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frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe · 9 months ago

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good morning!! it's @henderdads' birthday!!!! happy happy happy birthday to youuuu cass!!!

The minute Eddie Munson turned 18, he could see it; the only color he would see until he and his soulmate kissed for the first time.

Yellow.

Rays and rays of warm yellow sunshine, the middle light (and middle light only) of the one stoplight in town, one half of their school colors, the dandelions spotted agross the grass between the trailers, the stubborn daffodils that keep reappearing in Ms. Wilson’s garden though she’s long since passed…

The half-toned things he’s told are green, half yellow, half blue, and that he got lucky his soulmate’s favorite color wasn’t black or gray (then he felt glad he’d settled on a different color than either of those by time he was older, he didn’t want to subject his soulmate to more black and white..

After Steve Harrington turns 18, he can see the color of the lipstick his mom wore in their last family portrait, the color of the punch that gets spilled all over Nancy’s shirt at Tina’s halloween party, the stripes and piping on his godforsaken Scoops uniform, the red of his own blood rushing down the drain beneath his feet.

The dark tone puddled beneath Eddie’s limp body in the Upside Down.

The same color splashed onto Dustin’s arms and legs.

Pressing his hands into it to stop it from spreading, to start it flowing again, Steve presses his lips to Eddie’s once…he hasn’t done CPR since he worked at the pool….twice…”C’mon man, don’t leave him like this.”....

The third time is when it happens.

The feeble beat of Eddie’s heart starting again, the push of breath into his lungs, the sudden flood of cool, dark colors around them.

“Eddie? Eddie! C’mon man, stay with me.”

It looks like it takes a herculean effort to do so, but Eddie’s eyes open. “H–hey, Harrington. Wh–”

“I’m going to pick you up now, Ed,” Steve says, doing just that, tucking Eddie into his chest and starting for the trailer. “El is keeping the gate open for us but we gotta hurry.”

The four of them manage to get him out through the gate and into the RV, this time with Nancy behind the wheel.

Having to let him go at the doors to the ER is one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do, but he manages, Robin telling him over and over again that she’d already called Eddie’s Uncle and that he’d be safe.

While they’re waiting, filthy and exhausted but victorious nonetheless, Nancy says to him: “It’s blue, by the way. The…everything down there has some sort of blue tinge to it.”

Steve doesn’t ask how she knew, just appreciates that he can look at something and she’ll tell him the name of the color.

The pattern of the chairs is orange and purple, the plant in the corner is green (“All plants are some shade of it for the most part.”), the wallpaper is his favorite though.

“It’s yellow.”

“I guess I know what color Eddie’s been seeing the past few years..” It’s the first and last thing he says until Wayne Munson comes to get them.

“You three need’ta be looked at too. Not jus’ Henderson.”

He leads them back to a room, and Steve recognizes Dr. Owens there waiting for them.

They get looked over, they get cleaned up, and Steve gets a shot of something that’s supposed to help stave off anything those flying rats may have given him.

And for the next week, he stays.

He and Wayne maintain a constant vigil at Eddie’s bedside. Wayne leaves for his shifts when he has to, Steve is allowed to stay because of his soulmate status, and Eddie wakes up a little more than a week later.

Wayne had left a couple hours ago, so Steve will have to call him at the plant but first: “Steve?” Eddie manages to croak out when his eyes crack open the first time.

“Hey Eds, welcome back to the world of the living.”

Eddie shuts his eyes and huffs a laugh, then cringes, “Still painful as always, I see.”

“Oh yeah? What else do you see?”

Steve watches his brow furrow as he tries to make sense of the question, watches as he opens his eyes again, a bit further this time, and when they widen in amazement as they travel around the room.

“What–? What the hell..?” The heightened beeping of his heart monitor makes Steve feel almost giddy, getting to watch him see this for the first time. “What nurse kissed me while I was out?” He pauses, staring down a painting of colorful wildflowers on the opposite wall before turning back to Steve. “And can they come back so I can get more pain meds?”

Steve chuckles as he stands stiffly from the hospital chair he’d been all but glued to for the last week, reaching over Eddie’s head to press the call button.

“What’s so funny?”

“You, of course.”

“Thank you, I try, but what’d I do this time?”

“It wasn’t a nurse, Eds.”

Eddie blinks at him for a moment, confused, “I don’t quite have the brainpower for riddles, Stevie.”

Steve’s stomach flips at the nickname, “It wasn’t a nurse, it was when we were still in the—down there.” he pauses, feeling suddenly embarrassed. Did Eddie want it to be him? His first assumption was one of the nurses… “Someone had to give you CPR.”

He watches as Eddie scrolls through what he can only assume is a roster of their “Team Vecna”; Nancy? It’s been known that she’s been able to see in full color since she and Jonathan got together. Dustin? Yeah..no. Ro–

“And it wasn’t Robin.” Steve says when he sees Eddie’s lips curl into an ‘R’.

“Then who—”

It dawns on him at the same time the summoned nurse arrives with a new shot of whatever it is he needs.

She leaves with an excited “We’ll call Wayne!”, and Eddie drops his head back to his pillow.

Steve’s stomach twists anxiously. “Eddie?”

“So you’re telling me that the one and only Steve Harrington gave me the kiss of life and also the gift of colorvision, and I wasn’t conscious enough to experience it properly?”

Steve ducks his head, scratching behind his ear nervously. “Uh…yeah…? Sorry Eddi–”

“Can you do it again?”

His head snaps up again, “Huh?”

“And preferably before I lose the battle for my consciousness?”

Eddie’s face is soft and open, a smile quirking the pink of his lips and crinkling those dark eyes of his…Who is Steve to tell him no?

He smiles softly in return and stands.

Leaning forward with his weight braced to one side of Eddie’s head, the other hand coming up to cup his uninjured cheek, Steve kisses him properly for the first time.

The first of many many many more to come.

eeee i hope you liked this little thing!!! i've never written anything w soulmates before!! 🥹 i hope you have the most bestest day today, friend!! 🫶🫶

#i looked back at your trope tier list for this 👀#damn was that tag game useful or what?#steddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #steve harrington #eddie munson #soulmates #st #stranger things #eddie munson x steve harrington #steveddie #eddeve #noelle writes

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phoenixtakaramono · 10 months ago

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Fanfiction Tropes Tier List (Reader Edition)

Thank you for the tag, @deliciouskeys! (Here's their tier list!)

I tag: @fuckingpajamas, @phtalate, @tzeentchs-secretary-tea-time, @digitalbath1988, @vanshoundd, @tocadoguara, and anyone who wants to do this! I’d be very interested to see how y’all would rank ‘em :) but ofc no pressure if you don’t want to or have already done this!

…So I feel like I need to give some context🧍🏻‍♀️🙈 The tl;dr is: I will read almost anything, but I have certain standards/ expectations that must be met in order for me to continue.

I tried to organize these tropes from top ➡️ bottom, have strong feelings about (would more likely read) ➡️ am less passionate about going from left ➡️ right. For the bottom tiers with asterisks, I arranged them from “this specific trope represents the tier description” ➡️ “eh, it fits here but I don’t really hold strong opinions about these” from left ➡️ right.

⬇️Expand for a detailed breakdown below the line break ⬇️

My Tier List for fanfic tropes I consume as a Reader differ in some areas from tropes I’d like to write or would be open to writing as a Writer. As a reader, I usually give almost every fanfic a chance with my own arbitary criteria—although what I read is very ship dependent according to their canon dynamic (for example, I will devour Enemies to Lovers for one specific OTP in one fandom, but would NEVER read that trope applied to a different fav ship of mine in a different fandom). I also tossed in some danmei BL tropes, for funsies and because I want more people to know about them <3.

And remember, if you like any of these that I personally don’t, that’s great! Everyone has their own preferences. Please don’t take offense. These are just how I view these tropes specifically according to me, haha. It says less about you and more about me being picky with what I like to read and gives context about what kind of bibliophile (person who likes reading) I am.

Tier 1 (SSS Level)

Slowburn: Just as context, I regularly read light novels (hetero, danmei, and baihe) which can easily range from 100ch-300ch each. So slowburns is the quintessential demisexual experience for me, and I love it when they’re long fics where we get to see characters grow and relationships develop, with worldbuilding and an interesting plot. I think the longest I’ve ever read was +2.8K chapters of a story I was addicted to. Typically if I see it’s a slowburn, I know I’m gonna have a good time.

Fix-It Fic: As much as I love canon of the original source material, there are certain canon story decisions and/or plotholes that hurt me—so it’s always great to see someone write their own interpretation to try to “fix it.” You get banger fics and it’s just so creative and a nice catharsis.

Canon Divergence: Same as how I regard a Fix-It.

Dark Fic: Irl I obviously do not condone any of the things that typically happen in Dark Fics. But as someone who has consumed your usual wholesome healthy Lifetime Original style romance stories for a loooooong time, that type of milquetoast wholesomeness has become bland and predictable for me—which is why the wild and crazy shenanigans that happen in Dark Fics spices things up for me and I like that it keeps me guessing. I don’t want to read about things from my life. I think screwed up characters can offer so much more interesting stakes than a Good Guy. I like the tension and uncertainty. Ex. this is why I tend to prefer the protag/villain ships over the protag/childhood friend ships; it’s why a princely character who is secretly yandere is so much more interesting than a sidekick character with a bland and forgettable personality. The writers of Dark Fics, 9/10 times, produce something so interesting that I can’t put my phone down and I just have to binge through their entire fic because the suspense is k*lling me.

Conspiracy & Schemes: Mysteries? Political intrigue? Palace drama? Yes, please, inject it into my veins.

Strong Protagonist & Strong Love Interest: It’s similar to how I’ve come to prefer reading Dark Fics. The market’s too oversaturated with the damsel in distress trope being saved by his/her prince charming. I’ve read too many novels and fanfics about that dynamic, it’s gotten a little stale for me, haha. Give me the clever, scheming, morally grey or villainous MC with a strong backbone. I like badasses. As for the ML or FL, I also prefer them to be strong or scheming as well so they can be a power couple with the MC—and curb-stomp the world and their enemies. …*holds face like a blushing maiden* Don’t they sound like the equivalent of a fairytale couple?

Mutual Pining: Yes, yes, yes. It’ll never be not good.

Revenge-Rebirth: I love underdog characters plotting their secret machinations and getting their revenge. Pair it with a rebirth, where a previous villain(ess) or cannon fodder who’d suffered before learns from the mistakes of their previous life and uses their second life to faceslap their enemies and turn their destiny around? Yes, yes, yes.

Survival Game: I love the Infinite Flow (survival horror/ death game) genre, what can I say? If you’ve read the famous ones, you know why. The writing is almost always superb and so interesting (seeing all the unique horror instances that the MC has to figure out in order to survive). It’s just so imaginative.

Obsessive Love: Same as how I regard a Dark Fic. I do not condone it irl, but an unhealthily codependent partner in my fictional romances? Yes. I want them to be even more obsessed with my favorite character and fall deeper and deeper in love.

Misunderstanding: There is a difference between how I view misunderstandings versus how I view miscommunication (which can grate on my nerves if not executed well). I believe you fundamentally cannot have a good long fic without some misunderstandings that the MC or Love Interest has to clear up, and it’s always so good once the cat is out of the bag and the truth is revealed.

Isekai/ Transmigration (World-Hopping): Yes. Gimme. It’s like 10 stories in one. I like it when your ordinary layperson gets transported into a different fantastical world or pseudohistorical world or into a different modern world of much different circumstances depending on their new identity. I like these duck out of water stories.

Historical AU & Royalty AU: There’s just something about pseudo-medieval settings that can be so charming and interesting to read. If you’ve got royalty thrown in, there’s the additional seasoning of power struggles between members of royalty and aristocracy, and political intrigue, and seeing how a kingdom is run. Writers tend to do a good job worldbuilding these types of stories with characters I like moved into this new setting.

Established Relationship: The domesticity and PDA of it all can make my heart go dokidoki (especially if they’re a powerhouse couple). It can fall into the danger of coming across as bland, so this depends on the plot and writer’s execution of their relationship. I gotta have some stakes.

Enemies to Lovers: I love it for certain pairings.

Forbidden Love: It’s the tabooness of it that makes it interesting to read.

Friends to Lovers: As long as it’s not milquetoast or bland, I think most of the time this is executed well. It’s a step below an Established Relationship, so they’ve got wiggle room to develop into that.

Soulmate AU: It’s inherently romantic, what can I say? I will REALLY LOVE it though if the writer gives it a unique twist.

First Kiss & Sharing a Bed: It’s tender and sweet (or hot) and I will never get tired of it. You can’t go wrong with it.

Magic AU & Fairytale AU: It’s a fantasy world. As long as it’s not bland and there is a serviceable magic system, I will generally like it. (One caveat: it cannot be a HP AU. C’mon. As much as I like HP, you can do better as a writer than transporting these characters into the HP universe. Come up with your own magic system.) For fairytale AUs, it’s basically your Hans Christian Andersen/ Disney fairytale with your favorite characters. I don’t think you can go wrong with it. I just love any AUs in general.

Huddle for Warmth: Same as First Kiss & Sharing a Bed & PWP.

Tier 2 (A Level)

Fluff: Oftentimes reading cute fluff (like sneaking quick kisses or holding hands) can make me blush and giggle more than reading p0rn or smut on my phone in public. HOWEVER, unlike a oneshot where I can tolerate it, for me fluff has be spread sporadically throughout if it’s a long fic. If the long fic is just too fluffy and sweet all the way throughout (force-feeding me “meng” and “dog food” (PDA)), I get the equivalent of a sugary overdose and any interest I have for the fic dries up into “ugh, that’s enough”—which usually ends up with me dropping the fic if the fluff had oversaturated everything (all sugar/ fluff, no real meaty substance). There’s only so much cutesy uwu, descriptions of someone’s soft coquettish voice scratching the Love Interest’s heart like a cat’s paw, etc that I can stomach at a time. It’s like junk food; I can’t eat too much of it.

PWP: As a connoisseur of all things slowburn and a demisexual irl, I have to be in the mood to read a PWP. It’s p0rn without plot; I don’t expect to be reading much plot (although it’d be a pleasant surprise if the p0rn came with some serviceable-enough plot 👌). It is what’s written on the tin. I’m not here expecting a Shakespearean masterpiece. A writer was gripped by the h0rny and decided to share, and this was the result. I’m here to turn my brain off, have fun, and read about two of my favorite fictional characters banging each other stupid.

Im Vino Veritas (Drunken Confessions): Yes, gimme. I’m picky about the execution and the follow-up scene that comes after the drunken confession though (after the drunk character sobers up). The writer has to be skilled enough for me to root for the character and not cringe (unless the whole point is to cringe at the drunk confessing because it’s established they’re a cannon fodder character who won’t get together with the MC or Love Interest).

Missing Scenes: I generally like it when writers come up with a What-If scenario that happens between Point A and Point C of canon. It can be fun and believable—especially if they get the characterization right. Then it’s like reading a little bonus content (like, you know it’s a person’s headcanon but, dang, it’s written so well I could almost believe it was canon).

Office AU: I love me my rich Sugar Daddy AUs and doting CEO husbands pampering and spoiling their lovers. I enjoy reading about a business expanding into a powerful corporation and the power struggles that come with. It’s a guilty pleasure. (I do have to try not to think about HR though.)

Showbiz AU: It’s a guilty pleasure. Sometimes I learn something new about the acting or modeling or fashion industry, and it’s interesting. I also like seeing the journey of the unknown underdog MC rising like a phoenix from a nobody to a well-respected powerhouse of their industry.

Reincarnation: Same as how I regard almost other AUs here (inject it into my veins). With reincarnation though, I usually like to see the rebirth have an affect on the story. It’s an important plot device after all. If it seems like the whole rebirth part could be omitted and it wouldn’t even impact the story with that aspect removed, then…well, sorry, the story didn’t execute it well.

Cold Love Interest: Depends on the execution, but I like it when you have this character who’s known to be cold slowly be thawed out the more and more they start opening up to the Main Character—until they inevitably fall in love. It’s essentially reading about an ice cube that has melted into warm spring water. The transformation can be so beautiful and moving, because you’ve been following them on their journey of self-discovery and finding happiness. (However, my tolerance toward Cold Characters does have a limit; they can’t be irredeemable at the start. Because if it’s the equivalent of the Wife Chasing Crematorium trope, where the Love Interest is a cheating (?) murderous (?) selfish abusive assh0le who has essentially traumatized the MC and still gets together with them at the end…….ugh, 9/10 times I will dislike it even if the ML or FL realizes how much their actions have hurt the MC and tries their best to make up to it for the rest of their lives.)

Dense Protagonist: A protagonist who is oblivious to the Love Interest character pining and simping hardcore after them can be hilarious. However, I am generally picky about its execution. It can teeter the fine line between endearing and dumb/ annoying. At some point, their denseness can become too much (to the point where it’s no longer funny or amusing) that my suspension of disbelief drops and it’s no longer fun to read the story for me personally.

Unrequited Love: Depends on the context. Is it the writer’s intention to make it bittersweet and unresolved? Is the character pining after their unrequited love, and it’s the early stage of the story where the MC or ML/FL have yet to reciprocate? Is the intention to make me cry? For all of these, I usually like to know before I jump into a fic—because I’m a sappy woman who gets easily teary-eyed and I easily get touched by moving depictions of the human connection. So I don’t want my young glass maiden heart to be hurt too much, haha; there’s only so much abuse my heart can handle.

Crossover: At some point, I run out of fics (the good ones) to read for the specific ship I like. So I turn to crossovers, to see how my favorite MC can be shipped with someone else. If the writer’s good, they can blend the worlds and these cast of characters together seamlessly. It’s like a brain puzzle—so I have countless admiration for those who can execute crossovers well.

Time Loop: This is your usual Nicholas Sparks’ (a romance writer) type of story; a time loop is basically Groundhog Day where the MC has to figure out how to break the time loop—and I’m usually invested in the mystery of how they’re gonna pull it off. I’d like to say when I’m in the mood to read this, writers tend to execute the trope well (my logic: if you’re going to introduce a plot device, make it relevant to the story; if it can be omitted and it doesn’t detract from the experience, then it doesn’t need to be there).

Hurt/ Comfort: To an extent. It’s the same as Fluff or Angst for me. Moderation is key.

Sex Pollen & Bang or Die: Similar to how I regard PWPs.

Arranged Marriage: Generally I will like if executed well. I almost put this in Tier 3, because I more often than not don’t usually click on a fic if I see this trope tagged (because my brain thinks about the irl implications). BUT…it is the premise of almost every transmigration (isekai) light novel or manhua/manhwa I read—and they work because it’s a fish out of water story where the MC finds out there they have an arranged marriage to a king, prince, duke, noble, knight, etc with a certain cruel or perfect reputation, and you get to read about them learning about their real selves and falling in love over time with their fiancée/fiancé. And it’s so cute. This is my expectation when I read fics with this trope: a fairytale-like romance, where the arranged marriage managed to work out in this couple’s favor instead of it being loveless.

Baby Fic & Pregnancy Fic: I would not go out of my way to read oneshots where the whole premise is specifically only about either of this. It has to be just one of the ingredients in the whole long fic. Writing children is tougher than you think (you have to be so careful writing about them because you can toe the line between making them precocious and making them annoying), and some people are unable to respectfully write pregnancy characters, choosing instead to focus on the humor of pregnancy stereotypes—but the gags can come across as shallow writing than giving it the proper respect it deserves. So it depends on 1) the execution and 2) my mood. I’ve read a couple good ones, but that’s because the writer is good at delivering the concept that is easily digestible and frames the whole process of birth and child rearing as a beautiful process of nature and life.

Tier 3 (B Level)

A/B/O: I will not intentionally go out of my way 99/100 times to read Omegaverse stories. Shocker, I know. It’s just, for me, I tend to find a majority of these general A/B/O fics…shallow and of little substance. Most of the time, I find the writing can also be a bit distasteful, especially when it comes to the omega and alpha dynamic in this kinda story (in the wrong hands, the writer can make their story come across as r@pey and sexist/ misogynistic, especially if an alpha’s being aggressive and forceful with the MC because they’ve been affected by the smell of an omega’s heat—and now I’m reading descriptions of the omega character sobbing and crying out “no, no, no” and “please stop” and I’m in disbelief why people find this hot). I also don’t like the submissiveness of the omega character where it’s like I’m reading about a milquetoast wet rag who has all their fight drained out and has no personality other than being a hole that produces slick and blushes constantly. Also, for me, predictability is not something I like; if I can predict everything that’s going to happen in a fic, I will become bored. I need some kinda serviceable plot for me to be emotionally invested in an A/B/O fic or there’s some kinda hook that keeps me coming back. I can enjoy the rare one A/B/O fic out of one hundred similar A/B/O fics, but I am INCREDIBLY PICKY about what I choose. The premise itself is also very important to what makes or breaks an A/B/O fic experience for me (for example, if it’s a Dark fic, then I can be more forgiving because it’s expected for there to be dark themes).

Miscommunication: For me there’s no in-between. I will either hate or love this trope, depending on its execution in the fic. On the extreme end of hatred, I am ticked off when a conflict in the story can be easily resolved had the character(s) communicated properly—and it’s just so incredibly dumb. On the opposite end, miscommunication can be done well as a funny gag or a plot device that shows how differently characters can interpret a situation or words. So depending on which one of these the fic delivers, it determines how much I can enjoy a fic.

Love Triangle: See my opinion on Harem Fics, and now make my aversion less strong. I’m a wee more forgiving on this trope because it’s a love triangle where you start off with the MC, the ML/FL, and the love rival—and the story is about the MC choosing one of them. The other Love Triangle I’m okay with is if it’s obviously a poly ship where the MC ends up with two people—but it has to be executed well (I generally have to like both options for the MC). I’m more of a monogamous soulmate type of gal, so I’m kinda picky on the execution when a story focuses on the love triangle. It can’t drag on to the point where I find it to be insufferable. The danger with a love triangle is I, your reader, might come to like the Second Male Lead or Second Female Lead—and think they were a better fit for the MC than the actual Fe/Male Lead that was chosen just because this character was the writer’s favorite. In this case, the moment the wrong candidate is chosen, my interest in the fic dwindles and I feel like I’m reading a lesser version of what initially drew me to the fic in the first place. So now it’s the writer’s responsibility to show me why their choice is the correct one.

Angst: It’s like junk food; the key is moderation. I can’t have too much of it—otherwise it’s too angsty and the poignant emotional knives become laughable.

Humor: Humor is subjective, and differs for each person. What the writer finds funny might not be what I find funny. I’m more of a subtle gal. So if a fic’s meant to be funny throughout, it runs the risk of teetering towards me feeling secondhand embarrassment and cringing—because it’s too much and unfunny. But if a writer genuinely writes something surprising that makes me laugh, I do appreciate their talent at grasping the opportunity and having the know-how to effectively inject some lighthearted humor.

Fake Relationship: …My enjoyment level HEAVILY depends on its execution. It’s the characterization, their chemistry, and plot that have to save it for me.

Amnesia Fic: See, I understand it’s a plot device—which is why I’m a lil more forgiving. But don’t you hate it when all of a sudden a character gets memory wiped after all that progress? (I feel like I wasted my time just as the story was turning good, and now they have to start over? Kinda feels like unnecessary filler and it can drag on, and I feel like banging my head against the wall.) On a lesser extent of my pickiness, I don’t like it as much when it’s used as an exposition framing device, with the MC or Love Interest having no recollection of anything—and they’re lied to at the start about who they’re supposed to be…because you know there will be a dramatic fallout happening when they inevitably find out and that predictability (they fall out, and then you know sometime later something will bring them back together…the fakeout dramatic “breakup” is just so contrived and mechanical and formulaic) is what turns me off. (I don’t mind the amnesia trope as much if it’s used in a psychological horror/ thriller story though.)

Shizun F*cker: It’s your master (teacher) x disciple Chinese classic. I went through a phase of binging these stories and I find they’re generally all very good, but there does come a point where you start seeing similarities and not enough freshness with this trope and they all blend together (especially if it feels like it’s a pale imitation inferior copycat version of certain shizun f*cker classics). Nowadays this kinda premise has to be accompanied by something fresh and unique in order for me to keep reading—and turn my brain off from thinking about the irl teacher-student implications.

Secret Identities: If executed well, I like the reveal of their true identity in the story. It’s like you have this lowkey cute crush who has been helping you all this time—and you find out he’s, like, a mafia don or the CEO of a conglomerate or an international spy. It’s the gap moe contrast of who they pretend to be versus the secret badass they really are. It does come with the risk of some predictability for me though which can ruin my immersion (y’know…the typical MC’s outrage when finding out their Love Interest’s real identity: “You lied to me?! How can I believe you now when all you’ve done is lie to me?!” ➡️ A genuine apology ➡️ Fallout ➡️ Some sort of dramatic reconciliation after the MC or ML/FL was kidnapped).

Tier 4 (C Level)

Dubcon: It’s teetering on the verge between what I find tolerable and what I find unacceptable. As long as it does not fall into the Non-Con territory and isn’t written distastefully, I can read dubcon stories where the consent is a blurry line between these two characters.

Major Character Death: I usually don’t seek this out—because I’m a big weepy baby and I don’t want to grow attached to these characters and bawl at the end when the inevitable happens. But on the super rare instances where I do click on a fic despite this warning tag, it means I have mentally and emotionally prepared myself to get knifed in the heart.

Mary Sue Fic: As much as I love power scaling fics and OP MCs, it does get boring if there’s no setback or conflict for the MC to learn from. I mean, sure, it’s fine for them to steamroll over everyone but if I’m reading +1K chapters of them just steamrolling, they’ve become a Mary Sue. I want flaws. I want setbacks. There’s only so much chuunibyou I can tolerate. There’s only so much descriptions of how ungodly beautiful or how shockingly genius the MC is at everything before I start rolling my eyes. Fatigue has set in and the OP character has become an insufferable milquetoast Mary Sue/ Gary Stu who can do no wrong. My suspension of disbelief has finally been worn away into nothingness. This can also apply to the Love Interest character (I understand their role in the story is to satisfy the ideal dream lover trope—but please give dimension to the character). I want three-dimensional characters with backstory and flaws and an interesting personality, not Mary Sues or Gary Stus.

Y/N (OC Fic): If I’m reading fanfic about my favorite character(s), I don’t want to spend my time reading about a writer’s Original Character or Self-Insert character being shipped with my favorite. I went in to read stories with my fav ship—and only that. There have been the few exceptions to this—but me liking a Y/N or a fic with OCs is ultra rare.

Breakup: Similar to my thoughts on Unrequited Love. But taken up to a hundred. If there’s been a breakup between the main couple in the fic—and it’s not in the beginning exposition chapter where we don’t yet know enough information about these characters—in the middle or near the end, chances are I think the relationship is f*cked anyway and therefore lose interest in the main ship itself in the fic. Even if they get back together at the end, I just think, “Honey…you can do so much better than him/her.” Which is why I usually don’t like reading breakups between the main couple in my fics. (And if the breakup is because the MC or Love Interest is in a precarious situation and they think pushing them away is the best way to protect them, it’s a cliché that makes me roll my eyes because it’s been so overdone and ugh, why pretend to be awful INSTEAD OF COMMUNICATING?)

Body Swap: …It depends SO MUCH on the execution. I cringe so hard if a character (usually the guy in the body of a girl) is feeling up their developed chest like a perv. There’s only a handful of Body Swap stories that do this trope well. If two characters are swapping bodies, I want to read about how they’re trying not to OOC (lol) and see how this body swap impacts the story and cast of characters in any meaningful way.

College AU: I’ve long since graduated from college. Nuff said. Might give a fic a try if it’s well-written or a short PWP (it is what’s written on the tin) but, as a working adult, reading about petty school drama wears on my patience. There has to be plot to keep me invested. Might also read if it dives into college controversies or campus scandals—but the suspense has to be executed well. Most of the time, it works if there’s some kinda big mystery like there’s been a crime committed. Because now you have a whodunnit mystery. And that’s so much more interesting than reading about students studying and doing homework, going to parties, crushing on the professor (also, here, yikes…if you want me to turn my brain off and not think about the real life implications (the teacher’s immediate suspension (hopefully) and losing their teaching privileges and license), you gotta reel me in with the plot or characters), or the typical student college experience.

Gen Fic: It’s bland, milquetoast, mid and forgettable. It’s like sucking out all the fun elements out of a fic—and that’s not my idea of a good time. I think the only way to pull this off is if it’s a Character Study fic.

Tier 5 (F Level)

High School AU: Give me real men or women; get out of here with the kiddy stuff. I’m outside the age range to be able to enjoy this. As a working career-woman, I really don’t want to spend my free time reading about minors and teen romance and teen drama. And if there’s adult content, sorry, just—no. My brain more often than not associates it to underage s3x—and it squicks me out. It’s also so much harder for me to suspend my disbelief that this inexperienced kid from high school is like this super genius hacker or ultra cover model beauty whom grown wo/men salivate over. (Because…god no, I DON’T want to read about a minor’s “milky thighs” or “coquettish voice.” They’re, like, 14-16 y/o. Who wants to read about a predator who has designs on a teenager?) Also, unless it is at the hilarious peak levels of highschool romcom like Kaguya-sama: Love is War but in fanfiction form, reading about two high school students crushing on each other is 99/100 times so boring and milquetoast to me. I am not the target audience for this trope.

Non-Con: The real life implications ruin any chance for me to want to do anything with this trope. Consent is king, y’all. Non-con is a personal squick—and therefore I will not read if it’s what’s gonna happen between the main couple no matter how sweet and regretful the ML or FL acts after the act. It’s r@pe; I do not find SA and being forced sexy in any way. The moment I see that there’s non-con between the main couple, that’s ruined any chances of me enjoying that ship in the fic. (The only exception I can think of for this is if the ML/FL was mind-controlled or didn’t have autonomy over their body due to some kinda magic shenanigans. Or if it’s non-con framed as a horrifying traumatic experience between a character and the unimportant cannon fodder who’s there in the story to be punished as a villain and won’t be forgiven in any way.) I will not seek it out if I see a fic’s been tagged with this. And if I encounter surprise non-con in my reading, I will immediately drop the fic.

Unhappy Ending: I have a glass maiden heart. I tear up easily when characters die or suffer in a book. I don’t want to get emotionally invested in a story and its characters, only to end up with an Unhappy Ending at the end. It just feels so unsatisfactory, like I’d wasted my time on this long fic when I could’ve spent that time productively reading something else that has a much happier and better conclusion.

Crack Fic: Now, the one exception to this is if a writer jokingly says their story revolves around a crackship, but the writing’s so dang unbelievably good you don’t even think it’s a crackship in a crack fic (it’s a bonafide good story). But aside from that, 99 out of 100 times, I will not read crack fics. A crack fic is a writer’s attempt at humor. And humor is so subjective. What they find funny or entertaining might not be what I find funny or entertaining. Most of the time, it’s also of little substance and random and the writing is all over the place (which…y’know, I get it; I notice a lot of people mention they had a wild dream about this and that’s the reason why they’re writing a crack fic.) I’m happy that they’re writing what they find funny and I’m hoping it’s fun for them, but crack fics are not my cuppa tea.

Coffeeshop AU: It’s so mid and blah to me. It’s the most milquetoast Meet Cute out of all the Meet Cutes they could have chosen. I think the only one I recently read in, like, years, is because of a Art & Fic Exchange Bang I’d participated in. It’s so long ago. Basically unless it’s a stalker or secret identity or psychological horror story to make it interesting, I’d rather read anything else than a bland Coffeeshop AU.

Next Generation: Similar to how I regard OC Fics or OCs in general. I’m here to read fanfiction to read about canon characters of a show or book. I did not come here to read about a writer’s cast of Original Characters or Self-Insert characters. If 99% of the fanfic is about the OCs who are the sons and daughters of the canon characters, I just won’t read it. Won’t touch it. Won’t come anywhere near it. They might as well have written an original story of their own instead of a fanfic. (But 99/100 times, it’s poorly written and you can tell it’s written by a younger writer…eeesh. The good thing is, the more they write, the more practice they’re getting, so the better their writing will be.)

Bonus (F Level)

Cheating/ NTR: my brain automatically associates irl with this—and I find it despicable. The 1% chance I would read this trope is if the MC/ Love Interest is shown the consequences of their actions and the story promises that the person who’s been cheated on breaks up with them. Or if it’s a Mindlessly Self-Indulgent PWP oneshot—so I know to turn my brain off and lower my usual standards coming in.

Harem Fic: It’s Love Triangle—but taken up a notch. It’s so hard to write stallion (er0tica) protags that come across as endearing and not a playboy scummy f*ckboi. It annoys me if I’ve developed attachment to a ship or character and am interested in their relationship development (my waifu or husbando), but the story suddenly shifts to Side Character No.50 whom I couldn’t give two hoots about. The only exceptions to this, for me to keep reading a harem fic, is 1) if I like the storytelling, worldbuilding, and/or protagonist or main ship that makes it worth it. It’s very rare but there have been handful of writers who have actually made a harem where I care for and like ALL of the waifus. 2) I also enjoy harem dramas where the MC face-slaps every love rival, evil concubines, white lotus conniving mistresses, jealous queen/ mother, etc—and gets The Wo/Man.

Fanfiction Tropes (Writer Edition)

I’m much more open-minded writer usually 😅, so I’m usually open to try almost anything—but my criteria of tropes I will write for the story depends on my mood and the story’s premise. They usually have to pose some relevancy to the fic (which depends on its premise and characters) and satisfy my want to contribute something fresh/ interesting to the fandom if I decide to write that trope.

The biggest two changes are: 1) I’d move most of these tropes up into Always Down to Write and a few into If the Plot Calls for It. I’d also probably reorder a couple tropes if I look at them from a writer’s perspective (left ➡️ right, arranged from tropes I feel strongly about ➡️ the tropes I consider mid and don’t hold much strong opinions about). 2) I’d change the categories to:

Always Down to Write tier (probably 90% of these)

If the Plot Calls for It, or if I’m Curious and Want to Try Experimenting with It tier (I typically don’t go out of my way to read these, but would be willing to challenge myself and see what the writing experience would be like)

You’d Never Catch Me with My Pants Down Writing It tier (fun fact: there’s only maybe 4 or 5 of these I’d put here)

If you happen to be a writer whose tropes fall into ones I do not like and you know I’ve gushed about your fic before, know that you were one of the rare exceptions and I hope knowing this makes you happy. ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

#phoenix talks #fanfiction #fanfiction tropes #reading #writing #fanfiction tropes tier list #ask #deliciouskeys #thanks for tagging me!

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