Tropes are inevitable and often delicious things.
People often confuse “cliches” and “tropes” so let’s smooth out that wrinkle neatly right now, shall we?
Every story has tropes, it’s just how they exist. The way they’re written is what makes them feel fresh and engaging. Cliches, on the other hand…argh. They can still be enjoyable but often they’re stale and overdone. Tiiiired. They’re the storyline repeated 100 times without variation. If you say, “Ugh I hate vampire novels,” what you probably hate is how cliche and samey they got back in 2008. But if someone presented vampires with different personalities, a fresh setting, different plots to explore — you miiiiight just be all into it. 🤗
And YES tropes can turn cliche so quickly. But some tropes are just [clenches fist] so so freaking good.
Look, yes, I talk about tropes a lot but today I want to make a list of…
oddly specific tropes i happen to adore
I’m also linking up with Top Ten Tuesday!
And tbh, I write a ton of these because it pleases me greatly. But shout out to other authors who fill the gap-loving tropes in my reading life. Keep doing the good work.
Other Posts You Might Like:
➢ What Are The Best Romance Tropes?
➢ Are Tropes Always Bad?
➢ 24 Enemies-To-Lovers YA Romances
important dialogue happening while there are shenanigans in the background
I can’t even begin to say how much I ADORE background shenanigans. It’s my favourite thing to write too 😍The main scene is being driven forward by plot and agency…but in the background someone dropped honeyed toast in their lap or another character is trying to catch a feral cat or two characters are placing bets on whether the arguing protagonists will kiss. 😌
characters saying “i’m fine” when they’re not
I don’t even care if this is slightly cliche!!!! It is my favourite!!! That one character who’s too scared to be vulnerable or show weakness and is literally trying to think themselves through, like, a bullet wound. Or they’re so used to no one caring that they say “I’m fine” automatically, not realising that they have people to lean on now. I jUST 😫
(SHRIEKS IN NEIL JOSTEN)
terribly powerful child who is also super cute
I love the contrast of this. I don’t remember a lot of The Girl With All The Gifts (um 2014 was a long time ago ok) but one scene that stood out so incredibly to me was how there’s this KID, this little girl who is a zombie and a horrifying monster…and she’s wearing pink sparkly shoes and a unicorn sweater. It’s that “innocence meets monster” that’s fascinating and terrifying.
the moment the enemies-to-lovers trope breaks and they show vulnerability and that they care
Like they’ve been bickering nonstop and threatening to murder each other…but then there’s that climax, that unravelling, where one character maybe gets hurt and the other realises “o h n o i care very severely right now” and they absolutely freak out. Bonus if after the terror moment is over, they go back to pretending they hate each other. 😌
grumpy character + talkative character
Ok here’s a pairing I cannot resist. The sunshiney character who won’t shut up or stop flirting vs the serious and dedicated character who is focused on the mission. Little bit o’ enemies-to-lovers here, but it’s more lowkey. They can be friends too! Again with me with adoring juxtapositions. I am not sorry.
boys made into monsters and weapons…but secretly they are soft and lovely
Oh hello to the burnt marshmallows, the brainwashed, and the controlled. The ones who fight because they’ve been taught to and are used even though it’s against their nature and they can feel themselves being warped into someone they’re not. They lose themselves to being a weapon. 😭💛 They just need someone to see who they truly are. sAVE THESE LITTLE BURNT MARSHMALLOW IDIOTS AND I–
eccentric character doing something completely bizarre but acting like it’s normal
I have a deep love of eccentric characters and will forever be mad at how quickly they’re shunted off into the “oh that’s a manic pixie dream girl cue eyeroll” box. But???? Girls who like doing clever and quirky things aren’t necessarily MPDGs?! Argh. Boy characters are way more likely to be eccentric and accepted than girls. But that’s a rant for another day.
I just love the characters who are bizarre. Who carry a telescope in their backpack. The nice kid who can pick locks. The one drinking tea before the end of the world. The one wearing odd clothes and talking about obscure books.
the i-didn’t-realise-i-wasn’t-straight moment
There is a lot of dialogue about characters who knew they were straight from the time they were twelve. And like, bless you, that is amazing. But there are so so many people who get hit with the epiphany later. And I just love reading relatable content ok. It’s gets better when the character is having a shellshocked moment and a secondary character is eye rolling with “I could have told you this years ago.”
(am looOKING AT YOU, AleX fRom RED WHITE & ROYAL BLUE)
giving the grumpy character a nickname
I forgot how much I loved this until I was watching Stranger Things Season 3 and Dustin chirpily nicknames Hopper’s Russian-speaking-friend to “Bald Eagle” and he’s SO grumpy about it. 😂 It was also in With Fire On High and it’s just cuuuuute. Especially when eventually they grow to love their nickname.
kissing as a distraction from being caught
Basically when it’s two characters who wanted to kiss so much but refuse to admit feelings — and then they do it as a cover up. This happens a lot but I snorted at Aurora Rising and Obsidio when it happened. (I see u, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, with loving this trope.)
snuggling after a fearsome battle
Look I realised this, as I was writing the other day, that my romantic climax between two characters was…snuggling. 😑 fINE; I’m not super good at romance. But they just learned to trust each other and fell asleep in each others’ arms to stave off nightmares?! I mean clearly that is the pinnacle of romantic love. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
the mum friends
Basically all squad-dynamics are my favourites, particularly when they’re interacting together. I will fall over and die of feels while reading The Raven Cycle EVERY TIME because of Gansey flapping about being the mum-friend and taking care of everyone. Adam overthinking something angstily. Ronan being the troublesome emotionally explosive problem-child they all have to take turns fishing out of the muck.
But I particularly love the mum-friends. Aka Steve Harrington, in Stranger Things.
character saying they won’t do something…the next scene they are doing it
Full admission: this was my favourite thing to write into The Boy Who Steals Houses. 😂The moment Moxie severely tells Sam he’s got one night and then he has to go. Scene ends. Next chapter starts off with them being comfortably hanging out for 2 weeks. LOOK AT U SILLY CHILDREN.
saying one thing while thinking another
This is hilarious to me, because it’s also so so relatable. Especially if the character is inwardly freaking out, but on the outside they’re all, “Sure! Sounds great!” Usually communication-failures make irritating plots, but sometimes it can be done most adorably.
when the happy sunshine character just up and SNaPS
Breaking moments 😌🙌🏻Love it. Live for reading it and writing it. When it’s the bubbly happy character who normally plays peace-maker or smooths things out congenially…when they’ve just HAD ENOUGH. Pushed the edged. You know things just got real when even the chill one is freaking out.
I love reading the moment of raw vulnerability. When masks and walls come down and the character is just brutally honest.
[happy sigh]Bring it.
| what do you think? |
tell me oddly specific tropes you adore? and if you can’t think of one; just tell me an EPIC moment from your current read!!!
Great list! I live for the grump and the ray of sunshine pairings, whether they’re romantic or platonic, it’s my favourite thing. I also love the moment when those sunshine characters break – especially if they’re often relied on to provide emotional support to the rest of the characters and everyone’s forgotten that they are also a person with feelings and they’ve been pushed too far. Bonus points if they’ve lost their shit because their grump is in danger.
You should read Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett if you haven’t already – if you like your soft boys, I think you’d enjoy it. 😉
These are oddly specific! I also like when the “mean” character turns out to be sweet. Or when good people get dragged into a situation where they’re forced to be bad, like The Hunger Games.
These are the BEST! I love them SOOO MUCH! Omg I also love the EtL where one gets hurt and the other realizes they care but acts like it’s a lot if work to care for them. (grudgingly gets them water when they can’t move, yells how careless they were, helping them move without looking or talking to them..) I LOVE IT.
But agree with all of these (and i’ve already used several…)
These things are all so freaking relatable and I can’t even. xD The chatter over background stuff is one of my favs, because it’s immersive as all heck, and also, who hasn’t been the background people in this instance? Background people are important. I love pretty much everything about the enemies-to-lovers trope, but that first glimpse that maaaaybe it’s finally taking that turn and they’ve realized that they’re clearly meant to be together, despite the reader yelling it at them for the past 200 pages? Yes, yes, yes. I’m all about that. Especially if they totally deny it afterwards. This list is so great for so many reasons.
bURnT MArSHmAlloWS!!!!
Oh and with the girl with super duper powers, I do enjoy that. BUT I do not like it when it’s like, you are the only person you can save the universe (and then it they don’t do it/mess it up because they dumb) and then they think they are so powerful and it all goes to their head.
The mom friend! Also one of my favorite tropes. I too liked Steve in Stranger Things. “How many children are you friends with?” Another trope I enjoy is the crazy friend falls in love with the friend who doesn’t like to go outside, aka Parker and Hardison from Leverage.
WHEN THE HAPPY SUNSHINE CHARACTER JUST UP AND SNAPS = Aang!
CHARACTER SAYING THEY WON’T DO SOMETHING…THE NEXT SCENE THEY ARE DOING IT = Sokka
THE MUM FRIENDS = Katara
I can continue detailing every single tropey thing from ATLA I love, but I don’t have the rest of eternity. (I’m just using this post to talk about ATLA … sadly, nothing about Zuko or Toph that I can see …)
Ahaha this is so accurate!!
This is a great list! I love the grumpy/talkative character combo because that’s like every buddy cop show I’ve ever watched.
Also, that last one – I love it when the Pollyanna of the group loses their mind. Hahaha.
Would you like to know the trope that I’m 100% addicted to? It’s the “forbidden” arranged romance. When our characters are in an arranged romance, but then they go off and fall in love without realizing it’s the other they’re supposed to marry.
This trope includes:
One or the other (usually the hero), deciding that they want to meet their intended ahead of time and dressing in a disguise.
We’ve known each other since forever, but we’re both intended for someone else … but oh wait!
I like you quite a lot, but unfortunately, I’m meant for someone else. Wait, what are you doing at the altar with me???
I WAS TRYING TO HAVE A REBELLIOUS MOMENT HERE, WHY ARE YOU RUINING IT FOR ME?? Oh, well, you’re cute. guess I might as well marry you.
Like, I don’t even care how often I’ve read this. It gets me every time and I adore it.
Oooh… the first character who came to mind for burnt marshmallow was the Winter Soldier and I was like “omg yes?”
I had SO MUCH fun reading your post! It was so cool to read the more specific ones rather than the more typical ones like “enemies to lovers” etc etc
When I saw the ‘I didn’t realize I wasn’t straight” header the first thing I thought of was ALEX ALEX ALEX. Haha you thought of him too! I’m on a ramble but I absolutely adored the hate-to-love between Alex and Henry. I think it became cute quickly instead of them trying to hate each other as long as possible…
Luna fits the eccentric character trope extremely well I think. She treats weird things as perfectly normal, so you can’t help but sometimes feel the same 😉 (Or is it me who’s weird???)
Anyway thanks for writing this! Somehow reading your blog makes me feel extremely chatty in the comments 😉
I LOVE ALL OF THESE ESPECIALLY THE BICKERING OPPOSITES AND THE MUM FRIENDS URGHHHH YUSSS
BRINGGGGG ITTTT. Also *shrieks in Neil josten*is such a MOODi am stealing it k thx bye
WEAPON BOIS!!!! basically something similar happening in my current wip but…Issa WEAPON GIRL OOOHHHH.
Also SHENANIGINS VS IMPORTANT CONVOS is …THE BEST
And the characters who say one thing and internally are the opposite: yaassss. Basically thank u for this relateable and inspiring post now I remember my favorite things and am excited again about reading and writing and stories was in sUCH a fkn SLUMP
As someone who uses touch as a love language in general: I love the idea of the romantic climax of a book being snuggling rather than a kiss or a wedding or sex or whatever. The idea of two exhausted, in-love characters just holding each other tight to let the other know they’re not alone and falling asleep while leaning on each other is just the best and it makes me so happy. So, yeah. You’re not alone on that one.
Also, the good one snapping is awesome when done right. SO POWERFUL. (Especially when it turns out that the good, nice one who’d never hurt a fly is actually the most powerful person there and the person who made them mad is like “Oh no.”) Also, combine that with the insanely powerful cute small child and it’s brilliant.
Does “Get in the shopping cart” count as an oddly specific trope? Because that was my first thought of things I like 😀
I also have a thing for displaced characters (like time travelers or AIs or animals) trying to figure out human customs/practices. It’s always fun to see our world from an outside perspective.
I loved this!! Totally agree with this list 😍
I LOVE ALL THESE. And that’s true, we don’t get a lot of eccentric girls, do we? I would love me some overdramatic mad scientist girls!
I love most of these tropes as well!!!! You just put words to it!!! Thank you so much for this blog post it was so much fun to read.
ALL OF THESE ARE ALSO MY FAVORITE. *goes to reread every book that has done one of these*
Agh my poor heart I love these tropes so much!! And the ‘we need to let them down gently but the other person already moved on’ trope *ahem looking at Blue and Gansey with Adam* is another favourite of mine…. and specific. Also yesss the ‘realising you aren’t straight’ is just 10/10 brilliant. And oh another one I like is the 100% not into you VS the flirt which was done so well in Spin the Dawn for me!!! <3 thank you for the list!! I have to look out for these now 😉
I’ve been thinking about tropes A LOT lately, and one of my faaaves is when the lovers-in-astounding-denial are caught in a situation and pretend to be a couple, then act all flustered afterwards. *heart eyes*
OMG YES. 😍 And they’re secretly enjoying it but pretending to hate it!!!!!!
omggg i loooove this list so so so much! i love that i also love so many of the oddly specific things that you’ve mentioned and reading your descriptions of each trope has me squeeing because i want to read books with all these specific tropes right now!! ugh so good. i love the feels these tropes give me damnit!
I’m so glad this list makes you squee too 😂 We can be just inner failing together ahhHHHH books are so good.
NEIL JOSTEN is the ultimate “I’m fine even though I’ve got like 10 scars and an open wound right now” and I’m here for him so much!
The Grump and the Sunshine are two of my favourite characters because their banter??!! Is just exquisite and banter is my bread as I don’t eat normal bread anymore 😄
HE IS THOUGH. Like whatever do we do to deserve that dumbass we love so much.
hmmm… sounds oddly specific. Like maybe something twins would do. Twins named Jeremy and Jack. Last name of De Lainey. Familiar perhaps?
ok I didn’t do that but I SHOULD have 😂 I swear, my favourite scene is Jeremy trying to be the “tough protective big brother” and then getting concerned that Sam isn’t making enough romantic moves. 😂😂 He’s an idiot I love him.
Great post!
🤣🤣🤣 I *love* Steve Harrington. Love how his character developed.
he is the BEST 😍 I adore him haha
I love so many of those!! Also I adore characters admitting they’re in love during an argument (they’re arguing because they’re frustrated, because they think their feelings aren’t reciprocated, and then one finallly snaps, or when one yells “why do you hate me do much!?” the other goes “I LOVE YOU DUMBASS!”… )(*cough cough RWRB, cough cough*
Also love confessions etc. during a battle ( i blame PotC)
Powerful person absolutely not realizing their power.
OMG, also – when a supernatural character faces something mundane and THEY HAVE NO CLUE what it is so they’re either unnecesarily terrified, of like, a printer, or say something stupid. Like, Unseelie King in QOAAD. Or Good Omens “porn” scene. Gold.
There are plenty more that I can’t think of now, but I love so many oddly specific tropes. Also that’s a great title for a post. Also that is a great post.
omggggg I LOVE IT SO MUCHHHH. Basically all of RW&RB is a tropey heaven I just melt. 😍😂Also anytime they have to yell “I LOVE YOU” and the other one is blinking in confusion. lmao. I adore it.
Oh oh yes to those moments in QOAAD! Or like Kieren loving cat calendars. He’s going to die when he finds cat videos. :’)
I also get frustrated when every eccentric female character gets labelled a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, even when often that character is meant to break that stereotype and show that they aren’t merely a plot device to change the (usually) male character’s life, but a living, breathing human who has her own wants and needs and history and personality. I guess I write a fair amount of eccentric female characters, and I would hate for them to be put in that box.
My favorite trope these days is when there are friends who are both in love with each other but are convinced the other doesn’t think of them that way. And the romance is super sloooow burn. Also, always in love with forbidden romance. And if those two tropes somehow meet… But I feel like I’m giving too much away about my own writing by saying that. Haha.
oh yes yes I’m with you. It frustrates me because I LOVE eccentric people and I just feel like we don’t get to have quirky females anymore? I like badass females in books, but like…we’re more than just that? :/ It’s only a manic pixie dream girl if she exists PURELY to shake up the male character’s life.
OH YES. The friends-to-lovers-in-denial!! 😍LOVE.
To be honest, most of your list would also be on my list. Also, the character who’s known for being a jerk (or just sarcastic, whatever) is a sweetie-pie really (or, at least, sweeter than they let on), characters who NEVER GIVE UP EVER, childhood friend romance (although I can never write these – my brain always seems to decide they’re 100% platonic and always will be), families of choice, ANYTHING Gothic, no matter how cliche…
Oh yes yes I love the “secretly soft” characters 😫💛Like I don’t even care how overdone that one is, it gets me every time.
ooooh I love oddly specific tropes 😀 I love the moment when enemies to lovers breaks <3 I get butterflies when it happens!
😍😍 right?! It’s just the BEST moment.
Omg the number of times I’ve read almost all of the above tropes and just melted within myself because the moment was executed so FANTASTICALLY just gets me all !!!!!!! inside. I think one of my favourite enemies-to-lovers tropes occurs in LOTR, and it’s more like enemies-to-bffs. The eventual and blossoming friendship of Legolas & Gimli and their darn character progression throughout that journey just makes my heart warm.
yessss I’m so glad we both adore them.🤗 Ok also enemies-to-BFFs is just as important and epic! I wish there were more Gimli/Legolas dynamics in YA too!
What a lovely list, Cait!! I’m a huge fan of enemies-to-lovers tropes, so the “moment the enemies-to-lovers trope breaks and they show vulnerability and that they care” parts is always one of my FAVORITES scenes! And I love the grumpy and talkative characters together! Hehe. The banter is always so much fun. <3
Right?!? It’s the BEST and I die with appreciation for those moments. :’)
omg yes to all of these. The broad tropes are all well and great but the bReAK IN PEOPLE WHEN THEY SAY THEY CARE GETS ME EVERY TIME. Thanks for sharing, Cait!
omg the breaking people 😭💛I mean we’re probably terrible to love it. But tHOSE POWERFUL MOMENTS YES.
Oh I love the grumpy and talkative characters! It’s (often) very hilarious!
Yessss there’s so much potential for all the sweetness 😍
I didn’t even realise the ‘I’m fine’ one was a trope but it’s so true to life it’s unbelievable. People always say it just as they are very clearly NOT fine in the least! Also love the cute monster child one 🙂
Oh my gosh there are so many of those that I absolutely adore! Especially the grumpy character having to deal with overly positive characters. Oh man, I can think of a handful of tropes that make me so happy when I find them in a book ♥
something tells me that, if you read webtoon, you’d absolutely adore Acception so, so much.
petition for paperfury to read Acception = signed.
i love when a character is injured and hides it till they collapse I don’t know why its just *chefs kiss*