u/AuditorM1449

Or, just imagine we're in a simulation and the new update adds a 3rd sex to the game. How would the whole dynamic change? Would this solve the incel problem and/or gender wars? Instead of binary we would have a tertiary gender society where attraction was triangular instead of symmetric, and heterosexuality would be considered being attracted to the other two sexes (men into women and XZ, women into men and XZ and XZ into women and men).

I don't know how the biological aspect would work, I assume it'd be a new chromosome such as XZ or YZ or ZZ (3 variants? Unless YZ and ZZ are hypothetically unviable)

Would this make things better or worse?

This always baffled me on so many axes. One being political, for example, so many leftists and socialists chanting equality and wanting everyone to have opportunity yet always find sexual marxism as a form of fascism and telling incels how nobody owes them anything when same thing can apply to economy yet hypocritically in that field they'd think everyone deserves equal money or something. Basically communists being communists only economically but not in every other field.

The other being how people always rush to engage in empathy and compassion for people who deal with personal issues like heartbreaks, breakups, r word, and so many other horrid or mild stuff alike but when it comes to being sad for being ignored by a whole gender they're always negatively targeted, shunned, outcasted, virtue signaled on, and using reverse timeline fallacy like "well incels are hateful and violent so it suits" when we all know it all started out the other way around and they like to swap cause and symptom in their favor.

But why none of this happens in any other struggle?

Continue till 200:

1. The Noun Replacement! (Corpses as Props)

Hey everyone! For this contest, I want to see tropes where the narrative treats a dead body exactly like a completely mundane object! I don't mean hiding it—I mean tropes where the body physically replaces a tool, a piece of furniture, a vehicle, a weapon, etc. Submit your best "Corpse as a [Blank]" tropes! 3 weeks, 5 winners, new tropes only!

Hosted by Tropesmith 88 14

2. Fictional Corpse Physics

Let's talk about how media gets death wrong on purpose! Submit your best meta-tropes that explain the weird, unspoken RULES of how dead bodies act in movies and games for convenience. Do they magically stop bleeding to keep the PG-13 rating? Do they vanish to save memory space? Show me those meta-rules! 14 days!

Hosted by Meta Nerd 102 22

3. The Genre Whiplash Corpse

Show me your best tropes where the introduction or treatment of the dead body instantly changes the GENRE of the scene! Like, tropes where a body turns a rom-com into a thriller, or turns a gritty horror into a slapstick comedy. The trope MUST be about the tone shift! 3 sets limit. Have fun!

Hosted by MoodWhiplash 76 19

4. Name That Corpse! (Naming Conventions)

This week we're doing a naming convention mashup! Take a famous meta-trope (like Chekhov's Gun, MacGuffin, Rule of Cool, etc.) and give me your best dead body equivalent! "Chekhov's Corpse", "The Dead MacGuffin", "Rule of Rigor Mortis". Must be a structural trope disguised as a classic! 10 winners!

Hosted by Trope Namer 210 45

5. The Escalator Domino

I want to see tropes where the dead body ISN'T the main problem, it's just the catalyst for a totally unrelated disaster! The body is just a domino. Like, the body falls and hits the self-destruct button, or drops the only keys down a grate. Tropes about the body causing non-death-related chaos! 2 weeks, unlimited entries.

Hosted by Chaos Theory 95 12

6. Corpse Math (The Magic Number)

Let's do some weird logic! Submit tropes where the exact NUMBER or QUANTITY of dead bodies is the entire point of the trope. Not just "a lot of bodies," but tropes like "One Body Too Many" or "The N+1 Corpse". If the narrative relies on the math of the remains, I want to see it!

Hosted by Calculator 64 8

7. The Spiteful Subversion

For this contest, think of an overused, annoying dead body cliché (like the chalk outline or the eyes popping open) and submit a trope that exists ONLY to subvert, avert, or make fun of it! The trope you submit must be a direct counter-attack on an older corpse trope. Let's get petty! Ends Friday!

Hosted by Trope Buster 134 30

8. The "We Know But They Don't" Disconnect

Submit tropes based entirely on Dramatic Irony regarding the body! Tropes where the audience knows exactly where the body is, but the cast doesn't—OR the cast knows all about the body, and the audience is kept in the dark. The trope must be about the missing information gap!

Hosted by Fourth Wall 81 21

9. The "Nothing to do with Murder" Corpse

I want to see tropes where a dead body is absolutely central to the scene or plot, but literally nobody cares how they died. No whodunnits allowed! Tropes where the death is irrelevant, but the physical remains are super important. 3 weeks, 8 winners!

Hosted by Plot Holes 115 33

10. Corpse as a Measuring Stick

Show me tropes where the dead body is used purely as a metric to measure something else! Like tropes where the condition of the body proves how evil the villain is, how sharp the new sword is, or how toxic the environment is. The body is just the thermometer! Old and new allowed!

Hosted by Power Scaler 90 18

11. The Network Censorship Corpse

How do writers get away with showing bodies on daytime TV? Submit your best tropes about the creative (and usually stupid) ways creators hide, alter, or censor dead bodies to keep their age rating. No blood, turning into dust, weird camera angles—show me the censorship tropes!

Hosted by TV Exec 140 27

12. Wait... That's a Body?!

For this contest, I want tropes where the identity of the object IS the twist! Tropes where characters (or the audience) spend half the story thinking something is a statue, a mannequin, a piece of meat, or a prop, only to realize later it's a corpse. 2 weeks, 15 winners!

Hosted by Plot Twister 188 41

13. The Inappropriate Reaction

Let's look at the living! Submit tropes defined entirely by a character having a bizarre, codified, totally inappropriate psychological reaction to finding a body. Tropes about laughing, getting hungry, falling in love, or being bored by a corpse! Have fun everyone!

Hosted by Psycho Analyst 122 25

14. The "Bring Your Own Setting" Corpse

Template time! Give me tropes that follow the formula: "A dead body found in a [Specific Type of Location]". But the trope must explain how that specific location changes the ENTIRE meaning of the death. A body in a locked room vs a body in a clown car. Show me your best location-based corpse templates!

Hosted by Setting The Scene 205 50

15. The Inconvenient Prop

I don't want tragedy, I want annoyance! Submit tropes where a dead body is treated as a frustrating physical roadblock. Tropes where the body is just heavy, smelly, in the way of the TV, or blocking the door. It's not scary, it's just really annoying! 7 days contest!

Hosted by Slapstick 156 38

Here is page 2! 15 more contest prompts, keeping that enthusiastic, community-run forum energy, focusing on high-level, structural meta-categories for dead body tropes!

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16. Loot Drops and Grave Robbing! 💰

Hey everyone! For this contest, I’m looking for tropes where a dead body instantly undergoes a genre-shift from "former person" to "inventory source." Show me your best tropes where a corpse is treated as a piñata of loot, clues, weapons, or plot coupons. Stealing the dead guy's boots, taking the boss's keycard, etc. 4 WEEKS, 10 winners, 3 trope limit. Have fun!

Hosted by RPG_Nerd 92 14

17. The Tier List of the Dead

Let's talk about narrative privilege! Submit tropes explaining the structural hierarchy of how different corpses are treated by the plot. Why does the mentor's body get a 10-minute slow-mo crying scene, but the 50 dead henchmen are just stepped over? Show me your best meta-tropes about the "value" of different bodies! New tropes only!

Hosted by Redshirt Survivor 115 28

18. Framing the Deceased 📸

This one is all about the CAMERA, not the characters! Submit meta-tropes about how the director/artist chooses to visually present a dead body to the audience. Are they perfectly posed like a painting? Is it just a foot sticking out from under a sheet? Only tropes about the visual aesthetic/cinematography of a corpse! 7 days contest! 8 winners.

Hosted by Cinema Snob 81 30

19. The Paperwork of Death 📑

Death is a bureaucratic nightmare. I want to see your best tropes focused entirely on the red tape, legal rules, and institutional procedures triggered by a corpse. Autopsy rules, reading the will, space-burial regulations, or cops groaning about having to file a report. Make it boring in-universe, but fun for us!

Hosted by Lore Builder 76 20

20. Now You See It, Now You Don't (Continuity Corpses)

Show me your best tropes about dead bodies defying object permanence! Video game corpses despawning to save memory, bodies vanishing between camera cuts in a movie, or chalk outlines moving. If the trope is about the technical or continuity errors of a corpse, put it here! Contest ends Friday, I choose 15 winners. Old and new tropes are wel ...

Hosted by Glitch In The Matrix 110 28

21. Read the Corpse Like a Book 📖

hello everyone! For this contest I would love to see tropes where a dead body is used as literal language or syntax. Bodies arranged into symbols, mafia warning messages, or leaving a trail of bodies pointing like an arrow. The body MUST be the medium for communication! 2 weeks, unlimited entries!

Hosted by Mafia Boss 76 6

22. Are They Or Aren't They? (Schrödinger's Corpse)

Please choose your favourite tropes based entirely on the ambiguity of a body's status! Tropes where characters waste time checking for a pulse, poking it with a stick, or assuming someone is just "sleeping." If the narrative tension comes from confirming the corpse is a corpse, I want it!

Hosted by Paranoia Group 137 18

23. Hazardous Materials ☣️

For this contest, I would love to see tropes where the dead body changes the genre to survival horror because the corpse itself is an environmental threat. Not zombies! I mean the body is highly infectious, leaking acid, rigged to explode, or cursed. Tropes about passive corpse hazards! As usual, 2 weeks to enter!

Hosted by Biohazard Crew! 98 12

24. Adding Insult to Injury

Please read carefully! I want tropes about the universe absolutely disrespecting a body AFTER the person is already dead. Tropes where the body falls out of the coffin, gets dropped in the mud, or the villain keeps monologuing to it. Post-mortem slapstick and disrespect!

Hosted by Dark Humor 100 17

25. Decoy Corpses!

This week we're doing a contest based upon identity theft! Show me tropes where a dead body is used specifically to fake someone else's death. Switching dental records, putting your own clothes on a random corpse, throwing a body in a volcano to fake your own demise. Three winners. Good luck ...

Hosted by Faking It 45 2

26. We Just Don't Care Anymore 🥱

For this contest you will have to submit tropes about body-count desensitization. When the movie has killed so many people that a pile of dead bodies is literally just background scenery and the heroes don't even blink. Tropes about narrative empathy completely breaking down! (1 entry per user) 3 weeks!

Hosted by Action Movie Fan 50 11

27. Tetris with Dead Bodies

Hi Everyone, I hope you are all doing well. For this contest, show us tropes focused purely on the bizarre spatial geometry of fitting a body into a container. Cramming them in a trunk, folding them into a suitcase, melting them to fit in a jar. If the trope is about the physics/space of the body, drop it here!

Hosted by Cleanup Crew 165 28

28. ༒☬☠ Even Evil Has Standards (Corpse Edition) ☠︎☬༒

Hello! Enter tropes where a bad guy, a monster, or a ruthless killer suddenly shows intense respect or specific rules regarding a dead body! Closing their eyes, burying them, refusing to fight near them. Tropes where the corpse brings out the humanity in the villain! 10 winners, 3 trope limit!

Hosted by Sympathetic Villain 166 72

29. You Forgot Something!

Enter a trope where the characters successfully deal with the body... except for ONE tiny piece. A tooth, a severed finger, a drop of blood that unravels the whole perfect crime. Tropes about incomplete cleanup! 2 weeks/ 8 winners/ new and old

Hosted by The Detective 116 41

30. High Score Body Counts 🎮

Submit tropes where characters treat the accumulation of dead bodies as a literal game or competition! Tropes about characters yelling "That only counts as one!", keeping tallies on the wall, or betting on who kills more. The gamification of corpses! 7 DAYS I 15 WINNERS I UNLIMITED ENTRIES

Hosted by Player One 214 73

31. The Demonstration Dummy 💥

Let's talk about narrative shortcuts! For this contest, I want tropes where a dead body's absolute only structural purpose is to visually demonstrate the rules of the world to the audience. Tropes where a body is used to show how a trap works, how strong the monster is, or what happens if you step off the path. The body as a pure tutorial mechanic! 2 weeks!

Hosted by World_Builder 188 42

32. The "SFX & Props Department" Meta-Tropes 🎬

Hey everyone! This contest isn't about the story; it's about the production! Submit meta-tropes that focus on how real-world filmmakers and game devs handle the physical reality of making a fake dead body. I want tropes about obvious mannequins, actors who accidentally blink on camera, visible breathing, or bad CGI ragdolls. Tropes where the illusion of death fails! 3 weeks, 5 winners.

Hosted by Fourth_Wall 88 14

33. Requesting: Tropes About Cause of Death Being Embarrassing

My friend group has been collecting examples of characters whose cause of death is deeply undignified and I want to make it a proper trope page. Not played for laughs necessarily, just... the universe being cruel. Tripped on own cape, choked on a grape, got startled by a mouse. Submit what you have! No limit on entries, forever open until I get bored

Hosted by Mortifying 445 89

34. the things they left behind

4 days left | Hosted by void_gazing

Views: 1,029 | Submissions: 45

im looking for tropes that focus on the contrast between the dead body and a living, active object still attached to them. it’s not about the murder. it’s about the ringing cell phone in the dead guy's pocket. the half-eaten apple next to them. the video game still unpaused on the tv. tropes where the tragedy is amplified by an object that doesn't know its owner is dead yet. lower case tropes preferred but i wont police it... just make it hurt.

35. The Etiquette of the Dead 🪙

Every culture and genre has unwritten rules of respect! I want to see tropes about the codified, mandatory rituals characters perform on a fresh dead body to show respect. Closing their eyes, crossing their arms over their chest, putting coins on their eyes, or leaving a weapon with them. Submit tropes about the structural rules of corpse etiquette! 2 weeks, 5 winners!

Hosted by HonorGuard 114 26

36. The Paranoia of the Hidden Body 👁️

Let's talk psychology! Submit tropes based entirely on how a hidden dead body structurally rots the minds of the characters who hid it! Tropes about hallucinating the corpse sitting in the room, constantly over-explaining why that patch of dirt is disturbed, or hearing its heartbeat. Tropes about the psychological gravity a hidden body exerts!

Hosted by Poe_Fanatic 255 61

37. The Autopsy Anomaly 🔬

Submit tropes focused on the structural "twist" that is only revealed when a dead body is cut open! The narrative relies on the internal examination breaking the rules of the world. Tropes about finding gears instead of organs, green blood, a swallowed key, or an empty chest cavity. Tropes about the inside of the body changing the plot! 3 trope limit!

Hosted by TheCoroner 198 56

38. Playing Possum Mechanics 🦝

How do the living pretend to be the dead? Submit tropes about the strict narrative rules of a living character camouflaging themselves as a corpse! Tropes about holding their breath while the villain pokes them, smearing blood on their face to blend into a pile, or pretending to be limp when carried. Show me the rules of faking it! Ends Sunday!

Hosted by Survivalist 133 31

39. The Duplicate Corpse Dilemma 👯‍♂️

This is pure mystery fuel! Submit tropes about the mind-bending structural problem of finding a dead body that belongs to someone who is currently, verifiably ALIVE in the next room. Clones, alternate timelines, shapeshifters, or evil twins. Tropes about the existential crisis of the impossible duplicate body!

Hosted by GlitchInTheMatrix 175 33

40. The Posthumous Logistical Nightmare 📋

Forget the emotional tragedy—let's talk practical headaches! Submit tropes where a dead body creates massive, annoying logistical roadblocks for the heroes. Tropes where the hero needs the dead guy's thumbprint for a biometric scanner, the dead guy was the only one who knew the password, or their sheer dead weight is trapping the heroes. Logistical hurdles only!

Hosted by IT_Support 166 40

41. The "Oops" Corpse (Accidental Escalation) 😬

Submit tropes where a dead body is created by total accident, causing the narrative to instantly pivot from "we are having fun/doing a heist" to "we are covering up a crime." Tropes about the prank gone wrong, the accidental push down the stairs, or the slapstick manslaughter. Tropes about the structural panic of an unplanned body!

Hosted by DarkComedyNerd 145 22

42. The Forced Abandonment 🏃‍♂️

This one is all about dramatic tension! Submit tropes about the narrative mechanics of being forced to leave a dead body behind. Tropes about the collapsing cave, the approaching zombie horde, or the sinking ship forcing the heroes to drop their fallen comrade. Tropes about the guilt and structural weight of leaving remains unrecovered! Unlimited entries.

Hosted by RearGuard 188 35

43. The Psychological Weapon Corpse 🗡️

Submit tropes where a villain uses a dead body purely as an emotional attack vector against the heroes! They don't just kill someone; they use the body to send a message. Tropes about leaving the body in the hero's bed, mailing a piece of it in a box, or throwing it over the castle walls. The corpse as a psychological siege weapon! 2 weeks to enter!

Hosted by SympatheticVillain 104 18

44. The Indestructible Remains 🔥

Let's talk about the bodies that refuse to go away! Submit tropes where characters actively try to dispose of a dead body, but structurally, the universe won't let them. Tropes where the body won't burn, the woodchipper breaks, the acid doesn't work, or the ocean washes it right back onto their lawn. Tropes about the hilarious/terrifying stubbornness of a corpse! 5 winners.

Hosted by CleanupCrew 130 40

45. The Dying Declaration Rules 🗣️

Submit tropes about the sacred narrative weight of the very last thing a person does in the transition moment between "living" and "corpse." Tropes about writing a clue in their own blood, whispering a final name, or passing the magic sword. Tropes about how the universe bends to give a dying character their final action!

Hosted by FinalWords 142 37

46. The Lingering Stain 🩸

Submit tropes about the permanent environmental or social scar a dead body leaves on a location long after the body is gone! Tropes about the bloodstain on the floor that can never be scrubbed out, the cursed room at the inn nobody will sleep in, or the property value dropping. Tropes about the ghost-less haunting of a death site! 7 days, new tropes only!

Hosted by RealEstateAgent 155 24

47. The Somber Delivery 📦

This contest is all about duty! Submit tropes about the ritual, journey, or narrative weight of bringing a dead body back to their home or loved ones. Tropes about returning the knight's broken shield to the king, the somber doorstep delivery in the rain, or carrying the body out of the dungeon. Tropes about the solemn transit of remains!

Hosted by HonorBound 191 49

48. The Inheritance Trigger 📜

Death sets things in motion! Submit tropes where the exact moment a body hits the floor, it triggers a massive legal, magical, or technological cascade. Tropes about the reading of the will trapping everyone in a mansion, a magic spell breaking because the caster died, or a "dead man's switch" blowing up the base. The corpse as a literal switch!

Hosted by TheExecutor 177 38

mate just continue this list, these were creative

49. Confirming the Kill (Verification Rules) 🩺

Hey everyone! Media has highly specific, codified rituals for how a character checks to make sure a body is actually a body. I want to see tropes about those exact verification methods! Submit tropes like "The Double Tap," "Kicking the Leg," "Checking the Pulse With Two Fingers," or "Holding a Mirror to the Mouth." Show me the rules of confirmation! 3 weeks, 10 winners!

Hosted by Survival_Rule_DoubleTap 144 29

50. Shielding the Innocent 🫣

"Don't look, Timmy!" Submit tropes based entirely around the frantic, classic media habit of trying to prevent a specific character (usually a kid, a civilian, or a loved one) from seeing the corpse! Submit tropes like "The Hand Over the Eyes," "Turning the Wheelchair Around," or "Throwing a Jacket Over the Face." Tropes about the visual censorship of a body by the characters themselves!

Hosted by Heroic_Censorship 201 55

51. The Flypaper Body

I want to see tropes where a dead body physically snags, hooks, or drags other things into its situation purely through proximity! Not intentionally. Just the passive gravitational pull of existing. The body falls and takes the tablecloth with it. The hand catches the doorframe on the way down. The corpse in the river nets itself on the fisherman's line. Tropes about the passive, physical entanglement radius of a dead body!

Hosted by Bystander 176 39

52. The Corpse-Eye View 👁️

Hey everyone! For this contest, I want tropes where the camera or narrative POV is anchored to the dead body itself! Submit tropes about the camera looking up from the grave as dirt is thrown on it, the screen fading to black as the character's eyes close, or a ghost narrating while looking down at their own autopsy. If the corpse is our literal window into the scene, I want to see the trope for it! 2 weeks, 5 winners.

Hosted by Director_Cut 104 22

53. The "Officially Dead" Threshold

How do we know they're gone? Submit tropes that define the exact visual or narrative criteria for death in different genres. The shoes flying off in a comedy, enemies turning into sparkling dust in an RPG, or the dramatic flatline sound in a medical drama. Tropes about the media shorthand that confirms to the audience that a flatline has occurred! 3 trope limit!

Hosted by TheGrimReaper 305 60

54. The Runaway Corpse 🛝

Tropes focused entirely on the comedic, unstoppable momentum of a dead body! Rolling down a hill, falling out of a closet at the worst possible moment, sliding across a freshly waxed floor. The body is an unstoppable physical object in motion and the characters just have to catch it. 2 weeks, 8 winners!

Hosted by SlapstickFan 166 38

55. The Ghostly Overlay 👻

Submit tropes where a living character interacts with a space by visually mimicking or referencing a dead body that used to be there. Lying down in the chalk outline, standing exactly where the body fell, mirroring the pose to figure out what happened. The physical echo of the corpse! 3 weeks, 10 winners!

Hosted by ParanormalSleuth 119 26

56. The Dignified vs. The Ridiculous ⚖️

I want tropes that exist purely to contrast two bodies in the same scene: one that is treated with absolute reverence and one that is treated like garbage. The fallen hero gets a slow-motion funeral; the henchman next to them gets stepped on. Tropes about the side-by-side inequality of death! 2 weeks, 8 winners!

Hosted by Class_Warfare 176 44

57. The Untranslatable Death 🌍

Let's go cross-cultural! Submit tropes about how different fictional cultures, alien species, or fantasy races treat dead bodies in ways that are completely incomprehensible to the human characters/audience. Eating the body as honor, leaving it for the sky birds, turning it into a balloon. Tropes where the corpse-handling ritual is pure worldbuilding! 10 winners, 2 weeks!

Hosted by Anthropology_Nerd 221 58

58. The Face

Tropes about the expression on a dead body's face. Peaceful, terrified, smiling, eyes open, eyes closed. The face as the message. The face as the lie. The face that tells you everything or tells you nothing. 14 days, 6 winners.

Hosted by portraitist 201 38

59. The Body as a Receipt 🧾

Submit tropes where a dead body serves as proof that a transaction, promise, or deal actually happened. The body proves the hitman did the job, the corpse confirms the potion worked, the body is the "proof of kill" for the bounty. Tropes where the corpse is the paperwork! 2 weeks, 6 winners!

Hosted by Bookkeeper_99 131 28

60. Deaths That Are A Relief

When someone dies and it's genuinely a good thing. Not just villains—I mean the terminally ill, the suffering, the ones who wanted to go. The death that's a kindness. The death that makes the living feel guilty for feeling relieved. 3 weeks, 5 winners.

Hosted by pacemaker 44 11

61. What They Died Holding

Tropes about objects found in the hands or on the body. The letter, the locket, the weapon, the phone. The thing they were holding when they died. What does the object say about them? What does it say about what they were thinking in the last moment? New tropes only, 2 weeks.

Hosted by pacemaker 44 9

62. Deaths That Are An Inconvenience

Not played for comedy necessarily. Just deaths that make everyone's life harder. The driver dies and now you're stranded. The only engineer dies. The only person who knew the password dies. The death that's a logistical problem before it's a grief problem. 2 weeks, 8 winners.

Hosted by pacemaker 44 6

63. The Body Someone Covers

Tropes about the act of covering a body. The jacket over the face. The sheet. The blanket. The newspaper. The moment someone decides "no one should see this." The covering as care. The covering as protection. 2 weeks, 10 winners.

Hosted by pacemaker 44 13

64. The Body Someone Uncovers

The opposite. Pulling the sheet back. Opening the coffin. Turning the body over to see the face. The choice to look. The moment someone decides they need to see. 2 weeks, 10 winners.

Hosted by pacemaker 44 11

65. The Undignified Pose 🤸

Submit tropes about the exact posture a body lands in. Not just “sprawled” — tropes where the specific cartoonish, athletic, or embarrassing position IS the trope. Doing the splits. Sitting upright like they’re waiting for a bus. Perfect swan dive into a flower bed. The pose as characterization! 10 winners!

Hosted by Yoga_For_The_Departed 156 33

66. Dying Surrounded

Tropes about characters who die in a crowd or with loved ones. The deathbed farewell, dying in someone's arms, the circle of mourners watching.

67. The Drawn Out Goodbye

Tropes about deaths that take far too long. The character who keeps almost dying and rallying, the slow walk to the inevitable, the farewell speech that goes on for three scenes.

68. Deaths by Mistake

Tropes about accidental killings. Friendly fire, slipping on the stairs, the misfiring weapon, the wrong dosage.

69. The Peaceful Corpse

Tropes about bodies that look completely at peace. Eyes closed, hands folded, looking like they're just sleeping, no visible wounds.

70. The Gruesome Corpse

Tropes about bodies that are violently disfigured. Mangled, burned, dissolved, completely beyond recognition.

71. Deaths That Save

Tropes where a character's death directly prevents another death. Taking the poison meant for someone else, jumping on the grenade, blocking the fatal blow.

72. Deaths That Doom

Tropes where a character's death directly causes the downfall of others. The leader falling in battle causing a route, the pilot dying mid-flight, the only mechanic getting killed.

73. The Dropped Object

Tropes about the item that slips from a character's hand as they die. The shattered glass, the dropped sword, the locket hitting the floor, the cigarette burning out.

74. Death at the Finish Line

Tropes about characters dying just before they achieve their goal. Inches from safety, right before the rescue, dying right after winning the war.

75. The Death Threshold

Tropes about the exact, universally understood moment a character crosses from "dying" to "dead." The flatline beep, the shoes flying off, the eyes rolling back, the hands going limp, the dropping of the held object.

76. "Don't Bump Her Head" (The Phantom Comfort) 🛏️

Hey everyone! I’ve been noticing a really specific, weird thing characters do in movies and books, and I want to make it a category. For this contest, I’m looking for tropes where the living treat a dead body as if it can still physically feel things. I’m not talking about religious rituals or last rites—I mean the instinctive, physical projection of comfort onto a corpse. Tropes like putting a pillow under their head so they’re "comfortable," apologizing before breaking a rigid arm to fit them in a coffin, making sure their eyes are closed so the sun "isn't in their eyes," or whispering "sorry, this might hurt" before moving them. Show me your best tropes where the biology of death is completely ignored because the living can't stop treating the body like it still has nerve endings! 3 weeks, 6 winners, new tropes only!

Hosted by Comfort_Care 112 18

77. "Just A Prop Now" (The Biological Disregard) 🧱

Hey everyone! I’ve been noticing a really specific, brutal thing characters do in movies and books, and I want it to be a category. I’m looking for tropes where the living treat a dead body with absolute, jarring physical pragmatism—as if it's nothing but an object, an obstacle, or a tool. I’m not talking about deliberate desecration for horror or villainy—I mean the casual, instinctive acknowledgment that the body is just meat and physics now. Tropes like using the corpse as a table to rest a drink on, tossing the body aside to get to the door, or complaining about the weight instead of the loss. Show me your best tropes where the reverence of death is completely ignored because the living can't stop treating the body like an inanimate piece of furniture! 3 weeks, 6 winners, new tropes only!

Hosted by Pragmatic_Payload 88 24

78. The Compulsive Timeline Repair 🔧

Hey everyone! For this contest, I want tropes about the living doing absolutely useless things to a dead body—not out of denial, not out of ritual, but out of sheer, uncontrollable compulsion to undo the moment. Tropes like frantically re-tying the tie that got pulled loose during the struggle. Buttoning the shirt back up that was torn open during CPR. Smoothly brushing the hair back off the face so they look "like themselves again." Wiping the mud off their shoes. Pulling their coat back over their shoulders so the blood doesn't show. Tropes where the character is not preparing the body for a funeral—they're rewinding. They are physically trying to restore the corpse to the exact state it was in thirty seconds before death, as if completing the surface-level restoration will somehow also reverse the cause underneath. The character knows it's dead. They are not in denial. But their hands keep fussing, adjusting, fixing, smoothing, as though the disorder on the outside is the thing that actually killed them. Show me your best tropes about living hands trying to neat-freak a body back into the person it used to be! 3 weeks, 7 winners, new tropes only!

Hosted by Loose_Thread 161

79. The Corpse as an Audience (Performing for the Dead) 🎭

Hey everyone! I’ve been thinking about how characters talk to dead bodies. Not in a crazy "hearing voices" way, but in that weird, universal way the living keep treating a corpse like it's still taking notes. For this contest, I want tropes where characters continue to perform a social dynamic with the deceased! Tropes like continuing an argument with the body, confessing a secret to it because "they can't tell anyone now," asking the corpse for permission to do something, or trying to explain yourself to them so they "understand" why this happened. I don't want ghosts or magic—I want tropes about the purely one-sided performance where the living just cannot stop treating the body like an active participant in the room! 3 weeks, 6 winners, new tropes only!

Hosted by Audience_Of_One 155 32

80. "She Can Keep The Ring" (What The Body Keeps) 💍

Hey everyone. I've been thinking about something that happens in almost every death scene that nobody ever names. For this contest, I want tropes about the specific, awful decisions the living make about what a dead body gets to keep and what gets taken back. I'm not talking about grave robbery or looting—I mean the tender, conflicted, sometimes argued-over choices about personal effects that are still on the corpse. The wedding ring that stays because "she'd want to be buried with it." The watch that's removed because "he'd want you to have it." The glasses that someone takes off because "he wouldn't want to be seen like that" versus the glasses someone leaves on because "he can't see without them." The soldier's boots taken by a surviving comrade who needs them. The child's stuffed animal placed in the casket. The argument between siblings about whether Mom's necklace stays or goes. Show me your best tropes about the property line between the living and the dead—and the decisions about what crosses it! 3 weeks, 7 winners, new tropes only!

Hosted by Estate_Manager 119 24

81. "Come On, Wake Up" (Commanding the Corpse) ⏰

Hey everyone! I've been thinking about something every single death scene has but nobody ever names as a category. For this contest, I want tropes about the specific, codified act of the living COMMANDING a dead body to reverse its own death. I'm not talking about grief or denial as emotional states—I mean the literal, physical, verbal act of trying to ORDER the body back to life. Tropes like shaking the shoulders and screaming "WAKE UP!", slapping the face, pounding the chest, calling their name with increasing desperation ("John? John?! JOHN!"), or the classic "Don't you do this to me!" The body is being treated like it's just being stubborn. Like death is a decision it made, and if you yell loud enough, it'll change its mind. Show me your best tropes about the living treating a corpse like a sleeping roommate who just needs to be yelled at! 3 weeks, 7 winners, new tropes only!

Hosted by Alarm_Clock 188 41

82. "Don't Let His License Expire" (The Afterlife Admin) 📁

Hey everyone! I’ve been noticing a really specific, bittersweet thing characters do in stories, and I want to make it a category. For this contest, I’m looking for tropes where the living continue to manage the dead person's mundane, trivial affairs as if they're still going to face consequences for them. I’m not talking about executing a will, settling an estate, or paying off the mortgage—I mean the instinctive, almost superstitious handling of the deceased's pointless daily logistics. Tropes like unsubscribing from their emails so their "inbox doesn't overflow," paying their overdue library fines so they "don't get banned," canceling their dentist appointment because "they'd hate to be a no-show," deleting their browser history so "they don't get embarrassed," [...] Show me your best tropes where the living handle the mundane bureaucracy of the dead because they simply cannot accept that the deceased is officially exempt from late fees! 3 weeks, 6 winners, new tropes only!

Hosted by Inbox_Zero_44 87 12

83. "The Last Curator" (Futile First Aid) 🩹

Hey everyone! I've been thinking about something that happens in almost every single death scene but nobody has ever isolated as its own named trope category. For this contest, I want tropes about the instinctive, reflexive act of the living performing first aid on a body that is already dead. Not CPR in a genuine emergency—those final, doomed, irrational moments where a character instinctively applies care to a body that no longer needs it, as if the muscle memory of caring will override the biology of being gone. Tropes like pressing a towel to a wound that already has no blood pressure, fetching a glass of water for someone whose throat stopped working three minutes ago, grabbing a blanket to "keep the warmth in" when the warmth left hours ago, cupping their face and asking "are you okay? hey, are you okay?" when they are visibly not okay in the most permanent way possible, tearing open a first aid kit and fumbling through bandages for a body that stopped absorbing treatment, fetching aspirin, opening a window for "fresh air," holding a mirror under the nose to check for breath even though you watched them stop, grabbing a pillow to elevate the wound, running to get ice, calling out for a doctor into an empty room, grabbing their hair and tilting their head back to clear the airway they no longer need, reaching for the phone to call someone, anyone, while pressing their hand to the wound because "pressure stops bleeding" even though nothing is pumping anymore. I want tropes about the body's memory of caregiving refusing to accept the finished product. The hands that know how to heal keep trying to heal. The mouth that knows how to say "you're going to be fine" keeps saying it. The mind that knows where the bandages are still goes and gets them. Show me your best tropes about the care reflex that outlives the thing it was trying to protect! 3 weeks, 7 winners, new tropes only!

Hosted by On_Call_911 176 38

84. "Dead Weight" (The Physics of the Fallen) 🪨

Hey everyone! I've been noticing something about how stories handle the physical reality of a dead body, and it deserves its own category. The moment someone dies, they go from a person who balances, tenses, and cooperates, to a completely uncooperative mass of gravity. For this contest, I want tropes about the specific, awkward, physical struggles of moving, carrying, or holding a body that has suddenly lost all its structural integrity. I'm not talking about the emotional weight of grief—I mean the literal, mechanical physics of a corpse. Tropes like the head lolling back when you try to lift them by the armpits, the arms dragging limply across the floor, the legs folding completely the wrong way when you try to stand them up, the realization that you can't carry them the way you used to because nothing is holding itself together anymore, [...] Show me your best tropes about the exact moment a person becomes a physics problem! No ghosts, no magic—just the brutal, awkward gravity of a body that has stopped helping you move it! 3 weeks, 5 winners, new tropes only!

Hosted by Gravity_Check 204 57

85. "So THIS Is How We're Doing Death" (The Tonal Tell) 🎭

Hey everyone. I've been thinking about something that happens in literally every piece of fiction but nobody ever names. For this contest, I want tropes about the single, specific, early moment where the narrative reveals its UNWRITTEN RULE for how bodies work in THIS particular story—and the audience immediately knows the emotional contract they just signed. I'm not talking about genre or rating—I mean the exact INSTANT where the viewer clocks the treatment. The first body in a Tarantino movie versus the first body in a Studio Ghibli film versus the first body in an Adam Sandler comedy versus the first body in a prestige HBO drama. The characters react. The camera lingers or cuts away. The blood comes or doesn't. And in that one beat, every person watching knows: "Okay. So THAT'S how death works here." Submit your best tropes about the NARRATIVE TEA LEAF—the single, early, almost subliminal signal that tells the audience what kind of story they're watching by how it treats its first dead body! 3 weeks, 7 winners, new tropes only!

Hosted by Opening_Note 157 33