The Wanderer / Tropers

Hey there, I'm James. I stumbled onto Tv Tropes back in October of 2007 and quickly became an addict. I started off just reading and posting anonymous examples back when you could still do that, then got known and moved up to writing new tropes, work articles, etc. These days I mostly curate tropes that have I've launched (or which have otherwise caught my eye), although I still try to help out with launching new tropes or entry pimping under appreciated tropes or works that I've enjoyed.

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My biggest contributions to the wiki:

Tropes I suggested and others launched:

Tropes launched by me:

Wrote articles for the following tropes, works or historical figures:

Significantly rewrote/expanded the description of the following tropes or works:

Shoot the Messenger
Black Rain
Nearly every game in the Quest for Glory series, especially Quest for Glory II and Quest for Glory IV
Midnight Nation
Def Jam Series
Duel to the Death
Cyborg
The Ref
Basic
Payback
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
Ninja Scroll

Contributed a lot to the character pages for the following:

About me:

Quick facts about me

Age: Now 42, although I am often told that I look much younger.
From: New York City originally, I still live in the US.
Hobbies: Reading, writing stories and poetry, photography, martial arts, being an incredibly annoying smartass.
Politics: A pretty arch Liberal/Progressive by US standards.
Personality: INTP according to Myers Briggs.
Religion: Non-affiliated, an agnostic with a fair amount of Buddhism leanings would probably be the most accurate way to quickly describe it.

Tropes that apply to me

Adorkable: At least when you get to know me and I unwind a bit.
Ambiguously Brown: My mother's family is somewhat multiracial and even the fully white people can appear somewhat Ambiguously Brown. I'm one of the "whitest", thanks to my dad's heritage and helped by the fact that I don't get out in the sun as much as some, but even I've been assumed to be some "non-white" ethnicities, as the US judges race. (Oh course, the way race is judged, or even the idea of race altogether is BS, but that's another story.)
Answers to the Name of God: Reacting when people say something like "Oh God" is a Running Gag that I do. My personal favorite example with a girl I was dating at the time:
Her: Oh God!
Me: Yes?
Her: (She's a somewhat observant Jew and frustrated with this gag by now) You're not God!!!
Me: That's not what you said last night.
Her: ... okay, so you're a god, you're just not the God, okay?!
Badass Longcoat: I don't claim to be particularly badass, but I do love my long black jacket, and it's impossible to separate me from it in winter.
Berserk Button: A few, despite otherwise being pretty laid back and easy going.
- Lack of Empathy/most prejudices in general. Homophobia and transphobia are near the top of my list of things I despise, as I grew up around lots of cool LGBTQ people that were kind to me when I was a lonely kid and they deal with more than enough shit in the US and around much of the world as it is, and don't really need any extra from bigoted assholes. But most of the -isms (racism/sexism/classism and so on and so forth) similarly frustrate the hell out of me and make me want to punch the person who is doing so.
- Feeling as though someone is being condescending to me.
- Repeating things over and over to em to make sure I understand them. As long as I'm paying attention to you, odds are once is enough for me to understand something, and if not I'll ask, thank you. You don't need to volunteer it again, all it does is make me feel like you think I'm too stupid or incompetent to get it, or are being condescending.
Bipolar Disorder
Blind Without 'Em: Big time.
Brilliant, but Lazy: Apparently this is a complete cliche to put on one's own troper page, (and probably a little gauche/a sign of ego) but I'm usually one of the smarter people around and have serious issues with motivation that probably stem from depression and my background.
Broken Pedestal: Me mentoring people never seems to turn out well. Despite that I seem drawn towards trying to be the Big Brother Mentor/Cool Teacher to various people. This comic expresses my feelings pretty well.
Brooklyn Rage: Most of the time, I'm an aversion. (And yes I was born and grew up in Brooklyn, if you're curious.) However, I retain some of the attitude and according to friends I get scary when I'm mad...
Chaotic Good
Cloud Cuckoo Lander: I tend to get very silly and carefree around people I'm totally comfortable with. They just happen to be very few, so most people experience me as the quiet stoic.
Combat Pragmatist: I did my share of fighting bigger, nastier kids growing up and in my early teens. As a result my philosophy about fighting is that if there's the slightest chance of being hurt in a fight, (which there always is, even in sparring, although it wouldn't be cool to bring out the pragmatism in sparring) then anything goes.
Covert Pervert: Beneath the quiet, polite exterior lies a very dirty mind. People who used to seem impossibly dirty minded to me are now often surprised when I beat them in thinking dirty things.
Dark and Troubled Past
Deadpan Snarker: To the point of getting real life lampshades. Some of the guys I work with will say something like "And this is the part when James makes a smartass comment" when they realize they've set themselves up for such a comment.
Formerly Fat/Formerly Fit: Much of my early life I was on the skinny side, but since my mid-20s or so I've gone through cycles of gaining a lot of weight, losing it by getting fit, and then slowly going back to my old habits and putting it back on.
Friend to All Children
The Gadfly: I really take far, far too much pleasure in doing this with people I know well enough that there won't be any (major) offense taken. And I'm pretty much unable to curb that once I get up and going.
Graceful Loser: I usually shake hands and congratulate someone who beats me in a game, and if I'm trading snarkiness with someone and they make a cutting comment, I'm usually the first to laugh and give a high five.
Honor Before Reason: If I decide that something is the right thing to do, it's more or less impossible for me not to do it. Often to my own chagrin.
The Insomniac
Insufferable Genius: In my worse moments.
Intelligence Equals Isolation
Jack of All Trades: Worked jobs in multiple fields, (sales, technology, banking, customer service, automotive, health care) and dabbled in various artistic fields as well. (Writing fiction, poetry, photography, creating videos on youtube, etc.)
Knight in Sour Armor: Although the degree of this and exactly where I am in the Idealism-Cynicism spectrum can change drastically from day to day.
Nerd
Nice to the Waiter
No Social Skills: When I was younger. Still working on that one... although the truth is I that I probably don't care enough to make as much progress as I should.
Older Than They Look: Which vaguely amuses me, since years ago people regularly guessed that I was older than I really was. Now everyone thinks I'm younger. I've recently started to joke that I'm reaching the Silver Fox age range but don't have enough silver in my hair to take advantage of it.
The One Who Made It Out: Not all of my friends and relatives from my youth were as lucky as I was in how their lives turned out.
Perma-Stubble
Proud to Be a Geek: Hells yeah!
Pungeon Master: I'm incredibly fond of my puns.
The Quiet One
Red Oni, Blue Oni: I was blue to a longtime former best friend, and in general lean towards that role.
The Smart Guy
The Snark Knight
Scars Are Forever: Actually, they all healed up well enough that most people have no idea they're there unless I point them out.
Sophisticated as Hell: I grew up in Brooklyn in the bad old days. I'm also very well read and have been from an early age. The inevitable result is the occasional casual swearing in the midst of an otherwise intelligent speech or conversation. People around me are always a bit thrown by just how casual I can be with the cursing no matter how many times it happens, because they're used to the smart and quiet side of me dominating.
The Stoic: Again, at least until I feel comfortable enough to let people in.
Stoic Spectacles
Tempting Fate: Quite frequently. One of my (semi-joking, semi-serious) mottoes is "What is luck for if not to push it?"
Think Nothing of It: I tend to to do the right thing simply because it's the right thing, and to do nice things for people just for reasons like seeing them enjoy something I enjoy. (My younger self would think that I've turned into such a ridiculous goody two shoes in my old age).
Too Clever by Half: Frequently.
The Trickster
Wise Beyond Their Years: Well, I used to be, anyway. The years have caught up.

Tropers / The Wanderer

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