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
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.
-
The Claw Reveal
is a trope finder query that could nonetheless be yarded considering how many examples are in the comments. -
Constant Reminder Annoyance
is a stub that isn't sure if it wants to be Unwanted Assistance or Annoying Video Game Helper, and the fact that it lists one example for each certainly doesn't help. -
Crowd saw nothing
was instantly put up for grabs, was never edited, lists "That one episode in CSI" and the image for an unrelated trope as the only examples, and is generally little more than a one-line wonder. -
From Rage to Snark
has poor grammar and no examples. -
Gangsta goes legit
was never edited, even though OP commented on the draft several times and there's a bunch of viable examples in the comments. It's definitely yard material. -
Holodeck Limitation Syndrome
was instantly abandoned and is very poorly defined, but as far as I can tell, it seems to be complaining about how they could have done more interesting things with holodeck technology. -
Promiscuous Mom
is "Really Gets Around, but for mothers". -
Schrödinger's Pun
is "Double Meaning, but for puns". -
Stage Select! / Choose Your Target!
is equal parts Gotta Kill 'Em All and "stage select screens exist", which was pulled from the salvage yard for being too broad. -
Toon Tech
has no examples with any context. It might be worth yarding, though. -
X Sword of Y
is Randomly Generated Loot.
Edited by Serac on May 5th 2021 at 10:45:43 AM
I think Gangsta Goes Legit might be covered by the newly-launched Criminal Craves Legitimacy.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallDifferent 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:
- Amalgam Moveset
: There is an existing draft, Composite Fighter
, that covers the same territory and actually has a description. Examples should be ported there.
-
Dreams Change Reality
: Your Mind Makes It Real. -
Hats With Veils
: While OP and the commenters make some good points about how it could be narrowed down to, say, "seductresses/femmes fatales wear veiled hats", after 10 years it is still just a list of hats. -
Revolution Without Revolutionary Ideas
: I do think this is sufficiently distinct from existing tropes, but it's an abandoned stub with no examples. -
Scenery Fusion
: Human Architecture Horror was launched shortly after this draft was abandoned. -
Season Number Reset
: Dupe draft of Season Renumbering
from the same OP. -
Sports Partners
: Decade-old abandoned stub. -
Suddenly Calm
: The shortest stub ever.
Edited by MonaNaito on May 6th 2021 at 7:12:06 AM
Let's take a look at page 380:
-
Presenting the Defeated Champion
: Seems to be covered by a variety of concepts, like Defeated and Trophified or Battle Trophy. -
Unreciprocated Instigation
: No examples, overly wordy title, potentially yardable. -
Technobabble In Action
: ZCE examples, and seems to just be "work shows science-y thing happen". The sponsor asked for help, and abandoned it a day later. -
Interesting World Syndrome
: I've read the description multiple times and I have no clue what it's saying. It has no examples, and might be covered by Fourth Wall Myopia or Anthropic Principle. -
No Headroom Equals Death
: Seems to be complaining about video game logic and hitbox shenangigans. No comments except a bump, and was immediately abandoned. -
Twelve Sided Dice
: And abandoned draft with no progress, but a trope for "Tabletop Games are for Nerds" or something might be viable. I say cut and yard. -
Elite Heel Turn
: No examples, abandoned immediately. -
Caravan Release
: There's a concern on the draft that this is Too Rare to Trope, and it was immediately abandoned. The title also confuses me some- is that the official term? -
Wizardly Workshop
: Long-abandoned with ZCEs and only one comment. -
Memorized quick bio
: Poor grammar, stubby description, no (proper) examples, abandoned immediately. -
Loud Blackmail Failure
: Seems to be covered by Threat Backfire. It's also an abandoned stub. (Man, people back then really did like to just fire-and-forget these drafts, huh?) -
Not So Out Of Their Mind
: I think this is Smart Ball. -
Villain Song Video
: Full of ZCE, but seems to just be "Music Video, but with a Villain Protagonist" or alternatively "Villain Song, but in Music Video form". -
Sinister Black Eyes
is just a color/appearance trope somehow spawned from a TRS thread. The examples are basically just "character has black eyes, and it's creepy".
Edited by WarJay77 on May 6th 2021 at 9:36:26 AM
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallCrowded Sky: Writers Have No Sense of Scale.
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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."
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Conspicuously Convenient Weather: This is a midpoint between Empathic Environment and Contrived Coincidence, despite the condescending claims to the contrary.
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Human Punching Bag: The Scapegoat.
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Delayed Trope: This is Playing With rather than a trope, and as written, it's Double Subversion.
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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.
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Adjective=Nomenclature: One-line wonder covered by Meaningful Name.
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Typical Fantasy Battle: Trope Finder query.
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Passionate Stargazer: Stub, "Character has astronomy/stargazing as a hobby", chairs as written.
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Tai Chi Always WinsL Stub with no examples, never edited.
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Sorting Algorithim of Star Power: A sorting algorithim with...no sorting algorithim, covered by Plot Armor.
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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.
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UncannyValleyCharacter: Failed TRS split that amounts to "Uncanny Valley but deliberate".
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Jerk Boyfriend: Abandoned stub amount to "Jerkass, but a boyfriend".
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Sticky Quote: "A memorable quote." Pretty sure we already have a Quotes namespace.
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Edited by HeavyMetalHermitCrab on May 8th 2021 at 5:22:24 AM
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
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![]()
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The link to Elite Heel Turn just goes to page 380 of TLP. Here's a fixed link.
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:
-
Suddenly Sunset
: Trope Finder query with only one example. -
Like Watching Paint Die
is Long-Lasting Last Words, but with more complaining. -
Butt Monkey Vs Butt Monkey
is Wimp Fight. -
Repellant Date
is Please Dump Me. -
Evil Announcer
is a stub and may be Too Rare to Trope. -
Schools Are Incompetent
is covered by Sucky School. -
Audio Football
is a stub with a non-indicative title. -
alternate geography
is covered by Fictional Earth. -
Can't Keep a Straight Face
: Trope Finder query. -
Dropped Lightsaber
: Trope Finder query, plus Trope Namer Syndrome. -
Sterile White Hospital Room
is Chairs. -
Comically Sized
seems to think any adult character who's depicted as being short as a stylistic choice has dwarfism, and consequently is partially a list of cartoon characters. The other part is "people whose dwarf status isn't noted, but is Played for Laughs", which is... yeah. -
You call that a drink?
is a stub with a stock phrase for a title.
Edited by Vandagyre on May 6th 2021 at 4:37:09 AM
Cave Johnson, we're done here.-
Altered Rerun
is "George Lucas Altered Version, but for live-action TV". -
Character Trophy Hoard
is a trope finder query. -
Defensive Tower
is a pretty low-effort stub that overlaps a lot with Sentry Gun. -
Good Boys Don't Hunt
is "A Real Man Is a Killer, but inverted". -
Hero, Beast and Anchor
is a trope finder query that's covered by Memento MacGuffin and Morality Chain. -
High School Band
may or may not be covered by Garage Band, and it's an abandoned stub either way. -
Invincible While Unconscious
is a trope finder query. -
Lots of Flashing Lights
is a one-line wonder. -
Money ex Machina
is A Fool and His New Money Are Soon Parted. -
Personaliteye
is Windows of the Soul. Also, we've been finding a lot of failed TRS drafts lately, haven't we?
Edited by Serac on May 7th 2021 at 9:15:39 AM
-
Coming Full Circle
is chairs. -
Only Six Body Types
is a snowclone of Only Six Faces. -
Ghost Pottery Scene Reference
is covered by ReferencedBy.Ghost 1990. -
Blood Will Tell
is In the Blood. -
Eat the Dead Guy's Apple
is covered by Enemy Eats Your Lunch. -
Only Six Phrases
is another snowclone of Only Six Faces. -
Idiom Ball
is "Idiot Ball, but holder forgets how idioms work". -
Big Brother Best Friend Forever
is "siblings share common ground" and may have been made in response to Shining Armor's reveal. -
Remade by the same director
: I swear I saw a newer draft that covered this concept called Self-Remake. -
Craniums are Optionals
is Brain Monster. -
Improbably Messy Defecation
: No. -
There are no Referees
: Instantly-abandoned stub with no comments.
Edited by Vandagyre on May 7th 2021 at 7:37:26 AM
Cave Johnson, we're done here.Giving a nudge because most of mine from my last post still need to be discarded.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall- 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
Inexplicably Super Psychopath has been nuked.
-
Corridor Z
: Draft for a work page that has since been created by someone else. Move viable tropes to game's page. -
Sweet Dreams, Children
: Formatting is a mess, plus No New Stock Phrases. -
But Not Too Feral
: Stub that's too pony-specific. -
Italians Are Mafiosi
: Redundant to The Mafia. -
Dummied In
: Covered by Refitted for Sequel. -
Song's Climax
: To quote one of the comments, “this is the musical equivalent of People Sit on Chairs.” -
Scheissen Filmen
: Too much complaining and potential for future complaining, given how it's about bad German films.
Edited by Vandagyre on May 8th 2021 at 3:06:04 AM
Cave Johnson, we're done here.-
New Transvestite Student
: Twelfth Night Adventure but with schools. Title is also problematic. -
Internet Viral Humiliation
is Instant Humiliation: Just Add YouTube!. Is it weird that I like this name better than what the trope's actually called? -
Repair Her Armor
: Unlaunched work page with no examples. -
You Tasted That?
: Stub with a stock phrase title. -
Moving Episode
is covered by The Moving Experience. -
Super Nature is Glowy
is covered by Bioluminescence Is Cool, though some of the draft's description could be used to expand BIC's. -
What a Nice Doggy, SIT!
: Stub with poor name, covered by Scare the Dog and Fluffy Tamer. -
The Fake Guy Actually Exists
: Covered by Accidental Truth. -
Revealing Word Slip
is Freudian Slip.
Edited by Vandagyre on May 8th 2021 at 3:04:48 AM
Cave Johnson, we're done here.-
Brought Down To Normal Relationship
is a trope finder query. -
Courage Improves Your Health
is a one-line wonder. -
Crimestoppers In Love
is "Strictly Professional Relationship, but for cops". - The Head Forms Last
is classic chairs, and Leader Forms the Head covers what little meaning there is here.
-
Martial Genius Ditz
is Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass. -
Medieval Machinery
is Bamboo Technology. -
Out Of Flavour
is Bizarro Episode with added complaining. -
Peck of Gratitude
is "Smooch of Victory, but downplayed". -
Spiritual Aliens
is Proud Scholar Race. -
Superhero Combat Tutoring
is a one-line wonder that's almost certainly already covered. - Tag Along Sidekick
has a very short description that amounts to "sidekicks in video games exist" and not one of the examples has any attempt at context.
-
Very Disposable Cell Phone
is a one-line wonder.
Edited by Serac on May 8th 2021 at 9:08:54 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.
-
Stop Acting So White
is a stub. -
Tripping balls
is also a stub. -
Painful One-Liner
is an immediately abandoned stub. -
WebVideo/AshleyMardell
: Stub with no real tropes. -
Phleplotinum
is a bad snowclone of, and is redundant to, Applied Phlebotinum. -
Rascal With Rank
is covered by Royal Brat. -
The Lancer Fights The Dragon
: Lancer vs. Dragon. Huh. -
Where The Doomed Have Gone Before
: Doomed Predecessor. -
CowardHasAPoint
: This is Properly Paranoid.
Edited by Vandagyre on May 8th 2021 at 8:27:21 AM
Cave Johnson, we're done here.-
Non-Monetary Compensation
: A stub that boils down to "Character barters with an item". Also, Pro Bono Barter exists. -
The History is Better
: Confusing title, and the two examples are hilarious- One is a non-linked ZCE, and the other is a massive, rant-y wall of text. In general, this trope seems like complaint-bait. -
Expendable Arm Loss
: A tropeless wonder, and is just An Arm and a Leg, but the limb can't be the dominant one, which just sounds like it's begging for aversions. -
Faster Than You Can Say
: Tropeless Stock-Phrase. -
No Eye-Contact Talk
: Stub that boils down to "Characters look at something else while talking". -
Third Act Monster Moment
: Tropeless stub covered by things like BLAM, Diabolus ex Nihilo and Giant Space Flea from Nowhere. -
Cooperation Transformation
is covered pretty heavily by Fire-Forged Friends. The other variants mentioned might be different enough for the salvage yard, I guess. -
Deliberately Scary Monster
appears to be Peek-a-Bogeyman. -
Mysterious Dialogue Opener
: Tropeless wonder covered by Once More, with Clarity and In Medias Res. -
Inventory Clutter
is of dubious tropeworthiness; one of the comments argues that it's more of just a bug in the game and not an intentional trope, and the examples are all over the place. Also, potential complaint bait? -
Persuading the Plebians
: A never edited, never commented on draft with one example and even the sponsor wondering if it's tropeworthy enough. -
Repeating Structure
: Strictly Formula, and also an instantly abandoned draft full of ZCEs. Sounds like potential complaint bait as well even if it's not covered. -
Even Kids have standards
: Poorly formatted, poorly written, tropeless wonder. -
Hold That Thought
: Abandoned, tropeless stub with a stock-phrase title. -
Awesome Barista
: One example, and all the comments questioning the tropeworthiness. Somehow has a hat for reasons unexplained. -
Preparation Backfire
: Stub with one example, and I'm not even sure that one example qualifies note - Soccer Mom
: Stub that doesn't seem like a trope to me, but if it is, it needs more meat than just "Mom brings her kids to sports games". Might already be covered in part by Stage Mom and Obnoxious Entitled Housewife.
Edited by WarJay77 on May 8th 2021 at 12:31:08 PM
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
The link to Faster Than You Can Say goes to the previous draft in the batch. Here's a working link.

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