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Wick Check Project

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So this is a place for people who are interested in helping out, or getting help with, wick checks. Maybe you just want people to double-check your work before you submit it to the TRS, or maybe you have a big project in mind and can't tackle it on your own. Either way, you've come to the right place!

Remember to check out How to Do a Wick Check for a run down. For the list of current and completed projects, see Wick Check Project.

Edited by Berrenta on Oct 2nd 2025 at 9:41:48 AM

Walkinshadows Since: Jun, 2012
#1451: Dec 2nd 2021 at 10:04:49 PM

Should a wick check be required before added something there? Would that help?

ETA: I got distracted, but I came here to say I might do a wick check on Bald Of Awesome at some point to check for ZCE issues. Keep seeing "character is bald" a lot.

Edited by Walkinshadows on Dec 2nd 2021 at 1:07:34 PM

Ordeaux26 Since: May, 2019 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#1452: Dec 2nd 2021 at 10:06:27 PM

That is a good point I didn't think of that.

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)
#1453: Dec 2nd 2021 at 10:07:46 PM

It wouldn't be necessary in all cases (not thriving tropes being the primary example), and I think if there's enough history of people discussing issues with the trope (cleanup threads, ATT, trope talk, etc) that's evidence in and of itself... but for normal tropes that don't get talked about ever, if you'd need a wick check to actually start a TRS thread, I'd agree that a wick check should probably done before said trope is added to the page. The amount of threads that have been posted to TRS lately without wick checks only serves to tell me that, even now, a lot of people either don't know how they work / what they're for, or don't realize how absolutely necessary they are.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Walkinshadows Since: Jun, 2012
#1454: Dec 2nd 2021 at 10:12:34 PM

Maybe just add a note at the top asking people to do a wick check or add it to the wick check sandbox before adding it to Tropes Needing TRS?

Edited by Walkinshadows on Dec 2nd 2021 at 1:13:05 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)
#1455: Dec 2nd 2021 at 10:14:21 PM

Eh, we'd probably need more consensus for that.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#1456: Dec 2nd 2021 at 10:15:46 PM

I was about to ask if we had already done a wick check for Bald Of Awesome, but then I remembered that was for Bald Woman instead. Probably has all the same issues, though.

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Walkinshadows Since: Jun, 2012
#1457: Dec 2nd 2021 at 10:18:32 PM

Well, I popped it in the sandbox. I'll try to get around to doing a wick check sometime after I'm done with cleaning all these BB & BM wicks....

Edited by Walkinshadows on Dec 2nd 2021 at 1:22:08 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)
#1458: Dec 2nd 2021 at 10:19:09 PM

Oh, and yeah, I agree with a Bald Of Awesome check. Not to sound biased, but the only example I can think of that isn't "bald character" is one I myself added, and it's an inverted example where someone's baldness marked them as being no longer cool in-universe. I won't say that the work is so that if it shows up on the check it'll be by pure happenstance. [lol]

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Walkinshadows Since: Jun, 2012
#1459: Dec 2nd 2021 at 10:55:16 PM

I feel like I've also seen a lot of Happily Married examples that are zero-context examples along the lines of "To/with X". But given how many wicks there are, I am not doing that one. At least not by myself.

Ordeaux26 Since: May, 2019 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#1460: Dec 2nd 2021 at 11:02:08 PM

There are some tropes I don't understand why people make so many ZCE's for. Happily Married is not very complicated just explain that they are married to someone and they are happy with them along with a few examples.

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)
#1461: Dec 2nd 2021 at 11:04:48 PM

It almost always is the easier tropes to explain, because people think they're self explanatory.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Ordeaux26 Since: May, 2019 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#1462: Dec 2nd 2021 at 11:08:53 PM

Kind of weird how it turns out like that as you would think it would be the opposite.

Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#1463: Dec 2nd 2021 at 11:26:19 PM

It's most common with the appearance tropes (as my recent check for Hand Hiding Sleeves would prove) unless they are ridiculously specific, and it ticks me off to no end. Was considering torturing myself by doing Cat Smile at some point considering the ZCE bonfire that's bound to be.

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Walkinshadows Since: Jun, 2012
#1464: Dec 2nd 2021 at 11:28:59 PM

I'm starting to loathe appearance tropes. See these three examples I just found:

This is terrible.

Ordeaux26 Since: May, 2019 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#1465: Dec 2nd 2021 at 11:29:48 PM

I will admit I do sometimes struggle with giving a good trope description when making an entry for an appearance trope.

Walkinshadows Since: Jun, 2012
#1466: Dec 2nd 2021 at 11:38:41 PM

The thing is, there has to be something meaningful there. Sure, a character has a certain appearance trait and a personality trait, but what's the connection? How does one of those things reflect the other? Does it affect anything else?

Ordeaux26 Since: May, 2019 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#1467: Dec 2nd 2021 at 11:42:12 PM

I do understand that it is still something I find hard.

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#1468: Dec 3rd 2021 at 12:05:44 AM

[up][up][up][up] To be fair, those at least all have the minimum amount of context. Just needs more spice.

Edited by mightymewtron on Dec 3rd 2021 at 3:05:56 PM

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Walkinshadows Since: Jun, 2012
#1469: Dec 3rd 2021 at 12:17:00 AM

[up]I know, that's why I left them. They're still not great. If you can write about three different tropes in almost identical sentences, that's not good. (Actually, it was four. I removed a Badass Beard wick.)

Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#1470: Dec 3rd 2021 at 12:22:41 AM

[up][up][up][up] Honestly, that might be a problem with old appearance tropes in general, which tended to be just "appearance trait + personality trait" with no connection.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
jandn2014 SMILE! from somewhere in Connecticut Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Hiding
SMILE!
#1471: Dec 3rd 2021 at 5:32:46 AM

I think the problem is that it’s difficult to explain how the two traits actually connect. IMO, examples for appearance-personality trait tropes such as Bald Of Awesome and Beard of Evil should explain to some extent how there’s a clear connection between the two traits and that it’s not just a coincidence.

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)
#1472: Dec 3rd 2021 at 10:53:19 AM

Yeah, that's the issue. For every example that actually does have a solid connection to write about, there's at least five other examples that don't, but the line is so blurry at times (how do you distinguish a character whose baldness signifies their badassery from a badass who just so happens to be bald?) that context is sometimes impossible.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#1473: Dec 3rd 2021 at 11:13:40 AM

Thinking of starting a wick check for Adaptational Abomination: it's supposed to specifically be for characters that are turned into Eldritch Abominations in adaptions, but the way I've seen it used around the wiki is for any character that was made monstrous/more grotesque, but not necessarily Eldritch.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
Walkinshadows Since: Jun, 2012
#1474: Dec 3rd 2021 at 11:17:10 AM

There might be some overlap/misuse issues between Merlin Sickness and Fountain of Youth. I don’t think it’s an inherent problem: if there’s an issue, it may just need some cleanup.

Edited by Walkinshadows on Dec 3rd 2021 at 2:25:51 PM

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#1475: Dec 3rd 2021 at 12:27:32 PM

Merlin Sickness is supposed to be the character repeatedly aging backwards while Fountain of Youth can be a one-time deal, right?

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.

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