Website / Springhole

Springhole.net is a website for writing and roleplaying tips, created by Syera Miktayee. It mainly consists of articles, quizzes, and random generators aimed at both fanfiction and original fiction writers. There are also pages on topics such as psychology, logical fallacies, socially conscious writing, character design, and an alternate universe called SoulMettle^note formerly Above and Beyond and a setting called Iris Halo.

Please note that since Syera occasionally tweaks or rewrites xir old articles, not everything listed here may be up-to-date.

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Springhole provides examples of:

A-M

• Abomination Accusation Attack: In What Writers Need To Know About Predatory People:
  • Predators will not hesitate to do this to innocent people in order to gain or increase their status, to get some amusement, or just for the sake of it.
  • Syera advises against mislabeling people as predators just for having occasional or superficial similarities with one, as it can lead to the accused being unfairly ostracized, harassed and targeted, either by well-meaning but ignorant vigilantes or actual predators.
• After the End: The article So You Want An Apocalypse/Cataclysm In Your Plot? addresses the different apocalyptic scenarios and the problems apparent with them, as well as recommendations for developing these kinds of scenarios well.
• Air-Vent Passageway: Syera points out in their article about how to improve Marvel roleplays and fanfics that trying to sneak through the air vents is never a good idea. Most vents aren't big enough to crawl through, it makes a ton of noise, and you're as good as dead if the heat turns on.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Syera explains that this is not the case in the article Things Guys Need To Know About Straight Romances, pointing out that it's confidence women are attracted to, not jerkassery. The reason self-proclaimed "nice guys" are deemed unattractive is because they're spineless, pathetic and lacking in life goals.
• All-Natural Snake Oil: In the article Why New Age Spirituality Is Creepier Than You Thought, it's noted that the belief in "natural" remedies as a cure for all illnesses held and pushed by New Age believers was also pushed by Joseph Goebbels of all people, deriding actual medicine as a Jewish ploy despite knowing full well that such beliefs were a load of crock.
• All Take and No Give: Syera mentions this trope in What Writers Need To Know About Predatory People. These types of people are always expecting others to do emotional labor for them and think they can repay the favor with sex, physical gifts if they bother to pay back at all.
• Alpha and Beta Wolves: In the article Common Werewolf Tropes You Should Think Twice Before Using, guest writer Alexis Feynman points out that the "alpha/omega" dynamic is based on outdated science, as normal wolf packs act a lot like families.
• And That's Terrible: Syera calls these "rightitudes" and states only arrogant and tryhard people say things along the lines of this trope.
• Animate Inanimate Object: The author notes that in some fairytales, "everything is sentient, up to and including inanimate objects like pins and needles. What's more, they might attack you."
• invokedAnti-Climax Boss: Discouraged. Syera notes that if one's villains are supposed to be super-dangerous, they must show it, or else it's going to break the audience's Willing Suspension of Disbelief.
• invokedAnvilicious: In-Universe. The article Writing Better Stories With Morals & Messages advises to avoid making one's story all about the message in the detriment of everything else; Syera points out that people consume media to watch a good story, not to be preached at unless they already agree with the message. And even that can backfire if you go so heavy-handed with the message that you end up doing more harm to your cause than good.
• Anti-Villain:
  • Deconstructed in No, Thanos Was Not Justified. Syera argues that regardless of his intentions, what Thanos did during Avengers: Infinity War was pointlessly cruel and wouldn't even be effective in the long run. In addition, there were alternatives that wouldn't have traumatized half the universe.
  • Reconstructed in How To Write Sympathetic Antagonists Without Endorsing Or Excusing Their Actions, & Without Making Your Protagonists Seem Heartless. Syera advises making the heroes acknowledge how awful the villain's tragic backstory is, or that the villain has good intentions with their plan. But the characters must also point out that neither gives the villain free reign to hurt people.
• Arch-Enemy: Syera has an article on how to write arch-nemesis characters.
• Artistic License – Biology: Some articles are designed to prevent this trope.
  • One is about things writers need to know about plants.
  • One is about things writers need to know about birth and babies.
  • The article on Alexandria's Genesis brings up that the condition was invented for a fanfiction, which the author has since acknowledged wasn't a good fanfic. The same post goes into detail about why the phenomenon can't exist in real life.
• Artistic License – Religion: One article is about tropes inspired by Christianity that aren't in the Bible. This includes Satan ruling Hell, how angels and demons are often visualized, and humans becoming angels after death.
• Asian Store-Owner: In Tips for Writing and Maintaining a Horror Atmosphere, guest writer Alexis Feynman points out that a shop lady in Chinatown would have more important things to do than punishing obnoxious teenagers for being obnoxious.
• invokedAss Pull: In "How To Evoke Audience Reaction & Keep Things Interesting Without Being Cheap Or Manipulative", Syera derides this as a manipulative tactic if it's used to make a story unpredictable. Xe argues that just because a story in unpredictable doesn't mean it's better; done poorly, this kind of plot twist will make your story seem incomprehensible or turn off your audience.
• As the Good Book Says...: One myth about doomsday believers listed on the article Myths People Believe About Doomsday Believers is "Just read the Bible, it clearly says..."
• Atlantis:
  • Syera has first mentioned and criticized belief in Atlantis in xir article Addressing Claims Of Alien Theorists & Believers, in which xe points out that if Atlantis, along with Lemuria and Mu, existed for real, then there should be substantial archeological evidence.
  • The article What's The Deal With Atlantis? (And Why It Definitely Never Existed) specifically covers this kind of belief, and how it was used to advance racist causes.
• Author Tract: Can fall into this from time to time. Syera gives writing advice while also bashing things that xe doesn't like, mostly around the treatment of LGBT+ and neurodivergent characters.
• Baby Talk: Syera mentions that predators who try to look like loving parents or at least caring individuals tend to speak to people younger than them (especially teens) like this.
• Back from the Dead:
  • In an old version of Keeping Magic From "Taking Over" Your Story, Syera notes bringing people back from the dead as a hypothetical example of something magic cannot do right.
  • In "List of Fairytale Tropes and Cliches", one of them is coming back from the dead.
• Backhanded Apology:
  • In an article on how to apologize, Syera calls this type of apology a "fauxpology" and advises not to do these.
  • In the article about predators, xe notes that predators are masters of this trope.
• Barbaric Bully: Syera lists this type of bully under "volatile bullying" and points out that it's just one of four types of bullying.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: In a list of fairytale tropes, the author points out how in fairytales, the good guys are described as pretty and all the ones described as ugly are evil.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: The article Ways Female Characters Are (Still) Badly Written criticises how women are never allowed to be gross and disgusting, having to be unrealistically clean, pretty and well-mannered at all times. Syera says you probably won't see a woman look roughed up after a fight, wake up with bed hair and bleary eyes, or get chip crumbs all over her face.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Syera strongly discourages having important figures in human history being involved with secret supernatural entities or concepts. Xe argues that it takes away credit from humans to do such things, and assumes normal humans are incapable of doing great things without the help of the supernatural or aliens.
• Being Evil Sucks: In How To Keep People From Admiring & Idealizing Your Villains, Syera advises to show that one's villainous organization is not to be admired. One way xe says to do this is making it clear nobody is really having fun in the evil organization by making the villains consistently bored, scared, or morally conflicted.
• Believing Their Own Lies: Syera notes that some brainwashers do genuinely believe what they're telling to their victims.
• Birds of a Feather: Syera notes that two people who have the exact same traits or interests as one another wouldn't be that attracted to each other. A Real Life example would be because one half of the couple is forcing the other half to be like them or because one half is trying too hard to please the other half.
• Black-and-White Insanity: Syera notes that predators and moral abusers maintain a hardline Black-and-White Morality to justify and get away with their actions.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality/Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad: In the article about predatory people, Syera mentions that predators may pick extremely bizarre or even heinous causes to champion in order to make themselves look good.
• Boring, but Practical: When talking about gadgets and weapons, Syera emphasizes that simple designs without frivolous decorations or extra settings tend to work better than their fancier counterparts.
• Brainwashed: One article talks about how real-life brainwashing works.
• Bring My Brown Pants: One blunder writers are said by Syera to make when writing children is children being fearless in situations where adults would "wet their pants in terror".
• Broken Bird:
  • In the article on how to evoke audience reaction, Syera calls it the "1D-Woobie Warrior", an always female character who has been wronged in the past and seeks vengeance.
  • Xe also notes that if she has a mental illness, it will be treated as something magical and mysterious, as if she was some sort of faerie-like creature, her mind too incomprehensible to grasp. Syera calls it out as it's a dehumanizing portrayal of mentally ill people.
  • In the same page, it's noted that this character has a shill, an always male character who doesn't only serve as her mentor, father figure or love interests but as a mouthpiece for the author, as he will deride anyone who disagrees with or calls out this character as wrong and heartless, even if she wronged and killed innocent people herself.
  • Syera derides it as manipulative because the premise of this tactic requires this character to be victimized for the sake of manipulating the audience into hating someone or something, which is reminiscent of propaganda that claims "we have to fight the Other or they will kidnap or violate the women".
• The Bully: The article Advice & Tips On Creating & Writing Bullies gives advice on how to write bullies. Other articles involve how to avoid characters seeming like bullies.
• Bury Your Gays: Criticized in 7 MORE Offensive Mistakes Well-Intentioned Writers Make (archive here). It’s stated the trope implies that the only way LGBT+ people can deal with the bigotry surrounding them is to die.
• Came Back Wrong: The creator lists "coming back in a monstrous form" as a possible reason why magic cannot bring people back from the dead in an article meant to help writers prevent their stories from being taken over by magic.
• Can't Argue with Elves: Discouraged in a post on elitism. It says that portraying "higher" beings (such as eleves) as always being right or more noble than humans is likely to make those characters come off as pretentious jerks.
• Can't Take Criticism: Syera points out that abusers and predators can't take criticism.
• Care-Bear Stare: In "How To Redeem A Villain," Syera refers to this trope as "love radiation" while noting xir problems with redeeming characters by "soulwashing" them, arguing that it's a lot less satisfying than actual Character Development on top of feeling contrived or cheesy. Moreover, xe notes that depending on how it's done, it may come off as Heel–Face Brainwashing or Death of Personality depending on how it's done.
• Character Death: Discussed in lots of articles, and is the main point in the articles Things About Death, Dying & Murder Writers Need to Know, Tips & Advice on Killing Main Characters and The Worst & Most Frustrating Ways to Kill Off Main Characters.
• Character Shilling: In How To Evoke Audience Reaction & Keep Things Interesting Without Being Cheap Or Manipulative, Syera points out that the "1-D Woobie Warrior" is always accompanied by a shill, who is often a male character who doesn't only serve as her mentor/father/love interest, but also as a mouthpiece for the author by defending this character from whoever calls her out.
• The Chessmaster: In Plotting, Conniving, & Manipulating - What It Isn't, And What It Is, Syera points out the misconceptions about conniving and plotting that would make classic villains' plans fail if applied realistically. Moreover, xe informs that a successful conniver or plotter doesn't make obvious and absurdly long script-like plans, but adapts to whatever is happening at the moment should the variables change and then act accordingly with whatever resources are at hand.
• Christmas Episode: One article is about overused Christmas tropes the author hates.
• Chuunibyou: Syera addresses people who are this as "edgy tryhards" and has an article about reasons why some characters act like this.
• Cliché: Some plot devices are thought to be cliches by the author and some articles are on how to avoid cliches.
• Clueless Aesop: Criticized in Writing Better Stories With Morals & Messages. It’s noted portraying something like drinking a small amount of alcohol as a slippery slope will not convince many people who drink and remain functioning members of society. It will more likely backfire because the audience will think the author doesn’t know what they're talking about.
  You can’t give a message that’s supposed to apply to the real world that doesn’t actually fit the real world, let alone the diversity and complexity of the people in it, because the only people who will ultimately benefit from it are the people who live in your imaginary black-and-white world.
• Commander Contrarian: In How To Recognize A Moral Abuser, Syera urges survivors to resist the urge to adopt worldviews completely opposite to those of the moral abusers without examining what makes them wrong, as these types of abusers make a point of weaponizing the truth for their self-serving ends.
• The Complainer Is Always Wrong: Syera calls it the "Designated Wrong Person" and advises not to write a character for the purpose of being wrong all the time.
• Complexity Addiction: Discouraged. Syera points out that extremely complicated plans are more likely to fail, as the variables of a given situation change at every second. To show someone is a good schemer, xe argues that it's better to have someone who can roll with the punches and adapt their plans as needed in the moment.
• Computer Equals Monitor: In the article Things About Computers & Hacking Writers Need To Know, Syera addresses this common misconception, even pointing out that the computer will still run if just the screen is destroyed.
• Conspiracy Theorist: In-Universe. Syera points out the damage done by conspiracy theories in xir most recent articles. In the alien-focused spirituality part of Sketchy Spiritualities & Shady Pseudohistories: What People Need To Know, Syera notes that all conspiracy theories are inextricably linked with antisemitism, since these either begin as antisemitism or are eventually tied into it.
• Control Freak: Syera has an article to differentiate the voice of reason from this trope. Other articles state that predators and abusers are this.
• Cool, Clear Water: In Tips To Write Better & More Believable Cover-Ups, Syera notes this trope is part of the reason BP was able to successfully avoid too much of a scandal after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. With the water looking clear, it’s enough for most tourists to think it’s safe.
• The Coup: The article A Few Things To Know When Writing Rebellions & Coups has advice on how to realistically write such events.
• Crocodile Tears: In What Writers Need To Know About Predatory People Syera writes a case about a hypothetical predator breaking down in tears and blaming their victim, to give an example of how they use DARVO ("deny, attack, and reverse victim and offender" — a method abusers use to control their victims by painting the victim as the bad guy).
• Cult: One article is about writing cults more realistically, talking about how cults form, the mentality of the members, and the tactics used by cult leaders in order to maintain control over their followers.
• Cute and Psycho: Syera strongly discourages the use of this trope when it comes to writing mentally ill and insane characters, as xe notes it'll make mental illness look pretty.
• Cutting the Knot: In "Common Heroic Narratives We Should Question", Syera points out that those who use this type of approach on anything regardless if there are other nonviolent options available are more prone to do sloppy work since these types of people choose to ignore the complex realities that make a brute-force approach a bad idea.
• Damsel in Distress: In Simple Tips to Avoid Making Your Character A Damsel In Distress, Syera has advice on how to avoid or at least, subvert this trope.
• Dancing Bear: In-Universe. In Why Stories About Dragons SUCK, Syera complains most stories with dragons use them as gimmicks to distract from the bad writing.
• Death of a Child: On a list of fairytale tropes, one of them is murdering children and eating them.
• Dehumanization: Syera explains their own examples of this trope in their article on creepy characters and situations.
• The Diaper Change: The author mentions changing diapers as a negative aspect of baby-rearing in their article on birth and babies.
• invokedDie for Our Ship: In the article Tips To End Canon Ships More Believably, Syera points out the flaws inherent in the three instances of this trope:
  • Vilifying the other half of the canon pairing by turning them into an abusive monster or an invokedoutright villain will only end up in a story that's too over the top to be believed and put off fans of the vilified character from the get-go. Xe points out that there are many other, simpler reasons to end the canon ship other than this, such as incompatibility.
  • Killing the other half the author dislikes will make them look like a petty, spiteful person, especially if the disliked character's death is shrugged off and the surviving half is hooked up right away with the author's half of their OTP. Xe points out that the only people who shrug off their significant other's death and immediately hook up with another person are sociopaths.
  • Retconning the canon ship as meaningless and devoid of attachment to the fan's favorite half of their OTP will realistically imply that the one who derided it as meaningless is a sociopath who, in a more realistic scenario, will also ditch the other half of the OTP as soon as they're bored with them and decides to hook up with someone else.
• Disabled Means Helpless: Syera encourages letting mentally ill characters take care of themselves more in the article On Writing Mentally Ill And Insane Characters, pointing out that it's insulting to depict them as completely dependent on others.
• invokedDistress Ball: In Simple Tips to Avoid Making Your Character A Damsel In Distress, Syera advises to avoid contrived threats and mountains of improbably high events to put a character in danger.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Syera points in the article Things Guys Need to Know about Straight Romances, that for a "Nice Guy", "being nice" is all what they are. No dreams, no aspirations, and if they do have these, they don't have the guts to follow them.
• invokedDraco in Leather Pants: Syera has an article about how to keep people from idealizing villains. Namely, if you don't want to invoke Evil Is Cool, you should say that Being Evil Sucks by showing how miserable, afraid, or just plain bored that the villains are as a way to avoid making them cooler than the heroes.
• Dreaming of a White Christmas: The author dislikes this trope due to thinking it's insulting to those below the equator or where it doesn't snow.
• Drugs Are Bad: In an article on writing better stories with morals, it’s noted that badly written anti-drug messages tend to ignore the reasons people become addicts in real life, which ends up being ineffective.
• Easily Forgiven: Syera criticizes this trope in Changing Alignments, Allegiances & Loyalties More Believably. Xe points out that this trope misses the fact that the forgiven characters might change allegiances just to undermine the side they just defected to.
• Easy Evangelism: Averted. More than one post has said getting people to change their worldviews and deeply held beliefs isn’t a quick or easy process. It’s also mentioned that people often are invested in believing what they’re doing is right, and will avoid admitting they’ve wasted time and energy or hurt people.
• Eldritch Abomination: In How to Make Your "Incomprehensible" Beings More Comprehensible - And Why You Need To, Syera thinks that trying to depict such a creature as something beyond human imagination and understanding is insulting the audience's intelligence; they advise new writers to take note of any possible motives and reasons of why their eldritch monster acts like that and how it works.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: Syera points out that if the villains come from diverse backgrounds, races, and genders while the heroes are all white, cisgender, abled and straight, the viewers will see the former as good guys who suffered bigotry from the side of the "heroes" while the latter will be seen as bigots and elitists who caused the story's conflict in the first place, thus making the villains unintentionally appealing.
• Everybody Hates Hades: Brought up and subverted in Common Misconceptions About Old Mythologies & Religions. It's stated that many underworld gods (including Hades himself) weren't particularly evil.
• invokedEveryone Is Jesus in Purgatory: In-Universe. Syera mentions this trope in an article about how not to get so worked up with symbolism in one's work.
• invokedEveryone Is Satan in Hell: Syera addresses conspiracy theorists' beliefs in Satanic conspiracies, as well as the inherent flaws on them in the article What Conspiracy Theorists and Bad "Psychics" Have In Common.
• Everything Is Online: Syera points out that despite what popular entertainment has depicted, hacking into a government's nuclear missile launch is impossible due to these sequences using systems completely based on hardware rather than software.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Syera notes that predatory people almost always think that other people are as much as sadistic, bloodthirsty, ruthless, and coldhearted as they are and any kindness, compassion, and love they possibly have is just a lie.
• invokedEvil Is Cool: The article How To Keep People From Idealizing Your Villains, is specifically directed to avoid this reaction. Also, it is mentioned that part of the reason people admire villains is because in general, fictional villainous groups or factions seemingly offer freedom while a real-life counterpart would be the opposite in real life.
• Evil Is One Big, Happy Family: In the article above, Syera points out that villainous groups offer freedom and power to everyone when their Real Life counterparts do the opposite of this, working almost like a cult.
• Evil Is Petty: Syera called it "2Evil4U!!" syndrome. Xe points out the fact that many young writers exaggerate the evil actions of a villain or a villainous organization that they end up writing cartoonishly, over-the-top characters that try too hard.
• Excessive Mourning: In Tips and Advice on Killing Main Characters, Syera comments this trope is used to show the bereaved's loyalty for the deceased went far beyond anyone else's, while in real life, it's a sign that the bereaved is really bad at coping or had a mental illness that was exacerbated by the loss, and that it's not weak nor an act of disloyalty to the deceased to seek help to recover from the loss.
• Face–Heel Turn: In Changing Alignments, Allegiances And Loyalties More Believably, Syera suggests having a hero that later becomes a villain subtly become meaner.
  • How Good People And Well-Intentioned Groups Can Go Bad lists ways heroic characters can slowly become bad people.
• Fad Super: In an article on making better superhero costumes, Syera discourages basing it on a fad or trend.
• The Fake Cutie: Syera mentions that a predator trying too hard to be cute will use childish gestures, such as pouting, whining, or even talking in a childish vocabulary.
• Fan Fic: Some of the articles are specifically about fanfiction.
• Fan Fic Fuel: Some of the generators are this, one of them solely dedicated to Loki as the protagonist.
• Fantastic Racism: Discussed in Things in Speculative Fiction That Would Be Unforgivably Offensive If Only Everyone Was Human. It talks about how a lot of fantasy species are treated as subservient to humans or are clearly written in a way that establishes humanity as the default.
• Flawless Token: This is one problematic trope Syera criticises in Ways Female Characters Are (Still) Badly Written. Xe notes that female characters are rarely allowed to have flaws or weaknesses, and if they do, the flaws lack consequences/are framed as virtues.
• Foe Romance Subtext:
  • Discussed in an article about arch-nemeses. It’s noted people tend to assume two enemies obsessed with each other must be attracted to each other, and this can lead to romantic subtext being shoehorned into places it doesn’t belong. Syera then offers some suggestions for avoiding this trope.
  • Later in the same article, a villain swearing eternal vengeance after the hero messes up their plans once is compared to declaring eternal love for someone on the first date, i.e. not really believable.
• invokedFollow the Leader:
  • The Trouble with Imitation in Fiction addresses the problem with trying to imitate popular or at least favorite works.
  • In "6 Christmas Special Tropes That Need To DIE", Syera writes about the attempts to recapture Rankin-Bass' (sic) glory days.
• For the Evulz: In an article on how to improve one's villains, Syera discourages having one's villains do evil because it's evil, as no real person would think like that.
• Foreign Queasine: In Common Ways Fiction Trivializes and Others People, Syera writes about focusing on "gross" foods to show the people eating them are disgusting or "weird", pointing that this is how Chinese people are demonized.
• Forgotten Phlebotinum: The author doesn't really appreciate this trope and sometimes tries to help writers keep track of items to avoid forgetting them.
• Funetik Aksent: In 7 Offensive Mistakes Well-Intentioned Writers Make, Syera discourages this because it's patronising to the group whose accent is being written, as well as difficult to read.
• Future Spandex: In the feasibility part of Tips To Write & Create Better & More Believable Futures, Syera points out that the pocketless jumpsuit and clothes like it featured in older science fiction works would make little sense from an actual practical perspective.
• Gaslighting: Syera has an article on how to recognize gaslighting, and notes that predatory people and cults do this.
• Genocide Dilemma: Syera calls this the "Dalek Genocide Paradox" in Writing Fantastic People and Creatures Without Unfortunate Implications. Xe advises against creating such a situation, since it validates bigots by implying that some groups are inherently hostile, and that to tolerate intolerance is to take the moral high ground.
• Gift-Giving Gaffe: Syera notes that when predators give gifts, they usually mean them as a personal jab to the recipient, giving a deodorant bar to imply the recipient smells bad, as an example.
• invokedGlurge: The article Tips To Identify Hoaxes, Urban Legends, & Scaremongering specializes in debunking this type of misinformation.
• God: Discussed in the article "Things That Show Up In Christianity-Inspired Fiction That Aren't In the Bible".
• God Save Us from the Queen!: In a list of common fairytale tropes, Syera calls evil queens a "cliche".
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil:
  • In the article about predatory people, Syera says that in their quest to heal predators, normal people (even psychologists and psychiatrists) often refuse to acknowledge that some people are just irredeemable monsters.
  • To top it off, predators will take advantage of people with this mindset to have their way by framing themselves as victims.
• Grand Romantic Gesture: In the article A Few Things Guys Need To Know About Writing Straight Romances, Syera points out that this type of behavior will only get the guys a restraining order if it was pulled in Real Life. And in the case it does work, it'd be because the gal felt guilt-tripped or had a sense of obligation for the guy.
• Gullible Lemmings: In the systemic comprehension part of Common Heroic Tropes We Should Question, Syera points out the flawed depiction of systems lead to writing the people who run it as mindless drones by setting up a villainous organization whose members are 100% devoted and will do anything the boss tells them, where no one has dissenting opinions, doubts, questions or is there for the paycheck, as an example.
• Gypsy Curse: In Tips for Writing and Maintaining a Horror Atmosphere, guest writer Alexis Feynman points that even if this trope was possible in Real Life, a group of extremely poor (and often ailing) nomads like the Romani wouldn't waste precious magical energy on punishing a White Male Lead for being kind of a jerk to them.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Syera often talks about how easily-irked people should not have certain jobs (e.g. being a servant).
• Happiness Is Mandatory:
  • "Why New Age Spirituality Even Is Creepier Than You Thought": In the victim blaming section, Syera notes that New Agers encourage people to repress their pain and trauma with toxic positivity and push them into forgiving their abusers.
  • "Common Problems In Christmas Stories": Syera criticizes this trope regarding Christmas stories, stating that if a good Christmas is "unflinchingly merry and bright," then there's no space for grief. Moreover, xe also states that using "Christmas spirit" as an emotional painkiller or balm is a form of spiritual bypassing, which will harm both the one doing the bypassing and everyone else affected once the former can't take it anymore.
• Happy Ending: In the article on fairytale myths, one myth is that all old fairytales don't have happy endings.
• Heel–Face Turn: In "Changing Alignments, Allegiances And Loyalties More Believably," Syera suggests having a villain the author plans to redeem show small indications that they find certain evil actions to be overboard or pointlessly cruel.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Syera discusses the impracticality of leather outfits when it comes to sneaking around or blend with the shadows.
• Hijacked by Jesus: Discussed In-Universe in the article A Beginner's Guide To Spotting Cranky Websites & Culty Groups, Syera notes that these types casually impose a modern Western worldview on ancient mythology and folklore, by assuming every single mythology in existence shared their Black-and-White Morality over thousands of years, even depicting said mythological figures into a "Jesus versus Satan" paradigm.
• Hitler Ate Sugar: One of the hypothetical examples for the Association Fallacy is a boy wanting to go vegetarian but his mother pointing out that Hitler was a vegetarian.
• Hive Mind: In "Common Heroic Narratives We Should Question", Syera points out how this trope was used in hateful propaganda to depict anything considered "other" or "foreign" (be it women, neurodivergent people, non-white people, and even people with progressive ideologies) as "too incomprehensible" to know.
• Hollywood Hacking: The article Things About Computers & Hacking Writers Need To Know gives tips on how to depict hacking realistically, averting this trope.
• I Am a Humanitarian: Eating children is mentioned to be a fairytale cliche.
• Idiot Ball: Syera says that a character making an inexplicably dumb choice is very frustrating if they end up dying because of it.
• I Just Want to Be Badass: Reasons Your RP Characters Might Look Like Edgy Tryhards describes that edgy tryhard characters emulate people they consider badass to the point of losing their own identities.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: The article Why "Purity" Is An Overrated Character Trait deconstructs the traits associated with "pure" characters and explores the downsides of said traits.
• Inelegant Blubbering: Syera points out that crying people in real life will not be especially pretty, and that this trope has more emotional impact than "pretty" crying.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Syera notes that many predators hate themselves so much that they make people just as or more miserable than them.
• Inferred Holocaust: Invoked; in Common Plotholes In Vampire Fiction, xe notes the number of bodies vampires often leave in their wake should attract more attention.
• Insane Equals Violent: Syera hates this trope. They even noted this trope is not true.
  • Xe pointed out that even if someone is insane, that alone doesn’t constitute a motive. One cited example is a real life case of a man shooting a politician because he hated the government and held a particular grudge against his victim.
• Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Criticized in one article on offensive tropes (which calls it condescending) and another on sketchy spiritualities.
  It’s often been noted that the alleged signs of being an indigo child or starseed are very much in line with those of autism and ADHD. And as someone who has both, I find the idea that my sole purpose in life is to help the rest of the world get its act together so it can spiritually ascend to be highly offensive. I’m a human being. I have physical and mental disabilities. I have physical, psychological, and emotional needs that this society is not set up to meet. It shouldn’t be my job to make the rest of the world get its act together. I am not your sparkly space messiah.
• Jerkass: Mean characters are mentioned in several articles, along with subtropes. Syera actually uses this word in one article.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: One article is about how to write "lovable jerks".
• Joker Immunity: In the article on how to write arch-nemesis characters, Syera deconstructs this trope by stating that a superhero who refuses to kill off a dangerous supervillain because the former can't function without the latter isn't qualified to stay a superhero, as the "hero" will end up risking many innocent lives to keep said arch-nemesis alive.
• Kick the Dog: In and old rewrite of Basic Tips To Write Better & More Despicable Villains, Syera advises to have one's villains do something awful to someone or something the viewers care about.
• Kid-Appeal Character: In the article On Writing More Likable and Useful Sidekicks, Syera advises against using this character type as a sidekick in an otherwise mature story to gain a younger audience.
• Kill the Cutie: The creator of the site mentions that killing off cute and/or chipper characters to show how grim the story is is frustrating.
• Klingon Promotion: Deconstructed in A Few Things About Writing Rebellions And Coups, Syera points out that killing the tyrannical leader is not as useful as a strategy as fiction depicts it. At best, a power vacuum is created and many people fight over the throne, causing years of civil unrest. At worst, the regime has a succession plan for these cases and puts whoever is next in line in the throne, rendering the effort meaningless.
• The Klutz: Xe mentions that FBI agents shouldn't be clumsy.
• Lack of Empathy: Syera notes in an article about how to write creepy characters and situations, that empathy/sympathy failure can make a character creepy.
• The Lancer: The article On Writing Likeable & Useful Sidekicks is about how to write sidekicks well.
• Leave No Witnesses: In the article about writing believable cover-ups and masquerades, Syera points out that this would be a bad idea for a secret organization to do, as this trope often fails to address that the witnesses in question have families and friends that will do anything to bring their killers/kidnappers to justice, and that mysterious disappearances out of nowhere will not be ignored in real life (at least if the victim is from a privileged majority).
• Logical Fallacies: In-Universe. The site has a section dedicated to cover logical fallacies.
• Longest Pregnancy Ever: The author lists "fourteen-month pregnancies" as a possible result of writers losing track of time.
• Loony Fan: The article How To Be A Completely Revolting Fan is a satirical guide on how to be one of these.
• Love Martyr: Syera points out that treating a person who even behaves badly with unwavering loyalty or unconditional devotion with the hopes of making said person realize they should be grateful and change for the better will almost always backfire in Real Life; said person will keep treating the martyr like crap or even become outright abusive over time. This is because of the bad-behaved person coming to realize their actions will have no consequences or of seeing the martyr's attitude towards them as a reward for their bad behavior.
• Love Potion:
  • Syera talks about it as an example of dehumanization in "How to Create Creepy Characters and Situations".
  • Xe even addresses the unethical and shady implications of these potions in "Ethical Considerations For Fantastic Situations".
  • Also, Syera points out the ethical implications of these types of magic as these will override free will, making it forced consent.
• Love Redeems:
  • The author states that this trope wouldn't work in Real Life, pointing out that if the character to be redeemed has psychological issues, then they need a therapist, not a lover.
  • In "How To Redeem A Villain," Syera reminds the reader that using a relationship as a means to redeem a villain is at best questionable and at worst horrible, stating that if it did work like that in Real Life, domestic abuse wouldn't be so prevalent.
• Loving a Shadow:
  • In the article about predatory people, Syera points out that predators can only love idealized versions of what they want, as they always worry about ideals of "true love" and "selfless devotion". This is why they start intense yet short-lived relationships; they will leave or abuse a hapless mark once the latter starts deviating from the idealized pattern traced for them.
    • An example Syera cites is that predators spend time creating ideal fantasy cultures, for which they flip out when it's called out for the inherent flaws in such a culture.
  • In How to write Creepy Characters and Situations, Syera describes it as idealization.
  • The article Why New Age Spirituality Is Even Creepier Than You Thought mentions that the New Age movement idealizes nature as "an ever-pleasant, eternally pristine image", which they substitute for actual nature.
• Ludd Was Right: Discouraged. Syera says that making someone anti-technology just makes them look like a petty jerk, and notes that such people didn't exist in medieval times. Or, if they did, they would quickly find themselves outnumbered and outgunned by the people making the inventions.
• Made of Plasticine: The article Things About Death, Dying & Murder Writers Need to Know helps writers avert this by stating how humans are a lot harder to kill than most people think.
• Mad Oracle: Syera dislikes this trope because it implies there’s something mystical about mental illness.
• Made Out to Be a Jerkass: In-Universe. Syera notes that when a predator is made to task for their Jerkass behavior, they will break down in tears to make the one doing the callout seem bad. This invoking of the trope is a DARVO tactic.
• Magic A Is Magic A: Syera has articles on how to put limitations and rules on one's setting.
• Malicious Slander: Syera notes that predators will do this to people they consider better than them.
• Manipulative Bastard: "How To Quickly Spot Abusive & Manipulative People" lays out the signs to look out for in an abusive, manipulative person.
• Mary Sue: In-Universe, Syera had articles on how to make one's character powerful or attractive without coming off as one, even with a test. However, xe ditched this term and made advice on how to make a character work well.
• Martyrdom Culture: In How To Challenge Toxic Masculinity As A Writer, Syera criticises how toxic masculinity romanticises men dying for things, even if said deaths accomplish nothing or are unnecessary, and how it frames all pragmatism and will to live as cowardice.
• Measuring the Marigolds: In "Basic Tips To Write Better Geniuses, Scientists and Intellectuals", Syera points out that this is an untrue stereotype of scientifically minded people, who are really just as capable of appreciating beauty as anyone else. Xe mentions it's their sense of wonder that makes them want to learn more about the world.
• Mechanical Abomination: In the article 'How To Make Your "Incomprehensible" Beings Comprehensible - And Why You Need To' mentioned above, Syera provides reasons for what purpose an eldritch creature was created in the case of it being a construct or a machination.
• Medieval Stasis: This is advised against in "Tips & Ideas To Create More Believable Sword 'n Sorcery Worlds". Xe notes that while the real medieval era's technological progress was much slower than it is now, that didn't mean it was standing still. Anti-technology ideologues (which didn't even exist back then) would soon be out-competed by non-Luddites and even lacking some inventions (e.g. gunpowder/firearms) wouldn't stop innovations, especially if magic exists which could assist technological creation (with the scenario of making new alloys or other material using it). Magical progress would also still count, especially if it's basically that world's technology, and societies with the equivalent of our tech that's done by magic also can't be called medieval. Syera notes that some spells in fantasy are powerful enough to equal or surpass things that made medieval staples like castles obsolete.
• Memory-Wiping Crew: Syera points out that the tactics of these groups wouldn't work (at least not forever) if uploads of supernatural/alien encounters are seen through the Internet.
• Might Makes Right: In the article about New Age Spirituality, Syera points out that the "enlightened" beings and entities channeled by New Age believers are all commanders, high priests, or other elite members, as opposed to the common folk. Xe points out that the fact that the elites are the only ones who can communicate with us should be a red flag, as hierarchical societies aren't known for being enlightened.
• Million Mook March: In Creating & Writing Fantasy Armies - Things To Keep In Mind & Consider, contributing writer m961 considers the image of massive numbers of soldiers marching as laughable, especially when said army's nation is supposed to be small.
• Mind Rape: Syera uses the "assaulting someone with horrifying visions" variant to make an example that the trope's name is not just for drama.
• Misery Builds Character: The article Basic Tips To Create Better Characters With Tragic & Traumatic Backstories calls out this sort of thinking from people saying the abuse they underwent made them stronger.
• Misery Poker: The author notes that this behavior is only found in abusive and manipulative people or edgy try-hard people.
• Moe: In-Universe, there's an article on how to write cute characters.
• Monochrome Casting: Criticized in 7 MORE Offensive Mistakes Well-Intentioned Writers Make. It's noted that most female-oriented entertainment is bad about making sure their casts aren't all white.
• Monster of the Week: In an older version of "Basic Tips To Write Better & More Despicable Villains," Syera criticizes this trope using Queen Beryl as an example of why one should have their villains learn from their mistakes. For starters, xe points out that Beryl has a massive army of Youma, but instead of making the logical decision of deploying the whole army on the Sailor Senshi, she only sends one monster per episode.
• Moral Myopia: In the article about predators, it's stated that they compare their horrible and depraved actions with smaller bad deeds committed by others.
• Murder Makes You Crazy: Brought up in the respective articles on mental illness and murder to point out the trope is nonsense. Assuming someone wasn’t already prone to committing violence without remorse, a person who lashed out and actually killed someone would be far more likely to end up traumatized and wracked with guilt.
• Muse Abuse: Syera advises against this trope in the article Tips To Keep Your Characters In Perspective & Make The Right Impressions With Them, citing A. A. Milne as an example, referencing the fact that he named the character of Christopher Robin after his own son, who endured teasing and bullying for that feat.
• My Nayme Is: Syera discourages intentional misspelling of names to make them sound special. On the other hand, xe also points out that some parents name their children like this in Real Life.

N-Z

• The Nameless: Syera points out how this is a common trope in fairytales, where many people don't have names, even the protagonists.
• A Nazi by Any Other Name: In an old version of an article about how to write villains, Syera advises against these tropes for it, calling them "bargain bin Nazis". Xe notes while taking inspiration from the Nazis for fictional villains isn't a bad thing, most examples of bargain bin Nazis tend to use superficial things like their uniforms and salute rather than doing any of the actual atrocities the Third Reich committed.
• Never My Fault: Syera notes that while predators and abusers blame other people for their faults, xe also points out that this habit is also developed by people who have been unfairly blamed and punished for anything and everything as a child.
• New Age: The article "Why New Age Spirituality Is Even Creepier Than You Think," is dedicated to address the problematic beliefs found in this type of system.
• invokedNewer Than They Think: In the article "Some Observations in Conspiracy Propaganda," Syera points out that the "tradwife" (traditional wife) is actually a modern construct modeled from thinking that ads from the 1950s reflected reality.
• Nice to the Waiter: In How To Quickly Spot Abusive & Manipulative People, Syera mentions that if the person is kind or considerate to "respectable" or "great" people but don't give a damn or even disrespect those who aren't as "great" or "respectable" as those people, then they aren't truly kind or considerate at all.
• Non-Mammal Mammaries: In an article about mermaids, it's explained why this wouldn't necessarily make sense from an evolutionary standpoint. If the mermaids in question don’t nurse their young, they won’t need breasts to make milk. And humans don’t make a good stable food source for ocean creatures, so mermaids would be unlikely to need faux boobs to tempt sailors.
• No Sympathy: One type of bullying described in "Advice & Tips On Creating & Writing Bullies," cold bullying, runs on this trope. Cold bullying consists of treating the victim with contempt, disdain, passive-aggression, and the like.
• No True Scotsman: Listed as a justification people use to dodge responsibility for addressing toxic members in their groups.
• "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization: Mentioned in a list of terrible romance novel cliches. One of the male archetypes is a love interest who ignores the heroine’s protests and is portrayed as right because she ended up having a good time.
• An Offer You Can't Refuse: In an "Grail Character Syndrome: How To Be The Center Of Attention And Yet Be A Total Bore," Syera calls this a "Hobson's choice." Xe points out that a character motivated exclusively by this trope is not proactive but reactive.
• Orcus on His Throne: Recommends against this in one of the villain articles, since baddies who don’t personally threaten the heroes risk coming off as unintimidating.
• Original Character: The articles "Tips For Writing Fanfiction With An OC Protagonist," "Basic Tips To Improve Your OCs & Fan Characters," and "Tips To Create Better OC Relatives of Canon Characters" focuses on writing these kinds of characters in general.
• Our Vampires Are Different: A guest post by Alexis Feynman says that vampire fiction has been varied since the 19th century. This includes both the irredeemable blood-suckers and tragic figures.
• Parents as People: Syera has an article about writing parents and parental figures well.
• Passive-Aggressive Kombat: "Advice & Tips On Creating & Writing Bullies" describes it as one of the traits of cold bullying.
• Past-Life Memories:
  • In "Why New Age Spirituality Even Is Creepier Than You Thought," Syera points out that New Age's use of guided hypnosis to "fetch" these doesn't account for how fallible human memory is; the brain can make up new memories out of scraps. The article mentions that even if hypnotists didn't give them too many suggestions, the New Agers who undergo these practices already fervently believe in Atlantis, Egyptian connections with aliens, and aliens incarnating in human bodies, rendering the reduced suggestion pointless.
  • Xe also notes that these practices are the same as those used in the Satanic panic to "fetch" memories of alleged Satanic ritual abuse against the supposed victims. Xe points out that if legitimized, these techniques can eventually be used to fabricate evidence against marginalized groups.
• Pet-Peeve Trope:
  • Syera doesn't like Rule of Cool, as xe calls it contrived if something is thrown in just to be cool.
  • Saving Christmas. Syera doesn't like the saving Santa variant of it due to thinking it's overused, but xe also points out that if Santa disappeared from the face of the earth, it'd be exactly like the real world.
  • Dreaming of a White Christmas, due to thinking it's overused and offensive to places where it can't snow on Christmas.
  • Forgotten Phlebotinum is a pet peeve, particularly if it's fatal.
• Playing the Victim Card: In the article about predatory people, Syera says that some predators will constantly do this to avoid responsibility.
• Playing with Fire:
  • In one article, Syera points why pyrokinesis is a bad idea for a superhero in actual combat. Xe sees this power as more fitting for a supervillain, a sociopathic Anti-Hero, or a war criminal.
  • In an article about how to check heroes' ethics, Syera deconstructs this again by stating that using fire powers or spells is unethical, as this type of power could cause unnecessary suffering to the victims.
• Polly Wants a Microphone: In the list of fairytale tropes, birds are listed as often talking to give advice.
• Potty Failure: In the article on how to correctly write children, one mistake listed is children being fearless in scenarios where adults would "wet their pants in terror".
• Pretender Diss: In How to Be More Interesting, Syera advises to be careful when taking inspiration from people or fictional characters, as people respect those perceived as original, while those perceived as "sycophants", "posers" or copycats will be derided.
• Professional Butt-Kisser:
  • In the article about predators, Syera writes that predators might spend years kissing up to their superiors so they can be promoted and gain power over people.
  • In How To Quickly Spot Abusive & Manipulative People, Syera mentions that abusers only show kindness to those who are (or they perceive as) just as or more brilliant than them, yet they are jerks and abusive to everyone else.
• Propaganda Piece: In-Universe; the article "Some Observations in Conspiracy Propaganda" addresses how this type of propaganda works.
• Protagonist-Centered Morality: One article defines this trope and gives advice on how to avoid it.
• Psychological Projection: Syera states that predators, abusers, and bullies often do this. It's also notable that xe states that these people even project their own habit of projection.
• Psychotic Smirk: In the article about predatory people, Syera notes that some predators display smirks and sneers on their faces.
• Punctuation Shaker: Syera advises not to use apostrophes in fantasy names unless is to denote a glottal stop, and even then it should not be abused.
• Pure Is Not Good: In their article Why "Purity" Is An Overrated Character Trait, xe points out that a "pure" character of any sort would not work well if the traits associated with purity were applied realistically to all concepts.
• Putting on the Reich: In the new rewrite of the villain article, Syera points out that when writers make fascists as villains, they only use the aesthetics of said ideology, rather than the petty cruelty and brutal violence they committed when in power. Xe also informs that the aesthetics of fascism were carefully crafted for them to look respectable, superior, and cultured.
• Railroading:
  • The article Roleplaying & Fanfiction Term Definitions has the definition of railroading with examples.
  • In Starting & Running Roleplays & Bringing In New Players, Syera notes the reasons for this tactic laid out for future Game Masters.
• Real Women Don't Wear Dresses: Syera advises not to demonize or put down "feminine" interests or use this trope to show that a woman is empowered; xe calls this type of character "a woman acting like a man under toxic masculinity".
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Syera notes that we tend to imagine demons as having "red/orange/yellow eyes".
• Redemption Equals Death: In How to Challenge Toxic Masculinity as a Writer, Syera advises using this trope very carefully in the case of male characters, as it can send a message to depressed, self-loathing men that the only way to better the world and keep their loved ones safe is if they kill themselves.
• invokedRomantic Plot Tumor: In the article Common Reasons People Hate Relationships In Fiction, Syera points that one of the reasons people hate relationships in fiction is that romance may push the main plot to the side in a non-romance work.
• Rule of Three: In one article, Syera notes that in fairytales, people are often given three "impossible" tasks and that the numbers three and seven are everywhere.
• Santa Claus: The author evidently doesn't believe in Santa.
• Sarcasm Mode: In a section on wangst:
  Life is clearly so hard for you. Let us gather the tiniest of fiddles and serenade you with the songs of our sympathies.
• Satellite Character:
  • The article How To Avoid Writing Shallow Love Interests and Best Friends has tips on how to avoid this type of character.
  • In Common Ways Fiction Trivializes & Others People, Syera points out that writing marginalized characters revolving around a non-marginalized one is careless writing and implies the former has no life of their own or no sense of their own communities.
• Saving Christmas: The author hates this trope due to finding it overused and stating that if Santa disappeared from the face of the earth, it would be exactly like the real world. Xe also advises finding many other ways to generate holiday drama.
• The Scapegoat: In the article about predatory people, Syera notes that people who have always been punished for anything and everything since they were children developed a habit of blaming others to avoid being (unfairly) punished now, a habit that can be mistaken for predatory blaming.
• Scare 'Em Straight: One myth mentioned in the article on fairytale myths is that fairytales were invented to scare children into behaving.
• The Scrappy: In-Universe, the author often points out that Wesley Crusher and River Song are hated.
• Seashell Bra: Syera points out in xir article about writing merpeople that this type of "garment" wouldn't work that well in a realistic setting while making the reader consider alternatives.
• Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains: In "2Evil4U", Syera advises not to give one's villains a better fashion sense than the heroes, as this trope will make the audience see the villains as being better-dressed and their side as a place they will not be judged for how they look.
• Serial Escalation: Syera advises how not to use this trope in the article on dramatic hyperinflation.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Syera points out that Real Life smart people don't talk like this. Xe states that the only people who do talk like this are snobby, pretentious brats who aren't smart but wish they were.
• Shapeshifting:
  • One article is called Keeping Shapeshifters From Getting Overpowered.
  • Syera mentions that lots of people transform or get transformed in fairytales.
  • One article is about things people should consider before transforming somebody.
• Shout-Out:
  • The author makes a lot of pop culture references to use as examples. Works referenced include My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Star Trek, The Hunger Games, Charmed, Eragon, Tokyo Mew Mew, Sailor Moon, Superman, Batman, Harry Potter, The Princess and the Frog, Mulan, X-Men, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Avengers (2012), Iron Man, Peter Pan, The Bible and The Twilight Saga.
  • A section on entitled behavior by supposedly attractive characters uses Beauty and the Beast to make a point. It notes Gaston didn't insist Belle would become his wife because he was a good guy.
• Show, Don't Tell: Has a post about this, explaining why to show (it's generally more interesting, avoids Informed Attribute, and gives the story more texture) and when it's OK to just tell (such as when the details would distract from the main action).
• The Shrink: One article is about how to write psychologists.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: In How To Create And Write An Arch-Nemesis, Syera recommends having the hero shut down the villain saying the two are the same by pointing out ways the hero is trying to be a good person while the villain is making no such effort.
• Silly Rabbit, Cynicism Is for Losers!: In the "In closing" part of "Why New Age Spirituality Is Creepier Than You Thought", Syera points out going "doom and gloom" in response to the New Agers' "love and light" thinking is just another way to make people complacent to oppressive systems.
• Sinister Scythe: In the article "Things Writers Get Wrong About Bladed Weapons," Syera points out that, as scythes are farming tools, they were designed to cut hay and the like, but not thick objects like the human body.
• Sink or Swim Mentor: In "Things About Training & Teaching Writers Need To Know", Syera explains that this trope's teaching style is not real training, as real training is supposed to build up one's skill by starting out with teaching basic moves or principles, letting them practice in a controlled, low-risk environment that's gradually escalating as the pupil gets more skilled. Xe points out that this type of training will only put the pupil in danger of getting themselves killed, as they were not prepared for such an immense-difficulty trial.
• Sliding Scale of Villain Threat: This trope is discussed in the article Dramatic Hyperinflation: Why It's A Problem, And How To Avoid It
• Slimeball: Syera notes that predators are often this, as they memorize rules and regulations to use against other people, while they break them themselves with no remorse. Also, they spend years kissing up to superiors to gain status and power over people.
• Snake Oil Salesman: In the article about New Age spirituality, Syera notes that Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister of Nazi Germany, also pushed alternate medicine as a cure for all illnesses despite knowing full well it's a load of crock.
• Soapbox Sadie: Discussed In-Universe in the article What Writers Need To Know About Predatory People, as Syera points out that predators' craving for status leads them to "virtue signal", ie. pick a cause to champion in order to look good. They do so by derailing conversations and then shame and guilt-trip whoever tells them to cut it off.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: A section on wangst gives advice on how to pull this off. It compares an examples of a teen model complaining about wearing designer clothes versus one who enters pageants to please her mother and is stressed by having total strangers criticize her for things she can't control.
• The Social Darwinist: In the article How to Challenge Toxic Masculinity as a Writer, Syera notes that this type of attitude should not be regarded as an ideal way to live, but acknowledged as a justification for predatory behavior.
• The Sociopath: What Writers Need To Know About Predatory People is an article on how to write this type of character, only that here they are referred to as predators.
• Soulful Plant Story: The Soulmettle article about elves talks about a tree that developed a spirit from the minds of children and also from a magical crystal that was underneath it. Things get serious when a villain cuts down the tree to get the crystal.
• Space Jews: Syera explains the invokedUnfortunate Implications of this trope in Writing Fantastic People & Creatures Without Unfortunate Implications.
• Space Whale Aesop: In Writing Better Stories With Morals & Messages, Syera advises not to use this type of aesop, as its implausibility will make it difficult, if not impossible for the message it's trying to teach to be taken seriously, citing the story of a boy who did good things and as a consequence, he is taken by benevolent aliens as an example.
• The Spartan Way: In Pointlessly Edgy Tropes to Reconsider Using, Syera notes a training program that starts its students in a real-life difficulty setting as a non-gruesome example of pointless grit.
• The Stations of the Canon: Syera advises not to retell the canon story of any work with Original Characters replacing the canon ones.
• Stereotype: The author sometimes talks about these, why they're wrong, and how to avoid them.
• Straw Vulcan: This trope is namedropped in the description for Basic Tips To Write Better Geniuses, Scientists and Intellectuals. In the article, it's pointed out that the trope is a result of failing to understand how logic actually works, and instead making a Spock-like character whose idea of "logic" is to refuse to consider others' emotional states when making decisions.
• Stuffed into the Fridge: In How To Evoke Audience Reaction & Keep Things Interesting Without Being Cheap Or Manipulative, Syera points out this is a manipulative tactic and that those who suffer this treatment have feelings.
• Subculture of the Week: The article Basic Tips To Write Subcultures & Minority Religions Better is designed to help new writers avert or subvert this trope when it comes to writing subcultures.
• Tagalong Kid: In Basic Tips To Write Better Ensemble Casts, guest writer Alexis Feynman discourages this trope as this type of character tends to not have a life outside the main characters despite not being part of the group.
• Take Our Word for It: Syera points out that word of mouth alone is not/should not be enough for people to wholeheartedly believe.
• Take That!: Syera often cites specific works as examples of bad writing.
  • Syera often uses Bella Swan as an example of how not to do something.
  • In an article complaining about badly-written stories with dragons, Syera calls Eragon a "gibbering monster".
  • In the article on how to write dark stories, settings, and characters, Syera advises against doing this regarding Lighter and Softer works, as this will make a bad impression among those who actually like this kind of works, making the work doing the mocking look petty.
  • In a post on villains, the Luciferians from Left Behind are given as an example of villains without sensible motivations, and it says of the authors “Don’t be these guys.”
• Teacher/Student Romance: Syera points out why this trope is wrong. Mentor relationships are listed among harmful tropes young adult fiction should counter. The nature of the mentor relationships creates a power imbalance that makes romance rather questionable.
• Tears of Joy: Syera mentions in the article on writing children that if a kid sees someone crying because they're happy, they might get confused.
• Terms of Endangerment: Syera discourages one's villains talk like this as xe considers it cheesy.
• There Are No Therapists: Considers this a harmful trope because it makes it harder for people to realize they can get help for their problems. But xe also recommends showing the way therapy works in real life (i.e. not a magic cure that fixes everything immediately).
• They Just Dont Get It: In the tract about predatory people, it's noted that predators are unable to comprehend why people wouldn't look after, submit to or admire them.
• They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Syera notes in the start of the article on writing predatory people, that any type of person can be a predator. However, Syera advises not to accuse normal people of being predators just because of sharing a few superficial traits with them, as it can lead to the accused being unfairly ostracized and targeted by well-meaning but ignorant vigilantes and actual predators.
• invokedThey Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: In "How Good Story & Character Ideas Can Go Bad", Syera notes the many ways a good story element can go to waste.
• Think of the Children!: Syera points out that some of the most successful manipulation tactics involved children. This is because once children are depicted as victims of whatever (real or perceived) threat that is being talked about, parental instincts bypass all logical thinking.
• Too Dumb to Live: Syera once notes that a frustrating way for a character to die is due to making an inexplicably dumb choice.
• Took a Level in Cynic: The list of "Christmas Tropes that Need to DIE" is written in a noticeably more negative tone than other articles.
• Toxic Friend Influence: In the article about predatory people, Syera explains that children, friends and acquaintances of predators tend to internalize and imitate the horrible behaviors and beliefs of these people, unaware of the damage it's doing to them.
• Trauma Conga Line: In a piece on writing traumatic backstories, Syera advises against because it can easily come off as contrived and grimdark.
• Troubled Abuser: In On Writing Abusers, Abuse Victims & Abuse Situations, Syera addresses that abusers are people who have problems just like everyone else, pointing out that the popular depiction of abusers will prompt real-life abusers to bring up their problems when called out on their behavior, while perpetuating the myth that an abuser will stop being an abuser if they experience (emotional) pain.
• True Art Is Angsty: In Tips For Writing Dark Stories, Settings, and Characters, Syera warns against this mindset, and mentions that dark stories aren't automatically better than lighthearted ones.
• invokedTrue Art Is Incomprehensible: Syera calls out the worldview in this trope in their article Using Symbolism, Metaphor, Subtext, & Coding In Your Story - Where And How, as xe says that people who honestly think like this will not try to understand what others' art is saying.
• Tyke Bomb: In Assassins: Tips & Guidelines To Write & Play Them More Believably, Syera points out that raising a child to be the perfect assassin/killer/soldier is not only a waste of time, money and resources but is also very counterproductive as well. The child will end up traumatized with PTSD and completely unable to fight or become a sociopath. Even if the latter occurs, that means their urges for violence will lead them to get killed easier than if they were trained to kill as an adult.
• Unconventional Food Usage: Discussed in an article which says that inventing a car that runs on gravy is impossible.
• Villain Has a Point: In How to Redeem A Villain, Syera notes that the villain being unfairly mistreated or actually right about something doesn't justify the actions they choose to do about it.
• Wangst:
  • Invoked. This article discusses it throughout, but there's one section specifically dedicated to keeping your characters from sounding whiny.
  • In Basic Tips To Create Better Characters With Tragic And Traumatic Backstories, Syera advises writers not to let a character’s angst consume the entire plot or drag out too long. Xe even names and links to the wangst article.
• Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: In the article about predators, it is noted that they don't help people unless it's to pay a debt or indebt their marks to them.
• Weaksauce Weakness: Syera calls these "super allergies" and doesn't mind them so long as they're not the character's only weakness and they're not random and unrealistic.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Syera points out in Ethical Considerations For Fantastic Situations that if a character treats killing a human as the worst crime anyone can commit no matter how dangerous said human is, yet makes no big deal of killing other sapient beings and doesn't give them legal considerations, they are not an ethical person. Xe also mentions that to immediately assume aliens are hostile and choose violence over diplomacy is to cause unnecessary harm.
• What You Are in the Dark: In the article How to Write Dark Stories, Settings, and Characters, Syera notes that any personality type, even the relatively happy or perky ones can be a lead character in a dark story, as even the sweetest, nicest person has a (relatively tiny) dark or sinister side that can be brought out under the right circumstances.
• Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: The article Advice & Tips On Creating & Writing Bullies points out that a volatile bully will say something along the lines of this trope after lashing out at their victim.
• Wicked Cultured: Syera states in the article about predatory people that some predators who try to look smart often use outdated writing styles or write in flowery, poetic language.
• Wicked Pretentious: On the other side, Syera also states that predators will lie about their status and intelligence as a means to establish themselves as unquestionable authorities.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: The article Why New Age Spirituality Even Is Creepier Than You Thought mentions that while fascists have an image of sheer brutality and cruelty, they also have a fascination with wide-eyed, innocent idealism, as they worship the concepts of innocence and purity, which explains these people's ramblings along the lines of "protecting white women and children from evil hordes".
• Windmill Crusader: In a segment of the article On Writing Abusers, Abuse Victims, & Abuse Situations on writing abuse victims, Syera cites the Q believers who are genuinely scared of what their boogeymen implicate or would do despite it all being completely fake to illustrate that being scared, sad, or angry doesn't mean one is right or has to be listened to.
• Women Are Wiser: Recommends against this in A Few Things Guys Need To Know About Writing Straight Romance. It instead advises writers to show characters finding ways to work through conflict.
• Writers Cannot Do Math: The article Where & How Writers Need To Do The Math is specifically created to help new writers avert this trope.
• Yank the Dog's Chain:
  • In How To Write Dark Stories, Settings And Characters, Syera advises not to abuse this trope by establishing a lighthearted moment in the story, only to crush it 5 minutes later, as the audience will get bored of it.
  • In How To Evoke Audience Reaction & Keep Things Interesting Without Being Cheap Or Manipulative, Syera derides this as manipulative as well as depressing, particularly if a marginalized character is on the receiving end of it and finally dies, as it can imply that marginalized people don't deserve happy endings.
• You Have Failed Me:
  • Syera discusses and deconstructs this trope by stating that if a villain kills their minions for even the smallest of setbacks, it will give these minions more reasons to defect and even kill their boss before the boss does it to them.
  • Xe also notes that if a villainous organization has a near-ubiquitous or broad control over its domain (like a government, for example) then that organization can easily get away with killing people for perceived disloyalty, while if a small group tries to do the same thing, it will risk wiping itself out or attract the attention of the authorities.
  • In the "2Evul4U!!" paragraph of this article, xe deconstructs it by saying that the bosses of evil organizations who do this will have to dispose of the bodies, cover up for the families of the executed members, and deal with members who desert for this reason. Xe also states that the minions who choose to stay with said boss will become more failure-prone as they will have to deal with the threat of death hanging over their heads.
• You Keep Using That Word: In What Conspiracy Theorists & Bad "Psychics" Have In Common, Syera points out that conspiracy theorists misuse words such as "quantum" or "vibrations".

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