Trope crosswicking policy Re: Recap pages

This started as a minor policy disagreement between myself and @eroock that snowballed into a bigger thing on Ask The Tropers; I figured it was worth it to move the discussion to the forums for permanency. Former discussion here.

Basic summary: I was doing crosswicking for a Trope Launch Pad launch (Planetary Relocation FWIW) and, like I've done for years, would copy examples onto both the work page and onto episode recap pages. Got a PM questioning having done so.

My view is essentially that crosswicking to the main pages for a work helps with Troper Critical Mass better than just putting them on Recap pages if they only appear in a single episode, and others have pointed out that people kind of expect all the tropes in a work to be attached to the main page and not to have to go digging into the Recap pages. It also makes it hassle-free to expand entries on work pages into an example tree if somebody finds additional examples from the work after the crosswicker is done with it. The counterargument is similar to the one about segregating tropes applicable to specific characters to the Characters pages (which I also disagree somewhat with doing).

Edited by StarSword on Feb 21st 2022 at 4:35:48 AM

I guess I just don't see a point in having a recap page if all the tropes are listed on the main work page anyway.

I see the merits of both approaches, but agree that if it just shows up in one episode (as in the Rick and Morty example in question), then just put it on the single Recap page.

For examples that show up in multiple installments, I think my ideal solution is to have a more 'general/setting-wide' writeup for the main work page, and if a specific episode focuses on it, then put the writeup for that episode there. For example^note using my last launched trope,

Series.Hypothetical Show:

• Nonconformist Dyed Hair: Because the show is set at a arts college, several of the students dye their hair to emphasize the liberal environment and the quirky, artistic people who are inclined to attend it. For example, Alice has pink streaks, while Bob has an undercut with the long part dyed blue.

Recap.Hypothetical Show Episode 4

• Nonconformist Dyed Hair: Upon being accepted to art school, Alice decides to get pink streaks so that she can look like a "real artist".

Like I said on the ATT, I go based on how many examples there are. If there's multiple, putting it on the main page makes sense since it's a common trope used in the work at multiple points, but then I separate the individual examples to the respective recap pages. If there's only one trope that goes into one episode one time, then I just put it on the recap page.

The recap pages are designed to help cut down on the tropes on the main page for length, I thought, and shouldn't be duplicated. Maybe it's harder to get some attention on a new trope, but I guess my brain is going, "So what?" to that concern.

Well, it is sort of a problem; new tropes are generally used less than older tropes are, so any recognition boost helps a lot more.

But the main point of the sorting system shouldn't be to get views for the tropes; it should be to get things neatly sorted, IMO.

For an extreme example, take anthology shows, like Black Mirror (and [throws dart] one of its recap pages, Recap.Black Mirror Hated In The Nation). Each episode varies widely in terms of premises and settings, which is why the main page only focuses on shared themes, continuity hints, and production tropes. Since each episode is self-contained and tells its own story, what would be the point of copy-pasting every single Recap entry to the main page?

Right, "shared themes" is the main thing I'm aiming for when I put an entire example tree on the main work page and then splinter the examples off among the recap pages. If it occurs often enough to appear in multiple episodes, I think it's worth noting that on the main page.

Oh, and I know that we shouldn't organize it based on what'd get tropes the most attention- just pointing out that since the point of crosswicking is to help tropes grow, it is more helpful in that regard to have it where most people would see it.

I think that in this discussion we gotta make a difference between tropes that occur across multiple episodes as a recurring theme and tropes that occur across multiple episodes but not as a theme.

Like myabe an anime will have You Gotta Have Blue Hair in each episode, often just because it's that kind of an anime and has no real meaning apart from that, as opposed the same anime having something that's Gone Horribly Wrong in every episode because that's the theme of the show.

Edited by MichaelKatsuro on Feb 21st 2022 at 1:55:48 AM

As a matter of broad policy, any particular example should only be listed once within a work's wiki pages and crosswicked once on the corresponding trope article. If we go to the trouble of creating Recap articles for a work's episodes, then an example listed on such an article would go there instead of the main page, but it is always crosswicked to the primary work article.

If an example occurs broadly across a serial work, then it should be listed on the main article and not on every recap page for that work.

We are not in the business of "pimping" new tropes in order to get them recognized faster, especially not if that breaks the above rules.

Here are some examples.

• Flat Character: Alice has no character development. She starts out as a meek housewife and ends as a meek housewife.

The above would go on the main article because it does not reference any specific episode, or on a Characters subpage if one exists.

• Death World: Zeta Epsilon is a planet whose surface temperature averages 40 C and where the rainfall is hydrochloric acid. It is the only place where the coveted Green Rocks can be found.

The above would go on the main article because it does not reference any specific episode.

• Death World: In Season 2, Episode 4, the characters travel to Zeta Epsilon, a planet whose surface temperature averages 40 C and where the rainfall is hydrochloric acid. They have to go there to get the coveted Green Rocks.

The above could go on the S2E4 Recap page because it only pertains to that one episode.

In all three cases, the crosswick would point to the main work article.

Edited by Fighteer on Feb 21st 2022 at 5:29:26 AM

The third one should also have a wick (even a Red Link) to the recap page. Same principle as when you have a single-medium franchise page but not having a page for that particular installment yet.

Aside: that Alice example would be Static Character, not Flat Character.

So if you had something like:

• Death World:
  • Recurring location Planet AAAAA has molten glass for precipitation.
  • In episode X, the crew visits Planet BBBBB^note pronounced "buhbuhbuhbuhbuh", where most of the land surface is covered in deadly quicksand.

You'd split this up, putting the first example on the main work page and the second on the episode recap page?

What if Death Worlds are a recurring thing in this series, and you've got an example talking about this trend, but with episode-specific examples as sub-bullets?

• Death World: It seems like the crew can't go two weeks without having to make a pit stop on an incredibly dangerous planet, as lampshaded by Johnifer in episode 20.
  • Episode 1: Planet X is covered in lava.
  • Episode 4: Planet Y is full of toxic fumes from volcanic vents.
  • Episode 7: Planet Z is full of tornados.
  • Episode 9: Planet A is home to highly territorial giant bears which chase the crew every time they venture outside.
  • Episode 11: Planet B is home to highly territorial giant bees which chase the crew every time they venture outside.
  • Episode 14: Planet C is home to giant cats, which seem content to observe the crew from a distance... because they are waiting to catch them off guard.
  • Episode 16: The forests of Planet G are full of trees that will swallow anyone who gets too close.
  • Episode 20: Planet K seems to be peaceful at first, but it turns out that at night, the plants release spores that are incredibly toxic to most non-native lifeforms.
    Johnifer: Can't we go one month without landing on a planet that turns out to be a death trap? Hell, I'd settle for two weeks.
  • Episode 23: Planet P turns out to be a Genius Loci that tries to assimilate the crew into its Hive Mind.

In principle, each episode-specific example would go on a Recap, and the main example would give an overview. Crosswicking it would follow the rough format you've given there, or it could go into a single paragraph, whatever is easiest.