I’m mashing up two tropes this week because I’m not satisfied with the one. There are a bazillion tropes about characters who are sexually active, but very few about sexually chaste characters that don’t portray them as weak, clueless, or socially inept. According to tvtropes, a celibate hero is a main character who “doesn’t do… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Celibate Hero vs. The Fettered
Tag: tvtropes
Trope Tuesday: Space pirates with Kindal Debenham
For today’s Trope Tuesday post, I thought it would be fun to bring on my friend Kindal Debenham to speak about one of the tropes in his new book, Wolfhound. Kindal and I were in the same writing group in college, and attended Brandon Sanderson’s English 318 class together. I just picked up a copy… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Space pirates with Kindal Debenham
Trope Tuesday: The Bechdel Test
The Bechdel Test is a way to measure how prominently women figure in a story. It mostly comes up in discussions of TV and film, but can also be applied to works of literature. To pass the test, the story must have at least two named female characters who talk to each other about something… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: The Bechdel Test
Trope Tuesday: Scarpia Ultimatum
How far would you go to save the one you love? Would you sacrifice your life? Suffer an irreparable blow to your reputation? Or would you sleep with your lover’s would-be killer? Scarpia Ultimatum is when the villain threatens to kill the hero (or, alternately, a basket full of kittens) unless the romantic interest gives him some… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Scarpia Ultimatum
Trope Tuesday: Walking the Earth
Oh there’s sober men in plenty And drunkards barely twenty There are men of over ninety That have never yet kissed a girl. But give me a wandering rover From Orkney down to Dover We will roam the country over And together we’ll face the world. When a character decides to walk the Earth, they… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Walking the Earth
Trope Tuesday: Bittersweet Ending
WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR AMERICAN GODS, LAGAAN, LORD OF THE RINGS, TREASURE ISLAND, AND CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON. And he sang to them, now in the Elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Bittersweet Ending
Trope Tuesday: Childhood Friend Romance
There’s something heartwarming about a romantic couple that knew each other as children. Maybe it’s that return to innocence, or a sense that destiny is on your side, but I find these kinds of stories hopeful and encouraging. My favorite example of this is probably Deanna and Michael from For Better or for Worse. My… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Childhood Friend Romance
Trope Tuesday: Recycled IN SPACE!
Or, as my friends at Leading Edge would say, IN SPAAACE!!! The basic idea behind this trope is that setting a story in space makes it cool and different. The tvtropes article focuses mainly on how this trope is used in children’s cartoons, but it actually goes much wider. In fact, most space stories are… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Recycled IN SPACE!
Trope Tuesday: Pet the Dog
The basic principle behind this trope is that when you want your readers to feel some kind of sympathy toward a character, have them pet a puppy / puppy equivalent. Often used to show who the good guy is, but can also be used to add depth to a villain. I first learned about this… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Pet the Dog
Trope Tuesday: The Call Knows Where You Live
I have a confession to make: I’m a tvtropes addict. Fortunately, it’s only about as bad as vicodin, which means that doses which would knock other people out do nothing to me–but still, I’ve wasted many, many hours on that site. So anyhow, I thought it would be fun to do a weekly series where… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: The Call Knows Where You Live