I wasn’t initially going to do this on my IF but then the character kind of elbowed his way into the picture. Good to know it was a good call.
2 Likes
I have no idea what it’s called, but I like the trope where MC is a criminal and the RO is a cop/law enforcer who wants to stop them. Ah the chase, manipulation, angst and flirting~
(so actually Rivals to Lovers like the others said lol)
And what I personally absolutely can’t stand is when the MC is drunk and sleeps with the RO. I don’t know why, but that seems to be a popular concept, at least outside of IF games. Consent everyone, if one party is drunk that’s taking advantage.
12 Likes
more milfs. less stoic knights/warriors. nuff said 
…unless said stoic knight is a milf 
10 Likes
I, too, have a fondness for Lady Catherine D’Arundel in A Squire’s Tale.
1 Like
Hate would be a strong word since I think they are good examples of these done well, especially Weyhaven, but I do find myself thinking about how few romance focused games there are that don’t either involve supernatural characters or some kind of school institution… if not possibly both. I fear the internal popularity of Harry Potter, Twlight and Percy Jackson has made many believe that only stories involving magic schools and vampires or werewolves are going to be viable, or that all romance games must involve all characters being under 25 years old… 
12 Likes
I feel like a lot of the ‘school institution’ stories just come from convenience and ease.
Think about the last time you had access to a diverse range of people to romance who weren’t already attached or came with baggage that was a deal-breaker for you? If you are trying to hit all of those qualifications, you are looking at ‘young adult’ at oldest. This also usually means you want some kind of congregational institution to easily explain why you are in proximity to your potential interests. Supernatural works too, because it makes that knowledge and proximity to the supernatural that much more intimate, especially if secretiveness is paramount.
Not saying I don’t agree with you, just that I understand why it’s so much easier to write interactive fiction romance with that kind of foundation.
8 Likes
t4t romance isn’t really a trope, but it should be because it’s the purest and truest form of love.
I guess having a ro that shares some unique trait with the protagonist is the more general form of this. Gives something for the characters to bond over, while adding in some juicy feelings of being alienated from broader society or w/e.
4 Likes
What is t4t? I have a feeling it’s obvious and I should know haha.
I can’t let this go – it’s too funny of a contradiction to gloss over.
I think tacking “without baggage” isn’t a good faith argument here – it’s adding an arbitrary restriction that’s unrelated to the main point being made, that romance stories work best in settings with the following attributes:
- Diverse range of people
- Daily face to face interactions
- Collective purpose
Sticking “no baggage” on there is just a way of excluding older people from the equation – it has nothing to do with the viability of the setting as a source of romantic tension.
Anyway, I think it’s a fun exercise to come up with some unique settings for romantic stories that fit the same function that high school and university usually does.
- Office (The Office)
- Police Station (Brooklyn 99)
- Prison (Orange is the New Black)
- Government Department (Parks and Recreation)
- Wal-Mart (Superstore)
- Hospital (Scrubs)
- Rehabilitation Centre
- War, Front Lines
- War, Field Hospital (MASH)
- Top Secret Government Facility
- The White House (VEEP)
- Nuclear Bunker
- Local Soup Kitchen
- Local Community Centre Lonely Hearts Dodgeball Match Every Friday 7:00PM Bring Your Own Potluck
- Humanitarian Volunteer Trip Abroad
- Disaster Relief Team
- Volunteer Firefighter’s Association
- Pottery Class
- Movie Set
- Writer’s Group
- Nude Painting Group, Everyone Has to Model, Next Week It’s Your Turn, Better Get Working On Those Crunches
- Swinger’s Club
Let’s get high concept sci-fi.
- Generation Ship: you’re stuck on a massive spaceship meant to take humanity to the stars. Your grandparents started the journey and your grandchildren will finish it, and you’re stuck in the middle, so you might as well make the most of it while you’re here.
- Space Station Checkpoint: You’re part of a skeleton crew assigned to maintain a space station that acts as a checkpoint between two far-away destinations, like a lighthouse or a truck stop, just impossibly more distant and difficult to get to, and with very few actual visitors.
- Alien Ambassadors: You and a few other humans have been assigned to represent your nations to an alien threat, hopefully to cool down tensions and achieve peace.
- Mass Effect: You’re the captain of a swashbuckling interplanetary exploration ship. You and your crew discover a dark secret about the universe that threatens all life.
- Virtual Reality Video Game: You form a friendship with a few players always on at the same time as you. You all pledge to work together to find the most well hidden secret in the game.
And a few fantasy ideas.
- Adventuring Party: You and some other random misfits must defeat the Dark Lord.
- Hunger Games: You’re plopped on a dangerous island and must work together with the other survivors if you want to live.
- Wonderland: You’ve landed in a strange and alien new realm and must work together with its odd denizens to escape back to your world.
- Kidnapped by a Dragon: You and the other members of the queen’s court were taken by a powerful dragon. Now you have to appease the dragon while the king takes his sweet ass time collecting enough tax to pat off the dragon and save you all.
- It’s All In Your Head: You’re one of several alternate personalities living in the same loser’s mind.
I could probably knock out another ten ideas but you get the point!
22 Likes
I don’t see the contradiction? 
I’m talking about competition vs enmity. As in, wanting to prove oneself as being the better one vs having the desire to “destroy” the other one. The two things are very different to me, so…
I do also want to point out that younger doesn’t always equal no (or even less, in some cases) baggage. Yeah, it’s less common in younger people, but I myself am in my late teens and already have baggage to spare, for example.
Additionally, it’s not always a relationship deal breaker? Obviously it depends on how much and what kind of baggage it is, but still. And since ROs are fictional people, it doesn’t even necessarily have a 1-to-1 correlation to real life. I feel like a lot of people find ROs with baggage really interesting, and probably think more about “is this RO interesting?” than “but their baggage tho??? would we even work out??”
1 Like
Both enemies and rivals can be trying to prove themselves better, and both enemies and rivals can have the desire to destroy one another. The main difference is that enemies are ideologically opposed whereas rivals generally work towards the same ideological goal. But even this has exceptions.
3 Likes
Hmm that is not the way I make the distinction, so I guess you considering I’m contradicting myself stems from that.
The rival trope, the way I see it, is about the two people wanting to compete against each other, with the competition itself, and being the better one in it, being the goal, while enmity wouldn’t really be a factor, so they could very well be “on the same side”.
The enemy trope, again the way I see it, is about two people who aim to destroy each other, with no thoughts about the competition, only the goal of putting the other one down.
Sometimes, enmity “stains” rivalry, or rivalry “stains” enmity. So, from time to time, you have rivals who also want to destroy each other, or enemies that develop a sense of competition, while still having as their main goal to destroy the other. But I don’t like any of these either as it contains rivalry.
I agree with all of that. It’s an interesting element of romantic options but it’s totally unrelated to the setting.
2 Likes
It stands for “trans for trans,” i.e. trans people specifically being with/wanting to be with other trans people. Not t4t so I can’t speak for people who are, but this article is a beautiful piece written by a t4t woman.
Content warnings for the article
- transphobia (discussed)
- homophobia (mentioned)
- the transphobic t slur
2 Likes
Trans people who mostly date other trans people.
I strongly and spiritually agree on this. But my opinion kinda shifted since I played The Tale of Crowns (Twine game in itch(.)io) I recommend you to play that game as well.
I don’t know what to say else, childhood friend trope is basically my hatable romance trope. I do not feel any romantic attraction whatsoever–maybe because of the authors’ portrayal or else, but NO. Still don’t like it.
2 Likes
Probably regurgitating what a lot of people have already said about a rival to lovers trope but i have a fondness for the “Defrosting Ice Queen/King” trope. I really like the tension, a character comes off as standoffish and cold (no pun intended) but over the course of the story, those walls are melted away and they start to open up to the character. It just feels so much more wholesome to me, if that’s a good way to put it? They aren’t just a jerk, not completely anyways, they just aren’t the plucky outgoing character who says what’s on their mind. They have trouble speaking about personal issues and how they feel and that’s okay.
It’s pretty similar to another trope, pretty sure this doesn’t count by itself though but tied in with the rival to lovers trope. I have a soft spot for the “broken bird” trope. This doesnt always work, given that a lot of IF has a pretty heavily defined MC. But I like having the option of two characters who have troubled pasts being given the option to help each other and find comfort in each others company. Just an idea, not so much a trope I guess, but it makes me smile when I see it nonetheless.
10 Likes
I won’t name names, but I have a strong opinion against “all girls want bad boys" trope, especially the arrogant alpha bad boys type. However good boys＆bad boys is somehow acceptable, even a little cute.
And the dark moody type, life is hard for everyone, duh. And Stockholm syndrome romance, just no. And the “new kid in town” trope and instant love, luckily there’s almost no instant love in COGs because “choice matters”
As for favorite tropes, both friends/rivals to lovers can get a thump up from me. and the things in between, like friends to enemies to lovers, frenemies to lovers, or “second chances” trope (this one’s big NO irl though). Guess I prefer it when there’s a shared history or existing chemistry before the romance happens.
Also good old forbidden love and opposite attraction are good, if not favorite. Cliche as me 
Character traits wise, I like ROs who face hardship with quiet resolve and dignity, like Karson from Crème de la Crème. Or who wields great power but also has their own vulnerablity and melancholy, like Mrs. Claus from In the Service of Mrs. Claus, Meredith from Heros of Myth, Oriana from Heart of the House and Dusk from The Superlatives etc.
I also have a soft spot for mean girls. Not tsundere type, but really devious, or bratty, or venomous mean girls
5 Likes
I suspect it is definitely part of my… ahem, ‘interest’ in giant women but I do have a great fondness for the gentle giant type, especially if she’s a little shy and bashful. The cancelled game Behoving House had one like that with Ursula. I kinda like character and type contradictions in general actually…
2 Likes