I still think this is a legitimate trope. I'll use the example I added to the Body Bags page: the city where the book takes place is called Terminus, GA. If you know anything about the history of Atlanta you know that it was originally called Terminus. This is not common knowledge, nor does it require any kind of esoteric academic speciality. Jason Pearson clearly put it in there so the reader could either look it up or say "Oh, clever," if he already knew that. I suppose putting that in Trivia would be okay, but I think it's definitely not YMMV.
edited 2nd Jan '12 7:34:04 PM by Martello
"Did anybody invent this stuff on purpose?" - Phillip Marlowe on tequila, Finger Man by Raymond Chandler.I really think we should split this into forms of reference. What you brought up would be a Historical Reference.
I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.There is now a page action crowner for this trope here
. Feel free to add options as you see fit.
I am not sure I described the suggestions brought up in this thread that well, so if anyone would like to clarify them, feel free to edit the crowner accordingly.
"irhgT nm0w tehre might b ea lotof th1nmgs i dont udarstannd, ubt oim ujst goinjg to keepfollowing this pazth i belieove iN !!!!!1 dOkay, I'm having trouble making some of these.
I tried making one for literary references, but then I wondered if it should be limited to subtle references, or any references. Then I wondered if such a thing would more fall under Shout-Out than Genius Bonus anyway.
Then I tried making one for math references, and then wasn't sure what would qualify as a reference or just stating a math problem.
About the only think I'm sure of is if people acknowledge whether a reference is obscure, which I am making a ykttw for right now. Others I will need help with, or others making those tropes if they know the subjects better.
I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.![]()
I'd say that "just stating a math problem" is the equivalent of someone in a work simply mentioning another work by name. Whether it qualifies as a reference is a good question (does Phoebe mentioning that "this would never happen to someone named Hulk count as a reference?), it's definitely not a genius bonus. Even someone who has no idea what the significance of that math problem is can recognize it as a math problem. Now, if there's something significant in the math that isn't immediately obvious (such as an "imaginary friends" pun
, that probably would count as a genius bonus because it requires actual understanding of the subject matter.
That's the important part of the concept, as I see it: if you need special prior knowledge in the field in question to fully understand something, it's an example.
I'm opening this thread on request, but clocking it. Let's hop to it.
Waiting on a TRS slot? Finishing off one of these cleaning efforts will usually open one up.Okay, I just launched Lampshaded the Obscure Reference (decided to just get it over with). So anyone else want to make more Sub-Trope ykttws?
I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.I feel like we should make a general Special Efforts thread for tropes that need to be YKTTW'd.
Make a new one. There is nothing that holds up TRS more than YKTTW actions.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanI was following Troacctid's suggestion. A general thread, not just for Genius Bonus.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanWas the reworking of the supertrope done? If so, I think we can close this.
Waiting on a TRS slot? Finishing off one of these cleaning efforts will usually open one up.
Crown Description:
What would be the best way to fix the page?

Bump.