Trope Meme

[smallhobbit]

Just over a week ago moth2fic  made a trope meme post, and, since I was looking for a subject to blog about I asked her for some trope suggestions.  Here they are:

arranged marriage/marriage of convenience

I don't think I've ever written this, and it certainly doesn't appeal.  I can see it could have a role in historical fiction - but I like my characters not to be pawns.


hurt/comfort

My favourite trope!  See who I can batter, in whichever way possible, and then provide the comfort.  All the hugs, (cake for Lucas), and also the opportunity for the strong silent type to deny how badly hurt they are, and the equally strong silent type to provide discrete comfort without making a fuss about it.


aliens made them do it

Enter Rudybago, who is a positive presence.  I'd never written mpreg (don't care for it), but when Rudybago's cousin doesn't realise that his willing partner doesn't know he can get pregnant, mpreg ensues: The Happy Couple.  Generally I'm against lack of consent, although if there's a cracky theme, and it's upbeat, I'm happy.


mistaken identity

Having just written a number of ficlets on this subject for holmes_minor  I'd say it's something I enjoy.  It has its place in casefics, which I do enjoy writing.  Although my favourite recent work has to be: That's Not Our Consulting Detective.


And if anyone's interested in more tropes ushobwri  on Dreamwidth has just started the Annual Shoobie Trope Fest

Comments

[out_there]

arranged marriage/marriage of convenience

I love this trope. Mostly because it's usually a case of forcing two people to spend time together and I love the slowly getting to know each other, finding out you care more about that person than you expected to, falling in love. I mostly love it when it's either an expected marriage without feelings (i.e. we're both under political pressure / whatever to marry, so we need to be civil to each other but there are no expectations beyond that) or when it ties into the fake relationship trope (undercover as a couple!).

[smallhobbit]

Strangely enough those are the reasons I dislike the trope. I always feel there's an inevitability about it. And almost a sense of forcing the characters into a relationship. Maybe one day I'll write a fake relationship fic where after the case ends the two go home to their respective partners. I'm also a fan of friendship fics, where the characters are good friends, but the relationship remains platonic, and both sides are happy with it - as, for instance, my River Police series, where Sherlock and John live in Baker Street, but Sherlock and Stanley Hopkins are the couple, and all three may go out for a drink together.

[moth2fic]

I enjoyed your responses!

I've written a whole novel on the arranged marriage theme, exploring it in a fantasy setting - but so far it is languishing on my hard drive.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you. I wonder how many parallels there are between fantasy and our world in this respect.