Dark Romance is Corn For Women 🌽

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS4Cr4WY7yQ

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BookTalk is full of insufferable people because they’re all gooners and they’re, all lying about it. I’ve always said you could tell a man goons based on how many, screens he has at home. You could tell a woman goons based on how many weird, romancy novels that she has. >> Why is it so normalized that women can, listen and read corn? It’s corn. You’re a pervert.>> I have always considered romance novels to be pornography for women.>> Corn for women. That’s what some critics have called BookTok’s obsession with, dark romance. Because these books contain graphic, explicit sexual, content, and intense power dynamics that serves as a [music] primary source of, sexual and emotional fantasy for female readers. I’ve done my research. I’ve, looked into it. I’ve watched countless videos of people recommending books. I, guess I wanted to understand the complexity of it. I wanted to understand, different perspectives. I wanted to see where the fans are coming from. You know.

what I mean? I wanted to know why some people, certain people are obsessed with, this. I wanted to get into the nitty-gritty psychological stuff. And I, also wanted to understand why people are so against it. If I have to pick a side,I would lean more towards being against dark romance. Well, some of the heavy, stuff anyway, which we will get into. Some genres and some of these tropes are, crazy. Some of these storylines are crazy. They’re either AI-generated,okay, which I believe some of these some cheap books are AI-generated, or the, author needs to go to therapy. Let’s get into dark romance. Let’s get into some, of the toxic genres on BookTok. [music] And let’s look into the negative, psychological side effects of constantly being stimulated by these types of, storylines and these types of books. And I would like to say instead of hating on, these books and these fans, I like to encourage us to think more with depth.Why [music] do people like it so much? Why do we.

call it abuse in real life but romance in these books? In real life, we all, know, especially most women, that stalking is absolutely [music], terrifying. Abuse, whether if it’s emotional or physical, financial, it’s, absolutely illegal. In dark romance, [music], however, it’s devotion. Why do millions of women read these books willingly when, in real life this is what they would run from. Let’s get into today’s episode.>> And mine. >> [music], >> Hey guys, and welcome back to another episode. I, I know what you are all thinking. Where is the iconic Miss [music] WeyWey wall, {slash} studio? >> [music], >> This is a sad part, guys, and I’m not even trolling you guys right now. This, is the sad part. IT’S GONE. >> [screaming], >> IT’S GONE AND IT’S NOT EVEN GONE for now, it’s gone forever. I’ve posted on, my YouTube in a post that there were major transitions happening in my life.I’m in a different space, obviously. That wall is not coming back, but I will.

be making a new wall, thinking of a new concept for a new studio in the future.But right now I’m just chilling in a new space, in a new environment, and it’s, time to say goodbye. Great things, Is there a quote that goes like great things don’t last or great things, take I don’t I don’t freaking know. I’m trying to be sentimental right now.Let’s get into today’s topic. What is dark romance? [music] What are the, tropes for those that don’t know? What is this genre about and what exactly is, BookTok? [music] BookTok is a popular subcommunity on the TikTok social media, platform dedicated to books, reading, and literature. The community is space, where readers, creators called BookTokers, and authors share short, videos about books. Users post book reviews, emotional reactions to plot, twists, reading recommendations, and bookstore vlogs. BookTok is filled with, all genres. However, the popular ones are usually young adult fiction,fantasy, dark romance, and romantasy, a mixture of romance and fantasy, are.

especially common on BookTok. So, at first glance, BookTok doesn’t sound, [music] toxic at all. It’s just like your little digital It’s just like your, digital like online library. But, with children being the predominant users of, the internet, that is when it gets sticky. If you’re not the legal age,just freaking wait. Okay, just wait. BookTok itself is not that bad, but it’s, when the algorithm starts pushing things like dark romance to the children, to, recommend them to get into it. So, what is dark romance? Dark romance is a, fast-growing subgenre of romance that blends intense forbidden [music] passion, with dangerous plots, moral ambiguity, and extreme emotional or physical, stakes. The most popular thematic categories and subgenres within dark, romance include mafia and organized [music] crime romance. I honestly was, shocked to see even TikTok like recommending AI story lines now. Like,they’re just all mafia genre story lines or like a potato and a tomato making.

love. It’s just weird. But, I do see a lot of like mafia don, Matteo, Isabella, Ferrari. I don’t freaking know, but it’s just like, why is the concept abusive, mafia boyfriend or like ruthless, heartless mafia girlfriend princess is, just so popular? And it’s like, do you actually know how dangerous or how, corrupt these people are? The way that they torture people emotionally and, physically, it’s pretty [music] intense. It’s pretty horrifying. There’s nothing, romantic about it. And um most of the time, no offense, I’m sure that some of, the women in those families are gorgeous, but most of the time they, don’t look like this or this or this. Most of the time they look like this.>> Yeah, I find it very fascinating that mafia crime organization romance is like, the top of the top picks for people. Y’all freaky.Y’all need therapy. Second most popular trope, paranormal and dark romance. The, setup usually combines fantasy, urban fantasy, or supernatural elements like.

vampires, ghosts, witches, monsters with a dark edge. This is popular because it, adds supernatural danger, immortality, or magical bondage to the emotional, intensity of traditional romance. stalker and secret admirer romance. This, one No, it just reminds me of her. Has, anyone seen that? It’s just a no. None of these genres are a yes. These types, of [music] stories actually happen to real life people. And most of the time, when it’s when a story is that intense, those women die. Like Ted Bundy, for, example, the charming man. The girls that fell for him, none of them knew, that they were going to You know what I mean? I don’t know. I’m, just too conscious for this. I’m too conscious. I’ve healed too much. I’m, just too aware. I’ve gone through too much. I don’t want to enable it either.And I don’t support it. I can warn you about it and then move on with my life.People are [music] right in saying it doesn’t affect you. It’s correct. It, doesn’t affect me, but it does affect you.

[music] >> Like I know and you know. Reading these, types of things have a very bad negative psychological effect to the [music], readers, especially if it’s long-term. Bullies and enemies to lovers romance,taboo and psychological thriller romance explores severe power imbalance,forbidden relationships, and intense psychological manipulation. Why is dark, romance so popular? Because it pushes the narrative and moral boundaries to, the absolute limit, attracting readers looking for the true crime style, adrenaline. I’m online and I’m seeing these girlfriends and boyfriends, role-playing Haunting Adeline and like weird stuff that they’ve read on BookTok, dark romance genres, like a girl getting picked up by two dudes. Dark romance, isn’t one single type of story. It’s an umbrella covering romances involving, deliberately disturbing or morally transgressive material. This can include, stalking, kidnapping, obsession, possessiveness, psychological.

manipulation, murder, torture, BDSM, dubcon, noncon, sexual assault,trafficking, abusive relationships,

dubcon = dubious consent
The person’s consent is unclear, questionable, or compromised.
They may say yes, but circumstances make it difficult to say that the consent is fully voluntary or enthusiastic.
Example: someone agrees while heavily pressured, intoxicated, or in a situation where refusing feels unsafe.
noncon = non-consensual
Sexual activity without the person’s consent.
In other words, the person does not agree to it.
This generally refers to sexual violence/rape in fictional-content tagging.

morally corrupt protagonists, serial, killers and criminals, revenge, extreme power imbalances.

traffic → trafficking
[T, I] ~ (in) sthto buy and sell sth illegally （非法）进行…交易，做…买卖
Smugglers were trafficking arms across the border to the rebels.
走私分子越境将武器贩卖给叛乱者。
to traffic in drugs
买卖毒品

The controversy begins, because the same thing that makes dark romance appealing to some readers are, precisely what other readers find disturbing. And BookTok has amplified, the most extreme end of the genre. A 2026 academic study specifically, examining dark romance readership selected Haunting Adeline as one of its, case studies because of its enormous TikTok [music] presence. The researchers, note that Haunting Adeline had over 193,000, TikTok posts and describe the book as having become an introductory dark, romance title for many readers. H.D. Carlton’s best-selling dark romance, novel Haunting Adeline is officially being adapted into a movie and people, went crazy. A lot of people are very concerned and the main discussion is are.

we romanticizing [music] abuse? Critics aren’t necessarily saying nobody should, be allowed to write disturbing fiction and we should have 100% censorship.Their concern is more specifically about how abusive [music] behavior is framed.For example, a story can depict a stalker as terrifying and clearly, condemn his behavior, but another story might have the same stalker be extremely, attractive, intensely possessive,

possessive

~ (of/about sb/sth)demanding total attention or love; not wanting sb to be independent 要求悉心关爱的；占有欲强的
Some parents are too possessive of their children.
有些父母过分要求子女百依百顺。

protect the heroine, threaten people who, hurt her, become sexually desirable, ultimately become her romantic partner.That creates an interesting question. At what point does depicting abusive, behavior become romanticizing it? That’s particularly contentious with Haunting, Adeline because Zade is simultaneously a stalker, a violent vigilante, and the, romantic hero. The academic research on Haunting Adeline specifically identifies, the ambiguity surrounding consent as a major feature of the book. It discusses, scenes where Adeline explicitly refuses Zade, while later sexual encounters.

involve complicated feelings of desire, trauma, anger, and guilt. So, there’s, two different conversations. Is this behavior healthy versus can people enjoy, a fantasy about unhealthy behaviors without believing it’s healthy? Those, aren’t the same question. When Fifty Shades of Grey came out, people were, like, >> [gasps], >> but thinking back, like compared to Haunting Adeline, Fifty Shades of Grey, is like amateur. I haven’t read it, but I’ve watched, reviews on it. I got a gist of it. It’s just like crazy abuse. Next level, like, 10 pages of just the most effed up things. I’m speechless. I’m genuinely, speechless. I think it’s grape. It’s just raping. It doesn’t sound, consensual. I’ve watched TikTok reviews about it, people getting giggity and, excited about it coming out, and so many women are frothing. Dark romance is corn, for women, and it’s really concerning. I don’t like the argument that oh, because, men watch actual corn, why can’t women have this? I’m not the type to to say,

when they go low, you go lower. I’m the type that’s like I live my own life. I, do the best I can to live the best life possible. In my world, there is a right, and wrong. The measure of that is how healthy and I guess how blissful your, life is, how content you are. Dark romance can mess with your mind. It’s, like an adrenaline rush. We went from 50 Shades of Grey to some of the other, books to now Haunting Adeline. It’s like drugs and alcohol and substance abuse in, a way. You have to have a stronger hit every single time. Like corn as well. to, have a stronger hit. And when is enough enough? You’re constantly looking for, that next hit. It’s messing with your dopamine actually, your brain chemistry.You need a stronger hit. It’s adrenaline without the risk. It’s controlled chaos.Psychological concepts like benign masochism explains how the brain enjoys, negative emotions like fear, shock, distress when it knows that it’s in a.

secure fictional environment. Aside from the dopamine rush, the adrenaline rush,there’s escapism and coping mechanisms. That’s why a lot of people, a lot of, women especially, love dark romance. It’s to cope. Also with previous, traumas. They’ve suffered something and this is a way of them dealing with it as, well. It’s to maybe escape from reality because they don’t want to meet men or, can’t meet men or maybe their dating life is not as exciting as what they’d, hope it to be. So they read these things to escape. It creates mental detachment.Consuming high stakes, fast-paced serial reads creates a heavy dopamine rush that, helps the reader completely disconnect from stress, burnout, or real life, dissatisfaction. For some, reading are about processing trauma or loss because, for some, reading about broken characters finding acceptance allows, them to process their own feelings of inadequacy, vulnerability, or past hurt, without judgment. I would consider myself pretty mentally healthy and.

stable. Obviously, I’m not the most, but just watching some of the book rec-, recommendations for research purposes to make this video. Just like watching this, girl go on and on about how fantastic and alluring and tasty the books are and, how obsessed she is with them. She hooked me. I was hooked for maybe about, five No, five minutes is a bit long. Like maybe for a minute or two I was, considering reading one of the books. It elicits the primal reaction in women, I, I think. Like all women want to be chosen, want to be committed to wants, the man literally on his knees begging it’s you or nobody else. You are my one, and only, which is not reality, not even for the most beautiful woman in the, world because some of the most beautiful women in the world also get cheated on.We all know that real love takes actual sacrifice and commitment from both, parties and it’s not rainbows and butterflies every day. Real love in, reality is quite um repetitive and boring most of the time and it takes a.

lot of choosing each other every single day and patience and understanding.Okay, but we won’t get into that. Yeah, it’s fun for a little while. Can’t stop, you, won’t recommend it, but can’t stop you. But after a long time, if this is, like a decade lifetime obsession, I beg you to seek therapy. It doesn’t harm me,even the people speaking out. It hurts you or the people that are reading it, long term, constantly looking for violent adrenaline rushes. I don’t know,but it it hurts you. It really has nothing to do with me. There are a lot, of downsides. It creates a lot of anxiety and fear. Graphic or suspenseful, scenes can trigger stress, heightened anxiety, or persistent dread, especially, for vulnerable readers. Disturbing imagery or frightening concepts can, cause nightmares, insomnia, or a lingering fear, exacerbating mental, health issues. Themes of violence, trauma, or depression can worsen, existing mental health struggles. Downsides of dark romance books can also.

create unrealistic expectations, normalize and romanticize toxic, behavior. Chronic escapism, immersive romantic fantasies can become a coping, mechanism used to avoid solving real-life personal or relational issues.Because a lot of women like to say, “If you want romance in real life, like if, you want a man to choose you and want you and you, >> [music] >> and you only for the rest of his life, and he gets drunk over you, he drunk texts you, he grabs you back every time, you have a fight, he reads your mind, he buys you a thousand roses.” Like Em and, Kim, right? Very unrealistic. They clearly do it They’re laughing. They, clearly do it for entertainment purposes because they’re content creators. They, make money. But like if that’s the love that you’re wanting and then you hate, men for not giving that to you, you’re not living in reality. You’re not, actually wanting love, you’re wanting the chase, you’re wanting adrenaline, rush, you’re wanting your ego fueled. You You’re wanting to be picked and.

chosen and loved. And that’s something that you need to explore yourself in, your downtime, by yourself or with a therapist or just someone trusted,whatever. You need to figure out why you want that so much. Whatever it is,wanting that crazy romantic love, you’re either brainwashed by the media that, plays a huge role on women wanting that all the time, right? Like experiencing, it once or like constantly seeking that thrill.I wouldn’t necessarily want to blame the opposite sex. And also, do you like that, guy or do you just like the chase of it? It’s not about the, person, it’s about the process. And that’s why a lot of people end up hating, the opposite gender or being dissatisfied in their love life or, thinking that there’s no good men or women out there because they don’t, actually want the men or the women, they just like the adrenaline rush, which is, what these books [music] provide for these types of people. But, real love is real. You see, people would rather read about getting abused and.

fantasize about getting abused than actually just be vulnerable and just, face some of the vulnerabilities of human nature, men and women.Like people would rather be like, “Yeah, kill me. Kill me while you, Then, “Hey, I feel really bad about myself because, when I was little, [music] I was insecure about this and that, and, because of that, I am unable to open up to people, and I get angry [music] at, people really quickly because I’m actually really uncomfortable within, myself. I have issues within myself. I’m scared that people will leave me because, I have [music] abandonment issues. You know what I mean? Like people would, rather get choked to death in bed by some weird, good-looking serial killer, with one eye than open up about how they truly feel. It’s crazy. I really just, don’t want the children to get their hands on this. I really just don’t want, people to be so addicted to the rush their thinking becomes so deranged and.

twisted they double down and support something that’s not good for them, and, everyone else is the enemy. God says do not fear. There is no fear in love.There is no fear in real love. Put the book down, touch grass, call your mom,pick some flowers, be yourself, do a dopamine cleanse, but you do you. You do, you. I don’t blame these women. I don’t even really blame the authors. The, complexity of I guess human nature and human dynamics. People do get abused.Sometimes some of these books are based on real events. Some of them, are not. Some of them are obviously exaggerated, but it is really sad, because there are nuances to this, and there is a level of reality. And I do, understand why people like it, and there’s a big audience for this type of, genre or these different tropes. But at the same time, because I do understand, human complexity, I think that because humans cope, I guess, in certain ways or, find joy and adrenaline rush reading these types of books or doing certain.

things, humans are also capable of doing dopamine detoxes. You know, people are, also capable of healing, letting go of certain behaviors or activities that, might not be good for them neurologically, spiritually. People are, also capable of becoming mentally and physically healthier, renewing, rewiring, their brain. That’s also are So, I think instead of arguing like let, them do what they want. It’s harmless. It’s just a bit of joy, just a bit of, fun. I don’t agree with that. It’s like selling cigarettes and alcohol to, adults. People like to pretend it’s fine, but I’ve seen a lot of these, readers online that read one book and then they want another one and another, one like they need a heavier hit. They need a different trope. They’re in these, communities. They want to then watch TV series that are similar to this. They, later start watching true crimes and it’s just it gets heavier and heavier, and heavier. Same with food addiction, same with any addictions really. It’s a.

addiction. It’s bad when it becomes an addiction and I don’t want to pretend, that just because there’s a disclaimer or just because people say, “Hey, I’m an, adult. It’s okay.” Or just because when children say, “Look, it’s just one book.Let the child have fun.” Just because there’s a warning or a disclaimer that, it’s okay. The underlying issues are unaddressed. So, I do want to address, that because humans are capable of going down that route. People are also capable, of going up a certain route as well. Living better and improving our lives, and letting go of certain beliefs and fantasies and behaviors and I guess, addictions. I don’t agree with 100% censorship, although I do agree a lot of, things should be censored, but I guess that’s another topic for another day.That’s so broad. Censorship is so broad, but I think there should be more, regulations online for BookTok. IDs need to be checked. There needs to be, you, know, age ratings like what they do for movies as well for BookTok. Sorry,

kiddos. The ones that are getting frustrated with me, I’m sorry. That’s, just what I think. I think there needs to be stronger regulations. Authors need, to chill the out. AI is just cringe at this point. They are designed to, bring out the primal instinct of us, primal desires, playing on human nature,what we want, but that’s not love. It’s just a bodily reaction and like messing, with your brain chemicals. You know what I mean? Your senses, your emotions. I, think I see it for what it is. That’s why it doesn’t excite me. I like I’m a, YouTuber, so I research a lot of tragic topics every day. War, world hunger,political battles, all these different issues. I think I’m just more sensitive, with these types of things, so it’s like I know there’s so much going on in the, world and how one thing could lead maybe to another. It’s like the butterfly, effect. So, everything kind of matters. We all play a part in something. We, can’t change the world. We can’t like stop a bullet, but we can like make.

someone smile that day, you know, stop someone from crying, make someone’s day, better. You know, I don’t know. I just think it’s cause and effect and a dumb, book about haunting Adelaide, cringey, abusive, dark romance stuff is just not, important in my life and that’s not to say I’m so wise, I’m so important, not, at all. But, it’s to say like this world is pretty messed up. This world can be, very, very, very beautiful, but it’s also pretty messed up and we’re reading, books like that. Like there are actually women getting tortured and stuff,probably right now as we speak and there are people reading books like that. I, don’t know. Again, I’m not shaming anyone. I’m not guilt-tripping anyone.That’s literally what I think. That’s how my mind works. There’s too much, messed up stuff going on in the world to for me to want to read that.Honest opinion.