Trope Idea Sounding Board

Would a Missing Scene Fic trope be plausible, or is it already covered by Pseudo-Canonical Fic?

Considering one of the first things in the description of the latter is

it looks to already be covered, unless

• there are circumstances in which a Missing Scene Fic would not overlap with Pseudo-Canonical Fic
• there are enough non-Missing Scene variations on Pseudo-Canonical Fic to split off a Missing Scene subtrope

Do you think parodies of the iconic "horse head" scene from The Godfather could constitute their own trope?

Thought of these 'cause of Gamestonks:

• Do we have a trope for the "Wall Street douchebag"? The acceptable target of a class warfare work: suited, usually white, works in finance (bonus points if hedge fund manager specifically), looks down on the poors, a greedy shark, and is probably a sexist bigot (eg. Joker (2019) beat up some finance bros on the train, Succession's Stewy.)
• What about the "brogrammer"/"tech bro" stereotype? The finance bro's West Coast cousin. Cocky 20something dude who dresses casual to smart casual and works a highpaying job at a Wacky Startup Workplace (if not its CEO). He's nerdy but participates in bro culture (if not outright sexist, unconsciously contributes to sexism in tech). (eg. some characters on Silicon Valley).

Thanks! I was searching "tech bro" with the space and missed that.

Edited by Synchronicity on Feb 2nd 2021 at 2:25:31 PM

There's a TLP draft for the latter.

The first one is something I've noticed, but when I asked about it on the Trope Finder page, I was told the "Jerk of Wall Street" stereotype fits under Corrupt Corporate Executive. But from the way you described it, I believe it still might be tropeworthy in its own right, though.

Edited by Unnerving_Posterior on Feb 2nd 2021 at 4:45:08 AM

Maybe... I'll try to let it incubate some more. Joker didn't bother showing what kind of businessman they were, but the fact that they were assholes from Wall Street was enough to make them acceptable targets.

Edited by Synchronicity on Feb 2nd 2021 at 6:48:28 AM

Another example I can think of is the Breadwinner splicer from Bioshock 1, which I'm pretty sure fits what you described near-perfectly.

(By the way, speaking of Gamestonks, I added an entry about it on the Reddit meme page if anyone is interested in editing it).

Edited by Unnerving_Posterior on Feb 2nd 2021 at 5:01:32 AM

So I've been mulling over a trope idea for a while now, and am not sure if it's feasible (or if we have it).

Basically, you know when someone bursts into tears and starts apologizing to another character present, repeatedly? Like *starts crying* "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I think it's tropable, and I've seen it a number of times, though I don't recall any particular examples off the top of my head at the moment.

We do have Apologises a Lot but the whole "really emotional apology" thing might be worth being its own thing.

Maybe, but I assumed this was for more genuine apologies.

Edited by mightymewtron on Feb 2nd 2021 at 10:00:06 AM

Super-Trope to YouTuber Apology Parody?

What about a trope for when the newest guy in the team will be the one to do the chores? Do we have this one or are there enough examples for this one?

We have Initiation Ceremony, that might be the closest.

So I've noticed that there are several cases in which rapid desertification is used as a plot point and a signal/cause of The End of the World as We Know It, do you all think it would be worth putting such a thing on TLP? If yes, I would appreciate some examples before I post it.

Potential Name: Desertification Effect

Edited by Makir on Feb 4th 2021 at 11:06:51 AM

I think so; subtrope of Gaia's Lament and counterpoint to Reclaimed by Nature (greenery growing over industrialized regions as a sign of Earth recovering).

We have Subverted Suspicion Aesop as a trope, but we don't seem to have the regular, unsubverted Suspicion Aesop. Basically:

• Suspicion Aesop: A new character arrives, and the protagonist thinks they're secretly evil. However, further investigation reveals the new character is totally normal and not evil, and the protagonist realizes they were wrong to distrust them.
• Subverted Suspicion Aesop: ...but then, just as the protagonist finishes apologizing to the new character, one final piece of evidence comes up that proves the new character really is evil, and the protagonist's suspicions were right all along.

Anyone wanna make Important Hair Shape to take off the final Expository Hairstyles wicks of TRS Wick Cleaning, and also grab a few Elemental Hair examples while they're at it?

Like Fire-shaped hair for Playing with Fire, etc?

Or is that too Anime Hair and we should just use that?

Expository Hairstyles:

I'm thinking about a trope where a character, in an attempt to "prove" themselves right about something they are wrong about to begin with, goes out of their way to alter it in such a way as to make their initial claim technically "correct". (This is as best as I can explain it at the moment).

For example: Soldier insists that Scotland is not a real country, prompting Demoman to take him to Scotland to prove him wrong. When Soldier sees that Scotland is a real country, he proceeds to spite Demo by nuking the entire country just so nobody can tell him he's wrong... because Scotland is not technically real anymore.

Edited by Unnerving_Posterior on Feb 13th 2021 at 9:39:45 AM

Something like "saying it makes it real", but played on?

The fire like hair + Playing with Fire thing and the Gravity Falls example are Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance. As for Important Hair Shape (or style) ehh, I think I rather allow examples for Expository Hairstyles that don't belong anywhere else than make a trope for that. But it's probably best to bring it up on the Appearance cleanup thread I think.

Edited by MacronNotes on Feb 14th 2021 at 1:21:15 AM

After not doing any new tropes for a few years, just came up with one.

It's called Know Thyself (based on the old proverb), about characters who know who they are in and out, and use it to better themselves, predict what others will do (because those people are acting on old information about you) or other things.

Not sure if we have anything like that though, so I'm putting it here to see what others think.

That sounds similar to whatever self-realization is.

Hi, I've been thinking about a trope where someone uses a technique that looks awkward, ridiculous, or shameful in some way, but it works flawlessly. All you have to do is sacrifice your dignity. Something like Embarrassing But Practical, or Goofy Yet Practical.

Example:

• In a Bowling for Ratings episode of Parks and Recreation, Tom uses a goofy-looking two-handed technique to throw the ball and gets strike after strike, much to the chagrin of Ron.

Think it has potential?

Oh, I've definitely seen that before - that was the whole premise of the bubble stand episode in SpongeBob, wasn't it?

So I have at least two examples where characters deliberately try and get into detention. Would that make a good trope? Maybe it could be expanded to situations where characters deliberately try and get in trouble/get punished.