Your favorite tropes!

[XerXesXu]

Candaulism.

Oh yes. The story of my life.

 

[ElectricBlue]

So as you've grown into your writing career, which of the tropey story ideas has grabbed your interest the most?

A casual encounter, often involving cafés, public transport or an oft frequented shop, leading to something more. Long hair (although gamine is always worth a glance), and women with a confident and a "mind made up" kind of gaze.

 

[Djmac1031]

Ive written a ton of Exhibitionist / Voyeurism stuff and I pretty much enjoy every related trope that fits i suppose: Caught masturbating, friends / couples/ strangers watching watxhing each other masturbate, CFNM, CMNF, Public nudity, etc etc etc.

I also seem to mention my... um, I mean my character's love and lust for a woman's scent in quite a few of my stories...

 

[WCSGarland]

One of my favorite tropes is using the phrase - On the one hand... followed by On the other hand.

Edit: Ostensibly, I think it is because of the use of the On the gripping hand in Larry Niven's book "The Mote in God's Eye" about a three handed alien race.

 

[caleb35]

"Torn between two lovers" - a somewhat inexperienced main character finds themselves with two very different branches to take in life, and has choose one or the other. I especially like it if I can tweak it so that there is no clear right or wrong choice. It gives me (and hopefully the reader) something to ponder, and also a variety of types of sex.

"[T]he problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat."

 

[caleb35]

One of my favorite tropes is using the phrase - On the one hand... followed by On the other hand.

Edit: Ostensibly, I think it is because of the use of the On the gripping hand in Larry Niven's book "The Mote in God's Eye" about a three handed alien race.

Well, on the one hand, it's tried and true, but on the other hand it's a bit overused...

 

[WCSGarland]

Well, on the one hand, it's tried and true, but on the other hand it's a bit overused...

And on the gripping hand, judicious application of the trope is to be devoutly desired and exquisite in artistry.

 

[caleb35]

And on the gripping hand, judicious application of the trope is to be devoutly desired and exquisite in artistry.

Ahhh, the gripping hand, everyone's favorite hand

 

[WCSGarland]

Ahhh, the gripping hand, everyone's favorite hand

Thanks for the set up by the by....

 

[Rob_Royale]

For some reason, I also seem to write smart, slightly snarky, petite women quite frequently .

Go figure.

 

[AchtungNight]

Tough action girls. Hospital Hotties. Happy Ethical Sluts.

 

[WCSGarland]

Tough action girls. Hospital Hotties. Happy Ethical Sluts.

Happy ethical slut? Is that a slut who justifies her sluttiness using ethical reasoning? That sounds interesting...

 

[PapaRomantic]

In my Mature category stories either published or in progress, there will always be the line, "But I'm old enough to be your father (or mother)..." spoken by the older person in the new relationship. Instant but terribly predictable angst.

 

[smutarranger]

Forced feminisation in all it's forms

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Somebody doing somebody they're not supposed to for whatever reason. Crossing some sort of like of normalcy. It's fantasy here after all.


Women in charge at the office, running the company with the option, or maybe practice of 'rewarding' special clients or employees.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Life sucks.

Fantasy shouldn't.


Fantasy needs to be all the perfect things life isn't.

 

[iwatchus]

I want enough real world in my fantasy to give hope that the real world could still become the fantasy. Just enough so it is relatable, where you can say, "I can imagine life being this good." Then the resolution is all happiness and I'm more connected to it, with just this glimmer of maybe, just maybe.

But I'm an optimist, except when I'm depressed and a pessimist.

 

[AchtungNight]

Happy ethical slut? Is that a slut who justifies her sluttiness using ethical reasoning? That sounds interesting...

Yeah, that’s the definition. Haven’t met too many people like that IRL, but they’re certainly common in erotica.

 

[Rob_Royale]

In combination with my first trope, another favorite is the neglected woman discovering her sexuality and finally letting herself get lost in it. That discovery is just magical to me.

My favorite is the sexy MILF next door or best friends mom. I've written tons on it and will continue to do so.

 

[redgarters]

Straight presenting women discovering sapphic sex is probably my main trope.

I'm a big fan of the Lesbian slow-burns' Second Act Breakup. It's just so rewarding when done right. Bloody hard to do it right though...

 

[Actingup]

I wrote a whole essay about mine: "Oh no, there's only one bed!"

There's something so delicious about going to sleep with a friend and waking up with a lover.

That essay was very influential on me - it’s my favourite trope as well. I used it in a ‘fun and innocent’ way (ie the characters didn’t realise they were in a trope) in one story, and it worked really well. Then I used it in a ‘knowing’ way (the female MC basically said ‘for goodness sake, let’s just share the bed’ when there was another option available), and a reader complained about the trope. So, for my third attempt, a male MC said to another male MC ‘I like you, but we’re not going to accidentally share a bed: I’ve booked separate rooms’, and nobody complained. I’m trying to work out the next iteration.

 

[RetroFan]

From non-erotic tropes, I've had a lot of fun with the 'Large Ham' trope in a number of my stories, these characters chewing the scenery and over-acting as the scenes play out in my head.

 

[DeMont]

As a counterpoint to the Most Hated Tropes thread, by @FidelityBoss, what are your favorites?

In the past, as an artist in other mediums, I always strove for originality, and when I arrived here, realized it was largely impossible in erotica. Over time I realized that the tropes were something to be embraced and enjoyed. Putting our own spin on them was the best we could expect to do.

So as you've grown into your writing career, which of the tropey story ideas has grabbed your interest the most?

The lusty librarian, the naughty nurse, or the most classic bow-chicka-wow-wow of porn plots, the housewife and the plumber?

If you have a favorite of your works showcasing these tropes, feel free to link them.

@Rob_Royale, et al,
Common tropes, such as, human-like robots/androids being a classic trope of scifi, bore me to death. I don't believe I have a "favourite" trope but I seek to vary my stories with different tropes that might appeal to readers.

I suppose, if I had to pick one, I would go with "Firm but fair, independent hero/heroine"... does that even qualify as a trope?
Respectfully,
D.