Thursday Tropes: Week 28
Jul. 29th, 2021 10:02 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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1_million_wordsIt's been a minute, hasn't it? Well, we're back...and maybe slightly different?
This time around...A. FULL. YEAR. OF. TROPES!
Some Thursdays will have 2 tropes, some will have 3, but I think the majority will have 1 that's really popular.
Descriptions will be pulled from TV Tropes and a link provided if you want more information.
The rules? They're simple. Write at least 250 words or create 2 icons/1 banner. Anything from suggestive to outright porn is allowed.
Since I completely missed last Thursday, this week there are 4 tropes!
Obviously Evil: A villain who is thoroughly convinced that their actions are mundane, acceptable or helpful, to the extent that the idea that their actions have negative consequences doesn't even occur to them. These villains aren't justifying their wrongdoings. They aren't compelled by unnatural forces. They just don't comprehend that they're doing anything wrong.
......
There are two basic requirements for a character to be this trope:
1. They are effective. The character is quite capable of causing tyranny, tragedy, chaos, wanton destruction, etc. Contrast the Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain and the Minion with an F in Evil, who represent relatively minor threats to the protagonists.
2. They have no idea that they're doing anything objectionable. In their eyes, their actions are either good or simply harmless. Even if they recognize that something is wrong, they won't realize that they are the problem. For example, a Sex Is Evil, and I Am Horny character might sexually assault women and feel as if he's their victim.
Spared But Not Forgiven: Different stories have different takes on Forgiveness. In some works, forgiving wrongdoers is always a good thing and tropes such as Revenge Is Not Justice, Vengeance Feels Empty, and He Who Fights Monsters are in full effect, while in others, revenge will not only be justified, but also necessary for emotional closure. There is also some grey area, as evidenced by tropes such as Restrained Revenge, Reformed, but Not Tamed or Forgiven, but Not Forgotten.
Odd Job Gods: It is good to be a god, isn't it? You can rule whatever you want inside your area of expertise, spend all day floating around the clouds or hang around with your followers. As long as people believe in you, everything is fine...
As cool as it is to be patron saint of soldiers, the god of thunder or the demonic representation of lust, not everyone in the Celestial Bureaucracy can be bosses. Some mythologies decide to tie up the loose ends and lump in minor responsibilities with the major, producing gods with an oddly erratic remit.
That is when the Odd Job Gods start to act.
Sometimes averted by giving your existing gods additional domains, though that way you end up with gods of, say, mountains, earthquakes, and apples. Also, while most of these domains may seem unimpressive when taken at face value (and sometimes are painted as the divine equivalent of What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?), it could be highly symbolic or more complex. Regardless of the complexities of their powers, it still would not be a good idea to tease them about it. A Modernized God may become one of these as its influence extends far beyond the original myths. Not to be confused with, though sometimes goes with, God Job. See also Painting the Frost on Windows and Magical Underpinnings of Reality.
And...in "honor" of me having surgery tomorrow
Self-Surgery: A character for one reason or another can't go to a hospital, or even get another character to help, so he treats his own injuries. An oft-seen version of this trope (to establish the badass credentials of a character) involves sewing the injury up, with or without the use of anesthetic. He may also Heal It with Fire.
This is often one of the most mercilessly indiscreet kinds of scenes when it comes to gore, as it almost never hesitates to show you the grueling process of the surgery in gruesome detail up close. Seeing a character have a limb blown off in a quick, sudden fashion can be startling to viewers, but the sight of a needle slowly burying itself underneath the skin is downright torturous to watch, especially if it involves the crook of one's elbow or knee being penetrated in some way. note
May involve We Have to Get the Bullet Out (but Suck Out the Poison will be pretty tricky if it's anywhere above the knee/elbow) or Life-or-Limb Decision. If the character isn't medically trained, it's probably an example of Worst Aid. If he is, it's a particularly extreme example of One of Our Own. In a common variant, the character isn't alone, but is the only one with the skills and/or knowledge to perform surgery, so he is forced to instruct other characters on how to do it. Occasionally, the injured characters' companions are too squeamish to manage even this, and the character must do Self-Surgery despite their presence.
Also an example of Adult Fear; it's a reasonably common nightmare. This scene is also a good chance to show that a character Feels No Pain.
Compare After-Action Patch-Up, when someone else does the first aid; and Meatgrinder Surgery, which covers the general case of treatment with limited skills and resources. See also Back-Alley Doctor for those unwilling to do this trope but still unable to go to a legitimate hospital. Contrast Afraid of Needles.
See also Pulling Himself Together, for a character who can meld body parts back together without medical intervention, and DIY Dentistry when it comes to teeth.
This time around...A. FULL. YEAR. OF. TROPES!
Some Thursdays will have 2 tropes, some will have 3, but I think the majority will have 1 that's really popular.
Descriptions will be pulled from TV Tropes and a link provided if you want more information.
The rules? They're simple. Write at least 250 words or create 2 icons/1 banner. Anything from suggestive to outright porn is allowed.
Since I completely missed last Thursday, this week there are 4 tropes!
Obviously Evil: A villain who is thoroughly convinced that their actions are mundane, acceptable or helpful, to the extent that the idea that their actions have negative consequences doesn't even occur to them. These villains aren't justifying their wrongdoings. They aren't compelled by unnatural forces. They just don't comprehend that they're doing anything wrong.
......
There are two basic requirements for a character to be this trope:
1. They are effective. The character is quite capable of causing tyranny, tragedy, chaos, wanton destruction, etc. Contrast the Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain and the Minion with an F in Evil, who represent relatively minor threats to the protagonists.
2. They have no idea that they're doing anything objectionable. In their eyes, their actions are either good or simply harmless. Even if they recognize that something is wrong, they won't realize that they are the problem. For example, a Sex Is Evil, and I Am Horny character might sexually assault women and feel as if he's their victim.
Spared But Not Forgiven: Different stories have different takes on Forgiveness. In some works, forgiving wrongdoers is always a good thing and tropes such as Revenge Is Not Justice, Vengeance Feels Empty, and He Who Fights Monsters are in full effect, while in others, revenge will not only be justified, but also necessary for emotional closure. There is also some grey area, as evidenced by tropes such as Restrained Revenge, Reformed, but Not Tamed or Forgiven, but Not Forgotten.
Odd Job Gods: It is good to be a god, isn't it? You can rule whatever you want inside your area of expertise, spend all day floating around the clouds or hang around with your followers. As long as people believe in you, everything is fine...
As cool as it is to be patron saint of soldiers, the god of thunder or the demonic representation of lust, not everyone in the Celestial Bureaucracy can be bosses. Some mythologies decide to tie up the loose ends and lump in minor responsibilities with the major, producing gods with an oddly erratic remit.
That is when the Odd Job Gods start to act.
Sometimes averted by giving your existing gods additional domains, though that way you end up with gods of, say, mountains, earthquakes, and apples. Also, while most of these domains may seem unimpressive when taken at face value (and sometimes are painted as the divine equivalent of What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?), it could be highly symbolic or more complex. Regardless of the complexities of their powers, it still would not be a good idea to tease them about it. A Modernized God may become one of these as its influence extends far beyond the original myths. Not to be confused with, though sometimes goes with, God Job. See also Painting the Frost on Windows and Magical Underpinnings of Reality.
And...in "honor" of me having surgery tomorrow
Self-Surgery: A character for one reason or another can't go to a hospital, or even get another character to help, so he treats his own injuries. An oft-seen version of this trope (to establish the badass credentials of a character) involves sewing the injury up, with or without the use of anesthetic. He may also Heal It with Fire.
This is often one of the most mercilessly indiscreet kinds of scenes when it comes to gore, as it almost never hesitates to show you the grueling process of the surgery in gruesome detail up close. Seeing a character have a limb blown off in a quick, sudden fashion can be startling to viewers, but the sight of a needle slowly burying itself underneath the skin is downright torturous to watch, especially if it involves the crook of one's elbow or knee being penetrated in some way. note
May involve We Have to Get the Bullet Out (but Suck Out the Poison will be pretty tricky if it's anywhere above the knee/elbow) or Life-or-Limb Decision. If the character isn't medically trained, it's probably an example of Worst Aid. If he is, it's a particularly extreme example of One of Our Own. In a common variant, the character isn't alone, but is the only one with the skills and/or knowledge to perform surgery, so he is forced to instruct other characters on how to do it. Occasionally, the injured characters' companions are too squeamish to manage even this, and the character must do Self-Surgery despite their presence.
Also an example of Adult Fear; it's a reasonably common nightmare. This scene is also a good chance to show that a character Feels No Pain.
Compare After-Action Patch-Up, when someone else does the first aid; and Meatgrinder Surgery, which covers the general case of treatment with limited skills and resources. See also Back-Alley Doctor for those unwilling to do this trope but still unable to go to a legitimate hospital. Contrast Afraid of Needles.
See also Pulling Himself Together, for a character who can meld body parts back together without medical intervention, and DIY Dentistry when it comes to teeth.
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