trope-a-day
Subspace Ansible: The tangle channel, which involves manufactured entangled (not in the standard quantum sense, note, because we know that doesn’t work; these are ontotechnological devices using the “privileged channels” a long way behind those) particle-pairs. This makes them quite expensive (since they are a consumable resource, one particle
trope-a-day
Stronger With Age: Averted. The eldrae, and various other immortal species and immortagen-users, don’t generally get stronger with age, short of grafting in more advanced biomods and other enhancements as technology marches on. (On the other hand, they do generally get more skilled at applying that strength, and remarkably
trope-a-day
Streaming Stars: Averted. However incomprehensible the speeds lighthuggers move at, they’re not nearly fast enough – and can’t be, courtesy of the luminal limit – to create noticeable motion parallax. Some blue- and red-shifting and relativistic distortion, yes, once they’re cruising along at the full 0.9c; but no
trope-a-day
Strawman Political: Well, of course – but in-world, inasmuch as most of the protagonists come from a culture which believes that politics are what happens to you after your brains fall out, and would largely agree with that. And who tend to think the worst of the assortment of Evil Stereotypes
trope-a-day
What Do You Mean, It’s Not Political?: It is, I suppose, only in the generic sense of fiction featuring utopias or near-utopias, which is to say, only insofar as it’s therefore automatically a Take That to all those other, lesser, civilizations. As for more strictly political issues: well,
trope-a-day
The Strategist: Much like the long lifespans and engineered genius tends to turn those with a socially focused qalasĂr into The Chessmaster, they tend to turn those with a military/strategic focus into The Strategist. (DĂşrĂ©nĂän would approve.  So would Grand Admiral Thrawn.) Can, on occasion, verge on Mary Tzu
trope-a-day
Strange Syntax Speaker: Mostly averted by well-programmed translators; of course, this is not the case for relatively recently contacted species (whose linguistic corpuses may not be complete and conclusive, and who may well therefore play this absolutely straight, along with some vocabulary peculiarities) or, of course, cheap knock-off translators. Also
trope-a-day
This is answering a metaquestion, hence the odd prefix: More of a “how the sausage is made” question than anything relevant in-universe, but what’s your procedure for arranging the Trope-of-the-Day order? I’ve been thinking of using the idea for a world-building / possible writing project of my own that
trope-a-day
Stop Worshipping Me: Played straight by a large number of seed AI “gods” who by and large find the tendency of lesser orders of intelligence to worship them embarrassing and really quite annoying, not to mention inappropriate. Really. Just because something can fit whatever notions of divinity you just made
trope-a-day
Sticks to the Back: Both possible, and done, with tiny vector-control emitters sewn into the clothing that can grasp objects you place on top of them and hold them in place against the emitters, or even at a designated range from them. And, obviously, anywhere, not just the back, including
trope-a-day
Steel Eardrums: As mentioned briefly under Super Senses, one of the modifications included in the current alpha baseline upgrade is a special sphincter for the ear to protect against loud noises, both reflexively and voluntarily operable. It’s not perfect Steel Eardrums – where exceptionally loud noises are concerned – but it
trope-a-day
(No fic today, sorry… for reasons of pie. Urp.) Stay in the Kitchen: Averted in the Empire, where Gender Is No Object. No-one there would think of saying it – and when someone from elsewhere says it, they will have the damndest time trying to get the Imperial to understand what