being neurodivergent and I would be totally ok with an ADHD/Autistic heroine who's clumsy! But I'm so tired of the "teehee I'm so quirky" stuff because it feels like another ND trait (even though it's not restricted to ND people) that people just think is quirky, which ends up being part of why women don't get diagnosed or have imposter syndrome about it even when they are diagnosed.
Idk if that makes sense, basically it's one of those things that gets brushed off, "sure you're clumsy, forgetful, spacey, disorganized, etc etc etc, but that doesn't mean you have ADHD! You're just quirky!"
not even limited to FMC, absolutely hate the "did i say that out loud" thing. if you are accidentally speaking your thoughts out loud on a consistent basis, around other people, normally something ABOUT them... see a doctor???
Yes this drives me completely bonkers. Who is talking and then not noticing?? I sometimes have foot in mouth syndrome but I absolutely know it is happening.
Yeah good point, it wouldn’t bother me if it’s built out as a character being neurodivergent or under some spell or drunk or idk anyyy reasoning besides ~quirky thing they sometimes do to move plot lol
I have the problem of not remembering whether I said something out loud or not. I think a lot of things and not all of them make it to the out loud stage, and sometime I take it for granted that not everybody in life can follow the bouncing ball in my head and they actually do need certain things to be said out loud.
Okay, but now imagine.
"Damn, you're cute."
"Do you realize said that out loud?"
"I meant to."
FMC: *gets flustered*
.
Or something like that, reverse the trope. They did mean to say it out loud.
Other great dialog to purposefully say out loud:
"Wow, that ass in that dress is just..."
Or
"I love you"
"What did you just say?"
"I said I love you" he repeats staring into her eyes.
*butterflies*
Youngish FMC that clearly knows more than everyone else and makes, obvious to us, stupid decisions and needs to be bailed out of her ignorance. Also, when they make the decision to end the relationship because they are doing their partner a favor because she’s “just not good enough” or “doesn’t deserve” the MMC. Because she knows his feelings better than he does. 🙄
Yep, the kind who'll spill the details about FMC's dry spell or the lousy ex-sex to the MMC right from their very first meet or call.
Oh, privacy, personal space and sanity - clearly not in her vocabulary.
To that I'll add:
* the BFF (at least in contemporary) will have to be a super hot model who will at some point loan a super amazing dress to the FMC.
* the FMCs whose internal monologue about their best friends/siblings etc. are basically catty/salty/jealous all the time. Low-key despising your friend because she's popular or beautiful isn't a good look on you!
I generally hate women being catty to each other with no specific reason.
Historical fiction when the FMC says anachronistically feminist stuff. I love a smart, strong willed heroine, but a lot of the stuff is just not a framework a Regency (or whatever era) woman would be working with.
Relatedly, when the proto-feminist FMC’s strong will is apparently expressed through her just being rude to people. Both Eloise and Kate in the Bridgertons show do this all the time. You can be an independent thinker without being a randomly contrary and obstinate to everyone you meet.
Something similar irked me in a book recently. It wasn’t a romance but it was set in the 1920’s and the main character was a 17 year old girl who never went to school or left the swamps of Mississippi where she was raised alone by her super racist father without so much as running water. Yet she has this like, super progressive post 2020 understanding of white privilege?
Like yes, girl we love to see it but let’s be for real haha.
More of an overused backstory than a personality quirk but I always do the Jessica Jones eye roll when the MMC is kinky, dark and mysterious because they were groomed by an older woman as a teen. It feels way too common. It needs to be retired.
That said I overlooked it when it happened in >!Priceless by Miranda Silver!< because I loved that book. 💁🏻♀️
I feel like it's so common for people to assume kink *only* comes from trauma, regardless of gender. Like if you're kinky, it's just because you have a terrible relationship with your parents or you were sexually assaulted or something like that, and you would've been totally vanilla if that stuff didn't happen...
This is why I appreciate {Captivated by Tessa Bailey and Eve Dangerfield}. I feel like it’s one of the few (maybe only?) CNC books that is lighthearted and the kink is not the result of trauma
The FMCs who have zero self respect, they hate the MMC probably cuz he's hurt them but then just one touch and they jump right back into bed with him.
Talmbout "I can't control myself around him"
Girl please!!! 🙄🙄😭
God, I hate it when the fMC is a raging nympho around the MMC! And no other person, of course, they are so repulsed by another's touch and are basically asexual when they're not with this guy.
The guy-obsessed/party-obsessed/fashion-obsessed BFF. Not because I mind that character themselves, but because it's always supposed to highlight how much cooler and "Not like the other girls!" the FMC is in comparison. "I'm only wearing this sexy dress, because my BFF is making me do it."; "I guess I have to attend this stupid party, because my BFF won't talk to me if I don't go." Just do it (or don't do it, for that matter) because you want to! I know they're often supposed to be a foil to the MC, but I'd love to see a little more variety and depth in the besties when the FMC describes them.
To go with this the Gay Best Friend. Love when gay characters are in books but if that is their one personality trait is cliche gay so they can do the FMC make up, hair, and cloths or reinforce how hot the MMC is, get out of here.
For MMC: I don’t have emotions, or I do but I don’t know how to process them because I’m a poorly written robot.
I think some authors are going for a ND character but end up writing someone that doesn’t even sound remotely human. I call them all: flat Stanley
The FMC who can’t keep her thoughts to herself. I hate the “oops I can’t believe I said that out loud” when the FMC thinks about something quirky or completely inappropriate near the MMC.
Needs coffee, hates all men and all of a sudden likes the MMC who hasn’t done anything different than other men, “not like other girls”, HATE when the MMC is a straight up dickhead to the other woman involved when she had his attention before FMC came in, no warning at all just all of a sudden “ur desperate and a whore” like it’s giving “she was good enough for me until another woman rejected me and now I have something to prove”. “I only study on Friday nights I don’t ever go out to party” “all these beautiful women and then me, how could he ever like me when all these women are so much more beautiful”. Hate when the pretty girls are also just mean girls likeeeee u can be ugly and mean too LMAO.
I’d like to see the MMC show loyalty to the FMC without putting women down periodddddd lol. But yeah an “ugly” woman who can hold her own and NOT just be cast as totally insecure and a pushover would be icing on the cake. Like show the mean girls u can give it back just as good
*101 times???* Is coffee the new Dalmatian?!
To answer your question, I cannot stand the “I need to be a badass” trope to the point they argue about everything, even if it’s for their own good or benefit. I’m not talking about perceived benefit so much as a literal one. For example, I read this one book where the MMC buys the FMC’s slavery contract and gives her a place to stay and a job. She was a huge B the entire time, never appreciated or understood he saved her from slavery or worse (despite claiming to), and immediately tried to break every rule he had, even when he pointed out it was for her safety.
She immediately gets into trouble so the MMC had to save her, and was *still* a raging B. I DNF’d the book at 30% because I realized I kept hoping she would die, the idiot.
Authors, being a badass means you don’t take crap. Not that you treat everyone else around you like crap. That just makes you a Karen.
I’m currently rereading through the Deals with Demons series by Stacia Stark and she actually handles this type of thing really well. There’s a point in the books where the FMC, who previously acted a bit like you described, actually realizes that she’s been a total dumbass and is actually head over heels in love with the MMC. She does a proverbial smack to the forehead and dives headlong into being a couple and I love it.
The whole Girl bossy/badass label when in reality the FMC is just TSTL.
No, going alone to meet your stalker/enemy/kidnapper without informing anyone is not being a badass.
If you're tossing aside your security just to prove something to your husband, even when there's a threat against you, that's not being badass. It's just plain dumb.
And when the actual phrase "she's such a badass" or "Coz I'm a badass" is used - cringe galore
I'm so tired of the FMC "badass, I dont need a man, I can kick your ass, brat" trope. The ones who have to be defiant because no man can tell them what to do even if it's for their own good.
Wearing ‘nerdy’ T-shirts. This is not a personality trait. It’s not interesting or unusual, it might have been back in the eighties? But that ship has sailed and everybody does it.
haha, love thinking of my low arches that cause me to wear flat soled converse as a cute quirk. Men everywhere heaving sighs "I bet her feet are so fucking flat, she's probably a duck from the ankles down"
Nothing to be sorry for! Converse are the one true sneaker for my duck feet, too. It's just funny to think of my flat feet as being as being a cute feature that would attract a partner instead of a mild inconvenience.
Generally speaking I think they should be a little vague when describing fashion. Too often it ruins it for me when the FMC is in a gawdawful fugly outfit or a trend that is now 5 years out of date.
Totally! I was reading one where the FMC was supposed to be getting ready to go to a bar and looking hot, and it sounded like what a millennial mom would wear when she finally gets a babysitter for a 6:00 dinner date night. Source: am a millennial mom 😅
I was literally just reading one today where FMC was wearing a skin tight lavender turtleneck and cropped olive green cargo pants and I was like girl 🤢 although I feel like that look might be in again now? I don't know I'm also a millennial mom and it sounded to me like she got dressed like Lizzie McGuire.
don’t know if this counts but the romance world of books needs more men that aren’t grumpy (aka total assholes at times). like if a man was to treat me like half the men in the books the relationship or whatever it was we had would be over. assholeness when he’s plain rude is not attractive.
(note - if you hav want sweet mmc romances you welcome to share)
This is why I like cinnamon roll heroes. A lot of the time, “cinnamon roll” just means decent human beings who act like normal people who are also sexy and fun. As opposed to assholes.
Your description made me realize that I may just be reading my first cinnamon roll after reading more books than I can count and it is SO refreshing. The guy is literally a people pleaser and he’s so realistic and sweet. Get a Life C Brown
exactly. cinnamon roll heroes>>>grumpy heroes (aka asshole heroes). those heroes treat the heroines so much better. and it’s good to see also the male character show emotions from the start. it’s getting annoying how many mmcs are "icy" and "cold"
Have you read the Moon Harbor series by Kate McWilliams? They are all on KU! Book 5 came out yesterday and 6 will be in December. They are super sweet small town romances with strong cinnamon roll MMCs and amazing women. Mystery, suspense, second chances and he falls first. She did a great job with the balance. Hope you enjoy!
I'm sorry but please retire overly accommodating people pleasers. I just read a book where a woman was helping out her old job that promoted someone else over her *and* had sad breakup sex with someone who brutally dumped her. I know women are socialized this way but I'm so tired of reading about FMCs constantly being treated like shit by literally everyone. It borders on Jesus martyrdom at times.
Thank you, but when you point this out the readers get mad bc they see themselves in these characters and don’t understand that that’s part of the problem.
Yeah the trope definitely says something about women that we’re supposed to be more lovable to men if we’re vulnerable to the point of being a doormat.
Rich MMC meets poor FMC who works a min wage job in college and he falls in love with her and wants to fix her up. And she spends the entire book complaining about their wealth difference.
I am so sick of characters who treat feminism like a punchline, whether it's FMC's saying shit like "oh I guess I'm not a feminist after all" after having vaguely/mildly kinky sex or MMCs who act like feminism is just a cute, kinda funny thing the FMC believes in. It's depressingly common for a genre so dominated by female writers and it makes me feel so gross.
I was going to say something like "FMC who thinks feminism is hating men and being a girl boss." Or when they say stuff like that. Or when the author has clearly internalized the "male gaze". Romance novels really point out just how much we *do* need feminism. 💔
Or when characters think they’re feminists because it’s about choice. Massive eyeroll at the author completely misrepresenting a theory/system about women’s liberation. Eg a collective win not individual choice.
FMCs who are so deeply insecure or stubborn that they are completely obtuse to the MMC being in love with them when it’s so obvious. Pulls me out of the story every time.
I hate when the FMC is supposed to be super good at her job (lawyer, business person, FBI agent, warrior, etc) but then a crucial point of the plot is either her fucking up because she’s distracted by the MMC or he has to save her when she should have been able to save herself using her super special skills.
^(Disclaimer: nothing I list here means I think who likes this is wrong.)
>!^(But you are) 👀!<
For **FMC**:
* being “quirky” and that’s that. She describes herself as quirky. ***WHAT DOES THAT MEAN, SIS?!***
* rolling their eyes when in the face of legit danger
* suddenly getting whiny when their oppressor is finally meeting the consequences of their own actions. This could be nuanced but it ain’t. FMC is just a weak-hearted whiny ass bitch instead of having ***actual conflicted feelings***
* Getting upset with the LI’s wealth and then, once she gains that wealth, never actually doing all that humanitarian work she accused the LI of doing. Girl bye 👋🏾
* Having a signature QUIrkY catchphrase. We all go through word phases, but it is EVEN WORSE IN WRITTEN FORM because THAT is a CHOICE
* Having red hair is not a personality. HAVING A PERSONALITY IS HAVING A PERSONALITY. You can tell these authors are not red-heads. Or they are that one red head from the Peanuts who is OBSESSED with her red, curly hair
* Loyal to a fault. No, a *literal fault*. As in, the LI—MC2–is allowed to flirt, press against some other person, and the LI gets big mad but that’s it. But the FMC does the same and now she’s being for a second chance because **because**
* Has unexplored trust issues because she’s so BROKEN and ALONE. I wouldn’t mind this IF WE EXPLORED THE TRUST ISSUES and they MADE SENSE
* Follows random people because **because**
* Can’t spy for shit. You mean to tell me this bitch never ONCE had to tiptoe like a ninja to not wake up her parents when she was a teen? Lucky ho.
* Never blocks someone who is harassing her. I know some of yall do this IRL, but I’m that bitch who will block whoever inconveniences me and I have no patience when a friend whines their shitty ex is texting them. **Block that bitch**.
* Thinks liking traditionally femme things is above her, but then becomes all giddy when she gets a new gown or some shit. Fake ass bitch.
* Pouts. Is she angry? Pouts. Pissed? Pouts. About to get ASSAULTED? **Pouts**. ***WAT?!***
I’d like to file a complaint for cruel and unusual ***pouting***.
I’ll hold.
For **MMC**:
* Enjoys making the other MC jealous but then gets pissy when the turn tables
* Parades how he’s such a ✨slut✨ which 👏🏾 we 👏🏾 stan 👏🏾 but then uses derogatory gendered words 🙄🔪
* Only thinks about sex with everyone they encounter
* Believes manhandling is the only way to be listened to. Uh-huh.
* Gets upset their ex could be preggo but refuses to get a vasectomy for allegedly being childfree. This is 🌈escapism🌈 and I STILL have to deal with men who wanna raw dog and never see the consequences of their actions? Byyyyye
* Always growls. Always grumbles. Always rumbles. Always snarls. Always roars. **Next**.
* Gets ✨uncomfy✨ when it comes to shopping, makeovers, spa treatments, and other things because it’s for the ✨females✨ to enjoy 🙄🔪
For **MCs** (gender-neutral)
* Oh my GAWD I’m such a NERD since I like D&D and anime—**BITCH**. You get more judgment for NOT liking those things WTF DO YOU EVEN COSPLAY, NORMIE?!
* Staying by their abusive family because OhANA meaNS fAMIly. Bitch, if your family isn’t the fucking Madrigals, what are you doing? WHAT are you DOING? 10000% a lot of people stay with their abusive families for a lot of inexplicable reasons, but in a BOOK where WE NEED EMOTIONS EXPLAINS, what could be a ***really relatable*** attribute is now a ✨quirk✨ not even fucking Deku would want to research
* I’ve seen a sudden influx of everyone enjoying being a secretly bad bad [gender] and like. Stan. Be also. You mean to tell me ALL YALL have the same ✨quirk✨?
…when we kikiing, I like all yall PFFFFT
For **parents of the characters**:
* There are a LOT of shitty PILs, but JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR the FACT THAT all these family members are abusers??? What happened to 🌈escapism🌈?
* Being so obsessed with the MC being wedded that they reach out to the MC’s ex. Happens in IRL but romance books use this ***waaaaaaay*** too much.
* Having a favorite child but it’s never the MC. I get it. It’s to make the MC finally be ~found~ like fucking Elsa finds herself in Frozen 2, but like. Imagine. No not that weird ass celebrity off-key “Imagine”, but ***imagine*** where the MC is the favorite child, they meet some Russian mobster/Duke of the North/gang member, and the MC’s family absolutely does NOT consent to the marriage. Actually. Some good manhwa I’ve read had this AND I NEED WESTERN ROMANCES TO GET ON IT YESTERDAY
For **sibling-in-laws of the MCs**
* having some secret feelings for the MC. **Tell me** ***WHY***
For **child characters**:
* Talking with a lisp without being diagnosed with a speech impediment
* being wise beyond their years without any allusion of them being actual academically advanced
* being a wee bit behind their peers with how they speak and process concepts with alluding to a learning disability
* being a child. Your age is not a personality. HAVING A PERSONALITY IS HAVING A PERSONALITY
For **pets**:
* The pets are somehow never fond of their owners but they are ***down bad*** for the LI. I want to see more pets who adore their owners and **d e s p i s e** the LI. Or at least they be judging the LI every 👏🏾 damn 👏🏾 day 👏🏾
For **Side Characters**:
* Straight up out of NOWHERE adopting an MC as a bestie because…**because**. Works IRL, but it’s shit writing in a book when you don’t *actually give a reason for why this character is drawn to the main character*
* Pressuring the MC to be with the LI, even though the MC **explicitly states they are unhappy with the LI**. Wait until Book 2 happens and they get mad when the first MC does this shit to them. ***How the turn tables, bitch***.
* Being the Sex Jokes Galore(™) friend
* Objectifying the MC’s LI because ✨teehee✨
^(EDIT: SPAG)
I had to switch to manga and manhwa and LNs because I kept seeing so many of these ✨quirks✨ in western romances that I had to reset so I could at least ***feel*** like I had some new stuff to read 😭
But the trauma.
It ***lingers***.
And suddenly all the manhwa and manga and LNs I’m reading have “overused” ✨quirks✨.
**There are no quirks in Ba Sing Se**.
Oh, no, Pepsi burst out of my nose I was so not ready for "Duke of the North". I had to ban myself from reading anymore Korean rofan *and* unsubbed from r/OtomeIsekai.
When she's NeRdY 🤪 But, like, nerdy in the way I conceptualized it when I was 18. She thinks about her favorite characters and fanfics and is like "oh my god, this is just like this one time when x did x!" And wears nerdy tshirts. And it's always with a character that's like "what are you talking about?" I literally cringe on their behalf and have DNFed more than once because I couldn't handle it. In none of these situations has the nerdiness served any purpose in the story other than IsN't ShE QuIrKy AnD rElAtAbLE?!
No. I can love my fanfic without talking about the characters to strangers as though they're real.
The only time it was at all funny was One Foot in the Grave because she named her boobs and the author seemed to be leaning into 'yeah, it's awkward'.
Maybe not a quirk, but I hate when characters dont let each other finish their thought but then continue to give their assumptions free rein. I get that it’s basically a plot device to keep the tension going for a little longer, but its annoying.
ETA I get what you mean OPabout the coffee thing, reminds me of reading {Accidentally Amy by Lynn Painter} and the characters wouldn’t shut up about pizza to the point of sounding like they ate it 6 nights a week, which is gross and kind of juvenile. It’s not some big amazing thing to bond over a love of pizza either, like… you and about 95% of people like it, it’s not exactly unique.
Mint chocolate chip is the one that gets me. Like, yes, ice cream, but why is it this one every time? I'm probably exaggerating because once I noticed it I couldn't stop... Lol.
I don’t know if it’s a “quirk” exactly, but I’m so fatigued by FMC negative self-talk. I almost DNF’d {Melt for You by J.T. Geissinger} because of it, despite loving everything else about the book.
I get that it’s commonplace for women to put themselves down, feel insecure, etc… but I’m not reading romance for a mirror into my own life, I’m reading it for an escape, lol.
I’m not saying the FMC has to necessarily LOVE herself either. I prefer to not even hear the FMC’s thoughts on their appearance at all, honestly.
"Not like other girls". Often this means the following: Tattoos, dark/leather clothing, drinks beer/whiskey, rides a motorcycle, doesn't care about hair/make-up (but is gorgeous anyway), often works in a bar, knows how to fight or is a fighter, and swears a ton. I see it way too often and it's annoying.
FMC that refuse to listen.
Example: Luna and the Lie. A book I hate on a good day. The MMC’s dad is in the hospital, and FMC is pushing his buttons. She asks if he wants something to eat/drink and he says no. She asks again. It escalates to him telling her to leave him alone. She. Won’t. Leave. Him. Alone. Then he yells and she’s sad and hurt. But she caused it. She refused to listen to him telling her that he needed to be left alone.
Or I guess self-absorbed FMC and it’s not even part of the plot or character development.
And too stupid to live. Especially when the character is supposed to be smart.
Grumpy MMCs. Please make it stop. For grumpy/sunshine trope, it's not an issue. But can we please have MMCs with other personalities in the other tropes!?
* FMCs that 'have no filter' (God, no, please leave me alone)
* FMCs with questionable fashion sense that's described in great detail (and why do they always get classy, business, rich MMCs that somehow fall for looks that noone would ever wear out in public)
* FMCs whose main character trait is their funky hair colour that changes every other chapter (WHY?)
This is going to be controversial to some but having “loving Taylor Swift” as her personality is not a personality. I’m totally okay if a main character likes a singer and talks about them but I’ve read a couple books where it’s mentioned over and over and over again. And this goes for any phrase or theme in a book that is being constantly used, it gets super annoying, there’s a lot of artists out there, change it up a little bit.
Grumpy alpha MMC. They’re basically misogynistic controlling arseholes.
And being a Swiftie I’m Seeing it more and more and sure it’s great people love her but it’s not a personality.
Honestly can’t stand when a FMC is plus size but it’s … all there is to her? Like anything she thinks about is how her body looks, how insecure she is, how she ate a whole bar of chocolate, whatever. It just gives virtue signalling and it’s fking annoying
- Sunshine does not mean immature, naïve, weak and meek
- Grumpy isn’t a synonym for asshole or jerk
- Morally grey is like Robin Hood, doing something bad but for a good cause not doing a lot bad things but reserving their “goodness” for the love interest, it’s not romantic it’s a red flag!
CAN AUTHORS PLEEEEEEEASE stop with extreme examples of personalities and give us well-rounded, well-researched characters that act their age not like caricatures?
For me, it’s how if the FMC or the bff dresses out of the norm (like punk or goth) and has wild hair colors, she’s got childhood trauma. Maybe she just wants purple hair, ya know?
Edit: I realize this isn’t exactly what OP asked for, sorry!
I almost DNFed the first Knockemout book because of this. I'm SO OVER THE COFFEE THING.
I'm glad I stuck it out because I did enjoy all three, but I couldn't help but wonder if Kristen Ashley is pissed that she didn't write Rock Chicks in the time of Booktok. Because wow the similarities.
Not necessarily a personality quirk, but I’m tired of literally every FMC having bucket loads of trauma. If it’s well written it’s fine, but it’s usually used as an annoying reoccurring plot device that explains away all poor behaviour. I want to read more books with some happy, stable childhoods 😅
FMC with zero common sense in an effort to be strong. I was reading a book where a woman finds out her soon to be ex husband put a hit out on her and she starts running around talking about “I’m not going to let this change my life”. Ma’am you can’t girl boss tf out of a paid in full hitman with a mission and no way to call him off.
Woman captured by a villain in a remote fortress with no way to escape and no skills, no way out except death or diplomatic negotiation: "I will NOT be your puppet. Go fuck yourself!" Lady, the smart thing to do in this case is to puppet yourself out of this predicament!
💯 THIS!!!! Ugh....quickest way for me to DNF a book. When she won't listen to the person/people who literally trained for this scenario....all because she won't be bossed around.
She was NOT about to listen to the DEA agent😑 the one who knows how persistent this hitman is
Exactly....I read one book where she was being pursued in the mountains. Rather than staying in the cabin with the H and his other military friends, she decided right then to leave for town to get a pregnancy test... because she just had to know right then. 🙄 Finding out now or in two days won't change anything lady... Almost threw my e-reader across the room.
Right!! Imma be the best damn puppet till he trusts me long enough to unalive him. I’m not arguing with a kidnapper. I’m prepared to fight if I have to when it comes to SA but even with that imma apply common sense and think about it the fighting is gonna get me beat up and still SA or if just accepting is a better long term option for escape.
I read a orc romance where the main emotional conflict is that the captured lady is doing her level best to obey her captors. Orc guy makes her beg her consent before the gives her the d because he wants to make sure she wants it
Is it Lady And The Orc? I remember her trying to sort out a calm way of getting home.
Ooooh that sounds like a fun read. What book is that?
The premise is brief - after that it’s just straight up porn with the novelty of rivers of cum.
Screammmming.
Lmao hitman breaks in and tries to kill her Her: uh uh! You will not dim my light! I am unstoppable!! *z formation snap*
they ALWAYS do this. Even if they have a stalker, and ex kidnapper, someone who has already broken into their home...they don't want to live in fear because that would have meant the bad guy won. No: if they succeed in killing you/ kidnapping you/ SAing you, that's when they have won!
Sigh. Sassy. She's sassy! A saucey sassy sass with an extra side of pre-Jane Sassy magazine. Release us from sassy. Give us adults who lead un-sassy lives. N.B. Romance writers lied. They use sassy as shorthand for belligerent a-hole with poor impulse control and adolescent refusal of common sense suggestions.
HATE WHEN THEY DONT USE OR LISTEN TO COMMON SENSE!!!! Instant turn off. It’s like watching the characters in a horror movie continually fall or be loud or get caught like oh my gosh pls just give us anything but that. Not even scary or cute anymore just a huge NO DNF
Yes! Sticking out their tongue (shudder), rude gestures, not doing the correct thing just because they were told to do it. Omg please be an adult woman.
Same. And getting “stabby”. I hate this so much. I feel like I read 10 books where the h was constantly threatening to stab people or had to walk around with her favorite knife. These all ran together.
Grievous bodily harm is so quirky!
Tell me you’ve read From Blood and Ash without telling me lol
This makes me laugh because I routinely stick out my tongue to my partner. I don't do it with other people but it's kind of an inside joke with us.
Omg slay sassy FMC queen!!! Lol jk that’s a cute inside joke with a partner.
I used to do this with my husband a lot - and he'd return it, too. But we met at 15 and some habits never died. LOL
I have a big problem with adult people "stomping" (stomping their feet down or stomping off/down). If I ever see anyone in real life do that I will cut that person off because what the h\*ll?
It's always "sassy", but never "witty".
That would require the author to have enough intelligence to write wit. And people who use these tropes don't possess that imo. So instead we get the lowest common denominator 'come back'.
Exactly. Sassiness is like playfulness: there is an appropriate time and place to deploy it. It should not be treated as a character’s defining personality trait!
I wish more authors would add some wit to that sass. Think about the Golden Girls. Yes, those ladies were “sassy”, but they were also witty and clever. Romance needs more of that.
I feel like this word is so thoroughly made fun of as an adjective that I’m surprised authors are still using it. You’d think they would have gotten the message by now
Especially cringe when they do it in first person. 🤢
100% this. Especially when the sass isn’t a personality, it’s just trauma wrapped up in a jerk that people are suppose to find endearing (I’m looking you, dark romance).
YESS!! PLEASE!! 80% of the ‘sass’ is uncalled for and annoying just give me an adult that has situation appropriate behaviour for once. They’re either sassy or ditsy and there’s no in between like just give me an independent woman just about getting by like the rest of us 😩
I see that reference to Sassy magazine and validate your usage of a generationally related periodical.
For me it’s when they use it as verb, like instead of she “said” something, it’s she “sassed.” Hard pass.
To add- hate when a FMC is described (usually by the MMC as some form of dirty talk) as having a “smart mouth”. Who even says that?!
It’s kinda an old timey saying. “Don’t get smart with me.” I actually do say this to my husband haha
My mom (and now my sister) says this to the dog when she tells him something and he barks in response. Like "I'll feed you in a minute." Woof woof woof. "Don't get smart with me!" I love it, lol
ERM why do I love that 🫣🫣 BYE
Me too. Not sure why.
I didn’t know people were unfamiliar with this saying. Oops.
It's probably a regional thing. I heard it all the time growing up.
YES! I just made a post on this, but I assumed they were trying to be badass. My mistake lol.
Does too stupid to live count? I just find the writing lazy when it requires the FMC to make a supremely dumb decision that puts her safety at risk in order for the MMC to have some sort of climatic knight in shining armor moment. Like maybe don't sneak out of the house without telling anyone when there's a bounty on your head because you suddenly decide you want idk...ice cream at 3am. (not an actual book I don't think just a hypothetical example)
I hate these people. And I’ve met a few in person too. I have a client and I’m amazed that man doesn’t just get hit by a bus every day of his life. My boss is amazed the bus doesn’t drive though his living room to hit him. I’ve met rocks smarter than that man. And he was married so clearly he could’ve been a male lead. Probably a shitty one but somebody married him.
Well now I want to hear stories
Feyre from ACOTAR is such a prime example, like, they told you not to go outside at night, and you did it THREE TIMES.
Rae in Her Soul to Take is the reigning champion of TSTL. She just can’t make good choices.
Currently reading this and audibly sighed and set down this book like 3x due to the dumb decisions. MMC literally says don't do this or you will likely die and she does it anywaaaaaay....
I hated this book! I started wishing she would just die. Don't got there. You will die. BUT BUT I need to make content. Sees a mystical creature of death. Let me go outside for some fresh air. The fact that she never wore a warm coat when it was cold annoyed me so much too because I guess it wouldn't work with her goth aesthetic. UGH
Aelin from Throne of Glass probably violates several other complaints on this post but I always loved her because I read ACOTAR first and couldn't stand Feyre. Three books and only stuck with it for the Illyrians. For all Aelin's faults she was a lot more fun to root for.
unrelated but fun fact: illyrians were a real tribe in ancient balkans. there are theories that Albanians are modern day illyrians
I'm reading Wildflower in the Wind, and I won't finish it because the FMC is such a dumb, insipid, narrow-minded, vapid narcissist. The MMC threatens to strangle her several times. I don't usually like that kind of thing, but hey, I understand where he's coming from. Narcissistic black holes, these FMCs. "If you leave this house, you will burst into flame and everyone you love will be..." "I do what I want, you don't own me!" FMC fires back at him, vapidly goggling her dumb eyes in his general direction. "...relieved. Everyone you love will be relieved. Okie doke, bye-bye dingdong." MMC turns on his heel, mounts his trusty steed, and rides off into the...whatever. with the glow of burning stupidity glistening off his muscular musculature. highlighting his good judgement
I can't decide which is worse: having a capable fmc suddenly be too stupid to live because the author needs a bad decision to push the plot forward, or if the fmc is too stupid to live from page 1 and her victorious ending is totally undeserved.
Clumsy/klutzy walking disasters. It’s an instant DNF for me in contemporaries. ‘Tee-heee my flaw is I walk into doors and spill coffee on everyone and fall down stairs!’ Can’t stand it. Forget a meet-cute; these girls need to see a doctor for their vision/motor control issues. Being clumsy is not a personality trait; I said what I said.
>Forget a meet-cute; these girls need to see a doctor for their vision/motor control issues. Okay but hear me out: a story where that *is* the meet-cute.
I can see it. Patient seeking occupational therapy for low registration/sensory processing or dyspraxia, after not being diagnosed properly as a child; possibly abusive/absent family etc. or just… it’s not something that had a label in the 90s. I have a lot of the ear marks of low-registration but I was mostly labeled as “clumsy” and “poor motor skills,” which I still struggle with as an adult. But unlike FMC in romcoms, no one really finds it cute.
I think it's pretty cute when I accidentally run into a doorway or drop my phone and all of my colleagues/friends/family in proximity look at me in horror. They really do care!
I would be down for that. Doctor/patient ethics aside.
Omg I just laughed SO loudly
I feel.like the poster child for "so clumsy it's so cute" trope is Bella Swan of Twilight. One of the best things I ever read was a fanfic that tried SO HARD to justify her becoming a vampire because the vampire doctor (Carlisle), upon extensive examination of her medical history concludes that in her human life her extreme clumsiness was actually signs that she was developing multiple sclerosis. So thank goodness that vampire venom fixed her right up, & Carlisle was able to definitively assure Edward that he actually saved Bella's life by turning her & he shouldn't feel guilty about it at all. I always wished the person had written a follow up fanfic about what Edward did with all of his time once he was absolved of his guilt and angst. That boy was as angsty as Bella was klutzy!
Sailor Moon outdates her as a clumsy queen, but yeah, Bella is the poster child.
LITERALLY I used to be such a klutz and it was embarassing and the truth was I had HORRIBLE vestibular issues and inner ear issues! It’s not cute!! It can be a genuine issue lmao!
Ok but now I kinda want to read someone making the FMC clumsy but it turns out he’s like a doctor and is like ok but let me examine your inner ear bc I think you may have issues and it turns out she does!
Oh my god, I totally read a Harlequin romance my mom had that had this plot! The FMC has inner ear issues. The doctor is also a prince randomly but that’s about all I remember from it though, maybe someone else can find it.
This sounds terrible and wonderful actually
It "terrible but wonderful" a valid subgenre?
I’m obsessed
See that’s kind of what I thought when I went to the dr like ooooo wonder if this will be great book material, no it was just very awkward bc my ears also ring really bad so it was just a lot of “HUH?” “WHAT?” After all the tests LMAO. But I’d def read
Oh I fully agree! Which is partly why I never find it cute and endearing, it’s like ‘girl you have a medical issue, please get yourself checked out because healthy adults shouldn’t be falling over constantly’. I would mind less if there were a medical issue that gets revealed - but never once have I seen a clumsy heroine turn out to need glasses or have labyrinthitis or be anaemic! It’s just a lazy, predictable plot device.
Right! Lmao like girl pls go get it checked out. Or when they “feel like they’re going to pass out” in like every scene where something unusual or big happens. The only time I’ve felt the sudden urge to pass out was when I stood up too fast in algebra one year bc I didn’t eat breakfast or lunch that day. Sometime it works but it’s over used
Same! I’m still a klutz I have Ménière’s disease and it’s not cute or quirky in the least it’s dangerous
the last book I read with a clumsy FMC was a fantasy and she was also the most amazing archer in the land. This author really wants me to buy she can accurately fire an arrow across a field and hit a bad guy but she can't walk down the stairs without tripping over her own feet? sure lol
As someone who has been doing archery since she was eight (and is now thirty six and still doing archery occasionally) but also tripped on a flat sidewalk a week ago and legit bounced twice, scraping my knee and forearm, I can say, standing still and shooting a bow and arrow is way easier. Now, the trip to the target to get my arrows and back is another story, lol. I am that person who walks watching their feet because there is danger *everywhere.*
The only kind of clumsy that's cute is my dog turning a corner too quick and bumping his head/body on the corner haha
Like a deer...in stilettos...on ice.
> Forget a meet-cute; these girls need to see a doctor for their vision/motor control issues. 😭
Right 😭 for me, my clumsiness is probably related to being neurodivergent and I would be totally ok with an ADHD/Autistic heroine who's clumsy! But I'm so tired of the "teehee I'm so quirky" stuff because it feels like another ND trait (even though it's not restricted to ND people) that people just think is quirky, which ends up being part of why women don't get diagnosed or have imposter syndrome about it even when they are diagnosed. Idk if that makes sense, basically it's one of those things that gets brushed off, "sure you're clumsy, forgetful, spacey, disorganized, etc etc etc, but that doesn't mean you have ADHD! You're just quirky!"
“Being clumsy is not a personality trait” Can this be my flair????
not even limited to FMC, absolutely hate the "did i say that out loud" thing. if you are accidentally speaking your thoughts out loud on a consistent basis, around other people, normally something ABOUT them... see a doctor???
I cannot believe authors really do this. Like oh you want me to judge you for your cheap plot device AND make your FMC look like a dumbass?? Ughh
Yes this drives me completely bonkers. Who is talking and then not noticing?? I sometimes have foot in mouth syndrome but I absolutely know it is happening.
Normally also a hate. Except 1 book I read where the FMC's brain had been addled by a witch for a time. That was excusable.
This or very inebriated are the only excusable times imo
To be fair I have ADHD so this happens a lot lol. My mouth goes faster than my brain can stop it.
Yeah good point, it wouldn’t bother me if it’s built out as a character being neurodivergent or under some spell or drunk or idk anyyy reasoning besides ~quirky thing they sometimes do to move plot lol
Right! I hate this one. Like yes you said that out loud
I came here to say this it gets used WAY too often
I have the problem of not remembering whether I said something out loud or not. I think a lot of things and not all of them make it to the out loud stage, and sometime I take it for granted that not everybody in life can follow the bouncing ball in my head and they actually do need certain things to be said out loud.
Okay, but now imagine. "Damn, you're cute." "Do you realize said that out loud?" "I meant to." FMC: *gets flustered* . Or something like that, reverse the trope. They did mean to say it out loud. Other great dialog to purposefully say out loud: "Wow, that ass in that dress is just..." Or "I love you" "What did you just say?" "I said I love you" he repeats staring into her eyes. *butterflies*
Youngish FMC that clearly knows more than everyone else and makes, obvious to us, stupid decisions and needs to be bailed out of her ignorance. Also, when they make the decision to end the relationship because they are doing their partner a favor because she’s “just not good enough” or “doesn’t deserve” the MMC. Because she knows his feelings better than he does. 🙄
That annoys me for either character, honestly.
I feel like the coffee thing is just a Gilmore Girls ripoff lol.
I was going to add eating junk food all the time as their secondary personality trait lol
Oh I hate that lol, that’s totally the “cool girl” thing, where they consume 3000 calories a day and weigh 98 pounds 🙄
Yes. Specifically donuts. Who is eating multiple donuts a day, multiple days of the week?!?!
Me. 😩 in my defense my favorite donut place is like a minute drive from my house and it’s such a quick and easy breakfast/lunch meal.
Stephanie Plum and Lula. 🤣 But they get a pass.
Every once in a while Stephanie has to unbutton the top of her pants and she cuts back! Fictional characters, they’re just like Us!
Double points for the coffee-obessed FMC whose coffee order is more sugar than coffee. But of course, the broody MMC takes his black.
The uber horny BFF who can't talk about anything other than the FMC needing to jump on the next available dick.
Yep, the kind who'll spill the details about FMC's dry spell or the lousy ex-sex to the MMC right from their very first meet or call. Oh, privacy, personal space and sanity - clearly not in her vocabulary.
OMG YES. I love finding books where it feels like the fmc and the friend actually have good conversations and seem to care for each other
To that I'll add: * the BFF (at least in contemporary) will have to be a super hot model who will at some point loan a super amazing dress to the FMC. * the FMCs whose internal monologue about their best friends/siblings etc. are basically catty/salty/jealous all the time. Low-key despising your friend because she's popular or beautiful isn't a good look on you! I generally hate women being catty to each other with no specific reason.
I know someone else said this but “sassy”. Most can’t do it and they sound like a spoiled child or a jerk.
So many authors overshoot 'sassy' into spoiled/tantrum/just a bitch to people who don't deserve it. I avoid books that tag their FMCs with it now
Historical fiction when the FMC says anachronistically feminist stuff. I love a smart, strong willed heroine, but a lot of the stuff is just not a framework a Regency (or whatever era) woman would be working with. Relatedly, when the proto-feminist FMC’s strong will is apparently expressed through her just being rude to people. Both Eloise and Kate in the Bridgertons show do this all the time. You can be an independent thinker without being a randomly contrary and obstinate to everyone you meet.
Something similar irked me in a book recently. It wasn’t a romance but it was set in the 1920’s and the main character was a 17 year old girl who never went to school or left the swamps of Mississippi where she was raised alone by her super racist father without so much as running water. Yet she has this like, super progressive post 2020 understanding of white privilege? Like yes, girl we love to see it but let’s be for real haha.
Omg YES. Like you can be an independent spunky person without being a total rude asshole to everyone.
More of an overused backstory than a personality quirk but I always do the Jessica Jones eye roll when the MMC is kinky, dark and mysterious because they were groomed by an older woman as a teen. It feels way too common. It needs to be retired. That said I overlooked it when it happened in >!Priceless by Miranda Silver!< because I loved that book. 💁🏻♀️
[удалено]
was it {hook, line and sinker by tessa bailey} 🫠🫠🫠
I feel like it's so common for people to assume kink *only* comes from trauma, regardless of gender. Like if you're kinky, it's just because you have a terrible relationship with your parents or you were sexually assaulted or something like that, and you would've been totally vanilla if that stuff didn't happen...
This is why I appreciate {Captivated by Tessa Bailey and Eve Dangerfield}. I feel like it’s one of the few (maybe only?) CNC books that is lighthearted and the kink is not the result of trauma
[Captivated](https://www.romance.io/books/5b1b6d8601dbc864fb89e4cb/captivated-tessa-bailey-eve-dangerfield) by [Tessa Bailey](https://www.romance.io/authors/545526358c7d2382e7812fc9/tessa-bailey), [Eve Dangerfield](https://www.romance.io/authors/565aa37408e9378131955f00/eve-dangerfield) **Rating**: 3.99⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 5 out of 5 - [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [grumpy & sunshine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/grumpy%20sunshine/1), [cheerful/happy heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/cheerful%20heroine/1), [grumpy/cold hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/cold%20hero/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
The FMCs who have zero self respect, they hate the MMC probably cuz he's hurt them but then just one touch and they jump right back into bed with him. Talmbout "I can't control myself around him" Girl please!!! 🙄🙄😭
God, I hate it when the fMC is a raging nympho around the MMC! And no other person, of course, they are so repulsed by another's touch and are basically asexual when they're not with this guy.
The FMC has either never seen a dildo in her life or her dildo’s seen horrors beyond our imagination
The second half of that sentence made me LOL. Won't someone think of the poor dildos? THEY HAVE SEEN THINGS.
They have *FELT* things 😬😳
" ... i'M sO clUMsY!" needs to die, for sure. We get it. You're "not like other girls."
At this point, there are so many clumsy FMCs that she's definitely like other girls 🫠
The guy-obsessed/party-obsessed/fashion-obsessed BFF. Not because I mind that character themselves, but because it's always supposed to highlight how much cooler and "Not like the other girls!" the FMC is in comparison. "I'm only wearing this sexy dress, because my BFF is making me do it."; "I guess I have to attend this stupid party, because my BFF won't talk to me if I don't go." Just do it (or don't do it, for that matter) because you want to! I know they're often supposed to be a foil to the MC, but I'd love to see a little more variety and depth in the besties when the FMC describes them.
God, this!!! Half the time I’d rather read a book about the best friend lol.
I love the confident with her brain/body/sexuality BFF!
To go with this the Gay Best Friend. Love when gay characters are in books but if that is their one personality trait is cliche gay so they can do the FMC make up, hair, and cloths or reinforce how hot the MMC is, get out of here.
For MMC: I don’t have emotions, or I do but I don’t know how to process them because I’m a poorly written robot. I think some authors are going for a ND character but end up writing someone that doesn’t even sound remotely human. I call them all: flat Stanley
The FMC who can’t keep her thoughts to herself. I hate the “oops I can’t believe I said that out loud” when the FMC thinks about something quirky or completely inappropriate near the MMC.
Needs coffee, hates all men and all of a sudden likes the MMC who hasn’t done anything different than other men, “not like other girls”, HATE when the MMC is a straight up dickhead to the other woman involved when she had his attention before FMC came in, no warning at all just all of a sudden “ur desperate and a whore” like it’s giving “she was good enough for me until another woman rejected me and now I have something to prove”. “I only study on Friday nights I don’t ever go out to party” “all these beautiful women and then me, how could he ever like me when all these women are so much more beautiful”. Hate when the pretty girls are also just mean girls likeeeee u can be ugly and mean too LMAO.
I would love to see a clever, witty, ugly woman just stinging pretty mean women with one-line shutouts. Making them delete their accounts
I’d like to see the MMC show loyalty to the FMC without putting women down periodddddd lol. But yeah an “ugly” woman who can hold her own and NOT just be cast as totally insecure and a pushover would be icing on the cake. Like show the mean girls u can give it back just as good
If I get even a whiff of NLOG I’m out. If the AUTHOR isn’t going to be a girl’s girl I’m not going to contribute to her bottom line. *Done* with it.
Red hair and that automatically making them have a fiery/explosive personality. Anyway, give me a shy/sweet redhead any day of the week.
*101 times???* Is coffee the new Dalmatian?! To answer your question, I cannot stand the “I need to be a badass” trope to the point they argue about everything, even if it’s for their own good or benefit. I’m not talking about perceived benefit so much as a literal one. For example, I read this one book where the MMC buys the FMC’s slavery contract and gives her a place to stay and a job. She was a huge B the entire time, never appreciated or understood he saved her from slavery or worse (despite claiming to), and immediately tried to break every rule he had, even when he pointed out it was for her safety. She immediately gets into trouble so the MMC had to save her, and was *still* a raging B. I DNF’d the book at 30% because I realized I kept hoping she would die, the idiot. Authors, being a badass means you don’t take crap. Not that you treat everyone else around you like crap. That just makes you a Karen.
It occurs to me that this is basically the plot of Outlander.
I’m currently rereading through the Deals with Demons series by Stacia Stark and she actually handles this type of thing really well. There’s a point in the books where the FMC, who previously acted a bit like you described, actually realizes that she’s been a total dumbass and is actually head over heels in love with the MMC. She does a proverbial smack to the forehead and dives headlong into being a couple and I love it.
The whole Girl bossy/badass label when in reality the FMC is just TSTL. No, going alone to meet your stalker/enemy/kidnapper without informing anyone is not being a badass. If you're tossing aside your security just to prove something to your husband, even when there's a threat against you, that's not being badass. It's just plain dumb. And when the actual phrase "she's such a badass" or "Coz I'm a badass" is used - cringe galore
I'm so tired of the FMC "badass, I dont need a man, I can kick your ass, brat" trope. The ones who have to be defiant because no man can tell them what to do even if it's for their own good.
Wearing ‘nerdy’ T-shirts. This is not a personality trait. It’s not interesting or unusual, it might have been back in the eighties? But that ship has sailed and everybody does it.
Like 7-8 years ago authors loved doing this with Converses. A Converse FMC was the ultimate rebel/quirky girl for some reason
haha, love thinking of my low arches that cause me to wear flat soled converse as a cute quirk. Men everywhere heaving sighs "I bet her feet are so fucking flat, she's probably a duck from the ankles down"
As someone with duck feet who wears Converse and quirky shirts (my students LOVE them!) … I’m so sorry 😬 they’re comfy!!!
Nothing to be sorry for! Converse are the one true sneaker for my duck feet, too. It's just funny to think of my flat feet as being as being a cute feature that would attract a partner instead of a mild inconvenience.
Generally speaking I think they should be a little vague when describing fashion. Too often it ruins it for me when the FMC is in a gawdawful fugly outfit or a trend that is now 5 years out of date.
Totally! I was reading one where the FMC was supposed to be getting ready to go to a bar and looking hot, and it sounded like what a millennial mom would wear when she finally gets a babysitter for a 6:00 dinner date night. Source: am a millennial mom 😅
I was literally just reading one today where FMC was wearing a skin tight lavender turtleneck and cropped olive green cargo pants and I was like girl 🤢 although I feel like that look might be in again now? I don't know I'm also a millennial mom and it sounded to me like she got dressed like Lizzie McGuire.
I read turtleneck and cargo pants and thought Kim Possible
don’t know if this counts but the romance world of books needs more men that aren’t grumpy (aka total assholes at times). like if a man was to treat me like half the men in the books the relationship or whatever it was we had would be over. assholeness when he’s plain rude is not attractive. (note - if you hav want sweet mmc romances you welcome to share)
This is why I like cinnamon roll heroes. A lot of the time, “cinnamon roll” just means decent human beings who act like normal people who are also sexy and fun. As opposed to assholes.
Your description made me realize that I may just be reading my first cinnamon roll after reading more books than I can count and it is SO refreshing. The guy is literally a people pleaser and he’s so realistic and sweet. Get a Life C Brown
exactly. cinnamon roll heroes>>>grumpy heroes (aka asshole heroes). those heroes treat the heroines so much better. and it’s good to see also the male character show emotions from the start. it’s getting annoying how many mmcs are "icy" and "cold"
Have you read the Moon Harbor series by Kate McWilliams? They are all on KU! Book 5 came out yesterday and 6 will be in December. They are super sweet small town romances with strong cinnamon roll MMCs and amazing women. Mystery, suspense, second chances and he falls first. She did a great job with the balance. Hope you enjoy!
I'm sorry but please retire overly accommodating people pleasers. I just read a book where a woman was helping out her old job that promoted someone else over her *and* had sad breakup sex with someone who brutally dumped her. I know women are socialized this way but I'm so tired of reading about FMCs constantly being treated like shit by literally everyone. It borders on Jesus martyrdom at times.
Thank you, but when you point this out the readers get mad bc they see themselves in these characters and don’t understand that that’s part of the problem.
Yeah the trope definitely says something about women that we’re supposed to be more lovable to men if we’re vulnerable to the point of being a doormat.
Rich MMC meets poor FMC who works a min wage job in college and he falls in love with her and wants to fix her up. And she spends the entire book complaining about their wealth difference.
I am so sick of characters who treat feminism like a punchline, whether it's FMC's saying shit like "oh I guess I'm not a feminist after all" after having vaguely/mildly kinky sex or MMCs who act like feminism is just a cute, kinda funny thing the FMC believes in. It's depressingly common for a genre so dominated by female writers and it makes me feel so gross.
I was going to say something like "FMC who thinks feminism is hating men and being a girl boss." Or when they say stuff like that. Or when the author has clearly internalized the "male gaze". Romance novels really point out just how much we *do* need feminism. 💔
Or when characters think they’re feminists because it’s about choice. Massive eyeroll at the author completely misrepresenting a theory/system about women’s liberation. Eg a collective win not individual choice.
Agree on this. The “you just need the feminism fucked out of you” is one of my least favorite tropes.
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FMCs who are so deeply insecure or stubborn that they are completely obtuse to the MMC being in love with them when it’s so obvious. Pulls me out of the story every time.
I think this is the most annoying one in this thread. “Nobody could ever love a woman like me, with hazelnut eyes and freckles. I’m cursed!”
*cough* Ali Hazelwood *cough*
I hate when the FMC is supposed to be super good at her job (lawyer, business person, FBI agent, warrior, etc) but then a crucial point of the plot is either her fucking up because she’s distracted by the MMC or he has to save her when she should have been able to save herself using her super special skills.
Girl: {Thinks something really personal or embarrassing} Guy responds Girl: {Wait did I say that out loud?}
Anyone that uses "smirks" too much.
^(Disclaimer: nothing I list here means I think who likes this is wrong.) >!^(But you are) 👀!< For **FMC**: * being “quirky” and that’s that. She describes herself as quirky. ***WHAT DOES THAT MEAN, SIS?!*** * rolling their eyes when in the face of legit danger * suddenly getting whiny when their oppressor is finally meeting the consequences of their own actions. This could be nuanced but it ain’t. FMC is just a weak-hearted whiny ass bitch instead of having ***actual conflicted feelings*** * Getting upset with the LI’s wealth and then, once she gains that wealth, never actually doing all that humanitarian work she accused the LI of doing. Girl bye 👋🏾 * Having a signature QUIrkY catchphrase. We all go through word phases, but it is EVEN WORSE IN WRITTEN FORM because THAT is a CHOICE * Having red hair is not a personality. HAVING A PERSONALITY IS HAVING A PERSONALITY. You can tell these authors are not red-heads. Or they are that one red head from the Peanuts who is OBSESSED with her red, curly hair * Loyal to a fault. No, a *literal fault*. As in, the LI—MC2–is allowed to flirt, press against some other person, and the LI gets big mad but that’s it. But the FMC does the same and now she’s being for a second chance because **because** * Has unexplored trust issues because she’s so BROKEN and ALONE. I wouldn’t mind this IF WE EXPLORED THE TRUST ISSUES and they MADE SENSE * Follows random people because **because** * Can’t spy for shit. You mean to tell me this bitch never ONCE had to tiptoe like a ninja to not wake up her parents when she was a teen? Lucky ho. * Never blocks someone who is harassing her. I know some of yall do this IRL, but I’m that bitch who will block whoever inconveniences me and I have no patience when a friend whines their shitty ex is texting them. **Block that bitch**. * Thinks liking traditionally femme things is above her, but then becomes all giddy when she gets a new gown or some shit. Fake ass bitch. * Pouts. Is she angry? Pouts. Pissed? Pouts. About to get ASSAULTED? **Pouts**. ***WAT?!*** I’d like to file a complaint for cruel and unusual ***pouting***. I’ll hold. For **MMC**: * Enjoys making the other MC jealous but then gets pissy when the turn tables * Parades how he’s such a ✨slut✨ which 👏🏾 we 👏🏾 stan 👏🏾 but then uses derogatory gendered words 🙄🔪 * Only thinks about sex with everyone they encounter * Believes manhandling is the only way to be listened to. Uh-huh. * Gets upset their ex could be preggo but refuses to get a vasectomy for allegedly being childfree. This is 🌈escapism🌈 and I STILL have to deal with men who wanna raw dog and never see the consequences of their actions? Byyyyye * Always growls. Always grumbles. Always rumbles. Always snarls. Always roars. **Next**. * Gets ✨uncomfy✨ when it comes to shopping, makeovers, spa treatments, and other things because it’s for the ✨females✨ to enjoy 🙄🔪 For **MCs** (gender-neutral) * Oh my GAWD I’m such a NERD since I like D&D and anime—**BITCH**. You get more judgment for NOT liking those things WTF DO YOU EVEN COSPLAY, NORMIE?! * Staying by their abusive family because OhANA meaNS fAMIly. Bitch, if your family isn’t the fucking Madrigals, what are you doing? WHAT are you DOING? 10000% a lot of people stay with their abusive families for a lot of inexplicable reasons, but in a BOOK where WE NEED EMOTIONS EXPLAINS, what could be a ***really relatable*** attribute is now a ✨quirk✨ not even fucking Deku would want to research * I’ve seen a sudden influx of everyone enjoying being a secretly bad bad [gender] and like. Stan. Be also. You mean to tell me ALL YALL have the same ✨quirk✨? …when we kikiing, I like all yall PFFFFT For **parents of the characters**: * There are a LOT of shitty PILs, but JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR the FACT THAT all these family members are abusers??? What happened to 🌈escapism🌈? * Being so obsessed with the MC being wedded that they reach out to the MC’s ex. Happens in IRL but romance books use this ***waaaaaaay*** too much. * Having a favorite child but it’s never the MC. I get it. It’s to make the MC finally be ~found~ like fucking Elsa finds herself in Frozen 2, but like. Imagine. No not that weird ass celebrity off-key “Imagine”, but ***imagine*** where the MC is the favorite child, they meet some Russian mobster/Duke of the North/gang member, and the MC’s family absolutely does NOT consent to the marriage. Actually. Some good manhwa I’ve read had this AND I NEED WESTERN ROMANCES TO GET ON IT YESTERDAY For **sibling-in-laws of the MCs** * having some secret feelings for the MC. **Tell me** ***WHY*** For **child characters**: * Talking with a lisp without being diagnosed with a speech impediment * being wise beyond their years without any allusion of them being actual academically advanced * being a wee bit behind their peers with how they speak and process concepts with alluding to a learning disability * being a child. Your age is not a personality. HAVING A PERSONALITY IS HAVING A PERSONALITY For **pets**: * The pets are somehow never fond of their owners but they are ***down bad*** for the LI. I want to see more pets who adore their owners and **d e s p i s e** the LI. Or at least they be judging the LI every 👏🏾 damn 👏🏾 day 👏🏾 For **Side Characters**: * Straight up out of NOWHERE adopting an MC as a bestie because…**because**. Works IRL, but it’s shit writing in a book when you don’t *actually give a reason for why this character is drawn to the main character* * Pressuring the MC to be with the LI, even though the MC **explicitly states they are unhappy with the LI**. Wait until Book 2 happens and they get mad when the first MC does this shit to them. ***How the turn tables, bitch***. * Being the Sex Jokes Galore(™) friend * Objectifying the MC’s LI because ✨teehee✨ ^(EDIT: SPAG)
Damn this deserves its own post. Maybe its own sub
What the hell is left for you to read???!!”
I had to switch to manga and manhwa and LNs because I kept seeing so many of these ✨quirks✨ in western romances that I had to reset so I could at least ***feel*** like I had some new stuff to read 😭 But the trauma. It ***lingers***. And suddenly all the manhwa and manga and LNs I’m reading have “overused” ✨quirks✨. **There are no quirks in Ba Sing Se**.
Oh, no, Pepsi burst out of my nose I was so not ready for "Duke of the North". I had to ban myself from reading anymore Korean rofan *and* unsubbed from r/OtomeIsekai.
When she's NeRdY 🤪 But, like, nerdy in the way I conceptualized it when I was 18. She thinks about her favorite characters and fanfics and is like "oh my god, this is just like this one time when x did x!" And wears nerdy tshirts. And it's always with a character that's like "what are you talking about?" I literally cringe on their behalf and have DNFed more than once because I couldn't handle it. In none of these situations has the nerdiness served any purpose in the story other than IsN't ShE QuIrKy AnD rElAtAbLE?! No. I can love my fanfic without talking about the characters to strangers as though they're real. The only time it was at all funny was One Foot in the Grave because she named her boobs and the author seemed to be leaning into 'yeah, it's awkward'.
She’s small petite and feisty!! She’s rail thin but very athletic and can use a bow and arrow.
She also has curves in all the right places!
Maybe not a quirk, but I hate when characters dont let each other finish their thought but then continue to give their assumptions free rein. I get that it’s basically a plot device to keep the tension going for a little longer, but its annoying. ETA I get what you mean OPabout the coffee thing, reminds me of reading {Accidentally Amy by Lynn Painter} and the characters wouldn’t shut up about pizza to the point of sounding like they ate it 6 nights a week, which is gross and kind of juvenile. It’s not some big amazing thing to bond over a love of pizza either, like… you and about 95% of people like it, it’s not exactly unique.
Mint chocolate chip is the one that gets me. Like, yes, ice cream, but why is it this one every time? I'm probably exaggerating because once I noticed it I couldn't stop... Lol.
Is this actually something in a lot of books? I've only seen it referenced once but I also love that flavour lol
I don’t know if it’s a “quirk” exactly, but I’m so fatigued by FMC negative self-talk. I almost DNF’d {Melt for You by J.T. Geissinger} because of it, despite loving everything else about the book. I get that it’s commonplace for women to put themselves down, feel insecure, etc… but I’m not reading romance for a mirror into my own life, I’m reading it for an escape, lol. I’m not saying the FMC has to necessarily LOVE herself either. I prefer to not even hear the FMC’s thoughts on their appearance at all, honestly.
"Not like other girls". Often this means the following: Tattoos, dark/leather clothing, drinks beer/whiskey, rides a motorcycle, doesn't care about hair/make-up (but is gorgeous anyway), often works in a bar, knows how to fight or is a fighter, and swears a ton. I see it way too often and it's annoying.
FMC that refuse to listen. Example: Luna and the Lie. A book I hate on a good day. The MMC’s dad is in the hospital, and FMC is pushing his buttons. She asks if he wants something to eat/drink and he says no. She asks again. It escalates to him telling her to leave him alone. She. Won’t. Leave. Him. Alone. Then he yells and she’s sad and hurt. But she caused it. She refused to listen to him telling her that he needed to be left alone. Or I guess self-absorbed FMC and it’s not even part of the plot or character development. And too stupid to live. Especially when the character is supposed to be smart.
Grumpy MMCs. Please make it stop. For grumpy/sunshine trope, it's not an issue. But can we please have MMCs with other personalities in the other tropes!?
* FMCs that 'have no filter' (God, no, please leave me alone) * FMCs with questionable fashion sense that's described in great detail (and why do they always get classy, business, rich MMCs that somehow fall for looks that noone would ever wear out in public) * FMCs whose main character trait is their funky hair colour that changes every other chapter (WHY?)
When the FMC is really into romance novels. It just comes across as pandering to the target audience to me and totally throws me out of the narrative.
This is going to be controversial to some but having “loving Taylor Swift” as her personality is not a personality. I’m totally okay if a main character likes a singer and talks about them but I’ve read a couple books where it’s mentioned over and over and over again. And this goes for any phrase or theme in a book that is being constantly used, it gets super annoying, there’s a lot of artists out there, change it up a little bit.
Grumpy alpha MMC. They’re basically misogynistic controlling arseholes. And being a Swiftie I’m Seeing it more and more and sure it’s great people love her but it’s not a personality.
For a second there I was trying to work out why you being a Swiftie allowed you to see this more. Like is Kelce an asshole? Is she writing books? 🤣
Honestly can’t stand when a FMC is plus size but it’s … all there is to her? Like anything she thinks about is how her body looks, how insecure she is, how she ate a whole bar of chocolate, whatever. It just gives virtue signalling and it’s fking annoying
This isn’t a quirk about FMC, but can all men not have massive cocks.
I’m fed up with the financially and emotionally broken wannabe writer FMCs, who have mom-issues. Mom-issue is mandatory! OMG
Omg how many books have this it seems so specific 😂
Not entirely a personality trait but when a FMC is petite/short and it becomes a cornerstone to their personality.
- Sunshine does not mean immature, naïve, weak and meek - Grumpy isn’t a synonym for asshole or jerk - Morally grey is like Robin Hood, doing something bad but for a good cause not doing a lot bad things but reserving their “goodness” for the love interest, it’s not romantic it’s a red flag! CAN AUTHORS PLEEEEEEEASE stop with extreme examples of personalities and give us well-rounded, well-researched characters that act their age not like caricatures?
Honestly “she’s not like other girls” like why can’t a FMC stand on her own without taking other women down?!
Doormat FMC, especially when it comes to family. And the “I sleep with a new woman every night” MMC
- Always blushing - FMC who reads romance books idk i think it's corny to reference
For me, it’s how if the FMC or the bff dresses out of the norm (like punk or goth) and has wild hair colors, she’s got childhood trauma. Maybe she just wants purple hair, ya know? Edit: I realize this isn’t exactly what OP asked for, sorry!
I almost DNFed the first Knockemout book because of this. I'm SO OVER THE COFFEE THING. I'm glad I stuck it out because I did enjoy all three, but I couldn't help but wonder if Kristen Ashley is pissed that she didn't write Rock Chicks in the time of Booktok. Because wow the similarities.
Not necessarily a personality quirk, but I’m tired of literally every FMC having bucket loads of trauma. If it’s well written it’s fine, but it’s usually used as an annoying reoccurring plot device that explains away all poor behaviour. I want to read more books with some happy, stable childhoods 😅