I don’t like this prompt so I’m just gonna write about why I don’t like it. Misunderstandings are usually just used by authors to create conflict they were too lazy to create in a genuine way. It’s some angsty teenage stuff and I hate it every time I see it in a story. I can understand it to a certain point, like how people find it hard to communicate their feelings and sometimes a situation is not what it seems, but who in the world has seen their partner kissing and their partner wasn’t actually cheating on them? It creates half-assed drama that just leaves the reader frustrated that the two characters won’t just talk.

I need more words so I’m gonna talk about another trope I hate: time skips. I’m not entirely sure why I hate it, but every time it happens I find myself tempted to leave the story altogether. It’s a tactic a lot of times used to have other characters get development that the author was too lazy to have actually tie into the characters that are experiencing the time skip. The only time a time skip didn’t really bother my was The Toll from the Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman. It’s a plot point that seems genuine and realistic instead of forced. It isn’t some one-off time skip, but rather the result of one important character sacrificing themself for the two main characters. It allowed for the main villain to become more and more of a greater threat at he gained more control over the world.

I also hate in fanfiction when people will be like “the blonde haired male” like have you ever seen that in a professional, published book? I don’t really know what else I expect them to do, as it’s difficult to differentiate the two characters when they’re the same gender and are interacting with each other. I don’t dislike this one as much as the others, I just need to hit my word goal.