#weirdly specific tropes

[suzannahnatters]

Some weirdly specific tropes that I absolutely adore but rarely see: Platonic Love Triangle Two attractive people will battle to the death over the right to be friends with you (I wrote this in A Day of Darkness and otherwise have only seen it in the kdrama Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938)

The UnChosen One In the magical fantasy world, everyone has super awesome magical powers, except the protagonist (A Dream of Fire by JR Rasmussen did this SO WELL and it made me SO HAPPY; I also plan to do it myself in an upcoming project, A Lord of Thorns and Teeth)

Dying Baby King Terminally ill teen boy should be asking out his crush and having fun, not killing himself running a country (I wrote this in The Lady of Kingdoms with my squishy darling Baldwin IV, and I've only ever seen it done otherwise in the Trevor Nunn movie My Lady Jane)

Disabled Love Interest Put your romantic male lead in a wheelchair you cowards (Stella Dorthwany's Song and Flame and @rj-anderson's Knife have two of the best disabled love interests I've seen)

Sword in the Bed You've heard of Only One Bed but this is the superior medieval variant: before they bunk down together one of them draws a naked sword and lays it in the bed between them (IIRC, it happens in the Welsh Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed, and apart from that and some other medieval legends and fairytales, I've only seen it in an unfinished work by @rj-anderson auuuugh)

Fake Divorced Exactly what it says on the tin (I've never seen this? but DV I'll be writing it into the 5th Miss Dark book)

Bad Fictional Matriarchy What if the patriarchy was a fantasy matriarchy? It'd still be bad, obviously. I see this so rarely but it is always an opportunity for fantastic, layered social criticism (Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie did it well; I'm struggling to recall the one (1) other fantasy novel I read that did it!)

Sad Wet Puppy X Righteous Female Warrior ETL Enemies-to-lovers, but he's a skinny waterlogged little weirdo and she's the righteous paladin who is going to hound him to his destruction without mercy on the strength of her own heavenly wrath (it's the one thing in common between the kdrama Flower of Evil and the cdrama Till the End of the Moon and both of them sent me absolutely feral, plus I have an untitled project on the backburner that will give me the chance to do my own version of this...)

[reinanova]

what’s a weirdly specific trope you wish you could see more of?

i’ll start:

“i told my friend i was on a date except i wasn’t on a date but i just saw said friend so i kissed the first person i saw which happened to be you and now we’ve kinda committed to the fake dating bit”

[deeply-unserious-fellow]

I DON'T have a favorite ship dynamic I DON-

...fuck-

[brood-mother]

if i had a nickel for every big beautiful horned lady-beefcake fantasy rpg love interest/companion with a non-binary voice actor we've met in the past year i'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but its fucking AWESOME it's happened twice

[sappho-hoziers-version]

If I had a nickel for every time I saw a gay crime drama with an FBI agent and a killer who are Definitely About To Bang, but instead of finally Resolving The Tension when they’re holding each other like they’re going to kiss, one person stabs the other in a shockingly non fatal way because they can’t Deal With Their Emotions Properly during a season finale…

I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.

[crossfalconx5]

What sweet young boys!

(Designs for Moms sons, requested by @tortureofthedamned )

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

Im a depressed indian bi girl and I dont know if I will ever be accpeted by really close family members of mine. Im scared to come out, but I can also feel myself rotting away bc I cant live as who I am openly. Everyday I feel so disconnected and lonely, even when surrounded by loved ones. I fully believe it when my self-esteem-less brain tells me no one will ever love me as who I am truly. My grandmother wouldnt look at me the same. My cousins would be weird around me. My religious uncles would cease talking to me. My aunts may look at me weird. I will become the weird 'shameful' kid the family would gossip about, and I get so scared even thinking about that future. Im so lost and scared and alone and I dont know what to do.

*sigh* sorry this was sadder than I thought it would be. Please ignore it if you would like to, or if ur just not comfortable

I just. I need advice. Or rather, I need to feel like im not alone, that there is someone out there that gets it. I dont know maybe I need a hug.

Or drugs or something /j

Im so tired yknow

Anyway. Sorry. Have a nice day :)

-a tired queer anon❤️

Hey anon maggot ❤️ I'm sending all the love and hugs to you. I promise you, you are not alone. Maybe you won't find community immediately around you right now, and maybe some of your family won't be accepting. Which is awful, it feels so awful, and you are so valid in grieving that. It isn't how it should be. It'll be a long time before one day we can change the system itself.

But I promise that you WILL find people. You will be loved for you are. Maybe it'll take a while. But there are people out there who are looking for someone just like you, and wishing they weren't lonely, and you will find each other. You will have the freedom to choose your family. Some people will change, learn to accept you. Some will not, and you'll have to make peace with that, while recognising they hurt you and that's not okay but they're their own people.

And there will be other people, whom you WILL find, who will cherish you and celebrate you and love you for the very things that made the others turn away.

I was so so alone. Believe me. One of my earliest tumblr posts is a rather sad one that's basically facts about me and begging for a friend, because I had no one to talk to or really be myself with except my dog.

And now I have the most wonderful community here in the world and I love you all so damn much and i wish i could go back and tell that boy in late December that he was going to be okay.

Instead I'm telling you. You're going to be okay. You are not alone. Stay safe, anon maggot, and take care of yourself, especially when it's hard to.

With all the love,

Asmi

[nat-1-whump]

Alright, pardon me for drawing whump inspiration from weird places like a college lab class, but some types of rock, such as marble, sizzle when they come into contact with hydrochloric acid. Which brings me to...

Whumpee is a sentient marble statue. Maybe they're a person who was turned into a statue with a petrification spell, or they're a statue that was cursed with sentience somehow. Either way, they're trapped in this form for the time being.

Though most people have no clue Whumpee is alive, Whumper finds out and takes full advantage of this, torturing Whumpee with hydrochloric acid. It burns and they can't do a thing to stop it. Over time, the acid starts to wear down the stone, and Whumpee can only imagine what a bloody mess their flesh will be if they are ever turned back.

Or, alternatively, Caretaker is trying to figure out what happened to them, and they use hydrochloric acid to test what kind of stone Whumpee is. Caretaker would never hurt Whumpee on purpose, but they're completely unaware that Whumpee can feel every single drop that touches them. Whether they know that Caretaker means no harm, or think that Caretaker is deliberately hurting them, Whumpee can't help but feel a bit nervous about Caretaker from then on.

Whumpee is utterly helpless, forced to hold perfectly still as the burning liquid is splashed onto them. They can't flinch, can't scream, can't cry. Their face is still frozen in the exact same expression they've always had as a statue. And they hate it.

[astrababyy]

can the whole “lovers read each other’s minds” trope in fantasy please go die in a hole because if it’s not something that happens AFTER the relationship is established, it always taints the relationship and its legitimacy for me. i have read a lot of stories with this trope, and i have never, not ONCE seen it done well. it’s always so invasive and a major reason for how the relationship goes from acquaintances to being as close as they are. that mind reading thing is always involved, and a lot of the time, it’s not consensual so it’s just icky.

[plasmodiumpyrexia]

Thinking about a really specific thing: Characters putting their hands on their chest.

Like after a coughing fit (that already sounds painful), caretaker looks over to see whumpee with their hand on their chest, giving it a lil rub...

Or if their heart skips a beat and they automatically reach to their chest. And if their heart is racing, feeling each beat pound away under their hand.

And when they're struggling to catch their breath. One hand is on their heaving chest and the other is braced on the wall, lungs burning and dark spots dancing in their vision as they gasp for air.

Maybe it's the only outward sign of their inner turmoil. Unease building, making it feel like the air is being sucked out of the room, a hand on their tight chest.

Or maybe, it simply hurts.

And the gesture just looks concerning, like even if whumpee isn't fully clutching their chest, they still seem uncomfortable. Something's up and it's probably not good.

[suzannahnatters]

TIME FOR MORE OF MY FAVOURITE WEIRDLY SPECIFIC TROPES

Love Is Not Enough For This Nonsense I see your "I can fix him" and your "I can make him worse" and raise you "I tried to fix him but he persisted in seeking his own doom so now I'm going to peace out and naff off to a beautiful little cottagecore life with the baby". (The Daisy Ridley Ophelia movie did this. The Revenge of the Sith probably should have done this.)

Moral Psychopath give me someone who was born to be a monster but isn't, give me a man without a conscience who does the right thing ANYWAY, give me a stone cold nightmare who chooses to be good even when it doesn't give him warm feels!!!! (there was a character like this in Zero Sum Game, there was a character like this in Forest of Secrets, our bb from Flower of Evil thought he was this - but nobody's done it properly yet)

Competitive Self-Immolation Two idiots, alike in nobility, do their darnedest to one-up each other in committing self-sacrifice. (I admit we do see this somewhat often - most recently in The Rings of Power with Miriel and Elendil - but I go feral for it every time).

Families That Are Actually Happy There's no skeletons in their closet, no twist in their plot. They really are that happy, healthy and supportive. (My bestie C does this in the Secrets of Ormdale series and we do not see it anywhere near enough)

Ruthlessly Gentle Scholar X Angry Guilty Knife Wife She's a stabby hot mess with so much baggage she's starting to shake apart at the seams, and he's cool-headed, warm-hearted, and absolutely inflexible when it comes to what he believes to be right. Somehow they are simultaneously each other's greatest need and worst nightmare. (See: the main couple in Rosamund Hodge's Crimson Bound. See also: the platonic version from The Rings of Power between Elrond and Galadriel that about once a season makes me scream/cry/throwup).

The Unprodigal Son He's never broken a rule in his life. He's the soul of duty. He's above reproach. He's also the worst person you know and needs a redemption arc so badly. (I am not sure I've ever seen this? like the eldest son in the parable, yes. Angelo in Measure for Measure, and 100% St John Rivers in Jane Eyre - except that they don't get a redemption arc. Somewhere there's got to be a Regency romance novel with this plot, surely?)

Head in Lap (Derogatory) Let me lay my head gently in your lap and roast you to kingdom come. (Hamlet, obviously. Also, and I squealed so happily, Luca with Viv in Splintered Life).

Born-Again Monsters Vampires, Tieflings, or just demon-themed mutants who respond to their fiendish nature by going super hard with religion. (Nightcrawler is the perfect example, but we're getting a vampire with religious scrupulosity in Claire Trella Hill's next vampire book and I am HAPPILY SQUEALING)

[alter-koker]

why were there so many films in the 40s about accidentally having multiple spouses

[hungrydolphin91]

WIP Folder Game

Rules: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Tag as many people as you have WIPs. People can send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, then post a little snippet/preview or tell them something about it!

Thank you Jay (@lildoodlecat) for tagging me!! You have such hilarious titles for your wips, I feel like mine are more boring/straightforward by comparison �� luckily for me I recently made a list of all my wips and their words counts (the document word count, most of it is NOT prose) so I can just copy and paste it here. fair warning, there's quite a few, and some of them have been "on hiatus (i'll come back someday bet)" for years so i may have less to say about them if prompted. But without further ado here's the doc titles of all of my Tales wips!

Graces:

Grace richass hurt/comfort: 1456

Graces AU Compilation 2 Eletric Boogaloo (You Shape Me): 465

Graces AU of ambiguous definition but it's the same bullshit I always write (Training Wheels): 4982

Graces AUs in a jumbled mess (titled ones include: Seasons Are Changing; Lambda 2 Electric Boogaloo: There's Another One, Folks; Inside and Out. also a G/T Richass AU and a Psi POV story): 19,933

Graces Berzesty AU: 2285

Graces Chapters (Two Hearts Could Be One part 1): 47,862

Graces charcter reference and outline (Two Hearts Could Be One part 2): 92,690

Graces long fic: The Sequel (Two Hearts Could Be Two): 19,616

Graces rarepair Cheribert ideas: 2430

Zesty:

Living House AU: 15,857 (items with an * are wips under this same AU. Yes, they're all house-related puns)

*Room For Improvement: 4083

*Welcome Home: 5754

*Amazon Home: 951

*Shingles Virus: 2328

Joyride: 5339

Sormik timeloop angst: 1387

Innominat Returns (Falling Awake): 33,304

Zestiria but I dont have a name for it yet idk how to describe it either (personality nonsense): 1275

Zestiria ideas in a jumbled mess (featuring AUs such as human!mikleo, cult Elysia, noragami AU, Skyward Sword AU, that one kinky one): 14,695

Rose and Mikleo’s Day Off: 4185

Berseria:

Berseria But I Don’t Have a Title Yet (To Walk With the Reaper): 5453

Berseria Van Eltia Fluff (Maiden Voyage): 608

Bien-formant: 342

Diary of a Pengyon: 1579

Dotnw:

Dontw Polwiggle: 3115

Dontw Spur of the Moment fic (Didn’t Know I Was Lost): 1312

Vesperia:

Fighting of the Spirit: 1345

Ghost Trick Repede (Chance 4 a Big Reversal): 12904

Vespy nonsense of the self-indulgent kind (Angel/Demon AU with so many cliches you're gonna drown in them): 1471

Vespy Ooo (Without a Shadow): 6211

Xillia 1&2:

Eurydice: 378

Kind of a depressing mess (RIP Julius): 901

Notes for Leia (aka this girl has problems (and maybe a ghost) haunting her): 1153

Some kind of Xillia AU (ft. AUs such as spiritvessel!Jude and spirit!Jude): 4873

Sad fractured dimension stuff (jude's sister AU): 2091

Smol jude: 1281

Arise:

Werewolf!Law (You’re Running in Circles): 2332

Okay, that's all of them, currently! I really do write a lot for this fandom I just never finish anything ever so they stay stuck in my wips folder forever 😅 But anyone is free to ask me about these, in fact I will take your interest in my half-baked ideas as flattery of the highest form 💜

As for tagging others, I think Jay already snagged up my mutuals so I will open this up to literally anyone who sees this, Tales fan or no. And please @ me in it, I wanna see what other people are working on!!!!

[bananonbinary]

being in a small fandom is wild, you really get to know like, 4 specific people's incredibly niche fetishes

[bobafetts-princess]

If I had a nickel for each time Sir Christopher Lee played a magical being that began good and turned evil I’d have two nickels

Which isn’t a lot

But it’s weird that it’s happened twice

[madeimpact]

No I will not elaborate