Story genres - aristocracy and privilege

[Zombie]

dunno if it’s a tab/genre on GA, but there’s definitely privilege /aristocracy stories on various sites

Generally they’re pretty bad because, well, most of us don’t live in that gilded world

Recently the YT algorithm delivered me a glossy video from the channel of real life aristo Lord Hinchingbrooke (his dad is the Earl of Sandwich - the family who really did invent our favourite snack 🥪 ) and his American wife.

And Hello magazine did this feature on the family back in June…

So, now there’s no excuse for GA authors not getting it right… 

https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/675143/viscount-viscountess-hinchingbrooke-mapperton-house-tour/?fwtrack_poster_size=large&fwtrack_poster_type=animated

 

Not sure if this video link will work - if it does you need to click the sound button

https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/675143/viscount-viscountess-hinchingbrooke-mapperton-house-tour/?fwtrack_poster_size=large&fwtrack_poster_type=animated&fw_playlist=gpPy2g&fw_video=5bjPXl&fw_channel=hello_magazine176901616

 

Edited October 24, 2024 by Zombie

[Cane23]

On 10/24/2024 at 1:05 AM, Zombie said:

dunno if it’s a tab/genre on GA, but there’s definitely privilege /aristocracy stories on various sites

Generally they’re pretty bad because, well, most of us don’t live in that gilded world

Recently the YT algorithm delivered me a glossy video from the channel of real life aristo Lord Hinchingbrooke (his dad is the Earl of Sandwich - the family who really did invent our favourite snack 🥪 ) and his American wife.

And Hello magazine did this feature on the family back in June…

So, now there’s no excuse for GA authors not getting it right… 

https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/675143/viscount-viscountess-hinchingbrooke-mapperton-house-tour/?fwtrack_poster_size=large&fwtrack_poster_type=animated

 

Not sure if this video link will work - if it does you need to click the sound button

https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/675143/viscount-viscountess-hinchingbrooke-mapperton-house-tour/?fwtrack_poster_size=large&fwtrack_poster_type=animated&fw_playlist=gpPy2g&fw_video=5bjPXl&fw_channel=hello_magazine176901616

 

Just admit it - you want story with hot teenage blondie twinks brothers in 'sandwich'! 

[LJCC]

On 10/24/2024 at 9:05 AM, Zombie said:

dunno if it’s a tab/genre on GA, but there’s definitely privilege /aristocracy stories on various sites

Generally they’re pretty bad because, well, most of us don’t live in that gilded world

Recently the YT algorithm delivered me a glossy video from the channel of real life aristo Lord Hinchingbrooke (his dad is the Earl of Sandwich - the family who really did invent our favourite snack 🥪 ) and his American wife.

And Hello magazine did this feature on the family back in June…

So, now there’s no excuse for GA authors not getting it right… 

https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/675143/viscount-viscountess-hinchingbrooke-mapperton-house-tour/?fwtrack_poster_size=large&fwtrack_poster_type=animated

 

Not sure if this video link will work - if it does you need to click the sound button

https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/675143/viscount-viscountess-hinchingbrooke-mapperton-house-tour/?fwtrack_poster_size=large&fwtrack_poster_type=animated&fw_playlist=gpPy2g&fw_video=5bjPXl&fw_channel=hello_magazine176901616

 

Sadly, I think the problem with this kind of story is that it is not that these aristocrats (written in the modern age) are living in opulence and wealth but that their lives are riddled with processes, procedures, and rules that require thorough research and adamant knowledge through copious amounts of study—that I don't think a lot of people would have time for or would give their story the research it requires.

That's why there are a lot of shite stories about this genre because the focus isn't on the people living in wealth or riches, which most novels written about this genre focus on. There are poor aristocrats, btw (like in England), who treat their castles as Airbnbs or tourist destinations in order to have an income. So the general consensus that all aristocrats are rich is questionable. The thing that makes aristocracy novels interesting is that regardless if one is living in a world of privilege, may that be given priority seats at a restaurant because you're the Vicount Dumarch, or whether you're given a guaranteed loan in a bank because you're the grandson of the Duke of Worthington, or, let's say, you casually dine with Taylor Swift and watch a concert later because you're Princess Sofia of (insert country), the RULES and the procedure of how those stipulations AFFECT your life and how you go about such a world is what makes this genre compelling.

Like when King Charles the III (Prince Charles at the time) couldn't marry Camilla because she was a divorcee, aristocratic rules such as these are what made The Crown such an amazing TV to watch because they're literally a select number of people who are bound to live by such rules unless they abdicate their crown, stature, or renounce their position in public.

But romcoms are more lenient, I think. However, any romcom in this genre would still require ample research. Unless one is making a Hallmark version with 0 budget or ZERO research. 😂

 

Edited October 26, 2024 by LJCC

[Zombie]

14 hours ago, LJCC said:

That's why there are a lot of shite stories about this genre because the focus isn't on the people living in wealth or riches, which most novels written about this genre focus on… The thing that makes aristocracy novels interesting is that… the RULES and the procedure of how those stipulations AFFECT your life and how you go about such a world is what makes this genre compelling.

actually I think what makes these stories compelling for readers is the opportunity to explore “forbidden cross-class relationships” between a privileged character and their “lower-class” lover - important, because it gives ordinary readers like us a stake in the story, an MC that we can identify with

Lawrence pretty much wrote the template for this with Lady Chatterley’s Lover (still selling well nearly 100 years later) but, interestingly, it was E.M. Forster who first came up with this forbidden cross-class idea when he wrote Maurice (1913-14). And in Forster’s novel the relationship really was genuinely forbidden - criminal at that time, not just transgressing “rules” of social class etiquette (which probably explains why it wasn’t published until 1971, the year after Forster died)

oh, and yeah, I admit it - sandwiches can be very tasty 😋  

[LJCC]

9 hours ago, Zombie said:

actually I think what makes these stories compelling for readers is the opportunity to explore “forbidden cross-class relationships” between a privileged character and their “lower-class” lover - important, because it gives ordinary readers like us a stake in the story, an MC that we can identify with

Lawrence pretty much wrote the template for this with Lady Chatterley’s Lover (still selling well nearly 100 years later) but, interestingly, it was E.M. Forster who first came up with this forbidden cross-class idea when he wrote Maurice (1913-14). And in Forster’s novel the relationship really was genuinely forbidden - criminal at that time, not just transgressing “rules” of social class etiquette (which probably explains why it wasn’t published until 1971, the year after Forster died)

oh, and yeah, I admit it - sandwiches can be very tasty 😋  

Oh, definitely! The old romantic adage of torn lovers across the generational wealth gaps indeed works. I haven't read a gay novel (written masterfully) about that topic though. But putting it in a modern setting, especially in the 21st century, doesn't work anymore. Like Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland of Sweden was a former fitness trainer who was married to the Crown Princess of Sweden. Even Britain's Prince William is married to a commoner.

But I guess the struggles of HOW said commoner is thrust into that life can be a notable novel written into paper, with how these commoners adjust to aristocratic life with their rules and processions that are very unrelatable to us peasants. Haha.

I do have an idea for a novel in this genre though: A single gay, father, goes into a gay BIG BROTHER bachelor done live who tries to win the heart of a duke. Turns out they hate each other. Like, they'd punch each other's faces if they could have their way. But the cameras seem to capture their plastic fantastic moments only to pin them together, making the audience think they're the most compatible of the bunch. Instead of the Bachelor choosing who leaves, the audience decides. And, as much as the gay father wants out, and as much as the bachelor wants him out as well, they have no choice but to spend time with each other. Then as they settle out their differences, they realize this hatred may blossom into love. Until, the bachelor's real-life ex-boyfriend joins the fray, and what was not so complicated may turn out to be a mess, after all... 

But yeah, not ready to be writing that...maybe years from now.

I don't want to write romcom after romcom after the current romcom I'm writing that I have still yet to finish.

[Myr]

We do have a genre set up for it as it was extremely common in the early days of online gay fiction.  

https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/subgenre/rich-boy/

 

[Zombie]

2 hours ago, LJCC said:

putting it in a modern setting, especially in the 21st century, doesn't work anymore… 

in fact it probably “works” better in the 21st century because opportunities for “cross-class” contact are much greater now, so storylines have more scope for this to happen, at school (public schools grant full scholarships to state school students, even top schools like Eton), or employment (stately homes are businesses too), or even down the pub

btw “royalty” is something else altogether - no one in their right mind would want to get tangled up with that (except maybe D-list cable TV actresses… )