Misused: Adult Fear

So, yeah, there's definitely two definitions going on at once here. I'd suggest a crowner, but I'm not sure we're ready for that, and I'm also concerned about whether or not we'd need to make the options mutually exclusive.

Should "this thing would scare an adult" misuse be transplanted onto the Nightmare Fuel subpages by default?

Edited by Albert3105 on Nov 9th 2021 at 5:07:46 AM

I don't think so, not inherently at least. It often relies on Fridge Horror which is mutually exclusive with Nightmare Fuel.

Ah, so the misuse will have to be divided between the two then.

So are we ready for a crowner yet?

The crowner system is going through a huge overhaul, so we might need to wait.

Huh? Why? What is this?

Check out this discussion.

Crowners are in the middle of an overhaul and currently only mods can make them.

I feel like there's potential to make this a supertrope. At the very least, a rename to "Realistic Fear" or "Mundane Fear".

I think we can spin off the "playing on the fear of a child's safety" into merging with Death of a Child.

Edited by FishiousRend on Nov 14th 2021 at 5:35:07 AM

Honestly, turning Adult Fear into an index and then moving the children's-show-specific-trope idea to a new name wouldn't be a horrible play here...

You can even find this trope on films that have ZILCH to do with children:

Case in point, A Clockwork Orange

Adult Fear: The "Singing in the Rain" scene is designed to send chills down the spine of any adult. The themes of absolute evil and of a manipulative government attempting to rob people of free will and using the cover of mental health to silence dissidents are pretty chilling on a more subtle level as well, and were surely even more so during the Cold War era in which the film (and novel) were made. — This is NOT a kid's movie. And there are precisely 0 children in the film, not even extras. What does this have to do with Adult Fear again?

… anyway, is there an Adult Fear cleanup somewhere else?

Nope, doesn't seem like it.

At the moment, that's not misuse. Adult Fear as-is has nothing to do with kid's works.

But "adult characters facing adult problems in adult works" is not a trope.

Well, sure. But at the moment, nothing in the definition of the trope disallows that.

Which is why it should be changed in the first place.

Look guys, my only point is that we can't have an example cleanup until we actually alter something.

I agree with the whole "make it into an index and create a YMMV for 'thing in kids' work that would scare an adult'."

To be honest, I don't think Adult Fear is tropeworthy, like at all. In general, I think people don't give kids enough credit for being perceptive to quote-unquote "adult" issues. Most famously, kids who grow up in warzones/during times of chaos still tend to be very concerned about stuff like having a friend or family member killed suddenly or losing their house if it gets bombed or stuff like that. Kids who grow up during times of great hardship or economic downturn like The Great Depression tend to be more acutely aware of stuff like money woes or not making rent. And with regards to the classic "kids in peril" use of the trope, of course kids get concerned when fellow kids are in immediate danger. I don't think we'll ever be able to curb the "badge of honor" status of this trope; I'd say disambiguate to some of the tropes associated.

Bumping for more discussion.

As for what to with Adult Fear. I’m not really sure but making it IUEO sounds feasible if we can come up with some boundaries.

brings up a good point. Any counter arguments?

Hmmm...

Yeah...

The only real idea I really have left is to disambig this between things like Realism-Induced Horror, Death of a Child, and others.

I think the angle of "exploring an adult point of view in a children's work" could be worthwhile but that might be an entirely different thing at this point.

Yeah, I don't even think any of the examples on the wick check would qualify for that. It might just be worth a TLP and some wick collecting.