-The Aphmau Book Club: Cliché!-

☆ Tropes (Romance) ☆

Today, I'll be discussing the most common romance fanfic tropes. Romance is one of my favorite genres, but seeing as I'm too young to be dating anyone, fanfics are close enough.

I heard that some of you missed the cliché series, so I hope you enjoy! Missed writing this!
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» JEALOUSY «

Ah, jealousy. So natural, yet so unhealthy.

Most ship-fics have the character in a love triangle (which is actually just two diagonal lines facing each other, but we'll get to that later). So, said character has two love interests, and possibly even more.

Any time "main character" is seen with someone of the opposite gender, the lover gets all moody and jealous and automatically plans to destroy said person of the opposite gender, and then does absolutely everything in their power to make sure the two are as far away from each other as possible.

A lot of people look at this as "romantic," but it actually comes off as over-protective or obsessive. I've actually made the mistake of writing a love story where Protagonist B gets jealous when Protagonist A is with somebody else — I thought this was showing love... but it was actually showing a need for dominance.

Also, imagine being in the place of that poor dude? Imagine being friends with a heart-throb of the opposite gender and giving them chips and then the next day somebody just threatens you, like, the heck?

Example:

=Unknown POV=

I slowly maneuvered myself through the crowd of students, trying my best to reach my beloved — Garroth.

I was nearly there. I could basically touch his blonde, luscious locks. I could basically stare at his ocean blue, mesmerizing eyes. I could basically touch his smooth, tan skin.

As I pushed through the crowd, nearing Garroth, a girl with violet hair came into view, and high-fived Garroth. The way her hand touched his... it's so... disgusting. She ran past him, smiling as he smiled back.

By the time I reached him, I was only able to give a threatening glare to the female, who was dumbfounded by my message, while Garroth was, as usual, oblivious to everything.

Then, I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. Garroth spoke, "Laurance, anything wrong?"

—

See what I mean by creepy? Obsessive?

But, I guess you could let this slip if it's an AU where said character is Yandere, or if the character is canonically obsessive (ex. Ivy, Ein).

—

» LOVE TRIANGLES «

C'mon, THIS ISN'T A FREAKING TRIANGLE you little—

This is deemed by society as a love triangle, but where the heck is the closing line at the bottom? It can't be a triangle (or a shape for that matter) if it is not closed. It's just "a bunch of lines" if you think about it, logically.

But literally, don't call it a love triangle of it isn't even a freaking triangle — call it freaking "love diagonal lines."

But, if we have to follow society's standards; love triangles can be pretty exciting when all characters are tied in together properly. Like any other trope, actually.

It can get repetitive if the main protagonist does the same thing with every one of their lovers. Like, he kissed her at the ice cream shop, so he kisses like two other girls at the very same ice cream shop. As much as possible, make sure every interaction with each character is unique and given equal time with the protagonist, so when the protagonist chooses, the reader is on the edge of their seat.

Now, for real love triangles, it's already unique — there has got to be at least on person in that triangle that is lesbian/gay/bisexual/not straight, which is actually more uncommon.

If you think about it, there is no possible way to make real love triangles without making at least one character gay. There's no way to make it a real triangle if that factor is not included. I mean, if you find a loophole, please make sure to tell me!

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This is sadly all I have for now, so please comment your thoughts in the comments section! I'm really excited to see your thoughts on our recent return! I'm actually pretty tired, so I hope you understand — sorry for the short chappie.

Support is appreciated! ヽ(' ∇' )ノ

- vinyl/cathy