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Oct 2022

For me, a lot of tropes depend on how they're played. For example, I understand having a secret life away from your immediate family if there was an immediate danger of the family being kidnapped by MC's enemies. I can understand that. But what I don't understand is when the MC hides their secret from their parent or romantic partner, when said person could actually be a viable character in the story. People have mentioned Twilight, but I have to say, what if Charlie knew about the paranormal happenings in his town and actually got to play a real role in the story?

But in terms of something annoying that I would try to avoid, I would simply say to try and avoid putting your romance into a YA setting. I know YA is popular, but I've been watching some stuff that was based off YA romance books lately, and as a grown-up; it's all cringey. There a handful of circumstances where having a teenager get married makes sense. But I'm really tired of stories where 99% of the FMC's role in the story is to bear a child. If she's not X, she's a breeder. If she's not Y, she's a breeder. You get the point. I just think it's tired and I think it's extra cringy when a 16-17 year old is put into a situation where marriage and parenthood are their ONLY options. If they want to become parents, at least let them be adults first.

Honestly literally any trope works. One of the things I hate is when a person calls a trope "old fashioned" or something like the "Damsel in Distress" one where the person falls in love with the savior. Like that trope goes both ways and people in real life would connect with people during situations that're tense/stressful.

Oooh That sounds intresting, in a sense an awful trope being done well.. Mostly cus Im on a content binge right now with alot of stuff. Can I get a title? :eyes:

We were talking about this on a different thread, and I stand by what I said on there. XD I think any trope and cliche can work in a story, it just depends on how it's done LOL. I think you should go with your gut and just make something you truly want to make.

I guess if I had to choose some tropes I'm usually not fond of, it would be: Rich man invites poor woman into home and proceeds to romance her. I do think you could do an interesting take on this, but, I dunno... I guess my main problem with this is that the woman usually has very little agency. I know that's sort of a fantasy for a lot of women to date "The Beast." but I'm not all that fond of it. I AM fond of the woman discovering that there is a man buried within the beast, though LOL and not giving into the beast but only letting herself be romanced by the man.

I guess I'm not that fond of slice of life where the only interesting thing that happens to a person is some guy constantly pining after them. I also like to see that the person has hobbies and worries outside of the romance. :smiley:

Do you remember the name of the thread, I´m interested in reading that. Was that about tropes too?
I like what you wrote about going with your gut and just making something you truly want to make

The "It's Not You, It's Me" Trope.

It grinds my gears when a character breaks up with their significant other because they have to "find themselves" where really the writer or writers want/wants to drag the story a little more.

Hating tropes is really just about reoccuring patterns/trends that people see often that they find annoying, tbh :stuck_out_tongue: Sort of like how there's a reoccuring pattern/trend among creatives to discuss what tropes they hate, and you find that trend annoying :wink:

It's not the trend of hating them that bothers me, it's that it is inherently mean to announce it. It can hurt people. Someone (especially new and self-conscious creators) might be writing a story that's quite decent which uses certain tropes, but they see this sort of talk and it makes them feel like their work is now bad because it contains certain tropes.

I know it seems a bit much but I guess I'm sensitive to the protection and nurturing of new creators. Maybe because I'm old or something.

It just feels like unnecessary bullying to me, even if bullying isn't the intention. It's like saying "I hate the violin, it sounds so awful" and maybe a discussion about it in a music forum. And then the kid who plays the violin now feels bad.

I agree that sometimes the discussion about hated tropes can be rather unproductive and toxic due to its nature. Especially when it is focused on dunking a specific series or creators, without explaining what kind of execution makes that tropes bad. It sounds more like something unsuited for a meaningful discussion and rather a rant/vent thread.

However, if the kid who plays violin visits a thread titled "Instruments you dislike," they should expect if there is someone who happens to hate violin. If they don't want to hear people's bad opinions about instruments, there's a back button. If you cannot stand the idea of someone disliking your creation or what you do, I don't think you are ready to post it on or even being on the internet.

I get where you're coming from but I've seen this argument as an excuse so many times for negative behavior, I could go on forever about it.

"If you don't like it, don't look." But that's the same argument that often waters the seeds of negativity that frequently ruin entire communities, enable elitism and cliques, and generally offers nothing actually of value.

Yes.

For one, I believe the term "don't romanticize abuse" or whatever is wrong and severely generalizing, as well as something that frequently comes from an ableist viewpoint. As long as it's legal, people should write what they want, and there will be someone out there who will enjoy it.

I am not speaking about tackling abusive relationships in romance, i am talking about portraying abusive relationships in a positive light.......

And I'm fine with that. A lot of people do like Twilight. A lot of people like 50 Shades of Gray, or Beauty and the Beast, or Game of Thrones. All of which portray unhealthy and abusive relationships in various positive ways. It is not my place to police what people read or judge them for it. That's a very dangerous mentality to have.

People have the right to like or dislike anything. I would argue that trying to censor the expressions of dislike is counterproductive, specially in a forum that tackles topics involving writing where one could make a constructive critique by justifying why one dislike certain trope/s or their excecution......

Maybe other person may like it and that's fair, here people come to express opinions, not to assert dominance or whatever........

If people get offended over other people's tastes, that's their problem.

I'm not trying to censor anyone, I'm saying that people shouldn't care what tropes others do and don't like and should write what they enjoy. I've said that attacking tropes doesn't give us anything productive or positive and in turn can actually be harmful to the community and especially new and/or young creators who are more susceptible to that judgement. And all of these things are true, do you not agree? Whether you continue the behavior is on you. I won't try and stop you. I'm just speaking what I believe to be true, and trying to be thoughtful of the many people who come to communities such as this.

I get where you are coming from......Personally i see tropes as tools that can make a story worst or better depending on how they are executed.

Most examples here will probably use cases involving poorly implemented tropes. Nobody here is hating on tropes per se.

Some users here already mentioned that more than the trope itself the issue often comes with a poor implementation, so i guess this conversation is becoming constructive for OP or any new writer who sees this topic.