Embrace the Cliché Project

[kat_lair]

Embrace the Cliché Project

 

The silly fools doing it: entangled_now, iniq, kat_lair

What’s it all about?

Fanfic clichés are beautiful, they really are. Especially when they are about the various improbable and wacky ways you can get your two (or more!) favourite characters together in the sexual and/or romantic sense of the word.

Most fic writers and readers are familiar with some of them: sex pollen, pretending to be a couple, sharing body heat… But wouldn’t it be fantastic if there was a Big List of Fanfic Clichés? And wouldn’t it be even more brilliant if this list was then worked into Big Damn Tables of Fanfic Clichés that you could use to write fics about your favourite couple (or threesome or foursome or…). And imagine if there was a dedicated community where you could claim a couple (or threesome or foursome or…) and different Big Damn Tables of Fanfic Clichés. Wouldn’t it be positively wonderful?

Well, we thought so. Which is why entangled_now, iniq and myself are putting together the Embrace the Cliché Project.

The first step is to compile a list of all possible fanfic clichés and to do that we need your help. Yes, you. Our imagination and knowledge of the wide world fandom/fanfic goes (hard as it is to believe) only so far. Therefore we would like you to comment below with suggestions of the well-used and well-loved fanfic clichés and contrived plot devices that you’ve read and/or written.

We’re concentrating on “pairing clichés” i.e. various ways of getting your chosen people together. You can be as vague or as specific you want, from general prompts to fairly detailed plots. We’re aiming to be panfandom and het/femmeslash/slash friendly. There are of course various clichés that don’t fit all possible fandoms (e.g. those relying on alien influence) or pairings (e.g. those geared more toward the slash end of the spectrum), but don’t worry about being all inclusive in your suggestions. Organising the final list into workable tables will be our problem, not yours.

You can find clichés already submitted on a list under the cut. The list will be regularly updated with your suggestions.

 

Big List of Fanfic Clichés

1. Magical Healing Cock (and really, what a better way to start the list?)
2. High School AU
3. Genderswap
4. My body is your body is my body is
    a) characters switching bodies
    b) both characters end up in one body and know each other's thoughts
5. Clubbing
6. Hustler-fic
    a) Pretty Woman storyline - hustler ends up with the client
    b) hustling out of desperation (e.g. money for a sick relative) without the other person's knowledge
    c) hustler rescued/raped by friend/colleague
7. We're Going To Die Tomorrow; Let's Not Die Virgins
8. [Insert Series Name Here]: The Next Generation
9. Makeover
10. Love Potion
11. Aliens Made Them Do It
    a) alien sex pheromones
    b) alien sex/mind drug
    c) alien religious ceremony
    d) alien possession (aliens controlling their bodies and having sex and the characters remembering the experience)
12. Deus ex machina = Fuck Or Die = Must Have Sex Right Now Or...
    a) aliens will kill us otherwise
    b) human baddies will kill us otherwise (e.g. 'prove it' scenario in undercover plots)
13. Slave!fic - slavery leads to true love.
14. Sex pollen
15. Odd transformations into a strange animal/plant/object/something leads to a new relationship
16. Sharing body heat (aka "the blanket scenario" - We must huddle for warmth otherwise we will die!)
17. Having to share a bed (e.g. the hotel only had one double room left with one bed)
18. Getting snowed/stormed in (cabin in the woods, a cave etc.)
19. Having to pretend to be a couple
    a) going undercover as a couple (cops, agents etc.)
    b) pretending to be gay
20. Hurt/comfort cliché
    a) illness/injury leads to feelings being realised and revealed (the other realising what they stand to lose)
    b) suicide prevention (finding someone trying to kill themselves and stopping them) leads to feelings being realised and revealed
    c) near death experience leads to revelation of true love
    d) character loses someone important to them, comfort leads to true love
21.  Drunken sex (Let's get really drunk and then sleep with each other, we'll regret it tomorrow but then we'll understand that we really love each other)
22. Play fighting (paint, food etc.)
23. Enforced proximity
    a) stuck in an elevator
    b) stakeouts
    c) working late
24. Truth or Dare
25. Unexpected jealousy leads to revelation of true love
26. Road Trip
27. Unexpected sensitivity (to bereavement, unemployment etc)
28. Amnesia- fic
29. Time-travel- fic
    a) future kids coming into the past to make parents admit they love each other
30. Substitution-fic (one of the two/three or however many goes out and keeps finding sexual partners that look like the other one, but doesn't realise it)
31. Real fighting turns into sex
32. Enforced separation/reunion
33. Woke Up Gay
34. Wing-fic
35. Historical AU (eg. costume drama)
36. Vampire-fic
37. Mid-life crisis porn
38. Star Wars AU
39. Arranged marriage
40. Let's experiment aka "How do you know you don't like it if you've never tried it?"
41. Woke up married
42. Super powers - SUGGESTIONS PEOPLE! What are the sexy super powers?
    a) Telepathy - "OMG you can hear my porny thoughts!" or  "tverybody already thinks we're together so let's give it a shot"
    b) Telekinesis - Copping a feel with your mind
    c)
    d)
43. Overheard/eavesdropped
    a)rumor/speculation about them sleeping together putting the idea in the characters' heads
    b) one overhears a conversation between the other and a third party and misunderstands (or not) it to mean that the other has feelings for them
    c) one overhears/sees the other in a romantic situation, can't get it out of their head, and ends up with the other
    d) a third party overhears the two, misunderstands a conversation, and believes they're together, leading to  rumours as in a)
44. Stranded or lost somewhere together and have to rely on each other to get back
45. Kidfic!
    a) AU where they only meet because one or both have a kid
    b) one of them somehow ends up responsible for a kid, the other helps out as a second adult in the kid's life, leading to them falling in love and forming a perfect family unit.
46. prison-fic
47. Cross-dressing
    a) simply for the kink
    b) for undercover/espionage purposes
48. Post-apocalypse ("everyone else is dead/zombies/diseased/insane/whatever, so let's get it on!")
49. Alley!porn.
50. Cursed! The only way to break a curse is to have sex with each other.




(n. Due to public demand: tree!porn)

 

Variation is a spice of life, so even if you see something on the list vaguely similar to what you were planning on suggesting, go ahead and let us know your version of the cliché in question.

Finally, please pimp this post! We want a large representation of clichés and plot devices from different fandoms so go and get your friends involved!

Comments

[whimsy-chan.livejournal.com]

iniq sent me! :D

1. Magical Healing Cock
2. High School AU
3. Genderswitch
4. Characters switching bodies
5. All The Characters Randomly Go Clubbing
6. The Blanket Scenario
7. We're Going To Die Tomorrow; Let's Not Die Virgins
8. [Insert Series Name Here]: The Next Generation
9. Makeover! (Sometimes paired with the Let's Go Clubbing! scenario)
10. Love Potion/Alien Sex Pheromones/Deus ex machina = We Need To Have Sex RIGHT NOW Or I'll Die

And I'm tapped. But these are all among my favorite fanfic cliches.

[scruby.livejournal.com]

"Magical Healing Cock" ha?

"We're Going To Die Tomorrow; Let's Not Die Virgins" lol!

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Awesome! Thank you very much. Though, can you elaborate on number 6 please. "The Blanket Scenario" is taking my mind to all sorts of filthy places and I'm not really sure if any of them are what you really meant...

[ana-grrl.livejournal.com]

1. Slavery leads to true love.
2. Sex pollen! Possibly leading to true love!
3. Odd transformations into a strange animal/plant/object/something leads to a new relationship.
4. We must huddle for warmth otherwise we will die!

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

These are great! Thank you very much!

[wliberation.livejournal.com]

Eep!

Well, there's having to share a bed for whatever reason (possibly because the hotel only had one double room left with one bed, or something). Then there's getting snowed/stormed in to a cabin in the woods somewhere, or alternatively a cave. Um, having to pretend to be a couple you already mentioned, but I have to add that especially if they're cops/agents going undercover. Then the sci-fi porn cliché, Aliens Made Them Do It, which involves some sort of religious ceremony that they just Have To take part in, or alternatively, some sort of alien sex/mind drug that makes them behave odd and of course horny. (Speaking of which, I'd love to read an Atlantis fic where they find the Ancients' porn room (I'm convinced they have one); it could, like, have alien Viagra in the air conditioning system or something. *is rambling aimlessly* Ahem, excuse me, I might be a bit over-tired today. *G*) Then there's the hurt/comfort cliché, where the other person gets injured and then the other suddenly realises he/she has Feelings, oh angstety angst.

Well, that's about all I can think of right now. Might be back to add something later. Now, excuse me, I think I need to get some sleep before my brain gets out of control. *sheepish*

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Yay! Thank you for these, pure awesomeness! And I too would like to read that SGA fic...

[scruby.livejournal.com]

Awesome idea.

1. Let's get really drunk and then sleep with each other, we'll regret it tomorrow but then we'll understand that we really love each other.
2. Paint/Food/something else fight.
3. Being stuck in an elevator.
4. Truth or Dare.
5. Finding someone trying to kill himself and stopping him.

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Thank you for these! Truth and Dare is one of all time favourites clichés, and, um, games too...

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

*grin* ooh but there's so many! Um...

1. Near death experience leads to revelation of true love
2. Unexpected jealousy leads to revelation of true love
3. "Must have sex or die" (usually alien influenced)
4. Road Trip (doesn't have to actually be on a road)
5. Unsuspected sensitivity (to bereavement, unemployment etc)

That's all that spring to mind off the top of my head...

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Ooh... I adore Road Trip fics!

[ginnystar.livejournal.com]

1. Losing someone close = comfort = ILU
2. Loss of memory leading to 'do I know you's leading to ILU
3. Future kids coming into the past to make parents admit ILU

Mmm, s'all I can think of at the moment! XD

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

yay! Thank you so much babes, these were great!

[pushkin666.livejournal.com]

I'm always a great fan of hustler fic. You know the sort where the hustler ends up with the client or some other such thing, or hustles because they have a sick relative *g*

Then there's the one where one of the two/three or however many goes out and keeps finding sexual partners that look like the other one, but doesn't realise it. You know what I mean *g*

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

yay hustler!fic is awesome! And, um, I may know what you mean by that last one...

[lolabobs.livejournal.com]

Fight! Fighting and all rough and tumbly transforming into heavy breathing, eyes meeting and LURVE!

Omg that's my favourite favouritest cliche and it's not done enough!. More fights into snoggage please!

also:

One of 'em being ill and the other realising what they stand to lose.

Being forced into it - not by aliens but by baddies - hoodlums! (often part of the undercover cop scenario - in a 'prove it' manner)

Any enforced separation/reunion - especially if one fears for the life of the other


You know what - I don't care that these are cliches - I love 'em all!

(and I can't find out how to make accents on my keyboard!)

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

hoodlums! The great catalyst of true love everywhere. (Plus I just like the way that word sounds. Hoodlums!)

Thank you for these, they are all great. And clichés are indeed love (and I can't be bothered to figure out the accent on my keyboard either. copy-paste or Firefox's nifty spell-checker are your friends).

[oikku.livejournal.com]

1. fuck or die
2. woke up gay
3. wing!fic
4. historical au - costume drama style!

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Oh wing!fic how are you so awesome? Thank you vey much for these hun!

[master-kogane.livejournal.com]

1. one of them is a vampire!
2. midlife crisis!pr0n!
3. Star wars Au. Every fandom deserves a Star Wars AU!

I'll think about more! XD

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

yay, thank you! I don't think I've ever read any midlife crisis!pr0n! sounds intriguing... Coem back with more if you think of it...

[claudia-writes.livejournal.com]

I can think of just one, and this is restricted to historical fics (okay, maybe not)

- Arranged marriage

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

What a great cliché that is, thank you!

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

We need to print this out and take it to Connotations. There was some talk about it last year but it didn't go this far!! You can produce the definitive list!

Oh, and alphekka_alpha has booked and wants to share your accommodation and will be emailing you.

*pats self on back for pimping cottage*

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

omg, we could! entangled_now, iniq and myself are putting together a challenge comm out of these, but we well also organise the list properly once it's looking full...

And yay! Thank you for pimping the cottage! Gonna e-mail you about stuff tomorrow hopefully...

[ihavecake.livejournal.com]

I don't know why but "Woke Up Gay" made me cry with laughter. And you missed out "How do you know you odn't like it if you've never tried it?"

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Well, if you woke up gay one morning, it might indeed make one cry and laugh... And yay, thanks for that cliché!

[saturnial.livejournal.com]

Oh god. Cliches. I LOVE THEM ALL.

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Aren't they beautiful? Keep an eye on the project, we got big plans...

[dirty-smudge.livejournal.com]

Is "possessed by aliens" on the list? (I don't know if it fits into "aliens made us do it")
I was thinking more along the lines of aliens controlling their bodies and having sex and the characters remembering the experience.

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I've added that as a sub category of the "aliens made us do it" option...

[dirty-smudge.livejournal.com]

Oooooh! Sorry to post twice, but what about rumours about them sleeping together putting the idea in the characters' heads?

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

there can never be too many posts about clichés so no worries - thank you for this suggestion too!

[9zanite.livejournal.com]

1. Overheard/eavesdropped
a)rumor/speculation about them together like dirty_smudge just posted
b)one overhears a conversation between the other and a third party and misunderstands (or not) it to mean that the other has feelings for them
c)one overhears/sees the other in a romantic situation, can't get it out of their head, and ends up with the other
d)a third party overhears the two, misunderstands a conversation, and believes they're together, leading to dirty_smudge's rumors

2.Get stranded or lost somewhere together and have to rely on each other to get back

3. Kidfic!
a)AU where they only meet because one or both have a kid
b)one of them somehow ends up responsible for a kid, the other helps out as a second adult in the kid's life, leading to them falling in love and forming a perfect family unit.

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, these are all excellent, thank you so much. I'm copy-pasting them straight to the list!

[eboniorchid.livejournal.com]

Hey! Cool! Have you seen this kink/cliché list? It's pretty amazing, so it should offer some ideas.

http://eliade.livejournal.com/472331.html

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I've seen that amazing list before, didn't remember where though and had an idea it being mostly about kinks in the sexual sense of the word. Thank you for the link, we'll probably dip in there too at some point.

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

Subgenre for 4: both characters end up in one body and know each other's thought.
Subgenre for 6: hustler rescued/raped by friend/colleague

You realise you may have a definitive list of the world's plot devices?

I had to read a zine submission yesterday - a cross between 11 and 14 leading to 21. Couldn't stop laughing but it was quite well done and really rather sweet. I couldn't help wondering whether this particular cliché had reached the world of original fic yet - if it hadn't it has now...

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Awesome, thank you for the suggestions *adds to the list*

You realise you may have a definitive list of the world's plot devices? - um, y-y-y-yes? And then when either of us is stuck for ideas we can just close our eyes and point at it randomly. "Ooooh SEX POLLEN!"

And that zine story sounds like fun. Is this for the Forbidden Fruits then?

[nerdcakes.livejournal.com]

Prisonfic!

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

oooh, thank you! *adds*

[planetkiller.livejournal.com]

I've seen telepathy where they realise that everybody already thinks they're together so they might as well try it. And where one of them is dressed as a member of the opposite sex and the other person doesn't know.

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, thank you very much for these. With the last one, do you mean a bit old fashioned cross-dressing or more like The Crying Game type scenario (without the IRA)?

[inkblot-fiend.livejournal.com]

Enforced proximity - long stakeouts/nights in the office lead to revelations of feelings and car!sex or possibly good old-fashioned desk!sex

I can't think of any others right now... but I am loving the list so far! *hugs it in all its clichéd glory*

(... does tree!porn count? I don't know if there's been enough of it written for it to qualify as a cliché...)

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Thank you darling *hugs you*

Hahaha, omg tree!porn! I don't think it's big enough to really count, but I'm tickled pink that you suggested it. I'm going to add is as a special extra feature just for laughs!

[gretazreta.livejournal.com]

"We must PRETEND to be gay oh whoops maybe we are" fic. (subset of 19.)

Alley!porn.

"Only-sex-with-you-will-overturn-the-curse-porn." Although that may be particular to Supernatural. As is "I dreamt about us together and everyone knows I'm psychic so maybe we should try it porn." I've read some GREAT ones of that.

This is such a great idea, really. For every cliche I can think of a brilliant piece of writing I've read taking that on.

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

yay! Thank you for these, they are all amazing suggestions.

I think the porn-as-the-ultimate-curse-breaker has been used outside SPN too, it works for most horror/sci-fi/fantasy type fandoms...

The project was totally born out of the beautiful cliché fics we've all read and written so we're all really looking forward to what the comes out it...