(The sound of a pen scratching.) LOGO.
Hellooo everybody! I have big news! Big!
HUGE! That's what she said... The Savior's Sister audiobook is finally here! BUY IT! The
Savior's Sister is my number one best-selling dark fantasy romance novel! It is a companion
to my number one best-selling novel The Savior's Champion, which was rated one of the best books of
all time by Book Depository, I'm just sayin'... And now you can listen to Leila's story as an
audiobook, and you totally should, 'cause it's amazing! My narrator Emma Tigan did a PHENOMENAL
job! I cannot say enough amazing things about her! Thank you Emma so, SO much! Honestly,
working with Emma was a dream! She was fantastic! She's SO talented, she was so easy to work with,
and she brought Leila's story to life! The link to the TSS audiobook is listed in the description
below! And even better, if you're new to audiobooks, you can listen to The Savior's Sister
for free on Audible! I am also hosting a giveaway! As a thank you for checking out the TSS audiobook,
one lucky winner is going to be walking away with a signed copy of TSS! The giveaway entry
form is in the description below! All you have to do is provide proof of purchase for the TSS
audiobook and you're good to go! Redeeming free credits to listen to the TSS audiobook
ABSOLUTELY counts, so you can enter this giveaway without paying a dime. If you listen to the TSS
audiobook for free, you can enter. If you use your credits, you can enter. It's all good,
so long as you get that audiobook! Pick up a copy of the audiobook, enter the giveaway, and you will
get to listen to an adventurous, romantic tale, AND you might be winning a prize! On to the topic!
Today, I am listing 10 adored, beloved tropes that I DESPISE. I hate them! I am 100% in the minority,
here. I know people LOVE these tropes! You probably love them, too! But I don't like 'em,
and I'm gonna tell you why! A couple disclaimers: I am a human being with evolving tastes, so I
reserve the right to change my mind. Additionally, there are always exceptions to the rule. Just
because a trope is on my list doesn't mean I hate every incarnation of it. But generally speaking,
these tropes grind my gears, and since this is my channel I reserve the right to bitch about it.
Before we get started, a friendly reminder to subscribe to my channel and ring that bell! I post
videos on Wednesdays where I talk about writing and reading, and writerly things, and reading things,
and I bitch about writerly, readerly things that I hate. It's lovely! I'm a ray of sunshine! Number
One (1): The gravelly voiced, dead inside hero. This hero is everyone's favorite,
so much so that we see him over and over and over again... They're always the main character. They
always talk like they smoke a pack of cigarettes a day. They always have some trauma from their
past that turns them into an emotionless husk of a man who saves the day and gets laid along the way.
I don't have an issue with the existence of this character, I just don't want to follow him as the
protagonist. It's not interesting to follow a man who can't emote or only has one facial expression.
Brooding! Stink face! Big boy pouting! I just shit my pants! Can he be a side character? Fuck, I did
that with Orion. I want to follow a character who actually grows and develops. I want to follow a
character who can be kind, or funny, or hell, have a personality at all! Number Two (2): Bad boy,
good girl. I don't have a problem with the idea of the bad boy and good girl pairing.
I just have a problem with the way it's usually executed. I love a 'bad character' who's a rebel
or an edgelord, and a 'good character' who is smart and compassionate. But this is almost
NEVER how the trope is executed. The bad boy is always an asshole chauvinist. The good girl
is always an insecure dishrag. Can we maybe see layers in this trope? It has so much potential!
Why are we going with the gross power imbalance of a predator and prey? A bad boy who defies societal
standards and marches to the beat of his own drum could be sexy. A 'bad boy' who gaslights his
love interest is trash. Throw the whole book away! I read to get away from men like that,
so please stop putting them in fiction...thank you. Number Three (3): Flashbacks. I'm sure
they have a time and a place, but I cannot think of a single book I've read where a
flashback brought any value to the story. I'm not talking about time skips or non-linear writing.
I mean when the story itself is halted so we get to see a brief memory from long ago. It fucks up
the flow, it's jarring and displacing, and there is almost always a better option. Why didn't you
just create a prologue? That way we're not yanked out of the story to relive a memory we're not even
interested in in that moment. A conversation between characters where they're discussing
that memory could easily do the same job without yanking the readers out of the specific scene.
This shit just ain't for me. Use a non-linear format or a prologue. It works WAY better!
Number Four (4): The 'historically accurate' fantasy world...that isn't actually historically accurate,
but that's beside the point. This 'fantasy world' features an all-white cast, 90% of which is
male. The remaining female cast, of course, is subjugated and sexually assaulted, because that
is 'historically accurate' to the fictional land this author completely made up. We get long info
dumps about climate and farming and other shit no one REMOTELY cares about and everything is dreary
and gray. Would it kill you to make a world with some color? What kills me is the neckbeard who
wrote this story is clearly trying to replicate medieval Europe, but then proudly proclaims they
spent 10 years building this world. How did it take you 10 years to copy a history book,
and then not even copy it right? The most exciting facet of fantasy is that you can do literally
ANYTHING you want, and you chose to regurgitate the same tired setting and characters that every
incel before you has already beaten into the ground. Congratulations on your complete and utter
lack of originality and creativity! Number Five (5): The mentor. People love the mentor, and I get
it! They're paternal or maternal and they bring the warm, fuzzy feelings...in you, not me. Mentors
have never done much for me. I can think of one, maybe two, that I've enjoyed in any form of media.
The reasons for this are one, they almost always follow the same formula. The mentor teaches the
character how to become the hero they need to be. We get long training montages and deep bonding,
and pretty soon they're more than a mentor. They're like family! The parent that character
never had. And that's when they tragically die! It's just the same story over and over again
and I'm bored with it! The second reason is I just can't relate to a main character with a mentor.
I never had that kind of relationship. No one taught me how to achieve my goals. I
had to figure it out on my own! So when a main character is blessed with a mentor, it distances
me from that character's story. I can't relate. In fact, I feel like the character has it too easy.
Obviously, this is a personal thing, but I would much rather watch a main character figure shit out
on their own and succeed. That's the kind of story that would inspire me. Number Six (6): Ownership
romance. I don't know what else to call this. I've heard it referred to as bonded or mated romance,
but that doesn't feel very accurate... You can be bonded or mated without all the,
'I own you,' rhetoric. This trope is very popular in multi-genre romance and it usually revolves
around one love interest owning the other love interest for sexual reasons. So a sex slave?
That's...hot. People love this trope because of the power play. One person is dominant,
the other is submissive. You can play with a dom and sub role without adding slavery to the mix!
And if you must add slavery to the mix, at least make it consensual. This story always ends up with
the sex slave falling in love with their master and I can't get into it. I'm sorry, it makes me
uncomfortable. Your horrible story has affected me in the following ways! Number Seven (7): The
secret baby. Secret love child, secret twin, secret father, secret any blood relative at all.
I rebuke it! Anytime a series reveals a secret family member, I assume it's time to pack it in.
The author is running out of ideas and they're relying on soap opera plot points to keep the
motor running. I'm singling out the secret baby trope because this particular trope has gotten SO
popular that authors are STARTING with it in their book series as opposed to relying on it as a last
resort. Writers, why you leading with the secret baby? It's just not clever or interesting. Plus,
babies kinda suck. All they do is cry and shit. How you gonna make that a compelling plot point?
Number Eight (8): The villain's point of view. I can only think of one book I've read where reading
the villain's point of view improved the overall quality of the story. Usually the villain's point
of view is there to show the readers the depth of their motivation. I understand that lots of
people got shit for brains, but some of us don't need a whole other point of view to
understand a bad guy's motivation. Power, greed, corruption, entitlement, and ego have been very
common motivators throughout all of history. We also don't need every single villain to have a
tragic past. In fact, a lot of villains throughout history had pretty easy lives...and that's what
made them such garbage people. Hardship breeds empathy! Not EVERY villain needs to be damaged.
We usually don't need to see their sad childhood or deep emotional scars. I know you think it adds
layers to the character, but for me it just makes 'em less believable to the story. It's also kinda
boring. Number Nine (9): Best friends to lovers. Friends to lovers can be tolerable,
but best friends to lovers–particularly best friends who have known each other for years–
fucking sucks! Reason Number 1: One of the best parts of a fictional romance is the meet cute.
We don't get a meet cute because we don't get to see them meet! They've known each other
since they were in diapers. Reason Number 2: If they've known each other for years,
why are they only starting to date NOW? We either get the, "Gee, I never saw them in this light,"
angle, which is honestly kind of offensive. WHY did you never see them in this light?
Let me guess. Did they suddenly get hot, you shallow piece of shit? Or the writer goes with,
"They've loved each other for years but never acted on it...for reasons." And the reasons are
always trash, like, "They're scared of rejection." In ten years you couldn't grow a spine? "They didn't
want to ruin the friendship." Is it even a real friendship if you're just fapping every time
they leave the room? Or the best one of all, "They would have pursued a romance, but their best friend
was dating other people." So the object of your affection is busy fucking someone else and you
didn't take that as an answer? If they wanted to fuck you, they'd be fucking you. I just can't with
this trope. It's not romantic at all! Make it make sense! And Number Ten (10): The redemption arc.
Everyone goes nuts whenever I mention this, because it is one of the most on-trend tropes
right now. "You hate redemption arcs? What about Zuko!" Look, I'm not saying I hate ALL
redemption arcs. I don't hate all of anything on this list, except maybe ownership romance–that's
pretty gross any way you slice it. But redemption arcs have become so popular that villains are
getting redeemed even after they've done things that are irredeemable. Why ya trying to
make me sympathize with a rapist? I don't wanna root for a dude who committed genocide! Look,
I'm a simple bitch. I just wanna see bad guys fall off a cliff! So that's all I got for you today!
Were any of your favorites on this list? If so, I'm sorry.
(Mouths: "I'm not sorry...")
If you hate any of these tropes, please comment below! Misery loves company! Be sure to check out
The Savior's Sister, my number one best-selling dark fantasy romance which is available in
audiobook RIGHT NOW! I have it linked below! Check it out! If you are brand new to Audible, you can
listen to TSS for free! And I also have a giveaway going on! Everyone who checks out the audiobook
and enters the giveaway will be in the running to receive a signed copy of TSS! Check out the
audiobook, enter the giveaway, yeah! Don't forget to subscribe to my channel! I post new videos on
Wednesdays, and if you want to be alerted as SOON as I upload, ring that bell! And be sure
to follow me on social media! I'm on Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook–and of course, you can tweet
me @JennaMoreci! Bye!
(Lighthearted Female Voice) It's me, Pippa! Have you subscribed to Jenna's channel yet?
Oh, you must! It's so much fun! She talks about writing and heroism and romance...and sometimes
she says very naughty words. But I rather enjoy it! Subscribe to her channel, and ring the bell!