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11th May '13 12:46:05 PM SeptimusHeap

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In its original form, tropes are storytelling devices meant to convey a concept to an audience. The overwhelming majority of tropes on this site are specifically that: devices that can be recreated by an aspiring author who visits this wiki. Other tropes are about identifying how the [[AudienceReaction audience reacts]] to an event, and are often an unintended side-effect of the use of a trope. If common enough, there are separate tropes for the same thing from two points of view. Some tropes tend to blur that line where both the characters within the story and the audience react the same way to the use of the trope, which sometimes involves a LampshadeHanging.

In this wiki you will find the use of the comment "in-universe" by someone saying "This trope was used in-universe when..." and that is where a trope more often thought of as an ''audience reaction'' is used within the story. One such use is the InvokedTrope, where the characters actively set up the trope in advance, though that happens more often with ''storytelling tropes''.

For an example, SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute is more often a fan reaction to a replacement character. The reaction is often "You're mostly the same as the previous character, but you're not the one I remember and love." The series ''StarWarsTheCloneWars'' has an episode where [=R2D2=] is lost in battle and Anakin is given a new (virtually identical) droid. He ends up having the same reaction and attitude as most fans have with a replacement character.

And there is also a distinction between what is used in the story and the reasons it was used in the story. For example, Elliot was [[GenderBender transformed]] with [[RapunzelHair long hair]] during [[ExpositionParty Grace's birthday party]] in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive''. The in-universe reason was to get [[StraightGay Justin]], who likes playing with hair, to agree to come. The practical storytelling reason was because he would [[OnlySixFaces look just like]] [[OppositeSexClone Ellen]] otherwise.

Word of advice to prospective writers. Despite what may be often believed, even without a {{lampshade}}, writers should be aware of the tropes they are using and how people will react to it. What separates Good Writing and Bad Writing is how much effort there is put into cleaning up the way tropes are used. Do not neglect the In-universe reasons. Give them a HandWave at least. Your readers will not forgive you if you don't.

Also compare WatsonianVersusDoylist.

And here are some tropes that are separated by In-universe and Audience Reaction / RealLife (In that order):
* AlasPoorVillain and AlasPoorScrappy
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer and TheScrappy
* AscendedFanboy and PromotedFanboy
* BeautifulAllAlong and UnnecessaryMakeover
* BrainBleach and {{Squick}}
* BreakTheCutie and TheWoobie
* ExplainExplainOhCrap and FridgeLogic / FridgeHorror
* GodGuise and MisaimedFandom
* FamedInStory and EverybodyKnowsThat
* {{Fetish}} and FetishFuel
* GoodIsNotNice and JerkassSue
* HandWave and RuleOfCool
* HelloNurse and MemeticSexGod
* HerCodeNameWasMarySue and MarySue
* InnocentInnuendo and AccidentalInnuendo
* InvokedTrope and IntendedAudienceReaction
* MeanCharacterNiceActor and [[RealLife/MeanCharacterNiceActor Real Life: Mean Character, Nice Actor]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero and WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings
* NominalHero and DesignatedHero
* OrcusOnHisThrone and DesignatedVillain
* PassingTheTorch or TakeUpMySword (depending on whether the character lives) and ChangingOfTheGuard
* ReplacementGoldfish and SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute
* ResignationsNotAccepted and {{Retirony}}
* ShipperOnDeck and {{Shipping}}
* ShroudedInMyth and MemeticBadass
* StylisticSuck and SoBadItsGood
* SympathyForTheDevil and CryForTheDevil
* ThisIsUnforgivable and MoralEventHorizon
* UnexpectedlyObscureAnswer and MoonLogicPuzzle
* YouMonster and CompleteMonster

See also InUniverseMarketing (a closely related phenomena), InUniverseExamplesOnly (when tropes can only have examples and wicks in-universe).

On the wiki "In-universe" (or InUniverse) is also a "magic word" you can you use to mark cases of in-story use of AudienceReactions, that don't have genuine trope equivalents. Typing this (or better yet, using it as a {{pothole}}, since the phrase usually sounds out of place, especially when dropped in a pre-written example) will disable the in-page [[YMMV.HomePage YMMV]] notification for that bullet and its lower level bullets.[[note]]Adding [=[[invoked]]=] to the line (square brackets included) performs the same function, but doesn't show in the regular page display.[[/note]] ''Do not abuse'' this feature, or we'll be forced to do terrible things to you, whatever universe you're in.
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10th May '13 2:09:16 AM Morgenthaler

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22nd Apr '13 12:40:03 PM Morgenthaler

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25th Mar '13 2:32:48 PM Morgenthaler

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