Ambiguous Name (New Alt Names crowner 10/5/2015): Mac Guffin Girl

Mundane MacGuffin Person sounds like a fine name for "person wanted for mundane traits", but then we need a name for the other option.

I can't think of crap for it that rolls off the tongue. Heros Friend Mac Guffin is the best I've got.

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody remembers it, who else will you have ice cream with?

Sorry, yes, I meant for the "MacGuffin wanted due to their connection to someone else" trope.

I can't think of a damn thing that doesn't sound ridiculous, wouldn't be mistaken for something else, or both. Connection Mac Guffin Person, Relationship Mac Guffin Person, That Person Who Isnt Important Except Due To Their Connection To Someone Else...

...Most Important Person? Best I can come up with, but that's probably a little narrow.

Mundane MacGuffin Person is also non-indicative. It sounds like "this MacGuffin person is mundane", while it's actually "this MacGuffin person is sought for their mundane quality". I'd advise renaming it to Mundane Quality Mac Guffin Person to avoid confusion.

As for the split, I'd suggest maybe something like Plot Role Mac Guffin Person.

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That said, Mac Guffin Hostage's name is also non-indicative. All kinds of MacGuffin person could be taken hostage. Something like Important Mac Guffin Person or High Status Mac Guffin Person would be much better to denote "a MacGuffin person sought for their important status". I'd also suggest to make a more gender-neutral writeup, while noting the often present Double Standard — to avoid tropers focusing only on female examples.

edited 8th Sep '15 2:59:26 AM by Rjinswand

I got the hollers, but 10 is a bit low for my liking.

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

We had crowners for all of these. Where were you then?

Yeah, I only now realized that those are non-indicative. Still, wouldn't it be better to fix the problem now, than wait a year for a new TRS thread?

And as far as I know, all crowner options for Mac Guffin Hostage were centered around the word "hostage", anyway.

edited 8th Sep '15 12:40:12 PM by Rjinswand

Are you telling me now that Mundane MacGuffin Person is not supposed to refer to a mundane Mac Guffin Person? What's next, MacGuffin Super-Person doesn't refer to a Mac Guffin Person with superpowers?

The tropes we're talking about here are still in the draft stage. It's not like the name is set in stone.

Rhymes with "Protracted."

I'm not saying we can't. I'm just saying that this has been going on for months, as slowly as possible, and you had ample opportunities to voice objections then. You were there during the crowner, it's not like you didn't have a chance. In fact, you did voice objections. The crowner still went through.

Huh, looks like I did.

I remember I was mostly distracted by other things at the time, and I didn't really have any specific suggestions to give. In any case, if we were to pinpoint the bigger problem, I think the problem with Mac Guffin Hostage is much more dire, because the title isn't clear about its meaning at all.

edited 9th Sep '15 10:39:58 AM by Rjinswand

Also we're apparently splitting Mundane MacGuffin Person into two tropes instead of one, which makes the point there somewhat moot, as we need two new names regardless.

Rhymes with "Protracted."

I don't see why that's necessary. A possibility, sure, but the connected MacGuffin (or whatever) probably won't have "mundane" in the name.

Seems like a given, since Mundane Macguffin Person doesn't fit either proposed subtrope.

edited 10th Sep '15 10:43:51 AM by troacctid

Rhymes with "Protracted."

Bump. C'mon, let's keep this moving. Any ideas for the relationship MacGuffin name? Any at all? Relationship Mac Guffin might work, but I really feel like it would be misused as some object related to a relationship (like a lost engagement ring or something).

Do you have any non-snowclone names? I don't think a snowclone is right for this one.

Rhymes with "Protracted."

I don't have any names at all.

Does anyone have any name suggestions at all? Snowclones or not, just toss them out and we'll see what sticks. Because right now, these are our options:

• Heros Friend Mac Guffin
• Connection Mac Guffin Person
• Relationship Mac Guffin Person
• That Person Who Isnt Important Except Due To Their Connection To Someone Else

So please. More suggestions.

I'm trying to come up with a name, but currently failing. The problem is that Mac Guffin Person already takes up 3 words, so all ideas turn out to be too clunky.

Maybe something like Mac Guffin Person With Connections To The Hero.

Is there a specific way in which they're important? Are they kidnapped, are they used as leverage, are they a source of motivation, etc.

Rhymes with "Protracted."

All of the above. They're a MacGuffin; they could be kidnapped, somebody could be trying to kidnap them, whatever.

Okay. And it doesn't have to be any specific kind of relationship, as long as there's some sort of connection to the hero? Living MacGuffin + It's Personal?

edited 15th Sep '15 2:08:31 AM by troacctid

Rhymes with "Protracted."

I guess that's one way to put it. It's the hero's wife, daughter, mailman, whatever. As long as the important part is "connection to someone else."

Mac Guffin Person With Personal Connections? Personal Connections Mac Guffin Person?

What if we expanded it to include nonliving macguffins? A nonliving macguffin can have a personal link to the protagonist too. Any reason that wouldn't work? This Time The Macguffin Is Personal.

edited 16th Sep '15 4:59:52 PM by troacctid

Rhymes with "Protracted."

Personal Mac Guffin could work. Is there any real difference between "they stole the family heirloom — I have to get it back!" and "they kidnapped my child — I have to get them back!" in terms of tropey-ness?

Actually, the first example I thought of that sort of thing (something that's important only because of a character's personal connection to it) already has a trope — Scrooge McDuck's #1 Dime.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.

Yeah, my first thought was the Orphan's Plot Trinket, or the baseball from the end of Casper. I mean, I'm not going to say there isn't a tropable distinction between Orphan's Plot Trinket and I Have Your Wife, but we're talking about a pretty broad supertrope here that's supposed to deal with a wide variety of non-specific relationships, so, shrug.

Personal Mac Guffin is somewhat ambiguous as a name, though, since it could refer to either "It's Personal" personal or "Personal Raincloud" personal.

edited 16th Sep '15 5:09:23 PM by troacctid

Rhymes with "Protracted."