TV Tropes is:

A) One of my favorite sites on the Web
B) A way to lose several hours of your life
C) A repository of a vast store of human knowledge about narratives in a number of different media
D) A valuable tool for authors provided they're confident enough to read through the articles and realize that many of the ideas they credit themselves as having originated have already been done dozens, if not hundreds, of times before -- sometimes centuries ago
E) All of the above

(For those new to the idea, tropes are, per the wiki's own words, "devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations.")

I can't overstate how much I love that site and how many hours it's cost me. (I apologize in advance to those of you who click the link and find yourself reading a WMG page for your favorite movie...5 hours later.)

In my very first post to this blog, I wrote that a major motivating factor in my drive to become known as the most electrifying author in literature-entertainment was a desire for a large fandom. One of the things I imagine this future fandom doing is creating a page on TV Tropes for The Face Value Blues.

But I'm an impatient man.

So I've decided to start coming up with a list of tropes that apply to FVB all on my own. Maybe one day my readers will take this list and run with it. Be warned: Spoilers ahead if you've not yet finished the book.

Aerith and Bob: Artanis, Damaris, Moksha, and...Joseph. (Although it's worth noting that many -- though not all - of the names that seem to come straight from Fantasy Novel Central Casting are actually from the Bible or non-Western cultures.)

Bury Your Gays: Averted. Not only does Joseph make it to the end, he's the only one of the four main characters who's present at the last fight to make it through completely unharmed.

Fantastic Racism:Plenty of it, right alongside "good old-fashioned" hue-based racism. Lots of non-goblin folk hate the goblins; everybody hates Jesana's people. But also lampshaded (i.e., the trope is explicitly pointed out in the story): Artanis notes that the sign outside of Bellamy's is very much ignored once you walk inside.

Our Monsters Are Different: FVB takes place in a world with goblins that resemble Standard Fantasy goblins to some degree, a race called "ochres" that resemble Standard Fantasy Ogres to some degree, and a group whose degree of resemblance to Standard Fantasy elves the author has left open to interpretation. (However, Word of God states that you shouldn't take at, ahem, face value anything one of those people* does or says or that is done to them or said about them.)

That's all for now, since I don't want you all to get too lost in the woods that is TV Tropes. Look for more in the future -- likely after I provide part 2 of the Taiko short story.

As always, thanks for reading.

* "Those people" is linked to "Genius Bonus" because that particular phrase is a multi-level reference and play on words as used in my novel's setting.