Needs a better title: Bugger The Plot

Maybe something like Postpone The Plot, or Plot Postponement, or Hold Back The Plot...

"If you're out here why do I miss you so much?"

I think you have a point. Bugger the Plot sounds like the creator just randomly throwing in some new character or development with total lack of regard for the plot. Unfortunately, the best I can come up with is Avoid The Climax, which sounds like it should be a Porn Trope.

"Well, it's a lifestyle"

The very first one is good, but I'm still not entirely keen on it.

edited 21st May '11 3:14:38 AM by Hadashi

Tropes I have created.

I think this deserves a rename given that I believe that the current title does not indicate that it is about postponement. I also think that the fact that the trope has not been used much at all means that we are freer to rename it anyway.

I made a single proposition rename crowner here.

"irhgT nm0w tehre might b ea lotof th1nmgs i dont udarstannd, ubt oim ujst goinjg to keepfollowing this pazth i belieove iN !!!!!1 d

I originally intended for the name to be temporary and to change it when I published it (didn't get a chance to :P ). So if anyone can think of a really descriptive one I don't have any opposition.

edited 21st May '11 10:46:26 AM by Hadashi

Tropes I have created.

The fact that the title is actually a swear word in British English, and far more offensive than Americans tend to believe (it's not massively serious, especially in certain places) but certainly not a random quaint English word) means it needs a rename by default. Even if Google don't get pissed off at the title, the "no swear words in title" needs to be applied universally.

My name is Addy. Please call me that instead of my username.

^ In fairness, I believe the rule is, "No unnecessary swear words in title" because exceptions have been made for pages like This Is For Emphasis, Bitch! and Did Not Do the Bloody Research for when mild expletives are actually a part of the trope itself.

Bugger The Plot would still be including an unnecessary swear though.

Fair enough.

Tropes I have created.

I kinda feel like it should be something a bit more explanatory than Postpone The Plot though.

edited 21st May '11 12:32:05 PM by Hadashi

Tropes I have created.

Slow The Plot Down, as an MST 3 K reference?

In the event of a firestorm, the salad bar will remain open.

I like Plot Postponement for Added Alliterative Appeal

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.

How does this trope differ from Padding? (Laconic: Extra stuff added to a show purely to fill out time.)

I was wondering the same thing, to be honest. It feels different to me, but I'm not sure why. Like a specific subtrope of Padding.

"If you're out here why do I miss you so much?"

Camacan,

I think what makes this trope different is that the story seems like it could conceivably end, but instead goes on and on in order to be longer. Basically, I think the important distinction here is that the protagonist avoids doing things that could feasibly move the plot along. This might not be the best analogy, but I think it is similar to playing a game in which you should be able to fight the final boss, but the game forces you to do a bunch of side-quests which have nothing to do with the boss instead.

I agree that the difference between it and padding is not necessarily the greatest one though. At best, I still see it as a subtrope of padding.

edited 21st May '11 8:36:49 PM by LouieW

"irhgT nm0w tehre might b ea lotof th1nmgs i dont udarstannd, ubt oim ujst goinjg to keepfollowing this pazth i belieove iN !!!!!1 d

It sounds like this trope is when Padding is the plot. Padding is stuff like Inaction Sequence, Engaging Chevrons, etc — things which theoretically move the plot forward (they are moving toward a conclusion), but just stuff that we, the audience, don't really need (or want) to see. Bugger The Plot is when characters run off and do something entirely unrelated to advancing the plotline whatsoever.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.

I think I understand. But I don't see that padding moves the plot along. It's defined as "a moment in a story which could have easily been removed from the plot without affecting the story significantly." That sounds like Bugger The Plot, too.

It seems to boil down to a big chunk of padding before the climax. That's rather The Same But More Specific.

Padding seems to be more that the author is throwing problems or sidestories at the characters that don't need to happen, while Bugger The Plot is when the characters themselves decide to procrastinated and do something else.

Definite agree on the rename, though.

The Revolution Will Not Be Tropeable

Native Jovian is right, this trope can be (but isn't explicitly) a very, very extreme form of padding. Generally Padding is where a few little bits are added to make the plot longer, or are just a part of it that may or may not seem a bit tacked on and unnecessary (The best Padding doesn't seem like padding at all and it may even end up adding something to the story!). Bugger the Plot is where a few bits of plot are added to make the padding look like a story (hence the name!).

What generally happens is that the writer realises they have almost no story, or very little, and so have to prevent the characters progressing at every turn - or simply get them to ignore the plot - or even spam the reader or viewer until they can't tell what the plot IS. This is why the classic examples are the Eddings ones where you could, quite literally, rip out two thirds to three quarters (or more!) of the book and loose precisely nothing.

edited 22nd May '11 9:17:56 AM by Hadashi

Tropes I have created.

^ Padding that "adds something to the story" is a contradiction of terms.

Padding is filler. Padding is uselessness. Padding is segments in a story that go on for a considerable length of time without carrying any narrative significance.

Ultimately though, Padding is very broad trope. There may be room for a few subtropes to cover specific types of Padding, but for all intents and purposes Bugger The Plot, with its semi-redundant bulleted list that covers more general aspects of the Padding trope (as well as the entire Filler*

trope for some reason), needs a more limited scope if it is to stand any chance of gaining a modest subtrope status.

edited 23rd May '11 7:36:41 AM by SeanMurrayI

^ I was wondering about that for some time. Padding is the stuff that "pads out" the existing plot to get it up to length (and the type of stuff that will be "edited for time" in TV syndication). Filler is an actual story (if an expendable one) that "pads out" an existing series either to get it up to length or keep the writers from running out of planned scripts in the meantime.

An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

Given the overwhelming support for a rename on the single proposition crowner, I made an alternative titles one here. Feel free to edit it and add examples as you see fit and please tell me if I made any mistakes in putting it together.

As for actual alternative titles, I think that a name should be a bit more specific as to how the plot is being postponed. Hold Back The Plot seems the closest to the in my opinion.

edited 24th May '11 9:32:46 AM by LouieW

"irhgT nm0w tehre might b ea lotof th1nmgs i dont udarstannd, ubt oim ujst goinjg to keepfollowing this pazth i belieove iN !!!!!1 d

This is just Take Your Time but for non videogames, basically, right?

Not necessarily. Take Your Time is about Gameplay and Story Segregation as applied to time limits. This trope would be more like a video game that consisted entirely of sidequests; they avoid advancing the main plot as long as possible, but there's no actual time limit implied.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.

Well there are plenty of games that do that too.

Plot Side Quest?

edited 25th May '11 7:18:23 AM by Raso

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

Yeah, T Y T is about Gameplay and Story Segregation but this is still like if you unsegregated the storyline and still had the same "side quests" for the characters. It's not about a player going "We could save the world from Sephiroth but let's go Chocobo Racing!", it's about characters going "We could save the world from the Silence, but let's go play on a pirate ship!" The outcome is the same despite anything.

edited 25th May '11 9:28:28 AM by Zeta