Your Most Hated Tropes

[Audiflex]

I agree, but I also think it is useful to have categories like that, just as kind of a reference point. Like when you're talking about books. Describing something as romance or horror gives a very rough idea of what kind of story you might be getting. You can still have things that cut across categories or defy the categories all together. I guess some people just like everything to be cut and dried. Everything neat and in it's place.

Totally! Categories are handy for setting expectations like a quick heads-up on what vibe to expect. But yeah, the best stories often blur the lines or mix genres in cool ways. Some folks love clear cut labels, but others enjoy the surprises that come with breaking the mold. It’s all about balance.

 

[Audiflex]

For as long as I can remember, I've always seen the "Alpha" male as a projection of the opposite. If someone has to tell you they're an alpha they prove the opposite. Same in the context of a dominant. If they are constantly telling you they are the domliest dom who has ever dommed? Yeah, not so much.

Spot on! Real alphas and dominants don’t need to announce it, they just are. Actions speak louder, always.

 

[Audiflex]

This was originally based on wolves and, according to my understanding... 1) people aren't wolves and 2) even the science regarding wolves has been disputed. Still I have to admit I find the alpha-beta-omega split vaguely useful as shorthand for.

Alpha: She finds him hot 'on the face of it' and generally at first glance. He has no problem attracting women and if she wants his attention, she's going to have to work for it and fight for it against the competition. If she's not unnaturally hot herself, she knows he's probably not a good long term prospect, but a hundred romance novels have taught her there's an outside chance she can tame him. Depending on social conventions or individual morals, she's may be tempted to go further than is seemly in winning him.

Beta: He's not 'hot', but if he shows consistent interest and commitment in her, he may be a good long term prospect and she may develop feelings over a longer period of time. If he's not interested in her, she's not going to show much interest in him (unless she's plugged in her number into that formula involving his salary and her number of years until the menopause).

Omega: She wants nothing to do with him full stop.

Obviously this is a spectrum, people's taste's vary etc etc but it is a useful shorthand.

Put more simply an alpha is any man who can go to a nightclub with a reasonable expectation of leaving with a stranger.

This is an interesting take, though it’s worth noting the whole alpha-beta-omega thing is pretty outdated, even in wolf studies. That said, I get using it as shorthand for attraction dynamics, it’s a quick way to describe how people might perceive or pursue relationships.

But yeah, real-life connections are way more nuanced than these labels. People’s tastes, personalities, and circumstances make things way more complicated (and interesting) than just alpha, beta, or omega. Still, as a rough framework, it’s kinda fun to play with.

 

[Blind_Justice]

Guy enters the room, girl gets wet and horny. That's neither mysterious nor romantic, that's lazy writing.

And while we're at it - the magnetic big black cock. I... I don't get interracial. I couldn't care less if the object of my desire is Swedish, Japanese or a Martian Bounty Hunter, seriously. I mean, I'm blind so skin color - or looks in general - are not much of a focus but still. Oh, I get sooooooo horny for people from New Jersey!

 

[KingOfHalves]

I recently discovered one. It's going to take a little explanation, but oh boy does it irk me.

I write polyamory fiction. Every character has more than one partner. I think my story most easily fits into the "HaremLit" sub-genre because there's quite a few more lady characters than guys, and the guys aren't involved with each other. I recently found out that I am very wrong about my story's genre.

So far the "polycule" groups don't really overlap, but there's a woman who has a fling with a male character, and then in the next book gets into a relationship with a different male character.

Apparently that's enough to count as "sharing/cucking/NTR" according to the HaremLit community.

I find that deeply weird and borderline offensive that female characters in that genre apparently aren't allowed to have any kind of sexual relationship with more than 1 man.

I could almost understand the critisism if the women were involved with more than one man at the same time. I get that acceptance to that idea is pretty rare outside the Polyamory community. That's not the case though. There's a wide swath of HaremLit fans who don't like the idea of women having more than one partner ever.

I've been told by 2 different reddit mods for HaremLit subreddits that it's against their rules for female characters to even have past sexual relationships with men mentioned. Even if it's part of a character's backstory, or if characters break up.

I'm not really one to kinkshame, but this feels deeply rooted in misogyny and insecurity. I can't think of any other explaination.

I was aware that fantasy adventure poly/harem stories are pretty niche, but I really underestimated how niche mine is. I did not realize that reasonable, well-adjusted men who aren't bothered by their partners' previous partners was such a rarity in the genre.

In Poly circles, this idea is called the "one penis policy," and it's widely critisized. I didn't realize it was also a strictly enforced trope in HaremLit. It's pretty weird that two communities that seem like they should have a decent amount of goodwill and overlap could have such a strong difference of opinion about how many dicks are allowed to exist.

 

[madelinemasoch]

I recently discovered one. It's going to take a little explanation, but oh boy does it irk me.

I write polyamory fiction. Every character has more than one partner. I think my story most easily fits into the "HaremLit" sub-genre because there's quite a few more lady characters than guys, and the guys aren't involved with each other. I recently found out that I am very wrong about my story's genre.

So far the "polycule" groups don't really overlap, but there's a woman who has a fling with a male character, and then in the next book gets into a relationship with a different male character.

Apparently that's enough to count as "sharing/cucking/NTR" according to the HaremLit community.

I find that deeply weird and borderline offensive that female characters in that genre apparently aren't allowed to have any kind of sexual relationship with more than 1 man.

I could almost understand the critisism if the women were involved with more than one man at the same time. I get that acceptance to that idea is pretty rare outside the Polyamory community. That's not the case though. There's a wide swath of HaremLit fans who don't like the idea of women having more than one partner ever.

I've been told by 2 different reddit mods for HaremLit subreddits that it's against their rules for female characters to even have past sexual relationships with men mentioned. Even if it's part of a character's backstory, or if characters break up.

I'm not really one to kinkshame, but this feels deeply rooted in misogyny and insecurity. I can't think of any other explaination.

I was aware that fantasy adventure poly/harem stories are pretty niche, but I really underestimated how niche mine is. I did not realize that reasonable, well-adjusted men who aren't bothered by their partners' previous partners was such a rarity in the genre.

In Poly circles, this idea is called the "one penis policy," and it's widely critisized. I didn't realize it was also a strictly enforced trope in HaremLit. It's pretty weird that two communities that seem like they should have a decent amount of goodwill and overlap could have such a strong difference of opinion about how many dicks are allowed to exist.

I think that kind of misogyny actually pervades the entire online erotica sphere, which is odd, because I’m pretty sure it’s statistically proven that most readers (not only erotica readers) across the globe are women. Like, 80% of people who read fiction are women. That fact aside, I think the misogyny prevails in the comments section and in the ratings here because this website in particular has a readership who reads in search of particular granular sex fantasies and not in search of literature. I’ve spoken about this before on other threads, but it’s so bad that the two are conflated with each other on this website in particular. Obviously as a factual matter literary quality does not equal whether or not you make a man cum with your story. On Lit, they seem to think it’s equivalent, though.

There’s this kind of masculine sadism at the root of this in the culture I think. The extremes of the desire of patriarchal sadistic family structures are not only enslaving the daughter archetype but also the destruction of nature and even the father archetype’s own family. This is interesting to me because in reality it appears that the father archetype is basically gone in the west and died off a long time ago. All of this sex fantasizing about submissive women is a way that sadistic men cope with the fact that they’ll never be real fathers again.

 

[BearNextDoor]

I am deleting so many WIP files now...

 

[Audiflex]

I recently discovered one. It's going to take a little explanation, but oh boy does it irk me.

I write polyamory fiction. Every character has more than one partner. I think my story most easily fits into the "HaremLit" sub-genre because there's quite a few more lady characters than guys, and the guys aren't involved with each other. I recently found out that I am very wrong about my story's genre.

So far the "polycule" groups don't really overlap, but there's a woman who has a fling with a male character, and then in the next book gets into a relationship with a different male character.

Apparently that's enough to count as "sharing/cucking/NTR" according to the HaremLit community.

I find that deeply weird and borderline offensive that female characters in that genre apparently aren't allowed to have any kind of sexual relationship with more than 1 man.

I could almost understand the critisism if the women were involved with more than one man at the same time. I get that acceptance to that idea is pretty rare outside the Polyamory community. That's not the case though. There's a wide swath of HaremLit fans who don't like the idea of women having more than one partner ever.

I've been told by 2 different reddit mods for HaremLit subreddits that it's against their rules for female characters to even have past sexual relationships with men mentioned. Even if it's part of a character's backstory, or if characters break up.

I'm not really one to kinkshame, but this feels deeply rooted in misogyny and insecurity. I can't think of any other explaination.

I was aware that fantasy adventure poly/harem stories are pretty niche, but I really underestimated how niche mine is. I did not realize that reasonable, well-adjusted men who aren't bothered by their partners' previous partners was such a rarity in the genre.

In Poly circles, this idea is called the "one penis policy," and it's widely critisized. I didn't realize it was also a strictly enforced trope in HaremLit. It's pretty weird that two communities that seem like they should have a decent amount of goodwill and overlap could have such a strong difference of opinion about how many dicks are allowed to exist.

Yeah, that’s pretty frustrating. It’s wild how rigid and limiting some genre expectations can be, especially when they seem more about personal hang-ups than storytelling. Sounds like your story is pushing for something more balanced and realistic, there’s definitely an audience out there for it, even if HaremLit purists aren’t on board!

 

[Audiflex]

I think that kind of misogyny actually pervades the entire online erotica sphere, which is odd, because I’m pretty sure it’s statistically proven that most readers (not only erotica readers) across the globe are women. Like, 80% of people who read fiction are women. That fact aside, I think the misogyny prevails in the comments section and in the ratings here because this website in particular has a readership who reads in search of particular granular sex fantasies and not in search of literature. I’ve spoken about this before on other threads, but it’s so bad that the two are conflated with each other on this website in particular. Obviously as a factual matter literary quality does not equal whether or not you make a man cum with your story. On Lit, they seem to think it’s equivalent, though.

There’s this kind of masculine sadism at the root of this in the culture I think. The extremes of the desire of patriarchal sadistic family structures are not only enslaving the daughter archetype but also the destruction of nature and even the father archetype’s own family. This is interesting to me because in reality it appears that the father archetype is basically gone in the west and died off a long time ago. All of this sex fantasizing about submissive women is a way that sadistic men cope with the fact that they’ll never be real fathers again.

The divide between erotica as storytelling versus pure fantasy fulfilment is definitely stark, especially on certain platforms. It’s wild how much of the rating system and feedback is driven by personal gratification rather than literary quality. Definitely makes it harder for nuanced or subversive takes to thrive.

 

[Tomh1966]

"I kicked her out because I owned the house before we married." I know no place where this is not up to a judge and it will be at least 30 days.
Human trafficking of cheating wives.
Former members of special forces.
"I am just an average guy with a typical average 7 inch cock." (97th percentile)

 

[alohadave]

It’s wild how much of the rating system and feedback is driven by personal gratification rather than literary quality.

No matter where there is a voting system, people will apply their own personal judgements to the scoring.

You can lay out explicit rules and suggestions and people will vote based on their feels.

 

[Nynah]

The divide between erotica as storytelling versus pure fantasy fulfilment is definitely stark, especially on certain platforms. It’s wild how much of the rating system and feedback is driven by personal gratification rather than literary quality. Definitely makes it harder for nuanced or subversive takes to thrive.

There are some stories on this site that manage to thread the needle and somehow have the raunchy sex scenes that the masses crave while simultaneously having a cohesive, compelling narrative. They're the exception, not the rule, but that's the risk you run with having a site that's accepting of most stories that are submitted.

 

[Audiflex]

No matter where there is a voting system, people will apply their own personal judgements to the scoring.

You can lay out explicit rules and suggestions and people will vote based on their feels.

You've got a point!

 

[JTass]

I absolutely hate the repeated use of the MC responding to questions from family and friends about why they are splitting from their partner with "You'll have to ask him/her."
WTF - Did you sign an NDA or something?

 

[iwatchus]

Really mix it up. Have the wife be the trained special forces operator.

I would love to write erotic fanfic about the Helen Mirren character in Red. I'm sure someone already has.

 

[YDB95]

If I had to name one trope I dislike, it's the one where they hate each other when they first meet and then fall in love in the end. That...ain't the way it works!

 

[AchtungNight]

Weak-willed characters. People who claim to not enjoy sex but indulge in it anyway. Jerks who seek to harm unrestricted. Bad guys winning.

 

[Trionyx]

Personally I'd prefer a man of average size who knows how to use it.

It ain’t the meat, it’s the motion!

 

[dmedic61]

I recently discovered one. It's going to take a little explanation, but oh boy does it irk me.

I write polyamory fiction. Every character has more than one partner. I think my story most easily fits into the "HaremLit" sub-genre because there's quite a few more lady characters than guys, and the guys aren't involved with each other. I recently found out that I am very wrong about my story's genre.

So far the "polycule" groups don't really overlap, but there's a woman who has a fling with a male character, and then in the next book gets into a relationship with a different male character.

Apparently that's enough to count as "sharing/cucking/NTR" according to the HaremLit community.

I find that deeply weird and borderline offensive that female characters in that genre apparently aren't allowed to have any kind of sexual relationship with more than 1 man.

I could almost understand the critisism if the women were involved with more than one man at the same time. I get that acceptance to that idea is pretty rare outside the Polyamory community. That's not the case though. There's a wide swath of HaremLit fans who don't like the idea of women having more than one partner ever.

I've been told by 2 different reddit mods for HaremLit subreddits that it's against their rules for female characters to even have past sexual relationships with men mentioned. Even if it's part of a character's backstory, or if characters break up.

I'm not really one to kinkshame, but this feels deeply rooted in misogyny and insecurity. I can't think of any other explaination.

I was aware that fantasy adventure poly/harem stories are pretty niche, but I really underestimated how niche mine is. I did not realize that reasonable, well-adjusted men who aren't bothered by their partners' previous partners was such a rarity in the genre.

In Poly circles, this idea is called the "one penis policy," and it's widely critisized. I didn't realize it was also a strictly enforced trope in HaremLit. It's pretty weird that two communities that seem like they should have a decent amount of goodwill and overlap could have such a strong difference of opinion about how many dicks are allowed to exist.

It is the same way in Adult Visual Novels also. MC has a one night night stand and later she has a boyfriend everyone screams NTR even though that character was used only as a plot device or something.

 

[dmedic61]

If I had to name one trope I dislike, it's the one where they hate each other when they first meet and then fall in love in the end. That...ain't the way it works!

That is the plot of so many Rom-Com movies though.

 

[WordsIntheWyld]

Accidental Pregnancy: “It was just one night…” Well, it’s going to be a very long next 18 years.

Holiday Romance: She’s back in her hometown for Christmas. He’s the hot guy from high school who never left. There’s snow. You know the rest.

 

[Craighalbert]

I dislike the term "hated" when referring to tropes. My attitude is that just about anything can work if it's done artfully.

The story theme I respond most negatively to at Literotica is the "burn the bitch" theme in Loving Wives stories that panders to a widespread, but wrong-headed, belief that the system screws over men. I'm sure there are some cases in which that happens, but it's the minority. Generally speaking, the system favors men, not women.

Even with this theme, there are some well-written stories, but more often than not I find that the stories, even if well-written, are unsatisfying because the characters are stereotypes and uninteresting exemplars of all good or all bad. It's a moral universe I don't recognize as the one I live in.

There's also nothing at all sexy or erotic about these stories. I come here to read about lust, not revenge.

Not to mention the inevitable epilogue, where we learn the adulteress wife not only loses everything in the divorce, but also gets disowned by her family AND her friends all turn her back on her AND she loses her job due to her employer's morals policy AND she loses her looks / gets fat AND she never dates again AND she ends up in some menial job (almost always a waitress) AND... good grief man!

 

[SpermBankHoliday]

Not to mention the inevitable epilogue, where we learn the adulteress wife not only loses everything in the divorce, but also gets disowned by her family AND her friends all turn her back on her AND she loses her job due to her employer's morals policy AND she loses her looks / gets fat AND she never dates again AND she ends up in some menial job (almost always a waitress) AND... good grief man!

So clearly wish fulfillment from an author who's gone through a tough divorce.

 

[bestkeptsecret678]

Someone probably misread "Hold the idiot's balls", and it got out of hand.

As a practiced idiot, I don’t think it’s a trope when she holds my balls

 

[TheWritingGroup]

Coming back to this a few months later, because I was just triggered by a story I read here, in which a woman is being sexually tormented, helpless and unable to stop orgasming for what is stated to be two hours.

That trope is fine! It's clearly a fantasy, but it's a fun one and can be great if written well.

She pleads to be released, totally spent, and the tormentor releases her. She promptly grabs him and energetically starts fucking him. Um, no. She goes limp and spends the next while trying to get her breath back.

OTOH, I've actually introduced a character into the next story I'll release who has an 8 inch penis. To use TV Tropes lingo, the trope is subverted, as my big-dicked guy is the only such character I've introduced in 10 stories, and also finds that there's a downside to his endowment. In this story, for one, he has to interrupt a very fun blowjob because the inexperienced woman he's with starts to choke, and it's implied that he avoids anal even when it's offered because he hates the idea of hurting someone.

--Annie