So this weekend I had an interesting experience.  While planning out a scene in an upcoming novel, I faced a choice of who to play what role in the sequence: the hero or heroine of the story.  Both present, both capable.  Who played which role merely added a complication that could have been avoided or explained in other ways.  Basically, I had no reason not to choose one over the other.  So, which one did I choose?

The heroine. 

I'm not sure why, but as I imagined the sequence, with the villain of the moment wreaking havoc in an attempt to murder someone, I had an image of the heroine calmly walking into the fray to take on the foe while the hero took charge of the intended victim.  From there, the entire sequence just fell into place with the foe and heroine locked in combat as the hero and victim attempted to escape.

And it left a smile on my face.  Particularly with all of the Black Widow controversy coupled with the trope of the hero taking on the villain while the heroine takes charge of the person they're protecting.

I'm only one author and I still have the tendency to initially fall into those tropes.  But not this time.  And that left a smile on my face.