Bookwyrming Thoughts

Musings from bookwyrms

Would You Want a Bookish Character As Your Roommate?

One of the first things you think of when you think of college* is a roommate.

Of course, you might be like me, who’s a commuter, because gosh darn it, those room and board expenses are well… expensive. And if you can avoid those expenses, you might as well avoid it.

My mom probably thinks I’m there to be a pest on a daily basis.

*Disclaimer: You don’t necessarily need to be in college to have a roommate, but for the purposes of this post and the back-to-school season, let’s say you are.

Roommates are a little tricky because you’re stuck with them. You’re living with them!

(Okay, so maybe not exactly stuck with them, but for the time being you are.)

You don’t know if they’re good, bad, or even worse, an absolute nightmare. #roommatehorrorstories. And it’s not like you can run home if you’re in another state or another country.

Wouldn’t it be better if you could have fictional characters as roommates instead?

Wouldn’t they???

bookish character as a roommate

1. They might ask you to join their new adventures!

Would you rather listen to a lecture all day or would you rather go slay demons with Shadowhunters? Or even traipsing across the country with demigods?

2. You know full well your fictional crush is taken.

It sucks, doesn’t it, knowing you can’t have them*. 😔 👉👈

*Look, I personally don’t care about falling in love with them, but I’d like to be friends at least.

3. You’ll probably get in trouble. A lot.

You’re not supposed to have weapons after all (or you could disguise it if that’s your thing). And unless they don’t bring their weapons in… you’re risking yourselves.

Imagine being in calculus class and all of a sudden you get attacked by a hydra. 🥴 (Considering I hated Calculus, I personally wouldn’t mind.)

4. You don’t know when they’ll be back or if they’ll be back.

They’re too busy saving the world or having monsters chasing after them, so they’re always at risk of death.

5. There will never be a dull moment.

Chances are, they’ll tell you all about their adventures if you can’t go with them. It’s one thing to look forward to at the end of the day when you’re about to sleep, right?

6. You’ll get along with them for sure.

They don’t know you, but you know them inside and out. You know what makes them happy, what makes them upset, what peeves them, etc.

Or you could creep them out. Make sure to tone down the “I know everything about you” dial a little.

7. They can easily kill you in your sleep.

If anyone can wield a knife better than a cook, it’s a fictional character. You’re better not pissing them off.

8. They won’t touch your books for the most part.

Do they really want to read about themselves? Do they want to hear their loved ones dying? Probably not.

9. They’re going to be relying on you.

They know their world, but they don’t know your world. Should they choose to retire from demon hunting and monster slaying, they’re going to be looking to you to help guide them through this world. Perfect roommate bonding time, am I right?

10. You might end up falling in love with them for reals.

Oh dear, you’re now a walking trope. Will the creator find out and write you into their story? 😱

Deep down you hope they’ll break up with their loves from the story they came from so you can snatch them up.

Let’s talk, bookwyrms! Would you rather a fictional character as your roommate or a person? Who do you want as your roommate if you could choose?

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Sophia started blogging in February 2012 for the hell of it and is surprisingly still around. She has a GIF for nearly everything, probably listens to too much K-Pop and is generally in an existential crisis of sorts (she's trying her best). More of her bookish reviews and K-Pop Roundups can be found at The Arts STL.

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39 comments

  2. Ha! I love what you’ve done with the list this week. Very fun! I think I’d quite like a fictional character as a roommate so long as it was a ‘good’ character!

  4. I was a commuter my first few years and it was kinda nice? But fictional roommates would be awesome. “walking trope” lol.

    Fun list!

    • Thanks, Greg! I’m a commuter and I agree kind of? The parking is horrible at my school, but I do save money, which I guess is the nicest part about commuting, haha. And no worries about roommate horror stories, which is another plus.

  5. I’m friends with my current set of flatmates, so we’re all good-thankfully at UK unis we do have flatmates, but we get our own rooms, so it’s not quite as bad as having to share your room with someone else! It would be pretty cool to have a fictional character as a flatmate though!

  8. Cool spin on the topic! I had pretty good college roommates, but it would be fun to share a dorm with my favorite book characters! I’d probably pick one of the characters from Emma Mills’ books – they’re just regular girls who come from good families and seem really nice!

  9. What a fun twist on this week’s topic! I was a commuter too. It would be interesting to have a fictional character as a roommate. I have no idea who I would choose though! Here is our Top Ten Tuesday

  10. Hmmm… a fictional roommate might be kind of fun. Don’t think I’d fall in love with them… I probably wouldn’t want a guy as a roommate… but we could probably be good friends. We could talk about all their troubles with their guy.

    Interesting take on this topic this week!

  14. Iā€™d LOVEEE to have a quiet but fun roommate like Bella from Twilight, or someone of that nature. At least someone the same as me. I dormed my freshman year of college and it was an experience…… lol. Not bad, just different. You never know how other people are until you dorm with them. I commuted by my sophomore to senior years, but Idk if Iā€™d go back to that time.

    • “You never know how other people are until you dorm with them.” No truer words have been said, even though I’m a commuter, haha. I wouldn’t complain about Bella being my roommate though… despite the fact I didn’t really like her as a character. But I agree, she would be a quiet roommate.

  15. Ermmmm I’m going to say RoadTrip and run from you now phahaha (this is what you get for slacking on comment quality when you blog hop to mine, I’ll bring RoadTrip up xD until you’re sick of them…and me hehe šŸ˜‰ )

  16. While these are all important points to consider, how can I overlook the fact that having bookish roommate may lead to bookish boyfriends? Yes all the way to this idea of having a bookish roommate

  17. Omg I loved this, Sophia! XD I’m totally weighing the pros and cons now. I mean, if I’m NOT part of all the adventures, I’ll definitely be bored out of my mind in the dorm room. That’s going to suck big time. xD

    • Oh, no! We can’t have that! You’ve gotta get out of that dorm room, Aimee! Immerse yourself into the beauty of the campus and bring books for bookish photography! 11/10 would recommend bringing a book everywhere, though, not just for going on a campus adventure.

  18. Well, as a 50-ish reader who has been happily married for decades, the idea of a roommate who isn’t my husband is a bit… odd. But remembering the college student I once was, I would happily have roomed with Anne of Green Gables, Menolly (Anne McCaffrey’s Harper Hall novels), or Talia (Mercedes Lackey’s Arrows of the Queen series.) Any of the three would have been interesting to room with, but fairly easy to get along with, as I had (and have) interests and personality traits in common with each of them.

    • Oh no, it would be very awkward, haha! This one is definitely aimed at peeps in college, unless you’re able to offer a room for fictional characters in college to board in. šŸ˜‰

  19. Sophia, your posts are always entertaining! I love this. I wouldn’t mind a fictional roommate… But someone good and generally not stabby. So maybe Dorian from TOG, because he likes the good things in life, he’s pretty accommodating, intelligent and I’d love to chat to him about theatre and literature etc. and he’s also a bookworm so we could actually share books. Who knows, maybe he’d even be into blogging?

    • Aww, thanks, Di! I try to be entertaining, haha. Stabby roommates aren’t ideal, especially if they’re trying to stab you or any of your friends. And ooo, a bookish roommate is always a good one to have!

  20. No roommates… It was a nightmare the first couple of years at Uni… One of the reasons the professor and I moved in together (and are still together 15 years later – romantic entanglement aside) is we could barely tolerate living with other people but we just clicked, therefore, problem solved. šŸ™‚

  22. When I was a lot younger, I absolutely would love hanging out with some of the characters in my books, but now that I’m older, I’m not too keen on having roommates if I can help it.(lol) Hugs…RO