Y'all, I am six months behind on tags...
So do I catch up?
Nope.
I steal an entirely different tag and do it. š
But in my defense, how could I pass up a trope faceoff tag? Exactly. I couldn't.
the rules
As Christine Smith put it, āTwelve worthy tropes have been tossed together in twos to battle it out for our favorites.ā So for this tag, pick one of the two tropes listed over the other and explain why this one wins the duel (repeat for all six trope combos)! Tag some fellow bloggers, of course, and stay tuned for the final challenge at the end!
Donāt forget to link back to whomever tagged you and thank them (thanks, Christine, for the open tag!) and link back to the creator!
the chosen one vs the mentor
Honesty: I donāt mind either trope, really. Probably because I donāt read a ton of chosen-one stories (soulmates is more the romance genreās style), so it hasnāt gotten too old to me. That said, Iād probably pick the mentor trope over the chosen one, simply because the mentor isnāt explored as much (as a protagonist, that is) and there really are way more options with it.
Winner: the mentor
enemies-to-lovers vs friends-to-lovers
HOW IS THIS EVEN A QUESTION???
Okay, I donāt have anything against friends-to-lovers as a trope (if my love for Gale and my own FTL romance are of any indication)ā¦but enemies-to-lovers will always and forever be my all-time favorite. You can call it toxic all you want, it still wins out in this round.
Winner: enemies-to-lovers
matchmaker gone wrong vs love potion
Welp, Iām not a love potion fan at all, so matchmaker gone wrong wins by default. Aside from that, itās still a top-notch trope. (Emma, anyone?)
Winner: matchmaker gone wrong
trapped in an elevator vs working with the ex
I will forever love trapped in an elevator after A Christmas Kiss. (Such a good movie, if youāre a Hallmark, or Hallmark-like, movie fan!) Itās just pure fun, and although Iām sure thereās some great love-to-hate-to-love/second chance vibes in working with the ex, I feel like thereās a lot more room for creativity with trapped in an elevator!
Winner: trapped in an elevator
mistaken identity vs marriage pact
Gah! Okay, so I really like both of these...and really dislike them. To me, mistaken identity can end up overly dramatic, and marriage pact can come off as clichĆ© and cheesy. So if mistaken identity is really well-done, chances are Iāll enjoy it more than a marriage pact story.
Winner: mistaken identity
kidnapped vs the one that got away
Yāall know āthe one that got awayā or second-chance romance is one of my least favorite tropes already (not at all because thereās anything wrong with the tropeāthere are just others I like more, so this one ends up on the bottom of the totem pole)ā¦so kidnapped wins by a technicality. Plus, it doesnāt help that one of my favorite novels (On Wings of Devotion by Roseanna M. White) starts off with a kidnapping (gone wrong, that is!) and that half of my very, very, very first stories were kidnapped stories. (Yāall legitimately do not want to know.) Itās just plain fun, you guys.
Winner: kidnapped
There we have it, folks! The winning tropes, which means itās time for a very special (and slightly overwhelming) challenge!
write a short story using every single trope that we chose!
Yep, I have to write a mentor, enemies-to-lovers, kidnapped and trapped in an elevator, mistaken identity, matchmaker gone wrong romance.
Honestly, that sounds amazing.
Last but not least, lemme tag some folksā¦
Make sure yāall subscribe to the blog and keep an eye out for my tropetastic short story coming atcha soon! And, of course, Iād love to know what your winning tropes are! Feel free to pirate this tag if you have a blog of your own or comment below!
Whoah! I want to read that story! You should post it here. It sounds like a lot of fun to read. And could maybe get confusingš¤£
Haha, yeah, I like matchmaking gone wrong too. Speaking of Emma it's my favorite Jane Austin book so farš
Oooh, another tag! I wasn't even sure what some of these even meant, so I had to ask the expert (aka Kristina. š)
I'm looking forward to this short story! As for my winning tropes ... the mentor, friends-to-lovers, matchmaker gone wrong, working with the ex, mistaken identity, and the one that got away.
Ohhh goodness this is a fantastic tag!! *begs to read this short story when it's done 'cause it's gonna be a MASTERPIECE*
I am not a fan of this genre, but your answers really had me intrigued. I pretty much agreed with them all. This was fun! Kudos to you on your upcoming short story!š