:heart_01: Best ROMANCE Tropes :heart_01:

[joannekwan]

Beast and beauty, except I'd rather the 'beauty' not be a total bombshell because what about us regular folks who are into monsters? : >

[MaeRose]

I LOVE:

• Rivals/enemies to lovers
• Couples with good banter and chemistry (can you call that a trope?)
• Opposites attract.
• I have been reading quite a few manhwas with the 'fake dating' trope and I'm starting to like that too.

I need to explore more tropes this is all I can think of right now

[cherrystark]

I really the "stuck together" one. If done well, it's really cute. The romantic part of me would like to believe in the idea of soulmates but the other part of me isn't sure.

[cherrystark]

I'm not sure if it's a trope or not but I really like it when a couple is established where neither party expects the other to change, they end up just adapting and growing together. One of my ships, she is "crazy". She didn't have the best childhood so she doesn't understand a lot of social norms. People assume he is just "brute" strength. She relies on him to protect her and talk about the things she doesn't understand. He trusts her to have his back. Instead of teasing her about the things she can't control, he just learned how to talk to her in a way she understands. They still tease each other but it's from a place of love rather than mocking.

[WillowTree]

I think I change up my favorite tropes a bit every time I answer this question lol. It's just so hard to keep it narrowed down!

Some of my for sure favorites - May-December, Enemies to lovers, twisted power dynamics, fake dating, marriage of convenience

[Namiar]

May-December

what is this? (I feel dumb now, yes)

[WillowTree]

A large age gap basically

[Kelheor]

Yeah, I am a bit torn about that one too, but I guess it's just easier for me to accept it in fiction, it's just a cute concept! Especially if the soulmates do not fit each other in this particular moment, so they still need to actually create this relationship from nothing, not immediately fell in love and be a perfect couple

[cherrystark]

I want to play around with the idea of "platonic soulmates" like a character was meant to meet their best friend. I like what one story did. The MC was already happily married to her husband when she meets this handsome, married actor. Instead of him becoming a rival to her affection, they were just happy being best friends. They jokingly called each other "their livers" instead of lovers because they were necessary for life functions. They did end up getting married 20+ years later but the author worked the timing right so the ending was sweet and earned instead of making it super dramatic.

[WillowTree]

I read a fanfiction once where one character was convinced his soulmate was a romantic bond but the other only saw him platonically. He ended up with another character who had a platonic bond with their soulmate. It was one of my favorite fics because I hate when friendships are considered as less important than romantic relationships!

[Namiar]

I want to play around with the idea of "platonic soulmates"

I've read a couple very well done, but unfortunately can't link bc one is going to be trad published and one is... elsewhere. But yeah, I'm a sucker for this too!

[cherrystark]

Right!? Even the best friend duos that are often played as childish, they are often way more supportive and loyal than their romantic partners are. What I liked most about the fic I read was that both MCs spouses were completely supportive of their friendship. The famous actor and his wife became the aunt and uncle to the female MC's kids. The big kick in the butt for her to accept the her bff's proposal was her kids telling her that they've loved and supported each other all the kids' lives, so why not do it as an official couple?

Even if they don't get together romantically, I think households where a bunch of best friends commit to raising children together (Full House) is much better than a child being raised without a loving family.

[Crusoe]

Yes, I totally live for funny/sassy bickering (especially if it's a bit flirty as well...)

[domisotto]

I am worried that not many people put adventure escapade style romances on their lists.

[Crusoe]

Very much agree on opposites attract! It makes for such fun character dynamics! (And I'm totally using it myself haha, the stuck together trope as well)

[Crusoe]

I'll just add onto the opposites attract pile: I super enjoy seeing a popular kid fall for the wallflower and stuff like that.
I also like the trope where the love interests have met each other in the past before, but one or both have forgotten about it.

[Chita]

I love this thread already XD. These are my favorite tropes:
- Opposites attract (both physicaly and personality wise. Give me the height difference, man )
- Reluctance to admit they're in love when they clearly are
- Enemies to lovers
- I don't know if this is a trope but having two characters that don't trust each other slowly doing so and start having tiny intimacy moments without jumping back (like brushing hands, helping with hairdos, etc)
- Patching up after a fight
- Fake daring

(- BONUS: the rest of the cast trying to get the pair hooked up)

[cherrystark]

I don't mind opposites attract but they have to have something else to build the relationship on, like if the class president and the bookworm both secretly love playing WOW and baking gourmet cakes, idk. I read an article about why opposites attract relationships don't work in the long run so I'm wary of those relationships.

[NickRowler]

• Two weirdos who vive together
• Lovers who are also best friends
• When two people love each other but can never be together

[Namiar]

(- BONUS: the rest of the cast trying to get the pair hooked up)

Oh, yes... Exactly