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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?

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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!

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With that out of the way: Let's discuss some ideas.

Edited by MacronNotes on Feb 27th 2022 at 1:49:11 PM

PointMaid Since: Jun, 2014
#1376: Dec 22nd 2020 at 6:20:44 AM

The kind of bickering being discussed sounds similar (if not identical) to the sort of conversations you get when Jews Love to Argue is in play. But obviously not limited to Jews.

Makir Since: Feb, 2017
#1377: Dec 22nd 2020 at 8:11:34 AM

Would an Earlobes Of Wisdom trope work? A character, usually in Eastern media, having big earlobes to symbolize their wisdom.

Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#1378: Dec 22nd 2020 at 8:34:00 AM

[up]The real trope there is that it is a visual reference to the Buddha.

Malady (X-Troper)
#1380: Dec 22nd 2020 at 9:32:44 AM

So, Buddha Earlobes.

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Makir Since: Feb, 2017
#1381: Dec 22nd 2020 at 10:02:07 AM

[up] That name kind of implies a character has to be the/a Buddha to apply, when in fact it's not.

Malady (X-Troper)
#1382: Dec 22nd 2020 at 10:04:11 AM

We should have some tropes that are Einstein Hair-esque referential, that we can draw name inspiration from. Can't find any others, though.

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#1383: Dec 22nd 2020 at 3:27:19 PM

I pointed this out because appearance tropes are on thin ice. A trope like “big earlobes means someone is wise” may invite decay or contextless examples, so basing it around a deliberate reference to Buddha’s appearance is stronger.

OzzyMandias He who digs out rocks from Six feet underground Since: Sep, 2020 Relationship Status: Naked on a bearskin rug, playing the saxophone
He who digs out rocks
#1384: Dec 24th 2020 at 2:44:13 AM

Well, Point Maid, you are pointing out the reason Iasked the question in the first place. Though I wouldn't miss to precise in the article that Byzantine Bickering is similar to Jews Love to Argue, I am questioning myself as Jewish arguments don't always grows out of proportions in terms of scope, plus Jews Love to Argue is a trope that specifically characterizes Jews, while everyone can fall into Byzantine Bickering. Once again, Medieval Greeks are just the most well-known example (with Added Alliterative Appeal).

Edited by OzzyMandias on Dec 24th 2020 at 11:49:52 AM

I am a drow and I'm diggin a hole, diggy diggy ho, diggy diggy ho
Unnerving_Posterior Since: Feb, 2019
#1385: Dec 24th 2020 at 9:27:51 AM

There's this Rule of Funny trope I noticed a lot in fiction, which involves the presence of a physical "How To [x]" manual in a situation that just happens to be ironically appropiate for it, with the same factor of Contrived Coincidence as Suspiciously Apropos Music.

Examples include using a book titled "Using Found Objects as a Weapon" as a weapon, using a book titled "How to Start a Fire" as kindling for a fireplace, pretending to look busy by holding a book titled "1000 Ways to Look Busy" in front of your face, etc.

Edited by Unnerving_Posterior on Dec 24th 2020 at 3:05:15 AM

ccorb from A very hot place Since: May, 2020 Relationship Status: It's not my fault I'm not popular!
Unnerving_Posterior Since: Feb, 2019
#1387: Dec 24th 2020 at 4:14:09 PM

[up] Not quite. It's more about characters using a book that instructs on how to do something that either perfectly matches whatever it is they're doing, or is used as a tool to do the very thing it is meant to instruct about instead of reading it.

ImperialMajestyXO Since: Nov, 2015
#1388: Dec 24th 2020 at 5:38:43 PM

I wonder if a character lying about having a Freudian Excuse may be tropeworthy, whether they're outright making it up or exaggerating the effects the past had.

Malady (X-Troper)
#1389: Dec 24th 2020 at 5:44:00 PM

Well, PlayingWith.Freudian Excuse seems to call that a Subversion, so that's a start?

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Unnerving_Posterior Since: Feb, 2019
#1390: Dec 24th 2020 at 7:00:08 PM

[up]Except there's a new Trope Trope in the works: the Feigned Trope. Faking a Freudian Excuse would fall under its definition.

Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#1391: Dec 25th 2020 at 6:11:17 AM

So I just had the thought... perhaps to lighten the misuse on Deadpan Snarker, would there be any merit to an Uncharacteristically Sarcastic Comeback trope? Basically someone makes a remark and a person who usually wouldn't snarks at it, showing something's up with them or the situation the characters are in, or to add some unexpected humor.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
Malady (X-Troper)
#1392: Dec 25th 2020 at 8:08:37 AM

Missing Super Trope to Cuckoo Snarker?

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
#1393: Dec 25th 2020 at 11:15:33 AM

I think that's Snark Ball.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Unicorndance Logic Girl from Thames, N.Z. Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
Logic Girl
#1394: Dec 25th 2020 at 1:51:06 PM

Can I make a YMMV page for things that wouldn't be scary to an adult but are scary to a kid? Sort of the inverse of Adult Fear and comparable to Kids Shouldnt Watch Horror Movies.

I'm asking because I've seen Paranoia Fuel and Nightmare Fuel entries for works like Old Yeller and The Velveteen Rabbit which are something along the lines of "this work has a character get a serious disease. It wouldn't be scary for an adult, but for a kid who's never heard of the disease, it's terrifying!".

For every low there is a high.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#1395: Dec 25th 2020 at 3:28:16 PM

[up] No. We've tried that before. It doesn't get filled up with what you think. Instead, supposedly mature tropers populate such pages with everything they think might possibly be the slightest bit scary to anyone.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
jandn2014 SMILE! from somewhere in Connecticut Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Hiding
SMILE!
#1396: Dec 25th 2020 at 3:39:33 PM

Besides, pretty much everyone has been scared of something stupid as a kid. It’s too broad of a concept to work.

Edited by jandn2014 on Dec 25th 2020 at 6:43:06 AM

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#1397: Dec 25th 2020 at 3:56:47 PM

Plus, if the work is geared towards children and has something that scares child viewers like serious illness played for drama, I'd consider that valid Nightmare Fuel.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Twiddler (On A Trope Odyssey)
#1398: Dec 25th 2020 at 5:06:25 PM

Would a kids' version of Adult Fear be feasible? That is, the sort of realistic fears a kid might have. For example, their parents fighting, or divorce, or becoming aware of death and mortality.

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#1399: Dec 25th 2020 at 6:07:50 PM

Like Age-Appropriate Angst? Or an audience reaction? Cuz stories with stuff that upsets kids might still be a Tear Jerker for adults. Or is this some sort of trope about the shattered innocence of childhood which I'm unsure if we have?

Edited by mightymewtron on Dec 25th 2020 at 9:08:47 AM

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
NordicWrath Trans Woman, Anarchist, Chronically Afraid from Hopefully Somewhere Nice Since: Dec, 2020 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
Trans Woman, Anarchist, Chronically Afraid
#1400: Dec 26th 2020 at 10:03:43 PM

I dunno if this already exists but in all my looking, I haven't come across anything I'd call comparable. I looked through the whole list of mentor archetypes/tropes and none were exactly what my (name pending) trope "Schlub Sensei" would be.

In some situations it's a character that's really really good at something and teaches it to someone who needs it, but otherwise they either suck or are just unimpressive (see Master Yo from Yin Yang Yo, possibly Master Roshi from DBZ).In others, they purport to be a world-savvy guide for a character while either in actuality being an idiot, shunned by the society they purportedly know like the back of their hand, or are just unreliable (King and, to an extent Eda from The Owl House, and The Wood Man from Hilda).

Is this viable?


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