This!Format

A question to which many tropers, or at least this troper, have longed for the answer: What's with This!Format.

You mean x!y? These are Characterization Tags.

It was originally used to refer to fanfic versions of characters, and has migrated to also be used when there are multiple versions of the same character within one work. (Usually, the latter tends to involve Time Travel, alternate universes, or other such plot devices.)

edited 30th Mar '13 4:14:32 PM by TotemicHero

Thanks. I mentioned it on Text-Formatting Rules if that's okay. If not, you can delete it.

That is not a text formatting, so why should it go on that page?

I figured it's caused a bit of confusion among tropers so decided it's worth a mention.

edited 30th Mar '13 4:25:27 PM by PancticeSquadCutterback

On a side note, should this thread be moved to Frequently Asked Questions?

We don't have an explanation for stingers either, and TFR isn't the place for it. Can't see a reason for this thing to be on Text-Formatting Rules.

Yes, move this to FAQ.

Can't really argue about that.

For the record, do you mean the "Questions Asked Frequently On Wiki Talk" thread?

edited 30th Mar '13 5:36:17 PM by PancticeSquadCutterback

No, the forum. This issue hasn't come up often enough to have a place in the QAF thread here.

Also pulled the note from TFR.

I just want future tropers to understand about this.

I must say I've never liked it. It just looks awful.

Doesn't bother me.

The thread's moved to FAQ.

I tend to think it should be restricted to fanfic sections, where people are likely to recognize and understand it. Outside of the fanfic community, it's pretty much incomprehensible, and should be avoided, the same way we avoid cryptic abbreviations.

I agree 100%.

I've never been fond of it, as I honestly think it looks lazy. What, you couldn't spare the precious seconds to type out a descriptive phrase instead of the exclamation tag? And thinking that people outside of fanfic readers will recognize it is good ol' fashioned Fan Myopia.

That said, I do know of some cases (usually either when one character is disguised as another or when you want to differentiate between how two different writers manage the same character - particularly across adaptations) where it can be used for non-fanfic purposes.

Really, I'd love to edit those out... but the wiki has no rules regarding their usage, and it'd be the kind of minor thing that would start an Edit War that would do nobody any good. If the mods ever decide to hold a vote on the practice, I'd vote to remove the practice. But until that happens, I just try to ignore it.

I tend to fix 'em when I spot 'em (unless it's a fanfic example), but it never turns into an edit war because I never war if a change gets reverted. I also use edit reasons, and will always mention that my change was to make the entry more accessible to ordinary readers. I have a hard time imagining someone being so insistent on this cryptic notation that they would war over it, if the replacement was well-written and clear. I have never noticed one of my edits of these getting reverted (but I suppose it could have happened).

It took me a while to figure out what that format meant. I thought this was a TV Tropes standard or something, not a fanfiction thing.

In all honesty, when it's "clear" enough (such as past!Alice) it doesn't bother me, but I've seen it take some stupidly convoluted turns like Bob!Charlie^note Guessing it means Charlie disguised/in the body of Bob or something. Next time I see one of those I'll kill it immediately.

I fail to see what benefit "past!Alice" has over "past Alice", though, aside from potentially confusing people who aren't familiar with this bizarre notation.

(The majority of cases I see are just as clear if you simply remove the "!". Some small percentage need additional editing.)

I'm not saying it's better than writing it plainly, but at least it spares me the gag reflex the other cases give me.

I wonder if it would be worth mentioning on Characterization Tags that we discourage their use on TV Tropes (assuming that's actually true, which I certainly hope it is). As it stands, the current page might actually encourage their use.