what-alchemy

Coffee shop AU: D- probably my least favorite trope ever? It’s become synonymous with comfy cozy conflictless fluff and that is not just uninteresting to me but annoying on a storytelling level. The only ways I’ve seen them done in a way I’ve enjoyed is when it’s part of something bigger. I’ve seen it done effectively as part of an amnesia plot, or a pit stop on the way to canon, stuff like that. There just really needs to be something to chew on and so often the entire point of a coffee shop (or florist, or tattoo shop…) AU is that there isn’t. So. Not my jam at all. (Also working in a coffee shop is stressful as fuck? Who decided it was the comfy cozy dream?)

Fuck or die: D. Not really my thing. I’ve seen it done well but in general I’m not gonna go there.

Deaging: A- man I LOVE this when it's done well. Speaking of the Buffyverse, have you read Small Fry and the even better Son of Small Fry? Chef's kiss. Unfortunately with a trope like this, the bar is pretty high to clear. Like I don't like cutesy shit where it's clear the author has never been around children and just thinks they're cute all the time, or doesn't realize they're smart and have full sentences really early and stuff. So when it hits it hits but it takes a deft hand to pull it off.

Fairy Tale AU: A solid B- I think. Fairy tales are my jam in real life, and theoretically I should love them in fic (and of course I have committed many fairy tale fic crimes myself) but I feel like a lot of the time or with certain fandoms, something just doesn't translate well. That said, when it's good it's golden.

Buffy crossover: You know, I haven't read many of these. I often see them with male slayers and I just feel like it betrays or is missing the point of the show in a particular way that doesn't interest me. I feel like I can imagine great fics for this (Nile the Vampire Slayer not knowing she's a slayer and becoming immortal and meeting Andromache the Vampire Slayer comes to mind) but I can't recall a single good one I've read. So strange. So I don't know, I guess I'm landing on a D because it hasn't happened yet but I could encounter a good one before I die lol.