UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein amazed the world in 1905 when he published his paper on special UsefulNotes/{{relativity}}, which predicted --among other things-- that time was, indeed, relative.

The writers, however, were left unimpressed, because they have been familiar with a similar principle for ages untold: for you see, it is a trivial matter to derive from the TheoryOfNarrativeCausality that -- just as things happen because the plot damn well needs them to -- they also happen ''when'' it is convenient for the story.

This phenomenon is known as Plot Time, and it crops up in a lot of {{Trope}}s.

Not to be confused with TimeTravelTropes, though the two do frequently cooperate. Compare TwentyFourHourTropeClock, for how times are used in plots.
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!!Tropes:

[[index]]
* BaitAndSwitchTimeSkip: It ''seems'' like a long time has passed, but it's only been a little while.
* ComicBookTime: A long-running series fudges the passage of time so that the main characters barely age (if at all) while time appears to pass as normal for the rest of the world.
* ConversationCut: A conversation continues across a scene change without interruption.
* CorrelationCausationGag: A gag where a small action is mistaken for the cause of a large action because they correlate.
* DramaticallyDelayedDrug: A drug doesn't work until it's most dramatic — or inconvenient.
* FrozenInTime: A fictional universe is limited to a specific time period, no matter how much time passes in real life.
* JustInTime: A rescue arrives just in the nick of time.
* MagicCountdown: Time flows differently on time counters that are currently not onscreen or discussed.
* PlotDetour: The plot is put on hold for a trivial reason.
* RealTime: Media shown in real time, with nothing sped up, slowed down, or cut.
* RefugeeFromTime: A character's backstory never changes with the time period.
* RidiculouslyFastConstruction: Buildings and units are produced at improbably high speed.
* ScottyTime: Someone has much less time than they need to get the job done, yet they get it done.
* SneezeCut: You sneeze when people elsewhere are talking about you.
* SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome: A character inexplicably becomes older between appearances.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: When a character is in danger, they somehow have enough time to talk about something right before getting out of harm's way or falling victim to the disaster.
* TimeSkip: A work skips to a specific amount of time later.
* TransformationAtTheSpeedOfPlot: TheVirus progresses as quickly or slowly as required for dramatic effect.
* TransformationIsAFreeAction: When a character goes through a transformation sequence, no one does anything until after the transformation is complete.
* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot: Characters or vehicles travel as quickly or slowly as the plot demands.
* VideoGameTime: A video game trope where actions that should require vastly different timescales occur at the same rate.
* WebcomicTime: Real time progresses much faster than in-universe time due to the rate at which a serialized story is produced.
[[/index]]
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