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- If the trope is fine, but has some bad examples, feel free to clean them up or to start a cleanup project at Projects: Short-Term
. Trope Repair Shop is for when cleaning isn't sufficient.
- If you think there's something wrong with the trope that systematically attracts improper examples, start a discussion at Trope Talk. Use a Wick Check to see whether there's an issue present (and if there is, what the issue is). The following methods are two possible ways to do a wick check (though not necessarily the only ways):
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- Consult the Wick Check Project thread
to collect evidence if you need help.
- Depending on a trope (or non-trope) in question, a wick check may be determined to not be required, such as for tropes that are not thriving (per the standards for trope health listed on the Wick page). However, there is no problem if you want to do one anyway.
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Edited by GastonRabbit on Aug 12th 2025 at 11:35:13 AM
I don't think we have "Snowclone" as a thread category, or problem type, we have "Duplicate Trope". And I don't think The Obi-Wannabe is redundant to Mentor Archetype.
TroperWall / WikiMagic CleanupI have a confession that I think I've mentioned in the mod chat, but haven't mentioned here.
Ever since the TRS Queue was created, I've almost completely stopped paying attention to Tropes Needing TRS, because the former ended up being better at keeping track of pages people want to bring to TRS, being better at keeping track of which proposed threads already have wick checks, and acting as a waiting list for free slots rather than just listing pages.note
It's gotten to the point that I don't bother checking if a newly opened thread has an entry on Tropes Needing TRS to remove, meaning the only time I remove entries is when I'm handling multiple other wicks (whether it's migrating the indexing of a renamed or split page or doing general wick cleanup).
Edited by GastonRabbit on Jun 7th 2022 at 10:12:59 AM
I got a rock for Halloween.![]()
We actually do have "Snowclone":
If it isn't valid, should I remove it from TNTRS then?
Edited by themayorofsimpleton on Jun 7th 2022 at 11:12:43 AM
Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper WallTo be honest, I'm not entirely sure why "Snowclone" is separate from "Ambiguous Name". There was discussion among the team about overhauling the categories used by Image Pickin, but I don't recall any analogous discussion for the ones used by TRS. In particular, adding categories related to moving tropes to YMMV or Trivia (which probably don't exist because they weren't originally handled by TRS), or replacing the "Really a Useful Note" category with a single "Doesn't Belong in Main" category (or whatever it would be called) have been brought up here, but I don't remember if it was brought up around when the IP categories were.
Edited by GastonRabbit on Jun 7th 2022 at 10:17:05 AM
I got a rock for Halloween.Everything You Wanted to Know About Changing Names counters "Snowclone" as a valid complaint, it should at least be moved to "Ambiguous Name".
Don't find "Needs TRS" and "Queue" redundant to each other, one is just a big list of problems people have yet to make wick checks for.
Agree that there should be a "Not fitting namespace" category of some kind, just don't have the energy to brainstorm it today.
Edited by Amonimus on Jun 7th 2022 at 6:18:47 PM
TroperWall / WikiMagic CleanupI wasn't pushing for the deletion of Tropes Needing TRS. I was just sharing my thoughts on the current state of how TRS works and explaining why entries on Tropes Needing TRS often don't get removed until a thread enters the wick-cleaning stage (at least by me), in contrast to how in the past it was more common for them to get removed as soon as a thread was approved. (And that's not getting into the fact that there's currently an effort to remove entries that never received a thread, either approved or rejected, due to a combination of page bloat and questionable entries.)
Edited by GastonRabbit on Jun 7th 2022 at 10:27:55 AM
I got a rock for Halloween.I've already lost my train of thought, just noting that I wasn't arguing if it should be kept. Actually two pages could probably get crosswicked.
TroperWall / WikiMagic CleanupIt's OK. I lose my train of thought all the time, especially if I'm typing after being awake for hours.
I got a rock for Halloween.What I've done for ghost wicks/locked pages was just mention that the remaining wicks on an otherwise-complete page need mod intervention when I ping the mods to close a thread. Should I be using that thread linked in Hollywood Nerd instead?
Vehicle-Based Characterization | Grief-Induced Split | Locker MailThe locked pages thread handles ghost wicks that require mod intervention so yes.
Edited by MacronNotes on Jun 7th 2022 at 11:30:34 AM
Macron's notesAlright! I guess using the thread gives you fine folks more of a heads-up than telling you when the rest of the clean is already completed?
Vehicle-Based Characterization | Grief-Induced Split | Locker MailThere is something about TRS that I have been noticing recently that has been brought to the surface with the recent Protagonist-Centered Morality thread, that I feel might be a potential problem worth bringing up. TRS in general is very quick to move to disambiguate as an option anytime there is a problem with a trope. For reference out of the 50 most recently closed threads, 15 of them ended with the trope being disambiguated, and this is not taking into account that a few of those were ones that were never opened.
This can't possibly be sustainable in the long term as we will end up with tons of tropes that just lead to multiple different tropes. It also creates a massive pain cleaning them up as not only do the entries and wicks need to be removed but tropers also need to consider what tropes would be more appropriate for the entry. Which sometimes is an idea that isn't followed and thus leaves a mess to clean up (I have been fixing some of that sometimes).
Edited by Ordeaux26 on Jun 8th 2022 at 3:43:28 AM
I mean, I agree that disambiguating shouldn't be a first resort for anything, the problem is that a lot of tropes recently are just covered by similar concepts or are so muddled in usage that we don't really have a choice but to disambig the original concept anyway if we split the concepts off.
Blame the tropers of the past for having low standards and making duplicates or misusing tropes, not us for not having other more viable options.
As for the mess part, I personally do try to move wicks whenever possible, the problem is that it's either not always possible or it's not always obvious what trope fits better, so a lot of wicks get cut. But they're in the history for anyone who wants to salvage them.
Edited by WarJay77 on Jun 8th 2022 at 6:55:06 AM
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallI do get that idea but I feel that often enough we aren't putting the effort into fixing the tropes and instead resort to disambiguating too quickly. This is becoming especially noticeable with the Protagonist-Centered Morality thread, where the trope has a clear distinction but people are considering disambiguating anyway simply because the trope weirdly used often.
As I said in the Protagonist-Centered Morality thread, I personally feel cutting/disambiguating should be a last resort after all other options fail. I don't feel it should be considered as a first option—possible solutions could get lost that way.
As an example, a while back, a less experienced, more impulsive, pre-hiatus version of me brought Franchise Original Sin in for complaining and misuse issues arguing for a cut—until the idea of simply removing the requirement that the sin be done better in earlier installments was brought up. That ended up being the option we picked.
Generally I feel we should only ditch tropes if they are completely unsalvageable or not thriving. That's just my opinion though.
Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper WallI do for sure agree it should be used as a last resort but I don't feel that is always happening with every thread. I still don't feel disambiguating Moral Dissonance was the right choice.
Just found a severely starving trope - Rule of Escalating Threat. It was created in 2007, yet only has 19 wicks. IIRC, tropes that'd been starving for so long tend to end up on TRS. So, I doubt that I would need a Wick Check for this but I could be wrong ofc. What would I need to do to get its OP out of the ground?
CG for shortStarving tropes don't need wick checks; just throw it on the queue.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
I see, but would the OP be alright if it's just "This is a trope created in 2007, yet it only has 19 wicks"?
Maybe toss in a suggestion as to what you think should be done with it? (Cut, merge, yard, etc.)
Vehicle-Based Characterization | Grief-Induced Split | Locker Mail
Np!!!
Alright, today on wick updates, the lowest remaining wicks on current TRS cleaning projects: Bald Black Leader Guy (599), Hollywood Nerd (599), Ill Boy (512), Kill Them All (395), Biseinen (156). Biggest changes in wick count since the last time I updated: Absentee Actor (-275), Hollywood Nerd (-291), Knife Nut (-2800).
Vehicle-Based Characterization | Grief-Induced Split | Locker MailI want some advice about The Almighty Dollar. Too many people are confused by it. The name leads them to expect money worship, but then it's about wealth deities. You can see the confusion in this "Image Picking" thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1650764867082994900&page=1
I think that the easiest way to fix this would be to change the Laconic to say "Money Religion" rather than "Deities of Wealth". A number of examples actually say "money religion", but "Image Picking" and others have already ran with the deity part.
I suppose I could go through wicks to change deity to religion. Does this sound like a good idea? I am the creator of this Trope, so I'm confident I know what it's about. But I've made mistakes and don't want to do major changes w/o advice or backup.
Edited by EmilaSkytracker on Jun 10th 2022 at 4:48:40 AM
I don't think the issue is the laconic (few people read those in general) but the name.
People are reading Almighty Dollar literally and think it's about the dollar/money in general being a thing of divinity / the focus of worship.
Deity Of Wealth or Deity Of Fortune would be clearer IMO
Edited by amathieu13 on Jun 10th 2022 at 8:25:01 AM

I have a question.
The Obi-Wannabe is listed under Tropes Needing TRS as a bad snowclone of the now-a-redirect The Obi-Wan. If someone were to take it to TRS, could "Snowclone" still be used as a reason? Or is a different reason preferred?
Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall