Dear Multifandom Tropefest Writer
Dear writer,
Thank you so much for writing for me! I am so excited for this exchange because almost as much as I love fandom, I love tropes...
For any of the tropes, I love tropes played straight, tropes inverted or subverted. I've included my thoughts below on my fandoms and tropes, but here are some general things that I like and don’t like.
General likes:
Dan Humphrey/Blair Waldorf
So, embarrassing confession: I've been into this pairing since that episode in season one where Dan shared the story about his mother leaving with Blair after the photoshoot debacle with Eleanor and Serena. I love how Dan was the only person to really see Blair, for better and worse, for who she truly was. And I loved their slow relationship evolution: from mutual disgust to situational allies to friends and then close confidants.
I’ve nominated the following tropes:
Canon also ended with them not together so I’d love to either see them further down the line getting together (or back together) or a canon divergent AU where they hadn’t yet gotten together and ultimately do end up together. This could also be played with Blair seeing Dan after not being in contact for quite a while and then seeing him and realizing that she totally has a thing for Humphrey.
Blair is someone that is very concerned about social appearances, so I would absolutely love to see that played with respect to either finding out that they’re soulmates, but digging her heels in and trying to stop it because she knows in her heart that she’s meant for someone who’s got the same social prestige as her (and then falling in love with Dan because he really is her soulmate!) or vice versa.
I also think that there’s so many identity porn ways that you can go with this where one or both of them is using a secret identity (especially with the whole Gossip Girl presence, although you can use any kind of secret identity that you like!)
I also love any premise for them having to pretend to be together OR providing support when one has to take care of a sudden kid. Lastly-I love Blair perhaps especially when she’s super bitchy or manipulative so feel free use that.
Generation Kill
Brad Colbert/Nate Fick
Oh my god, I love these two characters-there's so much that I could say about them. I love the complete and utter trust between the two of them, in one of the highest stress situations imaginable. They're always on the same page and they always have each other's back, no matter what. It gets me right in heart, so much. SO MUCH.
I’ve nominated the following tropes:
Do they have to marry each other to save one of their political careers or do they have to marry because one of them has been compromised in some other way? Has one of them been falsely accused of treason and now the other has to rescue them and clear their name? Does one of them have to protect the other from reputational injury, career injury or actual injury? I am there for all of it!
On the lighter side, I would definitely love to see one of the guys selflessly setting up the other on date after date even while pining the entire time. OR one of them coming into sudden child acquisition and the other having to pitch in and help out.
Luther
John Luther/Alice Morgan
These guys…god, I cannot get enough of the first few seasons. I love how incredibly smart Alice is and how incredibly obsessed she is with Luther. And how Luther tries to not get drawn in, but can’t help but be by Alice’s intelligence and logic. They’re both so incredibly dysfunctional and yet they work (albeit less…morally) when they’re together.
I nominated the following tropes:
I also love the thought that one (or both of them) is destined for great things. Perhaps one of them has begun receiving prophetic dreams and they have to reconcile that with their lives. Maybe Alice starts subtly and secretly assisting Luther’s investigations in order to promote his name and ideals, believing that he’s destined for great things even if that means she needs to be the ones getting her hands dirty to do so.
Another trope that is perfect for Luther and Alice is a fake/pretend relationship if they’re on the lam or if Alice is trying to reintegrate back into society. I love how Alice is upfront with her feelings regarding Luther but Luther constantly tries to separate himself from his feelings or lie to himself about what he is feeling (as opposed to what he should be feeling).
Most of all, I love how good is not nice for either one of them, for a variety of reasons (although good is very subjective in this show). I’d love to see more of that explored and the morally dubious or wrong things that they end up doing.
Harry Potter
Neville/Harry
Neville/Draco
Draco/Harry
Neville/Harry-I love that these two have had lives that orbit each other without actually being more than distant friends for most of their lives. Either one of them could have largely lead the other’s lives and they both carry a lot of pain and grief regarding the wizarding wars.
Neville/Draco-Ugh, I love the thought of awkward, bullied Neville growing up and Draco falling head over heels in love with him. Maybe Neville is now confident or maybe he’s still awkward, either way, I feel like there’s so much potential for past regrets, atonement, angst, utter confusion and hilarity.
Harry/Draco-the classic pairing. They have so much chemistry, it’s really off the charts. Both of them were obsessed with each other in school-how does that translate to their lives after school?
For any of these, feel free to do EWE, some time post-epilogue, canon-divergent, alternate universe, you name it.
I nominated the following tropes:
I also love the idea of both characters needing to marry for wizarding reasons (or one of them needing to marry and the other lying about needing to marry but doing it because they really love the other character) and pining thinking that their feelings are unrequited.
The wizarding world is also PERFECT for identity porn be it due to changed appearance, wizarding correspondence, you name it!
I also love the thought of the characters not seeing each other after the tumultuous period at Hogwarts until several years have passed. Suddenly they meet, and oh no, Neville Longbottom is drop dead gorgeous, how.
With all the heaviness of prophecies, I would love to see the once and future king trope explored, be it with Harry, Neville or Draco.
Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for writing for me! I am so excited for this exchange because almost as much as I love fandom, I love tropes...
For any of the tropes, I love tropes played straight, tropes inverted or subverted. I've included my thoughts below on my fandoms and tropes, but here are some general things that I like and don’t like.
General likes:
- Hurt/comfort
- Conflict
- Slow burn
- Pining and UST
- Sacrifices, especially if characters are making big sacrifices on behalf of someone that they care deeply about
- Angst (ideally ending in a HEA)
- Having dysfunctional relationships
- Enemies being forced (either directly or by circumstances) to work together
- Enemies to lovers
- Opposites attracting or coming to understand each other
- Marriages of convenience, fake dating, etc.
- People being thrown together in wildly unexpected situations
- Magical realism and magical powers
- Time travel, time loops, time do-overs etc.
- Modern royalty AUs
- Identity porn
- Settings that have a sense of mystery: cemeteries, forests, abandoned temples etc.
- Epistolary and non-linear storytelling
- Canon divergence
- Mythology
- Hidden displays of affection
- Major character death
- Noncon
- Incest
- Painplay
- Torture
- Humiliation kink
- A/b/o
- Dom/sub
- Mpreg
- Knotting
- Coffee shop AUs
- High school AUs
Dan Humphrey/Blair Waldorf
So, embarrassing confession: I've been into this pairing since that episode in season one where Dan shared the story about his mother leaving with Blair after the photoshoot debacle with Eleanor and Serena. I love how Dan was the only person to really see Blair, for better and worse, for who she truly was. And I loved their slow relationship evolution: from mutual disgust to situational allies to friends and then close confidants.
I’ve nominated the following tropes:
- Pitbull Dates Puppy (Prissy High-Maintenance Character)
- Sudden Realization - Oh No They're Hot - seeing after long separation
- Soulmates - Socially Unacceptable Soulmates
- Identity Porn - Secret Identity
- Identity Porn - Pretending to be Someone Else's Secret Identity
- Mistaken Identity - Not Really a Superhero
- Kidfic - Unexpected Baby Acquisition
- Fake/Pretend Relationship
- good is not nice
Canon also ended with them not together so I’d love to either see them further down the line getting together (or back together) or a canon divergent AU where they hadn’t yet gotten together and ultimately do end up together. This could also be played with Blair seeing Dan after not being in contact for quite a while and then seeing him and realizing that she totally has a thing for Humphrey.
Blair is someone that is very concerned about social appearances, so I would absolutely love to see that played with respect to either finding out that they’re soulmates, but digging her heels in and trying to stop it because she knows in her heart that she’s meant for someone who’s got the same social prestige as her (and then falling in love with Dan because he really is her soulmate!) or vice versa.
I also think that there’s so many identity porn ways that you can go with this where one or both of them is using a secret identity (especially with the whole Gossip Girl presence, although you can use any kind of secret identity that you like!)
I also love any premise for them having to pretend to be together OR providing support when one has to take care of a sudden kid. Lastly-I love Blair perhaps especially when she’s super bitchy or manipulative so feel free use that.
Generation Kill
Brad Colbert/Nate Fick
Oh my god, I love these two characters-there's so much that I could say about them. I love the complete and utter trust between the two of them, in one of the highest stress situations imaginable. They're always on the same page and they always have each other's back, no matter what. It gets me right in heart, so much. SO MUCH.
I’ve nominated the following tropes:
- Arranged Marriage - mutual pining between spouses
- Falsely Accused of Being a Traitor
- Hiding an Injury/Illness - Faking Recovery From Injury/Trauma So People Stop Worrying About You
- Identity Porn - Online Dating
- Identity Porn - Secret Identity
- Magic has a Cost
- Protection - Character verbally defends someone who isn't standing up for themself
- Reincarnation - Only One Person Remembers
- trapped behind enemy lines
- Matchmaking - Falling in Love with Matchmaker
- Marriage of Convenience
- Kid Fic
- Self-Sacrifice - Against Orders
- Self-Sacrifice - of Reputation
- Self-Sacrifice - of Health/Safety
Do they have to marry each other to save one of their political careers or do they have to marry because one of them has been compromised in some other way? Has one of them been falsely accused of treason and now the other has to rescue them and clear their name? Does one of them have to protect the other from reputational injury, career injury or actual injury? I am there for all of it!
On the lighter side, I would definitely love to see one of the guys selflessly setting up the other on date after date even while pining the entire time. OR one of them coming into sudden child acquisition and the other having to pitch in and help out.
Luther
John Luther/Alice Morgan
These guys…god, I cannot get enough of the first few seasons. I love how incredibly smart Alice is and how incredibly obsessed she is with Luther. And how Luther tries to not get drawn in, but can’t help but be by Alice’s intelligence and logic. They’re both so incredibly dysfunctional and yet they work (albeit less…morally) when they’re together.
I nominated the following tropes:
- good is not nice
- Hiding an Injury/Illness - Faking Recovery From Injury/Trauma So People Stop Worrying About You
- Fake/Pretend Relationship
- Enemies Forced To Work Together
- Enemies to Lovers
- Once and Future King
- Time Loop - Antagonist Is Also Looping
I also love the thought that one (or both of them) is destined for great things. Perhaps one of them has begun receiving prophetic dreams and they have to reconcile that with their lives. Maybe Alice starts subtly and secretly assisting Luther’s investigations in order to promote his name and ideals, believing that he’s destined for great things even if that means she needs to be the ones getting her hands dirty to do so.
Another trope that is perfect for Luther and Alice is a fake/pretend relationship if they’re on the lam or if Alice is trying to reintegrate back into society. I love how Alice is upfront with her feelings regarding Luther but Luther constantly tries to separate himself from his feelings or lie to himself about what he is feeling (as opposed to what he should be feeling).
Most of all, I love how good is not nice for either one of them, for a variety of reasons (although good is very subjective in this show). I’d love to see more of that explored and the morally dubious or wrong things that they end up doing.
Harry Potter
Neville/Harry
Neville/Draco
Draco/Harry
Neville/Harry-I love that these two have had lives that orbit each other without actually being more than distant friends for most of their lives. Either one of them could have largely lead the other’s lives and they both carry a lot of pain and grief regarding the wizarding wars.
Neville/Draco-Ugh, I love the thought of awkward, bullied Neville growing up and Draco falling head over heels in love with him. Maybe Neville is now confident or maybe he’s still awkward, either way, I feel like there’s so much potential for past regrets, atonement, angst, utter confusion and hilarity.
Harry/Draco-the classic pairing. They have so much chemistry, it’s really off the charts. Both of them were obsessed with each other in school-how does that translate to their lives after school?
For any of these, feel free to do EWE, some time post-epilogue, canon-divergent, alternate universe, you name it.
I nominated the following tropes:
- Time Travel - Accidentally End up Allied with Villain They Intended to Kill
- Time Loop - Antagonist Is Also Looping
- Sudden Realization - Oh No They're Hot - seeing after long separation
- Self-Sacrifice - of Reputation
- Self-Sacrifice - of Health/Safety
- Self-Sacrifice - Against Orders
- Physical Fighting Leads to Making Out
- Once and Future King
- Mistaken Identity - Not Really a Superhero
- Marriage of Convenience
- Identity Porn - Secret Identity
- Falsely Accused of Being a Traitor
- Fake/Pretend Relationship
- Fairy Tale Curses
- Arranged Marriage - mutual pining between spouses
- Arranged Marriage
I also love the idea of both characters needing to marry for wizarding reasons (or one of them needing to marry and the other lying about needing to marry but doing it because they really love the other character) and pining thinking that their feelings are unrequited.
The wizarding world is also PERFECT for identity porn be it due to changed appearance, wizarding correspondence, you name it!
I also love the thought of the characters not seeing each other after the tumultuous period at Hogwarts until several years have passed. Suddenly they meet, and oh no, Neville Longbottom is drop dead gorgeous, how.
With all the heaviness of prophecies, I would love to see the once and future king trope explored, be it with Harry, Neville or Draco.
Thank you so much!