merge with LeechLaughs: Instant Leech Just Fall In Water

We have two tropes here which are essentially the same: Leech Laughs and Instant Leech: Just Fall in Water!.

Also, we should decide for which title is better. I'm rather for Leech Laughs, since it's shorter.

They have almost exactly the same description, almost exactly the same examples, and the only difference is that Leech Laughs is Played for Comedy exclusively. That's not a good enough reason to split off what is essentially the same trope. Instant Leech: Just Fall in Water!. has an edit history that goes back to September of last year. Leech Laughs only goes back to April of this year, and the very first edit has an edit reason of "reverted prior edit that cleared all text - no apparent reason to do so".

Which makes me think that it was cut as a duplicate then remade.

I'd say move over the one example that isn't on Instant Leech: Just Fall in Water! (the one from Freefall and keep Instant Leech: Just Fall in Water!. (Maybe with a rename to Instant Leech Just Add Water.) If we narrow it to "Leeches, but played for Laughs", then we need "Leeches, but played for squick" and there's simply not enough there to justify two different pages for the "but funny" and "but "eeewwww" ".

And both of them are woefully underperforming: Leech Laughs has 0 wicks and 4 inbounds, and Instant Leech: Just Fall in Water! has 6 wicks and 2 inbounds.

edited 6th Jul '11 9:17:28 AM by Madrugada

I support a merge.

Merge sounds good, though neither of the titles are that great.

I agree with Madrugada about the tropes not being different enough to justify staying separate. I think they are probably similar enough that they can be merged without a crowner so long as no one has any serious problem with merging them.

As for trope names, I feel like Leeches Latch On might kind of work.

+1 for merge, and +1 for Mad's suggested Instant Leech Just Add Water, to make it clear that the water element is important (and the leeches aren't just materializing out of thin air ).

I also support a merge.

I don't see why water is "important". Do we really need a separate trope for leeches appearing from thin air? Especially since such a thing is probably too rare to trope? If there were a lone example out there of leeches appearing from thin air, would it really hurt anything to have it included with this trope? Would a distinction between "you enter water and leeches attach themselves" and "you enter the jungle and leeches fall from the trees" really be significant or important? Or is the trope really about "you enter X and leeches attach"?

I don't mind having "water" in the name somewhere, because I think an exception could be listed with the statement "In [Work], a rare case where water isn't involved, So-and-so enters the jungle, and...". But I don't think water is required, either for the trope or the name.

I'll toss out Leech Attach and Leech Attack just because they're short.

Leeches falling from the trees isn't this trope. This trope is sticking a limb in water and it comes out covered in leeches. Leeches don't fall from trees. That entire idea just sounds weird and like it should be Misplaced Wildlife instead. It's like fish falling out of the trees. It doesn't really work. They're marine animals.

edited 7th Jul '11 11:57:28 AM by shimaspawn

The water is required. This isn't simply "leeches". It's "if you go in water, you get leeches". The trope is the connection between going in the water and having leeches hook onto you.

Why? Why wouldn't "leeches falling from trees" be this trope? Please be specific. (Note that I don't even know if such a thing exists, I'm just genuinely puzzled why water is a necessary component of this trope.) What about leech-like creatures in a methane lake on another planet? What about leeches adapted to live in pools of oil in a post-apocalyptic world? What about leeches that live in pools of corrupted magic?

I understand that a couple of people feel that this should be limited to water for no apparent reason. Repeating that (you think) it must be limited to water doesn't give me any additional information. Please tell me why?

EDIT (ninja'd) I do understand that going into something is part of the trope. I just don't understand why it has to be limited to water, and going into other things doesn't count.

edited 7th Jul '11 1:35:31 PM by Xtifr

Because the trope as it appears in media does not involve trees. This trope is sticking your hand in a liquid and pulling it out covered in leeches. That's the way it always appears.

Tropes are patterns. This is the way the pattern goes. Other instances of leeches are outside of the pattern. Therefore, they are not this trope.

The trees would be the trope Misplaced Wildlife. Why? Because leeches don't live in trees.

edited 7th Jul '11 1:36:21 PM by shimaspawn

Semi-ninja'd again. As I say, I understand that "going into something" (or sticking your hand in something) is part of the trope, but A) saying leeches only live in water ignores whole vast stretches of Speculative Fiction, and B) I can easily imagine a rainforest wet enough to support leeches, and dense enough that you can't see more than about an inch into it, with alien tree-leeches lurking. It's not Misplaced Wildlife if it's alien biology to start with.

I do think that "liquid" instead of "water" is a major improvement just by itself, and would probably be happy with that, since I can't think of any works that actually have tree-leeches. But I still think the trope is: you go into X (where X is usually water), and come out covered in leeches, usually played either for squick or laughs.

edited 7th Jul '11 1:46:53 PM by Xtifr

Bump?

Given the fact that leeches live in water, we don't have to mention it in the trope title.

I like Leeches Latch On, but Leech Attach or Leech Attack would be OK either.

edited 11th Jul '11 12:34:13 AM by Frank75

I like Instant Leech Just Add Water.

Leech Surprise, Eau De Leech, Bathing With Leeches, Lurking Leeches (for Added Alliterative Appeal)

Are there any examples of that even occurring? Because this just sounds like the guy that tried to rename Comically Missing the Point. No need to rename something to cater to something that doesn't exist.

The way this trope -always- plays out is 'character falls, jumps into, or otherwise enters a body of water, then comes out covered in leeches'. I've -never- seen leeches falling from trees in any media -ever-, and it appears this was a theoretical scenario gone too far. I suggest we stop talking about it unless you can provide actual examples, and even then it would probably be closer to Our Monsters Are Different (except applied to a creature that actually exists, through the lens of Science Fiction).

Let's not waste any more time talking about something which I am almost certain cannot provide a single actual example of itself, is what I'm saying.

That being said, Leech Attack makes me think of videogame attacks which simultaneously heal the caster as they do damage. Lake Full Of Leeches?

edited 11th Jul '11 1:25:23 PM by savage

Given things like the Freefall example (leeches from a bucket of water, the bucket's source unknown), I'd be somewhat leery about Lake Full Of Leeches, personally.

Leech Infested Water?

Lurking Leeches also isn't too bad. We should definitely choose a shorter name.

Edit: It's an Incredibly Lame Pun, but... Leeches Suck?

edited 14th Jul '11 2:47:20 AM by Frank75

Leeches Suck doesn't cover the water thing, in addition to being an Incredibly Lame Pun. Not an admin/mod, but as far as I'm concerned that's two strikes against it.

I have to second the tropers who pointed out that leeches generally imply water. Everyone should know that, there's no need in making it explicit.

And I think we shouldn't waste so much time on such a small trope.

If you don't agree on a better title in the next three days, I'll make it "Leeches Suck".

Why not put up a renaming crowner?

I like Leech Infested Water. It's not that long and it gets the bit that this a trope about water and leeches across.

Frank, that's not how it works. You don't get to say" I like this one, if y'all don't come up with something better, I'm changing it."

Leeches are not all aquatic ("There are freshwater, terrestrial, and marine leeches.") and this trope isn't simply "Leeches exist.". It's "when a character enters a body of water, they will encounter leeches."