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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

Malady (X-Troper)
#4376: May 18th 2022 at 11:27:31 AM

Well, Alternate Timeline is a trope. The Epileptic Tree variation might be a sub-trope, yeah?

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
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)
#4377: May 18th 2022 at 11:30:07 AM

I mean, yeah. We can't objectively say these things are alternate timelines, obviously. Just that fans believe them to be.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#4378: May 18th 2022 at 11:35:23 AM

Feels related to Fanon Discontinuity ("oh this isn't part of the actual canon...").

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Piterpicher Veteran Editor IV from Poland, for real (Series 2) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
Veteran Editor IV
#4379: May 19th 2022 at 5:23:59 AM

Thoughts on a Being Yourself Is No Way To Live trope? Similar to Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse showing that Freudian Excuse is not a justification, this is when Be Yourself is not good advice.

Currently mostly inactive. An incremental game I tested: https://galaxy.click/play/176 (Gods of Incremental)
AmourLeFou You'll never find out who I am from Colorado Since: Apr, 2021 Relationship Status: One Is The Loneliest Number
You'll never find out who I am
#4380: May 19th 2022 at 3:54:33 PM

Could we create an administrivia page for when something isn't tropeworthy, but isn't People Sit on Chairs nor Too Rare to Trope?

Check out my forum game: Rate the above YMMV.
Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
ImperialMajestyXO Since: Nov, 2015
#4382: May 19th 2022 at 5:22:38 PM

Might "Flexible Beak" be tropeworthy, regarding nonhuman mouthparts that are more expressive than they should be?

Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
ImperialMajestyXO Since: Nov, 2015
#4384: May 20th 2022 at 8:26:03 PM

[up] Silly me.

Since Fridge Sadness was launched, I wonder if we might have room for a "Fridge Humor" trope, for things that become funny if you look at them a certain way or think about them long enough. Might help with misuse of narm.

Twiddler (On A Trope Odyssey)
#4385: May 20th 2022 at 8:50:38 PM

[up] I've been considering it myself. I approve.

Snowsky (Life not ruined yet)
#4386: May 20th 2022 at 10:23:52 PM

Since we already have Red and Black and Evil All Over and White and Red and Eerie All Over, do you guys think "White and Pink and Sweet All Over" would work as a trope where the combination of white and pink represents innocence and femininity?

Edited by Snowsky on May 20th 2022 at 10:24:38 AM

Twiddler (On A Trope Odyssey)
#4387: May 20th 2022 at 10:30:40 PM

[up] I think that's two tropes, White = Innocent and Pink Means Feminine (and maybe Feminine = Innocent?), rather than the combination of them bringing out something new.

Though speaking of, do we have White = Innocent? I was looking for something like that a while back but the closest I could find was Virgin in a White Dress.

Edited by Twiddler on May 20th 2022 at 10:33:43 AM

Snowsky (Life not ruined yet)
#4388: May 20th 2022 at 10:43:39 PM

Thanks for the advice. Also, do we have a trope for the visual gag where someone stops another person from talking by pulling their mouth shut with a zipper?

Type40 Since: Jun, 2020 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
#4389: May 20th 2022 at 11:40:17 PM

I have a potential idea for a trope, but I only have one example that I know of, and am feeling out to see if more even exist.

It would be called Reformed In A Can: Basically, a Sealed Evil in a Can character has been imprisoned for so long, it gave them time to think and to reflect...on what had happened, on why they were imprisoned, on why they deserved it. And they're unleashed upon the world...only for the people who turned them loose to learn that the former Big Bad is now reformed, and no longer seeks to dominate or destroy the world.

The only example I can think of is from Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost where Asomad van Ghoul had spent so long imprisoned in the Chest of Demons that he reformed, and disippated peacefully after aiding Vincent van Ghoul, his descendant, keep the Chest out of evil hands.

Edited by Type40 on May 20th 2022 at 1:41:22 PM

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#4390: May 21st 2022 at 12:35:21 AM

Do you think a trope about someone choosing a friend as a surrogate mother for a pregnancy would be tropeworthy? I can think of a few works (Baby Mama, Crazy Ex Girlfriend and Superstore) in which a pregnant woman carrying another couple's baby causes both comedy and confusing emotions. And it usually involves a great amount of trust between the people involved.

Chosen Conception Partner might cover it, but surrogacy sometimes involves implanting the sperm and egg into someone else, so it's not really the same, right? Can't find anything else under Pregnancy Tropes that'd fit, either.

Edited by mightymewtron on May 21st 2022 at 3:36:46 PM

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
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)
#4391: May 21st 2022 at 12:55:27 AM

Friends did it too, with Phoebe having kids for her half-brother and his wife.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#4392: May 21st 2022 at 1:13:06 AM

One episode of American Dad had Francine be the surrogate to her gay neighbors so they could have a kid.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99ยข
Hello83433 (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
#4393: May 21st 2022 at 1:16:16 AM

Reading up on Pacifist I wonder if there's merit in making the Conditional Pacifist trope? I haven't been able to find anything that quite covers it (unless there's an unindexed trope out there). I know I could write up a good definition, but would need help filling in examples.

CSP Cleanup Thread | All that I ask for ... is diamonds and dance floors
PushoverMediaCritic I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out. from the Italy of America Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
#4394: May 21st 2022 at 3:03:00 AM

Back in February, there was some discussion about Merlin and Stonehenge in the Religion thread, and it spawned the idea for a trope called "Merlin Built Stonehenge With Cranes", later simplified to "A Wizard Did It With A Hammer".

My thoughts at the time were:

It feels like that trope could go two ways.

It could be an event trope describing fantastical things being done by fantastical people via mundane means.

Or it could be a character trope for fantastical characters doing fantastical things via mundane means.

The former feels a bit too narrow, while the latter feels like it would be too easy to abuse, using it for every time a wizard does anything mundane.

But now I've come back to thinking about it, and I think it actually does have potential. What do you all think?

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on May 21st 2022 at 3:03:25 AM

Malady (X-Troper)
#4395: May 21st 2022 at 3:43:18 AM

[up] - Mundane Fantastic is an existing trope with a name that sounds like it might be confused with your concept as stated.

There's some trope about willingly not using your powers instead of Forgot About His Powers, and depending on how hard the task is, a bit of Self-Imposed Challenge or something.


[up][up] - Define "Conditional"? Ah. The page does.

So, you want general instead of the specific conditions of Martial Pacifist and Technical Pacifist?

Reluctant Warrior is a thing I just found.

Edited by Malady on May 21st 2022 at 3:46:31 AM

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
TheLivingDrawing Lucas the Dreamer from The Town of Clayton Since: Apr, 2019 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
Lucas the Dreamer
#4396: May 21st 2022 at 12:53:34 PM

I think we could probably change Speedrun to a Useful Notes while creating a new trope โ€œPopular With Speedrunnersโ€ which I think is a better fit for YMMV.

Once Upon A Time.
Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#4397: May 21st 2022 at 12:57:18 PM

Wouldn't that require a TRS thread?

Jawbreakers on sale for 99ยข
Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the "Retromancer"
#4398: May 21st 2022 at 12:59:23 PM

I've brought it up before and it's already Tropes Needing TRS because that page doesn't belong to YMMV.

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
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)
#4399: May 22nd 2022 at 2:20:28 AM

"Creepy Alert": Emergency warnings, Played for Horror, because they're already unsettling IRL due to being jarring and robotic, and the horror increases in fiction because it's not always clear what the danger is. It popped up in a game I'm not sure we have a page for, but that's fine, and I've seen it in at least one web video series as well.

If you're not sure what I mean, think those creepy "bad storm" alerts and the like.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the "Retromancer"
#4400: May 22nd 2022 at 2:26:22 AM

[up] I don't know what "bad storm alert" means (sounds like Eastern American thing), it would be easier to think with that videogame popup example you've mentioned. Also we have Emergency Broadcast.

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup

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