Subtext is everything

Challenge #9

Talk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)

I checked last year's answers to see if something had changed, but my favourite tropes are still the same: friends to lovers, pining/mutual pining, hurt/comfort. But I didn't just want to write the same things, so I checked out the Fanlore's List of Tropes in Fanworks to see if I had forgotten anything, and man, I did forget a lot of things.

Vampire: I can't believe I forgot about this. Maybe it's because I don't consider it a "trope", but I've loved vampires for as long as I can remember. But even if I love them, I only wrote a handful of vampire-themed ficlets over the years. I've had an idea for a vampire AU for a while, but I don't know if I'm ever going to actually write it. Never say never, though!

Fake dating: I love it, especially if the people involved really are attracted to each other, but needed the right circumstances to realise or admit it.

First time/First kiss: I've written so many variations on the theme of "first kiss", one would think this would be at the top of my list, but for some reason I only remembered about this trope when I read it on the list. There's just something about two people finally getting together, especially if there was a lot of pining before they reached that point.

Crossover: it really depends on the fandoms involved, but when it's well done, I absolutely love it.

Bodyswap: I wouldn't put it at the top of my favourite tropes list, but I did write a bodyswap fic years ago ("Walking in my shoes", Hawaii Five-0, gen) and, more recently, a bodyswap ficlet for the Nick/Greg Advent Calendar 2021. And of course I loved the bodyswap in the first Good Omens season.

Didn't Know They Were Dating: I had no idea this was a trope, but I do love when two characters are so in sync with each other, everyone around them thinks they're dating, while they are completely oblivious. And then they suddenly realise that no, that's not what regular friends do or feel.

In Vino Veritas: I love it when characters are just tipsy enough to lower their guard and do or say stuff they wouldn't normally do or say. And then they have to face the consequences.