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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

Yindee Just stoic wisdom. from New England Since: Jul, 2016
Noaqiyeum we must dissent (it/they) from across the gulf of space (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
Twiddler (On A Trope Odyssey)
#4679: Jul 14th 2022 at 11:43:42 AM

re: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15902941540A34344400&page=187#comment-4674

Maybe this (and the The Smart Guy thing pointed out by Adept) could be part of a broader thing about protagonist traits, although I'm not sure if you'd be troping the overall pattern or the exceptions.

(edit b/c Smart Guy is a disambig)

Edited by Twiddler on Jul 14th 2022 at 11:45:08 AM

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)
#4680: Jul 14th 2022 at 12:21:17 PM

[up][up] Don't have examples personally, but seems draftable.


In digging through my queries I found this TF query about a party that would be perfect if not for the fact that something was missing. I'm pretty sure it was inspired by the first episode of The Weather, in which there's several minutes dedicated to Robby flipping out at a caller for "not bringing the chips" (due to having no actual agency beyond dialogue) and the Bowling for Soup song "Friends, Chicks, Guitars" where they lament that every party they have ends with them forgetting to stockpile on beer.

Does it seem viable?

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Malady (X-Troper)
#4681: Jul 14th 2022 at 1:01:47 PM

[up][up] - Since I was thinking of how that means that protagonists get the Fire, Wind, or maybe Earth elements, a.k.a sorta the more violent ones, there might be a trope in Protagonists Are Violent, or Violence Is Heroic...

But might just be A Protagonist Shall Lead Them coupled with Personality Powers, and leader-y powers are the more attacking-type?

Depending on how common whatever this is is, if it's Omnipresent, then the opposite would be what could hold examples.

Edited by Malady on Jul 14th 2022 at 1:02:21 AM

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
amathieu13 Since: Aug, 2013
#4682: Jul 14th 2022 at 1:18:19 PM

Re: Let's Potato Chips

If it as ubiquitous as you say then it might be a justified subtrope similar to iPhony

Edited by amathieu13 on Jul 14th 2022 at 4:18:34 AM

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#4683: Jul 14th 2022 at 1:31:49 PM

Any feedback on this, about "Soviet Union did not fall" alternate histories?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
GreenGalaxy (Five Year Plan) Relationship Status: Gone fishin'
#4684: Jul 14th 2022 at 2:35:00 PM

I've noticed a trend in Video Games where there's a model viewer available as a sort of late-game reward or as a reward for a collection sidequest, like the trophies in Super Smash Brothers or the explicitly-named model viewers in games like The Last of Us Part II and Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Model viewers allow you to examine and admire the many, many models used in a video game, usually offering "free camera" functions so you can study their details. Some even let you watch animations of the models doing things that they do in game. A few games even work something like it in as a regular feature, such as in the Forza games where you can get out and admire your car in your garage and do things like look under the hood and open the doors.

My issue is that I'm not really sure where the proto-trope stops or if its not a trope at all. Do we have it somewhere already, or is it covered in some trope I wasn't aware of? I can't seem to find references to model viewers anywhere on the wiki.

Malady (X-Troper)
#4685: Jul 14th 2022 at 2:59:20 PM

Concept Art Gallery-y?

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
GreenGalaxy (Five Year Plan) Relationship Status: Gone fishin'
#4686: Jul 14th 2022 at 3:07:05 PM

[up] I thought about Concept Art Gallery but that doesn't sound right. Usually, Model Viewers let you specifically view models that are used in the game. Maybe mentioning Super Smash Bros wasn't a good example as that encompasses models from a bunch of different Nintendo properties, but I doubt something like Forza's car viewer or TLOU2's model viewer count as concept art galleries.

harryhenry It's either real or it's a dream Since: Jan, 2012
It's either real or it's a dream
#4687: Jul 14th 2022 at 7:43:53 PM

re: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15902941540A34344400&page=187#comment-4660

That sounds way too controversial to tackle, even with just in-universe examples. Even the title, referencing the old "Screw the Rules..." meme feels very heavy (and kinda insensitive) since it's alluding to the Holocaust.

harryhenry It's either real or it's a dream Since: Jan, 2012
It's either real or it's a dream
#4688: Jul 14th 2022 at 7:51:16 PM

Re: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15902941540A34344400&page=187#comment-4664

As the guy who first suggested the idea, I do think it's viable in the sense that we do have "the other side won" alternate histories as their own tropes/proposals, like Alternate-History Nazi Victory and the (albeit still in TLP) Alternate History - Confederate Victory. The Cold War was a prolonged conflict, even if it wasn't a traditional "war" in the way we usually think of it.

Possible names:

Edited by harryhenry on Jul 14th 2022 at 7:57:49 AM

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#4689: Jul 15th 2022 at 4:25:04 AM

I feel that the Soviet Union winning the Cold War in some fashion (whether by literally conquering the rest of the world or its Western enemies being so inferior that the USSR becomes the world's reigning hyperpower, akin to the real-life United States for the decade or so after the USSR's historical fall) and merely surviving past its historical dissolution should be separate tropes.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Noaqiyeum we must dissent (it/they) from across the gulf of space (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
we must dissent (it/they)
#4690: Jul 15th 2022 at 3:42:36 PM

I think we might be missing a supertrope for Domed Hometown, City of Canals, Underwater City, Mobile City, etc - City In A Visually Fantastical Location? Currently it's sort-of covered by The City but that includes every trope having to do with cities.

Wait, this might be Absurdly Cool City but in that case it should have a lot more subtropes than only City Planet and belongs on the Spectacle index.

ERROR: The current state of the world is unacceptable. Save anyway? YES/NO
AegisP Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man
#4691: Jul 15th 2022 at 4:41:08 PM

Do we have the Retire The Hurtful Running Gag. Where a Running Gag is revealed to be hurtful in universe and thus retired for good to show character development?

As long as this flower is in my heart. My Strength will flow without end.
Malady (X-Troper)
#4692: Jul 15th 2022 at 8:20:31 PM

Since it seems discussion on my Protagonists are Violent or Whatever has petered out, gonna move it to the Salvage Yard tomorrow.


Found another "boyfriend and girlfriend have names that alliterate with each other":

Anyone against the idea / the name of Alliterative Lovers?

Edited by Malady on Jul 15th 2022 at 8:22:47 AM

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#4693: Jul 15th 2022 at 8:26:53 PM

[up][up] Running Gagged probably covers that?

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#4694: Jul 15th 2022 at 10:25:53 PM

[up][up][up] Yeah, that's just a variant of Running Gagged, and perhaps Cerebus Retcon/Cerebus Call-Back depending on how the example plays out.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
Noaqiyeum we must dissent (it/they) from across the gulf of space (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
we must dissent (it/they)
#4695: Jul 16th 2022 at 1:50:20 AM

[up][up][up] I kind of skipped over it because I didn't have any thoughts on elemental powers, but Protagonists Are Violent fits broadly with something I've been trying to write up on and off (about how protagonists, especially Chosen Ones, regularly manage to end up leading prefabricated revolutions that they weren't involved in or didn't even know about until just in time for the climactic battle).

That said, I think it only applies to a subset of protagonists. Probably related to the general popularity of Action Heroes over Science or Guile Heroes.

Edited by Noaqiyeum on Jul 16th 2022 at 9:52:03 AM

ERROR: The current state of the world is unacceptable. Save anyway? YES/NO
Malady (X-Troper)
#4696: Jul 16th 2022 at 5:40:01 AM

Now that you say Science Hero-s, it seems like The Smart Guy being part of The Team is very important to this idea. Intelligence can make a protagonist when they're alone, but usually not in a group?

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Noaqiyeum we must dissent (it/they) from across the gulf of space (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
we must dissent (it/they)
#4697: Jul 16th 2022 at 12:55:01 PM

That depends on the context, doesn't it? In a Five-Man Band, sure, but that doesn't even remotely apply to all casts. (Granted, I'm predisposed towards casts full of experts so I'm drawing from a biased dataset, but Leverage and Girl Genius both come to mind as examples where the protagonist's intelligence is their most-emphasised trait.) But I think there is a skewing towards violent protagonists in the senses that (a) Action Heroes are more common than Science Heroes, and (b) a Science Hero is more likely to be a Genius Bruiser than an Action Hero is.

Edited by Noaqiyeum on Jul 16th 2022 at 8:58:02 PM

ERROR: The current state of the world is unacceptable. Save anyway? YES/NO
Libraryseraph uu~ from Canada (Handed A Sword) Relationship Status: Raising My Lily Rank With You
uu~
#4698: Jul 16th 2022 at 2:54:41 PM

There's a comedy trope I've seen a few times, where someone responds to someone pointing out the obvious by responding with genuine shock and disbelief. I'd take it to TLP, but I have absolutely 0 title ideas

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FOR MARIA
Twiddler (On A Trope Odyssey)
nw09 Since: Apr, 2018
#4700: Jul 16th 2022 at 3:30:23 PM

We have Woolseyism, but it's YMMV. Would it be worthwhile having a trope for puns being translated, since that's objective?


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