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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

Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#6951: Jul 7th 2023 at 7:58:36 PM

I feel like I've Seen It a Million Times, but can only think of one specific example. A trope where a painter/photographer asks someone to pose for them, but deliberately paints/photos something or someone else to troll them.

loserswithwifi (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#6952: Jul 8th 2023 at 6:58:30 AM

Something I noticed recently: spiders, usually big ones, making high-pitched hissing and chittering noises. The giant spiders in Skyrim do it and the Magic: The Gathering mobile game plays a similar sound effect when you play a spider creature card.

I don’t know any other examples, but I don’t think these two games would give their spiders such a specific and distinctive-sounding “call” that IRL spiders don’t have unless it was a wider phenomenon. Has anyone seen this any other media?

Edited by loserswithwifi on Jul 8th 2023 at 2:59:58 PM

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#6953: Jul 8th 2023 at 10:47:57 AM

This is a particular Player Character archetype that I commonly see in first/third shooter games, and to a lesser extent in other kinds of action games. I admit beforehand that a lot of these traits happen to be natural consequences of the aforementioned games' genre conventions and common game mechanics.

Is this archetype tropeworthy?

PS: I'm probably missing a few other common/universal traits of this archetype, but these at least seem to be the most outstanding ones.

Edited by MarqFJA on Jul 8th 2023 at 8:53:28 PM

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Malady (X-Troper)
#6954: Jul 8th 2023 at 12:19:09 PM

I have my Nominal Coauthor draft that's gotten enough hats to launch, but I'm wondering if it should be changed to just "Coauthor" so it allows all coauthors, instead of the ones that haven't contributed.

Or if "Coauthor" should be my next draft, and keep the split between nominal ones and actual ones.

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Malady (X-Troper)
#6955: Jul 8th 2023 at 2:08:18 PM

[up][up] - Trying to see if we have this already, but that's a lotta traits to pack into one... package.

That final Heroic Resolve bit makes me think of Japanese Spirit, so how many of your Player Character-s are from Japanese works?

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Sammael29 Since: Aug, 2018
#6956: Jul 8th 2023 at 2:10:45 PM

I think there should be a trope page for anteaters, aardvarks, or similar insect-eating mammals that play an antagonistic role in stories

amathieu13 Since: Aug, 2013
#6957: Jul 8th 2023 at 2:21:17 PM

[up]why? are there stereotypes about anteaters, aardvarks, etc that portray them as evil, mean, or dangerous? because I've never heard of any

nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#6958: Jul 8th 2023 at 3:27:08 PM

Something I noticed recently: spiders, usually big ones, making high-pitched hissing and chittering noises. The giant spiders in Skyrim do it and the Magic: The Gathering mobile game plays a similar sound effect when you play a spider creature card.

I don’t know any other examples, but I don’t think these two games would give their spiders such a specific and distinctive-sounding “call” that IRL spiders don’t have unless it was a wider phenomenon. Has anyone seen this any other media?

This is currently mentioned in the description of Noisy Nature, FWIW, and I'm not sure it's a particularly distinguishable independent subtrope.

It's definitely a thing, though - in addition to a bunch of straight examples, I actually saw it get parodied as a plot point in the season one finale of The Dragon Prince, where the over-the-top shrieking and chittering of a giant spider leads Ezran to figure out it's just an illusion meant to scare people.

Khoshekh6 Since: May, 2022
#6959: Jul 8th 2023 at 5:50:15 PM

[up]x5 actual coauthor doesn't sound tropeworthy to me

wingedcatgirl mys. minty from the silly dimension from lurking (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
mys. minty from the silly dimension
#6960: Jul 8th 2023 at 6:19:52 PM

I dunno about "coauthor" being tropable in general (or triviable, more likely), but after putting all that work in on Nominal Coauthor, it's a bit late to expand that draft to "any coauthor".

Suddenly I'm... still rotating Fallen London in my mind even though I've stopped actively playing it.
Malady (X-Troper)
#6961: Jul 8th 2023 at 6:22:01 PM

[up][up] + [up]: Thanks!

The hypothetical "Coauthor" would be Trivia, since Nominal Coauthor is, yeah. I wouldn't have had the idea, except that a troper that never returned, brought up "regular coauthor" examples.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/discussion.php?id=tzu0d902oxuzj9nvglx0utsd#comment-v36074f13ade53e

Edited by Malady on Jul 8th 2023 at 6:23:54 AM

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#6962: Jul 8th 2023 at 6:38:05 PM

That final Heroic Resolve bit makes me think of Japanese Spirit, so how many of your Player Character-s are from Japanese works?
None. They're all from Western video games, like Call of Duty.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Malady (X-Troper)
#6963: Jul 8th 2023 at 7:16:07 PM

[up] - Well, I think you've got something new, if you can find examples beyond Call Of Duty?

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
AegisP Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man
#6964: Jul 9th 2023 at 10:56:03 AM

I know we dont want LGBT tropes just for the sake of having them, but I think a Religious LGBT Person is unique, very present in many media and it could be an olive branch to the people who think we cut many positive LGBT tropes.

As long as this flower is in my heart. My Strength will flow without end.
Sammael29 Since: Aug, 2018
#6965: Jul 9th 2023 at 10:58:05 AM

The reason I mentioned the antagonistic anteater idea is because of numerous fictional insect-eating long-nosed mammals I've read about who play antagonistic roles, in addition to the fact that aardvarks and giant anteaters can be pretty dangerous to humans and even jaguars in real-life.

Crisis21 Since: Jan, 2013
#6966: Jul 9th 2023 at 3:26:25 PM

So, I was re-reading a favorite webcomic of mine and came across a scenario that I felt was a comedy of errors (trope, not the play), but when I searched it seemed that there was no existing trope fitting that description.

So, I would like to propose Comedy of Errors as a trope, named after the Shakespearean play.

Here's an attempt at a description:

People make mistakes. It's a simple fact of life. Sometimes those mistakes... snowball. Other people react to a mistake poorly, the mistake compounds with other mistakes, or the mistake causes what would be a reasonable reaction normally to be completely wrong or inappropriate. Then these mistakes compound into events so outside the norm that it's impossible to make sense of them without the full context of why they happened.

If these events leave you with a wild story for friends, family, or complete strangers to laugh about, then congratulations, you have just experienced a Comedy of Errors.

Please note that if the situation is not being Played for Laughs or is otherwise not Hilarious in Hindsight, then you are likely looking at a stock tragedy or drama plot.

Nen_desharu Nintendo Fanatic Extraordinaire from Greater Smash Bros. Universe or Toronto Since: Aug, 2020 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Nintendo Fanatic Extraordinaire
#6967: Jul 9th 2023 at 5:33:30 PM

[up]It would be similar to Disaster Dominoes.

Kirby is awesome.
andrewthetroper from ...mislim, iz Srbije Since: May, 2022
#6968: Jul 9th 2023 at 7:40:25 PM

[up][up]Reminds me of "Fawlty Towers" Plot.

The pessimist sees a dark tunnel, the optimist sees a light, the realist sees two lights and the engineer sees three idiots.
NoUsername she's only programmed to be very nice Since: May, 2012
she's only programmed to be very nice
#6969: Jul 9th 2023 at 9:16:23 PM

"Fawlty Towers" Plot is what TV tropes uses for what is normally called a comedy of errors off-wiki yes. i wonder if the name might be causing people to miss the idea

PurpleEyedGuma Since: Apr, 2020
#6970: Jul 9th 2023 at 11:27:20 PM

Biography covers autobiographies too, but I’m considering splitting them off into a new trope, as I feel they’re common enough on their own and more personal in nature and meaning. Sub-Trope or The Same, but More Specific?

MacronNotes (she/her) (Captain) Relationship Status: Less than three
(she/her)
#6971: Jul 10th 2023 at 5:59:48 AM

I think autobiographies could use their own space.

Macron's notes
Admiralakbar1 Admiral Ackbar from none of your business Since: Dec, 2013
Admiral Ackbar
#6972: Jul 10th 2023 at 11:08:12 AM

Thinking of a potential trope, "Damned by Declining to Comment."

You've probably seen this Wham Line before in a documentary (or mockumentary): "We reached out to [X] for an interview. They never responded." Or they agree to an interview, but they suddenly stop it after being asked a particularly uncomfortable question. Generally, this is used to imply that someone is guilty, or that a guilty person is incapable of justifying their actions.

I can only think of examples from two different series: Murder Among the Mormons and American Vandal. Can anyone think of any more?

loserswithwifi (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#6973: Jul 11th 2023 at 9:13:35 AM

[up]There was a joke on QI about Bill Clinton responding to all questions with either “I decline to comment” or “no” during his impeachment trial.

Snowsky (Life not ruined yet)
#6974: Jul 11th 2023 at 12:50:10 PM

I would like to propose "Sentenced Without Trial": Someone is condemned for a crime without receiving a trial, even though they are specifically entitled to one by whatever legal system exists in the setting. Either because the legal system is corrupt, or their crime was just that heinous.

  • Memento Mori: Twilight witnesses a Bad Future where she became the disciple of the Dark God Tirac, sacrificed the townsponies of Neighvarro to magically empower herself, tried to slay her teacher Princess Celestia, and successfully killed her wife, Rainbow Dash. When the Royal Guard finally comes to arrest her, they state that Celestia has ordered for her to receive no trial and be treated as “the worst of slime to infest the earth.”
  • Harry Potter: During the First Wizarding War, Barty Crouch Sr. sentenced many people to Azkaban without trial, including Sirius Black, as part of the extremes he went to in order to take down Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Because of this, Sirius was blamed for betraying the Potters to Voldemort and imprisoned in Azkaban for 12 years, and the truth is only discovered by Harry years later.
  • Inkwell Penny Hell: All of the workers at the Devil’s Casino are sentenced to be regressed into children, with Judge Rumor Honeybottom not bothering with trials because the contracts they signed to sell their souls to the Devil are taken as proof of guilt.

Edited by Snowsky on Jul 11th 2023 at 1:22:17 AM

Tremmor19 he/him (Y2: Electric Boogaloo)
he/him
#6975: Jul 11th 2023 at 4:29:55 PM

[up] sounds vaild, if we dont have it already

Edited by Tremmor19 on Jul 11th 2023 at 7:31:34 AM


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