TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Your pet peeve tropes

Go To

unregisteredaccount Since: May, 2024
#501: Jun 5th 2024 at 11:41:48 AM

[up] Is the "turning beautiful at the end to show inner beauty" thing terribly common anymore? Like you mentioned Shrek made fun of it, and I know adults that were born after that movie came out. I really can't think of anything that's done it recently that also took it seriously. I do feel like you see it still just as like, the visual representation of somekind of corruption being reversed which I still find annoying. Like there's an obvious appeal to a scary looking monster but fiction tends to go overboard and exclusively present scary things as bad, usually while presenting not scary things as good.

MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#502: Jun 5th 2024 at 11:53:41 AM

Beauty Equals Goodness is the trope you're looking for (assuming this hasn't been posted yet)

PuffyPuff Mother from Hyperbolic Time Chamber (Pilot) Relationship Status: In another castle
Mother
#503: Jun 5th 2024 at 10:11:08 PM

I think one of the funniest cases of Beauty Equals Goodness is Foodfight. In that, the villains' motivations seem to be entirely just that they're ugly, ergo they're evil.

It is a bit of a Dead Horse Trope though. Beautiful villains have become increasingly common since the 90s. Villains that explicitly USE their beauty as a tool for evil are ALSO increasingly common.

A narrative I'm working on does focus heavily on a protagonist who looks terrifying and dangerous, which actively hinders her attempts to negotiate her way through things when the people she's trying to help or save are utterly petrified of her. It's a fun concept to work in.

Forgive my prattling, I word a lot
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#504: Jun 5th 2024 at 10:32:29 PM

Oh, that reminds me. I'm very sick of the trope where a female villain needs to be obsessed with "feminine" things, like beauty, love, family, youth, etc.

Give me more female villains that are just evil, stop trying to make every female villain have the same motives because it gets super old when none of them can just be, like, Take Over the World types.

This was one of the things that made me stop reading Warrior Cats. I already found Mapleshade irritating to begin with, finding out her entire motive for being evil was "heartbreak and kit death" completely ruined her for me. The first female villain and her backstory was just cliche trauma dumping while the male villains were just driven by things like ambition and sociopathy.

Edited by WarJay77 on Jun 5th 2024 at 1:34:15 PM

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
unregisteredaccount Since: May, 2024
#505: Jun 5th 2024 at 10:36:23 PM

[up] Nah it's still a pretty prolific trope, just not in the same way. Like beauty that "sticks out" is more likely to go either way, along with people so conventionally attractive they seem like a minority. But outside of that basically any story with Meat Moss and a person is going to have the person be less dangerous.

Edited by unregisteredaccount on Jun 5th 2024 at 10:39:16 AM

Nukeli Since: Aug, 2018
#506: Jun 6th 2024 at 12:20:43 AM

[up][up]

Disney was originally going to do that with Yzma, but thankfully didn't.

Apparently the original plot was that she wanted to release some monsters to destroy the world in exchange for makikg her young and beautiful again (i think), which wouldn't have made that much sense because the world gets destroyed, and she propably dies too, so she wouldn't have actually benefited in any way.

Some people apparently complained about Disney not going with that plot, though it could also be because they didn't like the comedy.

~*bleh*~
unregisteredaccount Since: May, 2024
#507: Jun 6th 2024 at 9:05:08 AM

I feel like beauty spells and shit are something you don't see much anymore, either.

PuffyPuff Mother from Hyperbolic Time Chamber (Pilot) Relationship Status: In another castle
Mother
#508: Jun 8th 2024 at 5:19:48 PM

This one is almost kinda petty, like I feel like someone should shove me in a locker for this one, but here goes.

I'd say if you're going to take Artistic License with a real-world topic, you need some sense of self-awareness with it. Not, like, the characters pointing out that it's inaccurate (although discussion between characters can be helpful to contextualize something), moreso the author's self-awareness that their approach to a given topic stretches credulity. It's something that needs to be handled with care, like any part of a narrative's world.

When written WITHOUT that sense of self-awareness, your work can end up sounding uneducated rather than removed from reality. This is a greater risk the more grounded the world of your story is.

Like, we can take for granted that Faster-Than-Light Travel exists in a galaxy-spanning sci-fi work if it's at least mentioned, or that herbs can heal wounds nigh-instantly in a fantasy setting...

But in, say, a realistic crime drama, untrue-to-life depictions of underworld drug economics or criminal law can stick out like a sore thumb and make your work look dumb.

Like, as an arbitrary example, that self-awareness can make the difference between us perceiving something as Artistic License – Sports (an actual floundering of sports knowledge) or Gretzky Has the Ball (a tongue-in-cheek distancing of the in-universe sport from its real-world cousins, if not outright parodical).

It doesn't take too much to do your research and at least be aware that your work is stretching the truth of the topic.

Does... that make any sense at all?

Forgive my prattling, I word a lot
unregisteredaccount Since: May, 2024
#509: Jun 8th 2024 at 9:03:01 PM

Oh no it makes perfect sense and really bugs me, too. If it's something pre-00s/10s it's easier to cut it some slack since it wasn't piss easy to find information on shit but now an accidental error in anything important seems super easy to avoid. IMO it also usually rarely enables anything cool* or makes a situation more capable of hitting a certain emotion since it usually just seems silly. Like you mentioned in stuff like crime/legal media there's an issue with characters that are badasses and just go rogue to do cool stuff all the time but in practice it just makes you wonder why they haven't been fired, how a local law enforcement agency (or whatever) still functions or why they haven't caused whatever problem a regulation was meant to prevent.

*That's kind of a larger issue I have with handwaving kind of stuff in general, really. Most of the time a potential situation an author is ignoring is more more interesting than the one they're enabling in doing so.

On an unrelated note I thought of some more horror ones that annoy me.

One thing that really bugs me (particularly in horror movies or the old days of creepypasta) is how writers seemed to feel the need to connect a bunch of plots to horror threats to things in the sphere of ghosts and demons. It crops up pretty often in stuff that isn't really thematically fitting to either, stuff like freaky shit with computers. It's also really common as the Big Twist and it's always less interesting than whatever you were already imagining or just leaving it up in the air.

Mystifying native American cultures as a horror explanation is often of a similar vein but even worse. Between how cliched and very politically incorrect it is, it feels like it should be a Discredited Trope but for some reason horror media (again, mainly movies) still does it and it's honestly just funny. I can't take anything seriously once that's randomly jammed into something.

Finally I'm really not keep on horror plots that go "oh shit some spooky stuff is happening!>oh the protagonist might be hallucinating>oh shit that spooky stuff is really happening!". I see people say they're tired of it turning out a character is psychotic the whole time but I feel twists where it turns out a character genuinely is in danger are a lot more common, to the point of it being almost expected in horror media that presents a protagonist with warped perception.

Edited by unregisteredaccount on Jun 8th 2024 at 9:04:21 AM

PuffyPuff Mother from Hyperbolic Time Chamber (Pilot) Relationship Status: In another castle
Mother
#510: Jun 8th 2024 at 10:53:13 PM

[up] So your issue with a lot of horror works is something in the vein of Voodoo Shark; explaining something in a way that only begs more questions.

Honestly, I think you're bang on with that. The base point of fear, all fear, IS the unknown. It's theorized to be the reason we're afraid of death, at least in the existential, non-primal sense; we don't know what comes after, and we're afraid to find out. So not knowing if something is going to CAUSE death compounds on that. Nevermind not knowing what that something really IS.

Maintaining that unknown is what makes your horror threat scary. You need just enough information to go on to have a grasp that there's something dangerous, but too much information tips the balance back. You want to hit that sweetspot.

Let me invent a super original horror villain and call him Mr. Stabman. He's evil, comes out of some body of water and kills teenagers. When we don't know what Mr. Stabman wants, why he targets teenagers or exactly what conditions cause him to appear, Mr. Stabman is infinitely scarier. We only have the bare minimum information to see disconcerting patterns. That makes us paranoid.

Once we know who Mr. Stabman is, his motivations, his origins, his nationality, his IP address and credit card details, at that point he's not a frightful otherworldly ghoul anymore. He's a dude with a knife and bad intentions, and that sucks all the fun out of it.

Solving a mystery is a fun component to any horror, but there's always questions that are better left unanswered. If you must answer them at all (and if the mystery is the point of the horror work you're making, you should at least answer SOME of the questions), you can't carry on the story after they're answered. You've given the knowledge that removes that fear of the unknown.

At the risk of sounding like a jaded boomer, I gotta say I think modern internet Game Theory culture has done irreparable damage to horror. It gave horror creators a direct incentive to create a mystery that exists for the sake of being mysterious and promoting internet discussion, rather than for the sake of forming that ominous sense of unknown.

That's not to say you can't do both, but we're seeing a peak of that nonsensical lore pileup in a lot of modern horror works, and it's not limited to horror games anymore.

And, of course, ditto on your fatigue for stock 'native american burial ground' plots. It's as uninspired as it is insensitive. At best I can accept parodies of the concept from a different time, like the first Simpsons Treehouse of Horror that directly riffs on how tired it is. But there's no way we can take it seriously. It's a horse beaten so raw that it's naught but a horse-shaped bruise at this point.

Forgive my prattling, I word a lot
AmateurStorytime Just a starting content creator from Home Since: Mar, 2024
Just a starting content creator
#511: Jun 8th 2024 at 11:22:41 PM

[up]This perfectly sums up why I always felt the Reapers from Mass Effect, were far more terrifying in ME 1 and to a lesser extent in ME 2. Don't get me wrong, they're still pretty scary in ME 3, but without all the mystery, the fear-factor shifts from Cosmic Horror to just an extremely powerful foe.

Check out my YouTube channel! I make audiobooks and whatever else I feel like!
Trainbarrel The Story Supporter from The Star Ocean Since: Jun, 2023 Relationship Status: You cannot grasp the true form
The Story Supporter
#512: Jun 8th 2024 at 11:39:53 PM

These kind of things is also why I find Lovecraft works still scary despite reading the more familiar ones over and over.

They never clarify the mystery of the horrors. The best thing you can get is "They're there." and left at that, which is what good Fridge Horror is about.

In sharp contrast to Stephen King's stories that will give you horror but more than enough time to familiarize yourself with it and give you the hope of "It can be beaten? Let's beat it!" or simply let it die on its own.

Yes, some are frightening like Lovecraft's, such as "Gray Matter" (Horror of Neglect) or "The End of the Whole Mess" (Horror of Ignorance) or the short story "The Mangler" (Horror of Overconfidence) since it leaves you with dreading what comes next. Most of them though ends on a happy note with the horror exposed and gone.

Exposing a horror works if it does nothing to dispel the horror.

Which might be why I still find Jason Voorhees scary since at this point nobody even knows what that thing is anymore or how it got this way. The best one could do, is just get out of the area and forget that it exists.

Edited by Trainbarrel on Jun 8th 2024 at 8:51:03 PM

"If there's problems, there's simple solutions."
TMH-Sir-Iron-Vomit The clown of STEEL from Ichnusa Since: Mar, 2024
The clown of STEEL
#513: Jun 9th 2024 at 4:09:52 AM

FREAKY.

FRIDAY.

FUCKING.

FLIP.

It's the only trope that I think of that consistently activates all my bones into attack mode by just existing. I guess I could tolerate it if it's Played for Horror, but as it stands, knowing it's present is enough to drive me away from episodes or entire series.

Likewise, Moe Antheopomorphism is also another one I avoid, but even then, it only fills with one tenth of the vitriol... the one above does.

Edited by TMH-Sir-Iron-Vomit on Jun 9th 2024 at 2:00:52 PM

Oo oo ah ah
AmateurStorytime Just a starting content creator from Home Since: Mar, 2024
Just a starting content creator
#514: Jun 9th 2024 at 4:39:48 AM

I at least like when the characters keep whatever voice belongs in their body, like in Justice League when Lex Luthor and the Flash switch bodies.

Check out my YouTube channel! I make audiobooks and whatever else I feel like!
Starbug Men of Letters Field Agent from Variable (Seven Years' War) Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
Men of Letters Field Agent
#515: Jun 9th 2024 at 5:40:55 AM

Yeah, the voice-switch got old really fast. Right up there with the switched individual feeling the need to mention every 2-3 minutes that they’re DEFINITELY Bob, and not Alice in Bob’s body.

I’ve faked death under many names. Carswell; Trelawney; Marcato; Haddo; Gallion; Felton; Riddle…
Trainbarrel The Story Supporter from The Star Ocean Since: Jun, 2023 Relationship Status: You cannot grasp the true form
The Story Supporter
#516: Jun 9th 2024 at 5:48:00 AM

I don't mind the freaky friday flip if it is just the thought-process that is flipped and nothing else.

Like: A and B switch thought-process.

A thinks like B

B thinks like A

Neither A or B have any of the memories of the other past the swap.

Nor do they have each other's skills.

They simply are "A as B" and "B as A".

"If there's problems, there's simple solutions."
AmateurStorytime Just a starting content creator from Home Since: Mar, 2024
unregisteredaccount Since: May, 2024
#518: Jun 9th 2024 at 9:05:22 AM

I think body switching is appealing because it's a character study you can apply to a ton of stories, but for some reason they tend to not really explore the implications with a specific cast so you just get the same story over and over.

Also, I know the topic has kind of moved on but yeah I think theorycrafting online has gotten kind of out of hand and introduced LOST's mystery box logic to a lot of modern horror. It was different when it was just a little side hobby people did in forums and shit but over the last ~10 years it or the logic from it has become pretty central to how a significant amount of people engage with fiction. I've seen Mat Pat completely change how everybody looks at media in real time, it's nuts.

I'd actually argue WMG here has preserved what made it entertaining in the first place since all theories, regardless of how serious or sensible they are, are basically treated on the same level.

Edited by unregisteredaccount on Jun 9th 2024 at 9:11:06 AM

TMH-Sir-Iron-Vomit The clown of STEEL from Ichnusa Since: Mar, 2024
The clown of STEEL
#519: Jun 9th 2024 at 9:35:31 AM

Another one, while it's not the trope(s) itself being the pet peeve, but one of the incarnations...

Cat Girls that have cat ears but NOT tails.

I'm sure everybody has their own standards regarding the Sliding Scale of Anthropomorphism, and what really counts as a "monster woman".

But I think that having a tail (a very familiar body part on animals but that humans don't have) is a very easy way signal that a monster woman isn't a normal human, but still have enough human qualities that they still come off as attractive. It's that precarious balance.

And then there's tailless cat women (or wolf women, or fox women, or lizard women, or any kind of kemonomimi where the real animal has a tail), who fall in the "too much humanlike" side, at least for me.

And that's ironic, at least because there are some cats, wether domestic breeds (like the Manx cat) or wild (like lynxes) that have very short or even nonexistent tails, so I guess they're just Max cat women.
But I still can't get over how almost wasteful it feels.

For me, a work with cat women with no tails, is worse than a work with no cat women.

Edited by TMH-Sir-Iron-Vomit on Jun 9th 2024 at 6:36:08 PM

Oo oo ah ah
MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#520: Jun 9th 2024 at 9:58:21 AM

FWIW I do have a cat girl in a story I'm writing that actually has not one, but two tails.

I do think considerations cor clothing or rendering of the tails might also be factors, though the latter seems easily addressed by having whole to accommodate them (or just wearing a short and hoping the tail doesn't cause it to be hiked up)

On a related note. With Cute Monster Girl there is a matter of legwear for certain times. Namely would cases like mermaids and lamias be able to wear pants? Technically yes, but the matter becomes if they would be recognizable as much. On the other extreme are Centaurs and other quadrupeds which cannot wear normal pants for the opposite reason.

Or course that brings me to the fact that most artist seem not to bother and jet let those cases be nude fromt he waist down, wasting some narrative potential by ignoring the opportunity to explore what drives nudity taboos in such a setting. I think only A Centaur's Life was willing to look into that by showing that the Centaurs do wear legwear tailored for their equine bodies, among other things.

Trainbarrel The Story Supporter from The Star Ocean Since: Jun, 2023 Relationship Status: You cannot grasp the true form
The Story Supporter
#521: Jun 9th 2024 at 10:14:17 AM

[up] Should I feel ashamed that the first thing that came to mind when seeing "mermaid legwear" was "fishnet stocking"?

I mean, it would make so much sense.

"If there's problems, there's simple solutions."
TMH-Sir-Iron-Vomit The clown of STEEL from Ichnusa Since: Mar, 2024
The clown of STEEL
#522: Jun 9th 2024 at 10:22:16 AM

[up]Puns!

Oo oo ah ah
MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#523: Jun 9th 2024 at 10:25:37 AM

[up][up] Yes, you should. Go to horny jail.tongue

Jests aside come to think of it that would make sense, though there might be unforeseen consequences. Like the elephantfish in the living room is that their fishy halves are based on species that do not get exposure to oxygen outside of what is filtered through gills, and by extension the concept of dryness. It is possible that any clothing made for them might have to keep the tails hydrated and moisterised because of that.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jun 9th 2024 at 10:25:53 AM

Trainbarrel The Story Supporter from The Star Ocean Since: Jun, 2023 Relationship Status: You cannot grasp the true form
The Story Supporter
#524: Jun 9th 2024 at 10:39:42 AM

[up] Oh no, not again!

That aside, next thing coming to mind would be wetsuits for the mermaids to wear, soaked in water and keeping them soaking wet when on dry land.

Tight, glistening, smooth, modest yet bold and alluring at once.

Not to mention the sheer diversity of choices in picking one fitting for each mermaid.

A potential clothing-industry right there.

Edited by Trainbarrel on Jun 9th 2024 at 7:40:52 PM

"If there's problems, there's simple solutions."
TMH-Sir-Iron-Vomit The clown of STEEL from Ichnusa Since: Mar, 2024
The clown of STEEL
#525: Jun 9th 2024 at 10:46:44 AM

However, I do think there's a valid reason why some monster women have the non-human half naked, aside from tradition.

They still have some natural covering on that part, such as hair, scales, feathers, cuticle, or anything else.
After hominins started using controlled fire, they lost their coat of hair, as thermoregulation was now performed with fire and the newly discovered clothing, the latter of which could also offer protection.

While I recognize the potential of taur/merfolk/naga clothing, in terms of world building or character design, I guess that if one part of your body still has the more basal covering, it doesn't need clothing in normal situations.

And all of this made me realize the sheer FUCKFEAST of monster biology.

Oo oo ah ah

Total posts: 1,757
Top