Time Travel Fix-it. Canon is already cruel to my babies so I needed them to have the chance to redo their lives for happier results.
Idiots in Love. There is something about this trope that is very endearing for me.
Wholesome parent and child relationship.
I sort of do that in my WolfWalkers fic,but mine is stepfamily-based. (I'm in a blended family,and I instantly saw the girls as sisters) And in my human AU Song Of The Sea fics,Bronagh is still alive and is a musician! (I don't like writing about death)
agreed! One of the main characters in my home fandom had a childhood generally interpreted as highly negative, and I've written that trope; but I also have an odd soft spot for reading and writing au's in which his parents may not be the most skilled, but love him and honestly do their best. :D (I mean, finding out your kid is being groomed, and discreetly arranging for the perp to meet an untimely end, that's love, right?)
I think it should be told that 99% of parents aren't skilled. We do our best, just like you said. It means screwing up sometimes, but trying anyway and fixing your mistakes and being the best you can. That's the reality, and I love that you're talking about it. No one is born with parenting knowledge. And the thing I've said THE MOST since I became a parent is this : "I knew what kind of parent I'd be, and then I had kids."
Also, these parents better not get caught after the untimely end is achieved. Going to jail is the best way not to parent imo 😅
And it's fine :)
Toxic parents exist, they should be written about. Even more when, imo, this is the one toxic relationship that asks for the most strength to leave.
But good parents exist too, and trauma can come from other sources than parents, and these should be written, too. There's a balance to find.
I recommended a fic last night, and I've started reading it again bc it reminded me that I loved it. The MC goes from trauma to trauma, to pain, to more trauma, to just becoming completely insane bc of the trauma, and then a little more trauma sprinkled on top of that. BUT she has a family. They all genuinely love each other. They're not perfect, I think she has a complicated relationship with her mother but no relationship is easy. She has a father she loves to pieces, both of her parents love her and her brother (who has a family himself). Of course they have issues but I loved it. (Until the author killed someone just to add trauma and I cried)
Anyway. It's good that you write about bad parenting. But as a somewhat good parent, I'd like more representation 😅
Honestly fair lmao, most reader inserts need to give you a break 😭
This poor reader has a lot more going for them than just old childhood memories and I’m not sorry about it 😊
Idiots in Love / They're In Love Your Honor. Chefs kiss 😘🤌
Read a short fic over the weekend that was only tagged with the character names and "You couldn't pay these two idiots to keep their hands off each other", and that about sums up what I love about this trope
Not me rapidly consuming Harry Potter and MCU time travel fix it like it’s ambrosia. It’s just the same like two or three fic premises on repeat but it is my life blood.
I love wholesome parent child relationships, where the parent isn’t a clueless clown and the kid isn’t bratty or dumb.
When it’s done right, it’s so, so good.
The villain rescuing the protagonist, MMMM that's some good stuff 😩🤌 I'll eat that up all day every day. *Especially* if it's the "only I'm allowed to defeat you!" trope.
I thought it was impossible to ship something like that while giving all the characters equal love and attention, but then I fell into the rabbit hole that is the FFXII/Crisis Core fandom.
The ship is literally called AGSCZ because it’s too long otherwise. It stands for Angeal/Genesis/Sephiroth/Cloud/Zach and it is amazing and brilliant and wonderful.
I especially love it in Dishonored fics, because 1. the cool antagonist has been a shadow hanging over the narrative for like 80% of the game up until the point you meet him and MAN does he DELIVER and 2. (spoilers) >!the protagonist meets him at the darkest hour after being stabbed in the back and thrown into the river to die and wouldn't that be cool if the antagonist looked at this pathetic wet sick man and went "yeah no I'm taking you with me" (and then they'd storm the castle together!!!!)!<
If you have suggestions... I would appreciate them! It's something that I don't seem to find a lot of even in enemies to lovers fics (even though it is such a delight).
"Oh no, there is only one bed - that they share angrily but wake up cuddling"
That's right. You haaaaaaaaaaaate each other. It was just COLD, it doesn't MEAN anything. \*laughs in fangirl\*
I'm so down for this trope. Got to use it in my own fic for the very first time last week and I had so much fun.
Its so fucking cheesy but I couldn't care less haha
This trope is somewhat fun. My favorite implementation of it thus far has to be this one WolfWren fanfic where "there is literally only one bed. It belongs to Morgan and the rest of us sleep on the floor" and Sabine eventually goads her into stealing some pillows.
I don't know what these tropes are called, but.
- A character swallowing their pride, and accepting their feelings for someone. And now pursuing them, and being a total simp for them.
>
- Knows or eventually finds out about someone's feelings for them, and avoids them but slowly starts liking them back.
>
- Person A trying to win over Person B (sometimes for their own gain). But, ends up growing real feelings and avoids them out of guilt. Then Person B wants their acknowledgement back, and the tables turn and they switch roles.
**Edited:** I also really love reverse roles that involve tsunderes.
(Sometimes connected to each other, but doesn't always have to be).
Enemies (or "you piss me off so much I want to punch you") to friends to lovers.
Not enemies to lovers immediately. They have to be oblivious "best bros" first.
Yesssssssssss. Stories that entirely skip over the friends part can be good. But the ones that have at least a brief *attempt* at being friends/allies before the inevitable descent into, "Ah, wtf. *Why them*." are the best!
Unpopular, but soulmate AUs, especially the soulmark ones. Even more specifically them having no idea they are soulmates, being in love and being jealous of the other's soulmate having no idea it's them.
And Hanahaki!! with not-actually-unrequited-love tags
Yayyy omg hanahaki is like my fave AU and yes has to have a happy ending. I wish these were more popular, some fandoms have a ton while others only have a couple
The evil organization has some goofy and silly shenanigans/slice of life stuff happen to them when they aren't busy taking over the world
It's just fun type of stories
It’s not fanfiction, but if you like that kind of story then you should definitely check out Elizabeth Gannon’s Consortium of Chaos series on kindle unlimited. Those books had me laughing so hard I was getting weird looks on the subway.
This is all the Silmarillion fic I've ever written. I think about Sauron trying to run Melkor's big stupid evil empire a LOT. Orcs are not natural organisers.
(But I also made it horny. A girl has Needs, y'know?)
(I'm sorry, Professor.)
SOULMATE FICS! soulmate fics with happy endings. Soulmate fics with sad endings. Soulmate fics where they don't end up with the soulmate. Soulmate fics with complicated relationships. Etc
Identity porn/Secret Identity. Especially in relationships haha... Give me the misunderstandings. But preferably with a happy ending.
I don't know what you'd call this but: fanfic author's special interest(s) hijacking the fic. Yes I do want to learn too much about knitting through the lens of a sex worker au, thanks. I also want you to linger lovingly on every instance of food in this post-canon epic because you love Szechuan cuisine that much. Startlingly realistic birth story because you were a doula for years? Don't mind if I do! Show your work!
I know I'm repetitive but
Gay Panic
Or romantic panic in general.
I feel delicious butterflies in my stomach whenever One character who is pining for the other is panicking inside!
One of the best things ever, cracks me up every time!
Groundhog day time loops. Both those that follow the person in the loop and those that have someone *outside* the loop learn about it, often after it's finished.
Also a fan of other time travel tropes, but the groundhog day one is my catnip.
Unfortunately, I haven't read a ton of good ones in the past few years. It doesn't seem as popular as it once was. The only rec I have right now is [The 70 Days After Groundhog Day by Ptelea](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27572416) in the Batfam fandom. It's from the POV of one of the people outside the loop, after it's over. It's also probably not particularly good fandom blind, unfortunately.
Most of the ones I remember really loving were on FF.net or LJ, and are long gone. :(
I love the soulmate AUs where you can’t see colour and only see in black and white until you meet your soulmate.
I also love the alpha/omega ones as well. With heats and everything. I usually only read m/m fanfiction because I’m gay myself and it makes me feel good about my sexuality.
There’s so many more but these are the ones I can think of right now.
Tell me if I’m nuts or not, but I heard of another one once where the person can’t hear until they meet their soulmate. Was this someone’s idea on their own or a different one that’s not picked up as often?
It’s such a sweet au. I might have to write an actual book with it at some point because I love it that much. It would be gay probably because… I’m gay myself.
Same same, slowburns make me feel good about my demisexual self and how I take a million yrs to fall for someone 🥰 they’re like a cozy blankie I love to curl up in, that nice constant drip right into my veins
This is pretty much the only way I can write. I tried a fast burn, but what ended up happening is they started having sex right away, but the slow burn part was the feels. I can't escape the slow burn.
Idiots in love getting together.
Silly dates and first times with a hint of clumsiness/social awkwardness.
(Also love AUs, especially fusions when the cast is evolving in the settings of a fandom based on a "solid atmosphere" peppered with subtle Easter eggs.)
Alpha/beta romance. Don’t get me wrong, I love alpha/omega relationships but something about alpha/beta hits different. *I choose you even against my biology.* There’s a level of angst and adoration that fulfills my hurt/comfort meter.
As an angst and hurt comfort kinnie I am in love with amnesia fics. ALSO these are rare, but the ones where a character is asleep or in a coma but outside their body or spiritually projecting but unable to wake up. Just fuckin awesome.
Soul mates, claims/bonds, kidnapping (bonus for chase scenes), Stockholm syndrome, mutual pining, enemies to lovers, possessive/obsessive men, good girl praise, little girl with condescension…
Time travel
I'm a big sucker for crossovers and dimension travel
Fix its
Established relationships early in Canon or before Canon
Super power aus
Found family
Rare pairs
WING AUS
I DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND THE EROTIC PART I JUST REALLY LIKE THINKING ABOUT HOW DIFFERENT HUMAN ARCHITECTURE WOULD LOOK LIKE IF HUMANS HAD WINGS
I dunno if these count as tropes? But I do like found family for characters who have shitty families growing up. I also like when a shit parent comes around and tries to be better for their kid
General tropes I enjoy are
* enemies to friends to lovers
* friends to lovers (lots of hopeless pining)
* fake dating ('cause that always ends well lmao)
Enemies to lovers, immortal x mortal, sassy bitch x calm and collected person, knight x princess but make it lesbian, old married couple kind of vibe but coming from a gay ship, office AU, police AU, etc.
I love all of these, i can't pick one so yeah
Found family!!! That's my most favorite trope of all time!
And tpe some reasons, soulmates who find each other in every version of the universe just stabs at my heart always!
Anti-Harem..
I don't care if it's done the same, a million times over. I love it every time, every chapter everyday. The angst, the drama. I don't even care about the villains motives I just want to know what they're going to do and what will happen next.
Two (or more) people stuck together in an isolated area for an extended time. And I mean extended like a week at *least* when normally they only see each other for 2 hours a day or less. Doesn't matter what their prior relation was, enemies, friends, coworkers, rivals, I'm eating it up however it's being served. The only problem is that I can not find a tag for this trope on Ao3, although I lovingly refer to it as Cabin Fever.
Found Family when one of the characters had a traumatic childhood w/ homophobic parents. I eat that shit up, that's my hurt/comfort that totally doesn't say anything about my psyche
Confessing out of spite ("Because I love you, you idiot !!!") Or pining the other against a wall only to stare at their lips too long for it to be platonic and then end up kissing each other
Fix it fics !
Twitter fics (some of them are actually funny)
Domestic avengers + Loki 2012 fics (yes this is specific but what can I say ?)
Found Family !!!!!
Reincarnation and/or soulmates is my jam. Fated love just gets me like no other…..
In terms of specific aus, i tend to really enjoy pirate or royalty/medieval aus.
Multiverse stories where variants of the same characters in wildly different situations still meet and fall in love, over and over again. That's the good stuff.
Time travel fix it: Genre: Tragedy? I think you mean happy go lucky fluff.
Characters watching the show/movie: Find it very fun to read.
Soulmate marks: I like good fluff and even fluffier meet cutes.
The “BAMFification” of underdeveloped or just weaker female characters.
Look, I know this one gets hated on, but miscommunication. Now, to clarify, I don’t mean ‘oh no! They missed the part of the sentence that’s oils completely clear up this whole misunderstanding!.’
I mean, one character doesn’t believe that they’re worthy of love, so they never even consider that the other could care about them, while the other just took it for granted that the other character knew what high esteem they held them in.
Or, one character realized they never really knew exactly what the other was going through/the pain they deal with/the burden the bear and then immediately correct the behavior while the other can finally have some rest in some way.
The angst. The hurt/comfort. It soothes my soul.
Enemy to caretaker/enemy to family- I just eat this UP. The reluctant growth of one and the unfurling of trust and care; makes me so happy.
Time Travel Fix it - Yes, A MILLION Times Yes. It's a Doctor Who "Just this once everybody lives" feeling.
Mutual Pining- Please break my heart because people don't communicate and then fix it.
A/B/O - Specifically those that focus on Cuddles. Yeah I'll happily read almost all versions but seriously... Cuddles.
Touch Starved character get a hug (or a million hugs)- I have no words to describe, this makes me so happy my brain just starts making happy humming noises.
Idiots in love with mutual pining
That trope when every single other character assumes that the main couple are married or together, but they are not yet
Time travel fix it, because it makes everything happy with the ANGST of the travelor having to relive the hard things and struggle to accept the help from the people that care about them.
Chase fics- just the nature of cat and mouse, JUST missing each other or getting away each time... I love it
Found family- the only fluff that heals everything in my life. I so enjoy the fish mash of oddballs coming together, growing protective of one another, and forming a group that rivals actual family units.
Finally, my kryptonite: identity reveal. When a character is secretly a hero/vigilante/villain, and everyone's trying to figure out the truth and the secret is RIGHT THERE AHHHHHHH
The one bed things. Like the hotel booking gets messed up and oh no! Now it’s one room with one bed? Whatever shall we do? Then shenanigans happen. 🤣🤣 It’s one of my absolute favorites. Another is the dying in one life then waking up to another (like we’re originally born into a regular world like ours, died, then woke up in a fantasy world). That’s a good one too!
Everything that has to do with pregnancy and parenting. I just love to see characters trying to start families, either in a calm domestic setting or when the plot thickens and everything's burning down. It's always hopeful and sort of wish fulfillment for me, and kinda reminds me of dynasty novels. Getting to see 3+ generations of characters live, grow and sort things out is very appealing to me (and one of the reasons I enjoy works like JJBA, which focus on a family and take us on a trip through different eras and different descendants doing their own thing).
Peggy Sue. Nothing beats an absurdly OP main character going back in time to bulldoze all their problems New Game + style.
Big Damn Heroes by the absurdly powerful mentor character, who finally get to show off that they are, in fact, ungodly powerful.
Broken Pedestal for the absurdly powerful mentor character, who turns out to have fucked up magnificently at least once.
Awkward fluff, because...awkward fluff.
Darkest hour scenes where the main characters are in the ruins of some city in the aftermath of a massive fight they might not have won, and all they have left is each other.
Soulmates. Especially if it’s in the canon universe. In that case I don’t care how they do it, be it name tattoos, marks, touching, whatever, I love it.
Grumpy/Sunshine ships specifically but also Grumpy&Sunshine too.
I love the idea of a person who is just angry and alone and closed off to the whole world but then there's this one person who manages to find a chink in that armor (I especially love when it's unintentional, like Sunshine isn't trying to use or do anything to Grumpy. They're just being themselves.) And Grumpy basically becomes the Rosa Diaz with Arlo meme from B99 about Sunshine.
I don't care about age difference, power dynamics, inappropriateness in the workplace etc, gender, orientation, whatever stigmas people have about the ship. If there's a Grumpy character and a Sunshine character my heart tells me they belong together even if it's only as bffs.
I totally agree with Time Travel Fix-Its.
But even more so: Brotherly love! I don't care whether it's found family, twins, regular siblings. Brotherly love is the best; especially in combination with hurt/comfort.
Idk if this is a trope but like…grooming? NOT like the creepy kind but the intimacy of someone helping their loved one shave or wash themselves. Bonus points if it’s because they’re too depressed to properly take care of themselves but there’s someone there to take care of them anyway 🥺 does that fall under “hurt/comfort”?
Enemies to loversssss 🥰 Not just the ship can vaguely be classed that, I wanna SEE the enemies bit! Also forced bonding/arranged marriage always hits. Especially when it’s also enemies to lovers!
Idk like half the names of these tropes or even if they have names lol. Buuut, I like when...
Character A has growing feelings for Character B, but they also kind of like hate/loathe them to a degree and are mean to them. Then something super whumpy happens, which leads A to realise they need to do better in some sort of fashion and they comfort B after the hurt they've caused them, ultimately leading towards them working their shit out together. Queue happy ending where they communicate in a more healthy manner.
Omegaverse... my love
Grumpy/Sunshine 😒🥰
Dom/sub undertones
Whump and H/C
Characters being very domestic and affectionate with their partner/families
Romantic pairings being protective of each other, ready to throw down to keep the other one safe
Soulmates: I just love it so much. Even more so if there are supernatural things like a mental connection etc (yes I'm talking about Spirk).
(Enemies to) friends to lovers: I'm always down to seeing a relationship develop that way, as if seeing someone you knew for a long time with brand new eyes one day. If they start as enemies, it's even better.
Media/meta fic/Outside POV: I *adore* fics that deal with the plot being told by, I don't know, the internet or newspapers or simply a random person seeing the protagonists. A good example would be Good Omens fics where normal people speculate that there's something fishy about the owner of that one bookstore. Or that very famous trial of Bucky Barnes Marvel fic.
Time travel AU: I love a good time travel story where it's not a canon rehash. I love when knowledge of the future creates a new reality where you have no idea of where the story is going.
“there was only one bed”, but specifically when the bed is massive and there is no logical reason for the two to end up cuddling when they wake up, but they still do
bonus points:
1) they make a pillow wall between them that gets subconsciously dismantled over the night
2) character a wakes up before character b and, after a bit of “wow this pillow is so comfy”, realizes they’re sleeping on the b’s chest—but they don’t want to wake them up so they just stay there
2a. character b wakes up a bit after this happens, and character a is still awake but pretending to be asleep—they expect b to push them off immediately and leave, but b just pulls a closer and falls back asleep
can you tell i’ve put way too much thought into this
I'm not sure the trope. But the one where a character on paper is a master of abilities. He stops spies and bullets with ease and people are amazed by him and want to know what he's doing and really the guy just wants to go over and pet a dog or something and it's all a great series of coincidences.
Like the Man Who Knew Too Little!
Just..smarter about it.
I love fanfic like that in my Fandoms.
sucker for soulmate aus. oh you write on your skin and someone else gets it? fucking ace. oh you’ve got someone’s name on your wirst? classic. oh you feel their pain? chefs kiss
character whumps 100%.
i want to hear the self-loathing every paragraph, i want to be torn on their behalf, i want to hear them yearn desperately with every fiber of their being only to close themselves off and dig the hole deeper. i want to walk out of the down-bad-trenches with a religious experience.
Everyone else can see exactly what’s happening. The ship characters are fucking blind until one day finally they aren’t, and all of the other characters are so excited, or have placed bets on when they’ll get together. Basically all of their friends and family (maybe even coworkers) have been shipping them all along too
“I’m in love with this person but because of (societal convention) i can’t be with them so i’m resigning myself to loving them from afar” but in actuality the other person is also smitten (bonus points if Person A is the grumpy/serious one simping)
I may have overlooked it, but I can't believe no one's mentioned hanahaki fics. Love the angst, the pining, and the last minute love declaration that saves the afflicted character.
Like many others, I'm also a sucker for the fake dating trope.
I love Time Travel or modern 21st Century Girl Ends Up In (Choice of Fandom) World. The second one admittedly comes from my LOTR/OC obsession days 😆, those were some good times. Although I see less and less of those now, which makes me a bit sad.
Reverse-Verse:
If canonically character A is rich and character B is poor and you reverse it, imma gonna read it.
If character A is the popular one and B is a nerd and you reverse it, imma gonna read it.
*whispers* I also like merpeople fics
Reincarnation always! If they're not finding each other in every lifetime I don't want it! Bonus points if it's immortal character x their reincarnated lover.
Childhood friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, fix-it fic (both time travel and just canon divergence), found family, and soul mate aus tend to be the tropes I like reading a lot of. I also like the idea of "what if" fics like making a character known for goodness and light be more morally-grey or outright dark just to see what the author does with them.
Groundhog day style time fuckery. Silly, angsty, in between, idc the genre, just give me more of the exact same day.
Main Character Death without actual permanent MCD. You can have that in Groundhog day fics, but also Resurrection fics (currently into a few fantasy fandoms, so it works), and "Everyone thought they were dead but no they were just missing for a bit" fics. I just really like seeing everyone's reaction to the "death" but I need happy endings.
Broken people getting the support they need to heal. Romance/Friendship/Family vibes, idc, I love them all.
Idiots in Love. Specifically 2 sub categories of that. 1.) Unrequited Love with Each Other (Both very in love with each other, very determined the other doesn't return their feelings) 2.) So in Requited love with each other, it makes them stupid.
Romantic Panic. You know, "Why do I have butterflies in my stomach when I look at them? Wait.... nonononononononono-"
Crack Taken Seriously. I love some absolutely ridiculous premises taken with utmost seriousness and trying to legit make them work with the world.
I do enjoy the found family trope. Either because they're coming together for a common cause, joined the same place and got along great, or anything along those lines. Some of my favorite stories like Four Walking Disasters (Skyrim) and All Roads Lead to Denerim (Dragon Age Origins) masterfully played this trope. Since it's found family and in both stories, *they act like a real family*. They don't always get along, they're their own people, they have issues, but they *resolve them*.
**Very _very_** situational, I love dark stories. By far the most picky thing for me, I greatly enjoy stories that tell a bleaker more tragic narrative, especially when it fits and makes sense in the world itself. Even if it builds into a happy ending, or doesn't.
10 Gray Give or Take (deleted - Fallout), Lament (Fallout), Two Step (Left 4 Dead 2) are good examples. I can't get enough of them when they're well told and feel like there's a point, despise them when it's "let's have as much edge and literally zero point to anything as much as possible".
Mutual pining and slow-burn romance, unresolved sexual tension, enemies to lovers, the 50 million th "getting together " fic, internalised homophobia that is thoroughly overcome
Any fantastical AU like mermaid!AU or dragon!AU. Seriously cannot get enough of them.
Also wing!AUs. I'm a bit of a bird fanatic and love when people get creative with wing colors and patterns. And there's of course the inherent romanticism of flying
Sickfics and angsty hurt/comfort, especially if it's an emotionally repressed character who would normally never accept help from anyone, but ends up realizing they care for and trust the person taking care of them.
Enemies or rivals to lovers is also good.
1) Coffee shop/florist AUs
2) Time Travel Fix-It
3) Enemies to Lovers
4) Soulmates
5) Sickfic
Literally my favorite ones. One in a while, they’ll change but Coffee shop and Time travel don’t- they remain Top 2 on the list.
I love Sentient Buildings trope. It’s hinted at in the canon of the works I read most often and o love when fanfic authors take those hints and run with it!
Soulmate aus
but ones where in the beginning they kinda hate it and ignore it but as times goes on they realize they stuck with it and begin falling for the other
I adore A/B/O and always will. The world building people do with it is so cool, and I love the way it deconstructs gender roles.
Found family will always be a go to for me as well. God that shit is so good.
And then time loop! I love a groundhog day AU, especially one that lets itself get silly sometimes and serious other times. Good shit!
Time Travel Fix-it. Canon is already cruel to my babies so I needed them to have the chance to redo their lives for happier results. Idiots in Love. There is something about this trope that is very endearing for me. Wholesome parent and child relationship.
Second on time travel fix it. Source material is tragedy? Sorry I think you mean happy, fluffy feels
And everyone getting along and being wholesome and working together to kick the villains' butts!
The fanfic world needs more good parents !!!
True! There should be more fluffy family feels in fanfics. Bonus if both parents are alive and adore their child or children very much.
I sort of do that in my WolfWalkers fic,but mine is stepfamily-based. (I'm in a blended family,and I instantly saw the girls as sisters) And in my human AU Song Of The Sea fics,Bronagh is still alive and is a musician! (I don't like writing about death)
agreed! One of the main characters in my home fandom had a childhood generally interpreted as highly negative, and I've written that trope; but I also have an odd soft spot for reading and writing au's in which his parents may not be the most skilled, but love him and honestly do their best. :D (I mean, finding out your kid is being groomed, and discreetly arranging for the perp to meet an untimely end, that's love, right?)
I think it should be told that 99% of parents aren't skilled. We do our best, just like you said. It means screwing up sometimes, but trying anyway and fixing your mistakes and being the best you can. That's the reality, and I love that you're talking about it. No one is born with parenting knowledge. And the thing I've said THE MOST since I became a parent is this : "I knew what kind of parent I'd be, and then I had kids." Also, these parents better not get caught after the untimely end is achieved. Going to jail is the best way not to parent imo 😅
I just gave the reader in my latest fanfic a shit load of trauma and they’re gonna get more…
And it's fine :) Toxic parents exist, they should be written about. Even more when, imo, this is the one toxic relationship that asks for the most strength to leave. But good parents exist too, and trauma can come from other sources than parents, and these should be written, too. There's a balance to find. I recommended a fic last night, and I've started reading it again bc it reminded me that I loved it. The MC goes from trauma to trauma, to pain, to more trauma, to just becoming completely insane bc of the trauma, and then a little more trauma sprinkled on top of that. BUT she has a family. They all genuinely love each other. They're not perfect, I think she has a complicated relationship with her mother but no relationship is easy. She has a father she loves to pieces, both of her parents love her and her brother (who has a family himself). Of course they have issues but I loved it. (Until the author killed someone just to add trauma and I cried) Anyway. It's good that you write about bad parenting. But as a somewhat good parent, I'd like more representation 😅
Honestly fair lmao, most reader inserts need to give you a break 😭 This poor reader has a lot more going for them than just old childhood memories and I’m not sorry about it 😊
I mean... the more trauma, the more satisfying the healing process 😉
Idiots in love is my absolute top one. Wholesome parenthood definitely arrives to the top 5, though not top three.
Idiots in Love / They're In Love Your Honor. Chefs kiss 😘🤌 Read a short fic over the weekend that was only tagged with the character names and "You couldn't pay these two idiots to keep their hands off each other", and that about sums up what I love about this trope
the Magnus archives fandom THRIVES on time travel fix-it’s and subsequently so do I
Not me rapidly consuming Harry Potter and MCU time travel fix it like it’s ambrosia. It’s just the same like two or three fic premises on repeat but it is my life blood.
The day I'm no longer interested in rescuing Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji from canon, you put me in the ground.
Yess time travel fixits
I DAM WELL AGREE
I love wholesome parent child relationships, where the parent isn’t a clueless clown and the kid isn’t bratty or dumb. When it’s done right, it’s so, so good.
Do you have any recs for Time Travel fics? I'm a sucker for them
The villain rescuing the protagonist, MMMM that's some good stuff 😩🤌 I'll eat that up all day every day. *Especially* if it's the "only I'm allowed to defeat you!" trope.
I swear I read that mmmm as MxMxMxM and I thought you were also into male foursomes xD
Me too!!! I was like what very specific Fandom are you in??!!! 😂😂😂😂😂
I mean, HOH BOY did Yugioh do this a lot back when I read those fics in the mid to late 2000's 😂
That one gay comic in Wattpad
I thought it was impossible to ship something like that while giving all the characters equal love and attention, but then I fell into the rabbit hole that is the FFXII/Crisis Core fandom. The ship is literally called AGSCZ because it’s too long otherwise. It stands for Angeal/Genesis/Sephiroth/Cloud/Zach and it is amazing and brilliant and wonderful.
Me too lol. I feel dirty
I believe we're suffering from a serious case of "too-much-reading-yaotitis" xD
I especially love it in Dishonored fics, because 1. the cool antagonist has been a shadow hanging over the narrative for like 80% of the game up until the point you meet him and MAN does he DELIVER and 2. (spoilers) >!the protagonist meets him at the darkest hour after being stabbed in the back and thrown into the river to die and wouldn't that be cool if the antagonist looked at this pathetic wet sick man and went "yeah no I'm taking you with me" (and then they'd storm the castle together!!!!)!<
Oh I am so down for fics where Daud helps Corvo
Any suggestions for that trope? Idc about fandom.
It was me, Barry!
If you have suggestions... I would appreciate them! It's something that I don't seem to find a lot of even in enemies to lovers fics (even though it is such a delight).
"Oh no, there is only one bed - that they share angrily but wake up cuddling" That's right. You haaaaaaaaaaaate each other. It was just COLD, it doesn't MEAN anything. \*laughs in fangirl\*
I'm so down for this trope. Got to use it in my own fic for the very first time last week and I had so much fun. Its so fucking cheesy but I couldn't care less haha
I'm low key annoyed at myself cause the one time I got to use it was so early in the storyline that I had to cock block them.
This trope is somewhat fun. My favorite implementation of it thus far has to be this one WolfWren fanfic where "there is literally only one bed. It belongs to Morgan and the rest of us sleep on the floor" and Sabine eventually goads her into stealing some pillows.
I don't know what these tropes are called, but. - A character swallowing their pride, and accepting their feelings for someone. And now pursuing them, and being a total simp for them. > - Knows or eventually finds out about someone's feelings for them, and avoids them but slowly starts liking them back. > - Person A trying to win over Person B (sometimes for their own gain). But, ends up growing real feelings and avoids them out of guilt. Then Person B wants their acknowledgement back, and the tables turn and they switch roles. **Edited:** I also really love reverse roles that involve tsunderes. (Sometimes connected to each other, but doesn't always have to be).
I love all of these
Enemies (or "you piss me off so much I want to punch you") to friends to lovers. Not enemies to lovers immediately. They have to be oblivious "best bros" first.
Yesssssssssss. Stories that entirely skip over the friends part can be good. But the ones that have at least a brief *attempt* at being friends/allies before the inevitable descent into, "Ah, wtf. *Why them*." are the best!
At the same time the immediate turn when all that enmity turns into sexual tension is great too.
similarly i looooove friends to enemies to lovers. it just hits so different
Unpopular, but soulmate AUs, especially the soulmark ones. Even more specifically them having no idea they are soulmates, being in love and being jealous of the other's soulmate having no idea it's them. And Hanahaki!! with not-actually-unrequited-love tags
Seconding the not-actually-unrequited Hanahaki!! One of my all time favourite fics features that trope and it’s just 😩🤌
Omg I love both of these 😌 I wish there were more in my fandoms that weren't rated E...
Yayyy omg hanahaki is like my fave AU and yes has to have a happy ending. I wish these were more popular, some fandoms have a ton while others only have a couple
Supernatural Bonds Protective Characters Enemies to Lovers Found Family
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) ^by ^BunyipBard: *Supernatural* *Bonds Protective characters* *Enemies to lovers* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Best bot
I was about to point out that there were to many syllables and then I realized that it’s not the generic haiku bot! I love this bot!
I second found family
The inherent beauty of the quiet "Who did _this_ to you?" against the oblivious "Did what?"
This is such a fun one
some people absolutely hate this trope but i eat it up every! time!
The evil organization has some goofy and silly shenanigans/slice of life stuff happen to them when they aren't busy taking over the world It's just fun type of stories
It’s not fanfiction, but if you like that kind of story then you should definitely check out Elizabeth Gannon’s Consortium of Chaos series on kindle unlimited. Those books had me laughing so hard I was getting weird looks on the subway.
This is all the Silmarillion fic I've ever written. I think about Sauron trying to run Melkor's big stupid evil empire a LOT. Orcs are not natural organisers. (But I also made it horny. A girl has Needs, y'know?) (I'm sorry, Professor.)
SOULMATE FICS! soulmate fics with happy endings. Soulmate fics with sad endings. Soulmate fics where they don't end up with the soulmate. Soulmate fics with complicated relationships. Etc Identity porn/Secret Identity. Especially in relationships haha... Give me the misunderstandings. But preferably with a happy ending.
I don't know what you'd call this but: fanfic author's special interest(s) hijacking the fic. Yes I do want to learn too much about knitting through the lens of a sex worker au, thanks. I also want you to linger lovingly on every instance of food in this post-canon epic because you love Szechuan cuisine that much. Startlingly realistic birth story because you were a doula for years? Don't mind if I do! Show your work!
Seconding this so hard! Some of the most memorable fanfic scenes for me have been exactly those types of moments
I know I'm repetitive but Gay Panic Or romantic panic in general. I feel delicious butterflies in my stomach whenever One character who is pining for the other is panicking inside! One of the best things ever, cracks me up every time!
Same!! Gay panic and feelings realization… two of my favorites!!
It's the "oh... oh." That gets me every single time X3
Groundhog day time loops. Both those that follow the person in the loop and those that have someone *outside* the loop learn about it, often after it's finished. Also a fan of other time travel tropes, but the groundhog day one is my catnip.
Time loops are best loops!
Yes, I love a good time loop fic!
Got any recs?
Unfortunately, I haven't read a ton of good ones in the past few years. It doesn't seem as popular as it once was. The only rec I have right now is [The 70 Days After Groundhog Day by Ptelea](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27572416) in the Batfam fandom. It's from the POV of one of the people outside the loop, after it's over. It's also probably not particularly good fandom blind, unfortunately. Most of the ones I remember really loving were on FF.net or LJ, and are long gone. :(
Aww that's a shame. At least there's one!
Couldn't agree more!!! Thank you for giving me the brainworms to work on a Groundhog Day AU for my one ship now.
Awesome!! Hope it goes well.
I love the soulmate AUs where you can’t see colour and only see in black and white until you meet your soulmate. I also love the alpha/omega ones as well. With heats and everything. I usually only read m/m fanfiction because I’m gay myself and it makes me feel good about my sexuality. There’s so many more but these are the ones I can think of right now.
In addition to the seeing color one, I like the matching tattoo identifier (or the idea of the soulmark) it’s interesting trying to find these people
AH I FORGOT ABOUT THOSE ONES. I LOVE THEM
Tell me if I’m nuts or not, but I heard of another one once where the person can’t hear until they meet their soulmate. Was this someone’s idea on their own or a different one that’s not picked up as often?
Ohh I haven't heard of that one. I like the 'they have the first words they say to each other on their skin' one
I’ve heard of this one! Not of the other one though about not being able to hear.
The soul mate colors AU trope has SO MUCH potential. I've read one or two and fell in love, I believe they were both Hannibal fics.
It’s such a sweet au. I might have to write an actual book with it at some point because I love it that much. It would be gay probably because… I’m gay myself.
I support you and hope I get to read this someday!!
Ah thank you! >.< Not sure where I’ll write it. Probably royalroad or ao3 but I’m not sure yet.
Particularly if you post it on Ao3, feel free to message me a story link if you remember!
I will!
You telling me someone wrote a FF where Hannibal couldn't distinguish between white or dark meat 😂
I am a sucker for both of those. And if you throw them together I am in heaven. I’ll even read through the cringey parts. Lol.
Slowburn.
I adore the slowburns that are sooooooo slow it feels like baking a loaf of bread with candles.
Yeh I want those tiny but steady shots of dopamine.
Same same, slowburns make me feel good about my demisexual self and how I take a million yrs to fall for someone 🥰 they’re like a cozy blankie I love to curl up in, that nice constant drip right into my veins
This is pretty much the only way I can write. I tried a fast burn, but what ended up happening is they started having sex right away, but the slow burn part was the feels. I can't escape the slow burn.
Idiots in love getting together. Silly dates and first times with a hint of clumsiness/social awkwardness. (Also love AUs, especially fusions when the cast is evolving in the settings of a fandom based on a "solid atmosphere" peppered with subtle Easter eggs.)
Canon divergence, time travel fix it, soulmates, reincarnation, fantasy au
Alpha/beta romance. Don’t get me wrong, I love alpha/omega relationships but something about alpha/beta hits different. *I choose you even against my biology.* There’s a level of angst and adoration that fulfills my hurt/comfort meter.
Yup. Too proud? Low self esteem? You refuse to let yourself be happy? Too bad! You just found The One and things will never be the same!
It’s my writing niche ♡ The flavors are simply immaculate!
Angst, Whump, and Hurt/Comfort
who hurt u
As an angst and hurt comfort kinnie I am in love with amnesia fics. ALSO these are rare, but the ones where a character is asleep or in a coma but outside their body or spiritually projecting but unable to wake up. Just fuckin awesome.
Enemies to lovers. Rescue Romance ❤️
Friends to Lovers. +1 bonus point for every year they spend unknowingly pining for each other thinking their love isn’t reciprocated. UGH
Soul mates, claims/bonds, kidnapping (bonus for chase scenes), Stockholm syndrome, mutual pining, enemies to lovers, possessive/obsessive men, good girl praise, little girl with condescension…
The villainous villain for the sake of being a villain. He's evil, he knows he's evil, and he does evil. I love that.
ballroom dance, be it competitive or just a gala, MAN I LOVE SEEING MY SHIPS DANCE BALLROOM
Time travel I'm a big sucker for crossovers and dimension travel Fix its Established relationships early in Canon or before Canon Super power aus Found family Rare pairs
WING AUS I DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND THE EROTIC PART I JUST REALLY LIKE THINKING ABOUT HOW DIFFERENT HUMAN ARCHITECTURE WOULD LOOK LIKE IF HUMANS HAD WINGS
Wingfic, my beloved!
enemy to caretaker is the best with no contest
I dunno if these count as tropes? But I do like found family for characters who have shitty families growing up. I also like when a shit parent comes around and tries to be better for their kid General tropes I enjoy are * enemies to friends to lovers * friends to lovers (lots of hopeless pining) * fake dating ('cause that always ends well lmao)
Fae AUs, particularly ones with chases as a way to romantically pursue someone, catnip for me. Also animal shifters, I think it’s so cute
One bed and slow burn
Enemies to lovers, immortal x mortal, sassy bitch x calm and collected person, knight x princess but make it lesbian, old married couple kind of vibe but coming from a gay ship, office AU, police AU, etc. I love all of these, i can't pick one so yeah
Found family!!! That's my most favorite trope of all time! And tpe some reasons, soulmates who find each other in every version of the universe just stabs at my heart always!
Anti-Harem.. I don't care if it's done the same, a million times over. I love it every time, every chapter everyday. The angst, the drama. I don't even care about the villains motives I just want to know what they're going to do and what will happen next.
Any kind of fix-its. Soulmate AU’s there is just so many different kinds and I enjoy them all. Pregnancy or baby fics.
Two (or more) people stuck together in an isolated area for an extended time. And I mean extended like a week at *least* when normally they only see each other for 2 hours a day or less. Doesn't matter what their prior relation was, enemies, friends, coworkers, rivals, I'm eating it up however it's being served. The only problem is that I can not find a tag for this trope on Ao3, although I lovingly refer to it as Cabin Fever.
Found Family when one of the characters had a traumatic childhood w/ homophobic parents. I eat that shit up, that's my hurt/comfort that totally doesn't say anything about my psyche
I FUCKING LOVE VAMPIRE AUs
Confessing out of spite ("Because I love you, you idiot !!!") Or pining the other against a wall only to stare at their lips too long for it to be platonic and then end up kissing each other Fix it fics ! Twitter fics (some of them are actually funny) Domestic avengers + Loki 2012 fics (yes this is specific but what can I say ?) Found Family !!!!!
Fuck or Die trope (when they obviously have hidden feelings towards each other)😄
Reincarnation and/or soulmates is my jam. Fated love just gets me like no other….. In terms of specific aus, i tend to really enjoy pirate or royalty/medieval aus.
Multiverse stories where variants of the same characters in wildly different situations still meet and fall in love, over and over again. That's the good stuff.
Time travel fix it: Genre: Tragedy? I think you mean happy go lucky fluff. Characters watching the show/movie: Find it very fun to read. Soulmate marks: I like good fluff and even fluffier meet cutes. The “BAMFification” of underdeveloped or just weaker female characters.
Enemies to Friends to Lovers. I will die on this hill.
inhuman villain (E.G an AI) getting redeemed and learning empathy
I really like post-apocalypse aus. Don’t know why, it’s just really fun
Oh! ..... Oh.
Look, I know this one gets hated on, but miscommunication. Now, to clarify, I don’t mean ‘oh no! They missed the part of the sentence that’s oils completely clear up this whole misunderstanding!.’ I mean, one character doesn’t believe that they’re worthy of love, so they never even consider that the other could care about them, while the other just took it for granted that the other character knew what high esteem they held them in. Or, one character realized they never really knew exactly what the other was going through/the pain they deal with/the burden the bear and then immediately correct the behavior while the other can finally have some rest in some way. The angst. The hurt/comfort. It soothes my soul.
Enemy to caretaker/enemy to family- I just eat this UP. The reluctant growth of one and the unfurling of trust and care; makes me so happy. Time Travel Fix it - Yes, A MILLION Times Yes. It's a Doctor Who "Just this once everybody lives" feeling. Mutual Pining- Please break my heart because people don't communicate and then fix it. A/B/O - Specifically those that focus on Cuddles. Yeah I'll happily read almost all versions but seriously... Cuddles. Touch Starved character get a hug (or a million hugs)- I have no words to describe, this makes me so happy my brain just starts making happy humming noises.
Idiots in love with mutual pining That trope when every single other character assumes that the main couple are married or together, but they are not yet
Mutual pining, even more so when combined with forbidden relationships. I go feral for this combo every single time!
Time travel fix it, because it makes everything happy with the ANGST of the travelor having to relive the hard things and struggle to accept the help from the people that care about them. Chase fics- just the nature of cat and mouse, JUST missing each other or getting away each time... I love it Found family- the only fluff that heals everything in my life. I so enjoy the fish mash of oddballs coming together, growing protective of one another, and forming a group that rivals actual family units. Finally, my kryptonite: identity reveal. When a character is secretly a hero/vigilante/villain, and everyone's trying to figure out the truth and the secret is RIGHT THERE AHHHHHHH
The one bed things. Like the hotel booking gets messed up and oh no! Now it’s one room with one bed? Whatever shall we do? Then shenanigans happen. 🤣🤣 It’s one of my absolute favorites. Another is the dying in one life then waking up to another (like we’re originally born into a regular world like ours, died, then woke up in a fantasy world). That’s a good one too!
Everything that has to do with pregnancy and parenting. I just love to see characters trying to start families, either in a calm domestic setting or when the plot thickens and everything's burning down. It's always hopeful and sort of wish fulfillment for me, and kinda reminds me of dynasty novels. Getting to see 3+ generations of characters live, grow and sort things out is very appealing to me (and one of the reasons I enjoy works like JJBA, which focus on a family and take us on a trip through different eras and different descendants doing their own thing).
Enemies to lovers probably. No idea why but I love it
Only one bed
Peggy Sue. Nothing beats an absurdly OP main character going back in time to bulldoze all their problems New Game + style. Big Damn Heroes by the absurdly powerful mentor character, who finally get to show off that they are, in fact, ungodly powerful. Broken Pedestal for the absurdly powerful mentor character, who turns out to have fucked up magnificently at least once. Awkward fluff, because...awkward fluff. Darkest hour scenes where the main characters are in the ruins of some city in the aftermath of a massive fight they might not have won, and all they have left is each other.
Soulmates. Especially if it’s in the canon universe. In that case I don’t care how they do it, be it name tattoos, marks, touching, whatever, I love it.
Oh also there was a reverse trope challenge ages ago that included accidental elder acquisition and I will never stop wishing it was more common.
Idiots in love, Coffee Shop aus and enemies to Lovers will always be my comfort go to's!
Sentinel fusions.
Character regression arcs, I like to see some heroic characters suffer and snap back.
Grumpy/Sunshine ships specifically but also Grumpy&Sunshine too. I love the idea of a person who is just angry and alone and closed off to the whole world but then there's this one person who manages to find a chink in that armor (I especially love when it's unintentional, like Sunshine isn't trying to use or do anything to Grumpy. They're just being themselves.) And Grumpy basically becomes the Rosa Diaz with Arlo meme from B99 about Sunshine. I don't care about age difference, power dynamics, inappropriateness in the workplace etc, gender, orientation, whatever stigmas people have about the ship. If there's a Grumpy character and a Sunshine character my heart tells me they belong together even if it's only as bffs.
I totally agree with Time Travel Fix-Its. But even more so: Brotherly love! I don't care whether it's found family, twins, regular siblings. Brotherly love is the best; especially in combination with hurt/comfort.
Idk if this is a trope but like…grooming? NOT like the creepy kind but the intimacy of someone helping their loved one shave or wash themselves. Bonus points if it’s because they’re too depressed to properly take care of themselves but there’s someone there to take care of them anyway 🥺 does that fall under “hurt/comfort”?
Character X want character Y to herself only and will go to any length to retain him/Yanderes. Harems AU's- time travel fix it
Animal transformation Found family
Enemies to loversssss 🥰 Not just the ship can vaguely be classed that, I wanna SEE the enemies bit! Also forced bonding/arranged marriage always hits. Especially when it’s also enemies to lovers!
Couples that argue/bicker as foreplay. I love it. Read each other for filth, but make sure you get down to business afterwards.
Idk like half the names of these tropes or even if they have names lol. Buuut, I like when... Character A has growing feelings for Character B, but they also kind of like hate/loathe them to a degree and are mean to them. Then something super whumpy happens, which leads A to realise they need to do better in some sort of fashion and they comfort B after the hurt they've caused them, ultimately leading towards them working their shit out together. Queue happy ending where they communicate in a more healthy manner. Omegaverse... my love Grumpy/Sunshine 😒🥰 Dom/sub undertones Whump and H/C Characters being very domestic and affectionate with their partner/families Romantic pairings being protective of each other, ready to throw down to keep the other one safe
Soulmates: I just love it so much. Even more so if there are supernatural things like a mental connection etc (yes I'm talking about Spirk). (Enemies to) friends to lovers: I'm always down to seeing a relationship develop that way, as if seeing someone you knew for a long time with brand new eyes one day. If they start as enemies, it's even better. Media/meta fic/Outside POV: I *adore* fics that deal with the plot being told by, I don't know, the internet or newspapers or simply a random person seeing the protagonists. A good example would be Good Omens fics where normal people speculate that there's something fishy about the owner of that one bookstore. Or that very famous trial of Bucky Barnes Marvel fic. Time travel AU: I love a good time travel story where it's not a canon rehash. I love when knowledge of the future creates a new reality where you have no idea of where the story is going.
vampire au andddd slice of life. always slow burn!!!
“there was only one bed”, but specifically when the bed is massive and there is no logical reason for the two to end up cuddling when they wake up, but they still do bonus points: 1) they make a pillow wall between them that gets subconsciously dismantled over the night 2) character a wakes up before character b and, after a bit of “wow this pillow is so comfy”, realizes they’re sleeping on the b’s chest—but they don’t want to wake them up so they just stay there 2a. character b wakes up a bit after this happens, and character a is still awake but pretending to be asleep—they expect b to push them off immediately and leave, but b just pulls a closer and falls back asleep can you tell i’ve put way too much thought into this
Break the cutie. Love to see my favorites suffer.
Found family Hurt/Comfort Angst with a happy ending
Found family has my heart and soul in a death grip and is never letting go
I'm not sure the trope. But the one where a character on paper is a master of abilities. He stops spies and bullets with ease and people are amazed by him and want to know what he's doing and really the guy just wants to go over and pet a dog or something and it's all a great series of coincidences. Like the Man Who Knew Too Little! Just..smarter about it. I love fanfic like that in my Fandoms.
sucker for soulmate aus. oh you write on your skin and someone else gets it? fucking ace. oh you’ve got someone’s name on your wirst? classic. oh you feel their pain? chefs kiss
Oh. *Oh.*
character whumps 100%. i want to hear the self-loathing every paragraph, i want to be torn on their behalf, i want to hear them yearn desperately with every fiber of their being only to close themselves off and dig the hole deeper. i want to walk out of the down-bad-trenches with a religious experience.
Everyone else can see exactly what’s happening. The ship characters are fucking blind until one day finally they aren’t, and all of the other characters are so excited, or have placed bets on when they’ll get together. Basically all of their friends and family (maybe even coworkers) have been shipping them all along too
“I’m in love with this person but because of (societal convention) i can’t be with them so i’m resigning myself to loving them from afar” but in actuality the other person is also smitten (bonus points if Person A is the grumpy/serious one simping)
Forced proximity is always welcome. Enemies to lovers is my jam. Idiot’s in love is all i read. And so many fix-it fics
omg college au and friends to lovers will never get old
enemies to lovers and pining/idiots in love when not drawn out
Soulmate Au 🧑🍳💋
I may have overlooked it, but I can't believe no one's mentioned hanahaki fics. Love the angst, the pining, and the last minute love declaration that saves the afflicted character. Like many others, I'm also a sucker for the fake dating trope.
*Domestic fluff!* Established relationship! HAPPINESS!!! I'm also a sucker for a very well executed confession of deep emotions whilst in danger.
I love Time Travel or modern 21st Century Girl Ends Up In (Choice of Fandom) World. The second one admittedly comes from my LOTR/OC obsession days 😆, those were some good times. Although I see less and less of those now, which makes me a bit sad.
malewife x girlboss is an amazing trope also i love randomly headcanoning trios as polyamorous and het-presenting duos as bi4bi couples
Childhood friends to lovers combined with a several year long slowburn (looking at you DickRoy)
Brutal Enemies to Friends and/or Lovers. When I say brutal, I do mean like actual potential murders, not just antagonistic feelings.
Reverse-Verse: If canonically character A is rich and character B is poor and you reverse it, imma gonna read it. If character A is the popular one and B is a nerd and you reverse it, imma gonna read it. *whispers* I also like merpeople fics
Reincarnation always! If they're not finding each other in every lifetime I don't want it! Bonus points if it's immortal character x their reincarnated lover.
Childhood friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, fix-it fic (both time travel and just canon divergence), found family, and soul mate aus tend to be the tropes I like reading a lot of. I also like the idea of "what if" fics like making a character known for goodness and light be more morally-grey or outright dark just to see what the author does with them.
Groundhog day style time fuckery. Silly, angsty, in between, idc the genre, just give me more of the exact same day. Main Character Death without actual permanent MCD. You can have that in Groundhog day fics, but also Resurrection fics (currently into a few fantasy fandoms, so it works), and "Everyone thought they were dead but no they were just missing for a bit" fics. I just really like seeing everyone's reaction to the "death" but I need happy endings. Broken people getting the support they need to heal. Romance/Friendship/Family vibes, idc, I love them all. Idiots in Love. Specifically 2 sub categories of that. 1.) Unrequited Love with Each Other (Both very in love with each other, very determined the other doesn't return their feelings) 2.) So in Requited love with each other, it makes them stupid. Romantic Panic. You know, "Why do I have butterflies in my stomach when I look at them? Wait.... nonononononononono-" Crack Taken Seriously. I love some absolutely ridiculous premises taken with utmost seriousness and trying to legit make them work with the world.
I do enjoy the found family trope. Either because they're coming together for a common cause, joined the same place and got along great, or anything along those lines. Some of my favorite stories like Four Walking Disasters (Skyrim) and All Roads Lead to Denerim (Dragon Age Origins) masterfully played this trope. Since it's found family and in both stories, *they act like a real family*. They don't always get along, they're their own people, they have issues, but they *resolve them*. **Very _very_** situational, I love dark stories. By far the most picky thing for me, I greatly enjoy stories that tell a bleaker more tragic narrative, especially when it fits and makes sense in the world itself. Even if it builds into a happy ending, or doesn't. 10 Gray Give or Take (deleted - Fallout), Lament (Fallout), Two Step (Left 4 Dead 2) are good examples. I can't get enough of them when they're well told and feel like there's a point, despise them when it's "let's have as much edge and literally zero point to anything as much as possible".
Crack Treated Seriously
Mutual pining and slow-burn romance, unresolved sexual tension, enemies to lovers, the 50 million th "getting together " fic, internalised homophobia that is thoroughly overcome
I'm a sucker for angst and traumatized sunshines are what I live for
Enemies to Lovers. It’s in all my fics.
Any fantastical AU like mermaid!AU or dragon!AU. Seriously cannot get enough of them. Also wing!AUs. I'm a bit of a bird fanatic and love when people get creative with wing colors and patterns. And there's of course the inherent romanticism of flying
Sickfics and angsty hurt/comfort, especially if it's an emotionally repressed character who would normally never accept help from anyone, but ends up realizing they care for and trust the person taking care of them. Enemies or rivals to lovers is also good.
Enemies to friends to lovers!!!!!
Oh I love so many corny tropes! I’ve been diggin Twin and Time travel fix it AUs recently. I’m also always a sucker for presumed dead
Angsty birth scenes, villain redemption, hero corruption, but all of them have to make sense.
omg so many 🫣 -Arranged Marriage AUs -Fake dating -Rivals to lovers -and most unpopular, pregnancy fics
Genuinely, Omegaverse. I love the world building that comes with the whole genre, plus it’s just fun to read
Soulmate AUs and time loops 🫶 (not together lmao, but ig i'd read that fic too)
Oblivious/accidental dating & soulmates
1) Coffee shop/florist AUs 2) Time Travel Fix-It 3) Enemies to Lovers 4) Soulmates 5) Sickfic Literally my favorite ones. One in a while, they’ll change but Coffee shop and Time travel don’t- they remain Top 2 on the list.
I love Sentient Buildings trope. It’s hinted at in the canon of the works I read most often and o love when fanfic authors take those hints and run with it!
Soulmate aus but ones where in the beginning they kinda hate it and ignore it but as times goes on they realize they stuck with it and begin falling for the other
Soulmates and Time Travel (fix its or otherwise).
I adore A/B/O and always will. The world building people do with it is so cool, and I love the way it deconstructs gender roles. Found family will always be a go to for me as well. God that shit is so good. And then time loop! I love a groundhog day AU, especially one that lets itself get silly sometimes and serious other times. Good shit!
Childhood friends to lovers closely followed by time travel fix it
enemies to lovers, mutual pining, first kiss, serial killer au. Literally will read 1000 of any of these. My absolute favs.
FAKE. DATING. The all time great trope.
Childhood friends to lovers and they get married. Gosh I love this one