02-07-2025
Wattpad Guilty Pleasures That Haven't Aged Well
Don't deny it—we ALL have had an embarrassing Wattpad phase in our lives, where we gave into the FOMO of fanfics and erotica and found ourselves giggling at narratives that, honestly, would get cancelled today.
15-year-old me was having the time of her life on that website.
I get why my parents were so pissed with me for spending HOURS on the website, reading words that should have never been written. And yet, every teenager was blushing under the covers reading those imaginary stories. It definitely was a phase of puberty I do not want to remember!
Given that, there were a lot of tropes and narratives that Wattpad is famously known for—and a lot of them are questionable, to say the least. So here are 8 things we all have either read or come across on Wattpad that were sooo not normal!*
*Disclaimer: some of the tropes mentioned below include sexual content and other controversial subjects.
1. "(Y/N), I'm so sorry. Steve wholeheartedly apologized as he rushed forward and embraced you from behind. You twisted in his arms and buried your face in his chest." - Avengers x Reader
Y/N refers to your name. A good and cute romantic y/n like this excerpt does no harm to anybody. Except for when, Wattpad always goes the extra mile and has us imagining ourselves falling in love with inanimate objects, having weird powers, begging the BIGGEST red flag to love us back, and other extremely weird stuff.
2. "Taehyung had a girlfriend, Yuri, who cheated on him only for money. Taehyung was so madly in love with her that he couldn't see that she was just using him. When his girlfriend left him with another man after taking his money, he was furious. He loved her so much, but at the end, he got nothing. From that day on, he became a cold-hearted mafia and killed his girlfriend and her boyfriend and never trusted in love or relationships ever again." - Arrange Marriage with the MAFIA!
This excerpt is just one example of the thousands of fanfics on Wattpad, which cater to every genre and audience. You have One Direction (of course), Star Wars, BTS, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, actors, actresses, singers, and even Donald Trump (Yeah, you read that right.) And trust me, nothing about these fanfics is normal.
3. "Harry just wrapped his arms around me and leaned his head on my shoulder, closing his eyes. I sighed, breathing in his comforting scent." - This Is More Than A Bromance: Larry Stylinson
Speaking of One Direction, fans have gone ahead of "Harry x Y/N" and taken it up a notch—we now have "Harry x Louis" because, to fans, it's more than bromance. The trope of setting up band members with each other is so normal that fans don't bat an eye, but once you start reading the details, you can never erase it from your mind.
4. "Damn it! I know it's forbidden, but you're so tempting." - Touch Me Sir
And of course, you have smut. And as always, it is unhinged, which makes me want to throw not about the extreme detail, but rather the characters involved. From a Monster energy drink can to Voldemort, Wattpad writers really leave nothing to the imagination.
5. "He looks around the classroom, and his gaze abruptly stops on me. I could see a small sort of smile work its way into his face." - Falling For My Teacher
Okay, this one just crosses all ethical bounds. The staggering number of romance plots between a teacher and a student is seriously CONCERNING. It's not a romantic trope; it's a major problem, which should not be turned into a plot twist. Do better!Whoever has written this should really get their laptop privileges revoked.
6. "Girls weaker than her would probably be reduced to a puddle. That dark hair and dangerous smile would be able to convert even the saintliest of nuns." - Dominantly Yours
This is where the fictional dominant alpha male, mob boss, and mafia characters come to life. There are tropes of the shy girl meeting the 'alpha male' and falling deeply in love, letting him do whatever he wants. Yeah, I'm having none of that! No controlling, no possessiveness, just none of this! We have to be better than this as a society.
7. "As she gazed back at the TV, I couldn't help inspecting her legs and feet. My foster sister had a pretty awesome-looking pair of legs: slim, long, flawless pale of sexy." - Foster Bond
This is simply WRONG. I do not want to see anything with FAMILY in it. I cannot emphasize enough how deeply incorrect and wrong this is. Please stop.
8. "Before becoming a breeder mouse, this rich, half-blood snake bought me for a high price, especially as a male mouse. Now I'm sitting here in a car for the first time in my life, nervously staring at this snake's hot face." - Love Uncaged
Hybrid mouse, snake, and human? This trope of the main character being EVERYTHING except a human can only be found on Wattpad. All stories copy Beauty and The Beast, where the 'not like other girls' girl falls in love with this hybrid animal/beast, and in return he protects her from the evil forces of the world. It's just downright creepy.
After going through all of these, it is pretty much established that Wattpad does not contain too many normal reads. And to those who have been traumatized by these fanfics, you are not alone. There is an entire generation who has gone through it and somehow made it through as a better person (I can only hope).
To people who do not know about Wattpad, I am so happy for you.
