fanfic trope grading

[ehyde]

stolen from dragongirlg, ask me about tropes!

Give me a fanfiction trope and I’ll grade it:

A: Love it. Spend my time combing AO3 for it.
B: Like it. Not one of my bigger cravings, but it can scratch a certain itch if I’m in the right mood.
C: Neutral. A good author might be able to sell it, but a bad one will kill it deader than dead.
D: Not my favorite. I avoid it if I can, but it won’t necessarily put me off reading something.
F: Hate it. Will immediately make me nope out of a fic.

Comments

[xmarksthespotwhereistand]

I recently saw a variation of this subverted in a drama: a character mentions or somehow makes the audience known that they don't find most people worthy to see their blades for example A few scenes later, they will show it to the main character?
Another one since this one was too vague: only one bed!

[xmarksthespotwhereistand]

Can i also stole this meme?

[ehyde]

The first one you said: B, it's something that'll make me smile or grin when it happens but it's not going to be the main draw of the story.

Only one bed: C. It's not something I seek out and a lot of times when it happens it just feels way too contrived, but when it's done well (happens in a way that feels natural, not overly lampshaded) it can be so good.

And absolutely, steal the meme!

[shipperslist]

Curtain fic

Mind control

Truth or dare

[ehyde]

Curtain fic: I had to look up what this was. I'd say C; if I'm understanding what it is correctly--domesticity/slice-of-life usually isn't my thing and I don't seek it out, but I have read some (usually on other people's recs) that I really liked.

Mind control: A! Especially if it's the possession variety; I'm less enthusiastic about brainwashing and tend to like that one for different reasons--with possession, a lot of the tension and horror comes from other characters not knowing said character has been possessed; with brainwashing I'm more into it when someone who knew them is trying to bring them back to who they were before (see: CATWS).

Truth or dare: ehh, D. It's not really my thing. Although I have written it, so maybe I should rethink that?

[dragongirlg]

Sex pollen

Modern no-powers/mundane AU

Outsider POV

[ehyde]

Sex pollen: D -- this is one of my "only by an author I trust" or "only if recommended by someone I trust" tropes, and even then it's highly dependent on the summary/other tags. Actually I tend not to be the biggest fan of other forms of intoxication in fic either (which often throws me straight out of a fic, especially with drunk!LWJ being a thing in canon--that shows up a fair bit).

Modern no-powers/mundane AU: there was a time when this would've been a straight F, but now it's an "it depends." I still don't care for mundane modern AUs at their most generic--students/unspecified office jobs in a nameless but probably American city, etc. But highly mundane AUs can be great actually.

Outsider POV: B. There's a subset of outsider POV that I don't like, which is when the outsider is observing romantic interactions specifically--not like voyeurism but just like, oh this shopkeeper doesn't realize they're a couple/knows they're a couple before they do/etc. In MDZS fics what I really like is when outsider pov calls into question gossip & public opinion vs reality, because there's so much you can do with that. Characters being afraid of someone and learning they shouldn't be, or the other way around.

[dragongirlg]

Oooh yeah, I can imagine you'd run into a lot of drunk LWJ unexpectedly!

Modern/mundane AU - yeah, I generally don't prefer them unless there's something very specific (I do like particular diaspora AUs if there's a certain feeling captured within them).

Gossip vs reality! Such a good theme to explore...I could definitely see that being explored for a ton of MDZS characters.

[galadhir]

Shapeshifting? One of the characters is a mer-person?

[ehyde]

A for both! Shapeshifting can mean a lot of different things--usually as a fic trope I find it just means that a character has an alternate form, like fox!WWX is a common one in MDZS, but if there was a way to specifically find like a mimic sort of shapeshifter where they can change their form as they please, I would be reading that too.

Merpeople are awesome--I'm more interested in only some characters being merpeople and some being human, rather than a fic set in an everyone-is-merfolk AU.

[alasse_irena]

Somebody's got to ask the important question:

A/B/O?

[sunshine304]

Fuck or die

Huddling for warmth

Coffeeshop AU

[megan_moonlight]

If it's not too late:

Star Trek!AU/space!AU

Body swap