Since the dawn of time (my teenage years), there is one trope that can be counted on to generate buzz among passionate people. (I was going to say young adults here, but I found that to be exclusive of people like me who are very opinionated and often convinced they are correct.) The love triangle will always be a tried and true classic of the romance genre.

Opposites attract. While the previous sentence may not be true for all human beings, the phenomenon happened often enough for the saying to become a cliche. It still pops up in romantic comedies from time to time, usually in the form of a loving jibe or tell-tell remark from a quirky or mysterious supporting character. These days, it is more often implied than said aloud. Many different pairings illustrate this trope, but the most common and beloved is a couple we have come to define as grumpy/sunshine.

Romantic tropes exist on a realism scale that varies by individual. While we may love a particular scenario with all our heart, we know we will never fall for it in the real world. For instance, the closest my soul, mind and overall attitude will ever allow me to come to an enemies-to-lovers arc is eating my words concerning fictional men as they develop over multiple television show seasons (Hello, Jamie Tartt). Because, as my friend Geneva so gracefully put it, once I decide I hate a man, that door is closed, bolted, and barred, never to be opened again. However, one trope in particular is universally regarded as one of the most realistic: the antithesis of the beloved E-T-L, Friends-To-Lovers.

If you consume romantic media in any way, shape or form, you are likely familiar with the tropes often found within it. Those specific plot devices, scenarios or settings that an audience encounters again and again and yet somehow of which they never grow tired. Every viewer has their favorite, the one that makes them instantly swoon, hold their breath in anticipation or wipe tears from their eyes. Some of the more experienced consumers even have tropes with which they outright refuse to engage. Who can blame them? With instances as commonplace as these, it is easy to be burned.