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Trope Launch Pad discard project

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Per Ask The Tropers, this thread will be used to reduce the number of old, poorly written drafts on the Trope Launch Pad. We don't want to discuss on the drafts themselves because that will bump them and mix them with active proposals.

Sandbox for the project: Trope Launch Pad Discard Project
Sandbox for discarded drafts but viable ideas: Trope Idea Salvage Yard

The first sandbox page above contains drafts proposed in the thread that are still pending and drafts that we've decided to leave alone, either with no action or a bump.
The second sandbox page is for awful drafts but viable ideas. According to moderators, badly written but interesting/tropeworthy drafts should remain on the TLP. Rather than allow low-effort drafts to clog TLP, though, the salvage yard was opened to keep just the ideas behind them, in one place.

On this thread, we will mention which drafts we think are unworkable, add enough bombs, and discard (nuke) them. Discarding requires at least 5 bombs. Among the features of "unworkable" drafts:

  • There have been no edits for a very long time, or at all
  • The draft is low-effort, containing atrocious spelling and grammar and/or little to no examples, e.g. NEVER saw THAT coming (!), Nut-Chuks
  • The draft was seemingly created so the sponsor could complain
  • The topic is People Sit on Chairs, Too Rare to Trope, a search query created by mistake, etc. and therefore not tropeworthy
  • The topic is already sufficiently covered by one or more tropes or is a duplicate of a better-written TLP draft
  • The draft is problematic in other ways, such being closely tied to a page that has been historically problematic, e.g. Fetish Fuel, Complete Monster
  • There's no discussion currently occurring in the comments to improve the proposal

If we decide to discard a draft after discussion via this thread, whoever does so must provide the discard reason in the comment section of the draft, for transparency's sake. Those looking at the discards section won't think it was nuked for no reason.

Also, check out the sister project, Trope Adoption Drive, where good drafts put Up for Grabs or abandoned can be grabbed, given a bit more improvement, and launched.

Edited by Tabs on Mar 24th 2022 at 12:02:43 PM

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#1801: May 2nd 2021 at 6:21:46 PM

Big batch I found on page 360:

  • Absolute Position Firing: I'm not sure what this trope is trying to be, the only example has a natter bullet, and the whole thing seems weirdly negative.
  • Celibate Equals Pious: There might be an idea here, but the description is a stub and the draft was immediately abandoned.
  • Delayed Action Trap: A stubby draft, and the two examples seem more like examples of slapstick cartoon logic than anything inherent in the trap itself.
  • Question Blabber Montage: A draft made by everyone's favorite trolling ban-evader, which I feel is an insta-nuke reason in and of itself. The title doesn't seem to match the description, the examples are mostly ZCE, and again, it's a draft made by Nate fucking Spidgewood.
  • Sudden Character Popup seems like a more specific Jump Scare with questionable examples. (Wild Pokemon? Really?) Also, another Nate Spidgewood draft.
  • Communist Media: Might be an index worth having, but the draft is a stub with nothing wicked properly.
  • Musical Monster: A surprisingly robust draft, but the examples are all over the place, and it seems like the general definition is vague and overly-broad.
  • Submarine Mood Lighting: A description-only stub with no comments. It also spends more time talking about how unrealistic the trope is.
  • Chosen one status trumps immaturity: Awful grammar and formatting, and is likely covered by things like Competence Zone, A Child Shall Lead Them, and Kid Hero.
  • News Reporter Posse is a dupe of Media Scrum.
  • history's history: Again, awful formatting and grammar. The actual concept might be workable if not covered, though.
  • Power of the Slight Nod: Spotty grammar, poor formatting, ZCE examples.
  • Prudential Event Horizon: Misunderstands what an MEH is (even taking into account what it was before our TRS thread), has no examples, immediately abandoned.

Edited by WarJay77 on May 3rd 2021 at 10:30:56 AM

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Serac she/her (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
she/her
#1802: May 3rd 2021 at 1:10:23 PM

I mistakenly crossed out Ridiculous Robots in my previous post when it was at 4 bombs; it's still a very low-effort draft with a bad title and no examples that should be discarded.

Edited by Serac on May 5th 2021 at 10:45:43 AM

Shadow8411 Since: Jul, 2019
#1803: May 3rd 2021 at 4:14:59 PM

I've just nuked Ridiculous Robots.

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#1804: May 3rd 2021 at 6:24:28 PM

I think Gangsta Goes Legit might be covered by the newly-launched Criminal Craves Legitimacy.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
MonaNaito Since: Jun, 2011
#1805: May 4th 2021 at 10:51:38 AM

Different Individualistic Powers needs to be unlocked by a mod. Two years ago, the OP started sockpuppeting to convince others that this was separate from One Person, One Power and the draft has been frozen ever since.

And for your regularly scheduled nonviable drafts:

Edited by MonaNaito on May 6th 2021 at 7:12:06 AM

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#1806: May 4th 2021 at 3:36:44 PM

Let's take a look at page 380:

Edited by WarJay77 on May 6th 2021 at 9:36:26 AM

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
HeavyMetalHermitCrab Since: Sep, 2018
#1807: May 4th 2021 at 6:26:35 PM

Crowded Sky: Writers Have No Sense of Scale.

A Videogame Chef's Huge Book of Recipes: The central thesis is "a game with a cooking mechanic allows you to make multiple dishes." Which is kind of like saying "a game mechanic, but fleshed out/done well."

Conspicuously Convenient Weather: This is a midpoint between Empathic Environment and Contrived Coincidence, despite the condescending claims to the contrary.

Human Punching Bag: The Scapegoat.

Delayed Trope: This is Playing With rather than a trope, and as written, it's Double Subversion.

Adorkable Infrastructure: Seems to have a malformed understanding of what "Adorkable" actually means, and in the end is nothing more than a collection of Acceptable Breaks from Reality. There isn't a viable trope here.

Adjective=Nomenclature: One-line wonder covered by Meaningful Name.

Typical Fantasy Battle: Trope Finder query.

Passionate Stargazer: Stub, "Character has astronomy/stargazing as a hobby", chairs as written.

Tai Chi Always WinsL Stub with no examples, never edited.

Sorting Algorithim of Star Power: A sorting algorithim with...no sorting algorithim, covered by Plot Armor.

FutureKidsAreCollegeEducated: Stub with no on-draft examples, title doesn't match draft idea, never edited, not sure that this is germane to SF or the future as it's also a common gag in cartoons.

UncannyValleyCharacter: Failed TRS split that amounts to "Uncanny Valley but deliberate".

Jerk Boyfriend: Abandoned stub amount to "Jerkass, but a boyfriend".

Sticky Quote: "A memorable quote." Pretty sure we already have a Quotes namespace.

Edited by HeavyMetalHermitCrab on May 8th 2021 at 5:22:24 AM

Shadow8411 Since: Jul, 2019
#1808: May 4th 2021 at 6:42:47 PM

Fake Blindness has amassed 13 bombs in under a week (with no hats at all), has only three poorly-formatted examples with little context, is covered by at least one other trope, has a confusing name (after it was already renamed), and is overall very complain-y.

I'd nuke it, but one of the TLP guidelines is to not nuke a draft while the discussion is ongoing. Given that the latest comment on the draft was posted only yesterday, how long would we have to wait before the discussion is no longer considered "ongoing"?

Edit: The sponsor nuked it themselves.

Edited by Shadow8411 on May 5th 2021 at 11:11:01 AM

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#1809: May 4th 2021 at 6:44:33 PM

Yeah. I've wanted to nuke that one but I was afraid I'd be breaking the rules if I did since the sponsor is still technically working on it.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Serac she/her (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
she/her
#1810: May 5th 2021 at 9:03:49 AM

[up][up][up][up] The link to Elite Heel Turn just goes to page 380 of TLP. Here's a fixed link.

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
Shadow8411 Since: Jul, 2019
#1812: May 5th 2021 at 11:34:31 AM

[up]x5: All of the tropes you brought up have been nuked, apart from Uncanny Valley Character and Delayed Trope.

Vandagyre I think I just got AC team loyalty from Dacardia (Fifth Year at Tropey's) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
I think I just got AC team loyalty
#1813: May 5th 2021 at 12:49:54 PM

[up] Uncanny Valley Character and Delayed Trope have been nuked, as have been Elite Heel Turn, Loud Blackmail Failure, and Memorized quick Bio from Warjay's last batch.


Here's a batch:

Edited by Vandagyre on May 6th 2021 at 4:37:09 AM

Cave Johnson, we're done here.
Serac she/her (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
she/her
#1814: May 6th 2021 at 3:36:49 PM

Edited by Serac on May 7th 2021 at 9:15:39 AM

Vandagyre I think I just got AC team loyalty from Dacardia (Fifth Year at Tropey's) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
I think I just got AC team loyalty
#1815: May 6th 2021 at 4:39:27 PM

Edited by Vandagyre on May 7th 2021 at 7:37:26 AM

Cave Johnson, we're done here.
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#1816: May 6th 2021 at 5:46:12 PM

Giving a nudge because most of mine from my last post still need to be discarded.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Shadow8411 Since: Jul, 2019
#1817: May 6th 2021 at 11:34:58 PM

  • Edge Scale: Already covered by Teetering on the Edge, only two examples (one of which is speculative), and no activity since 2011. Nuked
  • Inexplicably Super Psychopath: Only a few examples, one is a ZCE, one is "somewhat averted", one is "invoked with some guy offscreen 20 years ago", and one is "slightly subverted". No activity since 2011. Nuked
  • Nice Shot: No examples, not much of a description, no activity since 2011, and the title is more or less a Stock Phrase. Nuked.
  • For Them It Is Progress: Only two examples, covered well enough by Pet the Dog, and the draft has been abandoned since 2011. Nuked
  • Nice guy can't hear it anymore: Confusingly named draft without a proper description, poorly explained examples, and no activity since 2011. Nuked
  • Untitled Episodes: Short description, no examples, and no activity in 9 years. Nuked
  • One Two Skip a Few: Only two examples, no activity since 2012, and no comments. Nuked
  • Dramatic Rootoop Posing: No specific examples, no activity since 2012, and there's still an unfixed typo in the name. Nuked

Edited by Shadow8411 on May 10th 2021 at 10:44:08 AM

Vandagyre I think I just got AC team loyalty from Dacardia (Fifth Year at Tropey's) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
I think I just got AC team loyalty
#1818: May 6th 2021 at 11:40:18 PM

[up]Inexplicably Super Psychopath has been nuked.


Edited by Vandagyre on May 8th 2021 at 3:06:04 AM

Cave Johnson, we're done here.
Vandagyre I think I just got AC team loyalty from Dacardia (Fifth Year at Tropey's) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
I think I just got AC team loyalty
#1819: May 7th 2021 at 4:49:26 PM

Edited by Vandagyre on May 8th 2021 at 3:04:48 AM

Cave Johnson, we're done here.
Serac she/her (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
she/her
#1820: May 7th 2021 at 9:59:51 PM

Edited by Serac on May 8th 2021 at 9:08:54 AM

HeavyMetalHermitCrab Since: Sep, 2018
#1821: May 8th 2021 at 5:19:55 AM

Heroic Feet in Villain Shoes: Villain Shoes but more specific...and not in a terribly significant way. Also a stub with mostly ZC Es.

Night Light Architecture: Poorly written, vague, stubby draft with only ZC Es.

Debt is Power: Functionally identical to You Owe Me, also a stub.

Exiled Knight: It's hard to see this as anything other than "The Exile, but for knights."

Braking and Exiting: Clever title, and I don't know that the idea itself is bad (if we don't have it, a cursory look turned up nothing unless it's Car Fu), but the draft itself is a one-line wonder.

Music Sync Failure: This is more of a blooper/trivia thing if anything, but the draft is stubby and complainy. I don't know if it's worth Yarding due to complaining potential.

Aesop Incoming: Foreshadowing, but for Aesops. Example as thesis. Only two examples and one is a subversion.

Evil is Confident: The idea itself is valid, but it lends itself to Analysis or the general description of a "villain" more than its own trope. Just as well, because the draft is a trainwreck with multiple sliding scales pasted into it.

Crying Non Sequitir: A very specific form of Bait-and-Switch. Immediately abandoned stub. Only extant example is misuse.

About Face Key: "Press this button to turn 180 degrees in an FPS." I just don't see how this is a trope so much as something that exists in a handful of games.

Vandagyre I think I just got AC team loyalty from Dacardia (Fifth Year at Tropey's) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
I think I just got AC team loyalty
#1822: May 8th 2021 at 3:08:23 PM

Edited by Vandagyre on May 8th 2021 at 8:27:21 AM

Cave Johnson, we're done here.
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#1823: May 8th 2021 at 7:14:18 PM

Edited by WarJay77 on May 8th 2021 at 12:31:08 PM

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Serac she/her (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
she/her
#1824: May 8th 2021 at 7:42:34 PM

[up] The link to Faster Than You Can Say goes to the previous draft in the batch. Here's a working link.

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#1825: May 8th 2021 at 7:43:28 PM

Oops, thanks for catching me again [lol]

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall

Total posts: 2,841
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