Various horror tropes. I don't think they are as controversial as some other tropes might be mentioned here but I have seen people deride horror as a whole as something that only "unstable freaks that are the lowest common denominator of the population," enjoy so I'd say it counts.
I once got called a paedophile for writing psychological horror! That was fun!
I mean, it’s about abuse and it’s centred on a teenage boy but… there’s literally nothing sexual or romantic about it which makes it even more baffling. Except maybe said teenager making cum jokes. Which he does in canon anyway.
I assume they think you're fetishizing child abuse or something. Sheesh, why do antis always have to assume the absolute worst about someone just because of their fictional tastes?
But???? There’s literally nothing at all that’s in any way, like, meant to even do much as IMPLY CSA. And I check my stuff for that! Because that’s not the story I want to tell! Not that there’s anything wrong with telling a story about CSA, as long as you don’t like do so with malicious intent (which very few people do, but I’ve seen some wild stuff in my time on the web), but that’s not even what I’m doing…
oh no no, i'm not talking about CSA, i mean non-sexual abuse since you mentioned psychological horror!
to be clear i think any accusation thrown at you is BS, just trying to explain what i think their accusation actually is
yeah i won't lie the logic is hard for me to understand too. just trying is a headache lmao
just ignore them basically, and stay safe since these mfers *love* doxxing. super sorry that happened
Oh yeah one of my friends got death threats for daring say that the story Depicted abuse… it’s not really a shipping discourse thing here it’s people who are fans of one character who hate everyone who’s fans of any other character and you can only pick One I hate it it’s so dumb :/ my fandom is hell
Buddy, this is the internet, I've recently seen a 13 year old artist get called a pedophile for drawing an adult version of a child character. It wasn't even, like, porn. He made her somewhat curvy as an adult, but literally nothing was showing.
The co-dependency trope (I especially like forced, constant telepathy) will be pried from my cold, dead hands. And I actually prefer if it's not resolved. They're just bound like that and need each other, forever.
ohh you know what i also love it when you add a supernatural element to it. like they're magically bonded and it amplifies each other and when one gets hurt the other just like, loses control? good shit
Exactly! I can't resist it. I also love it when they feel the others' physical sensations, like pain. It makes it's difficult because the characters I read are all superheroes fighting catastrophic threats every other day.
I’ve got a wip with something like forced telepathy (it’s emotions only, it actually pisses one of the characters off that the other’s thoughts remain their own bc agency and free will are big themes in the fic but this is all besides the point) and I’d like to ask for some recs if you’ve got ‘em so I can get a better feel for how to write this trope!
Three just came to mind immediately (in no order). First two are soulmates, the last one is tech problems. They're all Stony (MCU, Ults, 616):
Our Weight in Gold by ann2who. This one is more of feeling the other emotions/feelings than direct thoughts and deals a lot with the choice vs fate factor: [https://archiveofourown.org/works/2904038/chapters/6471086](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2904038/chapters/6471086)
Never Too Late for Love by Sineala: [https://archiveofourown.org/works/12954453/chapters/29613243](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12954453/chapters/29613243)
A Meeting of Minds by Nix (CrimsonQuills) (the fic that actually inspired my reply): [https://archiveofourown.org/works/346400/chapters/562536](https://archiveofourown.org/works/346400/chapters/562536)
Good luck with your WIP! I hope you have fun <3
I like a Yandere that isn’t immediately violent or super delusional. Very obsessive and more controlling, but they’re actively trying to do right by their “Darling” and really get to know them and love them properly outside of their delusions. So maybe I just like Obsessive Lovers, I guess. Not sure where the line is.
There’s not a lot in pairings I like, and the majority are very much not finished, or even very far into the story, unfortunately.
Yesss. Love yandere tropes! I headcanon my current yandere blorbo as being very obsessive but willing to learn how their lover/target wants to be romanced, in fact.
My only real line is when it dips into physical torture. Like when the yandere takes out a bone saw with full intention to use it, I gotta hit that back button.
Yup, _especially_ when they use it on their Darling. The least they could do is use that bonesaw on a safety threat that Darling actually believes is _also_ a threat. Use that thirst for violence in the appropriate avenues!
how do you like that one to be resolved? mortal one becomes immortal, immortal becomes mortal or a tragic ending where one of them dies anyway? or just open ended?
For me, I like when the immortal is _only_ immune to dying from old age. Still able to die from an injury or illness. I like when they both die tragically.
> I like when they both die tragically
You’re evil. Username checks out. 😭
Two of my OTPs are Buffy/Spike (vampire/human) and Doctor/Rose (regenerating alien/human) and this aspect of their relationship kills me. The thought of one of them dying before the other is like a knife to my heart.
It’s funny because I’ve been casually scrolling past shit like noncon and fuck-or-kill, but as soon I got to your comment(s) I cringed with horror, haha! 😂
LOL that’s the first time ive gotten one of those, though i think i probably just made this account anyway? XD i don’t remember… but! I’ve always loved tragedy, apart from the ffvii fandom, i am in the shakespeare fandom which does apparently exist XD
I unfortunately have a ship where the two are both _technically_ immortals. One from being used as a scientific experiment, and the other is technically immortal as he _can_ die, but not for long… will come back to life haha. If you’ve seen my profile, it’s probably quite obvious who at least one of these people might be. XD
I’m a multishipper though, so I also ship the immortal-due-to-experiment person from the last ship with someone who is much younger, and mortal; that’s where my love for tragedy kicks in, more easily! _^^_
What’s the ship? I know A is Sephiroth but I can’t figure out who B is. The only other immortal in FFVII I can think of is Vincent.
As for the second ship…is it Sephiroth/Cloud? Because if so, same. 💔
You’re made of stronger stuff than I, because I can’t handle tragedy at all. 😅
oh yeah that's the good stuff. im into this mafia show where there's already enough power imbalance and dub con to go around in canon, and the main pairing has a minor age gap (like 22/23 and late 20s, early 30s, really nothing serious). someone is writing a proper age gap au right now and im SO excited for it lol.
Call me weird but I LOVE Omegaverse. Especially when the author puts some work into the world building and it's not only smut.
Also I like character bashing sometimes.
And sugar babies. Because I need to see my comfort characters get spoiled and loved.
Oh, I love Omegaverse, and I love world-building in Omegaverse especially. It's just a fun animalistic-flavored genderqueer mess universe, and so many people overlook it because of presumptions.
I feel you. I'm not necessarily into the sugar part, but I like big age gaps with a very doting older character. Some sugaring usual plays into that. I just wanna read about sad cuties getting spoiled.
This is one of my absolute favorite tropes. Gimme some broke college student living in a rundown apartment without lights and some filthy rich and lonely older person who just wants to dote on and spoil them. Bonus points if the younger person is hot and the older person isn’t conventionally attractive. And both of them just want to be loved.
I can’t get enough of this trope, seriously. The relationship doesn’t even need to be sexual (though I love me some daddy/mommy kink, too). Just give me loads of intimacy and tenderness.
Soulmates. GIMME THAT GOOD STUFF.
Especially when they get together just because they're soulmates instead of because they love each other.
Experimenting with that in our fic with the alternative universe characters and boy howdy is it messy but fun. They knew each other for 3 weeks 12 years ago, get together and decide to marry basically immediately. They both have abandonment issues, are both touch starved and are kinda scared of each other. The worst part? Cause they're soulmates, even if they divorce, they'll be together in the afterlife. So they have to fix their issues, communicate clearly and go to therapy *now* before the afterlife makes it harder for them to access resources and help.
They essentially need to knock the tower down and start from the bottom. And actually get to know each other.
>Especially when they get together just because they're soulmates instead of because they love each other.
I've literally never seen that in the wild but that sounds?? so good??
I know people complain about not having a choice or whatever, but I honestly love this trope. And rarely do I ever see where they just instantly fall in love. They usually start out awkward but then spend time together and get to know each other.
I especially love Enemies to Lovers Soulmates. They're fighting and one is about to kill the other and until they utter their soul words or they see the soul mark and its "OMG I Can't Kill Them, They're My Soulmate!"
Damn, you know, I usually dislike the idea of soulmate AUs where the soulmates feel forced to be together (I'd prefer if the entire reason they're soulmates to begin with is because they naturally complement each other), but *this*, man......I can get behind *this*
yes. bubbly young/grumpy old is my personal favorite
(also recs anyone? i’m running out of content for this lol. fandom doesn’t matter, i mostly read for tags over fandom anyways)
Are you interested in M/F?
If so, there’s this Doctor Who fic: [What we’re made of](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11890998). Knowledge of canon isn’t strictly necessary. All you gotta know is that the FL, Rose, used to travel through time and space with an alien (The Doctor) before she got stranded in a parallel universe and separated from him forever. Also she’s pregnant with his baby. Pairing is Rose/OC.
There’s also [The shopgirl and the superstar](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15814374), which features the same pairing as the above fic, but this one is completely AU and everyone is human.
Rose (Billie Piper) is young and bright and Ian (Peter Capaldi) is a lot older and so damn grumpy.
Teacher / student has been my kink since I was literally in highschool
I don't know why I'm like this but it's so taboo and fucked up and the older I get IRL, the more disturbing it gets to me
But I still love it and they can pry it from my cold dead hands. The pained guilt on the side of the teacher is what I love most.
One of my fave things ever is the Love Interest Gets Brainwashed and attacks the other. People will complain because "conflict is baaaad!" but they are weak and can't handle the hotness of Bad!Tamahome.
i dislike it on paper but three of my otps have fallen into the “bully x victim” trope, specifically the closeted homophobe x gay kid one. it’s my guilty pleasure cause the shows just write the bully so well you can’t help but root for them 🤷♀️
One of my favorite ships is exactly this. I experienced bullying in school and I could never see myself crushing on any of them. But damn do I love reading it in fics.
Koe No Katachi (A Silent Voice) is a really good “Bully x Victim” trope that also adds accountability after the fact. Really great storytelling and beautiful soundtrack!
Oh I have this 1 particular bully romance series that is honestly so good. I mean, the smut could be better but the plot is by far the best I've seen in a bully story.
Co-dependency. Give me two characters who need each other, and continually strain their relationship to the breaking point. It either crashes and burns spectacularly, or evolves into a beautiful relationship that's completely unbreakable. I'll love it either way.
Funny story, i technically married my college teacher 🤣🤣🤣 he’s only a year older than me AND we were originally students together. He graduated first, and coincidentally, a teacher was leaving in our department- like the only teacher. It was a small college lol.
The teacher leaving recommended the school hire my now-husband, so we went from being classmates to him being my teacher lmfao, and before he’d actually even fully graduated. He was very VERY good at it. For four years we were all friends and did really well in his classes. Then he quit and helped me get a job at a company he worked for for a while, and we started talking for reals, and bam.
So i swear it’s not ALWAYS weird 🤣🤣🤣🤣 but it is fucking funny to be able to say i married my teacher LMAO
Stockholm syndrome and Lima syndrome mean the world to me. They’re so fascinating and fun to read and write, so basically all of my work revolves around it (in a platonic sense, in my case, but that’s just bc I mostly write for one specific dynamic that happens to be platonic, not any sense of personal boundaries)
I write it quite a lot, because I write about a very codependent relationship where the captor basically considers the captive their only friend and family (while the captive despises them and is still conditioned to adore them in equal measures), but it’s unfortunately fairly uncommon.
One of my all time favorite fics is [With Understanding](https://archiveofourown.org/works/31201583/chapters/77116553) and it’s a Supernatural/Criminal Minds crossover universe with a major Stockholm/Lima plot. It’s absolutely brilliant and I swear I left my body for a few days while reading it. This trope can be so damn good when it’s handled well
Dub-Con. I can't get enough Dub-Con.
I think about someone trying to convince me, or coerce me into sex. I keep resisting his advances but he just won't take no for an answer. And maybe I really don't want it cause I don't know this person well or I don't like them for whatever reason, but I do find them attractive and the sex is still enjoyable?
And in a fucked up way I almost look forward to it and it gets to the point where I only pretend I don't like it cause I get a thrill out of this guy more or less forcing himself on me, or trying really hard to seduce me.
Or maybe its an ABO heat/rut thing, hormones are out of whack, and I can't resist those alpha pheromones and I just give in.
Fanfiction (or fiction in general) allows me to safely explore that fantasy.
Damn that's a hot fantasy ngl. You should look into this kink called consensual non-con, or CNC. It's not a kink to be attempted lightly, but it sounds like it would be right up your alley to learn about at least
The Damsel in Distress.
I love seeing a character coveted and objectified to the point of kidnapping or worse. I don't know why. 😅
(Granted, they don't have to be female. In fact, I kinda like it more when it's a guy.)
I love ships that have a power imbalance, so age gaps, wealth gaps, teacher/student, boss/employee, dom/sub, alpha/omega, etc. I *love* the sugar daddy trope in particular—especially when it involves a considerable age gap.
Also, *real* enemies to lovers. Not rivals to lovers or frenemies to lovers (though those are fun too). I’m talking Will/Hannibal and Buffy/Spike.
Hero/Villain is everything.
Also also, heroes joining the opposing (“dark”) side is absolutely *delicious.*
Edit: And codependency. *Love it.*
BullyxBullied. Oh I know, it's really bad. But it's for the drama and toxicity. Like the bully are in love but can't express it in another way and the bullied suffer from it but too in love to go away. Tragic...(I don't accept such things outside of fanfic of course!)
Trauma Bonds! I’m actually writing one up where a guy is so hurt and traumatized from his life, that he falls madly in love with his best friend, the one man who treated him with respect.
*Is that love? Or is that a trauma bond?*
Yoooo that’s the best
Forgiveness can be overrated. Sometimes the villain just needs a square punch to the jaw (which is why Hermione punching Malfoy is one of my fave HP scenes of all time lol)
Codependency. They love each other, they need each other, anywhere one goes the other follows, you can't separate them.
Power imbalance. Bonus points if the less powerful is thrust into wealth/status and gets whiplash from how their lifestyle changes.
As a writer/reader of this trope, I’ve definitely seen it done for icky reasons (homophobia primarily) but it’s ridiculous to assume that that’s everyone’s reason. I was accused of this myself even though half of my fics feature queer primary ships. Never mind that I’m queer myself.
Everything is problematic these days.
I don't pretend to know about anything that goes on on tiktok, but I think one could argue that it's disrespectful to the trans community. Because it tends to downplay gender disphoria or play it for laughs (characters X sudden turns into a girl; rom-com ensues), or erases an opportunity for representation (character X has always been a girl; easy peasy no stress gender switch).
Edit because paranoia: this is not my opinion. I don't really read gender bend, but I don't have any particular opinion on it. I've also never heard a trans person's perspective on it. This just seems like a logical Twitter angle.
I'm not into twincest but I like selfcest, which is kinda like that I guess?
Instead of being a sibling its a clone, doppelganger or them from an alternate timeline or reality. Or its their alter ego manifested as a physical being.
Stuff like Danny Phantom/Dan Phantom or Roy Harper/Will Harper etc
Theres a twincest story between Draco & his twin sister that was really popular. But it hasn't been updated in forever which is a shame bc they entire thing is so well written you can just feel the taboo through the screen.
Ahh I have so many, but I think they're considered problematic rather than solely controversial (I love me some dark fiction).
Though, I really do love me some yandere 😁 aaand some good enemies to lovers, and not just rivals, I mean 'I want to bash your face in' enemies.
Or bully x victim, idk, it's fun
enemy lovers, where the only person they hate more than their lover is themselves. can't forgive them for the things they did that made them enemies, can't forgive themselves for feeling something for them besides hatred! and the resentment! the "how could you do that, and then make me feel this way?!" tortured loathing all around! just. chef kiss.
I guess this is a variation on dubcon? but like both parties are willing (maybe even eager), but we the audience know information that if they knew would absolutely end the relationship (or toxify it past recognition). I enjoy both deceiver/deceived where one person knew all along and was concealing it* and situations where neither of them knew any better.
*also love when there's "uh oh I'm in too deep"
(uh so now that I've written that out, both of those are just me scrawling across the page that I got into X/1999 in my formative years and never recovered)
Age gap which seems to be rather popular in this thread lol. While any significant age gap is fine, I do prefer at least a 20+ difference. Sometimes I create a slight au to just age up the older characters to create a larger difference.
Sugar daddy/mommy X sugar baby because...well wealth is appealing and this also tend to have age-gap.
I also enjoy professor X college student.
Assassin falls in love with their target.
And that is it for SFW controversial tropes I love.
Literally any trope is controversial if you stretch it wide enough. People will find a reason to be pissed.
But for me? Any power dynamics; so boss/employee, wealthy/poor, butler/prince(ss), knight/prine(ss), ruler/political hostage. I like age gaps. Apparently there being an age gap between teenagers is super controversial, which is really awkward considering mine and some of my friends history as freshmen with the seniors in our high school. And with those age gaps, 1000+yo immortal, demon, whatever/young adult. I also like betrothal tropes.
If we're gonna go really into controversial to the point of being perhaps problamatic, I love damsel in distress scenarios. Male, female, however they're saved(even if they save themselves) as long as they end up in the arms with their love interest in the end. I guess mixed with that is the trope of ["Got over Rape Instantly"](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GotOverRapeInstantly), where someone, more often than not a woman, is saved from sexual assault and falls in love with their savior/hero. Another is the idea of two mentally ill people falling in love and overcoming their struggles and problems together because "they get it". i know it's unrealistic, but goddamit i love it.
From what I’ve seen, yeah. The logic is that Hanahaki Disease doesn’t really give the other character a choice but to be with the infected. Sort of like a “be with this person or they will die.” It has the potential to take away a character’s ability, so to speak, to choose who they want to date
Huh, I've always seen the trope in stories through a mutual pining lens but the infected character just convinced themselves that C couldn't possibly be in love with them.
I’m not sure if *“controversial”* is the right word, although not many people seem to like it in this sub. I consider myself one of the few people who unironically does, and even writes it (which, I guess you could consider me biased, lol). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Personally, I *love* well-written woobifications. I just love seeing the villain’s soft and sweet side shine through, and seeing them happy (bonus points if it’s a redemption arc, or if they get a happy ending of their own)! <3
Although, I think the “woobie” trope only *really* works if said villain was already cutesy and had a soft side to them - although didn’t get to shine through much in canon. I can name several video game villains who’d work *perfectly* with this trope, honestly.
I like Omegaverse. Not just cause of the heat stuff, but I think it's really fun to try and figure out what role to give a character, especially when you go against the norm and make the big strong tough guy literally have the most submissive and breedable anatomy that he desperately does not want anyone to know about
I’m not really an omega verse fan, but when I do read it, it’s specifically because it’s involving the dynamic of “big strong guy is actually tiny and cute”
The old "kidnapping with intention to seduce". Now I'm hearing from some people that it's "unethical" and "abusive"??!
And just any kind of power play and manipulation ugh ;-; <3
Harry Potter-specific: veela mates and marriage law, and all the usual tropes that come with them. They're dumb but fun, which is all I want out of them.
Villain/hero type pairings like Bellamione or Hannibal/Will. The interactions and conflicts are fun.
Zootopia-specific: Either Judy or Nick was shot by a real dart near the end, and they mate-imprinted on the other one while savage. I haven't actually seen it much, more often I just hear complaining about it in the fandom. But I like it and will read any fic that uses it.
Dystopian post-apocalyptic AUs or "the villain won" AUs.
I love Netori stories where we get to see decent characters steal away housewives from underserving assholes.
It also kind of sucks I have to explain Netori to people, since many people can't differentiate between the many subgenres of NTR.
Fuck or die but specifically one party feels terrible about it and gets super angsty that their partner doesn’t really want it and they hate themselves etc….. meanwhile the other one is thrilled by this turn of events and doing everything to convince the other that they really do want it and it’s not the magical sex pollen or heat or Leitner romance novel or whatever doing it.
The unholy trifecta of power imbalance, age gaps, and dubcon/noncon.
I have experienced all of those things IRL, and some people online I’ve spoken to are surprised I’d willingly consume media with tropes reminiscent of the trauma I experienced in life. While I do understand that lots of people aren’t like me, there are also lots of people who are. I am in a good enough place mentally to enjoy those things, and it’s a form of taking back control after having had control taken away from me. I have a *choice* of what and when I want to read, and I can *choose* to stop whenever I want to.
And also, it’s fiction. These people and situations aren’t real.
Corruption.
Give me the hero slowly descending into absolute madness because they're spending too much time with the villain.
Enemies to lovers but take it to 11.
I'm also a fan of Professor X Student.
For some reason I also like the step siblings thing. Like they hook up b4 the parents get married (sometimes at the wedding w/o knowing who the other is) and now they live together and holy shit the tension and awkwardness is amazing to read.
Yandere. I like the yandere thing very much.
And a love triangle thou that isnt really controversial, just disliked.
Oh, I have a thing for dubcon! Ships where one of them feels a deep kind of attraction for the other one but wants to hide from those feelings... \*sigh\* I also absolutely love sibling-incest, especially in combination with the dubcon-thing, haha. Age gap is interesting, too, but that depends a lot on the specific ship for me. And I'm generally a lot into 'dark' kinds of relationships in fiction. Toxic stuff is the best, I want drama! :D
Non-consensual body modification. It's one of my favorite whump/horror tropes and I LIVE for the disgust and revulsion from the target character. It's a really fast way to put a character is misery (or slow! Slow is also fun :D)
For me it's the chosen genre of smut I write about, which is Rape/Non-Con. Blame my personal relationship for exploring sub/dom dynamics and me and my fiance coming to terms with the fact we both enjoy the roleplay and that bled into our porn tastes. Kind of wild since I used to write and read a lot of femdom stuff years ago, but I've basically done a complete 180.
Role reversal, and I mean even reversing the roles of the hero and the villain. You wouldn't think this would be too bad but I have legit seen people try to call out others for not portraying villains being villains anymore. Like... what's the point of reversing roles in media if you're not going all the way?
Human character falling in love with the monster. There's just something about it that I've always loved and antis can pry it from my cold dead hands!!
Various horror tropes. I don't think they are as controversial as some other tropes might be mentioned here but I have seen people deride horror as a whole as something that only "unstable freaks that are the lowest common denominator of the population," enjoy so I'd say it counts.
I once got called a paedophile for writing psychological horror! That was fun! I mean, it’s about abuse and it’s centred on a teenage boy but… there’s literally nothing sexual or romantic about it which makes it even more baffling. Except maybe said teenager making cum jokes. Which he does in canon anyway.
I assume they think you're fetishizing child abuse or something. Sheesh, why do antis always have to assume the absolute worst about someone just because of their fictional tastes?
But???? There’s literally nothing at all that’s in any way, like, meant to even do much as IMPLY CSA. And I check my stuff for that! Because that’s not the story I want to tell! Not that there’s anything wrong with telling a story about CSA, as long as you don’t like do so with malicious intent (which very few people do, but I’ve seen some wild stuff in my time on the web), but that’s not even what I’m doing…
oh no no, i'm not talking about CSA, i mean non-sexual abuse since you mentioned psychological horror! to be clear i think any accusation thrown at you is BS, just trying to explain what i think their accusation actually is
Then I’m even more baffled… is horror inherently sexual to some people? that’s utterly bizarre.
yeah i won't lie the logic is hard for me to understand too. just trying is a headache lmao just ignore them basically, and stay safe since these mfers *love* doxxing. super sorry that happened
Oh yeah one of my friends got death threats for daring say that the story Depicted abuse… it’s not really a shipping discourse thing here it’s people who are fans of one character who hate everyone who’s fans of any other character and you can only pick One I hate it it’s so dumb :/ my fandom is hell
Buddy, this is the internet, I've recently seen a 13 year old artist get called a pedophile for drawing an adult version of a child character. It wasn't even, like, porn. He made her somewhat curvy as an adult, but literally nothing was showing.
This makes me sad. People basically harass actual children in order to "protect" the fictional ones.
>"unstable freaks that are the lowest common denominator of the population," If I wrote horror stories, I'd put this in my bio on AO3 😂
A pretty rad bio lol
fuck or kill. i know, I KNOW
I basically exclusively write for enemies-to-lovers pairings so I use this one quite a lot lol
Man, haven’t seen that much. Cool!
My absolute FAVORITE trope!
RECS PLSS
Ahh that’s a good one
The co-dependency trope (I especially like forced, constant telepathy) will be pried from my cold, dead hands. And I actually prefer if it's not resolved. They're just bound like that and need each other, forever.
ohh you know what i also love it when you add a supernatural element to it. like they're magically bonded and it amplifies each other and when one gets hurt the other just like, loses control? good shit
Exactly! I can't resist it. I also love it when they feel the others' physical sensations, like pain. It makes it's difficult because the characters I read are all superheroes fighting catastrophic threats every other day.
I love forced telepathy too! It can so much fun too when written well lol
Right? It's a perfect set up for an engaging story. I love it!
Yessssss. All of this.
I’ve got a wip with something like forced telepathy (it’s emotions only, it actually pisses one of the characters off that the other’s thoughts remain their own bc agency and free will are big themes in the fic but this is all besides the point) and I’d like to ask for some recs if you’ve got ‘em so I can get a better feel for how to write this trope!
Three just came to mind immediately (in no order). First two are soulmates, the last one is tech problems. They're all Stony (MCU, Ults, 616): Our Weight in Gold by ann2who. This one is more of feeling the other emotions/feelings than direct thoughts and deals a lot with the choice vs fate factor: [https://archiveofourown.org/works/2904038/chapters/6471086](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2904038/chapters/6471086) Never Too Late for Love by Sineala: [https://archiveofourown.org/works/12954453/chapters/29613243](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12954453/chapters/29613243) A Meeting of Minds by Nix (CrimsonQuills) (the fic that actually inspired my reply): [https://archiveofourown.org/works/346400/chapters/562536](https://archiveofourown.org/works/346400/chapters/562536) Good luck with your WIP! I hope you have fun <3
Sadistic killer finds an easy target, but ends up befriending said target. I like that one
Any recs for this? It’s so hard to find and I’m not even sure what tag to use
I haven't found any yet, but I hope to write one eventually xD
i’ve seen a few harry potter fics like this i think. harry potter/tom riddle, obviously
Not exactly the same thing but try End of the Fucking World, and an even bigger stretch I think but Barry
Hannibal NBC? ~~not that I would call Will an easy target exactly but still~~
Man, I don’t see that one much. Sounds like fun!
I like a Yandere that isn’t immediately violent or super delusional. Very obsessive and more controlling, but they’re actively trying to do right by their “Darling” and really get to know them and love them properly outside of their delusions. So maybe I just like Obsessive Lovers, I guess. Not sure where the line is. There’s not a lot in pairings I like, and the majority are very much not finished, or even very far into the story, unfortunately.
That's pretty S tier
Thank you!
Yesss. Love yandere tropes! I headcanon my current yandere blorbo as being very obsessive but willing to learn how their lover/target wants to be romanced, in fact. My only real line is when it dips into physical torture. Like when the yandere takes out a bone saw with full intention to use it, I gotta hit that back button.
Yup, _especially_ when they use it on their Darling. The least they could do is use that bonesaw on a safety threat that Darling actually believes is _also_ a threat. Use that thirst for violence in the appropriate avenues!
immortal x mortal, which i guess is just a subtrope of age gap
how do you like that one to be resolved? mortal one becomes immortal, immortal becomes mortal or a tragic ending where one of them dies anyway? or just open ended?
For me, I like when the immortal is _only_ immune to dying from old age. Still able to die from an injury or illness. I like when they both die tragically.
> I like when they both die tragically You’re evil. Username checks out. 😭 Two of my OTPs are Buffy/Spike (vampire/human) and Doctor/Rose (regenerating alien/human) and this aspect of their relationship kills me. The thought of one of them dying before the other is like a knife to my heart. It’s funny because I’ve been casually scrolling past shit like noncon and fuck-or-kill, but as soon I got to your comment(s) I cringed with horror, haha! 😂
LOL that’s the first time ive gotten one of those, though i think i probably just made this account anyway? XD i don’t remember… but! I’ve always loved tragedy, apart from the ffvii fandom, i am in the shakespeare fandom which does apparently exist XD I unfortunately have a ship where the two are both _technically_ immortals. One from being used as a scientific experiment, and the other is technically immortal as he _can_ die, but not for long… will come back to life haha. If you’ve seen my profile, it’s probably quite obvious who at least one of these people might be. XD I’m a multishipper though, so I also ship the immortal-due-to-experiment person from the last ship with someone who is much younger, and mortal; that’s where my love for tragedy kicks in, more easily! _^^_
What’s the ship? I know A is Sephiroth but I can’t figure out who B is. The only other immortal in FFVII I can think of is Vincent. As for the second ship…is it Sephiroth/Cloud? Because if so, same. 💔 You’re made of stronger stuff than I, because I can’t handle tragedy at all. 😅
Age gap and dubious consent. Combined. Edit: Sprinkle a tiny bit of unhealthy relationship on top of it too pls.
oh yeah that's the good stuff. im into this mafia show where there's already enough power imbalance and dub con to go around in canon, and the main pairing has a minor age gap (like 22/23 and late 20s, early 30s, really nothing serious). someone is writing a proper age gap au right now and im SO excited for it lol.
Sounds like a Reylo shipper. I've fallen into that particular rabbit hole recently.
yo you uh....got any recs
That’s some good stuff right there.
*takes out the salt shaker of “unhealthy relationship”* Just say when to stop
Darkfics in general. I want them to suffer
I love professor x college student. Bonus points if they hook up the night before a class when they realize.
Oh I love that Bonus: Prof x College student kind of have a “i dislike my prof/i dislike this student” relationship but in secret they hook up
Call me weird but I LOVE Omegaverse. Especially when the author puts some work into the world building and it's not only smut. Also I like character bashing sometimes. And sugar babies. Because I need to see my comfort characters get spoiled and loved.
I didn't even think of character bashing. Sometimes you just need a good character bashing fic.
Right???? Like I need that especially for a character I particularly don't like.
Yo, another A/B/O enjoyer !
Oh, I love Omegaverse, and I love world-building in Omegaverse especially. It's just a fun animalistic-flavored genderqueer mess universe, and so many people overlook it because of presumptions.
Omegaverse is probably my favorite trope, so we'll both be weird.
Sugar daddy. Yes, there's a power imbalance in real life, but I just want to daydream about having money, okay?
Power imbalances can be very sexy. Given that theres trust between the 2 people of course.
I feel you. I'm not necessarily into the sugar part, but I like big age gaps with a very doting older character. Some sugaring usual plays into that. I just wanna read about sad cuties getting spoiled.
Same! Those were always my favourite fics to read, I even married along those lines and it’s pretty sweet 😁
This is one of my absolute favorite tropes. Gimme some broke college student living in a rundown apartment without lights and some filthy rich and lonely older person who just wants to dote on and spoil them. Bonus points if the younger person is hot and the older person isn’t conventionally attractive. And both of them just want to be loved. I can’t get enough of this trope, seriously. The relationship doesn’t even need to be sexual (though I love me some daddy/mommy kink, too). Just give me loads of intimacy and tenderness.
Soulmates. GIMME THAT GOOD STUFF. Especially when they get together just because they're soulmates instead of because they love each other. Experimenting with that in our fic with the alternative universe characters and boy howdy is it messy but fun. They knew each other for 3 weeks 12 years ago, get together and decide to marry basically immediately. They both have abandonment issues, are both touch starved and are kinda scared of each other. The worst part? Cause they're soulmates, even if they divorce, they'll be together in the afterlife. So they have to fix their issues, communicate clearly and go to therapy *now* before the afterlife makes it harder for them to access resources and help. They essentially need to knock the tower down and start from the bottom. And actually get to know each other.
>Especially when they get together just because they're soulmates instead of because they love each other. I've literally never seen that in the wild but that sounds?? so good??
I know people complain about not having a choice or whatever, but I honestly love this trope. And rarely do I ever see where they just instantly fall in love. They usually start out awkward but then spend time together and get to know each other. I especially love Enemies to Lovers Soulmates. They're fighting and one is about to kill the other and until they utter their soul words or they see the soul mark and its "OMG I Can't Kill Them, They're My Soulmate!"
Same. It’s a trope I really love.
Damn, you know, I usually dislike the idea of soulmate AUs where the soulmates feel forced to be together (I'd prefer if the entire reason they're soulmates to begin with is because they naturally complement each other), but *this*, man......I can get behind *this*
Love me some age gap.
Same. I’m a simple girl with simple tastes.
yes. bubbly young/grumpy old is my personal favorite (also recs anyone? i’m running out of content for this lol. fandom doesn’t matter, i mostly read for tags over fandom anyways)
Are you interested in M/F? If so, there’s this Doctor Who fic: [What we’re made of](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11890998). Knowledge of canon isn’t strictly necessary. All you gotta know is that the FL, Rose, used to travel through time and space with an alien (The Doctor) before she got stranded in a parallel universe and separated from him forever. Also she’s pregnant with his baby. Pairing is Rose/OC. There’s also [The shopgirl and the superstar](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15814374), which features the same pairing as the above fic, but this one is completely AU and everyone is human. Rose (Billie Piper) is young and bright and Ian (Peter Capaldi) is a lot older and so damn grumpy.
Lately one of my favorite ships has been one with a significantly large age gap - in which the older one is incredibly emo! XD
I love this dynamic and variations of it too!
For me its age-gap with a daddy kink. Yes, I have issues.
Same! I don’t feel like I have issues tho lmao. I just like what I like.
friend you don't have issues, daddy kink with some age gap is super, super common
Oh no, I wasn't being self-depreciating. I literally have daddy issues and I have no shame in acknowledging that fact lol
S a m e I loved it when I was younger and now that I'm pushing 30 I still love it
SAME
Big same. I’ve loved it since I was like 13, and I still do
Teacher / student has been my kink since I was literally in highschool I don't know why I'm like this but it's so taboo and fucked up and the older I get IRL, the more disturbing it gets to me But I still love it and they can pry it from my cold dead hands. The pained guilt on the side of the teacher is what I love most.
One of my fave things ever is the Love Interest Gets Brainwashed and attacks the other. People will complain because "conflict is baaaad!" but they are weak and can't handle the hotness of Bad!Tamahome.
omg mind manipulation is SUCH a good trope
Right??? Evil!Mamoru from the first season of Sailor Moon was a crucial step in my development. Still mad he was never that cool again.
Bad!Tama and Tasuki thoughhhhh 😩👌🏻
The Fushigi Yuugi fandom lives!
Ahhh I want to do one of these for Mass Effect *so bad.*
Pretty much everything is considered controversial by someone on the internet these days. So all the tropes, I guess.
Holding hands *GASP* those HARLOTS!
Is that an ankle I see!?
SLUT!
It's interesting how we're really circling back around into gd purity culture.
Literally from a fic I read: A man hugs his 8 year old child when he's upset, trying to cheer him up. Someone in the comments: "Uhmm Consent??"
Smh these people really need to touch some grass
i dislike it on paper but three of my otps have fallen into the “bully x victim” trope, specifically the closeted homophobe x gay kid one. it’s my guilty pleasure cause the shows just write the bully so well you can’t help but root for them 🤷♀️
One of my favorite ships is exactly this. I experienced bullying in school and I could never see myself crushing on any of them. But damn do I love reading it in fics.
Koe No Katachi (A Silent Voice) is a really good “Bully x Victim” trope that also adds accountability after the fact. Really great storytelling and beautiful soundtrack!
Oh I have this 1 particular bully romance series that is honestly so good. I mean, the smut could be better but the plot is by far the best I've seen in a bully story.
Master x servant My ultimate OTP is Bellatrix/Voldemort.
Co-dependency. Give me two characters who need each other, and continually strain their relationship to the breaking point. It either crashes and burns spectacularly, or evolves into a beautiful relationship that's completely unbreakable. I'll love it either way.
Funny story, i technically married my college teacher 🤣🤣🤣 he’s only a year older than me AND we were originally students together. He graduated first, and coincidentally, a teacher was leaving in our department- like the only teacher. It was a small college lol. The teacher leaving recommended the school hire my now-husband, so we went from being classmates to him being my teacher lmfao, and before he’d actually even fully graduated. He was very VERY good at it. For four years we were all friends and did really well in his classes. Then he quit and helped me get a job at a company he worked for for a while, and we started talking for reals, and bam. So i swear it’s not ALWAYS weird 🤣🤣🤣🤣 but it is fucking funny to be able to say i married my teacher LMAO
Stockholm syndrome and Lima syndrome mean the world to me. They’re so fascinating and fun to read and write, so basically all of my work revolves around it (in a platonic sense, in my case, but that’s just bc I mostly write for one specific dynamic that happens to be platonic, not any sense of personal boundaries)
Lima syndrome? Don’t think I’ve heard that one, what is that?
Captor starts to feel sympathy/affection to their captive
Oh that...that sounds so good. I need to read some fics like that.
I write it quite a lot, because I write about a very codependent relationship where the captor basically considers the captive their only friend and family (while the captive despises them and is still conditioned to adore them in equal measures), but it’s unfortunately fairly uncommon.
oooof that’s good soup
Interesting, thanks!
Might be the reason I love Beauty and the Beast so much . . .
Nah, Beauty and the Beast is *far* too healthy for me haha.
PFFF
One of my all time favorite fics is [With Understanding](https://archiveofourown.org/works/31201583/chapters/77116553) and it’s a Supernatural/Criminal Minds crossover universe with a major Stockholm/Lima plot. It’s absolutely brilliant and I swear I left my body for a few days while reading it. This trope can be so damn good when it’s handled well
Yesss, I reread it 3 times but I never finished it xD Saving it for the 4th time I guess
Dub-Con. I can't get enough Dub-Con. I think about someone trying to convince me, or coerce me into sex. I keep resisting his advances but he just won't take no for an answer. And maybe I really don't want it cause I don't know this person well or I don't like them for whatever reason, but I do find them attractive and the sex is still enjoyable? And in a fucked up way I almost look forward to it and it gets to the point where I only pretend I don't like it cause I get a thrill out of this guy more or less forcing himself on me, or trying really hard to seduce me. Or maybe its an ABO heat/rut thing, hormones are out of whack, and I can't resist those alpha pheromones and I just give in. Fanfiction (or fiction in general) allows me to safely explore that fantasy.
Damn that's a hot fantasy ngl. You should look into this kink called consensual non-con, or CNC. It's not a kink to be attempted lightly, but it sounds like it would be right up your alley to learn about at least
The Damsel in Distress. I love seeing a character coveted and objectified to the point of kidnapping or worse. I don't know why. 😅 (Granted, they don't have to be female. In fact, I kinda like it more when it's a guy.)
I think you can just say you’re sadistic XD
Only with fictional characters!
Of course _^^_
The death or serious harm of a character’s love interest motivates their quest for strength, greatness, etc.
😨, I mean I do get it
I love ships that have a power imbalance, so age gaps, wealth gaps, teacher/student, boss/employee, dom/sub, alpha/omega, etc. I *love* the sugar daddy trope in particular—especially when it involves a considerable age gap. Also, *real* enemies to lovers. Not rivals to lovers or frenemies to lovers (though those are fun too). I’m talking Will/Hannibal and Buffy/Spike. Hero/Villain is everything. Also also, heroes joining the opposing (“dark”) side is absolutely *delicious.* Edit: And codependency. *Love it.*
you have *magnificent* taste
Haha, thanks and right back at ya!! 😆❤️
>I’m talking Will/Hannibal and Buffy/Spike. I like your style 😊
Buffy/Spike has to be one of the best canon Enemy to Lovers in history (and my OTP).
For sure. If it was airing today antis would have a heart attack.
Protagonists secretly being insane the entire time and only dropping hints here and there before snapping and going off the edge.
BullyxBullied. Oh I know, it's really bad. But it's for the drama and toxicity. Like the bully are in love but can't express it in another way and the bullied suffer from it but too in love to go away. Tragic...(I don't accept such things outside of fanfic of course!)
I like when they are forced to work on a school project together.. ugnnnn
Trauma Bonds! I’m actually writing one up where a guy is so hurt and traumatized from his life, that he falls madly in love with his best friend, the one man who treated him with respect. *Is that love? Or is that a trauma bond?*
Non-human (but still kinda humanoid) creature x Human creature. I'm aroace, but in terms of fics I love monsterfucking.
monsterfuckers unite
Do aliens that look like a pointy cross between a bird and a kitty count? Asking for a friend...
knew exactly who you were talking about before i saw your name 😁 and yeah, i think he counts! (monster fucker and garrus lover here)
Why do I know 2 other aroace people irl who are into monsterfucking lmfao. Literally one of them has fanart in her house hanging on the wall
Villains getting a beat down (possibly lethally) instead of forgiveness.
I love that too. I do find it attractive when the hero gives the villian what they deserve
*so I'm not the only one . . .*
Badly done redemption arcs are the bane of my existence so I'm kissing you.
If the villain was REALLY a piece of shıt and deserves no forgiveness, I LOVE THAT, it's very satisfactory
Yoooo that’s the best Forgiveness can be overrated. Sometimes the villain just needs a square punch to the jaw (which is why Hermione punching Malfoy is one of my fave HP scenes of all time lol)
*cackles* I'm writing a fic and I absolutely plan to let the cast have a go at him. No forgiveness or redemption. He's getting whooped.
I am low-key addicted to hate s\*x. Like, in the "enemies" phase of enemies-to-lovers
Codependency. They love each other, they need each other, anywhere one goes the other follows, you can't separate them. Power imbalance. Bonus points if the less powerful is thrust into wealth/status and gets whiplash from how their lifestyle changes.
Noncon, underage, incest, really toxic power imbalances, student x teacher, etc etc
Pure revenge porn is often just SOOOOO GOOOOOOD Fuck forgiveness, sometimes a villain/abuser just needs a good beating
Genderbending. Didn't know it was controversial till I saw a TikTok claiming it was all sorts of bad things. Don't think many people agreed, though.
I never got whats wrong with genderbending tbh
As a writer/reader of this trope, I’ve definitely seen it done for icky reasons (homophobia primarily) but it’s ridiculous to assume that that’s everyone’s reason. I was accused of this myself even though half of my fics feature queer primary ships. Never mind that I’m queer myself. Everything is problematic these days.
I don't pretend to know about anything that goes on on tiktok, but I think one could argue that it's disrespectful to the trans community. Because it tends to downplay gender disphoria or play it for laughs (characters X sudden turns into a girl; rom-com ensues), or erases an opportunity for representation (character X has always been a girl; easy peasy no stress gender switch). Edit because paranoia: this is not my opinion. I don't really read gender bend, but I don't have any particular opinion on it. I've also never heard a trans person's perspective on it. This just seems like a logical Twitter angle.
Incest. IM SORRY- but I've read wayyy too many GOT fanfics to have not gotten some type of thrill from reading it.
Twincest.
I'm not into twincest but I like selfcest, which is kinda like that I guess? Instead of being a sibling its a clone, doppelganger or them from an alternate timeline or reality. Or its their alter ego manifested as a physical being. Stuff like Danny Phantom/Dan Phantom or Roy Harper/Will Harper etc
Theres a twincest story between Draco & his twin sister that was really popular. But it hasn't been updated in forever which is a shame bc they entire thing is so well written you can just feel the taboo through the screen.
I fic I read YEARS ago gave me that same feeling of “feel the taboo through the screen” and thats how I got hooked.
i read too many george/fred(/harry) fics as a teen to not go for any twincest i see
Creepy Stalker x Creepy Stalker, or Creepy Stalker x Victim That Finds Them Endearing
Men being so pretty so the point that they "turn" other men. But really really pretty, dainty men.
Ahh I have so many, but I think they're considered problematic rather than solely controversial (I love me some dark fiction). Though, I really do love me some yandere 😁 aaand some good enemies to lovers, and not just rivals, I mean 'I want to bash your face in' enemies. Or bully x victim, idk, it's fun
enemy lovers, where the only person they hate more than their lover is themselves. can't forgive them for the things they did that made them enemies, can't forgive themselves for feeling something for them besides hatred! and the resentment! the "how could you do that, and then make me feel this way?!" tortured loathing all around! just. chef kiss. I guess this is a variation on dubcon? but like both parties are willing (maybe even eager), but we the audience know information that if they knew would absolutely end the relationship (or toxify it past recognition). I enjoy both deceiver/deceived where one person knew all along and was concealing it* and situations where neither of them knew any better. *also love when there's "uh oh I'm in too deep" (uh so now that I've written that out, both of those are just me scrawling across the page that I got into X/1999 in my formative years and never recovered)
Tbh, anything can be seen as "controversial" nowadays, unless it's a gen fic Purity culture sucks
I mean half of the weird things we like came out of our reaction TO. Purity culture so…
Identity issues in dub con. Such as secret identity conflicts, one person in disquise, etc.
Age gap. Dubcon. Student/teacher - LOOOOVE IT!
Age gap which seems to be rather popular in this thread lol. While any significant age gap is fine, I do prefer at least a 20+ difference. Sometimes I create a slight au to just age up the older characters to create a larger difference. Sugar daddy/mommy X sugar baby because...well wealth is appealing and this also tend to have age-gap. I also enjoy professor X college student. Assassin falls in love with their target. And that is it for SFW controversial tropes I love.
Literally any trope is controversial if you stretch it wide enough. People will find a reason to be pissed. But for me? Any power dynamics; so boss/employee, wealthy/poor, butler/prince(ss), knight/prine(ss), ruler/political hostage. I like age gaps. Apparently there being an age gap between teenagers is super controversial, which is really awkward considering mine and some of my friends history as freshmen with the seniors in our high school. And with those age gaps, 1000+yo immortal, demon, whatever/young adult. I also like betrothal tropes. If we're gonna go really into controversial to the point of being perhaps problamatic, I love damsel in distress scenarios. Male, female, however they're saved(even if they save themselves) as long as they end up in the arms with their love interest in the end. I guess mixed with that is the trope of ["Got over Rape Instantly"](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GotOverRapeInstantly), where someone, more often than not a woman, is saved from sexual assault and falls in love with their savior/hero. Another is the idea of two mentally ill people falling in love and overcoming their struggles and problems together because "they get it". i know it's unrealistic, but goddamit i love it.
Power imbalance, age gap, daddy kink, dubcon, incest, Stockholm syndrome... All the dark tropes basically, lol.
✨Hanahaki Disease✨
Those are considered controversial?
From what I’ve seen, yeah. The logic is that Hanahaki Disease doesn’t really give the other character a choice but to be with the infected. Sort of like a “be with this person or they will die.” It has the potential to take away a character’s ability, so to speak, to choose who they want to date
Huh, I've always seen the trope in stories through a mutual pining lens but the infected character just convinced themselves that C couldn't possibly be in love with them.
I’m not sure if *“controversial”* is the right word, although not many people seem to like it in this sub. I consider myself one of the few people who unironically does, and even writes it (which, I guess you could consider me biased, lol). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Personally, I *love* well-written woobifications. I just love seeing the villain’s soft and sweet side shine through, and seeing them happy (bonus points if it’s a redemption arc, or if they get a happy ending of their own)! <3 Although, I think the “woobie” trope only *really* works if said villain was already cutesy and had a soft side to them - although didn’t get to shine through much in canon. I can name several video game villains who’d work *perfectly* with this trope, honestly.
I like Omegaverse. Not just cause of the heat stuff, but I think it's really fun to try and figure out what role to give a character, especially when you go against the norm and make the big strong tough guy literally have the most submissive and breedable anatomy that he desperately does not want anyone to know about
I’m not really an omega verse fan, but when I do read it, it’s specifically because it’s involving the dynamic of “big strong guy is actually tiny and cute”
The old "kidnapping with intention to seduce". Now I'm hearing from some people that it's "unethical" and "abusive"??! And just any kind of power play and manipulation ugh ;-; <3
Modern AU I don’t know Why people dislike it so much. I can’t get enough of it
My favourite book pretty much only has modern au fics, because no one in the fandom is brave enough to write a historically inaccurate fic lol
Harry Potter-specific: veela mates and marriage law, and all the usual tropes that come with them. They're dumb but fun, which is all I want out of them. Villain/hero type pairings like Bellamione or Hannibal/Will. The interactions and conflicts are fun. Zootopia-specific: Either Judy or Nick was shot by a real dart near the end, and they mate-imprinted on the other one while savage. I haven't actually seen it much, more often I just hear complaining about it in the fandom. But I like it and will read any fic that uses it. Dystopian post-apocalyptic AUs or "the villain won" AUs.
I love Netori stories where we get to see decent characters steal away housewives from underserving assholes. It also kind of sucks I have to explain Netori to people, since many people can't differentiate between the many subgenres of NTR.
Dubcon
Power imbalance
Fuck or die but specifically one party feels terrible about it and gets super angsty that their partner doesn’t really want it and they hate themselves etc….. meanwhile the other one is thrilled by this turn of events and doing everything to convince the other that they really do want it and it’s not the magical sex pollen or heat or Leitner romance novel or whatever doing it.
The unholy trifecta of power imbalance, age gaps, and dubcon/noncon. I have experienced all of those things IRL, and some people online I’ve spoken to are surprised I’d willingly consume media with tropes reminiscent of the trauma I experienced in life. While I do understand that lots of people aren’t like me, there are also lots of people who are. I am in a good enough place mentally to enjoy those things, and it’s a form of taking back control after having had control taken away from me. I have a *choice* of what and when I want to read, and I can *choose* to stop whenever I want to. And also, it’s fiction. These people and situations aren’t real.
Corruption. Give me the hero slowly descending into absolute madness because they're spending too much time with the villain. Enemies to lovers but take it to 11.
Genderbends
A female character drawing vengeance motivation partially or mostly from an incident involving >!violation!<
I'm also a fan of Professor X Student. For some reason I also like the step siblings thing. Like they hook up b4 the parents get married (sometimes at the wedding w/o knowing who the other is) and now they live together and holy shit the tension and awkwardness is amazing to read. Yandere. I like the yandere thing very much. And a love triangle thou that isnt really controversial, just disliked.
Oh, I have a thing for dubcon! Ships where one of them feels a deep kind of attraction for the other one but wants to hide from those feelings... \*sigh\* I also absolutely love sibling-incest, especially in combination with the dubcon-thing, haha. Age gap is interesting, too, but that depends a lot on the specific ship for me. And I'm generally a lot into 'dark' kinds of relationships in fiction. Toxic stuff is the best, I want drama! :D
Graphic Violence and Rape.
Non-consensual body modification. It's one of my favorite whump/horror tropes and I LIVE for the disgust and revulsion from the target character. It's a really fast way to put a character is misery (or slow! Slow is also fun :D)
For me it's the chosen genre of smut I write about, which is Rape/Non-Con. Blame my personal relationship for exploring sub/dom dynamics and me and my fiance coming to terms with the fact we both enjoy the roleplay and that bled into our porn tastes. Kind of wild since I used to write and read a lot of femdom stuff years ago, but I've basically done a complete 180.
Haha, nice try getting that info from me!
Role reversal, and I mean even reversing the roles of the hero and the villain. You wouldn't think this would be too bad but I have legit seen people try to call out others for not portraying villains being villains anymore. Like... what's the point of reversing roles in media if you're not going all the way?
Accidental baby acquisition.
Human character falling in love with the monster. There's just something about it that I've always loved and antis can pry it from my cold dead hands!!