This isn't necessarily for roleplay, but can be mentioned if you want. Mostly for games, anime, and such.
For me, I honestly like the damsel in distress trope. You see it so little nowadays-not there's anything wrong with a strong independent female lead- that it kinda makes miss the trope and wanna see more of it.
Plus I just think seeing the hero save the girl is adorable and I love it.
Any other unpopular tropes out there?
For me, I honestly like the damsel in distress trope. You see it so little nowadays-not there's anything wrong with a strong independent female lead- that it kinda makes miss the trope and wanna see more of it.
Plus I just think seeing the hero save the girl is adorable and I love it.
Any other unpopular tropes out there?
The girl doesn't know she's beautiful, the guy falls in love with her and helps her realize it.
It's another one that doesn't get used a lot because we don't want a girl's positive self-image to come from someone else, we want it to come from themselves...
....but...
It's sweet. Can go with the shy girl/confident guy troupe.
Also the person who won't let their guard down finally letting someone in.
It's another one that doesn't get used a lot because we don't want a girl's positive self-image to come from someone else, we want it to come from themselves...
....but...
It's sweet. Can go with the shy girl/confident guy troupe.
Also the person who won't let their guard down finally letting someone in.
The tough girl whose prickly as a cactus but secretly has a sensitive heart of gold. I eat that crap up every time no matter the setting.
Selkieborn wrote:
The tough girl whose prickly as a cactus but secretly has a sensitive heart of gold. I eat that crap up every time no matter the setting.
This is the majority of the female characters I write. I love it equally as much in male characters though.
I also love male versions of the damsel in distress.
I'm a big fan of prickly big brutes who secretly have an obsession with something adorable and delicate.
Selkieborn wrote:
The tough girl whose prickly as a cactus but secretly has a sensitive heart of gold. I eat that crap up every time no matter the setting.
Selkie, meet Neriah.
This is similar to what PrettySir said but for some reason I actually really like the damsel in distress trope but only if the damsel is actually super tough and doesn't think she needs help. Doesn't matter if she's getting saved by a guy or girl or love interest or not, just so long as she's in trouble and can't get out and it teaches her that she does actually need people after all. Not that this needs to be a woman. Could work for big tough guys too.
I like the trope of 'kids speak truth and see what adults don't.' Like, okay, no, there's no way that five year old that you only spoke to twice knows how madly in love with her mom you've fallen on all those dates she totally wasn't around for, but of course she knows. Of course she does. Get your **** together man. Even the five year old has got you figured out.
God help me but I love the whole 'girl gets pregnant but either doesn't know or doesn't want the guy to feel like she's trying to trap him into a relationship so she leaves and he has to track her down and confront her' trope. I know that's a long one but it tears my heart out every time no matter how many times I've seen/read it.
Villains monologuing or laughing maniacally. Just...unh. Yes. Take my money.
I like the trope of 'kids speak truth and see what adults don't.' Like, okay, no, there's no way that five year old that you only spoke to twice knows how madly in love with her mom you've fallen on all those dates she totally wasn't around for, but of course she knows. Of course she does. Get your **** together man. Even the five year old has got you figured out.
God help me but I love the whole 'girl gets pregnant but either doesn't know or doesn't want the guy to feel like she's trying to trap him into a relationship so she leaves and he has to track her down and confront her' trope. I know that's a long one but it tears my heart out every time no matter how many times I've seen/read it.
Villains monologuing or laughing maniacally. Just...unh. Yes. Take my money.
Edgelords. Love them to death in roleplay. IRL it depends but I still love them I'm general.
Forced relationships that bloom into something real. I love it when people start out hating each other and then end up in love or being best friends. It's even better if one of them is a villain in a story.
I'm also a sucker for over powered characters. I love it when the heroes struggle and even fail.
School based romances. Unpopular girl falls for the popular boy or popular boy falls for the unpopular girl (kdramas are perfect for this).
I love emotional trauma too. A character experiencing heart ache to the point they snap mentally or become a new person to hide their pain.
The strong, silent type of men who are 'secretly' looking for the love of their life.
That's a few to name at least.
Forced relationships that bloom into something real. I love it when people start out hating each other and then end up in love or being best friends. It's even better if one of them is a villain in a story.
I'm also a sucker for over powered characters. I love it when the heroes struggle and even fail.
School based romances. Unpopular girl falls for the popular boy or popular boy falls for the unpopular girl (kdramas are perfect for this).
I love emotional trauma too. A character experiencing heart ache to the point they snap mentally or become a new person to hide their pain.
The strong, silent type of men who are 'secretly' looking for the love of their life.
That's a few to name at least.
Call me old-fashioned, but I also like the damsel in distress kind of thing--as long as we keep in mind that being in distress doesn't mean the character has to take it lying down. Sure, the woman (or man, or child, really anyone physically weaker than their captor or otherwise unlikely to win in a direct confrontation) may not be the best or strongest fighter, but they can find other ways of resisting--trying to sneak out when an opportunity presents itself, perhaps arrange to leave a clue behind in the form of a small piece of clothing 'accidently' torn from their clothing or a note, or sabotage the villain's efforts in some small way by throwing a wrench into their doomsday machine or throwing doubts into the minds of his or her underlings and perhaps inducing a heel-face turn at just the right moment.
Really, there's so many ways to do a damsel in distress that doesn't automatically make the character a helpless dead weight only waiting to be rescued and nothing else--so many I couldn't possibly name them all.
Really, there's so many ways to do a damsel in distress that doesn't automatically make the character a helpless dead weight only waiting to be rescued and nothing else--so many I couldn't possibly name them all.
Dndmama wrote:
Selkieborn wrote:
The tough girl whose prickly as a cactus but secretly has a sensitive heart of gold. I eat that crap up every time no matter the setting.
Selkie, meet Neriah.
She looks like a total bad ass 😃
Subtleknifewielder wrote:
Call me old-fashioned, but I also like the damsel in distress kind of thing--as long as we keep in mind that being in distress doesn't mean the character has to take it lying down. Sure, the woman (or man, or child, really anyone physically weaker than their captor or otherwise unlikely to win in a direct confrontation) may not be the best or strongest fighter, but they can find other ways of resisting--trying to sneak out when an opportunity presents itself, perhaps arrange to leave a clue behind in the form of a small piece of clothing 'accidently' torn from their clothing or a note, or sabotage the villain's efforts in some small way by throwing a wrench into their doomsday machine or throwing doubts into the minds of his or her underlings and perhaps inducing a heel-face turn at just the right moment.
Really, there's so many ways to do a damsel in distress that doesn't automatically make the character a helpless dead weight only waiting to be rescued and nothing else--so many I couldn't possibly name them all.
Really, there's so many ways to do a damsel in distress that doesn't automatically make the character a helpless dead weight only waiting to be rescued and nothing else--so many I couldn't possibly name them all.
My favorite of that genre tends to be the beauty and the beast storyline. Or like 1001 nights(Arabian Nights)
Dndmama wrote:
This is similar to what PrettySir said but for some reason I actually really like the damsel in distress trope but only if the damsel is actually super tough and doesn't think she needs help. Doesn't matter if she's getting saved by a guy or girl or love interest or not, just so long as she's in trouble and can't get out and it teaches her that she does actually need people after all. Not that this needs to be a woman. Could work for big tough guys too.
I like the trope of 'kids speak truth and see what adults don't.' Like, okay, no, there's no way that five year old that you only spoke to twice knows how madly in love with her mom you've fallen on all those dates she totally wasn't around for, but of course she knows. Of course she does. Get your **** together man. Even the five year old has got you figured out.
Villains monologuing or laughing maniacally. Just...unh. Yes. Take my money.
I like the trope of 'kids speak truth and see what adults don't.' Like, okay, no, there's no way that five year old that you only spoke to twice knows how madly in love with her mom you've fallen on all those dates she totally wasn't around for, but of course she knows. Of course she does. Get your **** together man. Even the five year old has got you figured out.
Villains monologuing or laughing maniacally. Just...unh. Yes. Take my money.
A million times to ALL of these too. There are so many good dang tropes.
Selkieborn wrote:
Subtleknifewielder wrote:
Call me old-fashioned, but I also like the damsel in distress kind of thing--as long as we keep in mind that being in distress doesn't mean the character has to take it lying down. Sure, the woman (or man, or child, really anyone physically weaker than their captor or otherwise unlikely to win in a direct confrontation) may not be the best or strongest fighter, but they can find other ways of resisting--trying to sneak out when an opportunity presents itself, perhaps arrange to leave a clue behind in the form of a small piece of clothing 'accidently' torn from their clothing or a note, or sabotage the villain's efforts in some small way by throwing a wrench into their doomsday machine or throwing doubts into the minds of his or her underlings and perhaps inducing a heel-face turn at just the right moment.
Really, there's so many ways to do a damsel in distress that doesn't automatically make the character a helpless dead weight only waiting to be rescued and nothing else--so many I couldn't possibly name them all.
Really, there's so many ways to do a damsel in distress that doesn't automatically make the character a helpless dead weight only waiting to be rescued and nothing else--so many I couldn't possibly name them all.
My favorite of that genre tends to be the beauty and the beast storyline. Or like 1001 nights(Arabian Nights)
Bloody love the combo of a somewhat nerdy and shy person and a more social, outgoing one.
Caveat here is that the nerdy one has to be played by someone who knows what pro-active means, since I've seen too many of those characters become downright boring because someone just seems to mentally go shy==extremely passive.
Caveat here is that the nerdy one has to be played by someone who knows what pro-active means, since I've seen too many of those characters become downright boring because someone just seems to mentally go shy==extremely passive.
PrettySir wrote:
Selkieborn wrote:
The tough girl whose prickly as a cactus but secretly has a sensitive heart of gold. I eat that crap up every time no matter the setting.
This is the majority of the female characters I write. I love it equally as much in male characters though.
I also love male versions of the damsel in distress.
I'm a big fan of prickly big brutes who secretly have an obsession with something adorable and delicate.
PrettySir wrote:
Selkieborn wrote:
The tough girl whose prickly as a cactus but secretly has a sensitive heart of gold. I eat that crap up every time no matter the setting.
This is the majority of the female characters I write. I love it equally as much in male characters though.
I also love male versions of the damsel in distress.
I'm a big fan of prickly big brutes who secretly have an obsession with something adorable and delicate.
Yes, I agree so much with both of these.
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