TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Following

"Works About X" indexes

Go To

Thread current status:

Original post below.

This was prompted by the Trope Launch Pad discussion of Ursine Fiction.

Recently we've had a proliferation of indexes like Ghost Fiction and Demon Works, and folks are questioning whether they're actually needed. The draft at issue for whatever reason attracted a Troper Critical Mass saying it wasn't needed, and the discussion turned to "well, what about these other indexes"?

Personally, I recall a rule against Search Generated Indexes, and I don't think "work is about bears" or "work is about ghosts" properly counts as a genre.

Edited by StarSword on Jan 18th 2024 at 12:46:01 PM

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (3,795/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (3,795/50,000)
#276: May 28th 2023 at 2:36:54 PM

Not really? How would "works from Senegal" be an SGI? They don't share title similarities. An SGI is an index you could theoretically generate with the site search bar, and that doesn't apply here.

Edited by WarJay77 on May 28th 2023 at 5:37:34 AM

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
StarSword Captain of USS Bajor from somewhere in deep space Since: Sep, 2011
Captain of USS Bajor
#277: May 28th 2023 at 8:16:57 PM

Indexing works by country of origin is beyond the scope of this thread.

Trust me, I'm an engineer!
amathieu13 Since: Aug, 2013
#278: May 28th 2023 at 9:00:44 PM

[up]Correct. The one time I brought up Moroccan Media was because I misunderstood what the index was trying to cover [1].

If you want to talk about these indices GrafVonTirol (and I think there's a convo to be had to get some consistency down), it's best for a separate thread entirely.

Edited by amathieu13 on May 28th 2023 at 12:03:55 PM

Asterlix Waffle Cat (she/her) from Ooo (Trinitroper) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Waffle Cat (she/her)
#279: Jun 24th 2023 at 5:05:50 AM

I was redirected to this thread because I drafted Forest Tales (works primarily set in a forest) in the TLP. After reading this, I'm yet to ponder over the significance of such an index (and Space Stories, Mars Stories, and Sea Stories). But, I know we still need to resolve Christian Fiction and School Stories. So, my two cents.

I think the draft to turn School Stories into a genre page looks fine. I'd elaborate more on the part about what other tropes it blends (and make it a separate paragraph) because it's too blue-linked and could use a discussion on how those tropes/genres are usually utilized in School Stories.

About Christian Fiction, well, Religious Edutainment proves that while marketed religious media seems to be dominated by the Christian religion, it's not restricted to it, so it ought to be expanded to include them.

I have some input about turning it into a genre page —I come from a moderately religious family that consumes religion-centered media regularly, so I'll talk from that perspective.

Religious Fiction, in general, occupies itself in teaching (aka Religious Edutainment), discussing, or de/reconstructing the tenets of a religion. They sometimes blend other genres —for example, one of the kiddie books they bought me was a dystopian, Sci-Fi retelling of Jesus' passion. As such, they are often full-blown Allegories but subtler examples invoke Applicability.

Trailblazer of old tropes. (She/her)
selkies TOO serious! from Guess, guess, guess Since: Jan, 2021 Relationship Status: Star-crossed
TOO serious!
#280: Jun 24th 2023 at 6:14:55 AM

Thanks for your School Stories draft feedback. Yeah, I gotta link only the things that appear in the school genre and not just make a very long list of everything. Waiting for more input from you.

Uncanny Valley Hot Babes in Your Area Are Looking To Know YOU! Click Here to Sign Up for FREE! | Not quite back tbh. Don't expect much.
ClancyGardener life is a state of mind from 53 miles west of Venus Since: Jun, 2020 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
#281: Jun 24th 2023 at 1:44:43 PM

I was referred to this thread because I created a TLP draft for Genetic Engineering And Cloning Works. I wasn't aware that there was a moratorium on this type of index.

Should I just discard the draft, or should I continue working on it in case the moratorium is lifted?

Trope Editor (he/him)
selkies TOO serious! from Guess, guess, guess Since: Jan, 2021 Relationship Status: Star-crossed
TOO serious!
#282: Jun 24th 2023 at 2:57:34 PM

It's best to discard it after some discussion. It'd add yet another trope to worry about if it launched.

Uncanny Valley Hot Babes in Your Area Are Looking To Know YOU! Click Here to Sign Up for FREE! | Not quite back tbh. Don't expect much.
alnair20aug93 🍊orange fursona🧡 from 🐾Furrypines 🇵🇭 (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
🍊orange fursona🧡
#283: Jul 19th 2023 at 7:42:39 PM

Now that Furry Comic and Furry Webcomic has been merged to UsefulNotes.Furry Fandom per this TRS thread, what do we do with the Animal Fiction draft?

ᜇᜎᜈ᜔ᜇᜈ᜔|I DO COMMISSIONS|ᜇᜎᜈ᜔ᜇᜈ᜔
amathieu13 Since: Aug, 2013
#284: Jul 19th 2023 at 8:48:20 PM

[up]Nothing needs to happen to it. It's a draft that can't launch because of the moratorium. Regardless of what happened with Furry Comic and Furry Webcomics that wouldn't change and it'd stay on the launch pad.

But in terms of whether it's worth working on it? I'd say no. It still has issues with vagueness of what "about" an animal even means (i.e. the issue with all Works About X indexes) and broadness, since it encompasses every depiction of an animal across all genres. There's no connecting thread. But that's been my position on the draft from the start, so do with that what you will.

Edited by amathieu13 on Jul 19th 2023 at 11:52:04 AM

callmeamuffin Just getting into Utena... (he/they) from the kitchen (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Thinkin' about you, muffin
Just getting into Utena... (he/they)
#285: Aug 23rd 2023 at 3:46:50 PM

Now that Samurai and Shark Stories have been cut and redirected to Sea Stories respectively, and had their threads locked and done, should we add them under "Resolved" in the sandbox? They were deleted from the sandbox during wick clearing.

Edited by callmeamuffin on Aug 23rd 2023 at 8:49:51 PM

Working on Sandbox.The Amazing Race TV Tropes Edition.
MacronNotes (she/her) (Captain) Relationship Status: Less than three
(she/her)
#286: Aug 23rd 2023 at 3:55:23 PM

I think that's fine because it helps with record keeping.

Macron's notes
callmeamuffin Just getting into Utena... (he/they) from the kitchen (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Thinkin' about you, muffin
Just getting into Utena... (he/they)
#287: Aug 23rd 2023 at 4:06:55 PM

Alright. Is this writeup good?

Edited by callmeamuffin on Aug 23rd 2023 at 9:07:11 PM

Working on Sandbox.The Amazing Race TV Tropes Edition.
MacronNotes (she/her) (Captain) Relationship Status: Less than three
StarSword Captain of USS Bajor from somewhere in deep space Since: Sep, 2011
Captain of USS Bajor
#289: Aug 25th 2023 at 11:16:12 AM

EDIT: ignore

Edited by StarSword on Aug 25th 2023 at 2:16:29 PM

Trust me, I'm an engineer!
NitroIndigo ♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves from West Midlands region, England Since: Jun, 2021 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves
#290: Aug 25th 2023 at 11:37:22 AM

While splitting Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure into separate pages, I noticed they're both on Princess Stories and Feline Fiction, even though there's only one cat, and the fact she's a princess isn't that important. I think both those indexes are also unnecessary.

GrafVonTirol Same as it ever was from a state of boredom (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Standing outside, playing "In Your Eyes" on the boombox
Same as it ever was
#291: Aug 25th 2023 at 11:59:03 AM

I know that the other ethnic background indexes are technically considered "Works about X" indices, but they are mostly the least unnecessary among those. I say mostly, because it seems that the execution of Arab-Americans in Media is flawed (there isn't even a corresponding Creators index for that). It seems rather specific, and I swear that it's dominated by Frank Zappa's many albums (he's not even fully Arab, nor did that really define him artistically; it's just one group he is descended from).

Edited by GrafVonTirol on Jan 4th 2024 at 7:58:26 AM

GrafVonTirol Same as it ever was from a state of boredom (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Standing outside, playing "In Your Eyes" on the boombox
Same as it ever was
#292: Jan 2nd 2024 at 7:38:28 AM

Bumping this thread. Maybe we should move this to a Projects forum so we can get somewhere with this?

StarSword Captain of USS Bajor from somewhere in deep space Since: Sep, 2011
Captain of USS Bajor
#293: Jan 2nd 2024 at 12:35:06 PM

[up]I would agree with that.

Trust me, I'm an engineer!
NitroIndigo ♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves from West Midlands region, England Since: Jun, 2021 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves
#294: Jan 3rd 2024 at 4:57:09 AM

I've noticed a lot of Works by Subject indexes getting Image Pickin' threads lately.

I've got to wonder if it might be worth expanding some of them. Like, Dinosaur Media could be changed into Paleo Media, because people tend to group (say) palaeontology documentaries together regardless of when they're set.

StarSword Captain of USS Bajor from somewhere in deep space Since: Sep, 2011
Captain of USS Bajor
#295: Jan 4th 2024 at 4:22:49 PM

Re: 290: Yeah. Princess Stories is almost certainly redundant to Princess Tropes, especially the tropes on the disambiguation formerly known as Everythings Better With Princesses. Ditto Feline Fiction and, while we're at it, Elephantine Fiction, Equine Fiction, Bovine Fiction, and Canine Fiction (all of which currently have Image Pickin threads). They're all basically "story is substantially about X animal" without any other genre or thematic commonalities between them.

Frankly, all of the Animal Fiction indexes can be dumped on the same grounds we dumped Shark Stories.

Edited by StarSword on Jan 4th 2024 at 1:26:04 PM

Trust me, I'm an engineer!
NitroIndigo ♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves from West Midlands region, England Since: Jun, 2021 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves
#296: Jan 4th 2024 at 10:31:30 PM

[up]Agreed.

StalkerGamer That's All, Folks! Since: Dec, 2021 Relationship Status: Love is an open door
#297: Jan 5th 2024 at 4:52:28 AM

[up][up]Should we stop opening more image threads for other indexes for now ? Because that means we were wasting time suggesting images for pages that will be deleted in the future.

NitroIndigo ♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves from West Midlands region, England Since: Jun, 2021 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves
#298: Jan 5th 2024 at 5:07:50 AM

[up]I say yes.

StalkerGamer That's All, Folks! Since: Dec, 2021 Relationship Status: Love is an open door
#299: Jan 5th 2024 at 5:18:34 AM

Ugh, I can't believe this. Then I hope this will be discussed on TRS very soon.

StarSword Captain of USS Bajor from somewhere in deep space Since: Sep, 2011
Captain of USS Bajor
#300: Jan 5th 2024 at 9:52:36 AM

The TRS Queue is a hundred-plus threads deep as it is. I think if this project to reformat and clean up these Works by Subject indices is going to get anywhere, we'll need to move over to Short-Term Projects and get moderator permission to bypass the TRS altogether.

Would the moderation team like to provide input? I think we're pretty much agreed that we want Works by Subject to list works by their actual genre rather than just by stuff they contain.

Edited by StarSword on Jan 5th 2024 at 12:55:18 PM

Trust me, I'm an engineer!

Crown Description:

There have been concerns that certain Works By Subject indexes like Dinosaur Media and Bovine Fiction are suffering from loose criteria, redundancy issues with related tropes, contribute to index bloat, and may not be needed in the first place.

Total posts: 335
Top