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Author: fulltimeD

Mar 27th 2012 at 4:38:13 PM

@DharbingerN: My first thought is that this is "ChairsSitOnPeople."

Even if it's not, the laconic strikes me as something more appropriate for an argumentative sociological essay rather than a trope commonly found in entertainment (it comes off as a huge value judgment, rather than a description of a trope). Second, although I can pretty easily figure out what "Viral Metamemeplex" means, that just means I'm a bad example of a regular audience. You need to actually spend time working on a description so other people don't have to come along and fill in the blanks. (It really bugs me when people spend no time at all on their YKTTW, and their lack of effort shows). That means describing in plain language how the trope is applied, in more works than just one. Hint: if you can't think of more than one example, it's probably too rare to trope. And if you only have one example, your description and title need to be clear enough that other people can contribute examples without trying in vain to read your mind.

As too whether ''StarTrek'' is an example, the question whether ''Star Trek'' fandom constitutes a kind of secular religion really has nothing to do with your stated requirements from this proposed trope: that such an ideology (and really, I think with the criteria you provided, ANY ideology could fit here) is "used as a form of psychological warfare". When has the pervasiveness of ''StarTrek'' fandom ever been "used as a form of psychological warfare?"

Now this might NOT be too rare to trope, in which case, you may have something here, but it's still frustrating when your description is barely longer than the typical laconic, you only have one example, and you are relying on the presumption of other tropers' familiarity with a particular work in order for them to understand how the example fits the trope.

I'm sorry if I'm coming off as too critical. I am trying to help. But there are certain things that will definitely irk older members of this community.