Rename Everything's Hotter With Flames: Ptitlexqemxdmx

It's been said in another discussion, but it bears repeating: the title is not only formulaic but misleading.

I offer a much better title: Hot Paint Job.

General support.

A whoping six wicks and 3 incoming tells me a rename will not be missed.

edited 30th Dec '10 11:56:07 PM by Deboss

Fight smart, not fair.

My 2 cents.

First, we should agree on what exactly this trope is about.

• Is it about any flame decals whatsoever? Then I don't think it's a trope at all.
• Is it about flame decals inserted without any logic, just for the Rule of Cool? Then I also don't think it's a trope, since 100% flame decals have no logic behind them, except Rule of Cool.
• Is it about flame decals painted on something except cars and bikes? Now we're on to something, I think. There are some examples like that on the trope's page (e.g., flame-decal'd bras, giant mechas, canes, etc.).

If you have some other suggestion(s), please voice it/them.

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As for name suggestions... I'm actually at a loss ATM. I'll think about it.

edited 31st Dec '10 8:55:44 AM by Zulfiqar

Definitely needs a rename, I thought this was about the Incendiary Exponent, a.k.a. Everything's Hotter When It's Actually On Fire.

edited 31st Dec '10 9:25:59 AM by Stratadrake

An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

I'm fairly lumpy, but there's no question to me that this should not just be thrown in with Rule of Cool. Flame jobs act as sort of Power Tattoos for inanimate objects, marking them as "warriors."

They can be a short-hand for an artist or writer to tell us something about the vehicle (it has had its lightning greased) or the owner of this vehicle (as in, flames on an econobox telling us they wish their vehicle was faster.)

To the extent that they actually do make a vehicle appear fast, they actually can somewhat increase the chances of race victory by psychological intimidation.

In fiction, they may also function as a magic totem that really does make a vehicle faster (or some other inanimate object more powerful.)

I think more emphasis on the tropy aspects is called for.

edited 31st Dec '10 10:03:22 AM by MoCellMan

Searching for plausible mechanisms.

To Mo Cell Man: Then it will become "List all flame decals in fiction you remember", and that is not a trope.

Flame decals becoming actual magical power sources could be a trope... if there would be at least 3 examples for it. Maybe it needs to be YKTTW'ed to find this out.

It does not need to. With the right description, examples would be limited to flames of significance, which is just as much a trope as any other visual characteristic trope.

It can require a certain level of commitment, too. For instance, for cars, there's a big difference between putting on a small flame vinyl sticker, and painting your car as in the trope picture - the latter is like Dye Hard for cars.

edited 31st Dec '10 10:57:25 AM by MoCellMan

Searching for plausible mechanisms.

I actually like Everything's Cooler With Flames as a rename, but since that is kind of already taken with Everything's Cooler With Lava, I do not think it would work.

Zulfiqar,

Yeah, this is what I think the trope fits the best. Feel free to disagree with me here, but I think the only real change that needs to be made is to do something about the name so it does not seem to be the same thing as Incendiary Exponent.

I guess the picture should be changed to accommodate the focus on flame decals on things that are not bikes or cars as well.

edited 31st Dec '10 10:57:35 AM by LouieW

"irhgT nm0w tehre might b ea lotof th1nmgs i dont udarstannd, ubt oim ujst goinjg to keepfollowing this pazth i belieove iN !!!!!1 d

Incendiary Exponent seems to be limited to anthropomorphic entities.

A trope so common that you could create an extremely long list does not in any way make it not a trope. It just means the examples need to be more carefully chosen for interesting-ness.

edited 31st Dec '10 10:58:29 AM by MoCellMan

Searching for plausible mechanisms.

But There Is No Such Thing As Notability.

This means, examples like "There was a car with a flame decal on pg.5 of Archie Comics #37 (1975)" will also be added. Not "might", will. Please consider that.

It would be confused with Incendiary Exponent, just like the current title is.

If we change its meaning to "flame decals not on cars/bikes", then the article needs a rewrite, and examples need to be cleansed. Plus, of course, the actions you mentioned.

Imho, it can be broadened relatively easily.

I didn't mean it's not a trope because of many examples. I meant, it's not a trope because it is "Name all flame decals". Imho, it's People Sit On Chairs. Forgive me if I'm mistaken.

There Is No Such Thing As Notability, I'm afraid :)

edited 31st Dec '10 11:13:36 AM by Zulfiqar

That's not what There Is No Such Thing As Notability means. TISNSTAS is there so nobody can claim the work is too niche for a page. We do have a policy about things that don't mean anything to the story, namely People Sit On Chairs. Meaning, it has to have some kind of meaning to the story or plot.

edited 31st Dec '10 11:22:38 AM by Deboss

Fight smart, not fair.

Zulfiqar,

You are right, I guess I kind of missed that before.

I think we probably should wait for a crowner or general agreement about changing the trope like that, but right now I am thinking that a good way to edit the trope description would be to say something to the effect of "in Real Life artificial flames are typically added to bikes and cars (the idea being that the vehicle is so fast, it literally burns as it goes). However, there probably isn't a single thing on the planet that hasn't had fire painted on it at some point or another in an attempt to increase its cool factor. In fiction, the possibilities are broader, as detailed below. Note, this trope is about examples of flame decals that are used on something other than a car or a bike because those examples appear to often to list."

I realize that is rather rough, but I think a trope description that is somewhat similar to that one would work.

edited 31st Dec '10 11:27:41 AM by LouieW

"irhgT nm0w tehre might b ea lotof th1nmgs i dont udarstannd, ubt oim ujst goinjg to keepfollowing this pazth i belieove iN !!!!!1 d

And that is a problem because??? This just means it's a widespread trope. I do not think this is People Sit On Chairs, as it quite certainly as meaning, even when applied to bikes and cars. Not counting that in medias, vehicule with prominent flame decals are rarely background set pieces. If they are there, there's a reason.

When applied of a Vehicule, flame decals infer all sorts of things:

1. The vehicule is probably faster than most.
2. The vehicule may be customized, or, at least, very prized by it's owner.
3. It's owner may be badass, and/or have some sort "rebel" attitude.
4. It's owner or the vehicule may have some affinity with fire as an element.
5. On a bike, this may help establish that the owner is part of a biker gang.

Incendiary Exponent is also about actual fire (of various types), not mere appearance modification.

As there are very few examples of factory flame jobs among cars, the overwhelming majority say something about the owner - that they wanted to customize their car in some way. The hot rod flame job seems to me a Trope Codifier of sorts.

When House chooses a cane with flames (and particularly because the show highlights his selection), it makes a statement about him - his virility, his refusal to yield to decrepitude - (and makes a statement about him making a statement). When a character paints flames on their motorcycle, it can be very much the same thing.

edited 31st Dec '10 11:57:38 AM by MoCellMan

Searching for plausible mechanisms.

I won't argue. But, can we claim an example is too "uninteresting" for a page?

My impression from People Sit On Chairs is that it's about pages that are just a list of common occurrences, e.g., "list all people sitting on chairs in fiction". ...Btw, isn't "List all flame decals in fiction" something kinda like this?

Or maybe I misunderstood something? I would be grateful if someone corrects me.

No, if someone is willing to write out the example, it can stay. However, X Just X can be cut.

"Flame decals are supposed to draw your attention" is the trope, or at least it should be. Therefore, instances where flame decals are used are implicitly this trope.

Fight smart, not fair.

We have Cool Car, which is not a list of every cool car ever. We have Cool Sword, which is not a list of every cool sword ever. We have Cool Starship, which is not a list of every cool starship ever (which would be basically every starship in my opinion).

To some extent, we can trust Wiki Magic to choose interesting examples. And when there's a lot, we can look to see if there are some interesting trends for splits.

The crux of People Sit On Chairs is in "this is something that never carried any meaning to begin with." As several have stated here, flame jobs can carry meaning, and when they do, they are not People Sit On Chairs.

For the hypothetical Archie example given above, I might pull that one to the discussion page and ask "Can anyone say how this is meaningful?" Depending. Discussion pages don't get read a whole lot, and there are so many other things to do.

edited 31st Dec '10 12:10:32 PM by MoCellMan

Searching for plausible mechanisms.

Okay, I'll be brief, since it's like 30 minutes to midnight, and I'm gonna celebrate :)

You've all made a lot of great points, and corrected some of my misunderstandings. As of now, I see 3 tropes here:

• Flame decals on unusual things (not cars/bikes)
• Flame decals make a thing cool/virile/speedy
• Flame decals signify a rebel
• Did I miss anything?

Now, the question is: do we want those meanings to be lumped into one trope, or each one deserves its own trope?

Happy New Year everyone! :D

Just because a trope can have a few different implications doesn't mean it's a good idea to split it, Zulfiqar. It's probably not good to split tropes if the classification you think of isn't exhaustive and mostly non-overlapping.

Name definitely needs changing. I thought it was about Flame Wars.

Flaming Decals Look Cool?

Accidental mistakes are forgivable, intentional ones are not.

How about Cool Hot Factor? Or Instant Cool Just Add Flames?

Sounds like Incendiary Exponent rather than this.

Agreed.

Then I suggest:

• A list of these subtropes, like the one in my previous post, should be put into the trope's article;
• Each example in the example list should have at least a brief description, about which subtrope(s) is/are used here.
  • As an alternative to the latter, the example list may be split into 3 categories.

What do you think?

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As for names - how about Flame Decals Are Hot?

edited 1st Jan '11 2:17:05 AM by Zulfiqar

Flame Decals Are Hot is the best suggestion so far, IMO.

+1

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.