My absolute favorite story tropes
Ridiculously overpowered characters falling in love with perfectly normal people and abandoning their plans for world domination to play house with their S.O. and using their powers/skills to do domestic chores in a fun and absolutely dangerous way. Their normal S.O. thinks it’s super hot when they abuse their power to strike the fear of God into their obnoxious neighbours. Bonus if their old associates come to convince them to return to the dark side and they’re like “Sorry, can’t, the kids have a school play tomorrow, gotta bake those cookies.”
Two people in an arranged marriage who absolutely do not want to be married but the parents are making them, then finding out that they are both rebels, then fall in love and decide to topple the stupid caste/patriarchal/capitalist system together. Bonus if they are constantly bickering like an old married couple even though they’d been married for like, a month, and most of it was spent antagonizing each other.
Stupidly optimistic and suicidally overconfident characters who recklessly jump into adventures and only make it out alive through sheer dumb luck, blissfully ignorant how close they came to death, and their cynical S.O. watching them and waiting to die of a heart attack, wondering what in the world possessed them to fall in love with this idiot, but then the optimist does something and they’re like “Oh, that’s why. Fuck it, we’re all gonna die eventually, might as well be with someone I can tolerate in the meantime.”
Two siblings with two very different personalities going on adventures together. Like, seriously, I love every version of this. (But my faves are Supernatural and Gravity Falls)
Characters who are usually suave/confident/flirty and generally the most self assured people in the world falling in love with someone who is absolutely unimpressed with their shit. Super extra bonus if at the end they don’t become a couple but best friends and partners in crime (a lá Zootopia).
A guy breaking up with his girlfriend who moves on, gets another boyfriend who has his shit together, the guy goes through his heroic story arc and ends up good friends with his ex and her boyfriend (Antman and Venom are good examples)
An old married couple who are, like, in their seventies/eighties but are still so sweetly in love with each other and they give the Troubled Protagonists ™ the best love advice.
Said old married couple having been in the CIA/FBI/some super secret government organisation and still being absolutely badass together.
Characters who have an animal alter ego, like werewolf/animal themed superheroes/animagus and still retaining some animal traits when they’re human and their S.O. finds it absolutely adorable and hilarious. Like, a werewolf thumping their leg if they are scratched beind the ear and cat superhero purring when they’re happy and a dragon person accidentally burning the curtains if they eat anything remotely spicy. Their S.O. shamelessly takes advantage of it.
