Tropes that are going to hit differently now

[olivermoss]

I mentioned 'feeling stuck in a time loop' on all of my platforms and results of my tiny survey is that it's very hash-tag relatable. Time loops used to be about getting a chance to perfect life, turn your life around, or a Window of Opportunity if you will. I don't think that is going to work for people as well in the next several years at least. I think immortality and having infinite time is also going to hit different, and be written different.

This post brought to you by listening to too much Trope Talk by Overly Sarcastic Productions.

I think we are going to have the new trope of 'allegory for Pandemic + Trump era but we want to not directly reference it'. AKA, MCU's The Blip. The Snappening might not have started out as a way to set up this allegory, but that's what it's become and it's going to lean into it more and more. Actually the MCU was drifting out of the range of relatability before the snap, so it might have always been intended as a reset of some kind.

I've been trying to think about what other tropes might change a lot in how they are written and how they hit, but time related ones seem the most obvious to me.

Comments

[mistressofmuses]

Oof, that's definitely a good point. I love time loop stuff (though my favorite incarnations tend to be the at-least-mildly fucked up kind, like the Zero Escape series), but... yeah, that trope is definitely going to evoke some very different feelings going forward, I think.

[olivermoss]

I like time stuff because it's the fun of an amnesia plot without ... the problems of an amnesia plot.

[mistressofmuses]

Absolutely! There are a ton of fun things you can do with time loops! But there's definitely a different vibe to them at this point, oof. I won't stop enjoying them as a trope, but there is definitely a "too real" aspect for something that used to be a very gleefully *un*realistic plot device.

[olivermoss]

Julia Nolke's time travel series on 'explaining the pandemic to my past self' captures all the phases of it so well and how different things could be in a few months.

I just feel like the whole 'infinite time = awesome' isn't going to vibe as well with people.

[mistressofmuses]

I've heard of that series of videos, but haven't watched it - that reminds me that I definitely should.

Yeah, I definitely feel like it won't be quite the comfortable wish-fulfillment trope that it often has been.

[olivermoss]

It's a few short bits and, for me, nothing really captures what this year's been like better.