#archtypes

Don't worry, Lily, I've got an answer that isn't just semantics.

A trope is a common element that is often used in storytelling. Think of an enemies to lovers romance or the final girl in a slasher movie. An archetype is a universal character type. Think, the troubled youth or the loose cannon.

Enemies To Lovers:

Even though I'll admit it's kinda overrated, It's one of my favorites. The (often sexual) tension between the two characters and how their detestation for each other develops into sweet caresses and cuddles always catch me off guard. This trope also can apply to many different type of media's and fiction which is why I love it so much.

Star-crossed Lover:

Probably the most underrated trope in my opinions. Even though most people indulge in romance for the fluff rather than the tragedy, The Star-crossed really indulges me by how it captivates the determination to defy logic and fate even if it inevitably fails and it leads to an interesting read

Right Person, Wrong Time:

Same at the previous one, but instead, they were always meant for each other yet couldn't due to special circumstances. I quite enjoy imagining how they could've been if that had more time and met eachother earlier or later throughout the story. Again, tragedy is too underrated and needs more appreciation.

Witch x Witch Hunter:

It's such a niche trope, yet I believe we need more of it and have some gay and saphics ones for once. Usually this trope follows an Enemies To Lovers storyline which I already consume once every 5 hours and add magic and tension between the two and you one fucking masterpiece, why is this trope so niche.

Supernatural Being X Supernatural Being:

One pet peeve I have with fantasy is that whenever there is a relationship there is always atleast one who is a basic ol human being. It frustrates me that it's never something like Elf x Tiefling or Dwarf x Changling or Kobold x Dragonborn or a fucking Lovecraftian squid and a biblically accurate angel , on of the individuals is always a human being.Humans are already fucking narcissist. I want to indulge in unconventional romance, romance which delves you in a fantasy vast away from our plane of our existence. I want to see beings who most perceive as vile and vicious being loving with eachother. For me the less humanoid it is, the more intriguing it is for me.

Last Minute Love Interest:

Don't you detest when you're reading about the intimate relationship between two characters, their woes, hopes and vulnerabilities revealed to eachother, the distance between them tightens closer and closer. THEN FOR FUCKING REASON ANOTHER CHARACTER WHO SUDDENLY BECOMES REVELANT SNATCHES ONE OF THE CHARACTERS AND YOU'RE LEFT FUCKING UNSATISFIED. I'm sorry but this is quite possibly the worst trope of all of literature and just a cheap gag that ruins the point of what I'm reading. If you want me to become invested in a relationship between two characters, you need to develop some time, and give each of them revelancy, NOT JUST SOME LAST MINUTE PLOT TWIST THAT DIMINISHES THE 300 PAGES AND HOURS OF MY MISERABLE LIFE. Half of the time the guy who shows up last second doesn't even look conventionally attractive at all.

Arranged Marriage:

Irl Arranged Marriages are one of the sickening things an individual meant to care for you can commit. I hate that this ship glorifies arranged marriages as 99% you're going to end up with some creepy ass middle man and you're viewed as an doll, incapable of autonomy and useful for economic or political gain rather than an individual who should get to love who they actually love.

The Brother's Bestfriend:

In actuality it's not that bad but I personally find it putrid, if you know anything about siblings, it's that them and their friends are viles and disgusting cretins, scruffling around the house like cockroaches, riddled with cheeto dust. There's also usually the weird age gap and don't you think it's awkward to date someone whose also simultaneously your sibling best friend and worse if they become your ex.

Possessive Boyfriends:

“Of course, I [spoke with Meghan], And she definitely [interviewed me]. That’s an insane rumor” – Andy Cohen, who was a guest on Meghan Markle’s podcast Archetypes

“Cohen noted to Us on Wednesday that the Suits alum was "quite well researched" "well-informed" and "thoughtful" during their 2022 conversation.”

Oh this is a fun one! So I first want to say that the difference between these is almost all about context. This is because all of them stem from effectively the same concept which is: (Also, I am not an expert in these matters so I am just giving my personal opinions and viewings on each of these)

A commonly identifiable pattern of behaviors and actions within something.

Stereotypes:

A stereotype is doing this but in the real world. It always stems from biases, propaganda and some truth set in the real world. This is why when someone talks about a stereotype, they always quote the group that it's related to. X is a jewish stereotype, Y is a black stereotype, Z is a white person stereotype. It technically doesn't even need to be negative, like showing a black dude eating fried chicken but not making him less for it, but it can set your audience on edge. After all, it shows potential ignorance in the writer on how that group actually is, sets up for commonly offensive or at least insensitive portrayals of them and a lack of interest in how that group actually is.

Not to say stereotypes aren't used or even enjoyed sometimes by the group being stereotyped. Sometimes the most stereotypical, and extreme, of these jokes about a group will come from that group. That also brings up if it's okay for other groups to use those same jokes though because it's one thing when you're laughing at yourself, it's another when you're laughing at someone else. This is why people push for stories about certain groups to me made by those groups because when they use a stereotype, it's very possible they're just going off their own life experience and it happens to reflect what culture thinks their sort of people behave like.

As an example for myself: In Crises Girlfriends, one of the main signs of depression for one of the characters is that smiling causes anxiety spikes. To others, it may look like a hack decision that is just SOOOOO sad. Depressed people can't smile after all! Well... Yeah, when I'm at my worst, I can't. It literally causes a panic response and so I included it in the story and that will always be my justification for it, even if it looks possibly stereotypical or lazy.

In other words: This is an extremely difficult topic and in general I would probably just suggest avoiding using stereotypes without either personal experience or a sensitivity reader.

Anyways: Archtypes:

An archtype is a character base. That... really is it. So you have the sunshine archtype which quickly gets across in a discussion that X character is usually happy, positive and tries to see the best in things around. A goth archtype implies that the character is moody, wears dark clothes and is usually more serious than other characters in a cast.

The difference between this and a stereotype is that it technically only needs to be normal in media. For a LONG time, nerds were written only as one type of person, the neckbeard in their parent's basement, because that's what writers said nerds were. They were always socially awkward, fat weirdos. Nowadays, a nerd archtype just implies that the person is smart and probably good with some sort of technology or part of pop culture, or have at least a deeper interest in it. Jimmy Olsen from the new Superman show, despite being black, emotionally aware enough to be a wingman to Clark and Lois, etc. like that would still probably count as a nerd archtype because he's still the one with an online presence and obsesses over the occult and paranormal.

Is Jimmy a bad character for that? No... And for the fact that I could describe him beyond the archtype. An archtype is a base after all. If the character is nothing more than their base, the audience will likely have seen it before and get bored. They need to genuinely be their own character. Otherwise, they're a person's first D&D character who just kind of stands in the background because the player is worried about taking up too much of the time they have, screwing up a rule or any other reason that even if their character has potential, it doesn't show because they left the backstory portion of the sheet blank and still haven't come up with one because no one was willing to help them think more broadly about their character besides just what their role in the party is. In media, what role in the story do they have.

As a note: This is why filler is not a bad word to me. Filler is often when you get the flavor of characters but I could do a whole blog about the bullshit response people have towards 'filler'.

Tropes:

This is narrative. Things we see repeated in story after story. It's also why no trope is 100% bad (mostly at least. Fridging still exists after all). A trope exists because enough people agreed that it worked for a certain type of story for audiences to pick up on it as a normal thing for most stories.

One of the most classic examples of this is the third act breakup in romance stories. A moment when the two leads, getting closer and almost being ready to be together, suddenly decide they hate each other for some reason and split apart. This is commonly done through a misunderstanding that communication could fix which is why it's infuriating, much like most uses of liar reveal are. But let's take a step back and ask WHY a third act break up happens normally?

Well... It's the darkest hour. It's when the hero in an action story gets his ass kicked before doing a training montage or a test of strength or will or character to get that power up or edge to fight the big bad. It's the moment in a mystery novel where an important piece of evidence has disappeared, or the murderer is desperate so they kill again! Only for then the detective reveals how the murderer revealed themselves in this act or that they found a different clue.

In something that's just about characters like a romance, it can be hard to have that moment. If the story is literally about nothing else than these two people getting together, then their darkest moment has to be challenging that. It creates tension and a bigger climax than you would get otherwise.

This is also why tropes get tiring though. If the story is doing NOTHING but the trope... You've seen it before and this version has no flavor. Has no bite. There's no reason to feel the swell because you've seen it before and you've probably seen it better.

Conclusion:

All of these center around one base issue that comes from either phoning something in, not caring enough or just being new enough to writing that you're sticking to what's comfortable for you rather than experimenting.

They're all 'safe'. They're all things that any big wig executive actually does want to see because it's tried, it's true so why not do it again? The MCU itself has tropes in its writing now because they have recycled the same jokes and plot points over and over again so while the shows and movies technically aren't a lower quality, they're being seen as less because people want to see something new. Something bolder. That's probably part of Spiderverse's success frankly.

Even now, My Adventure with Superman is being praised as much for what it is as it is for what it's not. A LOOOOT of people are really happy to see Superman being the blue boy scout that so many writers have mocked and 'subverted' over the past decade. Returning to the old trope, to the way of writing him is a breath of fresh air because trying to be clever with him has gotten old to a lot of people. Not helped of course by a lot of the "Evil Superman" media just being bad and this Clark being genuinely interesting and complex. Seriously, go check out My Adventures with Superman.

In the end, it's a delicate balance. Try to subvert too many of these and you lose why these exist in stories, at least for tropes and archtypes. Stereotypes are things you should probably just stay away from unless you're talking from personal experience. Use too many though and your story feels very paint by the numbers and lacks any personal flair which might make it appealing to a mass market but it's not going to make it anything memorable.

But above all else... Just try to be aware. Are you using an archtype? How is your character more than that? Are you using a trope? What is its purpose and how can you maximize the effect or put a personal twist on it? Am I using a stereotype? Do I have a friend of that demographic to run it by? Do I need this element that could be potentially offensive or am I using it for an actual reason?

And if that sounds like a lot of work... Well, writing is like any creative medium. If you want to be really good at it, you have to try. Or pay someone else to tell the story you want. Just because anyone can hold a pencil though doesn't mean everyone can write, regardless of how some people have responded to me when I've opened commissions.

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I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.