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royal_musings2013-05-01 08:41 am
freebaseforger) wrote in royal_musings2013-05-01 08:41 am
[MEME] The Trope Meme (open to all!)
[Shamelessly stolen from Bakerstreet's very own Trope Meme.]
The Trope Meme
Behind the cut is a list of common fanfiction and role playing tropes. What’s a trope? If we’re getting technical a literary trope is the use of figurative language. But in the case of this meme a trope is commonly recurring literary device or motif, a cliché. There’s a mix of fluffy, sexy, angsty and gen prompts in the list. Here’s how to play:
- Post with Your Character and any preferences from my character list (+specification, hotheaddick, deceptiveparadox and others I might not have listed yet).
- List any preferences you have. Or list any tropes you absolutely refuse to play.
- Lets play out the tropes to our heart’s content!
Tropes
Accidental Baby Acquisition: One of the characters in your story, by means other than pregnancy or adoption, acquires a child. This could be because his or her parent was killed, or someone leaves the child on the doorstep, or any other plotline. The main idea is that the main characters have to band together to raise the child, even if it is only temporary.
Accidental Marriage: Two of the main characters, who may or may not already be in a romantic relationship, wake up and find that they are married. Often set in Las Vegas, and often there are mind-altering substances (alcohol, drugs) involved. The marriage may or may not be annulled by the end of the story.
Alpha/Beta/Omega: Alpha/Beta/Omega or Alpha/Omega (occasionally Alpha/Beta) is a kink trope where some or all people have defined biological roles based on a hierarchical system, with the terms originating from animal behaviour research. There may be werewolf, knotting, or other animalistic elements involved, or the characters may be otherwise purely human.
Amnesia: Giving a character amnesia is a popular fanfiction story trope. The amnesia is usually temporary with the cure and the aftermath as the climax of the story, but sometimes it is permanent.
Animal Transformation: Animal transformation is a fanfic trope in which one or more characters are transformed into an animal, or else an Alternate Universe story wherein the characters are cast as animals.
Bodyswap: Bodyswap is a plot device or story trope involving two (or more) characters switching their physical bodies by magical, scientific, mystical or unspecified means. The device is used in canon and fanfiction alike, and fanfic may expand upon canonical instances of bodyswap.
Celebratory Kiss: Two (or more) of the main characters kiss at the climax of some event. Often, the action is somewhat spontaneous, and the characters are not in a romantic relationship at the time. The kiss is often the impetuous for the characters to end up together.
Cross-dressing: Crossdressing refers to characters dressing as members of the "opposite" sex or gender. It is used comedically, as a plot device and as a kink, both sexualized and not, in fanworks and in canon.
Curtainfic/Domestic: Curtainfic is a term used to describe fan fiction that focuses on ordinary domestic situations (such as the characters in a romantic pairing shopping for curtains).
Day at the Beach: The main characters spend a day at the beach. This could be a vacation for one or two of them, or it could be a team-building exercise planned by a boss or administrator. Sometimes it is a planned excursion, other times, the characters decide to stay to soak up the sun after a mission or assignment that takes them to the beach.
De-aged: De-Aging is a story trope where adult characters are turned back into children or younger adults. The transformation can be fully physical and mental. It can also be a physical transformation that leaves the adult mind in a younger body; or the opposite, where the mind is reverted to a child-like state, but the body remains as is.
Fake Relationship: Pretend Couple is a trope found in all genres of fanworks. This trope includes all sorts of pretenses; marriages of convenience, undercover identities, investigations, financial schemes, immigration schemes, high school reunion dates, wedding dates, making someone jealous, and many others.
Fuck or Die: Fuck or Die is a fanfiction trope in which the author puts two or more characters into a situation that forces intimacy between them. Like many tropes it can be and often is combined with others such as sex pollen or Aliens Made Them Do It and Virginity Sacrifice. It can result in dub-con or non-con fanworks.
Handcuffed/Bound Together: Bound Together is a bonding trope in which two characters are chained together, psychically or physically, either through magical or technological means. The usual result (in ship fic) of all this one-on-one "bonding" time is that the characters either fall in love or realize they were in love all along.
Huddled for Warmth: Huddling for warmth or blanket fic is a trope that is generally found in both het and slash pairing-oriented fanfiction, and occasionally in some gen Hurt/Comfort. It is mainly used in order to maneuver two characters into a First Time. The advantages of putting your OTP into a "huddling for warmth" scenario are legion. The two characters are trapped in one place with no distractions, alone, and so their attention is focused entirely on each other. The tone of the story can range from fluffy to angsty.
In Vino Veritas: In Vino Veritas, or Confessions Under The Influence, is a trope in fic (which also occurs in canon), where under the influence of drink, drugs, truth serum, truth spell or the like, one character confesses to lust or love for another character. The character whom the confession is about is usually also present in the scene/being confessed to and is often less or not under the influence. A common trope is for the confessing character to forget their confession and the other character having to deal with this new knowledge without giving themselves away.
Kidfic: Kidfic is a sub-genre of fanfic that features children in some way. This may be as children of canon characters (whether they are a part of canon or original characters), sometimes known as next generation fic, the characters themselves as children, or the characters having been de-aged.
Kiss to Save the Day: For some reason, two (or more) of the main characters must kiss to save the day or one of their friends. The impetus could be a villain, or aliens, or some sort of illness to which the only cure is a kiss.
Mind Control: Mind control is a very popular trope in fanworks (and many canons).
In slash or ship fic that uses the trope, one part of the pairing is usually under the mental control of the other -- or is unable to resist orders from anyone, such as in Ella Enchanted AUs or fusions or "obedience curse" fics -- and the other part of the pairing figures this out and either helps the mindcontrolled character resist the urge to obey or takes advantage of them.
Poker/Strip Poker: The main characters play a card game, often poker, against one another. Sometimes it starts out at a friendly game, and eventually descends into a more competitive game of strip poker, sometimes it was originally about the nakedness. Often, mind-altering substances (alcohol and/or drugs) are involved.
Presumed Dead: A fanfiction trope in which a character appears to be dead, only to return later, alive and well. Comparable to a deathfic, only non-permanent, "presumed dead" stories often dwell on the emotional hurt/comfort, and sometimes the physical as well. Sometimes these are written as fix-it fics, resurrecting a character who dies in canon. In more reality-based fandoms, the character's death usually has been faked for various reasons, or otherwise mistaken; in fantasy and scifi fandoms sometimes the dead characters actually have expired, and are resurrected with magic or technology.
Rivals to Lovers: Two characters who were originally enemies or rivals fall in love. Their rivalry could have always been a cover for more tender feelings, or they could have been genuine enemies in which forced proximity showed them a better/softer side. There may or may not be a happy ending.
Road Trip: The characters must go on a long-distance trip in close proximity. There are any number of reasons for this, including a quest, mechanical failure of their original transport, or one of the characters (e.g. Tony Stark) thinks it will be a "good idea" or "fun." This then results in shenanigans or sex or both.
Secret Child: One of the characters is secretly a parent. They may or may not have custody of the child, especially if they have a dangerous job, and they may not have known about the child previous to the story. This includes stories where Character X is actually Character Y's son or daughter. Alternately, one of the characters may get pregnant and then disappear, thinking that her partner would not want the child, or fearful that some agency will kidnap the child once it's born. This trope is especially popular with brother/sister incest pairings, where it is called 'secret incest baby' (or sekrit incest baby).
Secret Relationship: Didn't know they were dating is a trope that shows up in ship-focused fanfiction. Often both parties are oblivious to the fact that everyone around them thinks they've been dating for some time. In other fics it may be that just one party is oblivious and the other party thinks they have been dating (just not putting out yet). In angstier versions of the trope, one party may be pining for the other, especially if they're having what one party (or both) thinks or pretends is casual, emotionally detached sex while the other party (or both) is secretly in love.
Sex Pollen: Sex Pollen is a common fanfiction trope used to bring two characters together in a sexual encounter. It involves one or several characters becoming infected with a pollen of some alien or magical plant, or they might be influenced in some other way (magic, alien technology, mind control, etc.) that causes them to lose inhibitions and/or revs up libido, usually resulting in non-con sex, which may lead to dramatic guilt and misunderstandings, or a resolution of UST.
Soul Bonding: In fanfiction and sometimes canon, a soulbond is a mystic or psychic bond between (usually) two people, who feel drawn to become devoted friends, or (more often) lovers. The bond may be something that brings them together, or something that results from their being together. It is usually portrayed as unbreakable and irresistible, a force that unites two people in a unique way. A soulbond can persist after the death of one or both partners, and through numerous reincarnations. It can be very similar to soulmates, which are two (or more) people who are always meant to be together.
Telepathy: A story in which one (or more) of the characters develops the ability to read thoughts. This ability could be limited to their love interest, or it could be more general. Mindmeld is a more specific form, in which both characters can read one another's thoughts. Depending on the needs of the story, it could require a physical link, and it could be temporary. It is named after the Vulcan Mind Meld in the Star Trek universe.
Truth or Dare: The main characters, often a whole team, play a game of truth or dare, or another game in which secrets are revealed, like "Never have I ever." Usually, mind altering substances (alcohol and/or drugs) are involved, and the situation is used to get two characters to admit romantic or sexual feelings for one another.
Wingfic: Wingfic is a fanfiction genre in which one or more human characters sprouts a pair of wings. Fanfic written for a fandom in which the character canonically has wings (e.g. Good Omens) is usually not considered wingfic. However, as a response to a surge of wingfic, a Good Omens writer came up with wingless fic, wherein canonically winged characters suddenly and inexplicably lose them. Wingfic can be whimsical, but it can also be much darker in tone.
[List taken from Trope Bingo, many definitions come from there as well.]
The Trope Meme
Behind the cut is a list of common fanfiction and role playing tropes. What’s a trope? If we’re getting technical a literary trope is the use of figurative language. But in the case of this meme a trope is commonly recurring literary device or motif, a cliché. There’s a mix of fluffy, sexy, angsty and gen prompts in the list. Here’s how to play:
- Post with Your Character and any preferences from my character list (+
specification, hotheaddick, deceptiveparadox and others I might not have listed yet).- List any preferences you have. Or list any tropes you absolutely refuse to play.
- Lets play out the tropes to our heart’s content!
Tropes
Accidental Baby Acquisition: One of the characters in your story, by means other than pregnancy or adoption, acquires a child. This could be because his or her parent was killed, or someone leaves the child on the doorstep, or any other plotline. The main idea is that the main characters have to band together to raise the child, even if it is only temporary.
Accidental Marriage: Two of the main characters, who may or may not already be in a romantic relationship, wake up and find that they are married. Often set in Las Vegas, and often there are mind-altering substances (alcohol, drugs) involved. The marriage may or may not be annulled by the end of the story.
Alpha/Beta/Omega: Alpha/Beta/Omega or Alpha/Omega (occasionally Alpha/Beta) is a kink trope where some or all people have defined biological roles based on a hierarchical system, with the terms originating from animal behaviour research. There may be werewolf, knotting, or other animalistic elements involved, or the characters may be otherwise purely human.
Amnesia: Giving a character amnesia is a popular fanfiction story trope. The amnesia is usually temporary with the cure and the aftermath as the climax of the story, but sometimes it is permanent.
Animal Transformation: Animal transformation is a fanfic trope in which one or more characters are transformed into an animal, or else an Alternate Universe story wherein the characters are cast as animals.
Bodyswap: Bodyswap is a plot device or story trope involving two (or more) characters switching their physical bodies by magical, scientific, mystical or unspecified means. The device is used in canon and fanfiction alike, and fanfic may expand upon canonical instances of bodyswap.
Celebratory Kiss: Two (or more) of the main characters kiss at the climax of some event. Often, the action is somewhat spontaneous, and the characters are not in a romantic relationship at the time. The kiss is often the impetuous for the characters to end up together.
Cross-dressing: Crossdressing refers to characters dressing as members of the "opposite" sex or gender. It is used comedically, as a plot device and as a kink, both sexualized and not, in fanworks and in canon.
Curtainfic/Domestic: Curtainfic is a term used to describe fan fiction that focuses on ordinary domestic situations (such as the characters in a romantic pairing shopping for curtains).
Day at the Beach: The main characters spend a day at the beach. This could be a vacation for one or two of them, or it could be a team-building exercise planned by a boss or administrator. Sometimes it is a planned excursion, other times, the characters decide to stay to soak up the sun after a mission or assignment that takes them to the beach.
De-aged: De-Aging is a story trope where adult characters are turned back into children or younger adults. The transformation can be fully physical and mental. It can also be a physical transformation that leaves the adult mind in a younger body; or the opposite, where the mind is reverted to a child-like state, but the body remains as is.
Fake Relationship: Pretend Couple is a trope found in all genres of fanworks. This trope includes all sorts of pretenses; marriages of convenience, undercover identities, investigations, financial schemes, immigration schemes, high school reunion dates, wedding dates, making someone jealous, and many others.
Fuck or Die: Fuck or Die is a fanfiction trope in which the author puts two or more characters into a situation that forces intimacy between them. Like many tropes it can be and often is combined with others such as sex pollen or Aliens Made Them Do It and Virginity Sacrifice. It can result in dub-con or non-con fanworks.
Handcuffed/Bound Together: Bound Together is a bonding trope in which two characters are chained together, psychically or physically, either through magical or technological means. The usual result (in ship fic) of all this one-on-one "bonding" time is that the characters either fall in love or realize they were in love all along.
Huddled for Warmth: Huddling for warmth or blanket fic is a trope that is generally found in both het and slash pairing-oriented fanfiction, and occasionally in some gen Hurt/Comfort. It is mainly used in order to maneuver two characters into a First Time. The advantages of putting your OTP into a "huddling for warmth" scenario are legion. The two characters are trapped in one place with no distractions, alone, and so their attention is focused entirely on each other. The tone of the story can range from fluffy to angsty.
In Vino Veritas: In Vino Veritas, or Confessions Under The Influence, is a trope in fic (which also occurs in canon), where under the influence of drink, drugs, truth serum, truth spell or the like, one character confesses to lust or love for another character. The character whom the confession is about is usually also present in the scene/being confessed to and is often less or not under the influence. A common trope is for the confessing character to forget their confession and the other character having to deal with this new knowledge without giving themselves away.
Kidfic: Kidfic is a sub-genre of fanfic that features children in some way. This may be as children of canon characters (whether they are a part of canon or original characters), sometimes known as next generation fic, the characters themselves as children, or the characters having been de-aged.
Kiss to Save the Day: For some reason, two (or more) of the main characters must kiss to save the day or one of their friends. The impetus could be a villain, or aliens, or some sort of illness to which the only cure is a kiss.
Mind Control: Mind control is a very popular trope in fanworks (and many canons).
In slash or ship fic that uses the trope, one part of the pairing is usually under the mental control of the other -- or is unable to resist orders from anyone, such as in Ella Enchanted AUs or fusions or "obedience curse" fics -- and the other part of the pairing figures this out and either helps the mindcontrolled character resist the urge to obey or takes advantage of them.
Poker/Strip Poker: The main characters play a card game, often poker, against one another. Sometimes it starts out at a friendly game, and eventually descends into a more competitive game of strip poker, sometimes it was originally about the nakedness. Often, mind-altering substances (alcohol and/or drugs) are involved.
Presumed Dead: A fanfiction trope in which a character appears to be dead, only to return later, alive and well. Comparable to a deathfic, only non-permanent, "presumed dead" stories often dwell on the emotional hurt/comfort, and sometimes the physical as well. Sometimes these are written as fix-it fics, resurrecting a character who dies in canon. In more reality-based fandoms, the character's death usually has been faked for various reasons, or otherwise mistaken; in fantasy and scifi fandoms sometimes the dead characters actually have expired, and are resurrected with magic or technology.
Rivals to Lovers: Two characters who were originally enemies or rivals fall in love. Their rivalry could have always been a cover for more tender feelings, or they could have been genuine enemies in which forced proximity showed them a better/softer side. There may or may not be a happy ending.
Road Trip: The characters must go on a long-distance trip in close proximity. There are any number of reasons for this, including a quest, mechanical failure of their original transport, or one of the characters (e.g. Tony Stark) thinks it will be a "good idea" or "fun." This then results in shenanigans or sex or both.
Secret Child: One of the characters is secretly a parent. They may or may not have custody of the child, especially if they have a dangerous job, and they may not have known about the child previous to the story. This includes stories where Character X is actually Character Y's son or daughter. Alternately, one of the characters may get pregnant and then disappear, thinking that her partner would not want the child, or fearful that some agency will kidnap the child once it's born. This trope is especially popular with brother/sister incest pairings, where it is called 'secret incest baby' (or sekrit incest baby).
Secret Relationship: Didn't know they were dating is a trope that shows up in ship-focused fanfiction. Often both parties are oblivious to the fact that everyone around them thinks they've been dating for some time. In other fics it may be that just one party is oblivious and the other party thinks they have been dating (just not putting out yet). In angstier versions of the trope, one party may be pining for the other, especially if they're having what one party (or both) thinks or pretends is casual, emotionally detached sex while the other party (or both) is secretly in love.
Sex Pollen: Sex Pollen is a common fanfiction trope used to bring two characters together in a sexual encounter. It involves one or several characters becoming infected with a pollen of some alien or magical plant, or they might be influenced in some other way (magic, alien technology, mind control, etc.) that causes them to lose inhibitions and/or revs up libido, usually resulting in non-con sex, which may lead to dramatic guilt and misunderstandings, or a resolution of UST.
Soul Bonding: In fanfiction and sometimes canon, a soulbond is a mystic or psychic bond between (usually) two people, who feel drawn to become devoted friends, or (more often) lovers. The bond may be something that brings them together, or something that results from their being together. It is usually portrayed as unbreakable and irresistible, a force that unites two people in a unique way. A soulbond can persist after the death of one or both partners, and through numerous reincarnations. It can be very similar to soulmates, which are two (or more) people who are always meant to be together.
Telepathy: A story in which one (or more) of the characters develops the ability to read thoughts. This ability could be limited to their love interest, or it could be more general. Mindmeld is a more specific form, in which both characters can read one another's thoughts. Depending on the needs of the story, it could require a physical link, and it could be temporary. It is named after the Vulcan Mind Meld in the Star Trek universe.
Truth or Dare: The main characters, often a whole team, play a game of truth or dare, or another game in which secrets are revealed, like "Never have I ever." Usually, mind altering substances (alcohol and/or drugs) are involved, and the situation is used to get two characters to admit romantic or sexual feelings for one another.
Wingfic: Wingfic is a fanfiction genre in which one or more human characters sprouts a pair of wings. Fanfic written for a fandom in which the character canonically has wings (e.g. Good Omens) is usually not considered wingfic. However, as a response to a surge of wingfic, a Good Omens writer came up with wingless fic, wherein canonically winged characters suddenly and inexplicably lose them. Wingfic can be whimsical, but it can also be much darker in tone.
[List taken from Trope Bingo, many definitions come from there as well.]