I particularly hate the book trying to compare itself to Pride & Prejudice, because in pride and prejudice, the leads were never actually toxic to each other. Darcy and Elizabeth were both fundamentally good people that shared similar morals and values. Reading about them, you can picture how they might be able to spend hours together talking, you can understand why they would like each other. The whole point of the book is to show how two people that are actually really compatible can so deeply misunderstand one another because of miscommunication. The book concludes with Darcy being the first one to reach out and offer explanations and apologies, and then Elizabeth doing the same. It's extremely wholesome through and through and makes you like and appreciate both of the leads, neither one of them is ever abusive or mean. So to compare the toxic and abusive dynamic between the leads in After to Darcy and Elizabeth is absolutely wild to me.
@@angelaholmes8888 no you don't understand the gravity here, Ana Todd (the author of After) compares the leads HERSELF to Darcy and Elizabeth, she does it all throughout the book like we're supposed to draw parallels 😭
I completely agree. In the movie version of After, when they discuss the Pride and Prejudice in class and juxtapose their relationship to it, the teacher says something like "that's the power of a good book" and it caused me physical pain.
Especially when it has Wuthering Heights right there. A correlation that actually makes some sense because Heathcliff is an obsessive abuser who hurts everyone close to him. Why would you not go with that one?
Additionally, "Elizabeth Bennett needs to chill"? Lizzie _is_ chill. The whole book is full of her being rational and civil under pressure. Even when she's furious, she does her best to be furious politely and with receipts.
Petition for Rachel to write and publish "fan fiction" of After called Better where she's basically just rewrites the whole series to not be complete shit!
my favourite thing about this is people made fun of hero, the actor that plays hardin, for his acting, but then they saw harry styles act and were like oh no. oh no he actually got it right.
He plays young Voldemort in one of the HP movies. Thousands of people auditioned for that role. Also, funnily enough, he's related to Ralph Fiennes, who plays adult Voldemort
@@FIRING_BLIND arguably, the fact that he is Ralph Fiennes nephew absolutely worked in his favours. i can't imagine casting directors not being aware of the fact. That being said, I think he did fine as young Voldemort. But the script in after is just....impossible to get right
I don't think Anna Todd knows much about college bc she doesn't have the experience and she never bothered to research. She married her as of this year ex-husband when she was 18 so pretty much straight after high school and she went straight to work. So...this is how Anna Todd thinks college works, probably going off of some movies and just making it "high schools but with dorms and a bit different structure"
If you think about it, the entire franchise just goes in one direction anyway! Fighting then fucking Over and over again Like the god damn Ouroboros The very definition of insanity
It's so funny I've read fanfiction that is super well written and on par with published work, but it always seems to be the worst of the worst that actually gets published and becomes popular!
Why is it that wattpad-esque fics are always created with a foundation of misogyny?! I get that misogyny exists… but in the cheesy self insert fanfics it’s always SO HEAVY HANDED. 90% of them use the Not Like Other Girls trope and I don’t get it 😭
Wattpad stories especially romance stories in the werewolves genre. Was where pre teens went to write fanfiction after reading SJM and ripe with puberty hormones. 😂
I always think about the fact she was in her late 20's writing 17 year old Harry as a horribly abusive bf to her boring self insert. I worry for the young impressionable minds that read this
Why dafug is it that in "The Mister" & "After" there's this weird obsession with being a virgin and specifically wearing a *white night gown* like please 💀😂😭😭😭
I find it so annoying when I hear people say that or read that “we’re like Heathcliff and Cathy.” Proof no one read Wuthering Heights. THAT DOESNT MEAN WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS. ITS NOT GOOD A THING IF YOU’RE LIKE THEM. If I am wrong or misinterpreting this please forgive and educate me nicely. Thank you. Also I am a new fan. I love these videos ❤️
It's basically what happens in Twilight, too, although the book and film pretty much don't mention them. Personally, I hate the fetish for the Brontes. Nearly every story has a violent, misogynistic male lead and a milquetoast, vapid heroine who almost works as a self-insert character. But the stories are very evocative and draw in the reader, and for many people, who believe men should be these stereotypes we have seen for decades or longer and who form a nucleus of "strong charismatic men" (or toxic masculinity), they really believe these guys are wonderful. (Sigh.)
Great point! I love Wuthering Heights, and it's so frustrating to see it portrayed as a love story. It's basically a story of two incredibly selfish people who ruin the lives of everyone around them for two generations.
@@nancyjay790 please don’t hold it against me when I say I love Jane Eyre. I still love the story even knowing what I know. I have complicated feelings. For Wuthering Heights, it’s more galling because Cathy and Heathcliff are written intentionally as terrible people. And people STILL romanticize the entire toxic, narcissistic, and abusive relationship. Like you said! And we I feel im correct, as you mentioned, that Cathy is a self insert. It’s a portrayal of Emily’s relationship with her teacher. Based on what little I know of her life.
@@nancyjay790 you are the literary queen we need in 2023!!! The Brontes wrote the most toxic relationships with awful people. Jane Eyre is the worst. Why are we rooting for Jane to be with a man who locked his mentally hill wife in an attic?! 😭😩
It's crazy the publishers didn't at least get her to make some minor changes and add some sort of plot in there even if the book mostly stayed the same, I think even the die hard After fans wouldn't have minded that. It's sad to see how publishing went from bringing fun and creative books to us with love and care to just whipping whatever bundle of paper with words on it in our faces then demanding our money.
If I remember correctly, wattpad had this whole "we pick the best novels and we publish them" gimmick (the Cellar, Kissing Booth, After). Maybe they still do that, but I feel like it's And been awhile since I have heard of a wattpad book being published. Anway first time checking out the app, it recommended After. I know nothing about One Direction, so it took me a forever to realize I was reading fanfiction. The names stuck out a little, but I didn't really think about it. Until Zayne shows up on the page. I stop, look out the window for a second, then back to the book. I am in denial, these are supposed to be original novels! So, start flipping back and Usual Suspect-style I realize the answers were in front of me the whole time- Harry, Louis, Niall, Liam. Then Zayn! F-ing Zayn! I put it down and never took wattpad seriously again. I wish your version was real! It sounds much better.
@@ReadswithRachel as far as I can tell Kissing Booth was an original story written by a 15 year old. It gets conflated with fanfic because of Wattpad's usual content, but as a fanfic writer (AO3 not Wattpad😛) I balk at calling it fanfic. The Cellar is lifted from I think a criminal minds episode or Law & Order. Caleb Joseph played some clips in his video. It was shocking as a fandom old from the A/N Disclaimer days. The most fitting is that the award these stories won is called a "Watty" which feels like an insult
They actually still do (as an author who joined Wattpad in hope of getting a publishing deal). It's called "The Watty's" and it happens once a year. There are 11 genres including fanfiction, horror, fantasy, and romance with other categories like big twist and best characters. Prizes can be publishing, real money, being a paid story, becoming a "star writer", and bragging rights.
In regards to "these are supposed to be original novels"-I'm pretty sure they've had "fanfiction" as an official category for forever, and they even have their own wattys award
Oh the plot of this is just a bad version of Cruel Intentions (or Dangerous Liaisons)? Even less creative than I imagined!!! Lol also the name Hardin makes me think of the name Hardeen, which was Houdini’s brother’s magician name.
Omg its so true about the Wattpad vs AO3. Like there's some good stuff on Wattpad but a lot of its like written in all lowercase letters or something else like that (again, I know they aren't all like that and some people don't mind if they are, its just something I've noticed). And then AO3 is where the novel length, developed plot, and really well written fics are. I love 1D and the fact this was a 1D fanfic makes me so mad! Poor Harry being portrayed like this. I think (I don't remember because I got into 1D pretty late, just going by what I've heard) everyone painted Harry as some bad boy womanizer when he was like 17-18 and it's honestly so weird and gross. Also, I'm guessing is Noah supposed to be Niall?
the whole "he made a bet he'd get her to fall in love with him then dump her" anna todd that's Taming of the Shrew not Wuthering Heights or Pride and Prejudice
Your description of reading "After" for a "no thoughts head empty" read mirrors my reading of "Twilight" almost exactly haha. I wasn't pregnant but I was in my second year of college and really needed something simple to read while unwinding at the end of the night. It certainly made the reading experience itself more fun (my room mates and I even went to a midnight release party for the fourth book and I'm not saying we were the ONLY 20-somethings there but we were definitely outnumbered by tweens and their moms).
I've been in academia for 800 years (or so it feels like) and I've never heard anyone ask what school someone went to before they asked their name. Academic conferences, archaeological field schools, professional meet and greets, the Smithsonian at lunch with researchers, not even once.
I've seen it. But not academia. Just regular life shitty people when they want to slide in that they "live in cambridge" like bitch just say you go to Harvard
EL James's Twilight fanfic "Master of the Universe" was turned into Fifty Shades of Grey by greedy publishers, too. Actually, the amount of Twilight fanfic that was turned into "original stories" blows my mind. I tried to read After and couldn't make it past chapter... 10? 14? I dunno. I was so bored.
You know, just having short slice of life scenes without any actual plot works for fanfiction because people often go to fanfic to read about their favorite characters. For that, themes and plot CAN (but isn't always) be secondary. As shown here, such a mindset doesn't work for original works that actually needs plot and themes to bolster brand new characters.
Wattpad writer (I guess I count as a writer haha) here. I upload my works to Wattpad because it's very difficult to break into the publishing industry in South America, especially with historical fantasy. I won a Watty (the official awards in the platform) back in 2021 and became part of the Stars program until it closed (I didn't get the benefits of it, though. It was made for people that had over 100k reads on their stories, and I only had 1k BECAUSE of the award). Anna's "book" damaged the community SO. MUCH. People started to think you had to write trash in order to be famous and get published, and so they did. There's this stereotype about Wattpad being home to pure trash because of HER. Yes, there's a LOT of trash and poorly written spicy scenes, but also a few of the greatest books I've read. One of my favorite books of all time (L'Ange de la Mort by Leta R. Patton) is from Wattpad. It frustrates me so much how a piece of trash like After is or (a) glorified by teenagers (like. what???? one of my classmates thought that) or (b) the argument to say Wattpad is trash. I mean yeah, there's a lot of stuff that IS trash, but there's a lot as well that isn't.
When I was a teen I used to find Twilight’s “spicy” scenes titillating and I was excited for the movies, but now I’m ace so I grudgingly understand the hype
New fine print just added: ReadswithRachel is not financially liable for personal property damage in the event of edits causing viewers to throw their phone
I feel like people who write stories where the main character cheats on their partner but it’s ok because the partner was butt or not the one are trying to say, “hey look! cheating can be totally justified and not a terrible thing to do!” Especially when it’s obvious that they could have just broken up with their partner instead of cheating on them. There’s never any depth or examining the situation deeply, it’s just “it doesn’t matter how big of a dick you are if it’s in the name of great love!”
It’s crazy seeing all the discourse about the After series because I used to LOVE the series. Granted, I was only fourteen and it was before the series had been traditionally published but I remember I devoured all three books after my friend recommended them to me. It’s crazy all the things that change when you grow up.
I have never read After or watched the movies, but I keep watching reviews of them and wondering how on earth Anna Todd was able to get the story published and turned into a movie?? Yet, on some weird level, it gives me confidence in my own writing… but it also makes me feel icky thinking that 🤦♀️
I’ve questioned my own sanity multiple times, and I do not appreciate stories making a mockery or portraying terrible depictions of mental illness. Yes, when left unchecked, it can have terrible consequences, but After is clearly not trying to portray mental illness realistically at all.
If I'm not mistaken, after is still up on Wattpad if anybody wants to read but doesn't want to give this woman money. Also harry may not have a restraining order against Anna Todd but he does have her blocked on twitter
I'm glad that you mentioned it was a 1D fanfic bc I remembered when it was still a fanfic as a young tween and scrolling through Wattpad when I was intensely in my boyband phase (which cringe looking back, but also somehow not the worst activity that the fandom had weirdly enough.) I gave up after the first... s8xual encounter of the fic since I was young and severely didn't like the writing of Harry, so I had no idea it was actually finished until people got wind of the fact that this fic was being turned into a published book and becoming a movie a few years ago lol. Absoluetly wild and I'm so sorry people outside the fandom had to be subjected to this bc it was not an easy read even for younger me who could stomach a lot of crap for the special interest endorphins XD.
I’ve been party to a group of my coworkers discussing how good this book is in the middle of a shift and I couldn’t escape lest I be fired. It was truly a wild ride to hear how amazing of a character they thought Hardin was and how much they sympathized with Tess… whew
One time, I tried to read the original version (especially the first book) from Wattpad, because being a Directioner I've heard many times of this book series mentioned in the fandom, but I avoided them at all costs because I was not really interested with it (and Harry being a 'badboy' seems off because he's not really like that irl). But oh boyyy couldn't even pass the first chapter😂 Safe to say, glad I didn't finish nor even read the series. Despite all of that, the comment section is very entertaining to read though🤣
I graduated with a BA in literally the most prestigious University in my country. Nobody cares! I've never been asked! Their football team is more popular than their alumni, and the team is not even the most popular one!
I don't get how the series is so popular teenage girls shouldn't be reading it becaue it teaches them that when a boy treats them bad that it's okay and normal but that's not the case
i'll never understand how these authors are SO overly confident in their writing to publish their fanfiction with the tiniest amount of changes. i myself write fanfic. would i publish it with changed names if i got the chance to? absolutely not.
as a one direction girl from the beginning who’s still a huge harry fan, i’ve been so annoyed by After from the start. i hated how many fics would portray harry as an abusive asshole when he’s SO far from that so for him to have this attached to his name is so beyond frustrating like this never should’ve left wattpad and the whole fandom despises anna todd 😒
I read the original after books on Wattpad and I just couldn’t finish the series. To me it has potential to be better but for me I was like no mate no. Now I look back on it, it seems the relationship between Tessa and Hardin (I remember it as harry ok) was quite toxic to me.
Landon had his problems (calling Tessa to deal with Hardin when he's on his destructive tirades), but in the grand scheme, he was just trying to live his life with his father and step mom but Hardin's problems always take precedence and ruins whatever gathering the family tries to have. Same with Noah, was he a judgemental wet blanket who was a bit to posessive? Absolutely. But his biggest crime was being a "plot device" (lol what plot) in the tragedy of Tessa and Hardin's relationships, and he takes being cheated on remarkably well that in no way makes Tessa come to terms with her own shitty behavior 🙄. Also as much as I love P&P I swear to God it get used so much in shitty romances that I'm sure Jane Austen is turning over in her grave. Every reference is so surface level and basic it doesn't sound like a college discussion it sounds like someone who read the plot on a Laffy Taffy wrapper and said Let's Go! God this book pisses me off
i was a hard core one direction stan (still am lowkey) at the time after was still getting posted chapter by chapter on wattpad, and the girls were absolutely hanging on anna todd's every word. we were preteens drooling over harry styles being an aggressive drunk, it was bizarre. i didnt like it then and i certainly dont like it now, but seeing the entire acu (after cinematic universe) unfold before my very eyes, watching people i know in real life watch the movies and have no idea about its origins, is both fascinating and extremely hilarious to me.
I don't think i can ever bring myself to read the book, let alone the series, but i just finished the movie the other day (ive been on an easy-watch wattpad-type kick lately) and i clicked on this so fast because it was so painfully bad and i need to heal XD Sorry to the writer and those who like it, enjoy whatever you like, that's all good, and good for you for getting paid, but i just can't. Gawd. I had to take it in small bites because i feel compelled to finish movies.
Sadly, AFTER just reinforced the idea that if you write fanfiction you shouldn't write books. It would be great if more people who wrote fanfiction could improve before they write a book. Source: I wrote fanfiction, and now I'm looking at my own books like "uh-oh"...
Yeah, Anna Todd never went to college and she has no idea how to do research about, well, anything, so your assumption that she doesn't know anything about that part of her book was right on.
I have so many things to say about the 20 minutes I watched of this After movie and the first 45 minutes of the Disaster audiobook. But it can best be summed up by the fact that my dog, who actively watches TV, started barking at the screen when the After clips played.
4:44 "there is ao3 fanfic - people that know what they'rd doing - and then there's whattpad writers" i say this with utter respect in my heart both to you and ao3, this is the most bizarre take on ao3 i've heard in a while. bestie i promise the only thing that we know we're doing is keeping cenzorship and advertizers away from the site to still have opportunity to post reylo tentacle porn or something
Listen, here’s the thing about tentacle porn. I have read a lot of it, and in general a lot of weird and freaky shit on ao3. And all of it that I’ve experienced is better crafted and better plotted than anything I have read that came from Wattpad. Including actual published works like After.
@@ReadswithRachel yeah i get where you're coming from, i guess i mentioned tentacle porn as a sort of replacement for literally whatever you can find on the site. The cool thing is, the positive experience of using ao3 is not bc of how it's just better than wattpad content, but bc it's self-curated. There's just as much bad writing there, it's just more noticeable on wattpad bc the algorithm pushes things that are more popular which is not necessarily better. I am a believer in the existence of good wattpad stories that just don't reach popularuty bc they are not Harry Styles self-insert fanfiction or whatever is popular nowadays
I'm so glad I found your channel. I listen to you all the time at work and love all your takes. Unrelated, but I'm a recovering emo kid living in Florida, too. You've talked about A Day to Remember in past videos & they're my favorite band! Anyway, keep up the entertaining content. :-)
I’m 20 and was a very dedicated one direction fan when this first came out. I remember it being very divisive within the fandom bc of how Harry was portrayed. It was such an ab*dive relationship that a lot of us didn’t want to read it. The fact it was based on a real person who was nothing like that (at least publicly), was a turnoff. I still haven’t read the book or watched any of the movies. Younger me still refuses to watch/read anything from the After series.
You know, I actually started on Wattpad before I stopped because of reasons. There are some genuinely talented writers on there such as Tahlie Purvis and ND Iverson. It sucks when crap like this is what becomes popular, though sadly it's not uncommon. People really like crap for some reason.
I so agree about the cringe of the Twilight movies! I actually loved the books in middle school and was stoked for the movies but they were so cringey to me, even then. Also, as a huge reader of Fanfic I'm always baffled by these terrible published books that started as fanfics and still have all the worst hallmarks of bad fanfic. because, like you said, there is so much terrifically written out there that could be officially published and most people wouldn't know the difference. But ok, I guess they just go for the most popular ones (even though those tend to be the best written ones mostly, at least in the fandoms I'm in), why do they not edit them even a little to make them more presentable and publishing worthy?? At least enough to make it seem like an actual book and not like a stream of consciousness of someone who just wrote whenever they got inspiration, never actually completing ideas and just jumping to new ones because of vibes. this is something I accept as a feature of fan fiction because it's a hobby, writers should write in whatever way is fun for them, even if that means just jumping from inspiration to inspiration and never actually finishing anything (no matter how sad that might make me as a reader if I got invested lol). But in a product that's meant to be exchanged for money? That's unacceptable. The prevalence of these bad fanfic copy and pastes will forever baffle me, especially when they're successful!! Rant over 😂 thanks so much for the video! I'm a new subscriber and have been working my way through your backlog, love everything so far!
I watched the first movie out of curiosity and IT'S SO BAD! I could not stomach the others XD I salute you for your sacrifice. Also, I'd read your fixed version of this ^^
so impressive how often you upload with how high quality your vids are. I'm a new viewer and I knew nothing about fundamentalism so it's been really informative binging like 20 of your videos this week lol
Me: *sees video* Girl, how can you make this shitshow better? This is nothing! It's trash, we all know that. Me: *after watching video* Ohhhh, okay. If Tess was in on the bet, if it was a Jane Austen retelling of some sort, yeah! I like that idea. I think you inspired me yet hon!
My friend and I watched the first two movies as comedies and then after the second one we were gagging so hard that we were done. Lots of laughs though.
@@ReadswithRachel Oh boy… it might have to be me. Just know, it’s because I love your videos. Not because I hate you. It’s not going to feel like that when you’re reading Crave, but I swear. I’m a fan!
Babe, wake up Rachel posted Can I just say, Harry Styles is only like 6’0 tall? I love the man, but he is not like a giant or something 😭, I also have a sneaking suspicion that Noah is supposed to be Niall, and I take offense to that.
i'm currently turning one of my ao3 fics into an actual novel. I've been rewriting and editing it for just over a year. There's a small part of me that wants to show that books that started as fanfics can be good, if you really work at it. I feel violated by Anna Todd and need compensation.
No joke, when I saw the trailer for the first time, I legitimately thought it was a psychological thriller and Hardin was the antagonist. The way it was shot, the music, everything about it was ominous and I was watching it and waiting for the horror to start. Was kinda disappointed when it never came….
14:19 well yeah, that was what New Adult Romance was back in the day😅 The subgenre has come a long way since then and has become a lot less problematic (at least the German NA romance books have? Idk that much about newer American releases). But these books were its humble beginnings. I like to tip my toes in the genre every now and then but it is always the same story. College kids get to know each other, don't know how to communicate and also have some dark secret (most often to do with toxic parents or an SA experience) that keeps them from getting together cause they don't dare open up about it to their love interest for the longest time of the story. Once they do they get together, some big misunderstanding happens at about the 80% mark and after they have overcome this there is a happily ever after. It really is a "brain of, no thoughts" kinda genre and that can be a nice thing but I couldn't read multiple NA books one after another
I particularly hate the book trying to compare itself to Pride & Prejudice, because in pride and prejudice, the leads were never actually toxic to each other. Darcy and Elizabeth were both fundamentally good people that shared similar morals and values. Reading about them, you can picture how they might be able to spend hours together talking, you can understand why they would like each other. The whole point of the book is to show how two people that are actually really compatible can so deeply misunderstand one another because of miscommunication. The book concludes with Darcy being the first one to reach out and offer explanations and apologies, and then Elizabeth doing the same. It's extremely wholesome through and through and makes you like and appreciate both of the leads, neither one of them is ever abusive or mean. So to compare the toxic and abusive dynamic between the leads in After to Darcy and Elizabeth is absolutely wild to me.
Hardin and tessa are totally not Elizabeth and Darcy I can't believe people compare them 🤣😂
@@angelaholmes8888 no you don't understand the gravity here, Ana Todd (the author of After) compares the leads HERSELF to Darcy and Elizabeth, she does it all throughout the book like we're supposed to draw parallels 😭
I completely agree. In the movie version of After, when they discuss the Pride and Prejudice in class and juxtapose their relationship to it, the teacher says something like "that's the power of a good book" and it caused me physical pain.
Especially when it has Wuthering Heights right there. A correlation that actually makes some sense because Heathcliff is an obsessive abuser who hurts everyone close to him. Why would you not go with that one?
Additionally, "Elizabeth Bennett needs to chill"? Lizzie _is_ chill. The whole book is full of her being rational and civil under pressure. Even when she's furious, she does her best to be furious politely and with receipts.
Petition for Rachel to write and publish "fan fiction" of After called Better where she's basically just rewrites the whole series to not be complete shit!
I AM SO TEMPTED
@@ReadswithRachel I would read it!
@@traberah2671 I second this!
PLEASE
im a big fan of rewrites, so this is a wonderful idea that i support
my favourite thing about this is people made fun of hero, the actor that plays hardin, for his acting, but then they saw harry styles act and were like oh no. oh no he actually got it right.
To be fair, how much could he do with what he was handed? I hope both lead actors get better roles in the near future
He plays young Voldemort in one of the HP movies. Thousands of people auditioned for that role.
Also, funnily enough, he's related to Ralph Fiennes, who plays adult Voldemort
@@FIRING_BLIND arguably, the fact that he is Ralph Fiennes nephew absolutely worked in his favours. i can't imagine casting directors not being aware of the fact.
That being said, I think he did fine as young Voldemort. But the script in after is just....impossible to get right
@@PegasusAnarchy he actually played the antagonist in the woman king and he wasn't bad!
I don't think Anna Todd knows much about college bc she doesn't have the experience and she never bothered to research. She married her as of this year ex-husband when she was 18 so pretty much straight after high school and she went straight to work. So...this is how Anna Todd thinks college works, probably going off of some movies and just making it "high schools but with dorms and a bit different structure"
“You had this one-note direction” so you could say the story only goes… One Direction
I CANT BELIEVE I DIDNT MAKE THIS JOKE OMG
@@ReadswithRachel yeah, I waited for it!
If you think about it, the entire franchise just goes in one direction anyway!
Fighting then fucking
Over and over again
Like the god damn Ouroboros
The very definition of insanity
Aw, too late by a year or so to make the joke myself. =(
As an AO3 fanfic writer I feel validated
I try not to be elitist,but AO3 is where the quality lives.
It's so funny I've read fanfiction that is super well written and on par with published work, but it always seems to be the worst of the worst that actually gets published and becomes popular!
Why is it that wattpad-esque fics are always created with a foundation of misogyny?! I get that misogyny exists… but in the cheesy self insert fanfics it’s always SO HEAVY HANDED. 90% of them use the Not Like Other Girls trope and I don’t get it 😭
You have to think of a lot of these as less like lit and more like non-visual porn. Then it makes more sense!
@@beeaggro2593 You are so right
Wattpad stories especially romance stories in the werewolves genre. Was where pre teens went to write fanfiction after reading SJM and ripe with puberty hormones. 😂
I always think about the fact she was in her late 20's writing 17 year old Harry as a horribly abusive bf to her boring self insert. I worry for the young impressionable minds that read this
Why dafug is it that in "The Mister" & "After" there's this weird obsession with being a virgin and specifically wearing a *white night gown* like please 💀😂😭😭😭
QUESTIONS I WANT ANSWERED
NEVERMIND NO I DONT
"Anna Todd is a person who doesn't know anything about anything," is a quote that cracked me for no reason.
The fact the book's cover is just a still image of clouds with a huge block of text says a lot about how engaging the story is.
I find it so annoying when I hear people say that or read that “we’re like Heathcliff and Cathy.” Proof no one read Wuthering Heights. THAT DOESNT MEAN WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS. ITS NOT GOOD A THING IF YOU’RE LIKE THEM.
If I am wrong or misinterpreting this please forgive and educate me nicely.
Thank you.
Also I am a new fan. I love these videos ❤️
It's basically what happens in Twilight, too, although the book and film pretty much don't mention them. Personally, I hate the fetish for the Brontes. Nearly every story has a violent, misogynistic male lead and a milquetoast, vapid heroine who almost works as a self-insert character. But the stories are very evocative and draw in the reader, and for many people, who believe men should be these stereotypes we have seen for decades or longer and who form a nucleus of "strong charismatic men" (or toxic masculinity), they really believe these guys are wonderful. (Sigh.)
Great point! I love Wuthering Heights, and it's so frustrating to see it portrayed as a love story. It's basically a story of two incredibly selfish people who ruin the lives of everyone around them for two generations.
@@nancyjay790 please don’t hold it against me when I say I love Jane Eyre. I still love the story even knowing what I know. I have complicated feelings.
For Wuthering Heights, it’s more galling because Cathy and Heathcliff are written intentionally as terrible people. And people STILL romanticize the entire toxic, narcissistic, and abusive relationship. Like you said! And we I feel im correct, as you mentioned, that Cathy is a self insert. It’s a portrayal of Emily’s relationship with her teacher. Based on what little I know of her life.
All of this. Wuthering Heights is so toxic. 😭
@@nancyjay790 you are the literary queen we need in 2023!!! The Brontes wrote the most toxic relationships with awful people. Jane Eyre is the worst. Why are we rooting for Jane to be with a man who locked his mentally hill wife in an attic?! 😭😩
I only have two brain cells and they were working overtime when watching the first film.
Anna can't write about college because girlie has never even ATTENDED college 😭
Meanwhile Hardin is the person stopping him and Tessa getting together. 🤣 This book nearly made me cry, I was so frustrated.
As someone with bipolar that certainly is... a book. A book I'd like to burn.
It's crazy the publishers didn't at least get her to make some minor changes and add some sort of plot in there even if the book mostly stayed the same, I think even the die hard After fans wouldn't have minded that. It's sad to see how publishing went from bringing fun and creative books to us with love and care to just whipping whatever bundle of paper with words on it in our faces then demanding our money.
Omg I can't believe you managed to do this without saying a single time "she's not like other girls"
I know this a small thing, but I love the quick inserts of "Thanks I hate it!" The timing of these inserts are just the best.
I always imagined Harry Styles small so him being huge in this fan fiction is so funny.
If I remember correctly, wattpad had this whole "we pick the best novels and we publish them" gimmick (the Cellar, Kissing Booth, After). Maybe they still do that, but I feel like it's And been awhile since I have heard of a wattpad book being published. Anway first time checking out the app, it recommended After. I know nothing about One Direction, so it took me a forever to realize I was reading fanfiction. The names stuck out a little, but I didn't really think about it. Until Zayne shows up on the page. I stop, look out the window for a second, then back to the book.
I am in denial, these are supposed to be original novels! So, start flipping back and Usual Suspect-style I realize the answers were in front of me the whole time- Harry, Louis, Niall, Liam. Then Zayn! F-ing Zayn!
I put it down and never took wattpad seriously again.
I wish your version was real! It sounds much better.
Oh shit I forgot wattpad created their own publishing thing for a while. WAIT THE KISSING BOOTH WAS A FANFIC?! Those movies are so bad lmao
@@ReadswithRachel as far as I can tell Kissing Booth was an original story written by a 15 year old. It gets conflated with fanfic because of Wattpad's usual content, but as a fanfic writer (AO3 not Wattpad😛) I balk at calling it fanfic.
The Cellar is lifted from I think a criminal minds episode or Law & Order. Caleb Joseph played some clips in his video. It was shocking as a fandom old from the A/N Disclaimer days.
The most fitting is that the award these stories won is called a "Watty" which feels like an insult
Kissing booth was a fanfic?!! That explains so much…
They actually still do (as an author who joined Wattpad in hope of getting a publishing deal). It's called "The Watty's" and it happens once a year. There are 11 genres including fanfiction, horror, fantasy, and romance with other categories like big twist and best characters. Prizes can be publishing, real money, being a paid story, becoming a "star writer", and bragging rights.
In regards to "these are supposed to be original novels"-I'm pretty sure they've had "fanfiction" as an official category for forever, and they even have their own wattys award
I know it was probably unintentional but I love all the "direction" phrases. Like "one note direction" and "no direction".
Oh the plot of this is just a bad version of Cruel Intentions (or Dangerous Liaisons)? Even less creative than I imagined!!!
Lol also the name Hardin makes me think of the name Hardeen, which was Houdini’s brother’s magician name.
Omg its so true about the Wattpad vs AO3. Like there's some good stuff on Wattpad but a lot of its like written in all lowercase letters or something else like that (again, I know they aren't all like that and some people don't mind if they are, its just something I've noticed). And then AO3 is where the novel length, developed plot, and really well written fics are.
I love 1D and the fact this was a 1D fanfic makes me so mad! Poor Harry being portrayed like this. I think (I don't remember because I got into 1D pretty late, just going by what I've heard) everyone painted Harry as some bad boy womanizer when he was like 17-18 and it's honestly so weird and gross. Also, I'm guessing is Noah supposed to be Niall?
the whole "he made a bet he'd get her to fall in love with him then dump her" anna todd that's Taming of the Shrew not Wuthering Heights or Pride and Prejudice
Your description of reading "After" for a "no thoughts head empty" read mirrors my reading of "Twilight" almost exactly haha. I wasn't pregnant but I was in my second year of college and really needed something simple to read while unwinding at the end of the night. It certainly made the reading experience itself more fun (my room mates and I even went to a midnight release party for the fourth book and I'm not saying we were the ONLY 20-somethings there but we were definitely outnumbered by tweens and their moms).
I've been in academia for 800 years (or so it feels like) and I've never heard anyone ask what school someone went to before they asked their name. Academic conferences, archaeological field schools, professional meet and greets, the Smithsonian at lunch with researchers, not even once.
How do you deal with the sunlight?
I've seen it. But not academia. Just regular life shitty people when they want to slide in that they "live in cambridge" like bitch just say you go to Harvard
EL James's Twilight fanfic "Master of the Universe" was turned into Fifty Shades of Grey by greedy publishers, too. Actually, the amount of Twilight fanfic that was turned into "original stories" blows my mind.
I tried to read After and couldn't make it past chapter... 10? 14? I dunno. I was so bored.
You know, just having short slice of life scenes without any actual plot works for fanfiction because people often go to fanfic to read about their favorite characters. For that, themes and plot CAN (but isn't always) be secondary. As shown here, such a mindset doesn't work for original works that actually needs plot and themes to bolster brand new characters.
Wattpad writer (I guess I count as a writer haha) here. I upload my works to Wattpad because it's very difficult to break into the publishing industry in South America, especially with historical fantasy. I won a Watty (the official awards in the platform) back in 2021 and became part of the Stars program until it closed (I didn't get the benefits of it, though. It was made for people that had over 100k reads on their stories, and I only had 1k BECAUSE of the award). Anna's "book" damaged the community SO. MUCH. People started to think you had to write trash in order to be famous and get published, and so they did. There's this stereotype about Wattpad being home to pure trash because of HER. Yes, there's a LOT of trash and poorly written spicy scenes, but also a few of the greatest books I've read. One of my favorite books of all time (L'Ange de la Mort by Leta R. Patton) is from Wattpad. It frustrates me so much how a piece of trash like After is or (a) glorified by teenagers (like. what???? one of my classmates thought that) or (b) the argument to say Wattpad is trash. I mean yeah, there's a lot of stuff that IS trash, but there's a lot as well that isn't.
When I was a teen I used to find Twilight’s “spicy” scenes titillating and I was excited for the movies, but now I’m ace so I grudgingly understand the hype
I literally pissed my pants laughing when you edited in the sloth whispering in the girls ear especially the sound oh my God had me dying🤣😂
So the love interest's name is literally hard-on
I literally almost threw my damn phone at the damn ying yang twins 🤣🤣🤣😭😭😭
New fine print just added: ReadswithRachel is not financially liable for personal property damage in the event of edits causing viewers to throw their phone
Is this a love letter to Harry or a hate letter? The fact that I can't tell says a lot.
I had to do a double take cos "Hardin" sounds suspiciously close to "hard on", which is British slang for erection.
I feel like people who write stories where the main character cheats on their partner but it’s ok because the partner was butt or not the one are trying to say, “hey look! cheating can be totally justified and not a terrible thing to do!” Especially when it’s obvious that they could have just broken up with their partner instead of cheating on them. There’s never any depth or examining the situation deeply, it’s just “it doesn’t matter how big of a dick you are if it’s in the name of great love!”
I recently marathoned Amanda the Jedi's videos about both the books and the movies, so this video is so perfectly timed 😆
Just wanted to share this. When the "hey mama lemme whisper in your ear" part happened, I (high as hell and eating ice cream) lost my fucking shit.
It’s crazy seeing all the discourse about the After series because I used to LOVE the series. Granted, I was only fourteen and it was before the series had been traditionally published but I remember I devoured all three books after my friend recommended them to me. It’s crazy all the things that change when you grow up.
Why do these writers think they're emulating Pride and Prejudice? It's Taming of the Shrew.
I have never read After or watched the movies, but I keep watching reviews of them and wondering how on earth Anna Todd was able to get the story published and turned into a movie??
Yet, on some weird level, it gives me confidence in my own writing… but it also makes me feel icky thinking that 🤦♀️
I’ve questioned my own sanity multiple times, and I do not appreciate stories making a mockery or portraying terrible depictions of mental illness. Yes, when left unchecked, it can have terrible consequences, but After is clearly not trying to portray mental illness realistically at all.
If I'm not mistaken, after is still up on Wattpad if anybody wants to read but doesn't want to give this woman money. Also harry may not have a restraining order against Anna Todd but he does have her blocked on twitter
I'm glad that you mentioned it was a 1D fanfic bc I remembered when it was still a fanfic as a young tween and scrolling through Wattpad when I was intensely in my boyband phase (which cringe looking back, but also somehow not the worst activity that the fandom had weirdly enough.) I gave up after the first... s8xual encounter of the fic since I was young and severely didn't like the writing of Harry, so I had no idea it was actually finished until people got wind of the fact that this fic was being turned into a published book and becoming a movie a few years ago lol. Absoluetly wild and I'm so sorry people outside the fandom had to be subjected to this bc it was not an easy read even for younger me who could stomach a lot of crap for the special interest endorphins XD.
character in movie who's name I forgot: "Let's play Truth or Dare."
other dude in same scene: "No."
Me: "gold."
I’ve been party to a group of my coworkers discussing how good this book is in the middle of a shift and I couldn’t escape lest I be fired. It was truly a wild ride to hear how amazing of a character they thought Hardin was and how much they sympathized with Tess… whew
I actually thought this was a 50 shades fan fic. I had no idea it was a One Direction. Woah. 🤯
One time, I tried to read the original version (especially the first book) from Wattpad, because being a Directioner I've heard many times of this book series mentioned in the fandom, but I avoided them at all costs because I was not really interested with it (and Harry being a 'badboy' seems off because he's not really like that irl). But oh boyyy couldn't even pass the first chapter😂 Safe to say, glad I didn't finish nor even read the series.
Despite all of that, the comment section is very entertaining to read though🤣
I graduated with a BA in literally the most prestigious University in my country. Nobody cares! I've never been asked! Their football team is more popular than their alumni, and the team is not even the most popular one!
I'm sorry, the dude's name is "hardon"? Is he phallic?
It used to be Harry, because it was one direction fanfiction o. o
You always say you won’t write a book, but you have such good ideas! I’d love to read a book by you.
I don't get how the series is so popular teenage girls shouldn't be reading it becaue it teaches them that when a boy treats them bad that it's okay and normal but that's not the case
i'll never understand how these authors are SO overly confident in their writing to publish their fanfiction with the tiniest amount of changes. i myself write fanfic. would i publish it with changed names if i got the chance to? absolutely not.
If I was asked to fix this book, i'd nail it shut.
9:17 "so one dimensional" makes sense when it was trying to be one directional
I remember when this came out on wattpad and then became one of the first wattpad sponsored books. It was terrible then and it is now 🤣
as a one direction girl from the beginning who’s still a huge harry fan, i’ve been so annoyed by After from the start. i hated how many fics would portray harry as an abusive asshole when he’s SO far from that so for him to have this attached to his name is so beyond frustrating like this never should’ve left wattpad and the whole fandom despises anna todd 😒
I read the original after books on Wattpad and I just couldn’t finish the series.
To me it has potential to be better but for me I was like no mate no.
Now I look back on it, it seems the relationship between Tessa and Hardin (I remember it as harry ok) was quite toxic to me.
Landon had his problems (calling Tessa to deal with Hardin when he's on his destructive tirades), but in the grand scheme, he was just trying to live his life with his father and step mom but Hardin's problems always take precedence and ruins whatever gathering the family tries to have.
Same with Noah, was he a judgemental wet blanket who was a bit to posessive? Absolutely. But his biggest crime was being a "plot device" (lol what plot) in the tragedy of Tessa and Hardin's relationships, and he takes being cheated on remarkably well that in no way makes Tessa come to terms with her own shitty behavior 🙄.
Also as much as I love P&P I swear to God it get used so much in shitty romances that I'm sure Jane Austen is turning over in her grave. Every reference is so surface level and basic it doesn't sound like a college discussion it sounds like someone who read the plot on a Laffy Taffy wrapper and said Let's Go!
God this book pisses me off
i was a hard core one direction stan (still am lowkey) at the time after was still getting posted chapter by chapter on wattpad, and the girls were absolutely hanging on anna todd's every word. we were preteens drooling over harry styles being an aggressive drunk, it was bizarre. i didnt like it then and i certainly dont like it now, but seeing the entire acu (after cinematic universe) unfold before my very eyes, watching people i know in real life watch the movies and have no idea about its origins, is both fascinating and extremely hilarious to me.
Crazy enough she was 24 when she made this I thought shed be like 13 lol
I don't think i can ever bring myself to read the book, let alone the series, but i just finished the movie the other day (ive been on an easy-watch wattpad-type kick lately) and i clicked on this so fast because it was so painfully bad and i need to heal XD
Sorry to the writer and those who like it, enjoy whatever you like, that's all good, and good for you for getting paid, but i just can't. Gawd. I had to take it in small bites because i feel compelled to finish movies.
On the animal print thing, I just have to point out: Shania Twain. That woman rocks animal print and she’s been working her ass off for 30 years. 🤣🤣
TRUE
Sadly, AFTER just reinforced the idea that if you write fanfiction you shouldn't write books. It would be great if more people who wrote fanfiction could improve before they write a book.
Source: I wrote fanfiction, and now I'm looking at my own books like "uh-oh"...
I cant bring myself to read these but I thank you for your sacrifice! Loved listening to your thoughts
You are making a wise choice not to read the books there bad
Yeah, Anna Todd never went to college and she has no idea how to do research about, well, anything, so your assumption that she doesn't know anything about that part of her book was right on.
I have so many things to say about the 20 minutes I watched of this After movie and the first 45 minutes of the Disaster audiobook. But it can best be summed up by the fact that my dog, who actively watches TV, started barking at the screen when the After clips played.
Was also pregnant and stupid. And thats how a lot of my embarrassing tv happened. Like all of army wives 🤣
Kardashians over here!
4:44 "there is ao3 fanfic - people that know what they'rd doing - and then there's whattpad writers" i say this with utter respect in my heart both to you and ao3, this is the most bizarre take on ao3 i've heard in a while. bestie i promise the only thing that we know we're doing is keeping cenzorship and advertizers away from the site to still have opportunity to post reylo tentacle porn or something
Listen, here’s the thing about tentacle porn. I have read a lot of it, and in general a lot of weird and freaky shit on ao3. And all of it that I’ve experienced is better crafted and better plotted than anything I have read that came from Wattpad. Including actual published works like After.
@@ReadswithRachel yeah i get where you're coming from, i guess i mentioned tentacle porn as a sort of replacement for literally whatever you can find on the site. The cool thing is, the positive experience of using ao3 is not bc of how it's just better than wattpad content, but bc it's self-curated. There's just as much bad writing there, it's just more noticeable on wattpad bc the algorithm pushes things that are more popular which is not necessarily better. I am a believer in the existence of good wattpad stories that just don't reach popularuty bc they are not Harry Styles self-insert fanfiction or whatever is popular nowadays
Totally agree with your Twilight assessment.
I'm so glad I found your channel. I listen to you all the time at work and love all your takes. Unrelated, but I'm a recovering emo kid living in Florida, too. You've talked about A Day to Remember in past videos & they're my favorite band! Anyway, keep up the entertaining content. :-)
Chef's kiss
This book reminds of 50 Shades because of how it glorifies abusive relationships. It’s 50 shades but more mean spirited.
I’m 20 and was a very dedicated one direction fan when this first came out. I remember it being very divisive within the fandom bc of how Harry was portrayed. It was such an ab*dive relationship that a lot of us didn’t want to read it. The fact it was based on a real person who was nothing like that (at least publicly), was a turnoff. I still haven’t read the book or watched any of the movies. Younger me still refuses to watch/read anything from the After series.
The way I cackled when the whisper meme popped up!! 😂😂😂 I scared my cat lmao
You know, I actually started on Wattpad before I stopped because of reasons. There are some genuinely talented writers on there such as Tahlie Purvis and ND Iverson. It sucks when crap like this is what becomes popular, though sadly it's not uncommon. People really like crap for some reason.
me who was in a mental hospital and was horribly abused there: :|
Harry and zyan are the only two interesting 1 direction members. Their vocal cords, their looks etc
A book about One Dimension! LOL.
Honestly, some books should stay fanfiction. After is one of those books
I so agree about the cringe of the Twilight movies! I actually loved the books in middle school and was stoked for the movies but they were so cringey to me, even then. Also, as a huge reader of Fanfic I'm always baffled by these terrible published books that started as fanfics and still have all the worst hallmarks of bad fanfic. because, like you said, there is so much terrifically written out there that could be officially published and most people wouldn't know the difference. But ok, I guess they just go for the most popular ones (even though those tend to be the best written ones mostly, at least in the fandoms I'm in), why do they not edit them even a little to make them more presentable and publishing worthy?? At least enough to make it seem like an actual book and not like a stream of consciousness of someone who just wrote whenever they got inspiration, never actually completing ideas and just jumping to new ones because of vibes. this is something I accept as a feature of fan fiction because it's a hobby, writers should write in whatever way is fun for them, even if that means just jumping from inspiration to inspiration and never actually finishing anything (no matter how sad that might make me as a reader if I got invested lol). But in a product that's meant to be exchanged for money? That's unacceptable. The prevalence of these bad fanfic copy and pastes will forever baffle me, especially when they're successful!! Rant over 😂 thanks so much for the video! I'm a new subscriber and have been working my way through your backlog, love everything so far!
I watched the first movie out of curiosity and IT'S SO BAD! I could not stomach the others XD I salute you for your sacrifice. Also, I'd read your fixed version of this ^^
I beg you to watch the second movie but as a comedy it’s actually so funny like I was crying at this one seen from laughing myself to tears😭
couldn’t get through the third tho but I’ve watched the second multiple times to laugh lmaoooo
so impressive how often you upload with how high quality your vids are. I'm a new viewer and I knew nothing about fundamentalism so it's been really informative binging like 20 of your videos this week lol
Me: *sees video* Girl, how can you make this shitshow better? This is nothing! It's trash, we all know that.
Me: *after watching video* Ohhhh, okay. If Tess was in on the bet, if it was a Jane Austen retelling of some sort, yeah! I like that idea. I think you inspired me yet hon!
My friend and I watched the first two movies as comedies and then after the second one we were gagging so hard that we were done. Lots of laughs though.
These movies were so ridiculously bad, made me think of a YA version of 50 shades of grey. I'm so glad I never bothered with any of those books.
Yep this book didn't have a plot to it the other books are even worse 😬😖
I’m just over here patiently waiting for you to discover Crave by Tracey Wolff. TikTok did me dirty with that one.
Lol I keep waiting to see who will finally commission me to read that one
@@ReadswithRachel Oh boy… it might have to be me. Just know, it’s because I love your videos. Not because I hate you. It’s not going to feel like that when you’re reading Crave, but I swear. I’m a fan!
Babe, wake up Rachel posted
Can I just say, Harry Styles is only like 6’0 tall? I love the man, but he is not like a giant or something 😭, I also have a sneaking suspicion that Noah is supposed to be Niall, and I take offense to that.
Hi rachel. As my namesake, i love ur videos and ur personality. FYI harry styles is 6ft
i'm currently turning one of my ao3 fics into an actual novel. I've been rewriting and editing it for just over a year. There's a small part of me that wants to show that books that started as fanfics can be good, if you really work at it.
I feel violated by Anna Todd and need compensation.
You can do it!❤
This sounds like a bad remake of A Walk To Remember...😬😬
No joke, when I saw the trailer for the first time, I legitimately thought it was a psychological thriller and Hardin was the antagonist. The way it was shot, the music, everything about it was ominous and I was watching it and waiting for the horror to start. Was kinda disappointed when it never came….
The unexpected Ying Yang Twins was perfect!
First two movies - movie maratons, tons of money. Last two - they still make it? Why
wait wait wait wait wait.
WASNT THAT JUST THE FUCKING PLOT TO 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU/TAMING OF THE SHREW
Oh 100%
@@ReadswithRachel even the sad Victorian writer banter...
I REMEMBER HEARING ABOUT THE FIRST ONE IN THEATERS BUT THEY DID THREE MORE AFTER??? AND WANT TO MAKE ANOTHER MOVIE?? STOPPP😭😭😭
14:19 well yeah, that was what New Adult Romance was back in the day😅
The subgenre has come a long way since then and has become a lot less problematic (at least the German NA romance books have? Idk that much about newer American releases). But these books were its humble beginnings.
I like to tip my toes in the genre every now and then but it is always the same story. College kids get to know each other, don't know how to communicate and also have some dark secret (most often to do with toxic parents or an SA experience) that keeps them from getting together cause they don't dare open up about it to their love interest for the longest time of the story. Once they do they get together, some big misunderstanding happens at about the 80% mark and after they have overcome this there is a happily ever after.
It really is a "brain of, no thoughts" kinda genre and that can be a nice thing but I couldn't read multiple NA books one after another