Maybe the worst part about finishing a good book is that you have to say goodbye to a series of characters that you'd like to carry around in your head and heart for the rest of all time.

Thankfully there's an entire world of possibilities out there in which your OTP a) get the happy ending they deserve, b) save the entire world from alien invasion, or c)take early retirement and become first-time puppy parents.

'Let's get checking out if a bunch of grown adults pass a GCSE exam...'

Of course, we are talking about fanfiction - and while we completely respect an original plot, there's just something about the comfort of the following eight tropes that hits us in the heart each and every time.

Enemies to lovers

Is there anything better than a slowburn in which two polar opposite characters are thrown together in pursuit of a common cause, and soon discover that they have a shared sense of humour and an identical moral code? Bonus points if those characters also happen to be figureheads for feuding companies/families/countries.

Oh yeah, Shakespeare was definitely onto something with that Romeo and Juliet thing.

Royalty

The world of fanfiction would be a dull place indeed were it not for the multiple re-imaginings of fictional characters and band members as future monarchs. Let's face it, there's just something about sticking a protagonist in the middle of a backstabbing court and watching the way they rule an empirethat has us hooked.

A misunderstood character

It's probably the most popular trope on AO3, and the reasons are pretty self-explanatory. Why would you dedicate an entire month of your life reading a 400,000 word fanfic if you *don't* get a delicious serving of A+ character development along the way?

Done properly, we'd ideally hate this bitchy character for the first 30% of the story and then spend the remainder of time insisting that they are the most honourable, sexy, and complicated person in the entire plot. Swoon.

Sharing a bed

Look, if you're searching for a oneshot that won't take up too much of your time, isn't packed full of smut, and is the perfect setting for some of that sexual tension to simmer innocently away - then the shared bed trope is definitelyone for you.

Batshit crazy plots

Nobody wants to witness the tired old formula of pulling a character out of their fictional universe only to place them in the boring world of work, taxes, and making monthly rent payments.

What we really want to see is how our OTP interact with each other whilespinning around in a black hole with no possible means of survival and only one oxygen cyclinder between them.

Cross-fandom characters

Only in the world of Wattpad can Hermione Granger be plucked straight out of J.K. Rowling's brain and thrown into a romantic subplot between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in 19th century London. That's right, folks: no rules apply.

Temporary amnesia

Oh God. We know it's an absolute cliché but is there anything better than watching two characters learn to like and trust each other again after one of them falls off a horse and conveniently forgets their entire friendship? It's a goddamned stroke of genius.

The coffeeshop plot

Still majorly pissed off that the two people who were clearly meant to be together were never canonically acknowledged? Just flick your magic wand, cast the sassy one as a coffeeshop barista and the serious one as a regular customer and watch sparks fly. Capeesh?

Cheers to that xoxo