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All-Purpose Policy and Meta discussion: Administrivia.Trope Repair Shop

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Before making or posting in a thread, read the Trope Repairing Guidelines to see whether a thread you're considering making actually should be made, as well as what is and isn't allowed in an open thread.

This thread is a metathread for Trope Repair Shop discussion. Things like TRS policy, what is needed in a TRS opening post, questions about whether a certain topic is TRS-worthy and questions about why a thread wasn't opened go here.

Some guidelines for when/whether to use TRS:

  • 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):
    • You can go ahead with the Wick Check without a discussion if you know what you're looking for. While it's not mandatory, feel free to ask someone for help confirming that you got the issue and the numbers correct.
    • 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.

For a more detailed introduction to this forum, click here.

For related projects, see Wick Cleaning Projects and the Wick Check Project.

For a list of wiki pages related to thread outcomes, see the following:

Edited by GastonRabbit on Aug 12th 2025 at 11:35:13 AM

thorgold Since: Mar, 2011
#9026: Jul 18th 2024 at 6:47:23 PM

[up] Further fixup is fine, thanks.

Theriocephalus Amateur Veteran from gimme a map and a moment and I can tell you Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Amateur Veteran
#9027: Jul 19th 2024 at 4:04:57 AM

I had something I wanted to check before I put it on the queue:

Comet of Doom has some misuse issues where a lot of its examples are actually examples of Colony Drop ("comet/meteor hits a planet") instead of the trope's actual definition ("a comet is or is taken to be an omen of major events"). In theory that could just be taken care of by weeding out the bad examples, but I have two other concerns:

  • One, the name. "Comet of Doom" doesn't really describe the identity of the trope, and I'm fairly certain that it's the cause of the misuse.
  • Two, there's a third category of examples that describe comets having magical effects or auras, or else spreading toxic gases, alien plagues, and other strange or harmful effects as they go, that don't really fall into either category and I'm not actually sure what to do about.

There's a wick check here, for reference.

Does this seem worth taking to the repair shop?

thorgold Since: Mar, 2011
#9028: Jul 19th 2024 at 5:04:51 AM

[up]

  • The misuse is pretty clear-cut - it's either a portent (Comet of Doom), or it's the actual cause (Colony Drop et. al)
  • I don't think the name is as much as the problem as...
  • ...the lack of "It Came From Space." As you noted, there's no trope space for the examples where the comet itself is the cause of doom for reasons other than Colony Drop. Came from the Sky almost covers it, but in a lot of cases the comets don't fall. It's possible to cram some of them into Negative Space Wedgie or Space Is Magic, but only a few.

Edited by thorgold on Jul 19th 2024 at 5:05:07 AM

themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#9029: Jul 19th 2024 at 6:28:36 AM

~Miss Conduct Has Classic Filler Text been crosswicked? That should be done before adding to the Queue.

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
MissConduct (Septatroper)
#9030: Jul 19th 2024 at 12:11:20 PM

It hasn't (and I'll get to that tonight) but even when I do it'll only have 13 wicks, so I think my point still stands.

themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#9031: Jul 19th 2024 at 12:22:28 PM

[up] If I’m not mistaken, for a trope that new (2022) it has to be 0-11 wicks, so I’m not sure it would qualify.

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
Malady (X-Troper)
#9032: Jul 19th 2024 at 1:26:01 PM

[up] - Yeah. Wick:

0-11 if newly made, 1-3 years old: Starvation

Edited by Malady on Jul 19th 2024 at 1:26:20 AM

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Coachpill Taxidermy (he/him) from Gen Z Since: Aug, 2022 Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#9034: Jul 22nd 2024 at 6:14:45 AM

[up] I'm good with removing it.

Before we do though, paging ~Dancou Maryuu to let them know their entry is being discussed.

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
animuacid The girl of the window from Astyr residence in Lilysthia's grounds Since: Jan, 2024 Relationship Status: I love you for psychological reasons
The girl of the window
#9035: Jul 22nd 2024 at 6:19:41 AM

[up][up] My point still stands. Remove it from the Queue and bring it to the Useful Notes Cleanup thread instead.

Edited by animuacid on Jul 22nd 2024 at 3:19:49 PM

DancouMaryuu Wow… *Everything* is depressing! Since: Feb, 2019
Wow… *Everything* is depressing!
#9036: Jul 22nd 2024 at 8:14:56 AM

[up][up][up] Honestly I wasn't sure which was the right place for a Useful Notes rename. I didn't know that "Useful Notes Cleanup" even existed.

With that, feel free to put the page wherever you feel is more appropriate.

Does anyone else here actually know Fighbird beyond the "Is this a pigeon?" meme?
MorganWick (Elder Troper)
#9037: Jul 23rd 2024 at 5:08:24 AM

~Patar 136 Your Set the World on Fire thread is in the top ten spots on the TRS queue, but while it contains an instruction that it's fine to launch without you, as far as I can tell there's no OP (or even check) listed on the page nor is there a link to one, meaning anyone wishing to "launch without you" has nothing to do it with. Did you intend to provide one?

themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Patar136 Hero of the Winds from A Nice House on Outset Island Since: Oct, 2019 Relationship Status: Gone fishin'
Hero of the Winds
#9039: Jul 23rd 2024 at 9:23:27 PM

@Morgan Wick: Thank you for getting to me. The idea I had was that in the The Launch Pad, I have been working on an idea for a trope called "Planet on Fire." And the idea was that it could serve as a redo of "Set the World on Fire."

Planet on Fire here. Basically, if we could cut the "Set the World on Fire" and simply relaunch it as Set the World on Fire with a better page that has more fleshed out examples and a stronger trope definition.

I hope this makes sense.

I discover my own destiny as I command the winds of life!
Malady (X-Troper)
#9040: Jul 23rd 2024 at 9:52:59 PM

~Patar 136 - If I remember my mechanics right, you don't have to cut a page to replace it by TLP Launch, it'll overwrite it automatically, I think.

Unless that was patched out recently? Nor do I know what happens to the page history on an overwrite.

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
MorganWick (Elder Troper)
#9041: Jul 24th 2024 at 12:16:36 AM

Renaming and (in most cases) cutting tropes requires TRS, and at 80-something references this is out of starving range on Wick, so you need to follow How to Do a Wick Check. You would need to demonstrate why the current page isn't working and why you think your proposed draft and replacement trope for this name would be better.

FernandoLemon Nobody Here from Argentina (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Staying up all night to get lucky
#9042: Jul 24th 2024 at 12:08:33 PM

Sapient All Along got its description changed seemingly without consensus, what to do about that?

Edited by FernandoLemon on Jul 24th 2024 at 4:08:40 PM

I'd like to apologize for all this.
animuacid The girl of the window from Astyr residence in Lilysthia's grounds Since: Jan, 2024 Relationship Status: I love you for psychological reasons
The girl of the window
#9043: Jul 24th 2024 at 12:09:35 PM

[up] Revert and go to the description improvement drive.

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (3,795/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (3,795/50,000)
#9044: Jul 24th 2024 at 12:14:42 PM

And send a notifier, too.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
MissConduct (Septatroper)
#9045: Jul 24th 2024 at 1:02:25 PM

So, For Your People, By Your People is next in the queue, but it's also being discussed as part of a group of similar advertising tropes in the If You Call Before Midnight Tonight thread. Does it still need its own thread or should it be removed from the queue (making My X Is AY next)>

themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#9046: Jul 26th 2024 at 8:04:37 AM

While clicking Random Trope over and over, I discovered Impossible Mission. It apparently had a TRS thread back in 2015, owing to concerns over a vague name and description.

Said thread appears to have clocked out, with no action taken. The unclear name and definition remain. Worth a wick check?

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
Berrenta Bejeweled (she/her) (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Bejeweled (she/her)
#9047: Jul 26th 2024 at 3:00:55 PM

Noting that For Your People, By Your People, which is next up, was brought up in If You Call Before Midnight Tonight's thread. Should we go through with that trope's thread or skip to My X Is AY?

Edited by Berrenta on Jul 26th 2024 at 5:02:56 AM

themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#9048: Jul 26th 2024 at 3:16:35 PM

[up] Skip, IMO

EDIT: Already launched.

Edited by themayorofsimpleton on Jul 26th 2024 at 6:21:22 AM

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
animuacid The girl of the window from Astyr residence in Lilysthia's grounds Since: Jan, 2024 Relationship Status: I love you for psychological reasons
The girl of the window
#9049: Jul 26th 2024 at 3:24:03 PM

[up] Just a small note, My X Is AY appears to be from way before 2020 as it has history in the year 2011. Therefore an outright cut is easy.

themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#9050: Jul 26th 2024 at 3:42:31 PM

[up] I'm aware, I just posted it as written.

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall

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