Moral scapegoats

[BernKatstel]

Without referencing almost every Xianxia story ever. What are some of the best/worst uses of the trope you have seen in media?

 

[NotaNuffian]

Worst use I have seen is MC is a rapist but somehow it is better because his opposing parties are rapist pro+.

And because sad backstory from MC with Mr Krabs and the world's smallest violin.

Ps. Watched a furry talked about this topic in Utube three days ago, the bots be doing work.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Worst use I have seen is MC is a rapist but somehow it is better because his opposing parties are rapist pro+.

 

[AnonUnlimited]

I think the whole, "strong" can do whatever they want is kind of a moral scapegoat in Xanxia.

I think though, that in modern romance stories, they always let the beautiful or handsome guy get away with horrible things from a cheating aspect just because they're good looking and attractive. That's a kind of a moral scapegoat where they 'forgive' because they're attractive.

Then there is the, "your race did this in history therefore it's okay for us to do it now" scapegoat.

I find that modern society tends to be willing to favor some races more than others because of history, or DEI and use that as a scapegoat for treating others horribly.

 

[Santaisblue]

Then there is the, "your race did this in history therefore it's okay for us to do it now" scapegoat

I'm one of those people, it's why I always ruin every Korean's day when I see them?

 

[TheEldritchGod]

I'm one of those people, it's why I always ruin every Korean's day when I see them?

My brother is Korean.

 

[Daitengu]

Lelouch from Code Grass was an interesting scapegoat.

 

[RepresentingDesire]

I think the whole, "strong" can do whatever they want is kind of a moral scapegoat in Xanxia.

Well I don't believe so.
It's just the common ideology or ethic that strength gives you rights.
They don't possess a variation of a morality found in our society but a morality that is based on meritocratic values.

 

[ThrillingHuman]

My brother is Korean.

Don't let that guy know your brother's address then. Unless you are encouraging him?

 

[MisterEnigmatic]

My brother is Korean.

Bro is trying to get his bro assassinated. Why would you tell them that?

 

[Santaisblue]

My brother is Korean

Well well well

 

[Gray_Mann]

I think though, that in modern romance stories, they always let the beautiful or handsome guy get away with horrible things from a cheating aspect just because they're good looking and attractive. That's a kind of a moral scapegoat where they 'forgive' because they're attractive.

Lol. That's just Modern Dating 101. Handsome guy touches girls shoulder? Thats cute. Unattractive creepy guy does same thing? That's sexual harassment.

I find that modern society tends to be willing to favor some races more than others because of history, or DEI and use that as a scapegoat for treating others horribly.

Ah yes. Americans.

 

[Kenjona]

In Xianxia stories there are Aphrodisiacs that cause a person to go completely out of control and make them need to have sex (sometimes dying if they do not); they are also seemingly semi-easy to get.
But no Xianxia cultivator ever carries the antidote to said known aphrodisiacs on them, even though they are also available. When the antidote is needed its just always to far away to get before affected person can get to it in time.

There was one story that they did get the antidote in time; mad respect for that story, to bad the author dropped writing it.

 

[QuercusMalus]

In Xianxia stories there are Aphrodisiacs that cause a person to go completely out of control and make them need to have sex (sometimes dying if they do not); they are also seemingly semi-easy to get.
But no Xianxia cultivator ever carries the antidote to said known aphrodisiacs on them, even though they are also available. When the antidote is needed its just always to far away to get before affected person can get to it in time.

There was one story that they did get the antidote in time; mad respect for that story, to bad the author dropped writing it.

I will try to find it again but I had seen a 'Xianxia Drinking Bingo' of tropes that appear in the stories repeatedly. That one was definitely one of them (along with acupuncture cures everything). Though my personal favorite was the one where they used it to 'cure' pregnancy. Then realizing a few chapters later it was just an awful translation and they meant morning sickness.

 

[Deleted member 166076]

Lol. That's just Modern Dating 101. Handsome guy touches girls shoulder? Thats cute. Unattractive creepy guy does same thing? That's sexual harassment.

Ah yes. Americans.

Someone's attractiveness is often perceived differently based on their personality. Science also shows that relationships last longer when the woman is considered the more conventionally attractive one in the relationship. So, I don't know about it being "modern dating 101". It's just that people do have the right to their bodily autonomy and get to decide which advances to accept or not. Suggesting there is anything wrong with that just makes you sound like a creep.

I've never even once read a story where Americans attack or refuse to help someone else because of racism where it was "justified". Usually it's Japan vs Korea vs China. The only thing I tend to see as a cliche trend is Americans are "stealing" the S-ranks by ... *gasp* offering them better pay and living conditions.

In 100% US settings like say zombie apocalypse everyone is an American, regardless of skin color, so you can't even claim to be talking about racism in that regard. There's just not a lot of cross-over with different countries interacting in most literature written with a US setting because the US is already large enough that it's believable for all the conflict to be set in the same country. In Europe you can travel from one end of a country to another in a day usually, but it'd take several days in the US by car. If you have people doing so via walking because of an apocalypse or whatever else it'd take months.

 

[Gray_Mann]

So, I don't know about it being "modern dating 101". It's just that people do have the right to their bodily autonomy and get to decide which advances to accept or not. Suggesting there is anything wrong with that just makes you sound like a creep.

A woman defending female hypocrisy in the dating scene and making excuses? Who could have ever seen that coming....

Thinly veiled attack on my character snuck in? Typical emotional response. How dare I point out a deficiency in modern woman's character right?

10 points to Slytherin if you call me a misogynist in your next comment ?

As for the rest of your overly worded response regarding racism, I feel like you read too much into my comment. I simply said Americans because only your kind is so pathetic as to waste so much valuable time crying about the past. I mean, the reparations debatein particular is so pathetic and hilarious that only Americans could have thought of it?? I thought it was a joke when I first learned of it from some American friends on Discord.


Let's skip the build up, just do what your itching to do. Call me a racist, bigot, misogynist, and whatever other nonsense. Come on, I'm giving freebies here.

 

[Santaisblue]

A woman defending female hypocrisy in the dating scene and making excuses? Who could have ever seen that coming....

Thinly veiled attack on my character snuck in? Typical emotional response. How dare I point out a deficiency in modern woman's character right?

10 points to Slytherin if you call me a misogynist in your next comment ?

As for the rest of your overly worded response regarding racism, I feel like you read too much into my comment. I simply said Americans because only your kind is so pathetic as to waste so much valuable time crying about the past. I mean, the reparations debatein particular is so pathetic and hilarious that only Americans could have thought of it?? I thought it was a joke when I first learned of it from some American friends on Discord.


Let's skip the build up, just do what your itching to do. Call me a racist, bigot, misogynist, and whatever other nonsense. Come on, I'm giving freebies here.

Bro chill, this ain't Reddit, y'all can calm down.

 

[Kenjona]

Ah yes. Americans.

As far as reparations for past deeds go, that is as old as at least Carthage. So what country are you from? An Smart assed inquiring mind wants to know.

 

[Cipiteca396]

I couldn't find a clear definition for this term, with the only trope-related one saying, 'A character who is evil that gets portrayed by the story/author as good'.

Rather than a trope, I'd call that bad writing, and wouldn't read it... I suppose it could work if it was done satirically, but I haven't seen anything like that personally.

So if I can't think of a good use, the bad ones then?

Oh right, there's the 'Death is a necessary part of life' trope. It's so common for the big bad to be some immortal minding his own business when the hero busts in and says, "Everything has to die sometime!" Granted, it's often justified by the immortal being a prick, but they act like being immortal is the bad part.

I already mentioned this recently, but the "Suffering creates Strength" trope can lead to this. It's pretty rare for 'heroic' characters to actively go around causing torment to try and 'uplift' their victims, but it does happen. To some extent, this is YOU who's reading this! It's YOU! Why do you keep making your characters suffer?

A rather obvious one is the genocidal characters like Goblin Slayer. It's easy to say that goblins deserve it, but you've always got to hold onto the suspicion that maybe those 'goblins' are literal scapegoats standing in for less deserving real world people. Or that they aren't as evil as they appear from the outside even in-universe.
I was just reading something where the first enemies were designated by the system as Goblin Bandits, and I was wondering if the author was gonna pull a fast one and be like, "Sure, the first goblins you saw were monsters, but that doesn't mean their whole species is! You bad person!" I didn't get far enough to find out if that's what happened sadly.

That's probably enough out of me for now.

 

[QuercusMalus]

Lol. That's just Modern Dating 101. Handsome guy touches girls shoulder? Thats cute. Unattractive creepy guy does same thing? That's sexual harassment.

Maybe because they're creepy?