I know this is probably a common topic. For me, I’m not sure if it’s a “trope” or just totally misinformed writing, but it’s how many authors approach alcoholism. Some examples are Girl on the Train and The House Across the Lake, among HUNDREDS. If anyone else here has struggled with alcoholism, you know it’s not just "i woke up after downing an entire bottle of whiskey but was able to shower, down a cup of coffee, and solve a murder. "

  • thepoppyghost@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    The big one for me, and I don’t know if this is really a trope either, is when the plot hinges on this one character being able to do something that is physically impossible (or close to it) with no good reason for why they should be able to do that, because the author thinks all physical limitations are merely a matter of force of will or bearing the pain.

    My favorite example: a character gets knifed badly in the leg and can somehow run for literal hours straight afterwards. I don’t care how high your pain tolerance is or how desperate the situation is, if your leg muscles are sliced up you can’t use that leg. Because you literally are not going to be able to move it. Because that’s what muscles do, and they only work if they’re attached.

    Or characters will be getting bad wounds left and right, cover them in their dirty clothing, rinse them in river water, no modern medical attention, and then heal perfectly in 12 hours and no one ever gets an infection.

    That sort of thing.