->''You're older than you've ever been, and now you're even older,''
-->''and now you're even older, and now you're even older.''
->''You're older than you've ever been, and now you're even older,''
-->''and now you're older still.''
->''Time is marching on, and time...''
-->-- Music/TheyMightBeGiants, "Older"

Any story must be written over some period of time. It can only be read at a later period (occasionally overlapping, but still later). Usually, this is fine. Some stories remain classics thousands of years after they were written. Others, not so much. The world shifts around them and they become less plausible, less interesting, less relevant, less funny, or even less comprehensible.

Contrast ItWillNeverCatchOn, which is part in-universe example, part HistoricalInJoke - though examples of those may, ironically, fit one of these tropes later on down the road. See also DiscreditedTrope and ForgottenTrope, for tropes of the past that have lost relevance and fallen out of use.
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!!Tropes:
[[index]]
[floatboxright:
'''Categories:'''
+ FailedFutureForecast
+ ValuesDissonance
]
* AluminumChristmasTrees: The work mentions something from the past that is obscure but really existed, while the audience assumes this was made up for the work.
* CanonMarchesOn: Tie-ins, spin-offs and other "expanded universe" franchise works that are rendered non-canon by later official installments.
** OutdatedByCanon: [[{{Fanon}} Fan-canon]] (particularly fan fiction) that has been made obsolete by developments in the official material.
* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: A prequel has a more advanced look to it than the work it is intended to take place before, due to the production team having access to better equipment and techniques.
* DatedHistory: New discoveries render previous documentation of an event or time period inaccurate.
* FailedFutureForecast: A work that attempts to make predictions about the imminent future inadvertently becomes an AlternateHistory, after real history passes the work's time frame and disproves its assumptions.
* FashionDissonance: Clothing, hair and makeup once seen as stylish look strange to modern audiences.
* HarsherInHindsight: Something from a work becomes less funny (a funny scene/joke doesn't age well) or even worse (a dramatic/sad scene doesn't age well) because of future events.
** HeartwarmingInHindsight: Something from a work becomes more endearing and heartwarming because of future events.
** HilariousInHindsight: Something from a work becomes funnier or more relevant because of future events.
** NotSoCrazyAnymore: A cultural, scientific or technological concept that a work presents as absurd or far-flung, only to become an unremarkable aspect of real life.
* FutureSocietyPresentValues: Beyond superficial trappings, the culture, politics and social norms of the future are portrayed as being mostly unchanged from the author's own time.
** EternalProhibition: Laws and taboos regarding unhealthy substances (drugs, alcohol, etc.) in the future are identical to whatever they were at the time the work was written.
* GetTheeToANunnery: Euphemisms that lose their original connotations over time, due to changing vocabulary and cultural context.
** HaveAGayOldTime: Terms that used to mean something innocent, but nowadays have much saucier meanings.
* TheNewAdventures: A sequel work is titled in a way that advertises how new it is, despite being years old and/or no longer the most recent work in the series.
* OnceOriginalNowCommon: A work that was innovative at the time nowadays comes off as uninspired and unremarkable.
* ProductionRelatedPeriodPiece: The work references certain elements of its production that are [[OrphanedReference no longer present]] when the work is reproduced.
* RefugeeFromTime: A character in a [[LongRunners long-running]] work whose background is unavoidably tied to a particular point in now-distant history, yet due to ComicBookTime always remains the same age.
* RetroactiveRecognition: A minor or even bit-part role in a work is played by an actor/actress who would go on to become famous years later.
** BillingDisplacement: After said actor's breakout into stardom, the old work is repackaged to emphasize their presence, at the expense of other actors who otherwise had more important roles.
* ScienceMarchesOn: Scientific facts presented as true in a work are later proven incorrect in the real world.
** PhlebotinumDuJour: AppliedPhlebotinum and other {{Plot Device}}s based on new and trendy scientific concepts, which soon appear nonsensical after the science (and its limitations) becomes more widely understood by the general public.
* TechnologyMarchesOn: Emphasis is placed on technology considered cutting-edge at the time, which has since become outdated.
** LongRunnerTechMarchesOn: A series that's run for a long time stays up-to-date by replacing old technology with more modern technology.
* TwoDecadesBehind: Fictional depictions of pop culture are prone to AnachronismStew, blending the modern day with an earlier time period that [[WriteWhatYouKnow the author is more familiar with.]]
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: A work that is nominally set in the PresentDay, but is loaded with so many references to pop culture, politics and cultural quirks specific to the time of its creation that it ends up resembling [[PopularHistory a deliberate homage/parody of the period]].
** FadSuper: A character is designed to tap into an ongoing pop-culture phenomenon, only to lose relevance after the fad inevitably dies off.
** NarrowParody: A comedy/parody work that only makes jokes about ''very'' recent pop culture, unabashedly dating itself and becoming impenetrable to later audiences.
** PresentDayPast: Despite the work being set in the ''past'', the contemporary pop-culture of the production still seeps into the setting, resulting in [[AnachronismStew anachronisms]].
** RippedFromTheHeadlines: A plot based on a then-current event.
*** DistancedFromCurrentEvents: A work is conspicuously edited in order to avoid referencing a recent tragic event.
*** PatchedTogetherFromTheHeadlines: Multiple (and often unrelated) current events are adapted together to form a plot.
*** Post911TerrorismMovie: A work that draws on the cultural anxieties surrounding UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror.
** ScaryDogmaticAliens: An antagonistic alien race is explicitly based on a foreign nation or political ideology regarded as a cultural boogeyman during the author's time.
* ValuesDissonance: Something from a work viewed as perfectly normal in its native time period is considered strange or morally wrong by modern audiences.
** FairForItsDay: An older work presents views and ideas that sound backwards to modern audiences, but were strikingly progressive by the standards of its own time.
** SameContentDifferentRating: The [[UsefulNotes/MediaClassifications content rating]] of a re-released work is changed due to modern sensibilities and rating standards being different from what they were before.
* VindicatedByHistory: The work was unpopular when it was originally made, but has since gained more attention and praise.
** CharacterPerceptionEvolution: A character's popularity or unpopularity flips to nearly the opposite opinion as before over time.
** CondemnedByHistory: A work or social phenomenon that was very popular in the past becomes increasingly disliked as time goes on, to the point of being stigmatized.
** VindicatedByCable: A BoxOfficeBomb later makes back its budget through home video, TV airings or streaming.
** VindicatedByReruns: A televised work becomes more popular following reruns.
* {{Zeerust}}: Science-fiction aesthetics that were seen as suitably futuristic at the time the work was written, but now serve only to date the work.
** FutureMusic: Popular "futuristic" music from the present is used as the soundtrack for a sci-fi story.
** NoNewFashionsInTheFuture: The fashions of the future are based on hot trends from the author's time.
** ZeerustCanon: Modern installments of a long-running franchise that preserve the outdated aesthetics for the sake of continuity.
[[/index]]
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->''[[BrickJoke ...is still marching on!]]''