Have an idea for a new trope, but don't know for sure if it's a good idea? Did Trope Finder give you similar concepts, but not exactly what you wanted? Are you just looking for a focus to a broader idea?
You've come to the right place!
On this thread, you can share your ideas with the masses before making that TLP draft, so if there's any lingering uncertainty about the validity of your idea or you just want some help pinning down a good idea, ask away and help others out, too!
A related sandbox I need to pitch is the Trope Idea Salvage Yard. If you've an idea but can't personally work on it, you can add it to the yard and let someone else create the draft. Or you can browse it yourself if you need more draft ideas, whether or not you feel they should be mentioned here first.
Got ideas for non-trope pages you need help with? Never fear, the New Page Workshop Thread
is here!
With that out of the way: Let's discuss some ideas.
Edited by MacronNotes on Feb 27th 2022 at 1:49:11 PM
Ehhhhh, not really. There is a difference between romance (emotional) and sex (physical). You can have sex and not have it be anything close to romantic, and you can have a romance that's purely asexual.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallA date is still different from actual sex. I don't get why it would be seen as just switching out one thing. We can't expand Pity Sex to include non-sexual examples without changing the definition and revamping. I don't see a need to do that.
Macron's notes![]()
There is a real world difference, yes, but in many romantic media due to heteronormative writng, they are typically depicted as being if not one and the same, then as one leading into the other and one implying the other, especially romantic asexuality which is only starting to be portrayed more in media.
Edited by amathieu13 on Feb 24th 2022 at 3:36:50 PM
This is where I'm at. I don't think many of the examples would actually be all that different in practice even if you can define Pity Date in a way that makes it separate from Pity Sex. And I'm hesitant because "examples fitting the trope but effectively making it the same as an already existing trope" is a difficult discussion/point to prove. This was essentially the issue with The Power of the Moon
draft that I pushed back against almost singlehandedly for several days.
Call me cautious, I guess
Edited by amathieu13 on Feb 24th 2022 at 3:42:24 PM
Oh, I meant that in a "sure, give it a shot and see what happens" kind of way. I don't think Sex Equals Love is that omnipresent that there can't be distinct examples of both. TLP isn't TRS; if the draft doesn't end up being viable then no harm no foul.
Edited by Synchronicity on Feb 24th 2022 at 2:43:45 PM
The issue with Power of the Moon was that Malady went in with the intention of splitting Lunacy from the get-go, and basically made that draft to cover what Lunacy already covered, based on a TRS decision that made no compelling arguments beyond "but what if we split it tho?".
This trope is a unique concept in theory and wouldn't be born simply from taking 90% of the pre-existing trope and changing the name.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall![]()
No, I got it. I'm now of the mind that it should be sent to the TLP to decide. I was just using your point to explain where my perspective came from and I suppose to give us something to be vigilant about in the drafting process.
I disagree. Even if Malady had intentions to split Lunacy when no one else felt it was necessary, they could've still created a valid split had their draft focused on an idea that wasn't just the same as Lunacy. That's why you felt that
even if it wasn't necessary, if it was a separate idea
then it's fine.
I just realized very early that despite the definition, looking at the examples and what was being included, it was in essence the same trope. Malady just came outright and said that's what they wanted and weren't interested in the other version of the trope.
But I digress. On the idea of Pity Date, draft away.
Edited by amathieu13 on Feb 24th 2022 at 3:56:07 PM
That's not what I said in that comment at all
But ah well.
I didn't think this much much feedback. I am glad that it did.
I'll draft a sandbox for Pity Relationship / Pity Date and present it here once I gather enough drafting material.
Macron's notesSince Token White is featured right now, I've been wondering for a while if it has a Missing Supertrope or needs a broader definition. It has plenty of Japanese examples, which have the opposite connotation of American examples, and it was used for Sandbar from My Little Pony at one point (who isn't even human). Do you think we should have a Token Majority trope?
There's a video
about how mean girls in pop culture tend to come it threes. Would that be tropeworthy or The Same, but More Specific?
Eh, Girl Posse covers it well enough. If we want, we could mention rule of 3 but I feel like there are enough examples that don't feature three girls for it to not be a defining factor for the trope to have that number of mean girls.
Edited by MacronNotes on Feb 25th 2022 at 10:50:42 AM
Macron's notes
I agree. It's mentioned on the Girl Posse page that it may overlap with Terrible Trio already (and if they somehow aren't a Terrible Trio, then they're probably one of the other Power Trio tropes. point being that I feel like girl posse's coming in three is likely because of another trope, not that it's inherent to Girl Posses)
Edited by amathieu13 on Feb 25th 2022 at 10:39:49 AM
Hey guys, I was wondering; would something like ""Warriors"-Style Game" work as a trope or a subgenre? I do see the term "Warriors game" frequently enough in regards to games inspired by Dynasty Warriors, such as Hyrule Warriors or Persona 5 Strikers or the recently revealed Fire Emblem: Three Oaths or whatever that game from the most recent Nintedo direct was called.
However, I can already pick a few problems with my idea. First of all, Dynasty Warriors is already labelled as a Hack and Slash game in TV Tropes (in fact, if you go to the Video Game Genres index, it gives Dynasty Warriors as an example, and it's on a 3rd bulletpoint too). Second, I'm not sure how to define it as a genre, which is a pretty big issue because any description could potentially go to Walkthrough Mode. Third, I'm not sure there are enough games to qualify this as a subgenre.
Thoughts?
Edited by Lermis on Feb 26th 2022 at 2:10:14 PM
SpaceBattles.com fanworks (now oficial) index in my Sandbox.A.k.a a "Musou" game?
https://www.giantbomb.com/musou/3025-704/
Yeah, that. I know they're also called Musou games, but most of them have "Warriors" in the title, so I call them that.
Can I make a draft for when a story has more than one Aesop? It's what I thought Double Aesop meant, but I was wrong.
For every low there is a high.Why not list different Aesops in sub-bullets like any other trope?
e: just noticed it's an index and not sure what's with the examples I see all the time. Still doesn't prevent from literally listing more than one aesop.
Edited by Amonimus on Feb 26th 2022 at 1:16:59 PM
TroperWall / WikiMagic CleanupIt has occurred to me that the opening post has Trope Idea Salvage Yard redlinked, and maybe should be pinned as well.
TroperWall / WikiMagic CleanupDo you think it is worth making a trope about evil and unnerving characters often having pale skin or are Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette and Looks Like Cesare flexible enough to include this concept?
Edited by good-morning on Feb 27th 2022 at 12:57:26 PM
oh hey how are you doing?There's no skin counterpart to White Hair, Black Heart, maybe there should be, but you can always use these (Albinos Are Freaks maybe as well) plus a villain trope for the idea.
TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup

If it's "For whatever reason, Character A doesn't really like Character B anymore but stays in a relationship with them out of pity" then I can kinda see it being slightly different, but to me that's just a difference in degree, not really in meaning.
End of the day, it's still Character A is only romantically "with" Character B out of pity.
Edited by amathieu13 on Feb 24th 2022 at 3:31:00 PM