Your Most Hated Tropes

[YmaOHyd]

Maybe they should mix it up a bit. Have the guy be a mobster, or maybe a secret serial killer. Not that I advocate that, but at least it's different.

Really mix it up. Have the wife be the trained special forces operator.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Having a woman "Hold the Idiot Ball" in order for the plot to happen. The idiot ball is always bad writing, but the review stories I get more often put it in a woman's hands than anyone elses.

Worth a longer explanation.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IdiotBall

 

[gunhilltrain]

Really mix it up. Have the wife be the trained special forces operator.

SPOILER ALERT!

Well, on The Sopranos Janice is - related to a mobster. She kills her husband Richie, but it's not about infidelity. I did laugh when Carmela dumped all of Tony's golf clubs in the driveway where he could run over them. That was over infidelity.

 

[YmaOHyd]

Well, on The Sopranos Janice is - related to a mobster. She kills her husband Richie, but it's not about infidelity. I did laugh when Carmela dumped all of Tony's golf clubs in the driveway where he could run over them. That was over infidelity.

A Loving Wives Mr. and Mrs. Smith where the mobbed-up assassin tries to Burn The Bitch, only to discover she's an assassin too.

 

[gunhilltrain]

The devastating "Martian slut ray" in so many BTB stories in Loving Wives

Seriously? Martians? Death rays? I don't read these things as you might guess. Could be a lot of collateral damage if she goes into hiding. "Come on sweetie, I know you're in there somewhere. Really, I just want to talk this out with you."

 

[xtorch]

Having two women start the narrative by taking off their clothes and examining themselves in the mirror, rhyming off their stats (cup size, height, hair and eye colour) like they're captured POWs in a Stripper Army.

 

[YmaOHyd]

Having two women start the narrative by taking off their clothes and examining themselves in the mirror, rhyming off their stats (cup size, height, hair and eye colour) like they're captured POWs in a Stripper Army.

According to the Porneva Convention, captured POWs are required only to give name, rank, serial number, and bust-waist-hip measurements -- and, in certain uncivilized nations, shoe size.

 

[Bamagan]

That has been used in movies, usually causing grief in the viewers. I can forgive The Wizard of Oz because it's obviously a dream from the beginning. (The same people from her real life show up as characters in the dream world.*) By the way, that is not quite how the novels were written.

P.S.: It's okay to include fantasies, as long as it's clear what they are.

* Except Billie Burke, as Glinda, who seems to have no counterpart in Kansas. Was that edited out of the film maybe?

Yeah, the book came out in 1900 and the movie is almost at the century mark itself. It gets a pass for the idea still being kind of fresh and new at that point, and not the trope it has become. I do prefer the book version though.
As for Glinda, perhaps her 'counterpart' in Kansas is Dorothy's deceased mother. Aunt Em and Uncle Henry have no counterparts in Oz (so far as I can remember), though, so maybe there's no need to look for extra correlations.

 

[Erozetta]

Naivete as a workaround to cheating/making the one cheated on look like an idiot. "My boyfriend didn't know my hot little sister was taking advantage of him, so it's okay that he fucked her and her friends and I just have to accept that's a thing that will happen all the time now."

 

[PapaRomantic]

Seriously? Martians? Death rays? I don't read these things as you might guess. Could be a lot of collateral damage if she goes into hiding. "Come on sweetie, I know you're in there somewhere. Really, I just want to talk this out with you."

You added "death." This is just a slut-making ray.

 

[VallesMarineris]

There's a really good story that has a Boy and a Girl. Boy and Girl are in college, they've overcome a lot to make their relationship work. Boy is offered the chance to achieve his dreams, but it'll mean moving to another city. Rather than go to Girl and say "oh my god babe I get to be what I've always dreamed of, our money problems are over," Boy says nothing to anyone until Girl finds out that he's planning to drop out of school. Boy and Girl hate each other, Boy rushes to the airport to get on Girl's plane, Boy and Girl reconcile and live happily ever after. The only reason this big dramatic twist happens is that one of the characters conceals information they have no reason to hide and every reason to share.

Roger Ebert called stories like this an "idiot plot", and gave the standard definition: a movie has an idiot plot if it would be over in ten minutes if the characters weren't idiots. Movies seem to be especially susceptible to that problem.

 

[YmaOHyd]

Yeah, the book came out in 1900 and the movie is almost at the century mark itself. It gets a pass for the idea still being kind of fresh and new at that point, and not the trope it has become. I do prefer the book version though.
As for Glinda, perhaps her 'counterpart' in Kansas is Dorothy's deceased mother. Aunt Em and Uncle Henry have no counterparts in Oz (so far as I can remember), though, so maybe there's no need to look for extra correlations.

In stage productions of the film script, Auntie Em's actress often plays Glinda.

 

[TheExperimentalist]

Sister accidentally walks in on brother showering/peeing/changing/masturbating/whatever, catches a glimpse of his 12-- no, wait-- let's make it 14-inch cock, and becomes instantly obsessed with it, to the point where she Must Have It Right Now™, and then seduces him from never having thought of her in that way to Must Fuck Her Right Now™ in thirty seconds just by dancing around in a T-shirt or bikini or whatever, with no buildup, exploration of their feelings, or fears over expressing them.

 

[gunhilltrain]

You added "death." This is just a slut-making ray.

You implied that it was a BTB trope. So how does the aggrieved guy get his revenge? How does he undo the slut ray?

More importantly, I guess the Martians are just doing it for fun? See Mars Attacks! Even extraterrestrials have a sense of mischief, I suppose.

 

[PapaRomantic]

You implied that it was a BTB trope. So how does the aggrieved guy get his revenge? How does he undo the slut ray?

More importantly, I guess the Martians are just doing it for fun? See Mars Attacks! Even extraterrestrials have a sense of mischief, I suppose.

It has nothing to do with how he gets his revenge. It has everything to do with why he needs to get revenge. It created the problem in his formerly loving wife to stray for no apparent reason. There's never any mention of what the Martians get out of it. They are just the ones responsible for it.

I didn't make this up. It's been used in comments on some of my LW stories and many other authors as well.

 

[TheLobster]

Sister accidentally walks in on brother showering/peeing/changing/masturbating/whatever, catches a glimpse of his 12-- no, wait-- let's make it 14-inch cock, and becomes instantly obsessed with it, to the point where she Must Have It Right Now™, and then seduces him from never having thought of her in that way to Must Fuck Her Right Now™ in thirty seconds just by dancing around in a T-shirt or bikini or whatever, with no buildup, exploration of their feelings, or fears over expressing them.

Aww, come on! It was only a meager ten inches, and he absolutely did think about her in that way!

 

[WittyUserName]

We’ve all encountered those tropes that make us cringe, groan, or even put a book down. Whether it’s the overused love triangle, the damsel in distress, the overpowered chosen one, or the villain’s endless monologue, some tropes feel like they’ve been done to death. They’ve been used so often they’re almost a punchline.

Which tropes get under your skin the most? No matter the genre, which ones make you lose interest in a story? Let’s hear your least favourites and why they just don’t work for you.

I don't think there are any tropes I really hate. What's truly unique anymore? Whatever idea you have, someone has thought of something at least similar. What you can do is put your unique spin on it, your own insights and experience shaping the story. I think any trope can be done well, even if it is often used.

 

[gunhilltrain]

It has nothing to do with how he gets his revenge. It has everything to do with why he needs to get revenge. It created the problem in his formerly loving wife to stray for no apparent reason. There's never any mention of what the Martians get out of it. They are just the ones responsible for it.

I didn't make this up. It's been used in comments on some of my LW stories and many other authors as well.

I found them on the first search. These two don't have actual Martians, but they do have lawyers. Although these are in Loving Wives, they seem to fit better in Mind Control. The @PiperHamlin story mentioned in the first submission seems to have been removed.

https://classic.literotica.com/s/invention-of-the-slut-ray

https://classic.literotica.com/s/a-martian-slut-ray-really-1

 

[TheExperimentalist]

Aww, come on! It was only a meager ten inches, and he absolutely did think about her in that way!

Uhh... I kinda didn't expect the first reply to my comment to be someone who had actually written a story like that... I uh... sorry. I mean, I guess everyone likes what they like, and that's okay.

I must admit, I didn't hate your story as much as most like it, which is pretty much the most believable compliment I can give you to try to dig myself out of this hole I seem to have created for myself. At least yours is well written and actually descriptive, even if it does... uh... follow what is, in my opinion, an overdone, cliche, and unrealistic trope.

I was just trying to be funny when I posted my comment but, in truth, I agree with WittyUserName that anything can be done well if the person writing it puts their own unique spin on it. You definitely have.

 

[Nynah]

I don't think there are any tropes I really hate. What's truly unique anymore? Whatever idea you have, someone has thought of something at least similar. What you can do is put your unique spin on it, your own insights and experience shaping the story. I think any trope can be done well, even if it is often used.

I think this is where I stand on this topic as well. I'm not going to write something off just because it's the fiftieth iteration of something if it's well-written and I connect with the story.

At the same time, I think a lot of frustration that people have with certain tropes is when they are over-represented, especially on a website that is sectioned off the way Literotica is. Oversaturation of anything is going to cause fatigue which can easily turn into hate, so I can't blame people who are tired of seeing the same thing over and over again.

 

[SimonDoom]

I think this is where I stand on this topic as well. I'm not going to write something off just because it's the fiftieth iteration of something if it's well-written and I connect with the story.

At the same time, I think a lot of frustration that people have with certain tropes is when they are over-represented, especially on a website that is sectioned off the way Literotica is. Oversaturation of anything is going to cause fatigue which can easily turn into hate, so I can't blame people who are tired of seeing the same thing over and over again.

There's no question some things are overdone, but I don't see why it's so vexing for people, because you always have the easy choice to ignore what you don't want to read. There's something for almost every taste. My attitude toward stuff I don't like is more "meh" than hatred.

 

[Nynah]

There's no question some things are overdone, but I don't see why it's so vexing for people, because you always have the easy choice to ignore what you don't want to read. There's something for almost every taste. My attitude toward stuff I don't like is more "meh" than hatred.

This is entirely anecdotal, but I feel like a lot of the vexation comes from trying to filter through all the other dross while trying to find that next piece that is worth reading. I have experienced this before while trying to find a certain type of story. Searching brings up a litany of options and you have to go through each to see if it's worth your time and when 90% of what comes up isn't, it can be frustrating.

Otherwise I agree with you. People simply have the option of not engaging with stories they don't like. Even when filtering through the "bad" stories in my example above, I've never really found something that I absolutely hated (mostly because if I found I didn't vibe with it past the first page, I just didn't read the rest of it).

 

[Bamagan]

There's no question some things are overdone, but I don't see why it's so vexing for people, because you always have the easy choice to ignore what you don't want to read. There's something for almost every taste. My attitude toward stuff I don't like is more "meh" than hatred.

While I also wouldn't go so far as to use the word hatred, or even anger, to describe my own reactions to tiresome tropes, I think it's understandably vexing for some people for a few reasons. A list follows, because I know you like those.

1. Not every story is upfront about what the reader can expect. Some authors, as we know from frequent threads here in the AH, are adamantly opposed to things like forewords, tags, disclaimers, content warnings, and the like. That's their preference, and while I have no wish to revisit that discussion, it can make the 'easy choice' more difficult. Plus, not every author is equally adept at picking tags, titles, blurbs, and so forth, so even when they want to be transparent and upfront about content, stumbles can occur.
2. Not all tropes are obvious from the start. Things like the idiot ball or dream/hallucination may only become apparent once you're well into the story, or even near the end. Something that started out fresh and promising abruptly turns disappointing, and can retroactively sour the entire experience.
3. It becomes a kind of repetitive stress injury, like carpal tunnel or tennis elbow or being told you should smile more. It gets more and more challenging to endure the more it happens, especially when combined with (1) and (2), where the reader is actively trying to avoid things but keeps finding them anyway.

 

[SimonDoom]

While I also wouldn't go so far as to use the word hatred, or even anger, to describe my own reactions to tiresome tropes, I think it's understandably vexing for some people for a few reasons. A list follows, because I know you like those.

1. Not every story is upfront about what the reader can expect. Some authors, as we know from frequent threads here in the AH, are adamantly opposed to things like forewords, tags, disclaimers, content warnings, and the like. That's their preference, and while I have no wish to revisit that discussion, it can make the 'easy choice' more difficult. Plus, not every author is equally adept at picking tags, titles, blurbs, and so forth, so even when they want to be transparent and upfront about content, stumbles can occur.
2. Not all tropes are obvious from the start. Things like the idiot ball or dream/hallucination may only become apparent once you're well into the story, or even near the end. Something that started out fresh and promising abruptly turns disappointing, and can retroactively sour the entire experience.
3. It becomes a kind of repetitive stress injury, like carpal tunnel or tennis elbow or being told you should smile more. It gets more and more challenging to endure the more it happens, especially when combined with (1) and (2), where the reader is actively trying to avoid things but keeps finding them anyway.

I very seldom read stories that surprise me. I guess everyone's experience is different. I almost always feel like I know the tone and nature of the story after having checked out the tags and wading a few paragraphs into it. But I probably also have more tolerance for plot dumbassery than some.

By the way, nice job with the list.

 

[TheLobster]

Uhh... I kinda didn't expect the first reply to my comment to be someone who had actually written a story like that... I uh... sorry. I mean, I guess everyone likes what they like, and that's okay.

I must admit, I didn't hate your story as much as most like it, which is pretty much the most believable compliment I can give you to try to dig myself out of this hole I seem to have created for myself. At least yours is well written and actually descriptive, even if it does... uh... follow what is, in my opinion, an overdone, cliche, and unrealistic trope.

I was just trying to be funny when I posted my comment but, in truth, I agree with WittyUserName that anything can be done well if the person writing it puts their own unique spin on it. You definitely have.

Don't worry, I wasn't offended in the slightest. I try not to take my writing too seriously, and I often like to play with tropes like the one you mentioned.

And of course I'm glad you liked this particular story at least a little bit! I'll try to write more stuff like this in the future