Verity's Book 2.0

Trope Count: The Journey

nightwraith17 found 17 tropes for me, so I'm gonna churn this out real quick and waste another hour of my evening.

Basically we're going to do exactly what Night did with her book, which is measure TJ against each trope and see if it checks out. And to be clear, this isn't me bashing on any tropes or hoping I get a zero score... Because tropes are fine. It's all about how you use them.

1) The Chosen One: Character finds out he is crucial to a prophecy or something.

Um nope. Nothing could be further from The Journey. In fact, there aren't really any prophecies that need fulfilling in the entire Ceristen series, soooo this trope is outta the picture.

2) The Secret Heir: Character finds out he was kidnapped, etc., and is actually the child of royalty.

*thinks about the Thornes* *laughs* No. Nada. No way.

3) The Evil Overlord: Lord of Much Evil

Again, this is basically a no through the entire Ceristen series. It's all about ordinary peeps, ladies and gents.

4) The Reluctant Hero: Character does not want to be a part of the grand and heroic scheme of things.

I mean, kind of the whole plot arc for Fred is that he fears the responsibility of taking care of his family... he's not being part of a "grand and heroic scheme", at least not in his eyes XD but we'll take this trope. 1/4 so far.

5) The Lucky Novice: Character has never performed a task before but turns out to be an expert.

No. My poor Thorne characters are very naive, inept little beans. I wonder if this could apply to Mordred in The War though. XD

6) The Mentor: Character exists to guide the protagonist.

No? Yes? Does Baurhin count as a mentor? (If none of y'all even remember who Baurhin is then the answer is probably no) (Later: Night claims that there aren't any so I guess we go with what Night says?)

7) Fantasy world that never progresses socially, culturally, politically, or technologically.

So, let's break this down.

Socially: Social constructs, worldviews, mindsets, etc. vary a lot from country to country in Legea. There's also been variance in specific countries over the years, especially in Rodron which is one of the longest-lasting nations out there. 0/1

Culturally: On the one hand, it feels like the cultures of specific countries have been fairly static over time, but on the other hand, there was a time when those countries hadn't become their own entities and their culture did evolve as different from their mother/sister countries. Let's say 0.5/1

Politically: Are you kidding? Evolution and interaction of Legea politics is my LIFE. 0/1

Technologically: Legea has never reached our current level of modern tech. HOWEVER, there were times, before the Great Earthquake (1968 First Era) and during the Golden Ages of Rodron, when they were slightly more intel-savvy than they are now. Then wars happened, earthquakes happened, societies crashed, information gets lost, y'know. So idk? Half a point? 0.5/1

So it looks like our current score is 1.5/7. Let's keep rolling.

8) Pseudo-European Medieval Setting

This probably gets a point. After all, that's what we consciously tried to make it after a while, unlike everything else which just happened by itself. XD 2.5/8

9) The Powerful Artifact: Artifact of much power.

Does the thindran count? Idk, that seems kind of insulting to call it an artifact... we'll say no.

10) The Homogeneous Species: Elves, dwarves, hobbits, etc.

Soooo Legea has a LOT of different species/races/creatures and some of them are more homogeneous and some less homogeneous... but given that the only one who shows up in TJ is the thindran, and that we're given to understand that thindran are pretty much good and powerful, I say yes? 3.5/10

11) The Waiting Evil: An evil force or spirit that has lain locked away but is about to be released.

The Journey is sadly such a break from regular epic fantasy that again, I have to say no. XD

12) Here Comes the Cavalry: All is lost, but at the last moment help arrives! Think of Gandalf arriving with the army at Helm's Deep at dawn on the third day (a beautiful moment).

I discovered only with this article how much of a sucker I am for this trope. I can't write a story without using it. *thinks of The Village* okay, never mind. But still. 4.5/12

13) Black and White: Good guys are good! Bad guys are evil!

Hmmm. I would say no to this one. Of course, Falgor was an all-out jerk... but that's Falgor. You always need someone for the readers to love to hate. XD I feel like in The Journey, there is a kind of sharp divide. There's the people who are willing to help the Thornes, and the people who aren't. But at the same time, we have people like Hedron, who assist in wrong but turn out to be ordinary struggling people themselves. And Edgar Wiguel, who while brusque and hurtful, definitely an antagonistic character, is at the same time very personable, rounded, and could hardly be called evil.

14) The Quest!

Quest for a home? Not sure about this one but sure. 5.5/14

15) The Prophecy

What did I say on trope #1? No prophecies around here. XD

16) Handsome, rugged, dashing hero.

Fred really fits into none of these categories. And Sandy definitely doesn't.

17) Love Triangle: Everyone's favorite romantic geometric shape.

And it's a nope. TJ doesn't even have romance except shoved in as a teeny sideshow.

And one final one, not mentioned by Night, but one I couldn't resist because it is so hilariously prevalent in the Ceristen series:

18) Dead Parents

dead dead dead dead dead dead dead

okay Brick Thorne wasn't dead but Ladeia Thorne was. And once you get to The Village, EVERYBODY'S parents are either dead or presumed so.

So, half a point which brings it up to an even number now. 6/18

This was fun.