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Last time we covered tropes we hated! This time we're talking about clichés we actually like. It's quite a bit trickier because clichés are clichés ...

So often, the story doesn't simply have one plot, but many.

There's the A plot, the one that's the main conflict or problem that needs solving. Then there's the B plot, where secondary but still-important issues and problems are being addressed. And often there can even ...

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Tantz explains why she really hates a bunch of tropes that are super commonly used in things, stuff like very obvious plot armour for the protagonist so ...

So maybe the verb ‘hate’ is excessive, but there are some tropes that can really throw me off a story. Or perhaps, what throws me is the way they are used. I firmly believe that any trope can be part of a solid, enjoyable story, even the ones I hate ...

When I was growing up in the 80s, stories that were marketed as ‘children’s' were occasionally brutal.

Characters got maimed or killed, tortured or traumatized, met with horrid ends in worlds that were anything but rosy. And this was a pattern that wasn't limited to, say, English literature ...

Normally in stories there is the hero vs the villain or the protagonist vs the antagonist. As the audience, we generally expect to root for the hero or the protagonist and hope for the villain's or antagonist's comeuppance.

But there come those times when we find ourselves rooting ...

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There seemed to be a lull for a while after the 1990s and the massive sequel craze of the 80s, but nowadays we're back in full ...

Star Trek: A Piece of the Action

So this could be considered Part Three of my loose-knit series on science fiction: The Distorted Society.

This is a sci-fi convention where there is an Earth…or another planet, at least somewhat Earth-like, that has some aspect of society that is a ...

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Why aren't there more prettyboy bad-ass characters? Pretty girl bad-asses too! This character type is often a hall-mark of Japanese and Korean fiction more than anything ...

So you have uploaded your latest page, and it's one of your best.

The story is at a point where the suspense is cranking up to eleven. The plot thickens. Everyone wonders what is going to happen next…

…and then that one fan GETS IT RIGHT. Right there in ...