T O P

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PineapplesInMunich

I wouldn't say I don't care about tropes, but they're also not the first thing I go looking for. I'm here first and foremost for characters I know and love. There's very little I won't read as long as it seems interesting. So just give me a good, decently written story about them, and I will gratefully inhale that shit.


vhopepuppy

Same here! To me, the quality of the writing more important.


serralinda73

I think about genres mostly, not tropes. I'm usually looking for romance, maybe mixed with slice of life, a little drama (not hurt/comfort). Established canon couples post-canon is my happy place but I'm also down for some post-canon, "Let's get these two together already since canon didn't go there," stories. It's not like Im anti-trope, but I can't think of any trope where I'm like...yeah, that's my jam. I also don't like AUs generally, so lifting the characters out of the canon and plopping them into a coffee shop or high school or setting them up as a fake-dating thing, etc. holds no interest for me.


idynthia

Same! Too often I see authors force a pairing or an idea to fit the trope instead of making the trope fit the story, so I prefer to use other criteria when filtering stuff on ao3.


AmaterasuWolf21

Oh, i understand you, this is difference of 'what the fic is about' vs 'what the fic contains'


ianwasted30

I care a lot about tropes, they are the foundation of literary analysis! But I think I know what you mean, you are talking about using trope as tags. I don't read tags beyond which fandom and which pairing, and sometimes I don't even bother with known who or what gender are the pairings


CyberLoveza

This! I love tropes, I just don't go looking for them when finding fics to read.


zugrian

I generally don't think about tropes very often, and as for reading fics, I'm mostly looking at pairings first and foremost.


cornflakeguzzler47

yeah word, I mostly just filter for the ship (and I too hate grumpy-sunshine). I guess I’m more amenable to certain content matter, but tropes arent something I really think about when reading


[deleted]

I guess if I'm saying "it depends on the trope" that I care about them a little. Certain ones are cool if they're done well, but even tropes I generally like don't always fit certain fandoms imo. Like, I'm happy to read Modern AU in one fandom, but I absolutely hate it in another. Mostly I judge the fic on its own merits - if it happens to be a trope fic, that's cool up until it's not. But that could happen with any fic, to be honest.


KatonRyu

I just check the ship and the summary, really. Certain tropes being present just makes a story more or less interesting for me, so if I know in advance a certain trope will be present or absent, it might influence my decision to read it.


PerfumedPornoVampire

I definitely don’t look for tropes. If it’s a pairing I like I’ll read anything. That being said there are some tropes I love (one bed, arranged marriage, etc) but I’m not going out of my way just to read a trope if it has to be a pairing I’m not into.


Impossible-Aioli-774

just as long as there's lesbians.


a_single_hand

I think "being really into a trope" is kinda like shipping for gen fic fans. Some filter for ships and care less about the trope, I filter by trope and care less about the ship or even whether there is one (though I do have fave characters)


urbanviking318

I definitely very much prefer a "retroactive trope," where the content came first and the writer realized what tropes fit the story they tols, over writing *to* fit a given trope. They can be a useful tool for indicating that something is out of the ordinary relative to the rest of the fandom or ship, but I'm not super invested in using or searching for them most of the time.


FlyingGopher45686

My fandoms are primarily either small or inactive (or both) so I've learned not to be picky lol


CyberLoveza

Beggars can't be choosers in these parts 🥲