History Tropers / SallyShears

Sally Shears is a college graduate who works in retail, [[SelfDeprecation which is both sad and ludicrous.]] She has been a Troper for a few years, but only recently discovered that one could create a page for themselves, and all the delicious opportunities for [[SelfDeprecation self-deprecating humor]] that might come with it.

Sally’s contributions to TV Tropes pertain mainly to [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment obscure, lesser known franchises.]] Note that some may have been done under different accounts (due to her [[IdiotBall losing her password a few times]]). Her first major contribution was filling out the majority of the article for TheIcePirates; the page had previously existed, but was temporarily taken down due to the majority of the tropes listed not being filled out. A longtime fan of the CultClassic, Shears had little trouble describing how each trope applied to the movie, as well as adding a few. She went on to create the page for {{Hammerjack}}, and has contributed a disproportionate amount of the WildMassGuessing page for StarTrekVoyager. While reading the biography of PeterLorre, she contributed much to his page, particularly the “Heartwarming” and “Awesome” sections. Sally Shears is also slightly embarrassed to admit that she is the imbecile who attempted to create a “Lord of the G-Strings” page. [[RealityEnsues It didn’t stay up for long.]] By far, the section of this website Shears contributes to the most is WildMassGuessing, which is a favorite pastime of hers (and the subject of many if not most of her stories over on Fanfic. net.)

Outside TV tropes, Shears hangs out mostly on [[IHaveManyNames DeviantArt (under the name Lizzy Chrome) and Fanfiction.net. (as The Cheshire Cheese).]]

Oh, and her username is a shout-out to one of her favorite book series, the SprawlTrilogy.

Tropes that apply to Sally Shears, or her art and fanfiction, include:

* AffectionateParody: Often writes these for franchises she loves. (“Spoof Trek: Frogger” for StarTrekVoyager; “Harry Potterman and the Half-Baked Latke” for both HarryPotter and her own religion; and a number of crack fics.)
* AllJewsAreAshkenazi: Subverted (despite Shears being an Ashkenazi Jew herself). In her AU fic “Sleepwalking,” the one Jewish character mentioned is Sephardic. Her parody “Harry Potterman and the Half-Baked Latke,” which somewhat doubles as a humorous educational piece, includes Jews from all over, and at one point discusses African American Jews.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Is medicated for anxiety and has seen counselors, but so far nothing is officially diagnosed. ADD is strongly suspected (by doctors as well as Shears herself), Asperger’s less so.
* ArtEvolution: In her DeviantArt gallery. No surprise, given that she hasn’t even reached a professional level of drawing skill yet.
* CrackFic: Is a fan of these, and will enthusiastically recommend a number she has read. She’s written a few as well.
** She's most proud of “Restore My Virginity (and My Windshield),” a HarryPotter fic that pairs the flying car with the Womping Willow (after the car is [[BlackComedyRape gang-violated by giant spiders]]).
* CloudCuckooLander: To be fair, most people online would probably describe themselves as such
* CriticalResearchFailure: An interesting example. She usually takes great lengths to avoid this trope in her fanfiction, relying heavily on online wikis and rereading or re-watching scenes to get details down to where background characters were standing and precise moments; but in all her attention to detail, she often overlooks major, obvious factors that are later pointed out by reviewers.
** For example, for “Fairest in the Universe,” she researched the Mirror Universe of StarTrek thoroughly to learn what the Trill’s position in the Alliance/Terran conflict was, and how her story’s timeline should match up with the MirrorUniverse episodes of DeepSpaceNine (taking into account that Tuvok was shown as a part of Mirror-Sisko’s crew)… but she somehow completely spaced on the fact that “Deep Space Nine” is a Federation name, and obviously the station should be called “Terek Nor” in her story. (The error has been corrected, and the reviewer who pointed it out credited.)
* DeadpanSnarker: To everyone, including (or rather, especially) herself.
* DullSurprise: A RealLife example. Sally has always had difficulty expressing emotion, and often speaks in a “monotone” voice, even when she’s feeling a lot on the inside. (AmbiguousDisorder is suspected, but nothing’s been diagnosed yet.) As a result, she has a strange sympathy and attachment to some DullSurprise characters like Chakotay. In her fanfics, she often re-imagines the actors' wooden performances as the characters sharing that quirk of hers. When her fics make fun of said characters’ “monotone,” it’s usually to explore the humor in living as a “monotone” person.
* FanDumb: Averted. You can say pretty much whatever you want about StarTrekVoyager, CoolWorld, or {{Lexx}}, as long as you’re not overly obnoxious about it. She’ll usually only speak up if you say something factually incorrect about the subject in question.
* FanDisservice: Being a fan of [[CrackFic CrackFics]], this is basically inevitable. Don’t be surprised if, while reading a completely serious story of hers on Fanfic.net, you suddenly see [[StarTrekVoyager Neelix]] whipping it out, or [[TheMuppets Gonzo and Camilla]] experimenting in BDSM.
* FanService: Would it be fan-fiction without it?
* FixFic: Many of her one-shot fanfics are devoted to filling in plotholes, or re-explaining plot points she found stupid or offensive. A bit of this creeps up in her chapter stories as well.
* HateDumb: Has a bad habit of continuing to complain about shows she dislikes or people she finds obnoxious long after everyone else has stopped caring.
* HumansAreWhite: Subverted in her StarTrek fics, where she makes a special point to represent groups that don’t get much attention in the real franchise (like the Hmong, the Romani, Muslims, Native Americans from real tribes, or the entire continent of Africa). She even takes care to have Vulcans and Trills and such who are black, “Asian looking,” etc.
* IdiotBall: Carries this depressingly often. Possibly related to the AmbiguousDisorder, definitely related to being a CloudCuckooLander.
* IHaveManyNames: Given that she makes no effort whatsoever to keep her online identity a secret, one would think it’d be a lot easier to just use the same name on every site. But there are so many great ones to choose from…
* JamesBondage: Let’s just say she’s a fan of this trope and leave it at that.
* MagicalNativeAmerican: Subverted viciously in her StarTrekVoyager fanfictions, where she tries to make sense of Chakotay’s very stereotypical and inaccurate heritage. According to Shears (or The Cheshire Cheese as she’s known on Fanfic.net), his father’s tribe is a group of reconstructionists who “real” Indians consider “new-age hippies.” His mother meanwhile was the “real Indian,” being Navajo, Hopi and Ojibwe. The more realistic décor in Chakotay’s quarters (like the dream catcher) are attributed to her, while the Vision Quests and Sky Spirits are attributed to his “new age hippie” father.
* MarySue: May or may not apply to a couple of her fanfic OCs.
** Sofie/Tova, from her {{Casablanca}} fanfic “All Those Poor Devils,” seems a typical MarySue: she’s obviously an AuthorAvatar, and falls in love with Ugarte (Shears is a PeterLorre fangirl). On the other hand, Tova defies most MarySue tropes, with genuine flaws that hinder her, spending most of her time observing canon characters doing badass things, and her relationship with Ugarte [[RealityEnsues is anything but “romantic.”]]
*** On the ''other hand,'' with Shears being a writer and a fan of such noir drama, the above might actually be a twisted form of WishFulfillment.
** Artsy, in her SouthPark fic “Love or Infatuation,” is another obvious AuthorAvatar who defies most MarySue tropes, with most of her personality traits being self-deprecating parodies of Shears’ own personality, and contributing very little to the story’s plot. But on the other hand, this is exactly the type of role a SouthPark fan would dream of fulfilling on the show.
* MistakenForGay: Has happened a few times. Understandably so, given her willingness to read/watch girl-on-girl (provided the story/comedy is good), and the fact that she often doesn’t go for conventionally handsome men. She does like men; she just has [[PeterLorre somewhat]] [[SteveBuscemi unique]] [[BradDourif tastes]].
* NWordPrivileges: The only possible way she would ever consider writing something like “Harry Potterman and the Half-Baked Latke.” (Though, as explained in her author’s notes, it’s not quite as racist as it might seem, for a number of reasons.)
** Characters in her fanfics often take advantage of this, making jokes at the expense of their own races/religions/etc…except that these jokes are really being “told” by the author, who is not Asian/Native American/Catholic/whatever, so the NWordPrivileges don’t actually apply [[AustinPowers oh dear I’ve gone cross-eyed.]]
* UsefulNotes/{{Roma|ni}}: Has been a fan of the Romani culture since childhood, and thus has a few Romani characters in her fanfics. She uses the opportunities to [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped dispel the many ignorant stereotypes about the Romani People.]] (Her {{Casablanca}} fic makes Annina Brandel Romani, and goes into some detail about what the Romani went through during TheHolocaust.)
* RonTheDeathEater: Subverted in her canon-friendly fics, where characters she dislikes are still portrayed respectfully. But often played straight in her AU fics and parodies, particularly with the character of [[StarTrekVoyager Kes.]]
* SlasherSmile: Is painfully aware of how often this comes into effect when she tries to smile when necessary, something that usually [[DullSurprise doesn’t come naturally to her.]]
* SmallNameBigEgo: Parodied. She often begins journal entries or “author’s notes” with something along the lines of, “to my followers, both of them!” and sometimes jokingly “brags” about being the only person online ever to write fanfiction for “Lord of the G-Strings.”
* VocalDissonance: Has a stoic manor and a somewhat gaunt face (also known as “resting bitch face syndrome”)… and a voice comparable to [[RockyAndBullwinkle Bullwinkle.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The source behind many of her ficletts.
* YouHaveToHaveJews: Shears is Jewish, so naturally Jews show up a lot in her fanfics.

Sally Shears is a college graduate who works at a gas station, [[SelfDeprecation which is both sad and ludicrous.]] She has been a Troper for a few years, but only recently discovered that one could create a page for themselves, and all the delicious opportunities for [[SelfDeprecation self-deprecating humor]] that might come with it.

* FixFic: Many of her one-shot fanfics are devoted to filling in plotholes, or re-explaining plot points she found stupid or offensive. A bit of this creeps up in her chapter stories as well. (In “The Twenty-Sixth Year,” where [[StarTrekVoyager Voyager’s children]] retrace their parents’ journey, both the BLAMEpisode “Threshold” and the very racist “Tattoo” are given new twists to fix the bad bits, while her AU “Sleepwalking” blames the Tom/Kes marriage on “Ocampan pheromones.”)

* YouHaveToHaveJews: Shears is Jewish, so naturally Jews show up a lot in her fanfics.

* DullSurprise: A RealLife example. Sally has always had difficulty expressing emotion, and often speaks in a “monotone” voice, even when she’s feeling a lot on the inside. (AmbiguousDisorder is suspected, but nothing’s been diagnosed yet.) As a result, she has a strange sympathy and attachment to some DullSurprise characters like Chakotay. When her fics make fun of said characters’ “monotone,” it’s usually to explore the humor in living as a “monotone” person.

* IdiotBall: Carries this depressingly often. Possibly related to the AmbiguousDisorder, definitely related to being a Cloudcukoolander.

** Sofie/Tova, from her [[Casablanca]] fanfic “All Those Poor Devils,” seems a typical MarySue: she’s obviously an AuthorAvatar, and falls in love with Ugarte (Shears is a PeterLorre fangirl). On the other hand, Tova defies most MarySue tropes, with genuine flaws that hinder her, spending most of her time observing canon characters doing badass things, and her relationship with Ugarte [[RealityEnsues is anything but “romantic.”]]

* MistakenForGay: Has happened a few times. Understandably so, given her willingness to read/watch girl-on-girl (provided the story/comedy is good), and the fact that she often doesn’t go for conventionally handsome men. She does like men; she just has [[PeterLorre somewhat]] [[SteveBuscemi unique]] [[BradDouriff tastes]].

** Characters in her fanfics often take advantage of this, making jokes at the expense of their own races/religions/etc…except that these jokes are really being “told” by the author, who is not Asian/Native American/Catholic/whatever, so the NWordPrivileges Privileges don’t actually apply [[AustinPowers oh dear I’ve gone cross-eyed.]]
* UsefulNotes/{{Roma|ni}}: Has been a fan of the Romani culture since childhood, and thus has a few Romani characters in her fanfics. She uses the opportunities to [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped dispel the many ignorant stereotypes about the Romani People.]] (Her “Casablanca” fic makes Annina Brandel Romani, and goes into some detail about what the Romani went through during TheHolocaust.)

** For example, for “Fairest in the Universe,” she researched the Mirror Universe of StarTrek thoroughly to learn what the Trill’s position in the Alliance/Terran conflict was, and how her story’s timeline should match up with the MirrorUniverse episodes of DeepSpacenine (taking into account that Tuvok was shown as a part of Mirror-Sisko’s crew)… but she somehow completely spaced on the fact that “Deep Space Nine” is a Federation name, and obviously the station should be called “Terek Nor” in her story. (The error has been corrected, and the reviewer who pointed it out credited.)

* Cloudcuckoolander: To be fair, most people online would probably describe themselves as such

* FanDumb: Averted. You can say pretty much whatever you want about StarTrekVoyager, CoolWorld, or [[Lexx]], as long as you’re not overly obnoxious about it. She’ll usually only speak up if you say something factually incorrect about the subject in question.

On the ''other hand,'' with Shears being a writer and a fan of such noir drama, the above might actually be a twisted form of WishFulfillment.

* Romani: Has been a fan of the culture since childhood, and thus has a few Romani characters in her fanfics. She uses the opportunities to [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped dispel the many ignorant stereotypes about the Romani People.]] (Her “Casablanca” fic makes Annina Brandel Romani, and goes into some detail about what the Romani went through during TheHolocaust.)

* CrackFic: Is a fan of these, and will enthusiastically recommend a number she has read. She’s most proud of “Restore My Virginity (and My Windshield),” a HarryPotter fic that pairs the flying car with the Womping Willow (after the car is [[BlackComedyRape gang-violated by giant spiders]]).