Board Thread:Administration/@comment-10950063-20140722025046/@comment-10950063-20140722134108

ImGonnaBeThatGuy wrote: I understand what you're saying, but I don't think it's that broad. The wording in the OP might be, but I'm thinking of a specific kind of story. If that kind of plot were so broad, every one of these stories wouldn't be the same.

-Child is abused by parents

-Parents are flat, strawman characters meant solely to be so EEEEEVIL.

-Dads are alcoholic 90% of the time.

-Child is perfect

-Child becomes a murderer, starting with the parents

-Child has a catchphrase.

-Sometimes the child has a mask or bcomes disfigured in some way.

And I know you're saying that someone can eschew that and make a good story. I'm not denying that. It's certainly possible, but this specific story has become a problem.

What if we hammered out an abused child formula? Because they are so cliched and rote at this point. Granted, it would mostly like the JtK formula, but with parents instead of bullies. Something to limit the influx of these kinds of story, because it's getting to be too much. The concept of abused children becoming something terrible is still open, but the writer now has to actually try in order for it not to be deleted out right.

And like I said, we still have to, at the very least, skim stories that violate the blacklist. Even if I'm getting a JtK vibe, I have to run through to see if it's hitting the beats. It's not hard to tell if it's deviating or if it's a diamond in the rough.