#trope ratings

[skittlescribbles]

Finally got around to finishing the Wukong sketch for the winning trope on my other blog @skittlescripts I ended up going with LMK Wukong on this one since I’ve been making a lot of ITTW content lately~

The winning trope was this and it was sent by @coffee-or-hot-cocoa

Honestly, drawing Mafia AU for Wukong was a lot of fun and I’ll probably do it again!

Also using the cudgel as an earring was inspired by @theweepingegg who made a version of this but for my ITTW Wukong!

[novelcain]

The Jock x Nerd troupe except the Jock didn't even realized they're in love with nerd and thinks they're just sick. Wukong's the jock, reader's the sassy nerd

9.6/10

ACK-! HE'D BE SUCH A BULLY TOO!😭

[eddiebabygirldiaz]

fake dating, only one bed, and enemies to lovers 💕

Hello my dear! Thanks for the ask 💖

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don't even know

Fake dating: Oh god you don't even know. This is so delicious with the pining and tension that builds and getting a taste of what they think they can't have. I'm a big slut for it.

One bed: FUCK yes. Forced close proximity where they are loose and sleepy and vulnerable and end up all over each other in such an intimate way?? SIGN ME UP! I'll read that all day.

Enemies to lovers: Yes. I really love the whole idea of this but I am quite picky about it, no idea why

send me a trope and I'll rate it

[weirdo-from-bonesborough]

i see your tim has narcolepsy headcanon and i offer you this: he falls asleep during the titans tower attack and jason's just like. "well now what"

bonus points if it's one of those aus where jason has a conscious or pit madness or whatever and convinces himself tim must be horribly mistreated to start snoring while getting beat up and tim's struggling to get him to understand no dude it's a medical condition my grandpa had it

[bethanydelleman]

I think I figured out the problem with the Enemies to Lover's trope, it has a bimodal distribution. Let me explain!

Most tropes have a normal distribution:

I hypothesize that with EtoL, there is very little middle ground. This is a bimodal distribution:

You either do EtoL well and join the ranks of the immortals, or you crash and burn. I've discussed previously what makes EtoL work, but there seem to be a lot of traps for writers to fall into when it comes to this trope. For example:

the turn being based too heavily on lust (common JAFF trap)

never fully establishing the enemies phase

insufficient apology on one side (almost always the man's) which makes the other's acceptance unsatisfying

the pair have the communication skills of a newborn baby (ei: the misunderstanding could be fixed with a single sentence)

one side is a real asshole but it's excused because of TRAUMA

growth is ignored in favour of acceptance (can work, usually doesn't)

Relationship is clearly toxic, above and beyond the extenuating circumstances/magical premise (The problem isn't that Edward is a vampire, that's part of the premise. The problem is his disregard for Bella's autonomy)

One side gives in because the other is too obsessed with them

Once Upon a Time flew by having Hook feel meaningful remorse for his past actions (the scene with the Little Mermaid got me so good) and establishing begrudging respect between him and Emma, The Mindy Project crashed and burned by not showing sufficient growth in Danny (does he respect her career now or are they just horny?). Parks and Recreation got it by making the leads both good people who just got on each other's nerves because they had different valid approaches. I think Brooklyn 99 is one of those rare mediocre ones, because the enemy stage isn't fully established but the relationship is still satisfying. The Kdrama Alchemy of Souls got it right by having both main characters display an impressive amount of personal growth, while 100 Days My Prince burned because it relied too heavily on obsession and trauma excusing behaviour.

Pride & Prejudice and Much Ado About Nothing show that the beginning dynamic can be completely different, old antagonists vs. first impressions, but the trope can still work if it's done right. The problem is that it's so often done wrong.

So when it's good, it's SO GOOD, when it's bad, it sucks.

[2nd2ndalto]

nothing's gonna stop me but divine intervention

Happy new year everyone! Here's the Solangelo sex pollen fic absolutely no one asked for!

Written for @snoelledarts for their birthday. See tags for more info, but this is definitely adult and despite being sex pollen-themed it is very consensual. Oh, AND everyone involved is over 18.

__

Chapter 1

“I can’t believe we’re twenty-two years old and still getting sent on fucking quests,” Nico mutters as they hurry out the service doors behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art. There aren’t any signs of pursuit yet, but that’s no reason to linger.

Will glances over, grinning. Complaints aside, Nico looks awfully pleased with the both of them for having completed this current quest.

“Aw, come on. You love it,” Will teases. “Getting to save the day. Showing off your grown-up shadow travel power-ups.”

Will’s eyes flick to the weapon at Nico’s hip. Nico’s swordplay has gotten better, too, and even hotter, Will thinks. Sure and precise. Devastating. Never mind the muscle that he’s built up in the last few years, the defined lines of his arms and chest. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s grown a couple of inches since they were eighteen.

But none of that matters, because Will’s still trying not to go there – not to sink right back into his teenage crush every single time he sees his friend. Because if that crush was reciprocated, Will would know by now. Besides, Nico’s friendship means so much to him; a comforting constant any time the rest of Will’s life threatens to spin out of control. He’d never do anything to jeopardize that.

When they’d bid each other farewell the August before Will left for college, Will had had a sinking feeling that their friendship would never really be the same. As close as they’d been at Camp, Will understood all too well how circumstances change, how people drift apart.

The reality had been a pleasant surprise, though. There had been visits, right from the start; Nico appearing out of the blue, standing like a shadow outside the health sciences building, a smile lighting up his face when he spotted Will descending the steps. Even then, Will had assumed the visits would taper off eventually as Nico became immersed in his new life. But instead, they’ve only grown closer over the last four years.

Nico’s gotten much more skilled at shadow travel, able to hop huge distances with barely any recovery required, and Will’s made time to accompany Nico on some of his safer Underworld errands, the ones that Nico refers to as recreational. There have been coffee and lunch visits, even Christmas or Thanksgiving with Will’s mom in Austin. Iris messages and phone calls stretching late into the night, Nico’s low laugh in Will’s ear in the dark.

And now a quest, apparently.

“You did pretty well yourself,” Nico says as they stroll down the street. His voice is warm with pride, and it makes Will’s heart swell.

“You’re getting really good with your light magic,” Nico continues, wiggling his fingers vaguely. “The way you zapped that Myrmeke was seriously impressive.”

Will shrugs, his face warming. “I’ve been practicing.”

Nico shoots him a smile so fond that Will feels a very sudden need to change the subject.

“So, let’s see this urn we repatriated,” Will says.

They’re nearly back at the hotel now – one very welcome benefit of carrying out these quests as adults is that there’s no need to sleep rough.

They pause at the edge of the sidewalk and Nico reaches into the pocket of his leather jacket, extracting the burnished gold urn. He hands it to Will.

“Huh.” Will turns the thing over in his hands. It’s small, a perfect fit into the curve of Will’s palm, a pleasing weight to it. He gives it a shake. “And it’s supposed to contain the tooth of a Calydonian boar?”

“It had better,” Nico says, “for all the trouble we went to.”

“We should probably open it and make sure,” Will says. If they somehow grabbed the wrong urn, it’s definitely better to find out now than later.

There’s a thick metal clasp on one side of the urn, and after some prodding and jiggling, it releases with a snap. Will pries the lid open, peering inside. Sure enough, there’s a tooth in there, curved and yellowing.

And then suddenly the world goes pink.

It’s a cloud of dust, or smoke, maybe. It encompasses them both, dense and fragrant. Will sputters, and he can hear Nico coughing. Then, just as quickly, the air clears.

“What the fuck,” Nico gasps. “What was that?” His eyes are wide and there’s kind of a… shimmer all over him. Almost like glitter. Will holds his own hands up in front of his face. There’s the same shimmer on his skin, but even as he’s inspecting it, trying to make sense of it, it fades to nothing.

“I – I don’t know,” Will says. The lingering scent of peonies is still strong in his nose, pulling at something in the depths of his memory that he can’t quite grasp.

“Do you feel okay?” he asks Nico.

“Yeah. Fine, I think.”

“Can I check?” Will holds a hand out to Nico, who obliges immediately, after years of such field assessments. Nico’s hand is warm in Will’s, and his energy is reassuringly Nico, but –

“What is it?” Nico’s gaze flicks over Will’s face, worried.

“It’s – I’m not sure,” Will says. “You feel fine. Your vitals are fine. Everything’s perfect –”

“But?”

“But there’s something… some heightened emotion, maybe?” Will grimaces, reaching out with his vitakinesis for another long moment before dropping Nico’s hand. “Fuck. I can’t quite get a handle on it.”

“Maybe anxiety? Adrenaline?” Nico suggests. “We did just have a fucking magical object blow up in our faces.”

“Yeah,” Will says slowly. “I – I feel like I should know what that was…” He takes another deep inhale. Peony. Something about… flowers. Maybe some class he took a couple of years ago? He just can’t quite put his finger on it. He realizes they’ve been stalled on the sidewalk for several minutes.

“You know what – let’s just go back to the hotel. Let me think about it. I don’t think there’s any immediate danger, though.” Will snaps the clasp on the urn shut again, handing it back to Nico.

They’re both quiet the rest of the way back to the hotel, and as the elevator rises to their floor. Will’s still wracking his brain for what he might ever have learned about glittery, peony-scented smoke.

“I guess I could just shadow travel us back home now,” Nico muses. “We don’t really need to stay in town any longer.”

Will’s heart sinks a little. He makes a noncommittal sound in response. It’s been really nice, spending a few days in a row together, and he’s honestly not in any rush for this trip to draw to a close.

“Or we could take one more day in Philly?” Nico says. “See the sights?” He looks almost embarrassed, not meeting Will’s gaze in the slightest.

“That sounds like fun,” Will says, warm and sure. “Let’s do it.”

Relief seems to encompass Nico’s entire body, his posture relaxing immediately. He unlocks their room and they both pull off their shoes, dropping onto their respective beds.

“What should we do tonight?” Nico asks. “You wanna go catch a movie? Or we could see what's on TV, order in.” His face suddenly lights up. “Remember that gardening show I was watching with your mom over Christmas? I wonder when that’s on.” Nico reaches for the remote.

Will laughs. “You thinking of starting a garden?”

Nico wrinkles his nose. “I dunno. Maybe? I’m getting better at not killing plants when I get pissed off. And my apartment in LA has a balcony. I thought I might try to get some things growing out there.”

Will grins. “That’s a great idea. Wait – you’re away a lot though, doing stuff for your dad. Just – plants need water. Like, regularly.”

Nico clears his throat. “Yeah, um. I’m actually planning on cutting back on that soon. The stuff for my dad. I – I was thinking about going to college. Next year.” Nico goes tense and still when he says this, and Will’s abruptly aware that he’s probably been anxiously waiting for the right moment to reveal this bit of information.

“Nico, that’s great,” Will says, sincere.

“Yeah?” Nico finally looks up, shy.

“Yeah,” Will beams. Impulsive, he jumps up, darts over to Nico’s bed and wraps his friend in a hug. The angle is awkward, and maybe the whole gesture was a little abrupt, but Nico laughs into Will’s chest and returns the embrace.

“Thanks,” Nico says, softer. “I was hoping you’d think so.”

Nico feels as if he’s radiating heat and gods, he smells so good. Will pulls back, a hand still lingering on Nico’s shoulder. “Of course I do, Nico that’s –”

Oh. Oh shit.

“Will?” Nico’s immediately on alert. Which is fair, honestly, because Will’s gone completely silent, mouth agape, eyes fixed on the hand still resting on his friend. His friend. Fuck.

“It’s – um.” Will pulls his hand away. Is it harder than it should be? To move away? Or is he just imagining things? He suddenly feels weak-kneed, Shaky. Will backs up, lowers himself to the edge of his bed.

“Will? What’s wrong?” Nico’s up now, inches from Will’s face. He reaches out a hand to touch Will’s cheek, then makes a soft noise of surprise, pulling it back. He looks at his hand in confusion.

“Shit,” says Will. “Shit. The urn. The – smoke. That came out of it.” Will’s heart is racing, his pulse fluttering in his throat.

“Yeah? What about it?” Nico looks seriously worried now, but also… really fucking hot.

Will squeezes his eyes shut, then scrubs at them. He squints at Nico. Nico’s always hot, right? Will knows that, down to his soul. So how could it really be that now, suddenly, he’s about eight million times hotter?

Nico’s in the same leather jacket and jeans as earlier but now – every detail feels like a slap to the face – how the buttery leather would feel in Will’s gripped hand, the open line of it against Nico’s shirt, the pale of his throat fighting against the dark cut of the material. Will’s never wanted to get his hands on something – someone – more in his entire life.

Oh fuck, this is going to be so inconvenient.

There’s a tingling sort of sensation originating somewhere in Will’s chest and racing out to his fingers and toes. It feels like…buzzing? Vibrating? He holds up his hands in front of his face. They look normal enough.

“Will?” Nico’s voice is urgent. He sits next to Will, lays a hand on his knee.

Will nearly jumps out of his skin.

“Shit.” Nico pulls his hand back like he’s been burned. “Solace, you have about three seconds to tell me what’s wrong or I’m shadow-travelling us right back to New Rome,” he says, shaky. “What was the stuff that came out of the urn?”

“Okay.” Will glances at Nico, then away again. “I didn’t realize right away, but then I remembered because you were talking about gardening, and –” he shakes his head. “There’s this plant, related to peonies, and it has these – these spores.” Will stops. Swallows.

“Spores?”

Nico’s eyes are wide, pupils huge, Will realizes. And clearly Nico hasn’t quite made sense of the effects of it yet, but he absolutely will, and soon.

“Like – pollen,” Will says, hoarse. “It’s not – it’s not fatal. We’re not in danger, exactly, but…”

Gods, he doesn’t want to come right out and say it. Maybe – maybe if he just ignores it – but he’s sweating now, and he can feel himself flushing, not just his face, but his neck and his chest –

“We’re not in danger exactly?” Nico’s voice squeaks a little, and gods only know how that’s attractive, but Will suddenly needs to kiss him more than he’s ever wanted to kiss anyone. He closes his eyes, grits his teeth, fighting an overwhelming urge to turn, take Nico’s face in his hands, press their mouths together, feel Nico’s hot breath on his face, hear him gasp against Will’s skin –

“Will?” Nico says, thin. What kind of spores? Can you fix it? What do we need to do?”

“The spores, they’re like gametes. But – heightened. And they’re – interspecies,” Will stammers.

Nico gazes at him, intent. “I don’t know what any of that means.”

Will takes a deep breath. “More colloquially, it’s known as… sex pollen.”

(chapter 2)

__

Many, many thanks to @rosyredlipstick for the beta!

[alacants]

Me discovering that juanki and Carlos signed for ten years which means that their beautiful and deep relationship coach/player will end up someday: *to myself* noo, don't invest your time and emotions in them so you will be eternally sad if they even go on different ways, you're so sexy *tears start to fall in the phone screen*

yeah, i mean, that's THE question isn't it. god if i could look into a crystal ball that is one of the first things i would ask. do they stick to this or. not.

like, so far juanki has done his best to give carlos the exact same training environment he had, only better. a leveled up version. meanwhile he's gone on the record, repeatedly, to extol the irreplaceable value of having the same coach from childhood through his entire career. so do we really think if push comes to shove HE'S going to be the one to cut the cord?? (especially since in 10 years his oldest kid will be 20! like, what, NOW you decide to break it off?) i'm not saying i think he's aware he's kidding himself. just, i'll believe it when i see it.

now. the flipside of this is. is it in fact better to have the same coach for your entire career.¹ goes without saying that it's different for different players and that the personal relationship is immensely important to carlos. so obviously what i'm immediately fascinated by is the hypothetical of like. what's gonna happen if it DOES hit a wall?

like, if we look juanki's career, WAS it in his best interest to have the same coach from cradle to grave. sure maybe 2009 was five years of patience rewarded. or maybe it shouldn't have taken five years in the first place, u know. but it was obviously a foundational personal relationship and maybe that was more important anyway! maybe a coach switch would have made things even worse! it's just, like. a question you can't really avoid. (at the very least idk what his physios thought they were doing but after the DOZENTH INJURY...)

so if carlos hit a slump—like, a BIG slump, indeed a juan carlos ferrero-sized slump—and juanki couldn't help him out of it, and it kept going and going, and it didn't get better. like. what WOULD happen. would juanki encourage him to try working with someone else. would carlos refuse. would carlos think he had no choice but to make a change. would he risk his own career—and carlos already has a LOT more to lose than juanki did—for the relationship. there are so, so many tasty possibilities here that i have to, like, add a disclaimer that i am not actually hoping that carlos will hit a catastrophic two-year slump, ok, i'm just. SO CURIOUS....

¹darren cahill's thoughts: "I think there’s a three- or four-year lifespan to help a player, when the same message is coming from the same person."

[poison-scene]

Thinking about how the romance between Maki and Kaito was written by TDR and the possibility they implied Kokichi's interest in Shuichi during the FTEs + Love hotel.

Like, what if TDR intended for Kokichi to take Shuichi's hand by the end of his last FTE but Kokichi didn't bc of the circumstances™?

And just how much influence does the writing have on the character's feelings anyway? Do they just restrict that to romance or does that impact other dynamics? 🤔

[witchastra]

Jegulus excerpt from Snow, Cocoa, and One Bed

“Truce?” James shouts to Regulus.

“Not a chance, Potter. Finish what you started!” Regulus laughs.

He can hear a distant grumble from James' direction, then it’s silent again. Regulus chances a peek from behind the tree, but there’s nothing.

He narrows his eyes and gathers his ammunition in the crook of his arm, leaving his throwing arm free. Peeking again to make sure the coast is still clear, Regulus scurries to the next tree, waiting a moment, then moving again to the next. He gets closer to where the last place he saw James and decides to wait before moving again.

It’s so quiet, James must be hiding out behind the tree he had initially hid behind.

Regulus chances a look in the direction, only to be ambushed from behind.

“Ah!” He yells involuntarily as snow hits his back. He hears James laughing, then running. He turns and finds James trying to run back to cover but Regulus decides the time for that is over. He runs toward James, launching a full attack.

[searenbound]

Alpha Bakugou desperately jerking off so he can be near his favorite sidekick without dropping to his knees and begging to fuck them just this once.

A lust quirk is already a major problem for a hero to get hit with. Working in close proximity to an Omega who is so wildly off limits he convinced himself he didn’t want them anyways, is a nightmarish hell.

Worse is, it’s not even working. How is he supposed to make it through the next 48 hours without making a huge fool of himself?

[novelcain]

Hanahaki AU but It's Wukong. In case you dunno what Hanahaki is... It's a disease where one's lung is full of flowers and the person will vomit flowers. The flowers usually depends on the person they had a unrequited love for. The only cure for this is to removed it permanently. But in doing so, the person will no longer learned to love. Or wait for death.

... 9.2/10

I usually don't read Hanahaki very often and I've only read where it's like you need to confess but thought of Wukong being so in love with someone even if it was unrequited that he'd rather be in immense pain than lose his love for them got to me ngl✋️

You have exquisite taste, my friend.

[eddiebabygirldiaz]

Trope rating: non sexual intimacy 👀

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | FUCK yes | Oh god you don't even know

Ohhhh sweet goodness this is the good shit right here and I love it to pieces and I want it all the time! One of my all time top faves for sure!

send me a trope and I'll rate it

[uglygirlprettyboy]

in the courtroom straight up terminating it. and by it. let’s justr say. my marriage.

[whifferdills]

extremely random but i just stumbled upon some old-ass qi fic you wrote and jesus christ you're an incredible writer. truly so good i had to hunt you down to tell you, definitely approaching rewired-my-brain territory. thanks for keeping your old stuff up! so many fics hosted on deleted journals... i hope you're doing well!

hello! thank you! that really is old-ass fic, huh. i should probably put it on ao3 for posterity's sake, if there's still people out there jonesing for Stephen Fry/Alan Davies in the year 2024; one of these days LJ will finally implode for good. thank you again, i will treasure this forever. anyway welcome to my web log! & thank you for obliquely reminding me i still need to watch s3 of Hacks

[bidoofenergy]

prompt 38 under kisses, ship of your choosing :]

kisses 38. fake kisses (prompts) (AO3) (526 words)

Jimmy finally steps into the night air, still excitedly talking about his plans for tricking Skizz. BigB is right behind him, closing the door down to his backrooms, and when Jimmy looks back, he’s smiling softly. That’s nice—BigB was enjoying himself, not just doing this because it’s his task.

“Right,” Jimmy holds up BigB’s secret task. “I’ll go share this with Martyn and you—” he pokes BigB in the chest with the scroll— “go get Skizz to meet me.”

BigB doesn’t even seem annoyed with getting poked, just gently pushes Jimmy’s hand down. “Let me know where to bring him.” he says, not letting go of Jimmy’s wrist.

“Of course,” Jimmy grins. “He won’t even see it coming.” The thought of the hearts to come—either by Skizz agreeing to rig the draw or by finishing his task—has him excited, practically vibrating in place. “I’m gonna dig out a cave over by—” He cuts himself off. Someone is approaching, talking about selling a camel?

“Scar,” BigB whispers, eyes wide. “Dude, he’s gonna ask so many questions.” Questions like why a red name was casually hanging out with a green name—and what could they possibly be up to? Jimmy doesn’t even think, just does the first thing that came to mind. He grabs BigB by the front of his shirt and backs up against the cobblestone wall, pulling BigB in to crash their lips together.

To his credit, BigB only flounders for a moment before kissing Jimmy back. He steps even closer, sliding a leg in between Jimmy’s thighs, his slight height advantage forcing Jimmy to tilt his head back a little. The only coherent thought Jimmy can summon is that’s what his beard feels like. Behind that, is the faint feeling of maybe this isn’t a good idea?—quickly wiped away when BigB opens his mouth a little and there’s room for Jimmy’s tongue.

“Oh, what do we have here?” interrupts Scar, sounding pleased. His smile grows when BigB moves enough for him to see Jimmy.

“Hi Scar,” Jimmy says weakly.

“Oh, BigB,” Scar chides, looking scandalized and excited. “Does the rest of the Heart Foundation know you’re out here with a Red?” Something flushes through Jimmy at that—a mixture of shame and something nicer—and he can’t summon enough words to reply.

“Keep it moving Scar.” BigB says, calm and low, the same voice he’s been using when someone asks a few to many questions about his backrooms. Scar laughs, a little nervously.

“Alright, alright, I’m leaving—bye!” he calls. Jimmy lets out a breath as Scar leaves and slumps against the cobblestone wall. BigB takes a step away from him, a tight smile on his face.

“Let me know where to bring Skizz.” He says and heads off in the direction of the Heart Foundation.

Jimmy stays leaned against the wall. He still has to set things up, still has to talk to Martyn, still has to attack Skizz—but he can still feel the warmth of BigB’s hands on his body, the pressure of BigB’s mouth against his, the rhythm of BigB’s heartbeat under his own hands.

[altho-arto]

Shut that detective UP Ryuu!!! 🗣🚫💆🏻‍♂️

(Make him stop talking for 5 seconds so you can find that specific evidence youve been searching for hours because he forgot where he put it)

Alt colors and a closeup under the cut