I also enjoy Herman Hesse- Knulp is one of my favorite short reads :)

I assume since you love Wilde that you’ve probably read The Importance of being Earnest? It’s a play, but the content is very easy to engage with as a story.

In a similar vein to Wilde’s humor and commentary toward social aristocracy: I’d also recommend Emma by Jane Austen and Candide by Voltaire.

Lots of studies have been done on this very subject in regards to all kinds of entertainment media. It’s super interesting especially when it happens on a larger scale and leads to a complete shift in social attitudes toward a certain genre or theme.

While I’m sure you could attribute the change to just falling in love, I would also be curious to know if you think the larger current social shift away from true crime could have contributed? I know I personally used to devour the genre as well, and over the last couple years, over saturation and sensationalism has really put me off of it.

Either way it sounds like you’re reading material that is probably a lot healthier for you brain and mental well-being in the long run :)

The fanfic was originally free and gained a following- it was already a reimagining of Twilight so the plot wasn’t the same. All she had to do to publish it was change the characters names and a few locations to get around the copyright and boom 50 Shades.

EL James has made millions off of her Twilight fanfic

You could do worse lol