Tara. Adam. Lexa. Dumbledore. Clémentine. Angel. These characters and so, so many more have fallen victim to what is known as the Bury Your Gays trope. The methodology may change— some had violent deaths, some died suddenly, and some died of diseases— but the fundamental message stays the same. GRSM (that is, Gender, Romantic, & [...]
Category: Trope Talk
Trope Talk: Hate-to-Love
When asked about favorite tropes, the one that seems to come to most people’s minds first is the hate-to-love trope. While I love me some good angst, this isn’t a trope that usually makes my list. I think it’s because I don’t always like how it’s handled. Essentially, there’s Good Hate-to-Love and there’s Oh-No-This-Is-Borderline-Abuse Hate-to-Love. [...]
Trope Talk: Strong Female Characters
For those of you who weren’t readers of YA back then, the early 2000s were filled with female protagonists who were bland and defenseless. I’d call them damsels in distress, but damsels usually have more personality. These girls were blank slates. You know, the Bella Swans of the world. An empty void for the reader [...]
Trope Talk: It’s Not You, It’s My Enemies
Picture this: you’re dating a superhero. You two are madly in love and see eye-to-eye on everything. You’d do anything for each other. Then one day a supervillain comes to town that’s a little savvier than your partner’s usual foes. They’re proving hard to beat and your partner is getting worried. You see, this supervillain [...]
Trope Talk: Reluctant Monster
Imagine you’re a monster— vampire, witch, werewolf, it doesn’t matter what. Imagine this is your life, either the only one you’ve ever known or one you’ve lived long enough that’s it’s all you really remember. Imagine the way you’d look at the world, the morals you’d have. They’d probably be a very different set than [...]
Trope Talk: Lost Princess/Queen
One of the most overused tropes in young adult fantasy is the lost princess/queen trope. And yet, no matter how many times I read it, I never get sick of it. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the lasting impression Anastasia, one of my childhood favorites, left on me. Maybe it’s part of that deep [...]
Trope Talk: Morally Gray Characters & Antiheroes
Despite my track record of starting series for this blog and then barely keeping up with them, I’ve decided to start a new one. In this new series, I’m discussing the basis of every story: tropes. A trope, for anyone unfamiliar, is a commonly used theme or device in literature, film, and television. This includes [...]
Strange Storyteller 