History Tropers / TheWanderer

* Franchise/{{Rocky}}

* PyrrhicVillainy
* WebComic/LeastICouldDo

About me:

[[folder:Quick facts about me]]
* Age: Now 42, although I am often told that [[OlderThanTheyLook I look much younger]].
* From: UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity originally, I still live in the US.
* Hobbies: Reading, writing stories and poetry, photography, martial arts, being an incredibly annoying smartass.
* Politics: A pretty arch Liberal/Progressive by US standards.
* Personality: INTP according to MyersBriggs.
* Religion: Non-affiliated, an agnostic with a fair amount of Buddhism leanings would probably be the most accurate way to quickly describe it.

[[folder:Tropes that apply to me]]
* {{Adorkable}}: At least when you get to know me and I unwind a bit.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: My mother's family is somewhat multiracial and even the fully white people can appear somewhat AmbiguouslyBrown. I'm one of the "whitest", thanks to my dad's heritage and helped by the fact that I don't get out in the sun as much as some, but even I've been assumed to be some "non-white" ethnicities, as the US judges race. (Oh course, the way race is judged, or even the idea of race altogether is BS, but that's another story.)
* AnswersToTheNameOfGod: Reacting when people say something like "Oh God" is a RunningGag that I do. My personal favorite example with a girl I was dating at the time:
-->'''Her:''' Oh God!\\
'''Me:''' Yes?\\
'''Her:''' (She's a somewhat observant Jew and frustrated with this gag by now) You're not God!!!\\
'''Me:''' That's not what you said last night.\\
'''Her:''' ... okay, so you're ''a'' god, you're just not '''''the''''' God, okay?!
* BadassLongcoat: I don't claim to be particularly badass, but I do love my long black jacket, and it's impossible to separate me from it in winter.
* BerserkButton: A few, despite otherwise being pretty laid back and easy going.
** LackOfEmpathy[=/=]most prejudices in general. Homophobia and transphobia are near the top of my list of things I despise, as I grew up around lots of cool LGBTQ people that were kind to me when I was a lonely kid and they deal with more than enough shit in the US and around much of the world as it is, and don't really need any extra from bigoted assholes. But most of the -isms (racism/sexism/classism and so on and so forth) similarly frustrate the hell out of me and make me want to punch the person who is doing so.
** Feeling as though someone is being condescending to me.
** Repeating things over and over to em to make sure I understand them. As long as I'm paying attention to you, odds are once is enough for me to understand something, and if not I'll ask, thank you. You don't need to volunteer it again, all it does is make me feel like you think I'm too stupid or incompetent to get it, or are being condescending.
* UsefulNotes/BipolarDisorder
* BlindWithoutEm: Big time.
* BrilliantButLazy: Apparently this is a complete cliche to put on one's own troper page, (and probably a little gauche/a sign of ego) but I'm usually one of the smarter people around and have serious issues with motivation that probably stem from depression and my background.
* BrokenPedestal: Me mentoring people never seems to turn out well. Despite that I seem drawn towards trying to be the BigBrotherMentor[=/=]CoolTeacher to various people. [[http://moosekleenex.tumblr.com/post/123040190664 This comic]] expresses my feelings pretty well.
* BrooklynRage: Most of the time, I'm an aversion. (And yes I was born and grew up in Brooklyn, if you're curious.) However, I retain some of the attitude and according to friends [[BewareTheNiceOnes I get scary when I'm mad]]...
* ChaoticGood
* CloudCuckooLander: I tend to get ''very'' silly and carefree around people I'm totally comfortable with. They just happen to be very few, so most people experience me as the quiet stoic.
* CombatPragmatist: I did my share of fighting bigger, nastier kids growing up and in my early teens. As a result my philosophy about fighting is that if there's the slightest chance of being hurt in a fight, (which there ''always'' is, even in sparring, although it wouldn't be cool to bring out the pragmatism in sparring) then anything goes.
* CovertPervert: Beneath the quiet, polite exterior lies a very dirty mind. People who used to seem impossibly dirty minded to me are now often surprised when I beat them in thinking dirty things.
* DarkAndTroubledPast
* DeadpanSnarker: To the point of getting real life lampshades. Some of the guys I work with will say something like "And this is the part when James makes a smartass comment" when they realize they've set themselves up for such a comment.
* FormerlyFat[=/=]FormerlyFit: Much of my early life I was on the skinny side, but since my mid-20s or so I've gone through cycles of gaining a lot of weight, losing it by getting fit, and then slowly going back to my old habits and putting it back on.
* FriendToAllChildren
* TheGadfly: I really take far, far too much pleasure in doing this with people I know well enough that there won't be any (major) offense taken. And I'm pretty much unable to curb that once I get up and going.
* GracefulLoser: I usually shake hands and congratulate someone who beats me in a game, and if I'm trading snarkiness with someone and they make a cutting comment, [[ActuallyPrettyFunny I'm usually the first to laugh and give a high five]].
* HonorBeforeReason: If I decide that something is the right thing to do, it's more or less impossible for me not to do it. Often to my own chagrin.
* TheInsomniac
* InsufferableGenius: In my worse moments.
* IntelligenceEqualsIsolation
* JackOfAllTrades: Worked jobs in multiple fields, (sales, technology, banking, customer service, automotive, health care) and dabbled in various artistic fields as well. (Writing fiction, poetry, photography, creating videos on youtube, etc.)
* KnightInSourArmor: Although the degree of this and exactly where I am in the Idealism-Cynicism spectrum can change drastically from day to day.
* {{Nerd}}
* NiceToTheWaiter
* NoSocialSkills: When I was younger. Still working on that one... although the truth is I that I probably don't care enough to make as much progress as I should.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Which vaguely amuses me, since years ago people regularly guessed that I was older than I really was. Now everyone thinks I'm younger. I've recently started to joke that I'm reaching the SilverFox age range but don't have enough silver in my hair to take advantage of it.
* TheOneWhoMadeItOut: Not all of my friends and relatives from my youth were as lucky as I was in how their lives turned out.
* PermaStubble
* ProudToBeAGeek: Hells yeah!
* PungeonMaster: I'm incredibly fond of my puns.
* TheQuietOne
* RedOniBlueOni: I was blue to a longtime former best friend, and in general lean towards that role.
* TheSmartGuy
* TheSnarkKnight
* ScarsAreForever: Actually, they all healed up well enough that most people have no idea they're there unless I point them out.
* SophisticatedAsHell: I grew up in Brooklyn in [[BigRottenApple the bad old days]]. I'm also very well read and have been from an early age. The inevitable result is the occasional casual swearing in the midst of an otherwise intelligent speech or conversation. People around me are always a bit thrown by just how casual I can be with the cursing no matter how many times it happens, because they're used to the smart and quiet side of me dominating.
* TheStoic: Again, at least until I feel comfortable enough to let people in.
* StoicSpectacles
* TemptingFate: Quite frequently. One of my (semi-joking, semi-serious) mottoes is "What is luck for if not to push it?"
* ThinkNothingOfIt: I tend to to do the right thing simply because it's the right thing, and to do nice things for people just for reasons like seeing them enjoy something I enjoy. (My younger self would think that I've turned into such a ridiculous goody two shoes in my old age).
* TooCleverByHalf: Frequently.
* TheTrickster
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Well, I used to be, anyway. The years have caught up.
[[/folder]]

My biggest contributions to the wiki:

[[folder:Tropes I suggested and others launched:]]
* ScaledUp
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain.
* NotAfraidToDie
* CluelessBoss
* DeliberatelyJumpingTheGun
[[/folder]]

* Age: Now 40, although I am often told that [[OlderThanTheyLook I look much younger]].

** LackOfEmpathy[=/=]most prejudices in general. Homophobia is probably my biggest one, as I grew up around lots of cool LGBT people that were kind to me when I was a lonely kid and they deal with more than enough shit in the US and around much of the world as it is, and don't really need any extra from bigoted assholes. But most of the ism (racism/sexism/classism and so on and so forth) similarly frustrate the hell out of me and make me want to punch the person who is doing so.

* BrilliantButLazy: Apparently this is a complete cliche to put on one's own troper page, (and probably a little gauche/a sign of ego) but I'm usually ether the smartest or one of the smartest people around and it's not like I've exactly accomplished a lot with that brain power. Also, I rather intensely dislike having to invest large amounts of time in something (i.e. multiple years at college) instead of, say, just being able to quickly study a subject and then get tested on it.
* BrokenPedestal: Me mentoring people never seems to turn out well. Despite that I seem drawn towards being the BigBrotherMentor[=/=]CoolTeacher to various people.
** [[http://moosekleenex.tumblr.com/post/123040190664 This comic]] expresses my feelings pretty well too.

* CloudCuckooLander: I tend to get ''very'' silly and carefree around people I'm totally comfortable with. They just happen to be very few, so most people see me as the quiet stoic.

* HonorBeforeReason: If I decide that something is the right thing to do, it's more or less impossible for me not to do it, sometimes to the chagrin of the part of me that likes to play at being mischievous and roguish.

* KnightInSourArmor: Although the degree of this and exactly where I am in the Idealism-Cynicism spectrum depends on my mood and what day it is.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Which vaguely amuses me, since years ago people regularly guessed that I was older than I really was. Now everyone thinks I'm younger.

* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: A lot of the jobs I've worked in have been, in one way or another, sales or customer service oriented. In all of them I refused to go along with any programs I felt screwed customers or were dishonest, even if it might make me more money. The almost inevitable result was me leaving after getting too frustrated with the way these things worked.

* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Well, I used to be, anyway. The years have kinda caught up.

* RedOniBlueOni