I’m tired of police procedurals that think that the main character has to be humorless and sullen with a history of trauma.
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I asked a ChatGPT a similar question. Its response is quoted below:
Plot & Storytelling Tropes
- The “It Was All a Dream” Ending – Wipes out all stakes by revealing the events never happened.
- Villain Monologue of Doom – Giving the hero time to escape by explaining the entire evil plan.
- Last-Second Defusal – Bombs always stop at 00:01, never 00:57.
- Convenient Amnesia – Selective memory loss only affecting the plot-critical details.
- Plot Armor – The hero survives explosions, gunfights, or falls that would kill anyone else.
- Random Expert Syndrome – A main character suddenly has deep knowledge of hacking, piloting, or ancient languages for one episode only.
- The Misunderstanding That Could Be Solved in 5 Seconds – Entire conflicts caused by nobody asking a basic clarifying question.
- The MacGuffin Chase – Object has no real purpose except to make people run around.
Character Tropes
- The “Chosen One” with No Work Ethic – Gifted all the skills and victories without real training.
- Smart = Glasses – Every intelligent character must have glasses and zero fashion sense.
- Women in Refrigerators – Killing off a female character purely to give the male hero motivation.
- The Token Minority – A single non-white or LGBTQ+ character whose sole purpose is diversity optics.
- Evil = British Accent – Especially in Hollywood productions.
- The Love Triangle Nobody Asked For – Often shoehorned in to drag out romance arcs.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl – Quirky woman exists only to inspire a sad man to live again.
Action & Genre Tropes
- Infinite Ammo – Guns never run out unless the plot needs a dramatic reload.
- Stormtrooper Aim – Bad guys cannot hit the hero even at close range.
- The Slow-Mo Hero Walk – Bonus points for explosions in the background and no one looking back.
- Enhance! – Low-resolution image magically becomes crystal clear when zoomed in.
- Car Won’t Start at the Worst Time – Works fine until a chase or killer is near.
- Villain Dies by Falling – The laziest way to avoid the hero “killing” them directly.
Romance Tropes
- Enemies to Lovers in 30 Seconds – Hatred turns into passionate romance with zero build-up.
- Interrupted Love Confession – Always just before the other person says it too.
- The “Ugly” Girl Is Actually Gorgeous – She just needed to take off her glasses and straighten her hair.
Horror Tropes
- Splitting Up – The group separates for no reason except to get picked off one by one.
- Investigating the Strange Noise – Alone. In the dark. Without calling for help.
- The Immortal Killer – No matter how many times they’re stabbed, shot, or burned, they’re fine.
- Jump Scares Over Story – Startle instead of actually building tension.
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I really enjoyed the first “Scream” movie for the way it made fun of all the horror tropes!
Personally, I would prefer it if ChatGPT doesn’t participate in Parent Cafe discussions. Unless, of course, the discussion is about ChatGPT.
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There is a whole catalog of tropes if you need reminders of them to think of which ones annoy you most:
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It’s always a multi million dollar beach house with a Nancy Meyers kitchen that the heartbroken woman is allowed to remain in, indefinitely (walking around in her fisherman’s sweater) - and the hunky man is her first love from high school, who never married because he always knew that she’d return one day. Oh, and naturally he’ll have a Golden Retriever, whose wayward ball is ultimately responsible for the meet-cute that brings them back together 
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Although I have to admit I read a lot of these and really enjoy them. DS25 said, “nothing ever happens in those books of yours,” and I said, “it’s about the characters,” and he said, “those are also the same every time” and I was like, yes. I guess it’s true. We call them the eat lobster rolls and die of cancer books.
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I can’t tolerate women of action swearing high heels. Why? It is so unrealistic.
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I love to watch “The Closer”. Head of homicide department runs around in spikey heels. Gets aggravated in uneven terrain, takes them off and hands them to underling to hold. Cracks me up every time.
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Years ago, I was sort of napping through an episode of LA Law where Harry Hamlin was in trial against a guy who turned out NOT to be a lawyer! Harry decides to continue with the trial as it would harm his client to have to stop and redo the trial. My mother asked me if this was okay.
NO! he has an ethical obligation to report it to the judge. Harry continued, won, and then the other (non) lawyer says to the judge “I’m not really a lawyer and Harry knew it.” Mistrial. Sanctions against Harry.
My mother asked “How did you know that?” Hmm, because I’m a lawyer and that’s the rule. And not a secret hidden rule, and not one you can justify if your client wants you to.
Sort of the whole premise of Suits but Meghan was so cute playing the law student who knew everything and the original guy who was pretending to be a lawyer. Or Mare Wittingham pretending to be a doctor on ER, and a dept head no less. Or finishing law/med school just a few years after hs. Even Doogie Howser had to finish hs and then college and then med school.
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Elin Hilderbrand books? @TatinG would hate them, as almost all of them take place on Nantucket Island. 
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“Person with disability wants to die.” (And everyone except their doting, irrational mother cosigns this desire because, of course.)
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Hmm, why even bother to have these discussions when chatgpt can do it for us. I guess.
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Not all of Hilderbrand’s books are set on Nantucket. Her Winter Series is set on St. John’s. (She would go there to write in the winter.) Hilderbrand is retiring her Nantucket books. Her last one (Swan Song) come out in 2024. She’s written 30 books set on Nantucket and says she’s run out of ideas. Her next book is about a boarding school.
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I didn’t say all of her books were set in Nantucket. I did say “almost all,” which is true. I also read that she recently said that she will no longer set her novels in Nantucket, as you mentioned, so even more off-island books are coming down the pike. I think the Academy series is next.
I’ve read all of her books. Some were just okay, some I really enjoyed. I actually liked reading about Nantucket.
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Serial killer in prison is diabolical mastermind who manipulates people outside to commit crimes on his behalf and always escapes at some point
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I’ve also read all of her books, and I love them without shame - despite the fact that I keep kosher (never had or will have any of that food she describes) and that I can’t stand the beach. The only thing written by EH that I haven’t bought was the tourist guide to real places on Nantucket or something like that.
So I can’t say that EH’s tropes annoy me in any real way, since I love reading her stuff so much. But it’s fair to say that the tropes annoy my children. “Mommy, that book seems like it’s not at your reading level.”
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Or the criminal mastermind who has a five-star hotel experience in prison, even having their own chef. Even Miss Scarlet on PBS had the sleazy private eye whose name escapes me had bribed guards to have creature comforts in the slammer.
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I’m not going to name the book so as not to spoil it for others but just finished a book that had 2 tropes I mentioned above and a third someone else did….diabolical serial killer mastermind + tie to detective’s past + finished to set up for sequel…which I may not bother to read even though I generally enjoy the author.
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Obvious product placement.
