I was thinking about stories that tell themselves today. The type that are so ingrained in pop-culture, through genres or goals, that they’ve become templates.
Revenge stories and heists come to mind.
Their plots both make sense and I can imagine their beats without having to think too hard.
This doesn’t make them predictable per say, it doesn’t make them bland either, plenty of storytellers twist these “tropes” in new and interesting ways while still following their rules.
Is this what stories are supposed to be?