![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
January Meme: (Some) Favourite Tropes
Jan. 4th, 2020 10:29 amIt all depends, of course, on the execution. I.e. none of these tropes might work for me if they're used in a way that at least to me feels wrong/clumsy/badly done, which can be a real turn-off to the overall story, and conversely, I might overlook a great deal of flaws in the overall narrative if the tropes I favour are done in a way that really works for me
With this caveat, and some illustrations, here are a few favourites:
1.) Enemies to friends (and/or lovers). Obviously, with me being a Londo/G'Kar fan. But this needs to be done right. To wit: the reasons for the original hostility have to be real ones, not just comic misunderstandings (that's another trope, and I'm okay with that one as well, but it's not what I'm aiming at here). Also, while it's possible that one party is more in the wrong than the other one (definitely the case here; while G'Kar has his own shadiness and ill deeds in s1, the Centauri are the ones occupying and enslaving other people), I prefer it if neither of them is entirely wrong or right all the time. And once they have become friends - or lovers, or both - it shouldn't magically solve all problems between them, or entirely change who they used to be.
2) Loyalty combined with retaining your own perspective. Not sure there's a shorthand phrase for this; what I mean isn't "my country/cause/person to be loyal to, right or wrong". Another B5 example comes to mind, to wit: Vir. Who loves Londo, and definitely cares a great deal for his people, the Centauri. He still entirely disagrees with Centauri politics for the majority of the show, and with most of Londo's decisions from the s1 finale to the start of s4. Vir's solution to this isn't to call it quits with Londo or to just stand by; he argues with Londo and post-refused apology to G'Kar starts the whole Narn rescue operation, but he also is there for Londo when Londo needs him either emotionally or for a good cause (i.e. anti Cartagia conspiracy).
(As an example for the trope I don't> mean - what we call "Nibelungentreue" in German, named after everyone rather dying - and have all their entourage die who don't have a choice - than hand over Hagen in the last third of the Nibelulngenlied. Sure, everyone's a jerk in the Nibelungenlied, but the reason why Kriemhild wants Hagen handed over is a valid one - he did murder her husband.) (Mind you, in the Nibelungenlied, this is a feature, not a bug. No one is the good guy there, intentionally so.)
To use another, more recent example: Philip and Elizabeth in The Americans are intensely loyal to each other through most of the show, but in the last season, there comes a point where ( something spoilery happens ) That's also the kind of loyalty I'm talking about.
3) Unlikely Friends. Can be because they're from very different backgrounds, or because they have very different tempers/ideas/life goals, and yet, there is something that not just draws them together but keeps them together. Not to be confused with enemies turning friends; it's a trope of its own. Various Doctor and Companion combinations. Seven of Nine and Naomi Wildman. Boswell and Dr. Johnson in real life.
4.) Complicated family relationships. These can be dysfunctional or just somewhat on the stressed side, but it's one of the easier tropes to get wrong (for me, as always, mileage will vary), because if it's so toxic and dysfunctional that I can't see what the family members get out of it that's positive, not even, say, intellectual sparring on each other's level, or the occasional moment of understanding that's not possible with anyone else, then it's not a favored trope, it's a major turn-off. (Case in point: Bill and Lee Adama post s2 of BSG.) But if done well, I'm really into it.
5.) Temporary alliance against a common foe. Can go with one of the other tropes or stand on its own as a one time thing. But it's often very enjoyable, especially if the writers manage to neither forget why these people usually fight each other, not someone else, nor neglet to let them discover things about each other that they otherwise wouldn't have, so it also comes with character development. (American Gothic's episode where everyone gets taken hostage in the hospital is a good case in point.) (And of course Delgado!Master specialized in this, i.e. he usually showed up in tandem with some other villain he thought he could control, other villain gets out of hand, Master and Doctor had to team up but backstabbing once the immediate threat was past was always given.
6.) Villains in love. With each other, that is, not with the hero(ine). (Not that I'm against the later, if well done, but it's a different trope.) My golden standard here are still Lucretia and Batiatus from Spartacus. Neither of them gets anywhere near redemption through their love for each other, and it doesn't change the fact they're both awful people in a myriad of ways, but it's real, compelling and oddly endearing nonetheless.
7.) Worthy Opponents. Can come with "we used to be friends" a la Magneto and Xavier or between people who never were friends (nor will they ever become friends) but nonetheless learn to respect each other's abilities (see this year's Yuletide story about Maria Theresia and Friedrich II). Both parties need to be competent at what they do for this to work for me, of course, and not self deluded about their own skills.
The other days
With this caveat, and some illustrations, here are a few favourites:
1.) Enemies to friends (and/or lovers). Obviously, with me being a Londo/G'Kar fan. But this needs to be done right. To wit: the reasons for the original hostility have to be real ones, not just comic misunderstandings (that's another trope, and I'm okay with that one as well, but it's not what I'm aiming at here). Also, while it's possible that one party is more in the wrong than the other one (definitely the case here; while G'Kar has his own shadiness and ill deeds in s1, the Centauri are the ones occupying and enslaving other people), I prefer it if neither of them is entirely wrong or right all the time. And once they have become friends - or lovers, or both - it shouldn't magically solve all problems between them, or entirely change who they used to be.
2) Loyalty combined with retaining your own perspective. Not sure there's a shorthand phrase for this; what I mean isn't "my country/cause/person to be loyal to, right or wrong". Another B5 example comes to mind, to wit: Vir. Who loves Londo, and definitely cares a great deal for his people, the Centauri. He still entirely disagrees with Centauri politics for the majority of the show, and with most of Londo's decisions from the s1 finale to the start of s4. Vir's solution to this isn't to call it quits with Londo or to just stand by; he argues with Londo and post-refused apology to G'Kar starts the whole Narn rescue operation, but he also is there for Londo when Londo needs him either emotionally or for a good cause (i.e. anti Cartagia conspiracy).
(As an example for the trope I don't> mean - what we call "Nibelungentreue" in German, named after everyone rather dying - and have all their entourage die who don't have a choice - than hand over Hagen in the last third of the Nibelulngenlied. Sure, everyone's a jerk in the Nibelungenlied, but the reason why Kriemhild wants Hagen handed over is a valid one - he did murder her husband.) (Mind you, in the Nibelungenlied, this is a feature, not a bug. No one is the good guy there, intentionally so.)
To use another, more recent example: Philip and Elizabeth in The Americans are intensely loyal to each other through most of the show, but in the last season, there comes a point where ( something spoilery happens ) That's also the kind of loyalty I'm talking about.
3) Unlikely Friends. Can be because they're from very different backgrounds, or because they have very different tempers/ideas/life goals, and yet, there is something that not just draws them together but keeps them together. Not to be confused with enemies turning friends; it's a trope of its own. Various Doctor and Companion combinations. Seven of Nine and Naomi Wildman. Boswell and Dr. Johnson in real life.
4.) Complicated family relationships. These can be dysfunctional or just somewhat on the stressed side, but it's one of the easier tropes to get wrong (for me, as always, mileage will vary), because if it's so toxic and dysfunctional that I can't see what the family members get out of it that's positive, not even, say, intellectual sparring on each other's level, or the occasional moment of understanding that's not possible with anyone else, then it's not a favored trope, it's a major turn-off. (Case in point: Bill and Lee Adama post s2 of BSG.) But if done well, I'm really into it.
5.) Temporary alliance against a common foe. Can go with one of the other tropes or stand on its own as a one time thing. But it's often very enjoyable, especially if the writers manage to neither forget why these people usually fight each other, not someone else, nor neglet to let them discover things about each other that they otherwise wouldn't have, so it also comes with character development. (American Gothic's episode where everyone gets taken hostage in the hospital is a good case in point.) (And of course Delgado!Master specialized in this, i.e. he usually showed up in tandem with some other villain he thought he could control, other villain gets out of hand, Master and Doctor had to team up but backstabbing once the immediate threat was past was always given.
6.) Villains in love. With each other, that is, not with the hero(ine). (Not that I'm against the later, if well done, but it's a different trope.) My golden standard here are still Lucretia and Batiatus from Spartacus. Neither of them gets anywhere near redemption through their love for each other, and it doesn't change the fact they're both awful people in a myriad of ways, but it's real, compelling and oddly endearing nonetheless.
7.) Worthy Opponents. Can come with "we used to be friends" a la Magneto and Xavier or between people who never were friends (nor will they ever become friends) but nonetheless learn to respect each other's abilities (see this year's Yuletide story about Maria Theresia and Friedrich II). Both parties need to be competent at what they do for this to work for me, of course, and not self deluded about their own skills.
The other days
Tags:
