The Will-They-Won’t-They Trope aka Friends-to-Lovers
Falling in love with your best friend is not for the weak and that’s why sticking to fictional love will always be my coping mechanism. This trope is for the romantics– the deeply emotional, the edgers, who like to torture themselves with a really slow burn.
We believe that to be loved is to be seen. To be known!
And who knows you better than your best friend, right?
In the world of BookTok, where we go back and forth on which trope reigns supreme, friends-to-lovers stories hold a special place in all our hearts no matter how frustrating they could get. Sure, it’s the ultimate slow burn of ‘ships but it’s that thrilling anticipation of who will break first, the jealous simmer of unspoken feelings, and the triumphant fist pump in the air when love finally prevails that make it all worth it.
This is the trope that keeps us coming back for more; because witnessing someone quietly love their favorite person without expecting anything in return is just so damn pure and beautiful.
So you’ve devoured pretty much every friends-to-lovers story you can get your hands on. Totally swept yourself up in the whirlwind of emotions.
You’ve laughed, you’ve sighed, and obviously even shed a tear or two.
But what if I told you, you can step right into the role of the protagonist with a voice actor speaking directly to you?
To feel every flutter of the heart and every stolen glance as if it were meant for your ears only in a whole new world of immersion. Don’t settle for reading about it, because now you can experience it firsthand… well, sorta.
BUT WHAT EVEN IS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT THIS TROPE?
Not everyone can get into friends to lovers, I get that.
It seems so easy, and almost too obvious sometimes. But no one mentions how this trope is actually the most dangerous one. You build this intense emotional connection and this person becomes your lifeline through the world. Only to end up risking it all confessing, knowing it could be one-sided.
Do you even have the balls to risk losing two things at once? The love of your life AND your best friend? Exactly!
It’s why People we Meet on Vacation, or The Deal, are so great. I can read the most brilliantly twisted smut with the straightest face in public. But when the slow burn best friend’s touch for a bit too long, or has the “Why are you even jealous?” argument finally happens?
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!
Audio Erotica based off your favorite Friends-to-Lovers Trope
For the Slow Burn Years in the Making: Not Just a Fantasy – Mr. Robinson
Starting off strong with a true and literal slow burn friends to lovers.
You two have been friends for years secretly trying to tamp down your emotions for one another since you’ve been in a relationship with someone else the entire time. When your POS ex (who unfortunately was not wrong about you two) dumps your things on your best friend’s lawn after your breakup, you find yourselves living together.
This one is one of the more realistic friends to lovers trope because even after him saying he had feelings when you first met, you didn’t confess! If it’s truly been years of being just friends, I could never admit my feelings so easily. Friends to lovers only works if there is a true risk of something to lose. We need to feel the hesitation on both ends. Get a little angry at them for their lack of communication.
And speaking of angry, I’ll admit listening to Mr. Robinson read out a cringey smut was hard to keep a straight face to.
But the man is serious! His jealousy mixed with the longing he has suppressed for years is evident in his whimpers. You will literally feel how deeply he grinds it in like he just can’t get deep enough.
“When we’re done, I wanna be able to smell you all over this room. I’ll eat you out on every piece of furniture. I’m gonna f*ck you against the mirror and make you watch yourself fall apart for me.”
Listen to: Not Just a Fantasy on: Youtube or Patreon
For the Feel Good Rom-Com Vibes: Left at the Altar – Mr. Gallo
I’d first like to thank all the powers that be who put the team together that made this masterpiece. With its early 2000s rom-com vibes, cinematic-level SFX and ASMR, this audio was my entire personality when it was first released. A ruined wedding, forced proximity in an elevator, and lots of face riding.
This audio couldn’t check any more of my boxes.
I’m such a slut for hardcore pining and this is exactly what I’m looking for when I ask for friends to lovers. Give me plot twists, give me their history, and more than anything, give me the longing.
Before walking down the aisle on his wedding day, he didn’t want to be pulled from his dream, because in it, he was with you.
Gallo delivers the most romantic compliments, always focusing on how your reactions or mind enrapture him, instead of just your looks.
When he talks about how intense his adoration on you is, his voice gets to this low intimate timbre that just makes you feel like he’s truly known you for years and this is a moment he never thought would come.
“Whenever you get passionate about something. You get irresistible. And you know you get passionate about a lot.”
Listen to: Left at the Altar on: Youtube or Patreon
For an Accidental Love Confession: Unplanned Honesty – Mr. Adams
We start off coming back from a restaurant night out where the waiter was flirting with you the entire time. Of course he thinks no guy is good enough when he’s been in love with you for as long as he has. He’s even cleared out a drawer for you since you stay over so often at his place, “babe”. The flirting-but-pretending-it’s-just-a-joke thing is such stereotypical guy friend behavior but it’s undeniably hot.
I love that we get to hear the unreasonable jealousy from the MMCs point of view.
One of our listeners said Adams sounds like Ryan Reynolds when they’re cuddling in bed, and now I can’t unhear it. Specifically, Deadpool Ryan Reynolds—the only acceptable hot version, in my opinion.
His confession is the literal definition of friends to lovers. He explains the dangers of the trope so well and sounds so earnest I found myself frozen in shock, afraid to move as if he was physically next to me.
And oh, his kisses?
Soft yet passionate. Gentle but also desperate.
Years and years of suppressed feelings but now that you’ve gotten a taste of another, there’s no more holding back.
“Say it again, please. I wanna hear you moaning my name.”
Listen to: Unplanned Honesty on: Patreon
For the Puck Bunnies wanting Possessive Jealousy: Sin Bin – Mr. Gallo
If you’re tired of being patient for the action, Gallo has the perfect fast burn hockey audio to fill that craving. He calls you ‘sugar’ because he’s extra sweet on you and only you.
Imagine a grumpy heartthrob who only lights up at the sight of you.
So when he catches you flirting with the captain of his rival team, he can’t help but swoop in and “save HIS girl. There was no hesitation on his part about whether or not he wants to stay just friends. You’re already his in every aspect except physical, which he corrects very quickly.
The confession is brief in this one but that doesn’t make it any less romantic. Somehow, he comes across as charming, sweet, and dominant all in one.
He starts off so soft with you taking it slow…
“Let me just look at you clothed on my bed, right before our first time. I just want to remember this.”
…to easily slipping into the role of possessive lover within minutes.
“Don’t bite your lip. I want to hear you. I want to f*cking hear all of you baby because you’re f*cking moans belong to me and I want everyone to f*cking hear that.”
Listen to: Sin Bin on: Patreon
For the Friends with a Past: The Girl Next Door – Mr. Robinson
Robinson plays the ex-bachelor boy next door who’s finally matured. But a few glasses of liquid courage got you kissing each other after talking about a one-off kiss from back in the day that should’ve gone further.
Going down memory lane together after a night of drinking made me feel nostalgic for the life I imagined after reading The Summer I Turned Pretty. This is the audio you play if you want to completely submerge yourself in the fantasy, with mentions of shared history and past interactions.
There’s nothing but pure comfort with Robinson’s gentle whispering as he leaves kisses down your body. Yet there’s something so feral about him being so captivated by you that he makes you come without taking off his clothes first. I’ve already mentioned before how any audio that has squirting goes on my favorites list, and this one is no exception. He growls as he fingers you, sloppily loving you up during. I love how he tells you he’s going to go faster, making it easier to get in on the action alone whether with fingers or a toy.
“I’m not stopping this time. I might’ve been a fool all those years ago, but I’m not about to be one right now.”
Listen to: The Girl Next Door on: YouTube or Patreon
Need more of your favorite romance tropes?
One of my favorite features BKS offers is the ability for the listeners to submit audio ideas based on Patreon requests. The community as a whole gets to vote on their favorite ideas, and the ones with the most likes get turned into fully SFXed audio stories.
So if you have a fantasy you’d like to experience, sign up to Patreon and–
Don’t just keep reading about it—live it!
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