Agents! Sports agents, literary agents, talent agents, the sleazy Hollywood kind -- many to choose from. My favorite said this: "You were a tomato! A tomato doesn’t have logic! A tomato can’t move!" Teacher/Student. Could be traditional like in a school setting such as Dead Poets Society, or could be master/apprentice like in Karate Kid and Batman Begins. The All Is Lost Moment. The lowest point in a protagonist's journey. Like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FM3Em7FIOc

Villain protagonists, especially character introductions of villain protagonists Breaking the fourth wall / asides / speaking directly to the camera (with the understanding that we're looking for examples of when this is done well!) Yes, these are selfish requests, related to projects I'm working on. I'd love help from GITS readers to find good examples.

Someone who just can't get the right words out -- stammering, stuttering, backtracking, hemming and hawing -- that sort of thing.

Opening/Closing dialogue. Lyrics/scripture in dialogue. Bickering. Not vicious, more like this: http://cli.ps/WCyPX Frenemies. Sibling rivalry.

Well last time I suggested lines from Woody Allen films. This time I request lines from Kevin Smith films. I love his early stuff (Clerks up to Dogma). Clerks is actually one of my all time favorite films of all time, although you can find some quality dialogue in any of his flicks: Hooper: So where's your better half? Banky Edwards: Takin' a piss. The guy's got a bladder like an infant. Hooper: That's funny. He says you're hung like an infant. Banky Edwards: Does his mother tell him everything?

Horror explanations - Here I mean the part of a horror film where we find out exactly what is happening, what the film is about or what the 'monster' of the film wants. An example would be in the Exorcist where the doctor suggests Regan may need an exorcism.

I like the breaking the fourth wall suggestion, should get some interesting examples.

And the villain protagonists actually! Is this the same type of thing as an anti-hero?

Okay, let me see if I can cobble together a list from the suggestions thus far: Teacher-Student All Is Lost Anti-Heroes [for Villain Protagonists] Breaking The Fourth Wall Tongue-Tied [stammering, stuttering] Sibling Rivalry Kevin Smith Exposition [a wider variation of horror explanations] If I may add one I think could be fun: Outbursts or perhaps more appropriately Losing One's Shit. That's not 13. C'mon, DDT people! Let's represent!

sarcasm (did we already do put downs?) declarations of love or devotion threats spoken or minimally spoken losing one's shit (scott) both literally and emotionally

Oh yes giving birth (which may also include LOS)

Giving birth. Have not done that. Let's add that to the list, thanks BNW.

Illeism: characters who refer to themselves in the third person! I'm sure GITS readers can come up with some knockout characters who do this.

I can't fucking believe there hasn't been a Swearing Daily Dialogue yet. Another goddamn suggestion - surrogate fathers/mothers.

^^ genius, hahaha.

I think you have several more than 13 now, but how about refusals and reactions -- someone turning someone else down for something big (marriage? business?), and the ensuing immediate reaction. How someone reacts under pressure ought to say a lot about them. So should how someone goes about saying no to any given proposition.

How about a theme called 'When the shit hits the fan' ? Michael Hague says 'no none says what they mean, we dance around our true feelings, we tiptoe up to our desires' - but the height of conflict happens when true feelings are spoken, usually in the climax: good examples could come from across genres including Tootsie, Michael Clayton, and many many others: when should characters say what they truly feel?