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Is it okay to use a trope the wrong way?

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Westrim deep in though- ow! from The land of hoodoos Since: Jan, 2001
deep in though- ow!
#1: Jan 2nd 2011 at 3:19:21 AM

Specifically, I was wondering if it would be okay to add;

  • Ludicrous Gibbs: Some of the stunts he pulls to catch the baddies are really out there or stretch/break legality.

to the NCIS page, or one of the subpages. Obviously not the trope, it's not something I've seen done before, but in context it's quite punny. There has to be somewhere it can go.

PS: If it is not evident, the head of the team on the show is named Gibbs.

I rarely visit the forums to avoid the cynicism ooze.
Deboss I see the Awesomeness. from Awesomeville Texas Since: Aug, 2009
I see the Awesomeness.
#2: Jan 2nd 2011 at 3:21:04 AM

No. Don't use tropes the wrong way. If you want to use it as a joke, there's the trope set that CSI family spawned.

Fight smart, not fair.
Westrim deep in though- ow! from The land of hoodoos Since: Jan, 2001
deep in though- ow!
#3: Jan 2nd 2011 at 3:34:47 AM

Sometimes you should sit on a post for a few minutes before clicking send. I can't shake the feeling that you saw the heading and didn't read anything that I wrote. It absolutely can't go on any of the subpages? How loose are the CMOF pages? Can I format it to fit on WMG? Even if you refreshed/freshed the exact second after I posted, less than 2 minutes isn't much time to read a paragraph, consider it, and respond.

And sorry, I have no idea what trope set you're talking about.

edited 2nd Jan '11 3:59:16 AM by Westrim

I rarely visit the forums to avoid the cynicism ooze.
Deboss I see the Awesomeness. from Awesomeville Texas Since: Aug, 2009
I see the Awesomeness.
#4: Jan 2nd 2011 at 4:22:49 AM

I read your post. Making a pun on the name is bad. If you want to make a joke, do it on the YMMV or Trivia page and put it under the pun.

And I was referring to Quip to Black.

edited 2nd Jan '11 4:23:33 AM by Deboss

Fight smart, not fair.
Madrugada Since: Jan, 2001
#5: Jan 2nd 2011 at 9:01:34 AM

No, what you're proposing to do will create confusion. If the trope is legitimately used and you want to pun on the name in the trope list, that's OK, but inserting a trope that isn't used simply to make a pun on the name is a very bad idea.

SilentReverence adopting kitteh from 3 tiles right 1 tile up Since: Jan, 2010
adopting kitteh
#6: Jan 2nd 2011 at 1:53:15 PM

There's no way the trope fits with that. If you want to make note of how the trope name gets to be a pun ot could be confused, for example, you could go to the series's Troper Tales page and invoke I Thought It Meant, which is the only thing IMHO that could fit the usage, and in the only place where it could be made fitting...

Fanfic Recs orwellianretcon'd: cutlocked for committee or for Google?
Westrim deep in though- ow! from The land of hoodoos Since: Jan, 2001
deep in though- ow!
#7: Jan 2nd 2011 at 2:13:08 PM

...It's like I didn't ask twice, once generally ("would be okay to add; to the NCIS page, or one of the subpages") and once specifically ("It absolutely can't go on any of the subpages? How loose are the CMOF pages? Can I format it to fit on WMG?"), which page it would go on. Do you see why I'm skeptical that what I write is actually being read?

If either of you are responding to those inquiries, there's no indication of that in the way you responded, since you seem focus on scolding me as though I don't know this is usually bad formatting ("Making a pun on the name is bad. If you want to make a joke, do it on the X and Y", "No, what you're proposing to do will create confusion").

I wouldn't be asking the question in the header if I didn't already know it's bad formatting for a Main Page; I only included it when I first asked for the sake of generality, eg is this okay 'ever'. YMMV is to my knowledge has the same formatting as a main page. Using a Trivia page is a possibility.

I'm not sure what Quip to Black has to do with this, since it's a legitimate trope used in other media besides CSI. The entries are written humorously, but the formatting is still mostly good. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding

I rarely visit the forums to avoid the cynicism ooze.
Madrugada Since: Jan, 2001
#8: Jan 2nd 2011 at 2:25:38 PM

Your original post asks if it's ok to add it to the NCIS page (a main works page) "or one of the subpages". If you weren't interested in adding it to the main page, why is that the first page you mention adding it to? And how is it relevant to either WMG or CMOF?

The answer you got was "adding a completely unrelated trope simply for the sake of a pun on the name of one of the characters is not good form." It doesn't matter which page you add it on. It could work if there was some connection between the trope and the character, besides the pun on his name, but there isn't.

Westrim deep in though- ow! from The land of hoodoos Since: Jan, 2001
deep in though- ow!
#9: Jan 2nd 2011 at 2:58:14 PM

@ Madrugada: Like I said, I just mentioned it as part of 'can this happen, ever' for completeness's sake. I'm sorry that led to a wrong impression. The point was that this only works when associated with the NCIS articles; I don't think it would work in, say, a compendium of misused tropes leading to humor without leading into Don't Explain the Joke.Don't Explain the Jacques?

As to your answer, it would have helped it if you had more specifically addressed some of the ideas being thrown around. The blanket 'no' of it led to my concerns as stated. Since some pages styles are so loose I thought it might work as say, a WMG:

  • In the Warhammer40k, Gibbs is known as Ludicrous Gibbs, for his famed ability to skirt the rules and blow his suspects apart. Some theologians suspect these tales may have been altered over the years.

Something like that. I'm not sure that Reverence's suggestion would work, since it may look pretty odd having a Troper Tales page attached to a work (has that been done?), and with a single entry that's just a pun.

I rarely visit the forums to avoid the cynicism ooze.
Deboss I see the Awesomeness. from Awesomeville Texas Since: Aug, 2009
I see the Awesomeness.
#10: Jan 2nd 2011 at 3:13:14 PM

That's a bad pothole, since it's not a related trope.

Fight smart, not fair.
troacctid (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#11: Jan 2nd 2011 at 4:02:49 PM

I believe the correct way to do this is to stick "Not to be confused with Ludicrous Gibbs" in the description for Ludicrous Gibs.

edited 2nd Jan '11 4:03:28 PM by troacctid

suedenim Teutonic Tomboy T-Girl from Jet Dream HQ Since: Oct, 2009
Teutonic Tomboy T-Girl
#12: Jan 2nd 2011 at 4:18:33 PM

Or, in this case, put "Not to be confused with Ludicrous Gibs" on Gibbs' NCIS character page. That particular show's character page is organized a bit oddly, in that it doesn't have introductory paragraphs for the character. Inserting the above sentence would be smoother if the character page organization was something like, e.g., WonderWoman.

Jet-a-Reeno!
troacctid (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#13: Jan 2nd 2011 at 4:21:12 PM

Yeah, whichever, something like that.

Westrim deep in though- ow! from The land of hoodoos Since: Jan, 2001
deep in though- ow!
#14: Jan 4th 2011 at 6:11:56 PM

Thanks for the suggestions, troacctid and suedenim, that sidesteps the whole problem.

I rarely visit the forums to avoid the cynicism ooze.
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