Unclear Description: Love Letter Lunacy

It came up in Image Pickin' that the trope is unclear as to whether it's simply about love letters, or about the hijinks that ensue due to a love letter. The first two paragraphs describe a typical love letter, then the third mentions the hijinks. If hijinks are the focus, I think the introduction could do with a rewrite - starting with "Sometimes..." and leaving it to the third paragraph diverts focus. The examples are also split between "a person receives love letters", "a person overreacts to someone receiving/sending a love letter" and "love letters result in a complication".

We might even have a few tropes here:

• Love Letters themselves. Their usual form, as described in the first paragraph.
• Love Letter Hijinks: what this trope is supposed to be. A love letter, misplaced or not, causes trouble for the cast. Might also cover people trying their best to receive one (like Charlie Brown).
• Love Letter Obsession: characters who obsess over a love letter, whether it's agonising over handing a love letter to someone or writing a horrendously florid/lovey-dovey one.

Thoughts?

edited 18th Apr '12 6:30:56 AM by Yuanchosaan

"Doctor Who means never having to say you're kidding." - Bocaj

Well "Lunacy" in the name links to hijinks and really that is the way the trope should be laid out.

On that list just a plain Love Letter trope might be ok but unless we can flesh it out how its used in fiction it is P So C though.

Type 2 and 3 on that list will end up pretty much the same way its relatively the same Hijinks in agonizing over handing over one, handling giving a rejection back, friends agonizing over if it's rejected or not, forgetting to write your name on it, giving it to the wrong person, blackmailed to keep it a secret, trying to keep it from being delivered, falling into the hands of a rival. having it read in class, or writing one too sappy etc. I dont see them as different tropes really.

But I do think that someone who gets a lot of love letters and confessions in general (from guys and girls sometimes) is a different trope than what should be the usage of lunacy unless one or more of them actually leads to lunacy.

The standard anime stereo type is to put a love letter in someone's Inside Shoes locker which will always lead to hijinks. (such a stereo type that it gets lampshaded and called out a lot [1]◊ its comparable to Late for School *

in how played out it is.

Love Letter Delivery Stereotypes [2]◊[3]◊ [4]◊ [5]◊ [6]◊ (all of which will usually end badly.)

EDIT: Love Letter currently redirects to Love Letter Lunacy.... theres the problem.

EDIT 2: Also Secret Admirer? wtf that is something completely different.

edited 18th Apr '12 8:44:11 AM by Raso

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

^"Lunacy" could be mistaken for mere Added Alliterative Appeal, or it could mean lunacy about love letters rather than caused by love letters. The name is fine so long as the trope description is clear.

"Doctor Who means never having to say you're kidding." - Bocaj

I think we should split here.

• Love Letter: for the object of communication of love (letter or e-mail)

• Love Letter Lunacy: For when the situation around a love letter turns into Hilarity Ensues with tons of wacky comedic events, or drama ensues with the drama being centered around the love letter being mistaken etcetera.

• Love Letter Obsession: should be a subtrope of something, related to Loony Fan, Psycho Supporter, and possibly Groupie Brigade: someone gets a love letter and is creeped out by it.

?

Very much agree with that.

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

Crowner appended to thread.

Waiting on a TRS slot? Finishing off one of these cleaning efforts will usually open one up.

Calling crowner.

"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer

For or against?

The child is father to the man —Oedipus

We have consensus to split here.

Waiting on a TRS slot? Finishing off one of these cleaning efforts will usually open one up.

Anyone willing to do this?

edited 10th Oct '12 1:26:29 AM by lu127

"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer

Clocking.

"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer

Here are my pathetic attempts at descriptions: Love Letter, Love Letter Lunacy, and Love Letter Obsession. Please feel free to improve them. I'm going to see what I can do about sorting the examples.

"Pathetic"? I could barely write something that long.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

Well, I was mostly thinking of the Love Letter Obsession one.

But anyway, I finished sorting the examples from the page. There were a couple that I wasn't sure about, but it was just two or three from the anime section and the first webcomic example, so it's no big deal.

Those all look okay to me; shall I take Love Letter Obsession through YKTTW to gather examples?

edited 24th Jan '13 9:14:43 AM by Telcontar

That was the amazing part. Things just keep going.

I did some work on the description of Love Letter Obsession. I think the other two look good.

edited 24th Jan '13 9:17:26 AM by Nocturna

Yeah, that's a good idea.

I have an issue with the name Love Letter Obsession. It makes it sound as if it's an obsession about love letters, as if the recipient is the obsessive one, or just a hopeful recipient.

I'd prefer reversing it, like Obsessive Love Letter. That indicactes it's either the writer, or how the letter is perceived by the receiver.

Check out my fanfiction!

The Duck makes a good point. Obssessive Love Letter is better and more comprehensive, since the obssession isn't about the letter but about the people involved.

"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer

Agreed. Love Letter Obsession was just a placeholder name anyway.

YKTTW link.

"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer

Hello, anyone?

"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer

Sorry, forgot about this one.

That was the amazing part. Things just keep going.

Bump. Can I launch the YKTTW and move in the sandboxes?

Sure, though it has very few examples.

That was the amazing part. Things just keep going.