What are the most annoying cliches in romance?

[candiedcotton]

That reminds me, a perfect example of a trope done well is a BL I was directed to recently (someone told me one of my characters reminded them of a character in that story appearance-wise). It's... incredibly graphic, but it's one of THE most popular ones out there right now. The entire thing is full of tropes. Main character is a human, their partner is a big demon dude, main character gets saved frequently by big demon dude, who is also baaasically rich (he's a prince). Main character was basically straight and was molested into liking big D. It sounds terrible but the context is so well done that the tropes don't matter. It has millions of readers.

There's so many tropes it's unreal. But they're done really well and while I don't usually read content that graphic, I binged the whole 150+ chapters in a couple of days.

[yilee9738]

To be honest, it's wholesome to see that.

[yilee9738]

I don't hate tropes actually.

[yilee9738]

150 + chapters!? Damn, you're wild, in a good way, not in a bad way​

[river121693]

A trope is only annoying if it doesn’t make sense to your story.

That said, I usually get annoyed there’s a misunderstanding that can be resolved just by healthy communication. Especially when the character can just explain the misunderstanding in a sentence. It’s forgivable when the characters are young or insecure, but it’s so often used to prolong the drama.

I also think many “toxic and abusive love interest becomes a better person through love” stories arent done well, and lead to romanticization rather than an actual examination of redemption and healing

[Noorie]

Oh, ok, terminology... understood now

[cherrystark]

For me, a lot of tropes depend on how they're played. For example, I understand having a secret life away from your immediate family if there was an immediate danger of the family being kidnapped by MC's enemies. I can understand that. But what I don't understand is when the MC hides their secret from their parent or romantic partner, when said person could actually be a viable character in the story. People have mentioned Twilight, but I have to say, what if Charlie knew about the paranormal happenings in his town and actually got to play a real role in the story?

But in terms of something annoying that I would try to avoid, I would simply say to try and avoid putting your romance into a YA setting. I know YA is popular, but I've been watching some stuff that was based off YA romance books lately, and as a grown-up; it's all cringey. There a handful of circumstances where having a teenager get married makes sense. But I'm really tired of stories where 99% of the FMC's role in the story is to bear a child. If she's not X, she's a breeder. If she's not Y, she's a breeder. You get the point. I just think it's tired and I think it's extra cringy when a 16-17 year old is put into a situation where marriage and parenthood are their ONLY options. If they want to become parents, at least let them be adults first.

[powerplantanimations]

Honestly literally any trope works. One of the things I hate is when a person calls a trope "old fashioned" or something like the "Damsel in Distress" one where the person falls in love with the savior. Like that trope goes both ways and people in real life would connect with people during situations that're tense/stressful.

[Freemints30]

Oooh That sounds intresting, in a sense an awful trope being done well.. Mostly cus Im on a content binge right now with alot of stuff. Can I get a title?

[ratscout]

We were talking about this on a different thread, and I stand by what I said on there. XD I think any trope and cliche can work in a story, it just depends on how it's done LOL. I think you should go with your gut and just make something you truly want to make.

I guess if I had to choose some tropes I'm usually not fond of, it would be: Rich man invites poor woman into home and proceeds to romance her. I do think you could do an interesting take on this, but, I dunno... I guess my main problem with this is that the woman usually has very little agency. I know that's sort of a fantasy for a lot of women to date "The Beast." but I'm not all that fond of it. I AM fond of the woman discovering that there is a man buried within the beast, though LOL and not giving into the beast but only letting herself be romanced by the man.

I guess I'm not that fond of slice of life where the only interesting thing that happens to a person is some guy constantly pining after them. I also like to see that the person has hobbies and worries outside of the romance.

[Lensing]

Do you remember the name of the thread, I´m interested in reading that. Was that about tropes too?
I like what you wrote about going with your gut and just making something you truly want to make

[candiedcotton]

Dear Door. It's very graphic, lol, but I don't personally care either way. The story is really great.

[Chaz]

The "It's Not You, It's Me" Trope.

It grinds my gears when a character breaks up with their significant other because they have to "find themselves" where really the writer or writers want/wants to drag the story a little more.

[Zugaikotsu]

It's not. At all. Just longer.

[TheLemmaLlama]

Hating tropes is really just about reoccuring patterns/trends that people see often that they find annoying, tbh Sort of like how there's a reoccuring pattern/trend among creatives to discuss what tropes they hate, and you find that trend annoying

[candiedcotton]

It's not the trend of hating them that bothers me, it's that it is inherently mean to announce it. It can hurt people. Someone (especially new and self-conscious creators) might be writing a story that's quite decent which uses certain tropes, but they see this sort of talk and it makes them feel like their work is now bad because it contains certain tropes.

I know it seems a bit much but I guess I'm sensitive to the protection and nurturing of new creators. Maybe because I'm old or something.

It just feels like unnecessary bullying to me, even if bullying isn't the intention. It's like saying "I hate the violin, it sounds so awful" and maybe a discussion about it in a music forum. And then the kid who plays the violin now feels bad.

[DasIstWunderblyat]

I agree that sometimes the discussion about hated tropes can be rather unproductive and toxic due to its nature. Especially when it is focused on dunking a specific series or creators, without explaining what kind of execution makes that tropes bad. It sounds more like something unsuited for a meaningful discussion and rather a rant/vent thread.

However, if the kid who plays violin visits a thread titled "Instruments you dislike," they should expect if there is someone who happens to hate violin. If they don't want to hear people's bad opinions about instruments, there's a back button. If you cannot stand the idea of someone disliking your creation or what you do, I don't think you are ready to post it on or even being on the internet.

[candiedcotton]

I get where you're coming from but I've seen this argument as an excuse so many times for negative behavior, I could go on forever about it.

"If you don't like it, don't look." But that's the same argument that often waters the seeds of negativity that frequently ruin entire communities, enable elitism and cliques, and generally offers nothing actually of value.

[DiegoPalacios]

@candiedcotton @DasIstWunderblyat

Would you claim that is wrong to speak about disliking problematic tropes like the romanticization of abuse?

[candiedcotton]

Yes.

For one, I believe the term "don't romanticize abuse" or whatever is wrong and severely generalizing, as well as something that frequently comes from an ableist viewpoint. As long as it's legal, people should write what they want, and there will be someone out there who will enjoy it.