Some of My Favorite Tropes

I had a productive morning! I got ready for school to start in about a week, and I also did some good writing. I'm approaching the climax of a novel, so I want to finish that before I start working on those spooky short stories.

(Which are getting better and better in my planning stages, all the same!)

Besides, the climax is always the best part. I've earned this dessert, dang it.

Anyway, because I'm in a good mood, I decided to write a positive post today. I considered writing about one or two of my least favorite tropes that I wish would just die, but I've talked a lot about those and I don't want to use this blog to whine. So today I'm going to name some of my favorite tropes, and why I think I love them so much.

1. Tapping on the fourth wall.

Let me explain this one. "Breaking the fourth wall" is when the writer acknowledges the presence of a reader and that the work is a piece of fiction of some kind. The show is a TV show, not real life, or the book in your hands is a work of fiction. The Muppets do this all the time. So does this guy:

When I say "tapping," it's not a full acknowledgement that there is a reader for the text. It's not a "yes, we know this is fiction and we're going to reference that." It's more a subtle appeal to readers, as readers, like slipping in a tiny reference to another show or book that wouldn't exist in that world. Like naming characters after characters from another franchise, or even very subtly calling out the premise of the piece. ("A show about a dog detective? No one would ever watch that!" in a show about a dog detective, for example.)

Or this:

They're talking about a show inside the show, but Gravity Falls also has a big mystery element. They're talking about both.

Tiny break, tiny crack in the fourth wall. But nothing super obvious. I love these because if you catch them, you get the joke, but you don't need to catch them to get the joke.

2. Implied backstories.

These are when the backstory of a character or situation isn't stated, but implied with words like "again," "one time," "like before." And we either get the whole implication, or we get enough and are dying to hear the full story, though we don't need to.

Like, there's a strange scene where the protagonist walks in one someone fingerpainting with their toes while eating lemon meringue pie, wearing a ball gown, and singing along to Taylor Swift. And they say, "Really? Again?"

Which implies this whole thing happened before. As weird and singular as you think it would be.

Or, "You shot me."

"One time!"

This is comedy gold to me. But used well, it can establish some good character development through implied backstory that can help readers understand the relationships between characters or past situations. Like this:

Person crying into ice cream, holding a picture of a past love interest.
Protag: *gently* "Really? Again?"

Not a great example, but there you go. I love implied backstories.

3. The Bad Guy really blew it, but didn't know it until the end.

This makes me so happy. Every. Dang. Time.

This is when the climax comes and the good guys go to fight the bad guy and apparently get smashed in combat (of physical or mental nature). The Big Bad is gloating, all hope is lost, the heroes are defeated...or maybe that's just what they wanted the Bad Guy to think.

A trope heavy in heist shows like Ocean's 11 and Leverage, this works best when it's been supported and foreshadowed the whole story and no one saw it coming. I love the reversal when the Bad Guy has to go from gloating to, "wait, what?" in a heartbeat, as the heroes get to give the closing monologue and tell them how they missed some key detail that let the heroes' plan come together.

Because you think the villain is supposed to give that monologue, but the heroes do, you see? You see the joke?

And it's clever. And I love me some clever writing and clever characters.

A good example of this is actually in the Harry Potter series, right at the end. Who is the master of the Elder Wand? Why, Harry is, not Voldemort, even after all the effort Voldy put into finding it.

Hohoho, I love it! This may be my favorite trope of all.

Anyway, there we go. Three of my favorite tropes. What are some of yours?