Trope meme

[resonant]

via trobadora

Years ago on LJ I identified my ideal tropes as mapping into a double cluster around a center that's basically a period of yearning in the gap between sex and intimacy -- either you have sex first and spend the story yearning for intimacy (e.g. aliens made them do it) or you have intimacy first and spend the story yearning for sex (e.g. everything from hypothermia to truth serum). All my answers here definitely follow that pattern.

Slow burn OR love at first sight::. It amuses me that I find love at first sight less plausible than sex pollen. I do enjoy variations on a theme of "the first time I saw you, I was already obligated to do some long-term, difficult, and intimate thing with you" -- for instance, "I have amnesia and I woke up in bed with you and we were both wearing matching wedding rings," or "so you're the royalty from the neighboring kingdom that I've just entered a political marriage with." Soulbond stories ring that bell for me, as long as the bonding in the situation takes a little while to produce a bonding in feelings.

Fake dating OR secret dating:. Fake dating is definitely a gap-type trope -- here we are holding hands and pretending to be happy together while I yearn for that but believe that you're not interested. Yep, yep, that does it for me. Secret dating isn't a trope I can remember seeing a lot of. I suppose you could have a Romeo-and-Juliet type scenario, or one of those delightfully farfetched romance scenarios where you'll lose the inheritance unless you can stay single. It locates the obstacle to the relationship outside the relationship, which isn't as interesting to me.

Enemies to lovers OR best friends to lovers:. I like them both, but enemies to lovers takes longer and is more difficult. With best friends, you have to look for some additional reason why they haven't just kissed already.

Oh no there's only one bed OR long distance with correspondence:. I'm not nuts about either of these, because mostly neither of them is very plausible to me. If you had to share a bed with someone you were longing for, you'd probably either not really sleep, or wake up back to back, and while a good writer could make either of those enjoyable to read, there's not as much inherent drama in it as I would like. And I have never read a romance conducted in correspondence that didn't make me go, "Oh, come on." Either they require characters to understand what they feel and communicate it in a way that I don't find at all plausible, or they require me-the-reader to be able to understand what's being communicated in the subtext and both the characters to understand what's being communicated in the subtext, and I just don't buy it. (I've seen it done well for comedy -- "My dearest M., I assure you it wasn't my fault; the boat was already on fire when I got there, and I got nearly all the penguins out of the ballroom unharmed.")

Fantasy AU OR modern AU. Both are done badly a lot more often than they're done well. It's a worldbuildling issue. Modern AU is certainly easier for the writer, but a lot of the time if you take the characters out of a historical or fictional setting, all your conflicts go away too. Sometimes it works, though -- I think one reason the high school AU is so popular is because high school is probably the closest most contemporary people ever come to living in a world with very narrow social roles and high penalties for violating them. Fantasy AU is an awfully big category -- could include anything from "Fraser's a werewolf and Ray's a vampire" to "exactly the same as the canon except that Spock has telekinesis." Delightful if done well, but few writers want to put enough effort into worldbuilding.

Smut or fluff. I don't know, what even is the definition of fluff? I think of it as meaning explicit emotional communication, and most of the time that's out of character for the kinds of characters I like to read. On the other hand, if you give me the choice between a basically solid story with sex and no emotions or a basically solid story with emotions (expressed in an in-character way) and no sex, I'll choose the emotions.

Mutual pining OR domestic bliss. OMG, pining pining pining. What can you do with domestic bliss? What can happen? I'll read and enjoy domestic comedy, but I pine for pining.

Alternate universe OR futurefic. I mean, I like them both, but it's easier to do futurefic well, because it requires less worldbuilding, and so a higher percentage of it is good. Also, like many fanfic fans, I always view canon as basically what sets the scene for the real storytellers, i.e. us.

Oneshot OR multi-chapter. Even a long story is more likely to make me happy if it's posted as a oneshot. Stories posted in chapters have a high likelihood of being posted before they're finished, which means they have a high likelihood of disappointing me with either a weak finish or none at all.


Kidfic OR road trip fic. I haven't seen a lot of either of these, and I don't feel particularly strongly about road trip stories. But I read kidfic all wrong. If a story has a child in it, I have a laser focus on the wellbeing of that child, to the point that the relationship starts seeming like a distraction from the real story, which is when is the last time that kid ate anything other than string cheese, and isn't it about time for her to go to bed?!

Reincarnation OR character death. I really dislike character death. There's enough grief in real life, thank you. Reincarnation isn't something I always avoid, but it does tend to keep company with some specific ideas about soulmates that I don't really like all that much, though -- that whole "We will always find each other through all eternity" stuff. It might be fun to read a reincarnation story in which the two characters aren't particularly soulmates but either (1) they have real potential that just can't be developed until both of them have done several lifetimes worth of maturing or (2) they're just two people who get more and more compatible because they have more and more practice at being together.

Arranged marriage OR accidental marriage. I like both of these, but arranged marriage hits right in my trope cluster. Arranged marriage is also a nice way to add zing to a best-friend story.

Time travel OR isolated together. Another pair that are both good. Time travel is risky because it often takes over the story -- I understand the temptation to explain things, but honestly I'd prefer "Suddenly, in the night, Sam Vimes found himself meeting up with a teenage Vetinari," just as an example, rather than two pages of explanation. But isolated together is excellent too!

Neighbors OR roommates. If you're going to make them neighbors, why not go all the way and make them roommates? As far as I can see, both scenarios have the same advantages, but roommates has them more.

Sci-fi au OR magic au. Magic has some pre-existing worldbuilding that a writer can just pick up and use. This would very much not satisfy me if I were reading a nonfannish novel -- the worldbuilding there is the whole thing I'm reading for -- but I read fanfic for relationships, and so if the writer wants to go "And he's a wizard -- you know what a wizard is like" or "And it's a curse -- you know how a curse works," I'm fine with that. SF is inferior in fanfic precisely because of the lack of those worldbuilding templates. (I mean, unless by SF AU you mean "Steve Rogers goes to Starfleet Academy," in which case I am so there.)

Bodyswap OR genderbend. Bodyswap is, of course, intimacy without sex, so I love it. Genderbend is often a lot of fun as social commentary. Social commentary is something I have more strength for some days than others; in the current political situation, often it's going to hit on some things I'm trying not to think about.

Angst OR crack. Now these are both things that are so dependent on skilled handling for me! Angst has to have a light hand with emotional explicitness -- it's a lot more effective if you give me the sorrow-and-yearning kit and make me put it together myself. And crack depends on (1) whether I agree with you about how funny the premise is and (2) whether you're able to execute it with a complete straight face.

Apocalyptic OR mundane. God, I hate apocalypse. I hate it so much. It's so lazy. And it seems like it shows up in all the canons [hisses at Marvel] and ruins everything. I like stakes high but human. Throw too much risk in there and you lose me.

Editing to add the "story idea" tag and point my future self at the Dome Habitat AU.

Comments

[desireearmfeldt]

(Hi, I feel a bit weird commenting when I have read lots of you but you don't know me very well. :) )

a period of yearning in the gap between sex and intimacy -- either you have sex first and spend the story yearning for intimacy (e.g. aliens made them do it) or you have intimacy first and spend the story yearning for sex (e.g. everything from hypothermia to truth serum).<\em>

Yes! This is my jam, too -- and given how much gets written in this space, I suspect we're not alone.

This is pretty much the only reason I care about sex at all...well, if you include in the cluster "We're having sex and we're emotionally intimate up to a point but we still have angst/insecurity/trust/commitment/communication issues to resolve," so that the sex scenes are about yearning (and/or fear) inside the characters' heads. Or, I can also be fond of porn where the characters are thinking hard about how to implement the sex itself (preferably with feelings attached), for much the same reason I find well written stories with nerdery about violin playing or coffee roasting or knitting compelling.

[resonant]

I've been so out of touch with fandom for so long that we might as well all start over and build new relationships from scratch. Hi! I'm Res!

Or, I can also be fond of porn where the characters are thinking hard about how to implement the sex itself (preferably with feelings attached), for much the same reason I find well written stories with nerdery about violin playing or coffee roasting or knitting compelling.

I have a particular love for stories about scheming, which is why I love reading about Lord Vetinari so much.

[desireearmfeldt]

Hi, I'm Desiree! :) I'm still mostly hanging around in the (very quiet but Still Not Dead) due South corner, though I've poked tendrils into some other fandoms here and there. I have reached the stage of reduced output (partly for external reasons, partly for being-in-the-same-fandom-a-long-time reasons, but I still have a back catalogue of WIPs I'm hoping to get into the light eventually. Also, podfic.

[trobadora]

Yay, it's great seeing this meme get around!

It amuses me that I find love at first sight less plausible than sex pollen.

Hee! That's me too. *g*

I don't know, what even is the definition of fluff?

For me, it's something both angst-free and plot-free, and since those are two of my favourite things, I'm not fond of it except in moments.

[resonant]

angst-free and plot-free

Sounds like the sort of thing I like to imagine after I've finished reading a story with a lot of angst and plot -- but not so much fun to read.

[minutia_r]

In re: love at first sight vs. sex pollen, I'm reminded of a quote from Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency:

Sherlock Holmes observed that once you have eliminated the impossible then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible. ... The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it which the merely improbable lacks.

Sex pollen is impossible; love at first sight is merely improbable. Therefore, sex pollen is more believable.

[lemonsharks]

I used to LOVE long distance correspondence so much, but then I acquired my very own long-term long distance relationship with the very best girl in the world and now it just makes me sad. Because immigration is hard. But BIG yes to all of the others -- I think we share at least part of a brain.

[resonant]

Yeah, I've done long-distance relationship and it sucks.

As desireearmfeldt points out, the fact that these tropes are so well covered in fandom suggests that lots of people share my love for them, which is lucky for me.

[out_there]

You know, I agree with most of these. With the exception of AU OR futurefic, because I do love a good AU and sometimes there's only so many ways of skewing a possible future-to-canon before it feels like I've read it before, and neighbours vs roomates, but that's only because the older I get, the less I can imagine the idea of sharing a room. Sharing rooms in a group house, sure, or flats in the same building (ideal), but actually parting with precious bedroom space? Sorry, not even the hope of a Happily Ever After would compensate for unwillingly losing that private space.

a period of yearning in the gap between sex and intimacy

I loved that description. I've never been able to put into words why I like the sex first, feelings later or the feelings first, sex later stories equally, but it's all about that gap between getting sex and intimacy together.

[resonant]

Hm, I didn't realize until you wrote that that when I say "roommate," what I really mean is "housemate." I haven't shared a room with a non-spouse since 1985, and I'm happy never to do it again.

[lunabee34]

I love the way you describe your trope nucleus. That's a lovely way to think about it.

I don't dislike apocalypse, but I do dislike the way every single take on it is exactly the same (looting, rapery, mass cruelty!). And I'm always more interested in the rebuild than the chaos stage, and no one ever wants to depict that part.

[resonant]

I've seen some attempts at portraying the rebuild in profic (Station Eleven is one example that comes to mind, though those characters made some post-apocalyptic choices that I found dubious, such as living in an abandoned airport rather than a group of abandoned houses), but I haven't seen much of that in fanfic.

Course, when I stopped going to Avengers movies, I stopped reading most Avengers fic, too, so maybe I'm missing some.

[nestra]

If you had to share a bed with someone you were longing for, you'd probably either not really sleep, or wake up back to back

Uh, I think fandom has conclusively established that you'll wake up accidentally spooning each other, both parties having migrated toward each other in the night. The person who wakes up first will then try to get out of bed without disturbing the other person, who is only pretending to still be asleep.

I sort of identify my trope nexus (or at least one of them) as forced escalation of intimacy. That covers making out to avoid the cops, undercover in a gay bar, accidental marriage, arranged marriage, fake dating, telepathy, sex pollen, aliens made them do it, bodyswap, only one bed--there's a lot in common with what you're saying here.

[out_there]

Uh, I think fandom has conclusively established that you'll wake up accidentally spooning each other, both parties having migrated toward each other in the night.

True, but it always makes me wonder if that fandom collective has ever actually shared a bed with someone they've been crushing on. Because random spooning really isn't something that happens when a) you're used to sleeping alone and b) you're hyperaware of every movement the other person makes. *laughs*

[resonant]

All those examples are things I like a great deal.

In the fandom version of sharing a bed, nobody ever smells bad in the morning, either. And nobody turns over a lot and annoys the other person.

[anitac588]

Ooohhh, I completely agree with all of your choices above. BTW, do you have any favourites for each of the choices? *wiggles eyebrows*


One thing I wish to add that actually resonates with me in a similar fashion as major character death fiction (too much grief in RL) is apocalypse AUs remind me too much of real life as well. If we look at what is happening all around us, e.g. natural disasters, wildfires, earthquakes, flooding, add to the mix military disruptions/wars/fugitives. It's already here. It's a privilege to live in a safe society. So, mundane Picket Fences and green grass and water is clean are it for me.

[resonant]

I'd be willing to read about something of a limited scope that they could fix -- you could sell me on fanfiction about the ensemble cast dealing with an earthquake or a fire or the aftermath of a battle -- but if someone wants that thrill of starting fresh, I'd much rather they'd do that with "settling an uninhabited planet."

Or, hey, Dome Habitat AU! I would read the hell out of my favorite ensemble casts living together in a simulated Mars mission.

(As for recs, I gotta be honest, that's more work than I really want to put in -- but if I come across anything great as I'm doing my normal reading, I'll make a trope cluster tag and rec it in a separate post.)

[armadillo1976]

I just want to say that I love the sentence: "I like stakes high but human." Yep.

[resonant]

👍

[wychwood]

It might be fun to read a reincarnation story in which the two characters aren't particularly soulmates but either (1) they have real potential that just can't be developed until both of them have done several lifetimes worth of maturing or (2) they're just two people who get more and more compatible because they have more and more practice at being together.

I feel like this is maybe the entire plot of the Good Omens TV series (at least, as watched by fandom)!

[resonant]

Haha, you're right!

[anelith]

Great observations on all these tropes. I like your description of the "gap" -- that works for me too.

Kid fic is hard for me to enjoy. Kids need a lot of time and attention! There's not going to be a lot of time left over to spare for pining, emoting, and all that necessary stuff. :-)

[resonant]

I've seen it done well from time to time -- I went back to look at cesperanza's With Six You Get Eggroll and it was delightful --

"Well, she was!" Kowalski said defensively, and then he seemed to notice Robbie, who had started sobbing rhythmically the moment he'd walked in the door and was now reaching out desperately for him. "Jeez, what's up with him?"

"Weltschmerz," Fraser said grimly.

...

"I don't know how you do that," Fraser murmured.

"Oh, you're gonna," Kowalski said in a neutral tone that still managed to be totally threatening.

-- but that story's an interesting case because it takes kids (which usually distract from romance) and established relationship (which, frankly, is also hard to do without losing a lot of romance) and outsider perspective (which I know a lot of people love but it gives me a lot of secondhand embarrassment problems) and somehow multiplies the three of them together until they change from negatives to positives.

[laurenthemself]

Also, like many fanfic fans, I always view canon as basically what sets the scene for the real storytellers, i.e. us.

Good gods I love you Res.

[resonant]

<3<3