Whether or not you're a fan of Romance, you're bound to have read even a single Romance FF.

If not... then, what are you even doing? You're missing out on the Aphmau fandom, which can be bad or good, but that depends.

What I'm saying is, everyone has probably read a Romance book — it can be Aphmau, Voltron, or whatever.

One important factor to a Romance book is the character and relationship development, and how the main characters' relationship came to be.

But, today, we'll be talking about the most cliché of the bunch. So, put on your seatbelts, and get ready for a rollercoaster of fanfics!

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- The "Tripping" Trope

Like, crap.

I've done this (to be fair, I was much younger then, but anyway) and it's pretty annoying.

I mean, in real life, tripping can get you into some pretty weird situations, but you were probably just in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

But seriously, why does every Aphmau couple in FF's have some moment when one of them trips, and then they kiss/fall into a sexual position?

Like, lemme set the stage. The characters are in high school, when they're all weird and stuff, with puberty n' all. The guy trips while approaching the girl/guy, falling on top of her/him. Because shipping fuel, the guy is automatically straddling the girl.

Like, does that not sound weird to you?

Laurance's POV

I walked through the wide hallways of our school, as students' backs pressed against each other, and no, those do not contradict each other at all.

Anyway, I continue strolling through school grounds, before I laid my eyes on the blue-haired beauty before me. Curly, wavy hair. Glistening skin. A hue of blue oh so true.

"Hi... Dante."

He chuckled, whirling around, waving towards me. I stepped forward, tripping on a toenail, lunging my body forward.

I pressed my eyes together, waiting for my body to reach the cold, hard floor. But, I slowly opened my eyes to see Dante below me, as I clutched onto his sleeves, bracing for the impact. I had my legs around his, as people continued to stare at us.

A pink hue brushed across my perfect face, as I quickly stood up, pulling Dante up with me.

I couldn't help feeling embarrassed. I ran away, nearly tripping and falling into a hole in the process. I couldn't face anyone — especially Dante.

Oh wow, am I bipolar? I thought. Anyway...

So, before we get to more of Laurance's bipolar-ity, let's just cut him off.

Does that not sound weird to any of you?

I know this is getting redundant, but I've never really slipped and just-so-happened to fall on top of a person of the opposite gender (or the same gender, you do you).

So, there. I'm pretty okay with this little trope, but it sometimes just comes off as forced.

I think a quick and easy way to steer away from this cliché, is to, well, put them in a different situation, one that's more believable;

I know a lot of authors do this just so they could place the two lovers in an awkward, semi-sexual position, but this could be done in so many other ways;

One way to get this done is to have the couple ice skating for some kind of get-together, or for their date. Person A is not a good skater, and Person B is either;

A.) aware on how to skate, or B.) a complete amateur like Person A, and the two try to work through skating together for the sake of experience.

Yes, slipping in the ice rink is painful (since it's pretty much hard water), but hey, misery loves company.

••

- The "Snobby New Girl" Trope

Okay, okay, picture this; the couple pf choice is all fine and dandy, in fact, the relationship's going great, but then, a snobby, new girl enters the picture and is instantly attracted to one of the parties. This new girl is obviously a total female dog, and the author wastes no time to tell the audience.

Sounds familiar, right?

The new girl is utterly gorgeous, making Person A question her worth and their relationship with Person B. Miss new girl is, as said earlier, a complete female dog, and threatens Person A, making various attempts to distract Person B, but in the end, fails miserably.

The new girl is also undoubtedly an antagonist from the paragraph she was introduced, as the author immediately hints at it, with the attributions, "she let out a fake laugh" or "she lied," or anything along those lines.

Garroth's POV

My girlfriend and I strolled down through the halls, hands clasped lovingly together. She and I had been flirting and joking around for months, but we just made it official last week.

Other students were still surprised that I would be in a relationship with her, but I love her just the way she is.

"Hey, big guy. Something the matter?" she asked politely. I turned to her, looking into her gentle, amber eyes.

"It's nothing, Kim. I was just thinking about something," I smiled, trying to brush it off quickly. "You know, thinking about us."

A worried quickly spread across her face, as I tried to calm her down. "No, no, I'm thinking about how great we are together, and with how much I love you," I reassured her, kissing her forehead sweetly.

"T-thanks," she stammered, smiling back at me.

At this moment, I took the time to scan all her features, staring deeply into her eyes. Oh, she was beautif—

"Turn your head here, pretty boy," a feminine voice said sharply, catching everyone in the hall's attention.

I looked up, to see a tall, slender woman with entriguing features; pale, snow white skin, long, straight black hair, and ivory eyes that could look straight through my soul.

She was irrisistable.

She stood in the center of the hall, donning a uniform all too familar; O'Khasis Academy for the Gifted.

Her high-end shoes clashed with the floor, making a clicking sound as she strolled over to Kim and I, the people around us forming a pathway for her to walk through.

"Do I... know you?" I asked hesitantly, Kim's hand slipping out of mine, as I could feel her trembling.

The female smirked,  "I'm Elissa Vanderson, at your service, Mr. Ro'meave."

Everyone who was in earshot gasped, as this attractive, young, and most likely rich and pampered young woman knew me.

"And what may you be doing here, Miss Vanderson?" I queried, trying to maintain my composure.

She turned on her heel, strutting towards me. She moved her thumb along my jaw, coaxing me to face her.

"I'm here to save you from your misery, Garroth. You don't deserve a woman like the one latched onto your arm," she hissed, glaring at Kim.

"You deserve someone more than a nerd. The Ro'meave name need not a woman like her."

My eyes widened, a look of utter disgust on my face. And then, that's when my world turned upside down.

Okay, okay. I got really into it and then made it extrafrickin' long. Sue me.

But anyway, an easy fix for this is, well, writing the opposing character better.

I'm not saying there aren't people out there to wreck relationships; believe me, they exist. There are just better ways to write their characters other than making it unbelievably obvious.

Though I am no where near being a "good" author, and in no way should anyone quote me on this, but I believe a good author can write a character's personality without directly stating it;

What I mean is, the reader can tell the character's personality by their body language and the people around them. That's what I think a good author can do.

Anyway, now that that's done...

••

- The "Project Partners" Trope

Okay, this happens a lot, and it isn't that bad. I mean, not all tropes and clichés are bad; I actually think this is somewhat a good way to introduce two characters to each other.

Person A and Person B are paired by the teacher for some assignment or something, and they instantly hit it off. In the span of knowing each other for, like, three days, and are already kissing it up and clasping hands together in the hall.

I mean, it's unrealistic in that kind of way, but knowing how to tone it down and to develop the relationships interaction-by-interaction, it's great. A lot of people make friends through school, so I'd say that's pretty realistic.

Katelyn's POV

I sat in my seat, squirming; I was never really one to enjoy homework, not to mention group and pair activities.

"Okay, so I'll randomly pair everyone up because I'm the cliché teacher, and apparently that's my only purpose in this story," Mrs. Roberts said bluntly, as everyone yawned at her remark;

But me? I was anxious. To be paired up with some random hormone-filled teenager and to depend on them for a grade? Not cool.

"Okay... let's start it off with Miss Firestine," she stated, as I felt like all eyes were on me. I could feel their stares on the back of my neck, as if their presence was clawing into my back.

"You'll be paired up with Mr. Ro'meave," the senior said, as I followed her finger to meet the gaze of a pale, stark black-haired male in the corner of the room.

"Okay, now that you're done, none of these other characters are relevant to the plot, so now, the author can just cut me o—"

And yes, I did do the thing where the mentioned characters break the fourth wall. I realized I did it a lot in past chapters, then it got out of my system. And it's back again.

Now, to fix this, well... I think this trope should stay, to be honest. I mean, sometimes people get it right, somtimes people get it wrong;

Out of the three I mentioned in this chapter, this trope is the easiest to get right.

You just have to make sure the relationship doesn't move too fast with the characters. It can't be like, day one, they've already stated their love for each other; day two, they've kissed; day three, Person A is already flippin' pregnant.

—

If your books contain any of these clichés, don't feel bad! Tropes aren't necessarily negative, you just have to find the right audience.

Plus, making things too realistic can make it somewhat boring. So, don't forget to make it out of the ordinary in its own, original way.

"No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else," P.T. Barnum of The Greatest Showman (2017) once said.

So get out there, and just write what your heart desires!

- cath