What tropes get on your nerves, fellow writers?

I can spot at least three terms in here that you either do not actually understand or are willfully distorting the meaning of. And I'm going to leave it at that; in fact this seems like a good moment to bow out of the thread altogether.

But yes, that's a villain (though "unequivocal" depends on the portrayal).

Right, because authorial intent means nothing. That character isn't necessarily a villain. I can think of several characters who are similar and are definitely not villains. In fact, I don't see anything villainous about that description at all.

Care to explain further?

edited 3rd Aug '13 1:12:27 PM by resetlocksley

Well, authorial intent is kind of the issue. I worry that everyone is going to get political about my work (because that's what readers on the internet do). All I want to to is write an entertaining story with a different kind of hero.

On the 'Rebels are always right' thing, the Equalists in the Legend Of Korra are villainous rebels. Although the government is hardly pleasant.

To a normal reader, it does mean nothing. Never forget this.

edited 4th Aug '13 5:59:36 PM by Night

I guess it is just phenomenon of people always wanting to see the underdog win against the champions.

Ping Pong Naivete

You are mature enough to deliver an important Aesop about life and yet you still behave like a ten year old? This trope annoying in kid shows and it something of a truth in television.

edited 4th Aug '13 6:20:48 PM by GAP

Usually, what tropes annoys me depends on my current mood, the execution, and the story. But some of the persistent one (that I remember anyway):

- Downer Ending : There's a reason why movies, games, books, etc are considered "entertainment", I honestly can't understand why some people like those kind of ending... On related not, Shoot the Shaggy Dog and other related trope also fits here.

- World Half Empty : or any cynical trope really. It could just me being optimistic half of the time (or not. my username is "Moody" for a reason)... or it could be because most of the work with these trope really intent to prove that any sort of optimism and hope are wrong or even a sin ==

- Romantic Plot Tumor : Show of hands, who here believes that most action movie are better off without the romantic plotline?

- Smug Snake : Which made Break the Haughty one of my favorite trope

- Some Humans Are [insert noun/verb] trope. Dunno why.... maybe because I usually want to play as non-human badass instead of a human badass. Boredom maybe?

back at downer endings again, eh...

manga, books, games, tv shows, movie, music, ect are often considered entertainment yes, but that is not that set in stone reason for existing.

they can be for entertainment or, they can be for educational purposes (ie, historical manga, which often has a rather depressing foregone conclusion on account of being about historical figures, and as we all know historical figures- being people- are often dickheads who make enemies on the drop of a hat.) or simply to tell a story.

frankly, with that last one, sacrificing a natural end for "entertainment" is the height of folly.

and finally, what people consider to be entertaining is subjective. some people are sadistic and like seeing people miserable. others are self-pitying teenagers who want to see people who have it "harder than they do" to lessen the overblown agony...others simply find entertainment in a good story, and wether its a downer or a happy ending is irrelevent, so long as it fits.

of course, this is gross strawmanning and overgeneralization and of the list above people can bounce around between each category based on mood and circumstances they find themselves in.

the only reason i can think of for Shoot the Shaggy Dog to not be terrible is when the ending is making a point, hammering in the theme of the work, ect. even then, it can be overly harrowing to find out something you just invested in is completely pointless story-wise.

World Half Empty eh...i dont have a problem with it (hell, im reading oyasumi punpun, which is one of the most cynically hopeful coming of age stories ive ever seen by a wide margin), and i dont think its used all that often to drive in the author's outlook. its often a consequence of their outlook, rather. also...quite often i see it used to build up to World Half Full.

Speaking of Romance plots...

i'd like to see stories- of any kind really- to stop pairing the hero and heroine just because they're the two leads of the story. it often seems a requisite in a story with a male protagonist and a female supporting lead that they get together by the end. they cant just be friends, or acquaintences, or whatever.

my posts feel kinda weird today...kinda ditzy and scattered.

edited 5th Aug '13 4:32:08 AM by Tarsen

I hate Romantic Plot Tumor so much that I deliberately have most of my characters in stable, fairly happy relationships (usual ups and downs) from the outset.

Some of those relationships may be "non-standard" (e.g. homosexual or polyamorous) but they exist at the outset and we can get on with whatever the fuck it is the plot is about without agonising over Will They or Won't They??

The Do-Anything Robot. R2, I love ya, and Bender, you may be a pain, but funny at times. But for god's sake, does every mechanoid have to have tools for every occasion? (At least Kryten's arsenal was somewhat limited).

Because of these tin-plated Deus ex Machina, in my RPG group, characters with this powerset (basically, "The power to have any power I want") are banned. And that includes supernatural (or other) equivalents as well.

The Bully, probably because I was picked on for various reasons literally all of my school years.

Heel–Face Door-Slam

Character development leads to getting shot. Yay.

Any trope that's racist, sexist, ableist, or homophobic/transphobic.

Especially those that treat people who have a disorder, or has a different culture, or is transgendred, or just so happens to like the same sex like a joke.

Basically I hate Unfortunate Implications.

edited 6th Aug '13 2:11:53 PM by Masterofchaos

...I'm not going to start an argument so I'll just drop it.

Edit: Actually, you know what, what you said was rude and absolutely uncalled for.

edited 6th Aug '13 2:20:29 PM by Masterofchaos

(honestly confused about the rudeness of his/her post; Unfortunate Implications are, well, unfortunate)

edited 7th Aug '13 1:49:15 AM by VincentQuill

Well, it's one thing to say that it's not inherently funny to be black, or white, or gay, or whatever. It's entirely another thing to say that black, or white, or gay people don't do unique things that are funny, because that's ridiculous. We're all people, and people, on a case-by-case basis, do funny things. Louis CK made this same point.

...All I was saying was that I hate racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/ableist tropes.

That's it.

Don't know if there is page for this but I realy don't like plots where heroes must stop calling/summoning/ressurection of some great evil that would bring End of the World as We Know It. Specifically if heroes fail and defeat evil in head on battle. Seriously, why is this evil so feared when some plucky bunch can beat it with (almost) no sweat. It's like writers are afraid not to show this hyped whatever and end with Anticlimax.

edited 8th Aug '13 8:27:17 AM by Prany

Author Tract and various other "this is my opinion, audience". I've seen far too many great (or at least adequately entertaining) writers ruin their series by trying to use it as a vehicle for their politics or religion.

Also, Dan Browned and Cowboy BeBop at His Computer. Ignorance always rubs me the wrong way. Critical Research Failure doesn't seem to bother me as much for some reason (maybe because it's usually quite obviously wrong).

edited 8th Aug '13 2:25:02 PM by Bisected8

Well, on the earlier subject, I like playing with Armies Are Evil. While the PMC groups of Book IV have some nasty people in there, some of them rather reminiscent of Blackwatch, there are more people who are convinced (and rightly) that there are dangerous magical things out there.

The Marines are mostly trying to both contain the laws of war violations of The Heavy, a General Ripper, and follow their orders to protect their country from what they and their commanders see as a threat.

Considering that there have been two magic using serial killers, one magic using mercenary, an evil demon clown whose murder of a Colonel set off the plot of Book II, there was an attempt by a magic using cabal to rule the world, America's nuclear arsenal was drained by a magic using schizophrenic who planned on nuking the world, and now there's a magic plague and rumors of the very same colonel murderer showing up again...I'd say that the Marines do have a good basis to be suspicious.

A trope I genuinely dislike is, done badly, Values Dissonance and Moral Dissonance.

I try not to shove my opinions, philosophical, religious or political, down anyone's throat. Hence why Matthew wants nothing to do with either political party.

By the contrary, I like having my plucky group of protagonists basically stalled out...and then defeat the summoned entity anyway. I am a big fan of Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?, and the biggest squid punched out thus far was Liam using Regalia to reverse Apophis's power back on him, resulting in his hilariously anticlimactic death.

edited 11th Aug '13 10:27:54 PM by NickTheSwing

Geee, I guess beeing Sealed Evil in a Can realy sucks in your settings.

My problem is with having seen this turn of events... well... always. Then again this entire plot is kind of a trap. Evil is beaten on spot and with ease (more or less)? Anticlimax. Not releasing it? Anticlimax. Evil is released and wins? Downer Ending.

Might as well just seal it again. It lets The Hero win while it still keeps the Big Bad dangerous, since he still wasn't able to be destroyed.

Sealed Evil versus Sealed Good.