Light Angst: A Trope Analysis

This is about to be your new favorite thing.

I'm currently watching through Once Upon A Time with my sister, and I couldn't help but notice- Snow and Charming have a certain... something about the way they see everything. It's all 'love wins' and 'it'll be all right, I know it' and 'I believe in you'. It really grabbed my attention. I was about to label it as just standard character angst, but it wasn't. It was like angst, but... in the other direction, you know?

I'm calling it light angst. As in, like angst but the other way. The opposite side of the spectrum. The other extreme, if you will.

While regular angst, or 'dark angst' as we'll call it so we can tell them apart for the post, is a dedication to believing that everything is terrible, tragic, empty, you know the gist. Picture the opposite of that, and you have light angst. Unashamed, open dedication to the belief that everything is okay and will turn out for the better despite everything. It's so wholesome.

too cute. should be illegal.

I think this trope is interesting because it's unique. I'm not even sure that I've seen it in anything other than Once, or at any rate, nothing comes to mind. It's almost cringy it's so pure, but I love it. And I'd love to see it in more places. 

Picture this as the central character of a story, or as a secondary character if it feels like too much for your palette. I think this could be truly beautiful if one used it correctly. I can picture this trope working for parent characters, for best friends, for a tasteful love interest, for children, and for unlikely mentors. I honestly want to write it myself once I find a place for it in one of my WIPs.

It's a short post, I know, but I wanted to call attention to this trope while it was still fresh in my mind. I love it, and I want to infect the nation with it. XD Anyway, until next time!