#htstw

Parroting someone’s catchphrase, motto, or mantra ironically back to them at a crucial moment for maximum angst.

Using incredible powers for mundane things or refusing to use them at all because they make things “boring”.

Bonus: using said powers for everything BUT what they were meant for.

Dramatically collapsing onto things, for drama because you’re spent, OR for comedy, because it’s always a good time to collapse dramatically.

Being too ignorant or jaded to react appropriately to danger.

Bonus: overreacts to ridiculously small threat OR everyone knows it’s going down if and only when this character finally acknowledges the threat.

Don’t worry about being unoriginal because every trope, archetype, and plot has been done to death. Embrace the tropes! Stack them up the way 3D resin art doesn’t make sense until all the layers are in place.

Any story you might tell is a set of familiar plot elements in a novel arrangement, one that’s likely never existed before.

The villain swats the hero some distance away and they eat dirt, tumble, collapse. Maybe leave a dent in whatever they were launched into.

The villain’s job here is done. They bask in their victory -

But it’s not over yet. Painfully, the hero stands, back facing the villain. They look small and broken, they’re running on fumes. Maybe they glance at the sky, just grateful they’re still breathing.