OSP : Bowling For Tropes!

Unconventional dynamics, like couples who are neither ordinary nor constantly bickering, or friendships between two people who can’t help but enjoy each other at the end of the day (see door and Perry or Dakota and Cavendish)

The Firaga lit by Thundaza wreathed in and immune to Blizzara, but not Blizzaga

2024-10-09 14:19:37 +0000 UTC

Prophecies! There are so many different types and ways they play out!

Faffy_Waffles

2024-10-04 16:34:41 +0000 UTC

How about Evil Viziers? You could even step on Blue's toes a bit, with how it might relate to the "Good Tsar, Bad Boyars" strategy used in Imperial Russia, and similar methods used in other monarchies.

Jorlem

2024-09-07 19:17:53 +0000 UTC

Just came across Aesop’s Amnesia and why it can actually be a good thing.

Yukiarashi

2024-08-27 13:40:27 +0000 UTC

Timeloops - they're a pretty simple concept that's used in a massive variety of ways, whether it's for character development like Groundhog's Day/Russian Doll/Happy Death Day, or a plot device like Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children/Edge of Tomorrow, or it's just a one-off episode/comedy like in Supernatural or Star Trek Next Generation, it's usually quite interesting to see how/if the writers engage with the implications and how the individual characters choose to deal with them

JaneyBop

2024-08-25 13:38:20 +0000 UTC

The whole "heres the children of your old protagonist, arent they better in every way" thing. Where you get a sequel and it just follow's the protagonist of the original's child. I've found a lot of books and movie push this idea and its infuriating! You just get a watered down protagonist who is only special because their parent was and suddenly their parent acts ooc. The Chosen One Becomes a Parent trope. Think Star Wars Rey and Skywalker, Harry Potter and Albus (his son), etc.

criffininflight

2024-08-23 19:09:59 +0000 UTC

maybe the villain version of the five man band? the five bad-band / the five man bad

café

2024-08-12 10:06:23 +0000 UTC

One trope that I think is REALLY common but has had some stuff done with it is the Red Shirt. Person who is very obviously created so that they could die to establish the threat of the villain. Red Shirt Army is when a full group is created by the author just to bite it a few scenes later. The Red Herring Shirt often has someone who looks like they came just to die be revealed to be the hero or villain in disguise, or just a random person who doesn't die, and then the Mauve Shirt seems created just to die but has far more screen time and development than any Red Shirt, potentially surviving because the audience starts liking them. Then that could lead into the Sacrificial Lamb or Sacrificial Lion...

Gabbie

2024-08-07 18:12:12 +0000 UTC

Here’s two suggestions for tropes you coined yourself, Red. Pocket Eldridge Abomination and Chekhov’s Seafood Dinner.

calvin praetorius

2024-08-03 00:28:38 +0000 UTC

That's true. I've read one so far, and I plan on checking out the others when I can, so I don't know how the others differ. But Red is pretty pro at analyzing abstract concepts. I think she'd have a pretty interesting take.

Katie

2024-08-01 01:52:27 +0000 UTC

How about "The Sixth Ranger". They have some overlap with the Mentor and Loner tropes, but usually act as more of a 'Experienced Big Brother' for the members of the main team.

eee

2024-07-31 20:47:04 +0000 UTC

......Straight.......Baiting..... What is this new devilry????

Kura

2024-07-30 14:19:29 +0000 UTC

I know it's late in this thread but I just remembered a good one, "Story of Experts vs World of Layman" (or some other title, I just pulled that one out). I discussion about how sci-fi stories present their world. Much of early sci-fi all had heroes who were super smart and experts at everything, even a lot of side characters knew advance scientific knowledge or whatever like it was common knowledge. It used to be that you only met characters who were the best in their field. Part of this was that SF writers wanted people to know that they did their research on what they were writing, part of this was that you actually had to know you stuff to go to space. But the eventual realization occurred that if space travel was as common as car travel, then people's relationship to spaceships should be similar to their relationship to cars. Or that people worked at places without knowing every single thing about the machinery their using (that's what people in other divisions are for). Like, people drive cars and use blenders, but most can't build or fix either. So we started to get a few Layman in SF, but the stories were still about experts or happened in proximity to them. Then a shift happened around the late-70s/early-80s, when Alien and Star Wars blew up. The former had space truckers who knew enough to get by on their big cargo ship, but didn't seem to have any more expertise than you'd expect from a blue-collar worker. And the latter gave us guys like Han Solo, who clearly didn't know what he was talking about half the time and was clearly faking it with enough charisma to fool others. But spent an entire movie trying to figure out what was wrong with the spaceship THAT HE LIVED ON. The Star Wars example is especially funny because early Legends is filled with more classic SF writers having characters talk in exact technological terms and science jargon that seems completely at odds with the characters and a setting where the slang term for faster-than-light-travel is Lightspeed.

Nawf4

2024-07-29 14:39:10 +0000 UTC

Children of gods. When a new god tries to muscle out an old one and how that is reflected in myths and statuary, etc. (Still not fully awake, but I think it's in the Upanishads where two gods are constantly engaging in battles of wits and suchlike, coming out as better than the other one, only to be followed by an "Oh yeah? But then God 1 comes up with an even better plan and totally trounces God 2 this time!" and it just goes back and forth, as written by their followers. The Monkey God does this, but there's others.) Anthropomorphic deities.

Tabby L Rose

2024-07-28 20:18:50 +0000 UTC

Underdogs- specifically how often it can apply to basically everyone in a narrative. Thanos was going up against the entire universe in his quest to delete half of it, how can you not be the underdog when compared against the entire universe? But to out protagonists, Thanos is a nigh unstoppable genocidial maniac.

Ryan

2024-07-26 22:51:16 +0000 UTC

Possibly related trope: No Ontological Inertia

Lefty Blanks

2024-07-26 18:32:05 +0000 UTC

Bittersweet Endings -- specifically in genres where an unambiguous happy ending is expected (e.g. Rom Com), what makes an ending still satisfying to the audience when it doesn't give them everything they think they want? Maybe too much overlap with Subverting Expectations and Grimdark, but just something I've been thinking about after watching "The Half of It" on Netflix.

Lefty Blanks

2024-07-26 18:30:51 +0000 UTC

OK I swear Im not mentioning this to be mean, but Mating Bonds/Fated Mates/Soul Mate AUs/rigidly structured "Packs", basically that weird grab bag that originally was werewolf(/ Omegaverse cough) tropes but moved to other fantasy from there (Acotar, broader Urban Fantasy). Dunno how to combine that into one trope and I am sorry for bringing it up, but its been a pet peeve of mine for A WHILE (as an aroace Shapeshifter fiction enjoyer)

Lagggoat

2024-07-26 13:59:09 +0000 UTC

Stray Gods has paths that can go that way

Lagggoat

2024-07-26 13:39:08 +0000 UTC

I've seen several different versions of the Heroine's Journey, though. It doesn't have one single clear author.

CritterKeeper

2024-07-25 18:19:39 +0000 UTC

Pretty much guarantees spoilers for any and every work she'd talk about!

CritterKeeper

2024-07-25 18:12:06 +0000 UTC

I had the same reaction when I heard/read somewhere that Xander is what he always wanted to be when he was in highschool which doesn't make it any better.

Dana

2024-07-25 16:24:13 +0000 UTC

Load-Bearing Boss trope has always annoyed me on some level. The idea of a big thing falling to pieces when the one in charge is removed.

Eric Knapp

2024-07-24 18:47:15 +0000 UTC

Me too 🙂

Roknad Hornadl

2024-07-24 09:50:48 +0000 UTC

I love the character centric tropes I'd love to see something like the 'be my bad boyfriend' trope really examined. I think there's a lot to look at from Rochester to Riven from the original Winx Club and how its evolved over time and what's changed and what's stayed the same and makes this trope so long lasting, and it would be interesting to compare it to the 'be my bad girlfriend' trope. It's such a prevalent character that's evolved to be different things over time I'd love to see Red's spin on it.

Nerski90

2024-07-24 04:16:31 +0000 UTC

Oh I love that idea!

Nerski90

2024-07-24 03:48:07 +0000 UTC

Some years back Blue did a trope talk on The Hero's Journey. I'd really like to see Red's take on The Heroine's Journey- and how the two models compare.

Katie

2024-07-24 02:57:14 +0000 UTC

Abzu! I love that game.

Katie

2024-07-24 02:15:08 +0000 UTC

I'd like to see you make a video on high fantasy vs. low fantasy. Whether it's the older definition of secondary world fantasy vs. fantasy in a version of our world, or the newer definition as found on TV Tropes. Or maybe even talk about both meanings of high and low fantasy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fantasy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_fantasy https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HighFantasy https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LowFantasy

Thomas Christenson

2024-07-23 21:27:15 +0000 UTC

I’d like for her to talk about this trope with her comic, Aurora, as the example

Anthony_Turk

2024-07-23 11:54:29 +0000 UTC

That, and the comments Michelle Trachtenberg have made, definitely make the Xander Dawn romance in the comics ickier.

Jason Veevaert

2024-07-23 06:48:46 +0000 UTC

I could see anti witch hysteria as a mix of antisemitism and hating women who speak out. As Red said the dude who wrote the book in hunting witches was a sexist price who hated a woman calling him out in his bad behavior.

hypershock18

2024-07-23 06:47:00 +0000 UTC

Wait really?!

Jason Veevaert

2024-07-23 06:45:35 +0000 UTC

As an an aroace, I love the Villains In Love trope, and suspect that Ted might find it pretty entertaining to talk about, too!

Milo

2024-07-23 05:00:13 +0000 UTC

A.k.a. The Final Girl?

Milo

2024-07-23 04:57:22 +0000 UTC

Agreed! It seems a little too broad for a trope talk, but doing a bunch of specific stock episodes in a row, maybe with shortened videos, could be fun!

Milo

2024-07-23 04:56:59 +0000 UTC

...I feel like this applies to a lot more than Steven Universe, though?

Milo

2024-07-23 04:55:48 +0000 UTC

Villains In Love is among my favorite tropes, so I'd love this!

Milo

2024-07-23 04:55:19 +0000 UTC

I like how this one is very specific but very broad at the same time - it seems like isn't has just the right balance of that for a Trope Talk!

Milo

2024-07-23 04:54:45 +0000 UTC

...I actually had never heard of Xander being a self-insert character for Whedon, but now that you mention it, it does kinda make a lot of sense.

Milo

2024-07-23 04:53:06 +0000 UTC

Ooh, this is some very outside-the-box thinking for a Halloween episode, but I think it could be very popular!

Milo

2024-07-23 04:50:44 +0000 UTC

"Orphans" in itself seems like it could make for a very interesting trope talk!

Milo

2024-07-23 04:46:15 +0000 UTC

My favorite example of this BY FAR is from the movie "Signs", where rhe aliens whose skin burned at the touch of WATER tried to invade EARTH with no protective coverings whatsoever.

Milo

2024-07-23 04:43:22 +0000 UTC

I like this one, especially b3cause it gives her a chance to expand on what she already said in her "Superheroes in Empty Worlds" Detail Diatribe!

Milo

2024-07-23 04:40:01 +0000 UTC

A trope talk about prophecies would be nice especially focusing on how you know exactly how the story will go but then how the author can still subvert your expectations

Tayton Hansen

2024-07-23 04:29:27 +0000 UTC

Exactly! Honestly I am rather surprised she hasn't done a Trope Talk on it yet. Especially considering her clear adoration for any show with a Found Family at its center. Examples being, She-Ra, Leverage, and I think even Reboot has Found Family elements.

NightRocker13

2024-07-23 03:49:01 +0000 UTC

I've been saying for ages that Red should do a Found Family Trope Talk, it seems right up her alley!

Milo

2024-07-23 03:45:34 +0000 UTC

Most of the medieval stuff was based on stereotypes and bigotry. I mean witch hats are commonly thought to have come from antisemitism: “in 1215, the 4th Council of the Lateran issued an edict that all Jews must wear a pointed hat known as a Judenhut. This then came to be associated with black magic and demon worship which Jewish people have always been accused of.”

ConiferRobinHood

2024-07-22 21:30:31 +0000 UTC

The trope where the characters travel inside the human body or some other creature

Anthony_Turk

2024-07-22 15:11:20 +0000 UTC

Good old Queer Baiting (and it's lesser known twin Straight Baiting (yes I'm looking at you the promo material of Brokeback Mountain))

Lizzy

2024-07-22 10:49:34 +0000 UTC

Prophecies. There are so many ways it can be played – the garden variety "chosen one" who ticks all the boxes, the edgy antihero who rejects prophecy to forge their own path, the tragic Oedipus types who try their absolute best to avoid the inevitable. There's also something interesting in the way that prophecy itself isn't as important as what people do when they believe in or act according to it.

Lizzy

2024-07-22 10:48:38 +0000 UTC

I think it's a subset of the Cursed Object, but there's also The Evil Book. Book of the Dead, Leitners', the infamous Necronomicon and his variants, predating Lovecraft there's The King in Yellow and a real life counterpart could be the Malleus Maleficarum (written by an obsessive and crazy priest and tied to some of the bloodiest acts of the decades and centuries that followed its creation)

Alter Von Leere

2024-07-22 09:03:21 +0000 UTC

There's the Villain over for Dinner that is kinda fun, mainly because there's a lot of examples from Spidey Villains.

Alter Von Leere

2024-07-22 08:44:38 +0000 UTC

The Determinator is a good trope. Makes me think of that phrase "the devil doesn't know what to do with someone who just won't give up."

Vicki

2024-07-22 01:48:21 +0000 UTC

You beat me to it! One of my favorites!

Vicki

2024-07-22 01:47:37 +0000 UTC

"Big guy in a room full of big guys" is a premise that was sort of covered in Red's old "Planet of the Hats" video, but an "Evil Opposites" or "Doppelganger" video which covers adjacent tropes could be interesting!

Milo

2024-07-22 00:09:29 +0000 UTC

Found Family? This suggestion is mainly to get you to talk about Leverage some more. Could be fun. Is Personifying Time a Trope? You already did one on Death.

NightRocker13

2024-07-21 22:46:42 +0000 UTC

She touched on it in the Macguffins Trope Talk

Covert Crow

2024-07-21 15:55:38 +0000 UTC

The beach episode? Is that a trope?

Kirsteen

2024-07-21 11:42:51 +0000 UTC

Not sure this is a trope per-se, but I think it fits in your wheelhouse: the stock episode. You know, those stories that inevitably show up in any long running series: the time loop, the body switch, the "that character was never there", the "all of the series until now has been a hallucination, and you're actually in an asylum" Episodes that predictable and often silly, but let the writers and actors flex with the concept

cyhuciga

2024-07-21 07:38:29 +0000 UTC

Trope Subversion. This may take a while, but it would literally cover all the other tropes (which might take up multiple videos if you think about it). Every trope has its opposite and it’s interesting when it happens. For example: Super Princess Peach, where Peach is the one rescuing Mario and Luigi (and recently LoZ: Echoes of Wisdom).

Tania B

2024-07-21 05:52:50 +0000 UTC

“I’m Jay and this is my Hetero Life Partner Silent Bob!”

Jason Veevaert

2024-07-21 05:34:03 +0000 UTC

How about the “Necessary Evil” character? https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NecessarilyEvil

Deion Whitmore

2024-07-21 03:28:20 +0000 UTC

Chainsaw Good

Evix

2024-07-21 03:27:43 +0000 UTC

“Knife to a Gun Fight” or, the un/satisfying ways people face off against forces more appropriately equipped/prepared and have the odds on their side… this feels more like a generic “underdog” as I’m typing it out, but it’s the thought of “We know what we are doing here, what are you trying to do here?” or.. like someone wearing flippers to a long distance run. Situations with that kind of vibe

Nicholas Ahlquist

2024-07-21 01:47:02 +0000 UTC

I forgot that Aeryn's intro did that!

Madeline Woolsey

2024-07-21 01:00:29 +0000 UTC

The name for this one is "Samus is a Girl" after the Metroid franchise. It's the whole premise of Blue Eye Samurai, and also happens in the first episode of Farscape with Aeryn Sun (and then the same actress did it again when she appeared on Stargate SG-1).

The Narrator

2024-07-20 22:15:24 +0000 UTC

Could also be Peter Hale from the later seasons of Teen Wolf (or maybe that's fandom, not sure since I didn't actually watch that show)

Dana

2024-07-20 10:59:00 +0000 UTC

I don’t know the name of the trope. Sort of Fate vs Free Will. But the idea of those ‘in charge’ claiming fate is fixed even though they have to force it to happen. An example of this being (SPOILERS!!!) DeadEnd where angels have to actual cut potential futures to ensure the one they want occurs.

Andrew Zammit

2024-07-20 10:01:33 +0000 UTC

gender bend/swap episodes and if/how they can be done in a not shit way?

keystroke

2024-07-20 09:22:34 +0000 UTC

For our honorary Avatar the Last Airbender cameo in trope talks, do you think Bumi’s introduction episode counts towards this trope?

Bitterblue55

2024-07-20 07:27:02 +0000 UTC

I will always defend fanservice in the service of a fun tone. When characters are just trying to be fun or over the top as hell. There were people complaining about how sexual one character in the new Code Geass was and my reaction was "Have you seen how unrestrained the rest of the series is." My problem is when creators are trying to be even mildly serious and are still flashing goods.

Nawf4

2024-07-20 04:49:42 +0000 UTC

Kind of as much a setting as a trope, "Steampunk." I remember have a twitter conversation on how unique and versatility the aesthetic is, but it's almost always just Victorian people with googles. The first piloted mecha in written fiction was in a western after all (To callback to my first trope talk suggestion). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Steam_Man_of_the_Prairies

Nawf4

2024-07-20 04:44:46 +0000 UTC

River Song in Doctor Who

SaiminJutsu

2024-07-20 03:10:15 +0000 UTC

"Those Dang Phones" is one of my favourite OSP videos because it discusses not just the trope, but how the changes in technology have influenced story telling. So, uh, more like that please? Effects of cars or public transport on stories and tropes? Maybe cyberpunk tropes and changes over time? How about astronomy and our perceptions of the heavens due to new developments? (Yes, shameless appeal to personal bias of creator.)

Hugh Fisher

2024-07-19 23:34:53 +0000 UTC

Can't they talk about demons and only lightly touch on claims of sacrifice? All it would be is where the concept of demons came from, and lightly touch on these stories and point out how they're not real. I guess the question is are they talking about medival stuff over modern day stuff. Besides these claims of Satanists doing this stuff existed before it was even a thing. To just say where demons came from as a concept, books of demon study during the medival era as they blamed demons for problems in society and focus on portrayals of demons in fiction. Can this work? To make little to no mentions of Satanism?

hypershock18

2024-07-19 23:28:00 +0000 UTC

I made this suggestion last time, and I'll make it again: fanservice. This has both sexy and non-sexy versions, so I think there are ways to do it without getting demonetized. I would be fascinated to hear your take on good versus bad fanservice, in the sense of what the creator hopes to gain or give the audience, the disconnect between giving what the audience wants versus what the creator thinks the audience wants, how too much can ruin a good thing, and, yes, how it can be problematic to take an otherwise solid piece of art and make it cringy at best and make it problematic to include unnecessary sexuality where it just isn't needed.

Nicholas Bittner

2024-07-19 23:23:06 +0000 UTC

Would the werewolf video count as they did touch on the witch trials there.

hypershock18

2024-07-19 23:20:17 +0000 UTC

Also I don’t think Red would be at all comfortable with covering that.

ConiferRobinHood

2024-07-19 23:19:37 +0000 UTC

That still touches upon people’s perceptions of a living religion.

ConiferRobinHood

2024-07-19 23:18:30 +0000 UTC

Oh! Musicals or musical episodes, bonus points for a convincing argument that Metal Gear Revengeance is a musical!

Jason Veevaert

2024-07-19 23:15:55 +0000 UTC

Yea of little knowledge of the Mecha genre! Red could make two videos by separating Giant Robots in "Real" and "Super" Robots. She could make an entire Venn Diagram showing where transforming and combining robots fit into the two classifications and whether there is a need for a 3rd type of robot that doesn't quite fit into the either of the two categories: the Big O, Giant Gorg, Big Guy!

Nawf4

2024-07-19 23:15:18 +0000 UTC

I know real world Satanism doesn’t do that but there are still plenty of religions that still practice animal sacrifices.

ConiferRobinHood

2024-07-19 23:15:13 +0000 UTC

The Rashamon Effect could be fun!

Jason Veevaert

2024-07-19 23:14:23 +0000 UTC

Or they could leave out Satanism and the satanic panic

hypershock18

2024-07-19 23:13:11 +0000 UTC

Oh, I like that angle!

James Howard

2024-07-19 23:13:02 +0000 UTC

Is Shoulder angel/shoulder devil scenarios where a character is being influenced either directly or indirectly by two opposing forces, either simply representing the characters own inner struggle or basically just ghosts communicating to the character in question, I think there's a bit to talk about there.

Patrick Gordon

2024-07-19 23:12:39 +0000 UTC

The B Team

ConiferRobinHood

2024-07-19 23:11:56 +0000 UTC

Ooh that could get spicy!!

Jason Veevaert

2024-07-19 23:11:35 +0000 UTC

Demon worship as in animal sacrifice isn't a thing. Real world Satanism doesn't do this. Crowley's demonology more had them as fallen angels and to use God's power to make sure they don't misbehave

hypershock18

2024-07-19 23:10:56 +0000 UTC

Red’s Trope Talk on Grim dark touches upon this.

ConiferRobinHood

2024-07-19 23:09:44 +0000 UTC

Could play into the Devil thing

Jason Veevaert

2024-07-19 23:07:42 +0000 UTC

Very intriguing!

Jason Veevaert

2024-07-19 23:03:28 +0000 UTC

If you wanted to go for something broad, you could do another setting-overview video, like the old Urban Fantasy one. Could be an excuse to talk about cyberpunk stories or highlighting the difference between cyberpunk and post-cyberpunk (Ghost in the Shell is more the latter, for example). If you wanted more info for Cyberpunk the franchise - the one that Edgerunners and 2077 were part of - I'm sure that you could reach out on the R.Talsorian Games discord or reach out to the company directly (one of their current community managers was a youtuber covering the tabletop game who got hired).

Anthony Wilson

2024-07-19 23:03:25 +0000 UTC

If no witches, then demons?

hypershock18

2024-07-19 23:03:07 +0000 UTC

I think Red Eyes, Take Warning should be uploaded on June 2025/2026 for no reason whatsoever.

ConiferRobinHood

2024-07-19 23:02:54 +0000 UTC

I thought their video on Dracula touched on this

hypershock18

2024-07-19 23:02:47 +0000 UTC

How about Vampires? Lot of different categorizations of Vampires around the world, could be like the Dragon video. Or maybe a video on the evolution of the Devil. When did Lucifer and Satan become the same being? What part did Zoroastrianism play?

Jason Veevaert

2024-07-19 23:01:56 +0000 UTC

Robots yes, but what about giant robots :D? But yeah ig it would be even more niche to cover that

Sasha Sashwhich

2024-07-19 22:55:49 +0000 UTC

How about Mechs then?

Jason Veevaert

2024-07-19 22:54:53 +0000 UTC

They already did Robots

ConiferRobinHood

2024-07-19 22:54:52 +0000 UTC

Witchcraft and demon worship can be chalked up to religious beliefs and they have stated they won’t delve into any ongoing religious practices.

ConiferRobinHood

2024-07-19 22:52:22 +0000 UTC

She’s done Cursed Artifacts and Ancient Superweapons

ConiferRobinHood

2024-07-19 22:47:17 +0000 UTC

They did Robots already

ConiferRobinHood

2024-07-19 22:46:14 +0000 UTC

They did Reformed Villains which I’d say is pretty close if not exactly that.

ConiferRobinHood

2024-07-19 22:41:17 +0000 UTC

They already did Deus Ex Machinas

ConiferRobinHood

2024-07-19 22:40:31 +0000 UTC

One of the first pieces of writing advice I was taught in my playwriting course is "trap your characters in a small space." It can be a literal trap, like a jail cell or a cave in, or it can be a social trap, like a very important party they both need to attend. Audiences want to see emotions and painful truths boil to the surface, most characters would rather keep to a comfortable silence and will try to escape each other when they feel the tension building--so writers have to literally cut off their escape.

Sydney Marsing

2024-07-19 22:12:15 +0000 UTC

Personified animism.

ParrotAir

2024-07-19 21:54:11 +0000 UTC

How about "Folk Hero"? https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FolkHero There is a lot of material there. To put some limitations on it, I would restrict the conversation to characters that possess some "Everyman/woman" traits, a personality that a majority of the audience can relate to: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheEveryman For example, Luke Skywalker grew up on a farm and leads a rebellion against an oppressive empire, but his personality isn"t very "down to earth", he's a bit too generic for that. A folk hero, in my opinion, should be plucky in the face of personal handicaps that come from his station in life--being a farm kid never seemed a handicap for Luke (or, for that matter, Superman). To be frank, I can't think of many traditional folk heroes in the modern era, at least since mass media took over. I think that's the fault of Hollywood, which only want to depict heroes (and heroines) who are attractive, well off and powerful. Folk heroes traditionally fight for ordinary people, so there's an element of populism involved, though a mild one in most cases. If we exclude political leaders (to avoid flame wars) then I can't think of a single modern example in the English speaking world (I'm not as familiar with other markets). The closest I can think of is Spiderman/Peter Parker, but he's not really an underdog. Someone like Harriet Tubman might count, if you go back aways. Zorro might be another one.

Demarquis

2024-07-19 21:28:32 +0000 UTC

I have terrible news for you. There are at least TEN Swan Princess movies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saM3afhPfO8

invalidname

2024-07-19 21:03:22 +0000 UTC

Hey if we're going for broad, why not: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BecomingTheGenie

Sean Northridge

2024-07-19 21:03:21 +0000 UTC

Keystone Army is the trope name.

youngstormlord

2024-07-19 20:49:26 +0000 UTC

CommonalityConnection? GoneCartingWithBowser mixed with EvilCounterpart? Dating Catwoman if it is romantic... Edit: As for your second example, finding out that Shrek is small guy among ogres in Shrek Forever After? I don't know if there is trope for that. RuntOfTheLitter, maybe?

youngstormlord

2024-07-19 20:43:01 +0000 UTC

Another example, in the same vein, if not the same trope, is in the walking dead when two groups of survivors meet and talks with each of their respective character foils. Or in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes when the two gentle Heart characters (the son and Maurice) bond over the sketchbook.

Robert Cook

2024-07-19 20:41:49 +0000 UTC

What do you call it when the Big guy or the Smart one of one ragtag group of misfits, goes and meets their equivalent on another team? It's like when two super hero groups team up and everyone vibes with their doppleganger. So how does OUR big guy square up in a room FULL of big guys? Is he just average, the runt of the litter, or is everyone a special KIND of big guy? How does the smart guy react to having his ego shattered, realizing for the first time that he's legitimately replaceable. Or like in Teen Titans when the Lancer (Cyborg) goes off and helps set up Titans East, finding that he likes the leadership role. And when Robin and Speedy meet and get on each-others nerves because they are both hyper-competitive bozos.

Robert Cook

2024-07-19 20:31:45 +0000 UTC

Megas XLR!

youngstormlord

2024-07-19 20:19:54 +0000 UTC

There are five? I remember being three...

youngstormlord

2024-07-19 20:19:32 +0000 UTC

"Fire upon the deep" from Vernor Vinge has minor antagonists like that. They look like giant humanoid shiny butterflies with soft, angelic faces and large eyes. Their voices sound like youth singing. They are genocidal fascists who use the thinnest of pretexts to try to exterminate humanity and that is not even the first war they had against humans. They are Aprahanti.

youngstormlord

2024-07-19 20:17:54 +0000 UTC

Keystone Army is a subtrope. The whole army collapses when the load bearing boss is destroyed.

youngstormlord

2024-07-19 20:11:36 +0000 UTC

Probably a SecretTestOfCharacter or "You must be this *** to join". This smart, this brave, this strong... Or, "I would never follow a leader weaker than I am" girl that tries to beat up the main heroine, who proceeds to beat the crud out of her. I am looking at you, Sailor Uranus!

youngstormlord

2024-07-19 20:09:33 +0000 UTC

Honestly, something that’s been on my mind recently is last second character deaths. Stuff like Ashi from Samurai Jack season 5 (to use an example I know that you know) but other examples I know of can be found in things like Gurren Lagann, Diebuster, Netflix’ Voltron, arguably Madoka Magica (though there are some additional nuances there) in case you need some examples to research for it. Idk if there’s really enough room for a full trope talk on it, it’s just something that was on my mind today for some reason.

Andrew P

2024-07-19 20:09:08 +0000 UTC

Willikins from Discworld. Utterly loyal to Sam Vimes and his family but doesn't hold to Sam's morals of arresting the suspect. Killing the suspect in self defense while provoking him into attacking first is completely acceptable. Also, Alfred from Batman. The guy used to work for "Ministry of ungetlemanly warfare" and uses guns freely.

youngstormlord

2024-07-19 20:08:22 +0000 UTC

Moral Myopia: What is moral for one character (our protagonists), the same action is immoral for another character (the villain or antagonist). If our protagonist marches with their army into enemy territory and uses guerilla tactics (while stealing supplies from the occupied territory) to win, that's moral. If a pirate does the same to protagonist's supply chain on the sea, that's immoral and must be stopped. When Power Rangers gang up six versus one on a monster, that's alright. When mooks gang up against rangers twenty vs five, that's evil. Related trope, Values Dissonance: which is when morality of the work when it was written doesn't match the morality of the reader. Silliest example is Beauty Equals Goodness trope, the most egregious example is ancient works that accept slavery as fact of life and a good thing. (There is a guy in Sharpe tv show and books who is Sharpe's ally and a gentleman but he is a slave owner from USA who is British royalist) Silly trope because the above two were heavy: Remember the new guy trope, where character is introduced in episode twenty as if he was part of the gang from episode 1. PuppyDogEyes/ AliensThinkHumansAreCute: there is some feature of humans that touches alien or elvish sense of cuteness the same way round head and big eyes of kittens or puppies touches human one. Maybe we have eyebrows and only alien babies have eyebrows. Maybe it is our soft skin and alien larva have squishy soft skin before they grow hardened carapace.

youngstormlord

2024-07-19 20:03:56 +0000 UTC

Spinoffs, back-door pilots, and their relation/evolution into expanded universes.

mikaydee

2024-07-19 19:58:28 +0000 UTC

Fishing, as a metaphor for Old: Times, Knowledge, Power Lessons of Patience, Self-knowledge, Value of the Old-ways: with associated proverbs, probably thought up while waiting around for hours fishing (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) Thoughts of simpler times or wishing to go back to them (Grumpy old Men); Training montage for unwieldy, hotheaded character (Mulan) The industrial Progress Empire is actually a bad thing for the world, 'the fish are dying' (AtlA) Introducing a mentor figure with all the plot convenient Wisdom and way overpowered but too 'those days are over' to use it. Seems to me to have an East-West divide too, at least in portrayals by western media. The only form of emotional bonding conventionally (healthy) masculinity allows. Very male-dominated pastime in media. Subversion seems rare to me.

Joe Schank

2024-07-19 19:56:25 +0000 UTC

Ah yes, the load-bearing boss!

mikaydee

2024-07-19 19:49:13 +0000 UTC

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Damsel.

Joe Schank

2024-07-19 19:43:03 +0000 UTC

- Deus ex machina - Official couples (and maybe the convention of fan shipping) - Tokenism

Ourobius

2024-07-19 19:41:33 +0000 UTC

Giant robots, cause they seem to appear randomly a lot or just there as the main appeal

Sasha Sashwhich

2024-07-19 19:26:53 +0000 UTC

Redemption arcs, specifically when they do and don't work

cafenacet

2024-07-19 19:11:49 +0000 UTC

1.) Color coding characters, what they can mean depending on what the overall theme of the media is (and location - India's themes will clearly be different than Ireland), how to play around with conceptions (ex: Bruno Madrigal) and why purple STILL isn't considered a more mainstream heroic color (outside of the magical girl genre...sometimes) despite the "Red is heroic" and "Blue is heroic" tropes existing SINCE SUPERMAN'S GOLDEN ERA (maybe longer?) SO MIXING THEM TOGETHER SHOULD MAKE THE COLOR EXTRA HEROIC? (If the username isn't an indication, I'm invested in turning the purple/violet family into colors for heroes more frequently) 2.) Magical girl tropes - broad strokes, niche bits and WHY Joan of Arc keeps popping up as one (could even wrap Blue up in this) 3.) WHAT makes a pantheon - the common themes, the uncommon god types, why DO storm gods fight dragons/kaiju-types (except that one African god you guys mentioned forever ago) and maybe some "If you decide to write one, consider adding these (maybe jokey) types to your god gallery" 4.) How to write a mole/twist betrayal - how some things work while others don't 5.) This is more of a after-after-show suggestion, but have Blue categorize buildings based on the D&D alignment chart and have him explain his reasonings

Violet Sterling

2024-07-19 19:07:41 +0000 UTC

In Austin Powers (I think the second one with his dad?) there’s a scene where a henchman goes to attack and he tells him “you don’t even have a name tag, you’ve got no chance!”. Although that might be more conservation of ninjitsu.

Jordan

2024-07-19 19:05:02 +0000 UTC

Magic part 2 electric boogaloo magic systems

Jordan

2024-07-19 18:57:53 +0000 UTC

Sounds like Apophenia Plot might apply, where people see connections and conspiracies where they just don't exist.

CritterKeeper

2024-07-19 18:52:44 +0000 UTC

All the minions die (or stop functioning) when the head bad guy dies, such as in Avengers and ID4. Or like in The Lost Boys where you kill the head vampire and that takes care of all the rest. Likewise, their castle or stronghold falls apart and lands in the inevitable ocean that seems to always be right there or gets sucked into the earth, such as in Vampire Hunter D and The Mummy Returns.

SaiminJutsu

2024-07-19 18:45:06 +0000 UTC

I have too many favourites. >.< But I want Heroic Sacrifices the most. [I get the feeling that today is just the beginning of an avalanche of comments. I wonder if Red will have to narrow it down even more later on.]

Kura

2024-07-19 18:32:39 +0000 UTC

I don't know if there's enough to this for a full Trope Talk, but the "masked badass is actually a girl!" reveal that seemed to be really popular in the 2010s. You have a really competent masked fighter come in and save the hero and then it's revealed that their savior is actually gasp a girl! See Cora's intro from Tron Legacy for an easy example.

Madeline Woolsey

2024-07-19 18:29:50 +0000 UTC

Wham! Episodes are an interesting concept if done right might be worth a look.

The Yaki

2024-07-19 18:21:14 +0000 UTC

I would love to see y’alls take on Chekov’s Gun!

Rachel Winship

2024-07-19 18:20:52 +0000 UTC

Also shows that get accused of this when a gay character dies, even though they don't fit the trope. * Spoilers for the series "Harrow"! * "Harrow" had a gay character who played a critical role in the first season, was the main character's protege, then got killed because of that protege status well into the second season. People accused them of "Bury Your Gays" when it was almost the complete opposite of that, just because someone who was gay died.

CritterKeeper

2024-07-19 18:19:17 +0000 UTC

A stock episode mini series would be nice.

The Yaki

2024-07-19 18:15:08 +0000 UTC

This does get touched on in the Urban Fantasy video.

Alycia Shedd

2024-07-19 18:11:32 +0000 UTC

I've read an argument that time travel stories are just prophecy stories in a different font. I don't know that it's universally true, but it's definitely worth exploring.

Alycia Shedd

2024-07-19 18:10:07 +0000 UTC

Yes! Talking about how the meaning of colors differ from one culture to the next, and how color can mean a specific thing in a specific context. (A reference to the children's hospital Tumblr post is mandatory.)

Alycia Shedd

2024-07-19 18:08:11 +0000 UTC

Speaking as a practicing witch myself I would LOVE this.

Curt Clark

2024-07-19 18:02:42 +0000 UTC

I do love me a good reconstruction.

Curt Clark

2024-07-19 18:00:57 +0000 UTC

Wow, I think she could make a whole poll based on this alone

Curt Clark

2024-07-19 18:00:11 +0000 UTC

"Trapped!" Or maybe "Trapped In a Confined Space". The classic heroes stuck in an elevator, a freezer, a buried car, a bus or airplane, the ski lodge isolated by a blizzard….there are several overlapping/similar tropes that on their own wouldn't be enough for a talk, but together I think they're pretty interesting. From the classic bottle episode to CSI's episode where Tarantino buried Nick alive and still managed to fit in special effects and explosions. One hero the others have to save, all alone or taunted by the villain, or two or three who can't get away from each other and are forced to talk. Some of the best character development comes when the plot is simple and basically just an excuse to set up the situation!

CritterKeeper

2024-07-19 17:59:21 +0000 UTC

Dunno if you meant Anya from Buffy, but I immediately went to Anya from Buffy. Or Giles.

Curt Clark

2024-07-19 17:59:21 +0000 UTC

I don't know if there's a pithy name or TV tropes page for this one, but I'd like a Trope Talk on "It was all just a test." You know, where a person/organization/entity is set up as antagonistic towards the hero(es), trying to stop the heroes and often coming to blows with them... only to reveal afterward that it was all fake! They were on the hero's side the whole time and were "just testing" them. There's a lot of overlap with "It was all just a dream", since you have a situation that you, the consumer of this media, thought was rife with tension and stakes only to be retroactively told that there was no tension or stakes there at all, and you were a fool to feel invested! I think I've come to hate "just a test" more than "just a dream" since I think I see it more often. But perhaps there's not enough new there to merit its own talk.

Skemono

2024-07-19 17:49:04 +0000 UTC

Also morality chains/pets

Rick

2024-07-19 17:36:37 +0000 UTC

Evil / Morally dubious characters who are extremely and genuinely loyal to a hero. The types of characters who will cheerfully nod along while the hero giving the bad guy a big heartfelt speech about redemption, wait until the hero's out of earshot, and then describe in detail how they'll brutally murder Bad Guy if they betray or endanger the hero in any way.

Sydney Marsing

2024-07-19 17:35:07 +0000 UTC

Heroic BSOD

Rick

2024-07-19 17:34:51 +0000 UTC

Defeat Means Friendship could have some interesting angles to talk about.

Stephanie Cornick

2024-07-19 17:30:36 +0000 UTC

Hero of Another Story might be a fun one (could pair with a few other tropes like Retired Badass, Greater Scope Hero/Villain or Great Offscreen War), always like the idea the hero(es) just scratch the surface or are dealing with the major important plot thing while other important (but not necessarily narratively compelling) stuff goes on in the background.

Simon Mc

2024-07-19 17:12:06 +0000 UTC

Talent vs Training. You skimmed it a bit in the Dragon Ball Z Detail Diatribe, but I would like to hear a more in depth dissection on it.

Alex Ross

2024-07-19 17:07:39 +0000 UTC

That's one of my favourite tropes!

Kura

2024-07-19 16:58:19 +0000 UTC

Thank you! I've been hoping for Heroic Sacrifices for nearly five years now. I'm glad that other people want it, too.

Kura

2024-07-19 16:56:49 +0000 UTC

I see it most often in long-running series, or 'undead franchises'. Stories that have a definite end seem to be much less likely to suffer from this.

Kura

2024-07-19 16:55:36 +0000 UTC

I find both of those fascinating, though it kind of makes me worried that I'll do a characterization mess-up and make any of characters unsympathetic by complete accident.

Kura

2024-07-19 16:54:38 +0000 UTC

deep breath HEROIC SACRIFICES! Also, Eldritch Abominations, A Form You Are Comfortable With/You Cannot Grasp The True Form, Blue and Orange Morality, Anthropomorphic Personifications, Ancient Artifacts/Alien Artifacts, Ancient Ruins/Alien Ruins, and Cloudcuckoolanders. phew

Kura

2024-07-19 16:50:40 +0000 UTC

How about remakes? If sequels are a trope talk, i feel like theres a lot to be said about remakes and adaptations. What they are, how switching or evolving mediums can completely change they story being told, even when the plot beats are exactly the same. And thats not even covering the human aspect of how conflicting artistic visions or different business practices can completely change how the story is told as well.

Robert Cook

2024-07-19 16:44:19 +0000 UTC

Dark future selves! Either when the piece travels forward to a dark timeline (Justice Lords, Darkwarrior Duck) or when a twisted future version comes back (Days of Future Past, you could make an argument for Matrix from Reboot)

Case Aiken

2024-07-19 16:26:53 +0000 UTC

Oh, yeah. The Tyke Bomb is a character type that I always love, and Cassandra Cain is my favorite DC character. Lots of other great characters fit the trope as well: Aeryn Sun from "Farscape", Kirika from the anime "Noir", X-23, Kira from DS9, the Black Widows....

The Narrator

2024-07-19 16:24:45 +0000 UTC

I would love to see something about Reconstructions generally. Stuff like 'What's so funny about truth, justice, and the American way?" where they face the obvious 'realistic' criticisms head-on and forget the idea into something stronger. Just generally what makes a good, effective one.

Lightspill

2024-07-19 16:18:08 +0000 UTC

Battle couples please! They don’t always look the way you expect them too

Leigh

2024-07-19 16:13:15 +0000 UTC

Hmm... Colours. Color Coded for Your Convenience as a place to start, but it'd be fun to see Red talk about the implications of red in general.

Susaga

2024-07-19 16:12:10 +0000 UTC

Earth All Along would be a fun one, or branching out into the super-trope of ‘Describing something familiar but with a twist to make it weird’ that was touched on in the Little Animals on a Big Adventure video

John Bate

2024-07-19 16:09:13 +0000 UTC

'Reinventing the Wheel' - Wherein a fictional story with a pre-modern setting has a plot point centered around the introduction of an invention/concept that is well-established in reality. Examples include the hot-air balloons in AATLA, the ship recently introduced in Aurora, and any time a fantasy story does the 'this is a drink known as "coffee"' bit. Can be good for demonstrating a character's inventive genius if used in moderation and adapted well to the setting (and it's always fun to see fictional characters react to familiar concepts), but can easily cross the line to self-indulgence if used too freely.

Ethan White

2024-07-19 16:05:46 +0000 UTC

If we want to just have some fun in Sci-Fi land, "Insufficiently Advance Aliens" would make a great Trope Talk. When an advance alien species didn't invest in part of the Sid Meier's Civilization tree and it leads to a glaring weakness: The city destroying ships lack anti-virus protection. The invincible Tripods driving aliens forgot about basic biology and germ theory. The alien soldiers run around basically naked, confident in their personal kinetic force-fields that block lasers, bullets and bombs but get penetrated by a pointy stick. Just listing the examples of this in fiction would be a time-and-a-half.

Nawf4

2024-07-19 16:04:11 +0000 UTC

This is a rarer one, but I've always loved Platonic Life Partners and would very much like to see a Trope Talk on it.

justanothernobody

2024-07-19 16:01:20 +0000 UTC

The Badass Normal. I think they have some narrative range especially in team scenarios, from Hawkeye's admittance of the absurdity of fighting robots with a bow and arrow to Sokka's ingenious use of bombs as fake firebending. There might be some overlap with The Smart Guy or Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass but I think there are enough distinctions and examples to merit its own episode. EDIT: Just remembered Sam as future Captain America and his exchange with Zemo on the plane in FATWS about the desire to be superhuman being inherently tied to supremacist ideas. There might be something deep here :D

Jethro Daryll Pugal

2024-07-19 15:57:47 +0000 UTC

Well I was GOING to type up something about how I've been thinking about how prophecies work in fiction. Specifically, how The Chosen One Prophecy of the Star Wars prequels could be real, fake, or exploited by Sith Lords...Then Blue had to drop a Detail Diatribe that may or may not touch on the issue! xD

Jawes

2024-07-19 15:48:20 +0000 UTC

I know this tends to be a genre specific to games, but I'd like to see one about collectible monster stories

OtherworldManeki

2024-07-19 15:38:13 +0000 UTC

Refusal of the Call followed by The Call Knows Where You Live

Shadowreaper

2024-07-19 15:34:57 +0000 UTC

This may not quite fit into the space of a trope talk but an analyze of how "Everyone is the hero of their own story" has been misapplied over the years. If you read the actual original thesis the quote is from, what it's actually saying is everyone is the protagonist of their own story. That they think themselves the most important person in their own story and the central drivers of the narrative of their world. But it often gets used to imply that everyone thinks their a good person and has their own perspective morality to what they're doing. That everyone is a good person in their own minds, even when they use evil methods. That it's bad writing for someone to refer to themselves as the villain or get off on being the bad guy. When that's emphatically not true in fiction or even real life. There's a lot to discuss there with how this misapplication has made weaker villains as often as more complex, and how this way of thinking can create problematic cycles in real life.

Nawf4

2024-07-19 15:19:33 +0000 UTC

This would be for Halloween, similar to your discussion on dragons and werewolves to do a video on witches/demons. Where did they come, how they were seen over the years and pop culture depictions of them.

hypershock18

2024-07-19 15:17:32 +0000 UTC

Characters fusion isnt really a single trope per se, but it occurs often enough there are tropes around it, and its some interesting thematic space to explore.

Kaj

2024-07-19 15:14:10 +0000 UTC

The Final Girl archetype.

Gender Confused Alien

2024-07-19 15:06:05 +0000 UTC

I've always had a soft spot for The Unchosen One trope. I don't think it gets quite enough love but I think it's just so good.

Katrina Stringari

2024-07-19 14:59:10 +0000 UTC

The king in the mountain!

Miles Cook

2024-07-19 14:59:08 +0000 UTC

Lost Royalty/Prince/Princess/King/Queen/Monarch/etc.

Luke Alexander Williams

2024-07-19 14:58:27 +0000 UTC

You've got the post for Wind Waker right under there. Feels fitting that you do an episode on Long Lost Civilizations/Precursor civilizations.

Nawf4

2024-07-19 14:58:23 +0000 UTC

Not really a trope, but I'd be interested in how/when authors decide to have the protagonist fail and how that is used to enhance the story.

Kent

2024-07-19 14:55:48 +0000 UTC

Always got to put my hat in for "Giant Robots!" After all... You dig giant robots. I dig giant robots. Chicks dig giant robots!

Nawf4

2024-07-19 14:55:12 +0000 UTC

Spoiled child vs. usually an orphan or at base, a poor, unlucky kid trope.

ApocRabbit (Morgan)

2024-07-19 14:49:35 +0000 UTC

— Your Mission Should You Choose To Accept It: scenes which outline a task to be accomplished. Not just Mission Impossible but shows like Taskmaster and Top Gear. — Technobabble. When the writers try to solve an easy problem by jargony conversation.

Victor Wong

2024-07-19 14:48:29 +0000 UTC

Sacrificial Lions as a trope might be interesting (though granted it has a lot of intersection with the mentor)

Operleutnant

2024-07-19 14:48:19 +0000 UTC

I’m not sure if this is a tripe or not, but I’d be very interested in your thoughts on misappropriation of cultures mythologies for fantasy storytelling, both as a reflection of a power imbalance (eg white North Americans with First Peoples spirituality) but also in cases where very little is known of the culture being used (eg Druids) and where the origin culture doesn’t really take their mythology too seriously (eg Ireland compared to Irish-Americans).

Damian

2024-07-19 14:46:58 +0000 UTC

This was touched on in the paragons video, and I'd love to hear a deeper dive into it

Steven Justus

2024-07-19 14:46:19 +0000 UTC

-,,Its all part of a conspiracy!´´ but isn´t- Don´t know if its that large of a trope but what I mean is that a crew of people are in a desperate situation, and think that the situation is in reality satged and mutiny against their leader or the officers, just to find out the situation was all real and not part of a conspiracy, most oftenly leading to the demise of near everyone

Warlock Skrack

2024-07-19 14:45:33 +0000 UTC

I pinged my kid and they said they'd be interested in something about the Spin-Offspring trope, where the sequels are about kids of the main characters. I noticed this line on tvtropes.org — "After the fifth film, The Swan Princess series switches over to Odette and Derek's adopted daughter Elise." — and I was like "Fifth film? Jesus, 20th Century Fox, how many goddamn Swan Princess movies did you make?"

invalidname

2024-07-19 14:45:26 +0000 UTC

Not quite a trope, but I'd be interested to hear about retcons, and their application both diegetically and...not that.

Steven Justus

2024-07-19 14:44:43 +0000 UTC

Agreed! I’d like to add onto this and say specifically the “Bury your gays” trope would make a good video. Red could also look at examples of what people are calling “un-bury your gays” reversal of the trope (admittedly I only know of The Adventure Zone example of this but I hope there are others out there)

Bitterblue55

2024-07-19 14:43:52 +0000 UTC

Becoming the Mask, when an assumed identity starts to become the real one.

mayordomoGoliat

2024-07-19 14:42:23 +0000 UTC

The ‘Suit’ in SF; the all powerful suit of armour with all kinds of weapons and equipment and often its own intelligence. I’m thinking of Heinlein (in a bad way of course) and others of his time, but also modern versions found in Banks, Reynolds, etc. There must be a huge amount of symbolism there to be mined 😀

Damian

2024-07-19 14:42:05 +0000 UTC

Long lost heir!

Mary Jo Thaler

2024-07-19 14:40:46 +0000 UTC

For years I've been asking for coverage of Crapsacharine World. Will this be the blessed day that my prayers are answered?

Shadowreaper

2024-07-19 14:40:01 +0000 UTC

I’d love to see a breakdown of the role of “The Kid” and how they change the group dynamics in a given piece of media.

Willow River

2024-07-19 14:39:53 +0000 UTC

Ooh, and maybe tie in Good Is Not Nice

John Bate

2024-07-19 14:39:26 +0000 UTC

Heroic Sacrifices! I’ve been watching X-men 97 and Gambits death made me think of it. Maybe with an aside on why some sacrifices feel empty or like they don’t mean anything?

Hannah C. Brown

2024-07-19 14:39:23 +0000 UTC

I would love a trope talk about old magic/gods. How there's old gods that clearly work but people still worship new God that (in the story) don't do anything. I always found it funny

Gerard Laliberté

2024-07-19 14:36:44 +0000 UTC

How about "Light is Not Good." When something has all the trappings of something angelic, heroic, or otherwise "good," but is actually something incredibly monstrous or evil.

Legotron123

2024-07-19 14:34:55 +0000 UTC

For the Halloween episode: Fae/Faeries/The Fair folk Also, fourth wall breaks. (a ddlc reference would elate me)

Zala Weyker

2024-07-19 14:34:18 +0000 UTC

I'll throw out long-lost heir and the cavalry again - you should definitely research Throne of Glass if you haven't read it for both, SJM uses both tropes on repeat within one series it's hilarious, but it will give you a lot to talk about

Abigail Stevens

2024-07-19 14:31:48 +0000 UTC

One Thing that's been bugging me is when a story needs horrible Things to happen or incompetent characters or both in order to bring conflict, Not trusting that a Ghibli approach (in Spirit) might be entertaining too. Hope that's Not too vague. Alternatevly I realised while playing Abzu, that I was incredibly starved for "vibrant worlds without misery". For worlds and the characters within being allowed to Just be. With No audience expectations or at least none of me.

Roknad Hornadl

2024-07-19 14:30:15 +0000 UTC

Trope Talk ideas: - "Sixth Ranger" - "Battle Couples" - And in honor of the channel's original name "Red Eyes, Take Warning"

Sam Fisher

2024-07-19 14:26:35 +0000 UTC

Apologies if it already happened, but "Good Cop one day before retirement" might have something good, with a tie-in to doomed mentors?

Paul R

2024-07-19 14:26:32 +0000 UTC

What about Reassigned to Antarctica/Reassignment Backfire? Or various ways The Call works (The Call Left a Message, etc)

Nerisaga1791

2024-07-19 14:25:49 +0000 UTC

The trope that TV Tropes refers to at the "tykebomb", but essentially refers to characters who were raised from birth to specialise in one particular skill or subject. In animation this could apply to Azula from Avatar, for example. While in comics there are the cases of Cassandra Cain (former and current Batgirl) who was trained to be an assassin/bodyguard for Ra's al Ghul and her best friend/future ex-wife (in one timeline at least) Stephanie Brown (the superhero Spoiler, and also a former Robin and Batgirl), who was raised by her supervillain dad to be super-smart... or at least that's a trait that's recently been copied over to the comics from the Gotham Knights show. Interestingly, the Artemis storyline in the final season of Young Justice heavily focuses on the impact this kind of training has on kids, be it indoctrination (as was implied to have happened to Cass' mum in the show as a young person), eventual rebellion (like Artemis and Cass), and the effect that kind of childhood has on the subsequent generation (Artemis' sister feeling unable to parent her daughter out of a fear of repeating the cycle her own dad subjected her to). Should be noted that in Young Justice, a BIG chunk of Artemis' backstory was actually lifted from Cass' original depiction in the comics, to the degree that Cass (Orphan in the show) and her mum (Lady Shiva) are effectively used as a cautionary example for Artemis and her sister.

Lewis Brown

2024-07-19 14:25:08 +0000 UTC

Creator/Author self-inserts into media and what that says about the author/creator (like Xander from Buffy for Whedon)

Dana

2024-07-19 14:24:23 +0000 UTC

Nightmare Fuel Unleaded. How does unintentional horror happen? How do you avoid it? Is it worthwhile to even try?

Alycia Shedd

2024-07-19 14:23:47 +0000 UTC

Here's a few personal favourites: - OOC is Serious Business - Maybe Magic, Maybe Mudane - Beware The Nice/Quiet/Funny Ones

inception243

2024-07-19 14:19:53 +0000 UTC

Also bottle episodes

A_Legitimate_Salvage

2024-07-19 14:17:33 +0000 UTC

How about "Mothers" - dead mums - evil step mothers - when mums are protagonists: my kid is the chosen one/devil's seed And i guess you can throw in virgin births as well if you are feeling spicy

Ines Alvarez Rodrigo

2024-07-19 14:16:23 +0000 UTC

The “there’s a traitor among us” forced distress trope is one I’d love to see.

Justice

2024-07-19 14:16:02 +0000 UTC

Flanderization. Given what I think your age is, you probably weren't around for the early Simpsons seasons when Flanders was in some ways just better than Homer and it drove Homer nuts with jealousy. But that was before the writers started upping the ante on the Flanders family weird religiousosity, which led to the exaggerations they later turned into. So I'm kind of interested to know how it lands for you, under the assumption that Preachy Twit Flanders is where you came in the door, and that maybe you've seen Flanderization develop in other media of your own era.

invalidname

2024-07-19 14:15:49 +0000 UTC

Crap now I have to think of things... I would love to see some more scifi oriented trope talks because I SWEAR I'M VERY NORMAL ABOUT SPACE AND SPACESHIPS. TV Tropes doesn't have a page on hero ships specifically but it might be cool to explore how means of transportation and the setting can kinda become the same thing. Also, Remember When You Blew Up A Sun just has the best name of any trope ever https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun

A_Legitimate_Salvage

2024-07-19 14:15:26 +0000 UTC

Villains in Love would be another good one since she’s already dabbled with it in other trope talks

calvin praetorius

2024-07-19 14:15:14 +0000 UTC

Load bearing characters. Both the literal sense, e.g. fortress of evil collapses upon the death of the antagonist, and metaphorical, e.g. some sort of societal norm will stop working if they are not around anymore. The latter could be desirable or not.

James Howard

2024-07-19 14:14:41 +0000 UTC

Here’s a few tropes I’d like to see: Villains in Love, The Leader to round out the five man band, the OP/Force of nature protagonist (your alucards and saitamas), or the concept of Power Scaling as a whole.

calvin praetorius

2024-07-19 14:13:51 +0000 UTC

Giants in different media and Higher Powers

Anthony_Turk

2024-07-19 14:12:46 +0000 UTC

Young Hero Saves Everyone, just to hear her dish about Steven Universe and Steven Universe Future.

Eric Stovall

2024-07-19 14:12:12 +0000 UTC

The 'Unintentionally Sympathetic' and 'Unintentionally Unsympathetic' tropes

ClockwerkPatron

2024-07-19 14:12:11 +0000 UTC

This may be more of a Halloween trope talk, but people fascination with the eldritch and things that are beyond out comprehension. if not that then why time travel is such a popular concept (maybe featuring a time traveling goat fish).

Nelm_Knight

2024-07-19 14:10:54 +0000 UTC

How about Laser Guided Karma? Or perhaps Morality Kitchen Sink. Or Ancient Conspiracy, those are always fun and usually meld with other tropes.

Bunny Waffles

2024-07-19 14:10:43 +0000 UTC

In the interest of continuing the "Five Man Band" mini-series, "Sixth Ranger" could be option

Gabriel

2024-07-19 14:10:38 +0000 UTC

‘Gone Horribly Right’ could be a fun trope. It's not a trope commonly seen, and you just know Red is going to have fun with it when they start over analyzing its nuances

Sliksick

2024-07-19 14:10:36 +0000 UTC

maybe stock episodes? like the beach episode in anime or the western animation episode of ppl shrinking down and going into the body of a friend to fix a problem

stepsofthepalace

2024-07-19 14:10:21 +0000 UTC

“Elemental Powers” talking about how different stories describe elemental powers in different ways, mostly so that Red will be forced to read/watch even a little One Piece

Eric Stovall

2024-07-19 14:10:08 +0000 UTC

Oh! The horror trope of the virgin survives!

Debzi Overstreet

2024-07-19 14:09:26 +0000 UTC

Animal sidekicks

Debzi Overstreet

2024-07-19 14:08:56 +0000 UTC

Something about “Physical Darkness” where different stories describe how darkness takes physical form, and how different artists give “physical darkness” different attributes.

Eric Stovall

2024-07-19 14:08:48 +0000 UTC

Either horrifying the horror, or too bleak, stopped caring.

og.monstr

2024-07-19 14:08:32 +0000 UTC

Might Makes Right

Jonathan Grant

2024-07-19 14:08:06 +0000 UTC

I want to see Red take on classic romance tropes. Age gap, monster husbands, enemies to lovers, there was only one bed, etc. It feels a little bit mean, but it would also be a unique take to listen to.

Drop Dead Studios

2024-07-19 14:07:46 +0000 UTC

More queer/LGBTQ+ tropes would be nice

Sam_is_no_longer_enby

2024-07-19 14:07:46 +0000 UTC

Call a smeerp a rabbit!

Matthew Runyon

2024-07-19 14:07:44 +0000 UTC

Yank the Dog's Chain (or the subtrope Found the Killer, Lost the Murderer)

Jon P

2024-07-19 14:07:40 +0000 UTC

pantheon of sky gods - I think it would be neat to compare the different sky gods in the different pantheons

Debzi Overstreet

2024-07-19 14:07:27 +0000 UTC

how about the "monster of the week"/"adventure of the week" trope, espsecially since those seem to be falling out of fashion

Finn

2024-07-19 14:07:24 +0000 UTC

Again I ask for a mind/body swap trope talk.

Chloe

2024-07-19 14:07:12 +0000 UTC

Magic animals

POB

2024-07-19 14:06:33 +0000 UTC

Liar Revealed — and why it’s the FUCKING WORST

Debzi Overstreet

2024-07-19 14:06:11 +0000 UTC

Knight Errant

Jonathan Grant

2024-07-19 14:04:29 +0000 UTC

Bowling For Tropes!

Comments

Unconventional dynamics, like couples who are neither ordinary nor constantly bickering, or friendships between two people who can’t help but enjoy each other at the end of the day (see door and Perry or Dakota and Cavendish)

Prophecies! There are so many different types and ways they play out!

How about Evil Viziers? You could even step on Blue's toes a bit, with how it might relate to the "Good Tsar, Bad Boyars" strategy used in Imperial Russia, and similar methods used in other monarchies.

Just came across Aesop’s Amnesia and why it can actually be a good thing.

maybe the villain version of the five man band? the five bad-band / the five man bad

Here’s two suggestions for tropes you coined yourself, Red. Pocket Eldridge Abomination and Chekhov’s Seafood Dinner.

That's true. I've read one so far, and I plan on checking out the others when I can, so I don't know how the others differ. But Red is pretty pro at analyzing abstract concepts. I think she'd have a pretty interesting take.

How about "The Sixth Ranger". They have some overlap with the Mentor and Loner tropes, but usually act as more of a 'Experienced Big Brother' for the members of the main team.

......Straight.......Baiting..... What is this new devilry????

Possibly related trope: No Ontological Inertia

Stray Gods has paths that can go that way

I've seen several different versions of the Heroine's Journey, though. It doesn't have one single clear author.

Pretty much guarantees spoilers for any and every work she'd talk about!

I had the same reaction when I heard/read somewhere that Xander is what he always wanted to be when he was in highschool which doesn't make it any better.

Load-Bearing Boss trope has always annoyed me on some level. The idea of a big thing falling to pieces when the one in charge is removed.

Me too 🙂

Oh I love that idea!

Some years back Blue did a trope talk on The Hero's Journey. I'd really like to see Red's take on The Heroine's Journey- and how the two models compare.

Abzu! I love that game.

I’d like for her to talk about this trope with her comic, Aurora, as the example

That, and the comments Michelle Trachtenberg have made, definitely make the Xander Dawn romance in the comics ickier.

I could see anti witch hysteria as a mix of antisemitism and hating women who speak out. As Red said the dude who wrote the book in hunting witches was a sexist price who hated a woman calling him out in his bad behavior.

Wait really?!

As an an aroace, I love the Villains In Love trope, and suspect that Ted might find it pretty entertaining to talk about, too!

A.k.a. The Final Girl?

Agreed! It seems a little too broad for a trope talk, but doing a bunch of specific stock episodes in a row, maybe with shortened videos, could be fun!

...I feel like this applies to a lot more than Steven Universe, though?

Villains In Love is among my favorite tropes, so I'd love this!

I like how this one is very specific but very broad at the same time - it seems like isn't has just the right balance of that for a Trope Talk!

...I actually had never heard of Xander being a self-insert character for Whedon, but now that you mention it, it does kinda make a lot of sense.

Ooh, this is some very outside-the-box thinking for a Halloween episode, but I think it could be very popular!

"Orphans" in itself seems like it could make for a very interesting trope talk!

My favorite example of this BY FAR is from the movie "Signs", where rhe aliens whose skin burned at the touch of WATER tried to invade EARTH with no protective coverings whatsoever.

I like this one, especially b3cause it gives her a chance to expand on what she already said in her "Superheroes in Empty Worlds" Detail Diatribe!

A trope talk about prophecies would be nice especially focusing on how you know exactly how the story will go but then how the author can still subvert your expectations

Exactly! Honestly I am rather surprised she hasn't done a Trope Talk on it yet. Especially considering her clear adoration for any show with a Found Family at its center. Examples being, She-Ra, Leverage, and I think even Reboot has Found Family elements.

I've been saying for ages that Red should do a Found Family Trope Talk, it seems right up her alley!

The trope where the characters travel inside the human body or some other creature

Good old Queer Baiting (and it's lesser known twin Straight Baiting (yes I'm looking at you the promo material of Brokeback Mountain))

There's the Villain over for Dinner that is kinda fun, mainly because there's a lot of examples from Spidey Villains.

The Determinator is a good trope. Makes me think of that phrase "the devil doesn't know what to do with someone who just won't give up."

You beat me to it! One of my favorites!

"Big guy in a room full of big guys" is a premise that was sort of covered in Red's old "Planet of the Hats" video, but an "Evil Opposites" or "Doppelganger" video which covers adjacent tropes could be interesting!

Found Family? This suggestion is mainly to get you to talk about Leverage some more. Could be fun. Is Personifying Time a Trope? You already did one on Death.

She touched on it in the Macguffins Trope Talk

The beach episode? Is that a trope?

“I’m Jay and this is my Hetero Life Partner Silent Bob!”

How about the “Necessary Evil” character? https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NecessarilyEvil

Chainsaw Good

I forgot that Aeryn's intro did that!

The name for this one is "Samus is a Girl" after the Metroid franchise. It's the whole premise of Blue Eye Samurai, and also happens in the first episode of Farscape with Aeryn Sun (and then the same actress did it again when she appeared on Stargate SG-1).

Could also be Peter Hale from the later seasons of Teen Wolf (or maybe that's fandom, not sure since I didn't actually watch that show)

gender bend/swap episodes and if/how they can be done in a not shit way?

For our honorary Avatar the Last Airbender cameo in trope talks, do you think Bumi’s introduction episode counts towards this trope?

River Song in Doctor Who

Would the werewolf video count as they did touch on the witch trials there.

Also I don’t think Red would be at all comfortable with covering that.

That still touches upon people’s perceptions of a living religion.

Oh! Musicals or musical episodes, bonus points for a convincing argument that Metal Gear Revengeance is a musical!

I know real world Satanism doesn’t do that but there are still plenty of religions that still practice animal sacrifices.

The Rashamon Effect could be fun!

Or they could leave out Satanism and the satanic panic

Oh, I like that angle!

The B Team

Ooh that could get spicy!!

Demon worship as in animal sacrifice isn't a thing. Real world Satanism doesn't do this. Crowley's demonology more had them as fallen angels and to use God's power to make sure they don't misbehave

Red’s Trope Talk on Grim dark touches upon this.

Could play into the Devil thing

Very intriguing!

If no witches, then demons?

I think Red Eyes, Take Warning should be uploaded on June 2025/2026 for no reason whatsoever.

I thought their video on Dracula touched on this

How about Vampires? Lot of different categorizations of Vampires around the world, could be like the Dragon video. Or maybe a video on the evolution of the Devil. When did Lucifer and Satan become the same being? What part did Zoroastrianism play?

Robots yes, but what about giant robots :D? But yeah ig it would be even more niche to cover that

How about Mechs then?

They already did Robots

Witchcraft and demon worship can be chalked up to religious beliefs and they have stated they won’t delve into any ongoing religious practices.

She’s done Cursed Artifacts and Ancient Superweapons

I've read an argument that time travel stories are just prophecy stories in a different font. I don't know that it's universally true, but it's definitely worth exploring.