Misunderstandings

Tropes and genres
Synonym(s)	miscommunication
Related tropes/genres	Mutual Pining, Pining
Related articles on Fanlore.

Misunderstandings are a popular plot device in romance and humor fanfiction. In romantic stories, a misunderstanding can be used to fuel angst and pining and is often combined with other tropes like friends to lovers and roommates au. The misunderstandings trope overlaps with the miscommunication trope.

Misunderstandings are also used in original fiction and other media. See TV Tropes's Mistaken For index.

Usually one of the parties says or does something that is inevitably misinterpreted by the other party leading to situations that may or may not culminate in a happy ending, depending on the story.

E.g. when the two love each other, but do not seem to notice -- or for some reason one of the parties interprets some situation as revealing that they will never work out -- it and are always thinking that the other does not appreciate them, leading to a series of misunderstandings that almost always culminate in their conciliation and their union.

Fan Commentary

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

Misunderstandings and miscommunication tropes are divisive; some fans love the trope and others find them infuriating. Some of this comes down to how well the miscommunication or misunderstanding is written, or the circumstances under which it comes about. For example, due to the prevalence of miscommunication playing a part in the third act break-up of romance novels (which then leads to a similar writing beat occurring in some fanworks), fans find that the misunderstanding created to force that break-up can at times feel contrived and out of character.

The best kind of (dramatic) miscommunication is when two characters are talking directly to each other and think they're communicating, but their respective personalities and biases cause them to misinterpret everything the other one says.

The worst kind of miscommunication is when someone eavesdrops and hears part of a conversation which, taken out of context, sounds like something completely different, and then leaves before they hear the part that would completely debunk their assumed meaning.

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Example Fanworks

• Captivated (Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Felix/Annette). Felix mistakenly thinks his crush Annette is dating Golden Deer leader Claude.
• Actually, "Charging Crystals" sounds like a Brodian thing, huh (Fire Emblem Engage, Ivy/Kagetsu [NSFW]). Kagetsu's poor grasp of traditional Elyos expressions and poor wording lead to him and Ivy having sex.
• don't leave me tongue-tied (Stray Kids, Han/Lee Know)

Fannish Resources

• Misunderstandings tag on AO3
• Miscommunication tag on AO3