- All of my wick checks so far:
- Memetic Hand Gesture Wick Check (started it in 2022 but finished it in 2023).
- But Not Too Black Wick Check.
- Horribly Wrong Wick Check.
- Significant Sketchbook Wick Check.
- Fashion Model Wick Check.
- They Do Wick Check.
- Senpai Kohai Wick Check.
- The Barber Wick Check.
- Courier Wick Check.
- Clerk Check.
- Cool Mask Wick Check (originally Yindee's but I took over from them).
- Sweater Girl Wick Check.
- Excited Wick Title!
- Bouncer Wick Check.
- Long Title Wick Check.
- Age Of Wicks.
- The Last Wick Check.
- Gold Tooth Wick Check.
- Fashion Designer Wick Check.
- The Dreaded Wick Check.
- Ballad Of Wick Check.
- Specs Of Awesome Check.
- Amusement Park Wick Check.
This is a usage check for Band Geek's on-page examples. This is to organize my ideas and points if I ever take the trope to TRS.
Total on-page examples checked: 16/16
- On-Page Results Summary:
- Correct: 4
- ZCE: 2
- Overall misuse: 9
- Uncertain: 1
Total examples checked (including wicks): 45.
- Trope's Overall Performance:
- Correct: 7
- ZCE: 19
- Overall misuse: 17
- Uncertain: 1
open/close all folders
Correct or partially correct - High school kids in a band are depicted as nerdy losers (negative portrayal)
- ComicBook.The Legend Of Wonder Woman 2016: Pamela Smuthers and her back-up singers look down on, bully, and try to sabotage the Holliday Girls, who are a musical group that includes three definite band geeks and where every member can play at least one instrument. Checking the character sheet, they do look like stereotypical nerds.
- Doug from Film.Descendants is the awkward, Dogged Nice Guy son of Dopey from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He is in the band. He also has Nerdy Glasses in his character image.
- Marcie from WesternAnimation.As Told By Ginger is a neurotic nerd who is in her school's band. Her name's Macie, but still correct.
- Lisa from WesternAnimation.The Simpsons is a huge loser in the school and fittingly, the only social activity she regularly partakes in is band, where she plays the saxophone.
Misue 1 - Character just plays instruments/is just in a band in general
- Veronica Lyles from the Podcast.Cool Kids Table game Creepy Town, who plays the piccolo and hates when people call it a flute. No mention of a band whatsoever on the podcast's page.
- In High School Story, Aiden has been learning to play the piano since he was four. He plays trumpet in the school band and is constantly trying to learn new instruments.
- WesternAnimation.Hey Arnold: Lorenzo is a put-upon kid who is under heavy pressure by his parents to succeed academically. He has almost no social life and instead just studies and practices the viola. I searched in Wikipedia & Fandom wiki, and he doesn't seem to be in any band.
Misuse 2 - Not depicted as a nerdy loser (no negative portrayal)/not even in a band
- Literature.Sound Euphonium is a series about a group of high schoolers in an orchestra. A few of the characters are eccentric but not necessarily "geeky". The protagonist, Kumiko, has poor social skills but is not looked down upon for playing the euphonium.
- ComicBook.Wonder Woman 1942: In the Golden Age, a number of the Holliday Girls were in the band, and Etta Candy was a sousaphone player who took band very seriously. Checking her entry, Etta Candy is described as confident, brave, and attractive the total opposite of a stereotypical nerd.
- WebComic.SWAP Ensemble is an odd music program that takes place after school for two hours on every day of February. The students who participate are also part of their own schools' bands and orchestras. Thus they are sacrificing even more time out of their day to practice music than they normally would.
- Mixed with a generous helping of punk, Zia from Roleplay.Dawn Of A New Age Oldport Blues is a multi-instrumental musician who tutors for other students at the school. While not 'geeky', she is a social outcast due to events in her harrowing past. Another adult... who's a musician not in any band.
- WesternAnimation.Over The Garden Wall, Wirt, an awkward and insecure teen, plays the clarinet. The penultimate episode reveals that his crush and her group of dorky friends are all in marching band, but Wirt is too insecure and self-hating to even join. He's not in a bad. Plus, there's no negative portrayal of school band kids here; it's just his own insecurities, it seems.
- VideoGame.Persona 4: If the player elects to join the band over drama club, they will meet Ayane Matsunaga, a rare Japanese example of the trope. She's an introverted nerd with self-esteem issues that is in the band because she's too shy to be in a center stage role. Helping her overcome those issues is the crux of her character arc. 'Putting it here bc her being nerdy and in a band seems purely coincidental; there's no negative association here, it's just her own insecurities. Again.
ZCEs & Misc
- Wrestling.CHIKARA had Archibald Peck, a wrestling time traveling marching band leader with alternate personalities. In the Ashes video "Thwarted"
, "Big Magic" Shane Matthews calls Peck, who they are looking to find to help bring back CHIKARA following the shutdown at Aniversario: Never Compromise on June 2nd, 2013, "the band geek." I'm so confused??? These are grown men, not kids in school...? - VideoGame.Band Camp Boyfriend: Every character in the game qualifies - they're at band camp.
Uncertain
- Literature.Skippy Dies: Seabrook doesn't have a proper band, but the authorities forcefully form a small wind ensemble out of a few boys, all of whom are extremely dorky. It's led by Ruprecht, a Teen Genius with no social skills whose french horn hobby is listed as one of his many geeky traits. Rounding out the quartet is Jeekers, Ruprecht's academic rival and a conscientiously rule-abiding dweeb, Geoff, a RPG-obsessed Cloud Cuckoolander, and Dennis, who is incredibly embarrassed to be in the group as he views being in a wind quartet the least cool thing he could do. Well, it's not really a band, so does it count?
