Not Thriving: Fake Mark

Fake Mark has only 12 on-page examples and 20 wicks (only 8 of which are to works), despite two previous renames. The description is a bit unclear as well. I'd like to know why this trope and The Mark are called "the mark".

I'm back!

Opened.

I noticed that some of the on-page examples lack context, which are not helping the trope's chances.

she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report

I can't think of any ideas except that I'm firmly against sending this back to TLP unless someone volunteers to sponsor it. If anyone thinks this should be cut, but that there's something worth salvaging after the cut, we have the Trope Idea Salvage Yard for that.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

I've noticed that there's a really disproportionate number of pages for specific types of scams. I'm not saying they're not tropeworthy, but it just feels weird. Was there some huge fan of movies about con artists in the site's early days who launched all of them?

A lot of them aren't thriving any more than this page is. Here's all of the pages in The Con with 30 or fewer wicks:

• Bibles from the Dead: 19
• Big Store: 28
• The Con Within a Con: 30
• Delayed Wire: 24
• Good for Bad: 18
• One Born Every Minute: 29
• Pig in a Poke: 26
• Quick Change: 19
• Rainmaking: 19
• The Roper: 24 (and only six on-page examples)
• Spanish Prisoner: 30

And also, The Con has two sub-indexes, Short Con and The Tale, that are both completely pointless. Especially the former, which lists six tropes on it. Why does an index of six tropes exist?

Edited by Serac on Aug 31st 2020 at 9:33:29 AM

Well, since the Overly Long Hug draft seems to be close to launchworthiness, I think I could sponsor a TLP.

Send back to TLP if someone's willing to sponsor it, or else send to the Trope Idea Salvage Yard.

This appears to be redundant to Violin Scam. Maybe we should redirect it there.

I can get behind a merge in that case.

---

In other news, I added The Con under Tropes Needing TRS, linking to Serac's post with the list of Not Thriving subtropes.

Edited by Berrenta on Sep 1st 2020 at 8:48:54 AM

she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.

Why can't we just discuss all of them here? They're all closely related and have a similar problem.

I'm back!

There's a stigma against stalling TRS threads with things like that. We've got a bit too many inactive threads.

I'd like to apologize for all this.

Ok, sorry to derail the thread.

But anyway, if this is redundant with anything, I think it's The Con Within a Con. The description of that page talks a lot about how a fake mark is almost always used in such a scheme, and a lot of the examples talk about how fake marks are involved with them. I would say that between that page and Violin Scam, this is thoroughly covered. Motion to cut.

Edited by Serac on Sep 3rd 2020 at 11:12:32 AM

Then should there be a Short-Term Projects thread for the remaining Con subtropes?

I'm back!

It's fine, it's good you brought them to attention. I just think it's best to discuss them in another thread, preferably after this one is done.

Sounds like a good option too.

As for my vote, I'm honestly at a loss as to what to do here.

Edited by FernandoLemon on Sep 3rd 2020 at 1:38:29 PM

I'd like to apologize for all this.

Regarding the OP's question, I think The Mark is called that due to being marked by the Con Artist as a target.

"Mark" is a preexisting term for the victim of a con/scam (though I don't know the etymology). It's not something TV Tropes made up.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Sep 4th 2020 at 6:15:40 AM

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.

So... should we cut as a duplicate?

I'm back!

I've already stated my support for cutting. But I'll gladly restate it. Motion to cut, as it's covered by The Con Within a Con and Violin Scam.

Edited by Serac on Oct 14th 2020 at 12:15:28 PM

I agree.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.

Cut it as not thriving, I guess.

I'd like to apologize for all this.

Question:

If I find you twice as many works using this trope, will it stay, or was it already decided to cut it?

I'm always confused about the whole "non thriving" argument. Rather than help with a trope and expand examples, people gather to discuss if it should be cut or merged, then announce it is getting cut, to which everyone else learns when some notification was added to any of work pages, ultimately leading to a small cabal making a decision for everyone, WITHOUT addressing the main issue.

Fake Mark is a cornerstone of con stories, what the hell?