I guess it's related to unrequited love but not quite? Basically, A confesses their love to B, and B doesn't feel the same. But, they think that they could if given a chance so they start dating anyway and there's a fun imbalance with A being fully in love already and B still in the beginning stages of liking someone. And there's also lots of fun twisted feelings about there being no guarantees and B could come out of this not feeling the same and A is at a serious risk of getting their hearts broken.
I've only ever seen one fic with this concept in all my years in the fanfic world and I've finally started writing my own because I am desperate for more of this exact scenario.
Be the change you want to see in the world! Sometimes there's unfortunately no other option but to write it yourself. Next up: Bodyguard AU because those fics are criminally rare as well.
It hasn't been posted yet, I'm trying this new thing where I prewrite a few chapters at least instead of immediately posting it, but it's for the 9-1-1 fandom.
I've seen one fic in my fandom with this premise, + mind-control (situational, not planned) leading to love.
And I'm doing my own fic that's heavy on this exact concept. With a "we'll be friends for now" stage after the confession, and B considers the dating thing and then "no, no, I don't need to think about that."
I've done something similar in my fic as well, except the confession sparks a sexuality crisis in B and when he expresses interest in giving dating a try with A, A tells him that he needs him to be sure it's actually what he wants and that he won't wake up in a month realizing that oh, he's not actually into men at all because that would understandably completely break A's heart.
So B goes to explore himself a bit by going on dates with a few other guys just to confirm that it's A he really wants, and he's not just choosing him because he's safe and convenient.
In mine, A doesn't confess—still writing it, not sure if the feelings click for A before this or not—until they have "proof" that B is interested in men.
B canonically fake-dates their sibling to hide the sibling relationship, because B's a lust-based vampire and A is a wizard. The groups don't get along, but B lets their brother live in their two room apartment pretty much \~1 year after B even learns they have a brother. (B's an orphan. Yes, my canon fantastically gives itself to fanfiction!)
So A confesses, B needs to pretend to be into men (or, or maybe only after, risk suspicions of being mind-controlled by their brother). A knows that there's no love involved in the presumed relationship because the lust-vampires are burned by love. And! That there's no monogamy given to B—who's recourse is that they themselves still decide to be.
Then! . . . B ends up needing protection from the vampires to save their brother. Oh ho, enter A. Acts of love impart protection. (At this point A and B will actually have done date-like stuff, or more, but nowhere near being official.)
After B dismisses this, well, A isn't actually celibate. B, again canonically, pretty much is. They forget that most people aren't and feel hurt.
\[Other plot heavy stuff instead of romance. Romance complications. Not sure how they work out in the end other than "commitment," which is one strong route to take to the endgame.\]
And yeah, even when B ends up realizing they love A or otherwise have feelings—incidentally giving A protection from vampires would spoil the secret on that feeling, so they don't want to do anything.
It's honestly a damn mess that can (and will) cover years of canon. 0\_0
All that to say that I love the sexuality crisis plot, even as outdated as it may be. And love solutions that explore it—like your B character dating other guys. That actually happening in a ship-fic is so rare! If your fic, unlike mine, is done: I'd love a link!
Okay, I'm very intrigued by the fandom you're writing for because all of this sounds right up my alley!
In my fic, the confession is prompted by A dying for a few minutes and realizing that if he stayed dead, the only regret in life he'd die with was this secret about how he feels for his best friend. He doesn't expect anything to come from it, even tells B that he doesn't want anything to change - but of course this is fanfic and everything does change. It would have been so easy for A to agree to be B's experiment when he starts having his crisis, but I wanted to choose a different direction and have A be a bit more mature and not so self sacrificing. Him watching B date other people will provide plenty of angst.
Unfortunately it's not been posted or finished just yet either, I'm trying to wrap up at least half before I start posting but by some miracle, things are going pretty well so far!
A character ascends to divinity but hates their status as a god and either tries to discourage worship of them or actively denies being a god. A religion forms around them regardless and they have to deal with their followers trying to convince them that they are in fact a god. I've seen like three fics that use this theme. Every other fic I've seen that comes close has the MC either quickly come to terms with being a god and step into the role or has the MC obviously not a god from the narrator's POV and them being mistaken for a god is a source of comedy or drama.
or the one where the pov is convinced that the character-of-interest is a god, and somehow, all of the facts end up lining up that way too. just: excellent
[https://archiveofourown.org/works/22102882](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22102882)
Character who is prophesied or destined to fulfill a great role or defeat a powerful enemy but chooses to reject their destiny, often opting for a more mundane or unconventional path. Would love to write a story with that, but my brain decides to short out at the wrong time :/
I read a fic where the MC spent the whole time with various McGuffins trying to rope her into some sort of prophesized destiny and she's just refusing to have any of it and keeps dodging everything while trying her best to be a normal girl.
A-vaguely-platonic-could-be-read-as-romantic relationship. It has so many directions it can go to. In more realistic "everyday love" type of stories, I really like the middle part of the story, in which the main couple aren't quite a couple yet but are forming some sort of friendship. Bonus if there are some well-written friends in the gang.
i understand you. this is also my favorite trope. the fragile more-than-lovers-less-than-friends, especially when there's unfounded possessiveness... everytime i try to look for something like this only thing i can find is a FWB type of thing which is not what i'm looking for. any recommendations?
Sadly it's hard for me to recommend any particular fics. However, I can recommend a series. Komi Can't Communicate is an anime/manga series that in my opinion, gets really well that delicate romantic/platonic relationship thing and has it for a long time, without it becoming frustrating endless "will they, won't they".
This one's a post-canon trope. The big bad is defeated, the adventure is over, and it's time to return to normal life. Except...the skills obtained over the course of said adventure are still there. So is the knowledge and the experience. As a result, the hero's sense of what's normal and what isn't is...somewhat skewed.
My go-to example for this is Harry Potter. Imagine a fic about him and Ron in the Auror corps, dealing with the absolute worst that wizarding society has to offer...but after seven-plus years of dealing with Voldemort and Voldemort-adjacent bullshit, they're not even phased. Gruesome murder scene? No worse than Nagini wearing Bathilda Bagshot's body like a meat puppet. Kidnapped and held ransom as a threat to stop an investigation? Still beats being tied to a gravestone. Chaotic multi-man spell fight? It's got nothing on the Department of Mysteries. And so on and so forth.
No one knows how to react to this, other than some vague undefined mixture of awe, horror, and did-they-really-just-do-that?
tl;dr main character levels up _hard_ during the adventure and returns to the starting area once it's over. hilarity ensues.
Okay this one probably *does* have a name, I just don't know it.
It's a subniche of the Reluctant Hero, where the poor defenseless tagalong-to-be wants to join the hero, and the hero says no I have other problems, and gets like five, six steps away before sighing, changing their mind, and saying something like "eh, you coming or what?" Not the entire story that follows, *just that one scene.* I love it, and it gets me every time.
A character is duplicated in a way that Both versions that result have equal claim to being Real. (See the Twinning on Farscape for a canon example) unlike stuff like we just don't know who is the clone it adds an extra layer of angst cause both versions have a legitimate claim to being the original and thus seeing how they diverge and interact with the rest of the cast and each other has that exta oomph that isn't present even when dealing with a we don't know whose real situation cause both one still is but in this situation both don't know how to deal with it.
The Doctor Who two-parter episodes The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People dealt with this. It's one of my favourite Who two-parters, and explores the moral question about what clone lives are worth, and whether they are worth caring about. I think you'd really like it.
I'm familiar with it but it's not exactly what I meant. I don't want cloning or avatars becoming real with a copy of the memoreis. I mean a situation where the two duplicates both are equally real and treated as such by the Narrative I mean the transporter Clones on star trek are similar but the narrative always favors the one that the Audience has been following.
Time travel where we are going to use this opportunity to change some shit, not the usual time travel where we can’t change anything or then we won’t be born BS, or the time travel where fate won’t let us change anything (or its cousin, where we were always meant to go back in time and change things, therefore nothing actually changed.)
There's a lot of Manga which are I traveled back to elementary school to not fail at interacting with person A or person B an thus changing they're own youth entirely
Yeah, it’s not unusual in original fic, but I find it happens pretty rarely in fanfic. That’s probably because if the MC actually changes things significantly, the fic can no longer adhere to the “stations of canon”, and most fic writers aren’t down to make up significant portions of a new plot.
In this case that's odd when other fics literally restructure pretty much everything
for example having two characters suddenly Lesbien ls taking care of the child whos technically the villian and the dead backstory tragic kid lol
Mine is often found in Hurt/Comfort fics:
Character A goes through a Major Traumatic Event, but does everything possible to hide how hurt they are from Character B (usually a romantic interest or friend). Character A is barely holding it together and white knuckling through the pain, but then they encounter the Final Straw and just lose it. Character B comforts them and helps them recover, but might feel a little betrayed that Character A didn’t initially trust them. I call it Trauma Reveal, but I don’t know if there’s an actual name for this trope.
I'd probably have to say Hero with a dark side and let's be fucked up together, which go rather nicely with one another.
Hero with a dark side: doesn't have to be dark as in evil, but some kind of break from the sunshiny/cinnamon roll/upstanding hero they're generally made out to be. The character that's seen as unflappably polite and kind, but has deep wells of anger or an instinct for absolutely vicious cutting words, or a destructive side that they only let out when truly pressed. And the other half of the ship is one of the only people who really see that.
Let's be fucked up together is pretty much what it says on the tin. Two characters acknowledging that they're both kind of broken, but that their jagged edges fit together in a mutually satisfying way.
One example of darkside hero is Dead Mount Death Plays MC who wants peace but his old community an rage from horrific actions has given him a edge
One scene he was punishing the spirit of a man an his old friend thr Prince comes in an crushes the ghost slowly uh gosh
Basically Squall and Rinoa's story. Two characters have a romance (or one of them loves the other) but they don't end up together, they find love with other people and have children. Years after the children of those characters meet and fall in love.
Two characters who are deeply in love, but cannot be together for reasons outside of their control.
But only one of the two calmly accepts not only their love but also the futility of the situation for what it is, while the other rages against fate/circumstances/themselves, spiralling deeper into a circle of denial and longing.
For some reason, all my stories end up like that sooner or later :-/
canon/adjacent character goes into a modern/adjacent AU and interrogates the situation or vice versa. i don't think this has a formal name that you can search it up by but its so interesting when it does happen
The trope where two people are brought together by their shared best friend, who tries relentlessly to get them to be friends when they just don't see each other more than acquaintances, and then, when they finally become friends, they end up falling for each other and now the best friend has turned into a third wheel and is happy but also not happy about it
Someone in the "real world" gets transported into a fictional world (i.e., Wizarding World, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe). The closest thing I can find is "isekai," but AO3 results are all anime/manga (which is where the word originated).
I don't know if it can help, but many people compare isekai in anime to portal fantasy in western media. Maybe Portal Fantasy or something like that could help you find something similar?
Villain(s) and hero(es) and forced to work together/trust the villain(s), and while the hero(es) is/are insanely suspicious and angry about it, the villain(s) is/are just keeping their delightfully evil persona, except they're now helping the hero(es)? Apparently? It stays up in the air whether the villain(s) is/are actually in the path of reforming or if they'll betray everyone and execute their evil plan they had been concocting all along.
I just love villains being sketchy as fuck while supposedly on the "good" side and heroes hating every second of it but both being forced to trust eachother anyway.
Mine is a bit of a subcategory of the 'lonely heart' trope.
Character A is outwardly very strong and successful, but privately, they are a bit of a mess. Lonely, awkward, cowardly, weird, depressed; you name it. Typically, they lack any close companionship to share their troubles with.
Along comes Character B, who is much more average in terms of how people see them, even a bit of a loser. But! They are a loser with a big heart and lots of compassion.
I love seeing those two Characters mixed together in a very wholesome relationship. "I'll help with your problems." And that goes both ways. Very fluffy and meaningful
basically, a character (Char A) dies/goes missing, and all the people who love them are sad and grieving, but they move on after however many years.
but then, some years after lots of characters have accepted Char A’s death/disappearance, Char A shows back up, the same age as when they left, unaware that a substantial amount of time has passed. To them, it’s like they had a nap, but it’s actually been 5+ years or something.
i love angst, so this speaks to me on both sides of the relationship — Char A has to deal with the fact that everyone they love has changed, while on the opposite side, Char A’s loved ones have to come to terms with the fact that Char A has stayed exactly the same.
bonus points if the kind of person Char A is before and after their death/disappearance is someone that their loved ones used to be, but have since grown out of that way of life since they realised how damaging/bad it was. Then, you have these characters having to deal with Char A’s qualities that they don’t like anymore. This can be good for some inner conflict if the way that these characters remember Char A conflicts with how they actually were before their death/disappearance.
as for examples, I’ve seen a few of these in the HP fandom, specifically when Sirius pops out of the veil after however many years, thinking that the battle of the dep. of mysteries is still going on. Meanwhile, harry’s grown up, gotten married, had kids, became an auror, the whole shebang. It’s full of angst and it’s beautiful.
it is! i just want someone to come up with a name for it on ao3 so i can filter for it. the closest i can get is temp. character death and maybe time-travel, but those are stretches
I'd probably have to say Hero with a dark side and let's be fucked up together, which go rather nicely with one another.
Hero with a dark side: doesn't have to be dark as in evil, but some kind of break from the sunshiny/cinnamon roll/upstanding hero they're generally made out to be. The character that's seen as unflappably polite and kind, but has deep wells of anger or an instinct for absolutely vicious cutting words, or a destructive side that they only let out when truly pressed. And the other half of the ship is one of the only people who really see that.
Let's be fucked up together is pretty much what it says on the tin. Two characters acknowledging that they're both kind of broken, but that their jagged edges fit together in a mutually satisfying way.
For me it is the underdog or underestimated character who time travels and shows how BAMF they are, but they are full of angst that needs to be overcome. Gaining a family in the time they have arrived. I don't know what this says about me, but I reread a select few over and over.
Mini -multiverse. When the writer creates an original character and then has them appear in every one of their stories. Always the same person, same backstory even same position in life but where and how they appear in the story depends on how the main cast behaves throughout the story and how the events of it playout.
Where Character A is a savior/responsible for keeping Character B safe but in a way that means B cannot leave their side without the danger element showing up, and B resents A for this and A is falling in love with B and trying not to let it show... until B starts catching feelings too. Now both A and B are in love with each other and trying to keep it from the other.
Kinda like a beauty and the beast trope but without the curse, or the "curse" could just be anything else that requires both A and B doing plot tasks together, and B doesn't trade their life for someone else's they just aren't equipped to protect themselves from whatever the danger is and A is and can. Eventually B is trained or empowered somehow to be able to fend for themselves (*NOT* overpowered!) But if they stay with A (HEA) or not (whump/HNC ending) is up in the air.
Don't have this exactly off the top of my head but one Manga I know has the MCs lore being that the end of they're second reincarnation they where tortured in lab an once they rampaged towards freedom his classmates an his doppelganger that took his place slay him now he is a vengeful fuking small monster child in life 3
I absolutely ADORE the idea of two evil/toxic/bad characters in a pairing actually being the most wholesome things ever, and it is seriously not represented enough in my fandoms.
Like, yes this guy is a murder and this other guy kidnaps people for ransom but they always follow each others boundaries and they go out to commit crimes together so they can bond <3
I feel like there was to be a name for it and I just don't know it, but the combination of established relationship plus getting together. Like, for poly-ships, when two or more are already a happy couple/trio/... and then they meet the new character and they want them to join their relationship and the new one is insecure about not fitting in but also happy and it's a little bit of angst and hurt/comfort and a lot of fluff.
I really like character A caring so deeply about character B but believing that character B really only tolerates them or could live without them, and then character B finding that out and being horrified that character A could ever think that, because character A is their favorite thing ever, and feeling sick that they did something to ever make character A think that in the first place.
Stargate Sg-1
[Project Armageddon](https://archiveofourown.org/works/316852)
Not Ori plague but TEOTWAWKI
[All that is left](https://archiveofourown.org/works/410097)
Young Clones of Sam & Jack (but the originals show up at the end) This fic requires some context, but reading up about S07 episode Fragile Balance & S09 & S10 baddies The Ori should cover the basics.
[List of Apocafics ](https://forum.gateworld.net/stargate-fandom/fan-fiction/88517-sam-jack-apocafic-fanfic?t=86039)
Curated list of near and Post apocalyptic fics with Sam and Jack as the pairings. Not been updated for a while but still a good list of fics.
For me it’s gotta be sci-fi adventure stories with the doomed type of alien/human romance. Especially when the tragedy is the alien (who lives longer) ends up being the one who’s lost. Like, give me a human who just lost the one person they thought they never would, and who’s now stuck facing something beyond their worst nightmares with the realization that they’re just a fragile human facing whatever got rid of the alien one. 🙏
"Witch and Prince except they're neither of those things and only have the style of such... oh, and also they have blazes inside them and the Prince's one hurt the Witch's this one time we call a divorce"
The two longfics by CmptrWz on Ao3. They are the only long fics I've seen where new kinds of magic/powers keep appearing in a reasonable yet ridiculous way and the protagonists actually share the magic/powers with others as much as is reasonable. Plus I really like the types of magic/powers shown (like shapeshifting and stealth/teleportation) and I wish they appeared more often.
OP: Sound Lovecraftian. Or maybe, more accurately, Derlethian. I like that trope, too.
I like writing...I don't know if it's a trope, but when there's a rarepair that's so rare, but I love them so much, so my entire fic is my thesis statement on why they belong together.
I also love fics where one of the characters is lovecraftian like an eldritch horror/abomination.
Like a lot of the universe/setting is aware of the supernatural but this one character is just constantly changing but like only when you look at them from the corner of your eye. And everyone else is freaked and thinking I love X but why am I hearing wings or a thousand voices at once. And did you see those shadow tentacles?!?!?!
Sadly very few in my fandoms of choice but my faves include:
[horrors unnameable and unaccountable](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19182319)
Eldritch-like Tony Stark
[The Devouring of Hearts](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16176539)
Female Tony Stark this time who is a creepy delight
And if anyone has any recs let me know. I don't mind going in fandom blind ☺️
Hmm, Ill start with I wish many of the great female romance writers, with their vivid descriptions, compelling narrative voice, witty dialogue and emotional intelligence were found in stories with male protagonists.
Closest thing to anything that might resemble a Casanova are characters generally being the reputed Rake, and or love interest. Thats not a criticism as they are obviously not the protagonist.
I know, male writers have to step it up, and just to reiterate this is not criticism against female writers to solve, and yes, some do in fact write romantic male leads.
Ok, I think my bases are covered, lol, but I'm honestly not trying to offend --So, other than mentioning Don Draper from Mad Men, maybe Bond, or saying male version of a femme-fatale which most don't consider Homme Fatale as a thing, I can't think of any particular tag, or trope that would find those type of stories.
Essentially all the romantic tropes that involve seduction and drama, but don't always default with a polyamorous resolution.
It really does seem to be only two types of story catered to the 'male gaze,' as either virgin soulmate, or emotionless harem usually with shallow characters. And a nothingness in-between. For a example, when someone says love triangle the line of thought is of a girl caught in the middle between the handsome guy and the bad bay who both fall for her, putting her in a dilemma of whom she should choose.
And those stories can even end up being sweet. I suppose some love triangle with male protagonist exists, but they are nearly always poly. Anything else, to most is unthinkable.
I guess it's related to unrequited love but not quite? Basically, A confesses their love to B, and B doesn't feel the same. But, they think that they could if given a chance so they start dating anyway and there's a fun imbalance with A being fully in love already and B still in the beginning stages of liking someone. And there's also lots of fun twisted feelings about there being no guarantees and B could come out of this not feeling the same and A is at a serious risk of getting their hearts broken. I've only ever seen one fic with this concept in all my years in the fanfic world and I've finally started writing my own because I am desperate for more of this exact scenario.
Man, I love that trope too. Sadly, I don't see enough of it in any of my fandoms.
Be the change you want to see in the world! Sometimes there's unfortunately no other option but to write it yourself. Next up: Bodyguard AU because those fics are criminally rare as well.
I need this! What's the fic?
It hasn't been posted yet, I'm trying this new thing where I prewrite a few chapters at least instead of immediately posting it, but it's for the 9-1-1 fandom.
OK thanks for the info!
I've seen one fic in my fandom with this premise, + mind-control (situational, not planned) leading to love. And I'm doing my own fic that's heavy on this exact concept. With a "we'll be friends for now" stage after the confession, and B considers the dating thing and then "no, no, I don't need to think about that."
I've done something similar in my fic as well, except the confession sparks a sexuality crisis in B and when he expresses interest in giving dating a try with A, A tells him that he needs him to be sure it's actually what he wants and that he won't wake up in a month realizing that oh, he's not actually into men at all because that would understandably completely break A's heart. So B goes to explore himself a bit by going on dates with a few other guys just to confirm that it's A he really wants, and he's not just choosing him because he's safe and convenient.
In mine, A doesn't confess—still writing it, not sure if the feelings click for A before this or not—until they have "proof" that B is interested in men. B canonically fake-dates their sibling to hide the sibling relationship, because B's a lust-based vampire and A is a wizard. The groups don't get along, but B lets their brother live in their two room apartment pretty much \~1 year after B even learns they have a brother. (B's an orphan. Yes, my canon fantastically gives itself to fanfiction!) So A confesses, B needs to pretend to be into men (or, or maybe only after, risk suspicions of being mind-controlled by their brother). A knows that there's no love involved in the presumed relationship because the lust-vampires are burned by love. And! That there's no monogamy given to B—who's recourse is that they themselves still decide to be. Then! . . . B ends up needing protection from the vampires to save their brother. Oh ho, enter A. Acts of love impart protection. (At this point A and B will actually have done date-like stuff, or more, but nowhere near being official.) After B dismisses this, well, A isn't actually celibate. B, again canonically, pretty much is. They forget that most people aren't and feel hurt. \[Other plot heavy stuff instead of romance. Romance complications. Not sure how they work out in the end other than "commitment," which is one strong route to take to the endgame.\] And yeah, even when B ends up realizing they love A or otherwise have feelings—incidentally giving A protection from vampires would spoil the secret on that feeling, so they don't want to do anything. It's honestly a damn mess that can (and will) cover years of canon. 0\_0 All that to say that I love the sexuality crisis plot, even as outdated as it may be. And love solutions that explore it—like your B character dating other guys. That actually happening in a ship-fic is so rare! If your fic, unlike mine, is done: I'd love a link!
Okay, I'm very intrigued by the fandom you're writing for because all of this sounds right up my alley! In my fic, the confession is prompted by A dying for a few minutes and realizing that if he stayed dead, the only regret in life he'd die with was this secret about how he feels for his best friend. He doesn't expect anything to come from it, even tells B that he doesn't want anything to change - but of course this is fanfic and everything does change. It would have been so easy for A to agree to be B's experiment when he starts having his crisis, but I wanted to choose a different direction and have A be a bit more mature and not so self sacrificing. Him watching B date other people will provide plenty of angst. Unfortunately it's not been posted or finished just yet either, I'm trying to wrap up at least half before I start posting but by some miracle, things are going pretty well so far!
Reading this I automatically thought of a Webtoon canvas called "I like you"
A character ascends to divinity but hates their status as a god and either tries to discourage worship of them or actively denies being a god. A religion forms around them regardless and they have to deal with their followers trying to convince them that they are in fact a god. I've seen like three fics that use this theme. Every other fic I've seen that comes close has the MC either quickly come to terms with being a god and step into the role or has the MC obviously not a god from the narrator's POV and them being mistaken for a god is a source of comedy or drama.
or the one where the pov is convinced that the character-of-interest is a god, and somehow, all of the facts end up lining up that way too. just: excellent [https://archiveofourown.org/works/22102882](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22102882)
This would work really well with the bloodborne fandom considering the ending of the game. I think there’s a fic or two like this if you dig around.
Character who is prophesied or destined to fulfill a great role or defeat a powerful enemy but chooses to reject their destiny, often opting for a more mundane or unconventional path. Would love to write a story with that, but my brain decides to short out at the wrong time :/
I read a fic where the MC spent the whole time with various McGuffins trying to rope her into some sort of prophesized destiny and she's just refusing to have any of it and keeps dodging everything while trying her best to be a normal girl.
I'm pretty sure there's an anime like that. Or there should be.
So like Carry On by Rainbow Rowell? Or not quite?
A-vaguely-platonic-could-be-read-as-romantic relationship. It has so many directions it can go to. In more realistic "everyday love" type of stories, I really like the middle part of the story, in which the main couple aren't quite a couple yet but are forming some sort of friendship. Bonus if there are some well-written friends in the gang.
i understand you. this is also my favorite trope. the fragile more-than-lovers-less-than-friends, especially when there's unfounded possessiveness... everytime i try to look for something like this only thing i can find is a FWB type of thing which is not what i'm looking for. any recommendations?
Sadly it's hard for me to recommend any particular fics. However, I can recommend a series. Komi Can't Communicate is an anime/manga series that in my opinion, gets really well that delicate romantic/platonic relationship thing and has it for a long time, without it becoming frustrating endless "will they, won't they".
This one's a post-canon trope. The big bad is defeated, the adventure is over, and it's time to return to normal life. Except...the skills obtained over the course of said adventure are still there. So is the knowledge and the experience. As a result, the hero's sense of what's normal and what isn't is...somewhat skewed. My go-to example for this is Harry Potter. Imagine a fic about him and Ron in the Auror corps, dealing with the absolute worst that wizarding society has to offer...but after seven-plus years of dealing with Voldemort and Voldemort-adjacent bullshit, they're not even phased. Gruesome murder scene? No worse than Nagini wearing Bathilda Bagshot's body like a meat puppet. Kidnapped and held ransom as a threat to stop an investigation? Still beats being tied to a gravestone. Chaotic multi-man spell fight? It's got nothing on the Department of Mysteries. And so on and so forth. No one knows how to react to this, other than some vague undefined mixture of awe, horror, and did-they-really-just-do-that? tl;dr main character levels up _hard_ during the adventure and returns to the starting area once it's over. hilarity ensues.
If you have any recommendations of your example I would love to read them!
I think this is my favorite trope. I’m trying to write one with a plot twist villain
Two people almost died and getting it on afterwards
Okay this one probably *does* have a name, I just don't know it. It's a subniche of the Reluctant Hero, where the poor defenseless tagalong-to-be wants to join the hero, and the hero says no I have other problems, and gets like five, six steps away before sighing, changing their mind, and saying something like "eh, you coming or what?" Not the entire story that follows, *just that one scene.* I love it, and it gets me every time.
so like shrek and donkey lmao
A character is duplicated in a way that Both versions that result have equal claim to being Real. (See the Twinning on Farscape for a canon example) unlike stuff like we just don't know who is the clone it adds an extra layer of angst cause both versions have a legitimate claim to being the original and thus seeing how they diverge and interact with the rest of the cast and each other has that exta oomph that isn't present even when dealing with a we don't know whose real situation cause both one still is but in this situation both don't know how to deal with it.
The Doctor Who two-parter episodes The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People dealt with this. It's one of my favourite Who two-parters, and explores the moral question about what clone lives are worth, and whether they are worth caring about. I think you'd really like it.
I'm familiar with it but it's not exactly what I meant. I don't want cloning or avatars becoming real with a copy of the memoreis. I mean a situation where the two duplicates both are equally real and treated as such by the Narrative I mean the transporter Clones on star trek are similar but the narrative always favors the one that the Audience has been following.
Doctor Who is so good at this.
Time travel where we are going to use this opportunity to change some shit, not the usual time travel where we can’t change anything or then we won’t be born BS, or the time travel where fate won’t let us change anything (or its cousin, where we were always meant to go back in time and change things, therefore nothing actually changed.)
There's a lot of Manga which are I traveled back to elementary school to not fail at interacting with person A or person B an thus changing they're own youth entirely
Yeah, it’s not unusual in original fic, but I find it happens pretty rarely in fanfic. That’s probably because if the MC actually changes things significantly, the fic can no longer adhere to the “stations of canon”, and most fic writers aren’t down to make up significant portions of a new plot.
In this case that's odd when other fics literally restructure pretty much everything for example having two characters suddenly Lesbien ls taking care of the child whos technically the villian and the dead backstory tragic kid lol
Could just be the pairings and fandoms I read then, because a lot of them don’t want to change too much of the original story.
I find it refreshing when time travel can actually change stuff (like it did in Erased for example)
Mine is often found in Hurt/Comfort fics: Character A goes through a Major Traumatic Event, but does everything possible to hide how hurt they are from Character B (usually a romantic interest or friend). Character A is barely holding it together and white knuckling through the pain, but then they encounter the Final Straw and just lose it. Character B comforts them and helps them recover, but might feel a little betrayed that Character A didn’t initially trust them. I call it Trauma Reveal, but I don’t know if there’s an actual name for this trope.
I'd probably have to say Hero with a dark side and let's be fucked up together, which go rather nicely with one another. Hero with a dark side: doesn't have to be dark as in evil, but some kind of break from the sunshiny/cinnamon roll/upstanding hero they're generally made out to be. The character that's seen as unflappably polite and kind, but has deep wells of anger or an instinct for absolutely vicious cutting words, or a destructive side that they only let out when truly pressed. And the other half of the ship is one of the only people who really see that. Let's be fucked up together is pretty much what it says on the tin. Two characters acknowledging that they're both kind of broken, but that their jagged edges fit together in a mutually satisfying way.
One example of darkside hero is Dead Mount Death Plays MC who wants peace but his old community an rage from horrific actions has given him a edge One scene he was punishing the spirit of a man an his old friend thr Prince comes in an crushes the ghost slowly uh gosh
Basically Squall and Rinoa's story. Two characters have a romance (or one of them loves the other) but they don't end up together, they find love with other people and have children. Years after the children of those characters meet and fall in love.
Two characters who are deeply in love, but cannot be together for reasons outside of their control. But only one of the two calmly accepts not only their love but also the futility of the situation for what it is, while the other rages against fate/circumstances/themselves, spiralling deeper into a circle of denial and longing. For some reason, all my stories end up like that sooner or later :-/
There has GOT to be a more succinct way to say "Ai being introduced to the real world and everything that comes with it."
canon/adjacent character goes into a modern/adjacent AU and interrogates the situation or vice versa. i don't think this has a formal name that you can search it up by but its so interesting when it does happen
OPs example reminds me of road trip shows with the theme of the world bullies us but there's somewhere for us hehe
When the protagonist and antagonist are genuinely, completely, "I can't stand your existence."
The trope where two people are brought together by their shared best friend, who tries relentlessly to get them to be friends when they just don't see each other more than acquaintances, and then, when they finally become friends, they end up falling for each other and now the best friend has turned into a third wheel and is happy but also not happy about it
Isn't your trope anti nihilism OP?
Never heard of it personally, but it does seem to fit well enough with what I have in mind. Thanks!
Someone in the "real world" gets transported into a fictional world (i.e., Wizarding World, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe). The closest thing I can find is "isekai," but AO3 results are all anime/manga (which is where the word originated).
I don't know if it can help, but many people compare isekai in anime to portal fantasy in western media. Maybe Portal Fantasy or something like that could help you find something similar?
Dose oc-mc count
Villain(s) and hero(es) and forced to work together/trust the villain(s), and while the hero(es) is/are insanely suspicious and angry about it, the villain(s) is/are just keeping their delightfully evil persona, except they're now helping the hero(es)? Apparently? It stays up in the air whether the villain(s) is/are actually in the path of reforming or if they'll betray everyone and execute their evil plan they had been concocting all along. I just love villains being sketchy as fuck while supposedly on the "good" side and heroes hating every second of it but both being forced to trust eachother anyway.
Mine is a bit of a subcategory of the 'lonely heart' trope. Character A is outwardly very strong and successful, but privately, they are a bit of a mess. Lonely, awkward, cowardly, weird, depressed; you name it. Typically, they lack any close companionship to share their troubles with. Along comes Character B, who is much more average in terms of how people see them, even a bit of a loser. But! They are a loser with a big heart and lots of compassion. I love seeing those two Characters mixed together in a very wholesome relationship. "I'll help with your problems." And that goes both ways. Very fluffy and meaningful
basically, a character (Char A) dies/goes missing, and all the people who love them are sad and grieving, but they move on after however many years. but then, some years after lots of characters have accepted Char A’s death/disappearance, Char A shows back up, the same age as when they left, unaware that a substantial amount of time has passed. To them, it’s like they had a nap, but it’s actually been 5+ years or something. i love angst, so this speaks to me on both sides of the relationship — Char A has to deal with the fact that everyone they love has changed, while on the opposite side, Char A’s loved ones have to come to terms with the fact that Char A has stayed exactly the same. bonus points if the kind of person Char A is before and after their death/disappearance is someone that their loved ones used to be, but have since grown out of that way of life since they realised how damaging/bad it was. Then, you have these characters having to deal with Char A’s qualities that they don’t like anymore. This can be good for some inner conflict if the way that these characters remember Char A conflicts with how they actually were before their death/disappearance. as for examples, I’ve seen a few of these in the HP fandom, specifically when Sirius pops out of the veil after however many years, thinking that the battle of the dep. of mysteries is still going on. Meanwhile, harry’s grown up, gotten married, had kids, became an auror, the whole shebang. It’s full of angst and it’s beautiful.
Uh this is a really good one honestly
it is! i just want someone to come up with a name for it on ao3 so i can filter for it. the closest i can get is temp. character death and maybe time-travel, but those are stretches
I'd probably have to say Hero with a dark side and let's be fucked up together, which go rather nicely with one another. Hero with a dark side: doesn't have to be dark as in evil, but some kind of break from the sunshiny/cinnamon roll/upstanding hero they're generally made out to be. The character that's seen as unflappably polite and kind, but has deep wells of anger or an instinct for absolutely vicious cutting words, or a destructive side that they only let out when truly pressed. And the other half of the ship is one of the only people who really see that. Let's be fucked up together is pretty much what it says on the tin. Two characters acknowledging that they're both kind of broken, but that their jagged edges fit together in a mutually satisfying way.
For me it is the underdog or underestimated character who time travels and shows how BAMF they are, but they are full of angst that needs to be overcome. Gaining a family in the time they have arrived. I don't know what this says about me, but I reread a select few over and over.
Mini -multiverse. When the writer creates an original character and then has them appear in every one of their stories. Always the same person, same backstory even same position in life but where and how they appear in the story depends on how the main cast behaves throughout the story and how the events of it playout.
Where Character A is a savior/responsible for keeping Character B safe but in a way that means B cannot leave their side without the danger element showing up, and B resents A for this and A is falling in love with B and trying not to let it show... until B starts catching feelings too. Now both A and B are in love with each other and trying to keep it from the other. Kinda like a beauty and the beast trope but without the curse, or the "curse" could just be anything else that requires both A and B doing plot tasks together, and B doesn't trade their life for someone else's they just aren't equipped to protect themselves from whatever the danger is and A is and can. Eventually B is trained or empowered somehow to be able to fend for themselves (*NOT* overpowered!) But if they stay with A (HEA) or not (whump/HNC ending) is up in the air.
Misunderstanding of the hero that makes them the villain and their old friends are now their enemies.
Don't have this exactly off the top of my head but one Manga I know has the MCs lore being that the end of they're second reincarnation they where tortured in lab an once they rampaged towards freedom his classmates an his doppelganger that took his place slay him now he is a vengeful fuking small monster child in life 3
I absolutely ADORE the idea of two evil/toxic/bad characters in a pairing actually being the most wholesome things ever, and it is seriously not represented enough in my fandoms. Like, yes this guy is a murder and this other guy kidnaps people for ransom but they always follow each others boundaries and they go out to commit crimes together so they can bond <3
I feel like there was to be a name for it and I just don't know it, but the combination of established relationship plus getting together. Like, for poly-ships, when two or more are already a happy couple/trio/... and then they meet the new character and they want them to join their relationship and the new one is insecure about not fitting in but also happy and it's a little bit of angst and hurt/comfort and a lot of fluff.
I really like character A caring so deeply about character B but believing that character B really only tolerates them or could live without them, and then character B finding that out and being horrified that character A could ever think that, because character A is their favorite thing ever, and feeling sick that they did something to ever make character A think that in the first place.
To an extent am literally watching an anime where this is the MC to the 4 girls lol
Some of my fave sg1 stories are OP's trope. Especially Post Ori plague and Sam & Jack get together and occasionally they find the others.
Sg1?
Stargate Sg-1 [Project Armageddon](https://archiveofourown.org/works/316852) Not Ori plague but TEOTWAWKI [All that is left](https://archiveofourown.org/works/410097) Young Clones of Sam & Jack (but the originals show up at the end) This fic requires some context, but reading up about S07 episode Fragile Balance & S09 & S10 baddies The Ori should cover the basics. [List of Apocafics ](https://forum.gateworld.net/stargate-fandom/fan-fiction/88517-sam-jack-apocafic-fanfic?t=86039) Curated list of near and Post apocalyptic fics with Sam and Jack as the pairings. Not been updated for a while but still a good list of fics.
For me it’s gotta be sci-fi adventure stories with the doomed type of alien/human romance. Especially when the tragedy is the alien (who lives longer) ends up being the one who’s lost. Like, give me a human who just lost the one person they thought they never would, and who’s now stuck facing something beyond their worst nightmares with the realization that they’re just a fragile human facing whatever got rid of the alien one. 🙏
"Witch and Prince except they're neither of those things and only have the style of such... oh, and also they have blazes inside them and the Prince's one hurt the Witch's this one time we call a divorce"
The two longfics by CmptrWz on Ao3. They are the only long fics I've seen where new kinds of magic/powers keep appearing in a reasonable yet ridiculous way and the protagonists actually share the magic/powers with others as much as is reasonable. Plus I really like the types of magic/powers shown (like shapeshifting and stealth/teleportation) and I wish they appeared more often.
OP: Sound Lovecraftian. Or maybe, more accurately, Derlethian. I like that trope, too. I like writing...I don't know if it's a trope, but when there's a rarepair that's so rare, but I love them so much, so my entire fic is my thesis statement on why they belong together.
I also love fics where one of the characters is lovecraftian like an eldritch horror/abomination. Like a lot of the universe/setting is aware of the supernatural but this one character is just constantly changing but like only when you look at them from the corner of your eye. And everyone else is freaked and thinking I love X but why am I hearing wings or a thousand voices at once. And did you see those shadow tentacles?!?!?! Sadly very few in my fandoms of choice but my faves include: [horrors unnameable and unaccountable](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19182319) Eldritch-like Tony Stark [The Devouring of Hearts](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16176539) Female Tony Stark this time who is a creepy delight And if anyone has any recs let me know. I don't mind going in fandom blind ☺️
Hmm, Ill start with I wish many of the great female romance writers, with their vivid descriptions, compelling narrative voice, witty dialogue and emotional intelligence were found in stories with male protagonists. Closest thing to anything that might resemble a Casanova are characters generally being the reputed Rake, and or love interest. Thats not a criticism as they are obviously not the protagonist. I know, male writers have to step it up, and just to reiterate this is not criticism against female writers to solve, and yes, some do in fact write romantic male leads. Ok, I think my bases are covered, lol, but I'm honestly not trying to offend --So, other than mentioning Don Draper from Mad Men, maybe Bond, or saying male version of a femme-fatale which most don't consider Homme Fatale as a thing, I can't think of any particular tag, or trope that would find those type of stories. Essentially all the romantic tropes that involve seduction and drama, but don't always default with a polyamorous resolution. It really does seem to be only two types of story catered to the 'male gaze,' as either virgin soulmate, or emotionless harem usually with shallow characters. And a nothingness in-between. For a example, when someone says love triangle the line of thought is of a girl caught in the middle between the handsome guy and the bad bay who both fall for her, putting her in a dilemma of whom she should choose. And those stories can even end up being sweet. I suppose some love triangle with male protagonist exists, but they are nearly always poly. Anything else, to most is unthinkable.