DISCUSSION: best & worst fic tropes?

[ripplefieldz]

i like hearing people talk about these kinds of things, so i'd like to hear your thoughts! when it comes to favorites, i don't really like a lot of popular fic tropes (unless not having romance counts as one) but a lot of fanfiction seems to lean pretty heavily on romance, so i'm not surprised :[ as for least favorites, enemies to lovers is often pretty uncomfortable for me since usually it feels just. really weird going from wanting to kill eachother to in a romantic relationship, low-stakes rivalries are fine though. soulmate aus and hanahaki disease are much farther up there on my dislike list, both obviously have to do with me being aroace and just so tired of romance, but they're also just. horrifying? like i once read a soulmate au because my friends were talking about how bad they were and yeah! it really did feel like a horror story, the idea of being bound to a relationship by the universe itself whether you want it or not, no matter how hard you try to fight it. hanahaki disease is fairly obvious for why it's scary, a shame that it involves romance because plant-based horror SLAPS and it'd be both extremely funny and sick as hell if there was just a fanfic trope of "scary murder plant that slowly suffocates you as it grows"

so yeah, tell me about your thoughts on tropes!

 

[Welkamo]

In general, I think there aren't any good or bad tropes, just good and bad execution (as long as it's not, say, stereotypes). My least favorite trope is probably third act breakups, but that's probably because of personal reasons.

I do have a lot of favorite tropes, though.

Spoiler: Romantic tropes

• Forbidden romance
• Highly disapproved of romance
• Battle couples
• Kissing/other things after almost dying

Spoiler: Whump/Angst tropes (CW//Blood, references to abuse, general angst)

• Dysfunctional Family
• Blood From the Mouth
• "I can't cry I can't cry I can't—" proceeds to cry
• Bad things but from the perspective of the child
• Denying anything is wrong

Spoiler: Other tropes

- Found family

• Unofficially adopting a child/animal as a child
• Clubs
• Seedy clubs

Sickfics

 

[CynthiaLover]

Well, one trope that always rubs me the wrong way is the Invincible Hero trope, where the hero basically never loses, no matter what. It's one of the reasons why I can't stand protags like Yusei and Yusaku from Yugioh, as they always, ALWAYS win, even when the stakes aren't high (sans flashbacks but those don't really count). I admit I'm guilty of that trope, too, albeit by accident, as I was unaware of myself committing that very same sin when I was writing Psychic Duelist Django until a good friend pointed it out, which woke me up and I started to rework certain aspects before it got put on hold due to other reasons (mainly the franchise itself becoming the massive mess that it is now turning me off from it). But, yeah, whenever I see a protag being basically invincible and having, like, zero flaws or struggles really doesn't sit well with me.

One that's in bit of a grey area for me is the Protagonist-Centered Morality trope. When it's done right it does pretty good, like in Rising of the Shield Hero with Naofumi and the methods he uses to get his Hero job done correctly. They're morally questionable, but given the time period and the fact it brings desired results it's hard to argue against it (especially when compared to the other three Cardinal Stooges and their consistent screw-ups). However, when it's done wrong it's an absolute nightmare, such as how the narrative always took Kagome's side in Inuyasha even when she's in the wrong and Inuyasha is in the right and was never called out on it by anyone. Whenever that trope is used in fiction it can bring mixed results but if it's executed properly it can make for some really engaging work, especially if it creates a unique morality system that fits with the form of fiction.

In terms of romance tropes, I'm very fond of ones like Forbidden Romance, Battle Couples, and Interspecies Relationships, similar to @Torchic W. Pip. In fact, all three tend to be some of my more commonly used romance tropes with my main leads (ie: Celtic and Skye in Chaos Rising are a Shadokor/Druid and Light Elf, respectively, making them use the Interspecies Romance trope combined with Battle Couple, while Django and Tempest in Psychic Duelist Django are a Psykinox and Elemental, respectively, which not only uses the same trope but is also a Forbidden Romance one because Elementals are terrified of Psykinoxes, Tempest being one of the few exceptions due to lacking her species trademark cowardice while also having resentment for her kind, with a dash of Battle Couple since they sometimes do Tag Duels together). And I also like the whole Dating Catwoman trope, where a hero hooks up with a anti-hero/(former) villain, since it creates a unique morality set up and interactions.

That said, a romance trope I feel that gets run right into the ground is the Childhood Romance trope. Yes, having your childhood friend evolve into a lover is nice, but it's a bit overdone nowadays and I've lost interest in it. In that case I do have a personal beef with Childhood Romances since I once had a Childhood Romance that grew quite a bit into my early teen years that came crashing down in the absolute worst way and time possible, souring my opinion on it and leaving me quite bitter toward the person who left me high and dry when I needed her the most. That said, if it's done right then I can accept it, but usually it feels more forced to me, especially if you don't actually see any childhood interactions with the two (which is a big flaw that various Dragon Quest games have, especially if they're trying to force you to take a certain marriage route, simply resorting to "hey, you have a history with this girl so you should marry her no matter what"). In fact, a canceled series I was planning once (I might attempt to revive it, since the idea still tickles my fancy, and I know this forum would love it, plus I still have some of those documents) invoked both a failed version of the Childhood Romance and a successful Dating Catwoman tropes, resulting in a unique dynamic for the main protag.

Those are the ones that come to mind right now as good, bad, and grey area tropes. Execution is the ultimate key for them, as the tropes can be good if they're done correctly. If done right then the tropes can be glorious but if done wrong they can really ruin a good story. That's my two cents.

 

[Serverus Snope]

Those are the ones that come to mind right now as good, bad, and grey area tropes. Execution is the ultimate key for them, as the tropes can be good if they're done correctly. If done right then the tropes can be glorious but if done wrong they can really ruin a good story. That's my two cents.

Kind of like how edgelord characters have a bad reputation but the biggest problems tend to be a.) the narrative takes their side no matter how much of a complete jackass they are, b.) they aren't challenged at all by the plot, and/or c.) they aren't really as cool as the author thinks they are but everyone in the story acts like they have a coolness rating of 100 megafonzies.

The latter is why I really enjoy edgelord characters who are treated more believably. Stuff like:

Character A: "The darkness calls to me."
Character B: "Yeah. It told you to take out the trash."

On the other side of the coin, you can absolutely screw up kind adorkable characters. Too many stories, for example, just hand them conventionally attractive love interests who have little to no genuine chemistry with them. Because they're "such a nice guy/gal/nonbinary pal", I guess.