I love the ugliness of love. Removing love from its socially accepted roots. Love as not a mere source of tragedy and sadness, but as an active corruptive power over those it mystifies. Love as the addiction without cure and the wound forever bleeding. I love seeing the beauty of something so coveted spun on its head.

People are always talking about how characters can’t just be friends anymore. That every pair of characters that act amicable towards each other gets labeled as lovers by the fandom and has their friendship completely disregarded. And all of that’s true. But I just want to say that it also applies to enemies to lovers.

Nobody can just be enemies either it seems. Every dynamic involving characters fighting or having a rivalry or otherwise unfriendly relationship gets reduced to “spicy sexual tension” and “hiding their true feelings behind a different kind of passion.” Hate, anger, fear, disgust, distrust, etc. are such interesting human emotions on their own. They don’t need romance to make them interesting. People can just hate each other sometimes.

I’m so sick of romance culture and it’s need to insert itself into everything to make things better, more interesting, or more complex. Maybe if you just stop and shut up for a second, you’d see that it’s already all that and more. People need to learn to appreciate emotions that aren’t love and lust, and types of passion that aren’t motivated by love or lust, and character dynamics that don’t revolve and love and lust.

And people actually think that enemies to lovers is rare and underrated? “I’m so quirky and edgy! I like enemies to lovers and real relationships that aren’t all unicorns and rainbows!” Yeah and so do the rest of the 8 billion people on this planet, you’re not special. Like yeah, ship what you want or whatever, but I’m just sick of this shit.

If you don't see your fave put it in the tags! (RIP tumblr polls only give you ten slots)

Oddly specific tropes I'm in love with:

A lullaby sung in a character's childhood becomes a great deal of help and/or comfort for said character as an adult.

A character shouts "Enough!" and either exhibits an intimidatingly god-like array of power or commands the attention of everyone present. Either way, everything pauses and/or changes for a moment.

In a moment of great need and/or when all hope seems lost, a character displays an instance of unfathomable power and saves the day (at least for a moment) then passes out from exertion. Bonus points if said character didn't know they had that kind of strength.

Any variation of "May I kiss you?"

"If (so and so) wasn't happening right now, I'd kiss you" and they kiss anyway.

A character that's deemed untouchable and uninfluenced by any force is suddenly at their antagonist's mercy because said antagonist took the one thing/person they secretly care about.

Bonus: A character just casually walks away after doing something intense, badass, and/or horrifying. Doubly cool if they're whistling.

Obsessed with the trope of characters believing they are inhuman monsters after being told so or lied to by the world around them for so long, and eventually giving in to become the monster in retaliation.

They become devils because nobody ever gave them a choice. That is what they were condemned as from the start. They are only living up to the expectation, right? But in the end, their only ever crime was being born different.

Reblog if you hate the ‘Dogs Are Good/Cats Are Bad’ trope in fiction.

So, one of my kinks is "neurodivergent character infodumps about their hyperfixation while their love interest listens with a dopey, lovestruck smile."

People debate about whether canon is more important than fanon or which one gets the "final say," but I think it's pointless because it's all fanon. Yes, you watch a specific set of events unfolding on screen, but you insert your own interpretations while you're watching it.

We might THINK that we're taking the series as it is without inserting our own theories, but that's not true. Two people can watch the same episode and have totally different interpretations, each thinking that they're right. Look at all the fandom discussions about characters and their motivations. That wouldn't happen if everyone just blankly watched episodes without thinking about it.

Even people who say that they only draw or write about canon scenes aren't really doing that. For example, if you draw art for a canon ship, you're still drawing a scene that doesn't exist in the show. And yet, it feels equally real to you.

Likewise, other media influences the way that you view the series. If you watch a live-action adaption of a novel, you have different mental images when you read the book again. Someone who hasn't watched the movie wouldn't view the book that way.

No objective "canon" exists. Even the people who worked on the series (writers, directors, actors, etc.) interpret their work a little differently. A book written by one person might be the closest, but the writer can't control the mental images that each reader creates.

Canon doesn't matter. It's all imaginative anyway.

"don't force nuclear family dynamics on found family!" Ok sure but found family is not inherently non-nuclear either, just throwing that out there,,, it is a family that is found,, that's ,, that's it. Whatever family means to you.

(yes I am thinking about buddy daddies again)

I need a trauma hardened and emotionally stunted man who gets grievously injured then nursed back to health by the secretly badass and sarcastic sidekick of the mc who he has unknowingly fallen head over heels in love with like I need air

Why are so many werewolves in fiction toxic masculinity incarnate?

Like I get it, wolves traditionally represent a lot of bad things, but look at wolves in real life for a second. They’re pack animals, led by a parent, and work together to hunt and live.

More of that sort of werewolf please. More werewolf packs in which the members would do anything to protect each other and actually nurture and care for weaker people than them. No ‘survival of the fittest.’ No ‘alpha male’. I want werewolves that are family as well as wild. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Fighting your evil twin is boring, what I really want to see is a whole team who are already thoroughly established as good guys have to work with their evil twins and everyone is super pressed about it EXCEPT for the one everyone thinks is nicest, and when their teammates are like "How the hell are you so chill they're trying to convince you to commit atrocities???" they're like "Oh I already put up with this in my head 24/7" and that's how you learn that while being good may come naturally to some, this character has been very very deliberately choosing kindness in an uphill battle against their own mind this entire time, and they're still the goodest of the good guys

You know that one character trope meme of "character A fell in love first and character B fell in love harder"

Thats Nuzi, Uzi fell in love first (semi-canon) and N is going to fall harder for her,It may take a while but that will happen trust me!!!

My favourite fiction trope is when characters can deeply understand each other and be intimate without talking because I struggle with communication.

(also I have auditory sensory issues and I love when people just stay quiet)

(yes that is precisely the reason why I'm down bad for Andreil)

One of my fave tropes: character A is dying (sick or wounded) and won’t go until character B gives them permission to let go.

Bonus: character A asks if it’s okay and B tearfully tells them it’s okay to go, and then char A goes.

THE ANGST!!! 😭❤️

I've seen a number of discussions of the NMCU Daredevil ep Nelson V Murdock, some of which I couldn't understand, and figured I'd throw in my 2 cents so far as my feelings on one particular thing.

I really, really dislike what I call the 'BFF Secret Identity Reveal Fallout' trope.

I see it all the time, often as a key narrative beat when attempting to create tension or complexity. The hero has someone they care for or trust more than anyone else, but they keep the secret out of fear - fear of a number of things, but often at the core a fear of rejection. This might be amplified by the BBF previously expressing negative feelings about the masked persona.

Then the secret comes out, and just as they feared the BFF is angry, and at the center of the interpersonal tension is the fact that the hero lied, and that's the part that gets to me, because the reasons for why the hero lied seem to so rarely be taken into consideration - lying, especially to a loved one, is depicted as wrong in and of itself.

But here's the thing - lying isn't inherently amoral.

(I'll note here that I recognize this is an opinion - our personal morals are steadfast, connecting to our core values, which are actually the anchors of our identities/sense of self, but they're just that: personal, not universally absolute. What I'm expressing here is my own opinion.)

The concept that it is inherently amoral gets my back up, and I know it's because of personal experience (good times with trauma! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧), but I think my feelings are legitimate nonetheless. I know how it is to lie to protect yourself or others from harm, physical or otherwise; that there are times honesty is unsafe, or even simply unkind. I know how it is to lie out of fear of rejection - every time I come out to someone I feel it. I've learned the hard way that someone who has given every indication that they have zero issue with queerness and would be accepting of my queerness can end up not being accepting. It rips my heart out every time, and does nothing to help my own trust issues - this reminder that you can never actually know how a person will react to something, or how they'll treat you as a result.

I know how it is for a friend to believe that them showing me trust creates an obligation that I show them the same - the expectation that trust from one party should engender an equal degree of trust in the other, regardless of what is or isn't being shared or what either party's personal experiences have been.

Now, how does that apply to these fictional situations? Well, it varies depending on the story of course, but when the 'lesson' is just straight up 'lying is amoral' or even 'best friends should never hide things from each other', I grit my teeth. The impact of a lie on the person it's told to is put front and center, while the impact of revealing the truth on the liar is treated as secondary or even treated as moot. The liar broke The Rules by lying, and that makes them the one in the wrong, full stop.

I see that a lot in discussions of why or why not people consider Foggy's reaction 'right' or 'wrong', and rarely consideration of the shape his reaction took (whether the things he said were warranted, fair, or should later be discussed or apologized for). I see people saying that Matt's reasons don't matter, and that he was wrong for not trusting Foggy (and whew, the issue of Matt's ability to trust is a whole other thing, speaking of trauma). I also see people defending some things Foggy said on the basis that he was angry and had a right to be, when his right to be angry isn't actually the issue. If I say something unfair or unkind, etc, in the heat of the moment, it's my responsibility to talk that out with the person later when tempers have cooled, regardless of whether I was 'right' or 'wrong'. That's the kind of thing healthy communication and healthy interpersonal relationships require. All emotions are valid, but not all behavior rooted in that emotion is.

Of course, it's a very complex thing. Sometimes there isn't a clear cut 'person A was Wrong and person B was Right'. And what you lied about and why factors in, but that's exactly the point. My ex lying to me because of trauma-caused trust issues? Understandable. Him doing it because he was afraid I'd dump him when I learned he'd been cheating? Nope.

And then there's the 'you should have known it would be different with you' thing.

I recently saw a situation play out in a story where the hero brings up the BFF's previously expressed opinions on the masked persona and the BFF saying that the hero should have known that their opinion would be different as far as the hero is concerned - that their particular case would be viewed differently, an exception to the rule, so to speak.

I don't love that, either. 'It's okay because it's you' is a kind of exception that isn't the kindness it's so often portrayed to be. I've had people say homophobic or sanist things then tell me that oh, they don't mean *me* of course, because I'm *different*. My grandparents heard the same kind of thing all the time growing up, having friends say all kinds of antisemetic garbage in front of them and say, 'oh, but we don't mean you, of course'.

When I'm treated as an exception because I'm a 'good queer', it isn't a relief. That person still disdains what I am. Them saying that to me isn't kind, and I can't believe it to be kind in these fictional contexts. If the BFF can understand, accept, or even get behind why the hero takes certain actions - or even commits certain crimes - that should open the door to the possibility that there may be more to why other people do similar things. A more openminded viewpoint, such as a willingness to look at all the factors before rendering judgement, should be the result, not 'it's okay just this once because I care about the person doing it'.

My feelings about people equating criminality with amorality is a whole other complication when it comes to my thoughts on these situations. I won't get into that here, but I thinks it's another issue worth consideration.

I'm not going to write out my opinion on the Foggy/Matt conflict, though I do get into it a little in the fic I'm writing. I really just wanted to express my issue with that particular aspect of that narrative trope in general and how it's discussed, and the way the matter of trust and applying morality to distrust is often talked about, too. I may be expectionally sensitive to this kind of thing, or maybe I'm not. I'm not sure my possible sensitivity is the point, though.

Either way, it's a trope that gives me a lot of anxiety, and when I rewatch shows or reread stories I often find myself needing to skip those parts. That goes for fanfic, too.