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openDysfunctional family Literature
The scapegoat daughter who is ostracized from her family she always tried to believe that she was going to be something someday and like prove them wrong but she keeps failing cuz her trauma isn't taken care of her childhood trauma because she's dealt with like emotional neglect her family's campaign of denigration her character annihilation she's now drinking too much and so maybe like she's getting into an abusive relationships and so then she lost in this world of complete loneliness and confusion and isolation and then the next one would be the abuser who knows what she needs and so he completely love bombed her and played into her emotions and then when he got her right where he could of isolation control abuse he started to show his true colors was that he was just complete abuser and so then there's the mother the grandmother who is like always was jealous of her daughter and like try to get on the grandchild turned into her daughter like a redo and then started to fill the granddaughter's head up with a bunch of lies and manipulation and coercion and the father left when the daughter was young and then he would only come back occasionally and just completely forget that he hasn't been in the child's life and would dismiss any of the emotions of the daughter he's like a narcissistic malignant the mom is more of a borderline the brothers are obviously ones The Golden Child then there's the Lost Child who just stick to himself who doesn't want to rock the boat and then a daughter that was our child that's struggling with the loss of a sibling and in an accident or something you know the death of a sibling and now being blamed by her family for the death even though she's not responsible and so it's like this chaotic family of dysfunction and you got the enabling family and the naive and global Citizens the family that doesn't want to let the secrets out
resolved Animal Symbolism Literature
I'm trying to figure out what would be the trope name for characters loosely based off of or inspired by animals (not necessarily mythical), whether it be via their designs, personalities, or actions.
Edited by mystiqu3openCausation is backwards from what you think Literature
In the Book of Numbers, Balak says to Balaam "because I heard that he who you bless is blessed and he who you curse is cursed". However, careful reading of the subsequent story seems to show that Balaam merely expresses the blesses and curses God already placed on people.
Edited by Someone1981open"Nice muscles" said the cannibal Literature
A compliment on your body which sounds sincere but comes from someone who is just evaluating you for parts.
e.g. someone who makes books of human hide admiring your soft, smooth skin, or someone who uses human hand bones in their art praising your delicate fingers.
openOne number less rounded than its equivalents Literature
In the Book of Numbers, the Israelites are counted by tribe. In each case, all but one are rounded to a multiple of 100; however, in the first count the tribe of Gad has 45,650, and in the second count the tribe of Reuben has 43,730.
openRevenge Literature
An assassin sent to kill a man kills the man's daughter and wounds the man
openIncorrect Poison Victim Literature
Bob wants to poison Lenny, so he puts poison in Lenny's drink. Instead of Lenny drinking that drink, Alice drinks it and promptly dies.
openIntentional bad use of term Literature
The term "land flowing of milk and honey" is God's term for what would later be known as the land of Israel, except in one case: Datan and Aviram, while challenging Moses, use this term to refer to Egypt.
openSatanist relative Literature
Hello, I would like to know if there is a trope for a relative of the protagonist who is a Satanist or infernal occultist of some kind. I see this in a lot of Victorian horror stories but it’s also present in movies like Hereditary and Hack-O-Lantern. I suppose it’s usually a twist reveal but could be explicitly stated as well? Or just suspected? Either way the protagonist oftentimes plays a pivotal role in their machinations and the familial relationship can add to the feeling of cruelty and/or serves as a perverse mirroring of the Christlike sacrifice (Satanic human sacrifice type stuff from Hollywood Satanism)
openScribal "fix" to prevent dishonor to hero Literature
The Book of Judges says that the grandson of Moses (the original form of the name being Mosheh, in a language where non-final vowels are usually not written) was a priest to an idol. To protect the honor of Moses, a letter is added (written in a way that makes it clear it's added) to change the name to Menasheh.
openMurdered during worship Literature
According to 2 Kings 19:37 and Isaiah 37:38, about Sanherib:
And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword
openChapters have characters "faux responding" to each other Literature
A novel which has different narrators for different chapters plays a kind of pseudo-Dramatic Irony. E.g. Raver Bob ends his chapter having done some MDMA and asks a rhetorical question like "How can anyone not be having the time of their lives in this amazing musical revolution?"... forgetting about Joe who's in prison and rubbishes the idea of grown adults dancing in a field like children in the very next chapter. Somehow, several chapters have Narrator B open the chapter by responding in some form (not necessarily verbally) to Narrator A, even though the events in question may not necessarily happen immediately after each other and certainly the characters are widely separated by geography. The response is unconscious, definitely not due to telepathy or anything but nevertheless immediately recognisable. An interesting narrative trick by the author.
Edited by FlashStepsopenPoets/poems opening chapters Literature
A novel has each chapter (several narrators, each with their own chapters) open (not in-universe e.g. by a character reading them, but just as the author's stamp) with a choice verse from a poet, and each poet matched to each narrator. For example, Edgar Allen Poe's themes of "death, loss, grief, and the macabre" are matched to a violent and unhinged character.
openThis is not your life to take Literature
Instructing others to take a This Is Not My Life to Take attitude towards a specific enemy.
resolved A Day in the Limelight Literature
More of clarification than direct trope search: is there any better fit than A Day in the Limelight / Ascended Extra for the following scenario (and which of those two fits better):
Alice and Bob are the main characters of a Amateur Sleuth book series. Other than being mentioned, Bob's mom Mary is in exactly one scene in the first book. Second book doesn't change that much - Mary is in three scenes, but far less present in the dialogues of other people (and it's more about the agro-tourism business she runs than her directly). But in the third book, Mary is suddenly one of the more important characters of the story, playing rather big role in the plot, having plentiful interactions with various characters and is instrumental to solving of the case they are dealing with... and by the 4th book she virtually cease to exist, being mentioned grand total of once and never present in person. Meanwhile, through the series, Alice and Bob are firmly the definitive main characters, so it's not that their role or presence is diminished in any way.
Thus: is Mary an Ascended Extra (but for just one book) or is that specific book where she's in the tight circle of 5 most important characters her A Day in the Limelight
Edited by TropiarzopenAbrupt failure Literature
The Secretary of Entertainment wants 100% of the potential audience to watch a particular show. The percentage goes up, passing 98%, and then suddenly becomes 0%.
openParents knowingly go against the son's ideology Literature
A Jew mentions that he was hidden during the Holocaust by a couple—whose son was an SS officer

A Serial Killer is suspected of committing 9 murders; he only gets convicted of 6 because, given that he will be executed anyway, there is little value in putting in the effort for more convictions.