Stories have always felt like an escape to me. Whether it’s books, TV shows, movies, YouTube videos, or even TikToks, they all pull me away from the reality I’m currently living in, even if only for a little while. Sometimes I’ll catch myself completely immersed in something and then suddenly remember the real world still exists outside of it. It almost feels like getting pulled awake too quickly, like a slap back into reality.
I think every form of media serves a different purpose in my life.
Books, TV shows, and movies all fall into one category for me. YouTube exists in another. Then TikTok somehow sits in between both of them. Oddly enough, I probably consume more YouTube and TikTok content than anything else, mostly because they feel easier to commit to. In my mind, books, shows, and movies require intention. They ask for time and emotional investment. Meanwhile I can open YouTube or TikTok without really thinking about it. Though honestly, the amount of time I spend scrolling could probably equal four movies a day without me even realizing it.
YouTube has become the place I go for comfort, entertainment, learning, or sometimes just background noise when I don’t want silence. I only follow a small number of creators, and most of them are gaming channels. Weirdly enough, no one would probably look at me and assume that’s what I watch, but some of the funniest content I’ve ever seen comes from those channels. After a long day, when everything feels heavy or exhausting, there’s something comforting about turning on a video that can make me laugh for a while.
Then there are books, TV shows, and movies, which all share one dominant theme for me: romance.
I am a hopeless romantic in every sense of the phrase. I love love. It doesn’t matter what ridiculous trope gets thrown at me, fake dating, enemies to lovers, childhood best friends, slow burns, second chances. I will probably enjoy it anyway. There’s just something beautiful about watching people slowly choose each other despite everything standing in the way.
Out of those three formats, movies are probably the one I consume the least. I’m much more attached to TV shows because they give characters time to grow. You get attached to them gradually, almost like they become part of your routine for a while. Books are a little different. I’m slowly trying to return to reading more consistently. I have an entire bookshelf full of books waiting for me, which is both comforting and slightly embarrassing considering how many are unread. Really, I just need to sit down and start one.
TikTok sits somewhere in the middle of everything. It gives me the humor and randomness of YouTube mixed with the storytelling and romance I love from books and TV. Lately, though, my algorithm has leaned heavily toward romance content, and honestly, I can’t even complain about it. Apparently I’m exactly the target audience for edits of fictional couples staring at each other dramatically while emotional music plays in the background.
I also have to admit that I’ve ended up watching parts of entire TV shows through TikTok clips because I don’t always have access to every streaming service. Someday I’d like to actually watch those stories properly on a TV screen instead of piecing them together through thirty-second clips on my phone.
But regardless of format, I think the reason I love stories so much is because they let people feel understood. Stories make emotions feel less isolating. They remind us that someone else has felt heartbreak, loneliness, excitement, fear, love, or hope before too. Romance especially does that for me. Beneath all the clichés and dramatics, I think I’m drawn to the idea that love, in any form, is one of the few things that can genuinely soften people.
I definitely have more thoughts about love, relationships, and the way people connect with one another, but those probably belong more in my “life” section than here. Still, the two overlap constantly. Stories influence the way we see life, and life influences the stories we gravitate toward.
I guess this section of the blog will mostly be about that intersection. The stories I consume, the ones that stay with me, and why certain fictional worlds somehow end up feeling real long after they’re over.