What's one of your favorite tropes?

[ArGxITA]

I wouldn't really know myself 😅 but there are some things in media that will randomly come up in my head and i'll be like "oh yeah i love when they write that kind of stuff!"

Recently i've been thinking on how sometimes the conclusion of a story where characters are at eachothers' throat is them meeting randomly and unexpectedly. This can seem like lazy writing, but if done well it can be really entertaining. I have two examples for you today, they are a boiling point in both stories so, spoilers ahead for Pulp Fiction and Jojo's bizarre adventure part 4.

Butch Coolidge meets Marcellus Wallace

So for context, by this point in the movie Butch has crossed Marcellus, they arranged Butch to loose a boxing match, but he went back on it for personal gain. So Marcellus has people looking to kill him. However things are looking good for Butch, he has an escape plan and everything, but his girlfriend left his watch back at his apartment. After we see how much it means to him, he only has to look for it.

So there's an extended scene of how he goes and looks for it, he's real sneaky while going to his apartment, and he strucks luck when he gets the upper hand on a goon ready to kill him. He gets what he needs, and gets out of there without much of a problem.

Normally that would be the end of it, but Tarantino is messed in the head so he likes to make things fun. SO he probably thought "What's the worst thing that could happen after all has gone so smoothly? What's possibly THE LAST thing Butch wants to see right now?" Tarantino gives it to him: Marsellus Wallace, the man that wants him dead, in front of him. They both take a moment to realize what's going on before Butch tries to run him over and Marsellus goes for his gun.

Josuke Higashikata Vs Kira Yoshikage

We go over context again: Jojo is a shonen, so anime baddie, yeah. He throws goons at the protags and they fight them off, possibly the plot progresses. Thing is Yoshikage has been sneaking from the protags for a while, and has known what they've been doing the whole time. The way he has gotten around is by stealing someone's face and living in their house.

It isnt until the son of the house, Hayato, notices Kira's not his dad that the plot progresses. Kira has gotten a new power that resets the day and can end all of his enemies if they find through Hayato. But for how convoluted it is, it's really satisfying seeing how the kid figures it out and makes attempts to stop Kira.

The protagonists are going to the place where the effect of Kira's power is taking place, the day resets so they keep going there. The thing that ends up happening is that Hayato sneaks a call to one of the protags so he will still go to that place but through a different route. By this point Kira thinks he's too powerful for Hayato to trick him, so in a careless joy rant HE says his real name out loud, just when the protagonist, Josuke, was arriving at the place.

The thing why i like this trope so much is because it removes all bullshit from a conflict, no preparation at all, just your strenght against your foe. While Marcellus and Butch wouldn't ever try to fight each other, and Kira and Josuke don't have all of their allies with them at the time, or the situation might not favor them, there's not a question to ask. There he is, you want him dead? Go.

[Thetageist]

Hmm. I’ve got a few, but I can’t recall most of them right now. I’ll think about it, but here’s two in the meantime.

I’m a bit of a psychology enthusiast, so I have a soft spot for backstories exploring characters’ mental health and the gradual development of who they are today - especially in the case of villains or troubled individuals.

Setting wise, I am a sucker for overlap between sci-fi and fantasy elements, whether it be a whole science fantasy setting, magic tech, machines combined with the supernatural, inventor characters in fantasy settings, or just very futuristic tech that looks really cool and does really cool things. It’s just so much fun, you know? Especially if it glows. My profile pic isn’t based on a moth for nothing. I see glowy thing, I become moth (metaphorically).

[GurenDraws]

I like westerns, space westerns, and things that resemble westerns a lot. For example, Logan kind of resembles a western. Breaking Bad resembles a western. Akira Kurosawa movies sometimes inspire westerns, even though they're usually samurai/shogun movies. Star Wars is kind of a space western sometimes. And Cowboy Bebop / Trigun are my favorite space westerns.

I like any kind of normal genre that's put in space. Like how Legends of the Galactic Heroes is political drama / 17th century war but set in space. Or how Macross is a romcom set with mech fights in space.

I also like this trope where it's a mental chess match between the characters (like Death Note), and parodies of that take it to further and further absurd levels. Like this:

or this (same mental chess match trope)

https://youtu.be/IHQr0HCIN2w

[VillainCyrax]

I really like both the "Evil version of the MC" and "David V.S Goliath" tropes

The first one because i like seeing alternate versions of the characters that use their core ideas and twist them to create a completely new perspective, for example: Shadow The Hedgehog, Venom, Megatron, etc.

And the ladder because i like seeing seemingly weak characters defeating such an imposing figure by using clever tactics, figuring out the opponents weaknesses, or by just having a surprising amount of luck, some of my favorite matches being: The Chosen One V.S Frank Horrigan, Kratos V.S Ares, Cole MacGrath V.S The Beast, etc.

[Narratorway]

One of my favorite is basically this:

Basically I love when the writer's bias is so shit and obvious, that when they write up their proxy douchbag voice the opposing viewpoint(s), they end up having the more valid opinion, leaving no room for the protags to respond, meaning you get hilariously awkward and forced 'outs' ranging from completely unrelated disasters forcing the issue to be shelved and of course never brought up again to just completely nonsensical actions written for the proxy in order to invalidate them by association.

[Bansheebutt]

Maybe there's a more specific term, but I always thought of it as Heroic Failure. It comes up a lot in cosmic horror and jrpgs (which typically end in fighting cosmic horrors.)

The protagonists have fucked up majorly or are in an otherwise lose-lose situation and the best they can do is damage control that itself may ultimately be for nothing. Even better is when the protags go in to this scenario knowing *ahead of time* it's a lose/lose scenario and they have to deal with that.

[Sony-Shock]

I have a weakness when in a story about looking for something, the characters decide to give up... But right then they find out they have found it!

Blame The Land before time, it's just so emotive and touching 😭

[Coolbreadguy]

At 4/18/22 08:08 AM, ArGxITA wrote: I wouldn't really know myself 😅 but there are some things in media that will randomly come up in my head and i'll be like "oh yeah i love when they write that kind of stuff!"

Recently i've been thinking on how sometimes the conclusion of a story where characters are at eachothers' throat is them meeting randomly and unexpectedly. This can seem like lazy writing, but if done well it can be really entertaining. I have two examples for you today, they are a boiling point in both stories so, spoilers ahead for Pulp Fiction and Jojo's bizarre adventure part 4.

Butch Coolidge meets Marcellus Wallace

So for context, by this point in the movie Butch has crossed Marcellus, they arranged Butch to loose a boxing match, but he went back on it for personal gain. So Marcellus has people looking to kill him. However things are looking good for Butch, he has an escape plan and everything, but his girlfriend left his watch back at his apartment. After we see how much it means to him, he only has to look for it.

So there's an extended scene of how he goes and looks for it, he's real sneaky while going to his apartment, and he strucks luck when he gets the upper hand on a goon ready to kill him. He gets what he needs, and gets out of there without much of a problem.

Normally that would be the end of it, but Tarantino is messed in the head so he likes to make things fun. SO he probably thought "What's the worst thing that could happen after all has gone so smoothly? What's possibly THE LAST thing Butch wants to see right now?" Tarantino gives it to him: Marsellus Wallace, the man that wants him dead, in front of him. They both take a moment to realize what's going on before Butch tries to run him over and Marsellus goes for his gun.

Josuke Higashikata Vs Kira Yoshikage

We go over context again: Jojo is a shonen, so anime baddie, yeah. He throws goons at the protags and they fight them off, possibly the plot progresses. Thing is Yoshikage has been sneaking from the protags for a while, and has known what they've been doing the whole time. The way he has gotten around is by stealing someone's face and living in their house.
It isnt until the son of the house, Hayato, notices Kira's not his dad that the plot progresses. Kira has gotten a new power that resets the day and can end all of his enemies if they find through Hayato. But for how convoluted it is, it's really satisfying seeing how the kid figures it out and makes attempts to stop Kira.

The protagonists are going to the place where the effect of Kira's power is taking place, the day resets so they keep going there. The thing that ends up happening is that Hayato sneaks a call to one of the protags so he will still go to that place but through a different route. By this point Kira thinks he's too powerful for Hayato to trick him, so in a careless joy rant HE says his real name out loud, just when the protagonist, Josuke, was arriving at the place.

The thing why i like this trope so much is because it removes all bullshit from a conflict, no preparation at all, just your strenght against your foe. While Marcellus and Butch wouldn't ever try to fight each other, and Kira and Josuke don't have all of their allies with them at the time, or the situation might not favor them, there's not a question to ask. There he is, you want him dead? Go.

Very insightful read. Super dope. Very swag.

Personally for me one of my favs is when the protagonist has to stop a wedding (or a party , whatever works) in order to save the damsel in distress. Like idk something about a noble knight breaking into a royal celebration to stop the villain with having their way is so classical to me.

Some of my fav movies that have this are Lupin III castle of cagliostro and The Cat returns. Oh and Shrek 2 counts too surprisingly.

[Thetageist]

At 4/29/22 12:28 PM, Coolbreadguy wrote:

At 4/18/22 08:08 AM, ArGxITA wrote: I wouldn't really know myself 😅 but there are some things in media that will randomly come up in my head and i'll be like "oh yeah i love when they write that kind of stuff!"

Recently i've been thinking on how sometimes the conclusion of a story where characters are at eachothers' throat is them meeting randomly and unexpectedly. This can seem like lazy writing, but if done well it can be really entertaining. I have two examples for you today, they are a boiling point in both stories so, spoilers ahead for Pulp Fiction and Jojo's bizarre adventure part 4.

Butch Coolidge meets Marcellus Wallace

So for context, by this point in the movie Butch has crossed Marcellus, they arranged Butch to loose a boxing match, but he went back on it for personal gain. So Marcellus has people looking to kill him. However things are looking good for Butch, he has an escape plan and everything, but his girlfriend left his watch back at his apartment. After we see how much it means to him, he only has to look for it.

So there's an extended scene of how he goes and looks for it, he's real sneaky while going to his apartment, and he strucks luck when he gets the upper hand on a goon ready to kill him. He gets what he needs, and gets out of there without much of a problem.

Normally that would be the end of it, but Tarantino is messed in the head so he likes to make things fun. SO he probably thought "What's the worst thing that could happen after all has gone so smoothly? What's possibly THE LAST thing Butch wants to see right now?" Tarantino gives it to him: Marsellus Wallace, the man that wants him dead, in front of him. They both take a moment to realize what's going on before Butch tries to run him over and Marsellus goes for his gun.

Josuke Higashikata Vs Kira Yoshikage

We go over context again: Jojo is a shonen, so anime baddie, yeah. He throws goons at the protags and they fight them off, possibly the plot progresses. Thing is Yoshikage has been sneaking from the protags for a while, and has known what they've been doing the whole time. The way he has gotten around is by stealing someone's face and living in their house.
It isnt until the son of the house, Hayato, notices Kira's not his dad that the plot progresses. Kira has gotten a new power that resets the day and can end all of his enemies if they find through Hayato. But for how convoluted it is, it's really satisfying seeing how the kid figures it out and makes attempts to stop Kira.

The protagonists are going to the place where the effect of Kira's power is taking place, the day resets so they keep going there. The thing that ends up happening is that Hayato sneaks a call to one of the protags so he will still go to that place but through a different route. By this point Kira thinks he's too powerful for Hayato to trick him, so in a careless joy rant HE says his real name out loud, just when the protagonist, Josuke, was arriving at the place.

The thing why i like this trope so much is because it removes all bullshit from a conflict, no preparation at all, just your strenght against your foe. While Marcellus and Butch wouldn't ever try to fight each other, and Kira and Josuke don't have all of their allies with them at the time, or the situation might not favor them, there's not a question to ask. There he is, you want him dead? Go.

Very insightful read. Super dope. Very swag.

Personally for me one of my favs is when the protagonist has to stop a wedding (or a party , whatever works) in order to save the damsel in distress. Like idk something about a noble knight breaking into a royal celebration to stop the villain with having their way is so classical to me.

Some of my fav movies that have this are Lupin III castle of cagliostro and The Cat returns. Oh and Shrek 2 counts too surprisingly.

I’ve heard some good things about Lupin III! Tell me more about what you love in that scene!

(And this also just made me think of Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper, of all things, since it has this trope as well.)

[Thetageist]

At 4/24/22 02:55 AM, GurenDraws wrote: I like westerns, space westerns, and things that resemble westerns a lot. For example, Logan kind of resembles a western. Breaking Bad resembles a western. Akira Kurosawa movies sometimes inspire westerns, even though they're usually samurai/shogun movies. Star Wars is kind of a space western sometimes. And Cowboy Bebop / Trigun are my favorite space westerns.

I like any kind of normal genre that's put in space. Like how Legends of the Galactic Heroes is political drama / 17th century war but set in space. Or how Macross is a romcom set with mech fights in space.

I also like this trope where it's a mental chess match between the characters (like Death Note), and parodies of that take it to further and further absurd levels. Like this:

https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/621979

or this (same mental chess match trope)

https://youtu.be/IHQr0HCIN2w

I’ve gotten decently into the western genre myself - mainly twists on it like Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (cheesy space western 80s cartoon) and No Country for Old Men (really frickin’ intense modern western thriller). I think it’s the fact that I like the aesthetics and themes, but historical fiction has never been my thing except in some very rare cases.

I bet that if you haven’t seen it already, you would love No Country. The entire movie is a big mental chess match between several parties, centered around a guy who thinks he can outsmart a murderous psychopath.

[Thetageist]

Another one, that I’m not necessarily partial to as a consumer of media, so much as a creator:

A guilty pleasure of mine is getting attached to a particular character, villain or hero, and just giving them way too many cool alternate forms, or forms they go through over the course of the story, multiple boss fights or stages of a boss fight, etc. I know from my experience that I don’t quite like actually seeing this happen with characters when I’m the viewer - in Winx Club, for instance, it’s a turn off to see how much they keep recycling the same “they all get a new power” plot. But I find it way too much fun to do when I’m the one making the story, although usually I trim the extraneous ones out of the story and keep them as just non-canon art fodder, for those exact reasons, haha.

[GurenDraws]

At 4/29/22 01:34 PM, EscapistProductions wrote: I’ve gotten decently into the western genre myself - mainly twists on it like Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (cheesy space western 80s cartoon) and No Country for Old Men (really frickin’ intense modern western thriller). I think it’s the fact that I like the aesthetics and themes, but historical fiction has never been my thing except in some very rare cases.

I bet that if you haven’t seen it already, you would love No Country. The entire movie is a big mental chess match between several parties, centered around a guy who thinks he can outsmart a murderous psychopath.

I have seen No Country, one of the best movie villains ever made, I think. He's like the grim reaper, and for some reason it doesn't feel like a generic thriller.

I don't really like the historical ones either, stuff like Wyatt Earp where it's telling you about this sherriff's relationships with the local aboriginal tribes or whatever. When I mentioned LOTGH being cool I more meant that the idea of Napoleonic war in space is cool, not that I'm particularly interested in 17th century French war.

If you like No Country you might like There Will Be Blood. One of the most evil but subtle movie villains I've seen, and the music and cinematography is beautiful.

I'll look up the Galaxy Rangers one.

[Thetageist]

At 4/29/22 08:57 PM, GurenDraws wrote:

At 4/29/22 01:34 PM, EscapistProductions wrote: I’ve gotten decently into the western genre myself - mainly twists on it like Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (cheesy space western 80s cartoon) and No Country for Old Men (really frickin’ intense modern western thriller). I think it’s the fact that I like the aesthetics and themes, but historical fiction has never been my thing except in some very rare cases.

I bet that if you haven’t seen it already, you would love No Country. The entire movie is a big mental chess match between several parties, centered around a guy who thinks he can outsmart a murderous psychopath.

I have seen No Country, one of the best movie villains ever made, I think. He's like the grim reaper, and for some reason it doesn't feel like a generic thriller.

I don't really like the historical ones either, stuff like Wyatt Earp where it's telling you about this sherriff's relationships with the local aboriginal tribes or whatever. When I mentioned LOTGH being cool I more meant that the idea of Napoleonic war in space is cool, not that I'm particularly interested in 17th century French war.

If you like No Country you might like There Will Be Blood. One of the most evil but subtle movie villains I've seen, and the music and cinematography is beautiful.

I'll look up the Galaxy Rangers one.

Funny enough, I had to watch There Will Be Blood for the same film class that threw No Country at me.

I think this calls for a link to this great SNL skit that makes fun of both movies.

I’ll warn you, if you’re expecting seriousness from Galaxy Rangers, you’re going to be for the most part disappointed. It’s just a cheesy 80s cartoon, but I love a lot of the world building and western style. And also the cheesiness. From what I’ve heard, BraveStarr is also good in that aspect, if you’re okay with the cringey Mystical Native American stereotypes.

[Valariumis]

I have a soft spot for monster of the week type narrative structures. Love their ability to illuminate different core aspects of a protagonist, or just injecting a bit of uniqueness in each encounter, fight, or obstacle. Jojo does this particularly well, with part 5 or 7 being the stand out example in my opinion

Though on the other hand you have scooby doo, where 90% of the antagonists are basically just copy and pasted from episode to episode, given a different hairdo and nothing more

[OlTrout]

I absolutely adore fortunetellers, oracles, seers, especially old ladies and blind ones. Can't get enough of them.

[Thetageist]

At 5/2/22 11:50 PM, OlTrout wrote: I absolutely adore fortunetellers, oracles, seers, especially old ladies and blind ones. Can't get enough of them.

You must’ve been really happy when Bruno went viral.

[Neutrix785]

I love whenever in a story, the protagonist and antagonist are both good and bad. Each have valid points and both have good points to their side of the story. The villain is never inherently bad, and the hero isn't always innocent. It's also good to see whenever you get into the depths of each character... no villain Is a villain for no reason. There's always a motivation, and whenever an author gives good motivation to each character and pays attention to it.. it explains everything. Why did the characters go to the mountains? To find the villain! Why did they free the genie? To get tips! No movement is ever left without a motive or a reason, and that's good writing. Not to mention the fact that I love seeing psychology of each character, for instance in the book "The Cabin" by Natasha Preston. Spoilers ahead!! Now, this is my favorite author and favorite book by this author. You don't just see the protagonists side, but you also see the kidnappers side. I don't remember the kidnappers name, but I remember being so fascinated by him.. At first he's shallow, seen as nothing but a cold kidnapper. But then as the story goes on and you see his side, you realize that he's trying to help girls from being.. bad people. Let's just leave it as that. The kidnapper had a bad past with bad women, so he tries to save "pure" girls. So, thats the motivation. There is a psychological motivation and reasoning for his actions- and its always smart whenever an author does this. Of course one side can be more messed up than the other, but this is what makes the story more interesting. At the end of the day, getting your readers attached to the antagonist can be a good skill, and it makes the reader go, "but... I liked that one.." when he was killed off or hurt. It can put the reader through a bunch of emotion, and that's the whole charm of this trope!

[ArGxITA]

At 5/8/22 01:36 PM, Neutrix785 wrote: I love whenever in a story, the protagonist and antagonist are both good and bad. Each have valid points and both have good points to their side of the story. The villain is never inherently bad, and the hero isn't always innocent. It's also good to see whenever you get into the depths of each character... no villain Is a villain for no reason. There's always a motivation, and whenever an author gives good motivation to each character and pays attention to it.. it explains everything. Why did the characters go to the mountains? To find the villain! Why did they free the genie? To get tips! No movement is ever left without a motive or a reason, and that's good writing. Not to mention the fact that I love seeing psychology of each character, for instance in the book "The Cabin" by Natasha Preston. Spoilers ahead!! Now, this is my favorite author and favorite book by this author. You don't just see the protagonists side, but you also see the kidnappers side. I don't remember the kidnappers name, but I remember being so fascinated by him.. At first he's shallow, seen as nothing but a cold kidnapper. But then as the story goes on and you see his side, you realize that he's trying to help girls from being.. bad people. Let's just leave it as that. The kidnapper had a bad past with bad women, so he tries to save "pure" girls. So, thats the motivation. There is a psychological motivation and reasoning for his actions- and its always smart whenever an author does this. Of course one side can be more messed up than the other, but this is what makes the story more interesting. At the end of the day, getting your readers attached to the antagonist can be a good skill, and it makes the reader go, "but... I liked that one.." when he was killed off or hurt. It can put the reader through a bunch of emotion, and that's the whole charm of this trope!

Something i see a lot is that there's not real divition between protagonist and hero, antagonist and villain. In practice the protagonist is just the main character of the story, and the antagonist the one with motives that clash with the protagonist.

I don't find justifying the antagonist particularly clever... like it's easy to paint them in a bad light at first and then do a 180° and reveal they are good. What i like more is relatable villains, not that they'd make you say that you'd do the same in their shoes, but that it makes you understand what they're doing.

I feel like the most generic villain is that moved by money or power, and by itself that sounds a bit simple, maybe even boring. But it shouldn't limit the writer on how the character acts and thinks! A lot of great villains steal the show by being charismatic or relatable. How they act with other people, the protagonist, etc.

[Xenomorphian]

Not sure if It has a specific name but i'm gonna call it the Butterfly Effect / Descent into chaos trope where a story's plot starts off with a character or characters living their normal lives and a seemingly normal and innocuous decision is what entirely kicks off the plot and leads to the craziest things happening

I'd count breaking bad under there since Walter is just a chemistry teacher who got cancer (a normal occurrence) and happened to just see a news report which accidentally showed how much dosh drug dealers make (again something pretty normal to see) and his decision to make meth is what kicks off everything in the show

And I don't mean stuff starts off normally as in it's yknow grounded in reality and such and crazy fantasy stuff happens afterwards (if so every isekai story would count but I don't count them) like there was a nice fanfiction I read that was set in like a fantasy world with magic and shit where this happens and its honestly one of my favorite stories period.

[Thetageist]

At 8/6/22 07:02 AM, Xenomorphian wrote: Not sure if It has a specific name but i'm gonna call it the Butterfly Effect / Descent into chaos trope where a story's plot starts off with a character or characters living their normal lives and a seemingly normal and innocuous decision is what entirely kicks off the plot and leads to the craziest things happening
I'd count breaking bad under there since Walter is just a chemistry teacher who got cancer (a normal occurrence) and happened to just see a news report which accidentally showed how much dosh drug dealers make (again something pretty normal to see) and his decision to make meth is what kicks off everything in the show

And I don't mean stuff starts off normally as in it's yknow grounded in reality and such and crazy fantasy stuff happens afterwards (if so every isekai story would count but I don't count them) like there was a nice fanfiction I read that was set in like a fantasy world with magic and shit where this happens and its honestly one of my favorite stories period.

You'd probably love Blues Brothers, then. I won't spoil anything, but suffice to say, by the end there's several antagonistic forces going after the brothers all at once, and "increasingly chaotic" is a perfect description of the plot.

[Xenomorphian]

At 8/6/22 07:10 PM, Thetageist wrote:
You'd probably love Blues Brothers, then. I won't spoil anything, but suffice to say, by the end there's several antagonistic forces going after the brothers all at once, and "increasingly chaotic" is a perfect description of the plot.

Will be sure to check it out

and looking at it in hindsight more other stories that kinda follow that normal situation turns into chaos format would actually be half life 1 and 2 because really you start half life 1 literally doing your regular job and half life 2 is you get dropped into the world and wander around until you get hunted down because you don't have a social security number (literally radio dialogue from the combine and the citadel announcer voice confirms the apartment raid at the start of the game that causes you to meet alyx is done because Gordon entered the building causing a "miscount" of the residents inside)

Arcane also counts and goes with my point that the story needn't be set in the real world to count its a fantasy world but hey those kids doing rascally things kids like them would normally do accidentally kicks off everything else.

Madness combat honestly counts too because my interpretation of the plot is Hank gets into a fight after getting punched by a guy with a boombox that fight spirals out of control he gets a bounty put on him by the Sheriff (whose the puppet leader of the first AAHW) so hank tries killing the sheriff and the sheriff triggers the improbability drive that causes the rest of the series to kick off

and literally every episode of regular show fits this description

[Thetageist]

At 8/6/22 10:58 PM, Xenomorphian wrote:

At 8/6/22 07:10 PM, Thetageist wrote:
You'd probably love Blues Brothers, then. I won't spoil anything, but suffice to say, by the end there's several antagonistic forces going after the brothers all at once, and "increasingly chaotic" is a perfect description of the plot.

Will be sure to check it out

and looking at it in hindsight more other stories that kinda follow that normal situation turns into chaos format would actually be half life 1 and 2 because really you start half life 1 literally doing your regular job and half life 2 is you get dropped into the world and wander around until you get hunted down because you don't have a social security number (literally radio dialogue from the combine and the citadel announcer voice confirms the apartment raid at the start of the game that causes you to meet alyx is done because Gordon entered the building causing a "miscount" of the residents inside)
Arcane also counts and goes with my point that the story needn't be set in the real world to count its a fantasy world but hey those kids doing rascally things kids like them would normally do accidentally kicks off everything else.
Madness combat honestly counts too because my interpretation of the plot is Hank gets into a fight after getting punched by a guy with a boombox that fight spirals out of control he gets a bounty put on him by the Sheriff (whose the puppet leader of the first AAHW) so hank tries killing the sheriff and the sheriff triggers the improbability drive that causes the rest of the series to kick off

and literally every episode of regular show fits this description

Recommendation #2: You mentioning Half-Life and how it starts with you doing your job made me think of The Stanley Parable. Dear lord, that game gets trippy and meta towards the end (for most endings, at least.)

[SoggyMan]

i like the trope where there is no trope

[Thetageist]

At 8/7/22 07:23 PM, SoggyMan wrote: i like the trope where there is no trope

Most things are tropes.

[SoggyMan]

At 8/7/22 07:38 PM, Thetageist wrote:

At 8/7/22 07:23 PM, SoggyMan wrote: i like the trope where there is no trope

Most things are tropes.

i dont know when tropes became so topically acceptable, but it has always been an asanine system of lists and patterns. a good story is one where you never notice patterns, and are enthralled in mystery, instead of reading off a checklist of predetermined expectations.

in other words, tropes were not meant to be fixated on. compared to characterisation and plot, its just novelty. (most modern books are entrenched in novelty and not much else)

[ArGxITA]

At 8/7/22 08:00 PM, SoggyMan wrote:

At 8/7/22 07:38 PM, Thetageist wrote:

At 8/7/22 07:23 PM, SoggyMan wrote: i like the trope where there is no trope

Most things are tropes.

i dont know when tropes became so topically acceptable, but it has always been an asanine system of lists and patterns. a good story is one where you never notice patterns, and are enthralled in mystery, instead of reading off a checklist of predetermined expectations.
in other words, tropes were not meant to be fixated on. compared to characterisation and plot, its just novelty. (most modern books are entrenched in novelty and not much else)

Well yeah it's just a way to classify things that happen or are done, not to compare them with each other. That's why in my post i said that sometimes i notice stuff done in media and try to think of works that do that kind of thing. It's just a way to see stuff you like

[Thetageist]

At 8/7/22 08:00 PM, SoggyMan wrote:

At 8/7/22 07:38 PM, Thetageist wrote:

At 8/7/22 07:23 PM, SoggyMan wrote: i like the trope where there is no trope

Most things are tropes.

i dont know when tropes became so topically acceptable, but it has always been an asanine system of lists and patterns. a good story is one where you never notice patterns, and are enthralled in mystery, instead of reading off a checklist of predetermined expectations.
in other words, tropes were not meant to be fixated on. compared to characterisation and plot, its just novelty. (most modern books are entrenched in novelty and not much else)

But then how can writers show how rebellious and intellectual they are if they don’t have a checklist of tropes to purposely subvert just because the tropes are popular and mainstream?

[ArGxITA]

At 8/8/22 08:43 AM, Thetageist wrote:

At 8/7/22 08:00 PM, SoggyMan wrote:

At 8/7/22 07:38 PM, Thetageist wrote:

At 8/7/22 07:23 PM, SoggyMan wrote: i like the trope where there is no trope

Most things are tropes.

i dont know when tropes became so topically acceptable, but it has always been an asanine system of lists and patterns. a good story is one where you never notice patterns, and are enthralled in mystery, instead of reading off a checklist of predetermined expectations.
in other words, tropes were not meant to be fixated on. compared to characterisation and plot, its just novelty. (most modern books are entrenched in novelty and not much else)

But then how can writers show how rebellious and intellectual they are if they don’t have a checklist of tropes to purposely subvert just because the tropes are popular and mainstream?

Yeah that's why i don't like Rick and Morty anymore... They subvert so much they insult you for liking tropes. On the other hand Smiling friends has a really fun joke about how we are so used to subversion nowadays with the shrimpina reveal lmao

[Xenomorphian]

Recommendation #2: You mentioning Half-Life and how it starts with you doing your job made me think of The Stanley Parable. Dear lord, that game gets trippy and meta towards the end (for most endings, at least.)

Oh I love the Stanley Parable

[Xenomorphian]

Yeah that's why i don't like Rick and Morty anymore... They subvert so much they insult you for liking tropes. On the other hand Smiling friends has a really fun joke about how we are so used to subversion nowadays with the shrimpina reveal lmao

Oh god that shrimpina joke at the end was funny

I think Pim could've argued his case more with the fact that people aren't normally called like Humanita or Humanathan but then again Shrimp's name is literally shrimp