Ship tropes
Feb. 10th, 2019 09:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessHow the ULTIMATE SHIPPER TROPE SHOWDOWN worked out for me.
The five-way tie for favourite trope seems about right: Fake Dating/Fake Marriage Accidentally Turns Into Feelings (I love the forced fake intimacy, the interplay between the fake and the real – and I quite like the doing it for the politics/arranged marriage variant, I just don’t come across it as much in fanfiction); Soulmate Identifying Marks (a relatively new trope, but once I came across it, it pinged for me); Amnesia Fic (light angst, a chance to consider identity, personality and relationships in a new light); Snowed-In Cabin/Isolated Together For Extended Period of Time (forced proximity = forced intimacy); Friends to Lovers (which I associate with slow burn and possibly secretly like more than Bickersons, although as you can tell with how low Enemies to Friends to Lovers is, I tend to like my Bickersons on the friendlier scale).
I don’t quite know how to explain the ranking for the AUs. I suppose I like the high school setting so much that it’s always fun to see any character there, and the detail of the unusually specific setting interests – if Space AU had been an option, that would have been high for me. But I suppose it was the potential to apply seemingly unrequited pining and telepathic connection that appealed, although I do mostly like Hogwarts AUs.
Of the middling tropes, for me, I’d say Groundhog Day trope is something I prefer in canon over fic, and the potential for getting it wrong hurts Pride and Prejudice AUs – I have strong feelings about P&P, and I’d say I’ve come across more Jane Eyre AUs.
For the bottom tropes: Selfcest is a DNW that time travel cannot save, so that was easily my least favourite. Actually Unrequited Pining would have to be done very well, and I’d say it’s something I bear better in canon than in fic that I’d search out, because I want the happy ending. Having said that, I might be willing to explore it as a writer, because there’d be a sense of control. Enemies to Friends to Lovers usually involves too much handwaving of canon lines, of redrawing animosity for me. I am more for fluff than darkfic, so Everyone is Evil is offputting. I like Mirrorverse AUs in canon, but I’d contend that not everyone is evil in them (but the actors playing characters who are are having such a whale of a time that it’s infectious).
The results.
1 Fake Dating/Fake Marriage Accidentally Turns Into Feelings
1 Soulmate Identifying Marks (Tattoo, Red Thread of Fate, etc)
1 Amnesia Fic
1 Snowed-In Cabin/Isolated Together For Extended Period of Time
1 Friends to Lovers
6 High School/University AU
6 Unusually Specific Occupation AU, Like, The Author Clearly Has The Same Job
6 Seemingly Unrequited Pining
6 Magical Connection (Telepathy, etc)
10 Hogwarts AU
10 Accidentally Fell In Love With The Mission Target
10 Polyamory
13 Royals/Political Marriage Turns Into Feelings
13 Fairy Tale/Mythology AU
13 Coffee House AU/Food Service AU
16 Characters Swap Roles AU (I don't mean in the bedroom)
17 'Falling For A Coworker/Teammate Is A Bad Idea' Except This Is Fiction So It Works Out
17 And They Were Roommates!
17 Hurt/Comfort
17 Body Swapping
17 'Groundhog Day'/Karmic Time Loop
17 Reincarnation/'25 Lives' AU
17 Vampires/Werewolves AU
17 Supernatural Creature/Human Romance
25 Pride and Prejudice AU
25 Found Families
25 Loyalty Kink
25 Hot Single Parent(s)
29 Adopting/Raising a Baby
29 'They All Work In An Office' AU
31 They Break Up (but then They Get Back Together)
31 Daemons
31 A/B/O
34 'Everyone is Evil'/Mirrorverse AU
34 Enemies to Friends to Lovers
34 Actually Unrequited Pining
37 Selfcest (possibly due to time travel)
I intend to contribute something to shipposting February at some point.
The five-way tie for favourite trope seems about right: Fake Dating/Fake Marriage Accidentally Turns Into Feelings (I love the forced fake intimacy, the interplay between the fake and the real – and I quite like the doing it for the politics/arranged marriage variant, I just don’t come across it as much in fanfiction); Soulmate Identifying Marks (a relatively new trope, but once I came across it, it pinged for me); Amnesia Fic (light angst, a chance to consider identity, personality and relationships in a new light); Snowed-In Cabin/Isolated Together For Extended Period of Time (forced proximity = forced intimacy); Friends to Lovers (which I associate with slow burn and possibly secretly like more than Bickersons, although as you can tell with how low Enemies to Friends to Lovers is, I tend to like my Bickersons on the friendlier scale).
I don’t quite know how to explain the ranking for the AUs. I suppose I like the high school setting so much that it’s always fun to see any character there, and the detail of the unusually specific setting interests – if Space AU had been an option, that would have been high for me. But I suppose it was the potential to apply seemingly unrequited pining and telepathic connection that appealed, although I do mostly like Hogwarts AUs.
Of the middling tropes, for me, I’d say Groundhog Day trope is something I prefer in canon over fic, and the potential for getting it wrong hurts Pride and Prejudice AUs – I have strong feelings about P&P, and I’d say I’ve come across more Jane Eyre AUs.
For the bottom tropes: Selfcest is a DNW that time travel cannot save, so that was easily my least favourite. Actually Unrequited Pining would have to be done very well, and I’d say it’s something I bear better in canon than in fic that I’d search out, because I want the happy ending. Having said that, I might be willing to explore it as a writer, because there’d be a sense of control. Enemies to Friends to Lovers usually involves too much handwaving of canon lines, of redrawing animosity for me. I am more for fluff than darkfic, so Everyone is Evil is offputting. I like Mirrorverse AUs in canon, but I’d contend that not everyone is evil in them (but the actors playing characters who are are having such a whale of a time that it’s infectious).
The results.
1 Fake Dating/Fake Marriage Accidentally Turns Into Feelings
1 Soulmate Identifying Marks (Tattoo, Red Thread of Fate, etc)
1 Amnesia Fic
1 Snowed-In Cabin/Isolated Together For Extended Period of Time
1 Friends to Lovers
6 High School/University AU
6 Unusually Specific Occupation AU, Like, The Author Clearly Has The Same Job
6 Seemingly Unrequited Pining
6 Magical Connection (Telepathy, etc)
10 Hogwarts AU
10 Accidentally Fell In Love With The Mission Target
10 Polyamory
13 Royals/Political Marriage Turns Into Feelings
13 Fairy Tale/Mythology AU
13 Coffee House AU/Food Service AU
16 Characters Swap Roles AU (I don't mean in the bedroom)
17 'Falling For A Coworker/Teammate Is A Bad Idea' Except This Is Fiction So It Works Out
17 And They Were Roommates!
17 Hurt/Comfort
17 Body Swapping
17 'Groundhog Day'/Karmic Time Loop
17 Reincarnation/'25 Lives' AU
17 Vampires/Werewolves AU
17 Supernatural Creature/Human Romance
25 Pride and Prejudice AU
25 Found Families
25 Loyalty Kink
25 Hot Single Parent(s)
29 Adopting/Raising a Baby
29 'They All Work In An Office' AU
31 They Break Up (but then They Get Back Together)
31 Daemons
31 A/B/O
34 'Everyone is Evil'/Mirrorverse AU
34 Enemies to Friends to Lovers
34 Actually Unrequited Pining
37 Selfcest (possibly due to time travel)
I intend to contribute something to shipposting February at some point.
