Warning : Opinions

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How many times have you come across a story where the BTS member is a mafioso?

Probably hundreds.

Let's discuss the mafia tropes. And even before that, I'd like to point out that mafia means the whole organisation. (which we like to call mafia gang, they're synonyms. It's either a mafia or a gang.)
And to refer to a singular member of the mafia (especially the leader, underboss and capos), we use the term mafioso.
Using 'mafia boss', 'gangster' or 'mafia member' is also fine.

We're gonna talk about the following things in this chapter :

1) Types of mafia tropes

2) Execution of the mafia genre books

3) Research about mafia

4) Romanticisation of mafia

5) Underserved Redemption Arcs

Before I get into detail, I think it will be valid to say that it's my opinion and it's totally fine if you disagree.
And also, I love the mafia themed books because my favourite genre is literally crime and mystery fiction.

1) Types of mafia tropes

Since we are talking about BTS fanfictions, we're gonna have to realise that there's just the same two tropes that are used over and over again.

Kidnapped by the mafia :

Goddamnit, the number of times I've seen these books is endless. And what's the worst thing about it? All these stories follow the same thing.

The mafia king (let me tell you, there's nothing such as a mafia king in real life, there's mafia bosses, not kings) hates girls but he somehow sees the female lead. And because he has nothing better to do with his time, he gets madly obsessed with her and kidnaps her. And voila! The female lead falls in love with him even after knowing that he killed her family. Why? Because she believes in, "I can fix him."
What in the Stockholm Syndrome?

No woman, he's not a tap that you'll fix in the sink.

It always goes the same way, always. I don't have a problem with the trope itself, but with the lack of creativity. I said it in the last chapter about characters : changing backstories or twisting common tropes/plots is a fun way to make your stories interesting. But the problem is that it's almost never done this way.

Mafia boss' daughter marries Mafia King :

I hate this one more than I hate the previous one. Because what? A forced marriage in a mafia is a common thing.
But like why is it always that despite being from a mafia family, the female lead almost always doesn't know any sort of self defense or shit?

Why is the female lead so weak in this cliché that a flower would be stronger than her?

Mafia bestfriend or husband :

No girl, just no.

Do you really think that a man who is so deeply involved in killing and torturing people would care about a girl he happened to somehow meet?
Like okay maybe a childhood bestfriend thing is there and the male lead then has to separate from her and then meets her again as a mafioso. Does it make sense?

It's not practical to want to meet a friend you had at the age of like 8 as a 25 something mafioso. I mean if we separate from friends, we make new friends. And a short friendship is rarely special enough to find everything about that person.
You can make this make sense but not how the female lead's parents never care. How? She's Asian, then how do they not know where she goes?

Alright, moving on to a mafia husband thing. She's a very normal girl with a very normal job and he's a mafia gang leader. There's an arranged marriage here and he's like a normal husband.
What do you take a mafioso for?

They are not good people, please.

All in all, every mafia trope out here is cliché. Like almost nobody actually experiments with themes and pulls out a unique narrative.

It's not that I hate the mafia genre, I literally have a separate reading list for my favourite books of this genre, it's just that I'm disappointed by how most of stories are the same. The ones in my reading list are the unique ones that twisted my mind.

So, if you plan to write a mafia story, try to write something different. Because there's a lot of clichés out here.

2) Execution of the Mafia genre books

This is like the major problem about this genre in fanfictions. Too many authors use it without the awareness of how to execute it.
They would introduce the male lead as a mafia member, but not actually use it, if that makes sense.

I mean to say that the character being a mafioso doesn't have much reason or relevance. The story's basically about a 'mafia' (not mafioso) who falls in love with Y/n because she's not like other girls.
Then he's just obsessed with her, he does no work. And most of the stories don't show the 'ruthless but only soft for her' thing well. It's just mentioned, there's no character development or something for the readers to feel it, it's just there.
And the killing/torturing thing only comes to the scene when the writer feels like Y/n should be afraid of him.

So what I'm trying to say is that the book says that it's a mafia book, but there's no actual wordbuilding or themes for it to feel like one.

3) Research about mafia

Oh God.

Out of around 100 mafia fanfictions that I have read here, only 5 or 6 actually felt like mafia books. The others were just beating around the bush.

Since this section says research, let's talk about it.

Research is necessary for any book you are trying to write. Yes, it's fiction. And yes, people know BTS. But it's your story and your world. Make sure it's actually correct. Don't just write anything.

The amount of times I've seen - "He went to do his mafia business."

Okay what is a mafia's business? Yes I know a mafia gang kills and tortures people, deals drugs and shit. But again, it's your story. You gotta show things like the reader doesn't know anything. Show and express your story in a manner that anybody can read it. It's not a school's curriculum that students must have prior knowledge from previous classes to understand it.

And do the authors really know what a mafia is? The answer is no.

If you are writing a mafia genre book, then make sure you know about the torture methods or killing methods used in a certain country's mafia. Find out rules of enmity and everything. Make a strong world. Don't just say that they have connections and the government is scared of them, no, it isn't like that.

Actual mafiosos are always on the run from governmental organisations. Or they have hidden identities that are actually hidden. (Not that they have 6 business friends who are not in the mafia but know them. It's a secretive deal.)

So yes, research about whatever you want to write. A little research helps in sophisticated work.

4) Romanticisation of mafia

The dreaded topic.

As hard of a pill as it is to swallow, the romanticisation of the mafia is heavy in these fanfictions. They make a mafia boss look like an average high school badboy who smokes and curses. No, that's not it.

A mafia member kills people, tortures them, is involved is human trafficking, drug dealing, prostitution etc. etc. People are immensely harmed by the mafia and black marketing and black money is heavy in there. So no, a mafioso isn't a high school badboy.

Like it's made to seem as if the mafia is a haunted world of killers who can be good to their women. Actually mafiosos literally cheat left and right and have a 100 girls on them because of the money. Yes they have money, but no, they don't have those morals to respect a woman or truly love her.

Just because you're showing it in a BTS fanfiction, it doesn't mean that you'll make it seem like a good thing. Throw those shades in the story that show the villains as villains. There's no wrong in writing a protagonist who's a villain. But make them the villain.

I have no problem if you write about a mafia, it's literally a sub genre in my favourite genre. The problem is when it's romanticised. The problem is when young people read it and form wrong opinions about something so cruel in the real world.

All in all, please don't romaticise the mafia of all things. Even if it's a love story, show the male lead as a villain and that the female doesn't have that strong morals with being a law abiding citizen.

5) Underserved Redemption Arcs

This is controversial.

As I talked in the first section, the mafioso generally kidnaps the female lead. And what happens? She forgives him and falls in love.

What's the excuse?

He was in love with her so he kidnapped her.

Do you even know that kidnapping is a serious crime in the real world? And Stockholm Syndrome is the only reason someone would fall for their captor. And that's a mental health issue.
Nothing is ever addressed properly.

Also, in some of the pieces that I have had the disgrace to come upon, the male lead forces himself upon the female lead and she still forgives him. Hey, I could forgive kidnapping for once but this? No.

This is what undeserved redemption is.

Just because you are in love with someone doesn't mean that you can kidnap them or force them. It's a serious crime and the criminal is never seen as 'hot' or 'cool' for it.

To conclude, just don't write such undeserved redemption arcs. Just because it's BTS doesn't mean it's okay.
And don't even support stories that do this, there's a good looking report button at the top right corner for every story. Stories that show r@pe as an 'okay' or 'hot' thing or let the victim be with the oppressor deserve that for the sick mentality.

Well, this wasn't so long but I just wanted to say that fiction doesn't give you a free licence to portray crime as an attractive thing. The mafia genre has this romanticisation in abundance along with the deadly amount of inaccuracy to what the mafia actually is.

So if you do decide to write a mafia story, make sure that crime remains crime and heavy romanticisation is not the case.

That's all for today, comment what topics you want me to cover next.