seen from Egypt
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hot take: the redemption arc isn't the black moment. it's the ten pages after, where he has to just sit in what he did, out loud, to her face, with no mission or crisis around to interrupt it and let him off easy. give me the boring after-scene where there's nothing left to do but say it plainly. that's the whole trope. everything before it is just runway.
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OSP's newest Trope Talk came out and it gave us this gem:
"Don't worry, I'm putting together a team, top of the line and the best people for the job. I've got:
A backer
A hacker
A top notch safe cracker
A techie
A rookie
A driver
A jacker
A fixer
A joker
A wild card
A straight
3 aces
2 queens
And a 90's queerbait
The brain
The muscle
The guy in the chair
The guy behind the chair
The guy on the couch
The guy on the floor cause we ran out of space
And of course, the face"
And I just, I can't. It's too good! Why is there some poor idiot on the floor, can't he fit on the couch? Is couch guy just sitting like an acrobat mid jump to the point that there's not room?
Floor guy: can I sit here?
Couch guy: can't. Got no room
Floor guy: well if you were to sit straight then maybe there would be!
Couch guy: I can't sit straight, I'm *~bisexual~*
Or maybe couch guy is just conked out, snoring. Like, he isn't actually a part of this, I just mentioned him in case you asked. Yeah, he's just my buddy Nick who got sick and is staying over.
Tag yourself, I'm "The guy on the floor cause we ran out of space"
Trope Talk: Heists!
Can we have a serious conversation about a fanfiction trope that has fandoms in an absolute chokehold, even now in the 21st century? Because I am so tired.
I’m talking about the "Sad Innocent Dad vs. Evil Monster Ex-Wife" trope.
You all know the one. A married couple splits up because the wife is unhappy, unfulfilled, or wants more out of life. And instantly the narrative frames her as a heartless, selfish villain. Meanwhile, the husband is babied by the author and the audience. He is painted as a flawless, tragic victim who did absolutely nothing wrong. And eventually, he finds a "new, simple, sweet" girl to replace his intimidating, complex ex-wife.
And the wildest part? Readers EAT IT UP. They literally cheer for it. Why are we still doing this in 2026?!
Let’s unpack why people love this deeply sexist trope so much, because the internalized misogyny is actually screaming:
1. The "Sad Dad" Complex
Society (and fandoms) absolutely love to infantilize grown men. If a father is left alone, he becomes a "woobie" who must be protected at all costs. Nobody ever asks: Why did the wife leave? What did he do (or neglect to do) that made her feel so isolated? Nope! It takes two people to fail a marriage, but fandoms will completely erase the man's responsibility just to baby him.
2. Punishing Complex Women
Fandoms claim they want "strong, badass female characters," but the second a woman’s strength means prioritizing her own mental health over being a traditional, silent housewife... she’s the devil. We are punishing women for not fitting into a 1950s trad-wife box. God forbid a female character is messy, deeply unhappy, or makes a drastic choice to save herself.
3. The "Savior" Fantasy
A lot of readers project themselves onto the "New Girl." They want the fantasy of being the "easy, uncomplicated, sweet" woman who comes in to "fix" the broken, sad man. To make that fantasy work, the ex-wife has to be portrayed as a one-dimensional, cold-hearted monster. They tear down a complex, intimidating woman just to make the new, mediocre relationship look like an "upgrade."
It is just so incredibly lazy.
Women deserve nuance. Mothers deserve to be written as complex human beings, not just plot devices or villains used to give a guy a tragic backstory. Stop writing women as heartless monsters just because you want to excuse a mediocre man's failures. Do better.
Today's underappreciated trope:
Fourth entries in a series which take place in some random town unrelated to the previous entries where disproportionately weird stuff happens
Examples: Persona 4 (which yes is the fifth entry in the Persona series but shut up), JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable, Devil May Cry 4, Silent Hill 4: The Room, Resident Evil 4, and the cancelled Half-Life 2: Episode Four (which was gonna be a side-story taking place in Ravenholm, if you don't know)
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
I have mixed feelings about this “trope” (in quotes cause I’ve only seen 2 instances of it) in fantasy books. So the main character seemingly sacrifices themself for the greater good, but through… plot armor? Special snowflake syndrome? The author copping out in order to have a traditionally happy ending? They return to life.
Now, in the 2 cases, the characters in question never technically died, but it still feels very cookie-cutter. At the same time, I kind of like it cause I’m a big old softie who wants to read HEAs. I don’t know. Has anyone else seen this “trope”?
Edit: I actually remember a THIRD case I’ve seen of this. In this one, the MC actually did die, and her return is very much a case of special snowflake syndrome.
GOD I Fucking love this trope SO MUCH
*Looking at Luke*
Is there a trope you hate to love? I mean like, it infuriates you, but you keep coming back to it anyway because it's useful, or more fun than you want to admit even to yourself, or it Just Keeps Happening? And then you're like, "Goddamn it, Author, you're better than this!" while writing down the cursed plot line?
I am not better than any trope. And I mean that so, so sincerely. Anything that I find fun or useful to write, I have affection for. On a more general level, I have completely rid myself of the language of "love to hate" or "guilty pleasure." Either I'm enjoying something or not. I don't feel bad about it.
HOWEVER: at this point, I feel like creating fake reddit posts might be a little too easy for me to write. They aren't challenging in the same way they used to be. Not that I'm better than them, but they feel like low-hanging fruit. I think at this point, I would love to move beyond doing it, but at the same time, its a fun way to interact with source material.
