What's Your Pet Peeve Trope?

Beyond the Impossible

Most instances cited here are totally possible. As such, it must die a bloody death in a fire.

Catapult Nightmare. Who in history has ever done this? Ever? For me, it’s less a “trope” than a “cliché.”

Also, Camp Gay, at least because of the implication that it’s the only sort of gay man that exists (more common than you think). And related: Hide Your Lesbians.

edited 30th Jun '12 5:23:27 PM by Bananaquit

Pretty much any of the Dream Tropes ,but Dreaming of Things to Come really takes the cake.

I can't remember a single iteration of a dream sequence in a work of fiction that I enjoyed.

It systematically manages to both bore and irritate me.

Also, I think Trans Equals Gay and Queer People Are Funny need to die horrible deaths. And racial stereotypes played completely straight bug the heck out of me, too.

I'm Your Worst Nightmare, unless they're poking fun at it. In part because with nightmares, you wake up at some point, so it's not exactly very intimidating. Also, the one saying it probably has no idea what the worst nightmare of the person they're saying it to really is.

edited 5th Jul '12 7:04:46 PM by KatanaCat

Let's see:

• Double Standard tropes, and The Unfair Sex. I consider myself a feminist/gender equalist, but feminism DOES NOT justify being a bitch to everyone that slightly annoys you.
• Stereotypical tropes applied to LGBTQ individuals.
• While we're at it, No Bisexuals. TBH, I didn't even know that was a thing until I got to TV Tropes.
• Fetus Terrible when done really badly.
• Sex Is Evil. Yes, let's demystify sex by making people afraid of it. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?!
• General tropes used for overly convenient plots. Idiot Ball, etc.
• Strangled by the Red String

That's pretty much it, for now.

QFT

Writers Cannot Do Math

Especially when you look at some of the examples. I get that the writer personally might not be that great at it, okay. Recognize your issue then and bring in a person to do the math for you or have your editor do it.

Although that one seems to tie into Series Continuity Error. I can understand issues if you have a team of writers, but in cases where it's one writer alone... I remember one series where the main character kept switching between blond and brown as her hair color. Geez.

I'll put that as another pet peeve trope.

The Chessmaster

Soemthing about this trope tends to somewhat disturb me, I don't really trust those chessmaster types even if they are good.

Dumb Is Good and Good Is Dumb both piss me off a bit, as does Science Is Bad.

Aside from the obvious tropes that everyone hates, such as all the Double Standard and Contrived Stupidity Tropes? Well:

• Evil Brit
• Eagleland Type 2, and sometimes 1 if it gets in the way of history.
• Historical Villain Downgrade
• Invaded States of America
• Space-Filling Empire
• Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale: When it comes to population.
• Hollywood Tactics
• Downer Ending / Shoot the Shaggy Dog Story: Except in exactly one case.
• Easily Conquered World
• Thou Shalt Not Kill
• Joker Immunity
• Creepy Child
• Make the Bear Angry Again

edited 7th Jul '12 11:02:21 AM by CPFMfan

Viewers Are Morons. I tend to prefer works that respect the viewers' intelligence. I also dislike Contrived Stupidity Tropes as they turn characters of normal intelligence into idiots.

I am not very fond of Artistic License in general, despite being an aspiring author myself.

Here's another one: True Art Is Angsty.

Is it? Is it really? Maybe Alan Moore's Watchmen was so successful because of TAIA, but DC Comics ended up taking the trope too far and their stories turned into a disgusting mess. Even Moore pretty much pointed out the lack of common sense and business sense on DC's part.

But what about My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic? That show has nothing angsty about it, but lots of people love the show. I personally see the show as true art, myself.

Spotlight-Stealing Squad and We Are Team Canon Fodder are my biggest pet peeve tropes. Nothing really gets me as riled up as I'm disappointed as when you have a series with tons of awesome characters and potentially interesting storylines...

just for the writers to kick all of that to the curb only to focus on one or two guys. The wasted potential makes me sick to my stomach.

Argh, I've hated that for as long as I can remember. Even when I was eight, I remember being pissed when WarGreymon got TWO Dark Master kills.

Three sir he also took out Piedmon

Historical Villain Upgrade also bothers me though.

WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon chucked him through the gate, true, but the actual attack what did him in was MagnaAngemon's, so he gets credit in my book.

Still, would it have been so hard to bring in Phoenixmon or HerculesKabuterimon (who I already knew about at that point; I was very immersed in my interests as a kid) to fry Machinedramon?

Meta Guy especially if overlaps with Deadpan Snarker and Genre Savvy.

Ruined FOREVER. I know, it'd be better not to take the Ruined FOREVER screams seriously, but they still annoy and upset me. Especialy if I actually happened to like the stuff which "ruined" the franchise.

I've never liked If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her..., fictional or in real life. The sentiment might be well-intentioned, but it treats the woman like she has no agency, the new boyfriend like he's a guilty until proven innocent threat, and generally just comes across as macho posturing.

edited 14th Jul '12 11:21:25 AM by emeriin

Science Is Bad, Cybernetics Eat Your Soul, pretty much any anti-science tropes. I really, really don't like the mindset that advanced technology is inherently evil, especially since most people with those sentiments probably wear clothes and eat food that was made in factories, as well as drive cars and use computers and phones. However, "inappropriate usage of technology is bad" is a valid aesop to me. Or pretty much any "abuse of power is bad" aesop.

Trans Equals Gay. Being both trans and pan/gay myself, yeah, I really don't like this trope. At all. If any of you doubted it being truth in television, when I came out as a man, at least two people thought I was a lesbian for saying I was a guy (which also brings up another unfortunate stereotype).

Seme, Uke, and ESPECIALLY Ukefication. The fact that I was once guilty of taking those labels seriously only makes it all the more shameful. First off, I hate it when people blindly follow conventions without questioning why they're doing it or what it would add to the story. A lot of bad fanfiction out there has a clearly defined "top" and a clearly defined "bottom". Which also brings me to my next point. REAL LIFE RELATIONSHIPS DON'T WORK THAT WAY. Sure, some people enjoy topping and some enjoy bottoming, but their position in bed doesn't determine their ENTIRE PERSONALITY. Why not have the meek, shy, reclusive one be into dominating his boyfriend for a change? Why does the Seme always have to be the taller, more "masculine-looking" one and the Uke the shorter, more "feminine-looking" one? Why can't the tall strong guy be shy and awkward underneath his facade of strength and the Bishonen boy be outgoing and aggressive?

The answer to most of those questions is, "Because that would be breaking the Yaoi rules". Even though you'd think breaking conventions and doing something interesting would be top priority for aspiring writers.

Oh, and Ukefication can go burn in a ditch. It's bad enough having your "original characters" be stereotypes, but forcing already established characters into those roles, regardless of their original characterization? ALL MY HATE.

edited 14th Jul '12 12:41:09 PM by AwesomeZombie22

Oh, also, while I haven't encountered either of these in a work of fiction yet, I get the feeling either type of Eagleland played absolutely straight would irritate me. I do enjoy subversions/deconstructions of Type 1, though; Pleasantville is one of my favorite movies.

Author Tract of all kinds, with Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions being a close second (not that I'm particularly religious or anything — my religiosity is greater than 0). I'm not a huge fan of works with a message (inb4 every work of fiction ever). Messages irritate me, particularly if they're unsubtle. I consume fiction because I want to escape from everyday life, not be drawn back into it.

Dan Browned , don't pretend you've done the research when you haven't.

Also, red shirt, what's the point of the character if they just die three seconds later.

And finally, Unfair sex.