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
I asked this here before but no one replied: Would "a character is tired/lethargic and it means they're dying or seriously ill" similar to Incurable Cough of Death and Headache of Doom be tropeworthy or is it PSOC?
For every low there is a high.
I think it's worth a draft at least.
"Holiday With Annoying Family": worth splitting as a subtrope of Crappy Holidays?
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallDo we have a general trope for annoying family reunions?
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.A broader "annoying family renunion" trope might work; but all I'm familiar with is the Christmas version.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallOkay, well I'm starting the draft as the Christmas version and we'll go from there.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallIs a "Shameful Crossdresser" trope worth anything? I noticed that some examples of Wholesome Crossdresser aren't really depicted as "wholesome," because they're made out to be the butt of jokes, but aren't really disturbing enough to be "creepy" either. Wholesome Crossdresser currently allows "neutral" examples but I don't think it's "neutral" if crossdressing is depicted as a joke or a trait of somebody pathetic.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.It might be. Depends on if we consider it the "normal portrayal" or a tropeworthy stereotype, I guess.
Considering a trope for "Somber Photo Look". A character stares sadly and silently at a photo, signifying a feeling of loss or longing. Has overlap with Precious Photo but I've seen at least one example where the character is looking at someone else's picture with the implications being that he's longing for what she has (a loving father).
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
That might have legs. I remember a scene in Girls und Panzer where Mako looks sadly at a picture of Yukari with her parents, which serves as Foreshadowing for the fact that her own parents are dead.
Cool, I'll draft it later then, I just made two different gift-related trope drafts inspired by the Christmas episodes I just watched.
I've thought up a holiday plot trope where the characters are stranded someplace that's usually far from where they live and the plot involves them having to get home for Christmas/Thanksgiving/whatever important holiday they're celebrating. Can overlap with Road Trip Plot. It could be called something like "Make It Home For The Holidays".
Note that this is not to be confused with Home by Christmas, which is when soldiers are promised to be able to go home by a certain date (usually Christmas), but the conflict ends up lasting much longer.
Edited by Van-San on Dec 17th 2020 at 11:31:36 AM
Troping across the universe...If it could count examples where the characters end up being unable to make it home, and decide to spend the holiday away from home, I have at least one example. Maybe two.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallA couple of works that use this plot that I can think of are I'll Be Home for Christmas and the Good Luck Charlie movie.
Troping across the universe...Ah, I'm thinking of something slightly different then, though I still might have an example.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallWould it be worth it to make a trope out of In-Universe Old Shame examples that are "character regrets something they did in their past"? It's kind of weird examples like that are lumped into a Trivia trope about creators who don't like their old work.
Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
I can't believe we don't have that yet, honestly.
Do you think we could have a "Kinky Roleplay" trope? Pretending to be somebody else during sexual play is a common thing in media, especially when it's played for comedy, but the closest I can find seems to be Geeky Turn-On which doesn't always overlap. (It goes without saying this would be made with the content policy in mind.)
Edited by mightymewtron on Dec 17th 2020 at 12:17:56 PM
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.![]()
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: Those both sound like good ideas.
Friends has an example of the latter, in Friends S 3 E 1 The One With The Princess Leia Fantasy.
Should Fixed Damage Healing a.k.a the healing version of Fixed Damage Attack, be its own trope, or folded into FDA?
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576So here's a few ideas I've been considering:
- A trope for when bad things happen during a vacation. We have tropes such as Horrible Camping Trip and Deadly Road Trip, but there seems to be a missing supertrope here.
- A trope for when a kid (either by themselves or with the help of an adult) sneaks into something the kid would normally be banned from due to their age.
- Power Line Shoes: A pair of shoes is seen hanging over a power line. The sight is most commonly associated with the presence of a drug-dealing spot or crack house nearby, although there are other reasons for their presence, such as to commemorate the death of a loved one or just bullying.
Edited by jandn2014 on Dec 20th 2020 at 5:56:14 AM
A Birthday, Not a Break mentions Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday...?
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576Hey there, a long time silent lurker here. I just had this idea about a new trope called Byzantine Bickering, which is when small talk derails into a philosophical or societal argument, basically the lovechild of a Seinfeldian Conversation and a Rant Inducing Slight. This kind of conversation will inevitably be Lampshaded by one of the speakers saying at one point "What were we talking about again ?". The title I propose comes from the fact that the Byzantines were infamous for it (see the page quote for the Byzantine Empire). What are your thoughts ? Do you think it would be a viable concept for a trope page ? Are there pages that already more or less fill the bill ?
Edit: Because I posted this question in another thread earlier and all the answers I got told me I should rename it Philosophical Bickering, I will further explain why I specifically chose "Byzantine". First off, it is simply for the Added Alliterative Appeal of two words beginning by B. Second, Philosphical Bickering would be inaccurate because the key to this trope is that while the conversation becomes philosophical (and it's not always about philosophy either, it can be political, societal, etc...), it didn't started as such. And Third, while there were a lot of philosophical arguments among the ancient Greeks, only a minority actually cared about them, that's why philosophical schools were created in the first place. Whereas there is a well known joke among their neighbors that in Constantinople, a mundane conversation with any merchant, housewife or craftsman could quickly stray into a theological debate on the tiniest dogma, with little to no relation about the base subject.
Edited by OzzyMandias on Dec 21st 2020 at 8:18:43 PM
I am a drow and I'm diggin a hole, diggy diggy ho, diggy diggy hoThe concept itself sounds tropeworthy. As for the name, how about Philosophical Bickering Derail or something like that?

I got an idea, but I'm not sure if it's too chairsy or subjective to work. Also, I don't remember seeing this one around, but always good to have new eyes.
Trope idea: Action Based, Relationship Centered (Action Series About a Relationship? Actually About the Relationship?)
Where the entire point of an action-based piece of media isn't really the action, it's the relationship between two of the characters. Common in buddy cop shows/movies, They Fight Crime!, Wunza Plot, Sherlock Holmes adaptations and expies. All the capers, chases, and bad guys dealt with are fun, they give form to the story, motivation, and it would be pretty boring and dull without them. However, the overarching theme that runs through every episode or chapter, the point of the story, why we care? It's about the relationship these two characters have, how it changes, and how the plot they find themselves in the middle of affects it.