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Redefine (*maybe* rename???): Nerds Are Sexy

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Leaper Since: May, 2009
#26: Oct 7th 2010 at 7:11:22 PM

Hmm, you have a point there... Is there a way to keep the page from being used as a repository of "nerdy characters tropers find attractive"?

Deboss I see the Awesomeness. from Awesomeville Texas Since: Aug, 2009
I see the Awesomeness.
#27: Oct 7th 2010 at 8:00:48 PM

Simple. The character has to be treated as attractive for being a nerd in work. Nerds tropers think are sexy is for Troper Tales.

Fight smart, not fair.
Leaper Since: May, 2009
#28: Oct 9th 2010 at 3:21:10 AM

Gah, I missed that from previous in the thread. Yeah, it looks good to me.

There seems to be general agreement; should it just be done? And would the "non-obvious beauty gets the guy/girl" trope need to go back through YKTTW, or would it be fine just relaunched immediately under another name?

Vree Since: Jan, 2001
#29: Oct 9th 2010 at 12:29:20 PM

Just wanna throw it in there (because the trope page does not link it) that Adorkable is also close, and could use some clean-up (and a change to its Laconic) to make i clearer how they are different.

I have always interpreted the difference as we differentiate between Geek and Nerd at the moment - Nerds Are Sexy as when smart-looking and knowledgeable is the Geeky Turn-On, in a Hot Librarian kind of way; Adorkable when unsociable and awkward is what makes someone cute.

edited 9th Oct '10 12:33:54 PM by Vree

Leaper Since: May, 2009
#30: Oct 19th 2010 at 6:59:30 PM

Hmm. Is Adorkable an in-work trope too? That might help, since we've already sorta decided that Nerds Are Sexy should be too.

When I have time, I'm going to tinker with a new intro. Any thoughts on it, and whether the "guy chooses the not obviously hot girl" should go through YKTTW?

Deboss I see the Awesomeness. from Awesomeville Texas Since: Aug, 2009
I see the Awesomeness.
#31: Oct 19th 2010 at 7:22:04 PM

Adorkable is similar to Kawaii in that it takes klutziness and similar factors to be endearing.

Fight smart, not fair.
MetaFour AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN from A Place (Old Master)
AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN
#32: Oct 19th 2010 at 7:39:09 PM

[up]Are you thinking moe or dojikko? Because I'm pretty sure kawaii is just normal cuteness, or normal cuteness applied in incongruous situations.

Deboss I see the Awesomeness. from Awesomeville Texas Since: Aug, 2009
Leaper Since: May, 2009
#34: Oct 24th 2010 at 7:27:31 PM

OK, I've been trying to work out a new intro, and run across a question: how does this trope differ from Geeky Turn-On?

Also, does the "guy chooses the not conventionally attractive girl" trope need to be YKTTW-ed? Or can all the actual good examples (of which I need to count, to see whether there's all that many) just get moved to a new page and renamed?

Raso Cure Candy Since: Jul, 2009
Cure Candy
#35: Oct 24th 2010 at 7:45:47 PM

Geeky Turn-On is something that turns on Geeks, while Nerds Are Sexy is about nerds who others find sexy.

Polar opposites.

edited 24th Oct '10 7:46:16 PM by Raso

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!
Leaper Since: May, 2009
#36: Oct 24th 2010 at 7:47:48 PM

It's about "nerds who finds others sexy"? I... don't get that from the way I've seen it used. I've consistently seen it used as "nerds that I think are sexy." (And that's ignoring what the page currently says the trope is about!)

Other tropers, what have you seen it used as?

Madrugada Since: Jan, 2001
#37: Oct 24th 2010 at 8:07:03 PM

Geeky Turn-On is "something that Geeks find sexy or attractive". Girl robots, for example.

Nerds Are Sexy is " "normal" characters find nerdiness attractive." Fred, on Angel. Giles on Buffy.

edited 24th Oct '10 8:22:47 PM by Madrugada

Leaper Since: May, 2009
#38: Oct 24th 2010 at 8:21:52 PM

Or it will be. :)

How about something like (pardon first draft roughness):

Geeks and nerds often have it rough in the romance department, especially in popular culture. Typically, they are stereotyped as being so unattractive that only fellow nerds would find them desirable mates. However, it is interest and intellect that makes the nerd, not looks. As such, it is entirely possible that they could be above average looking... sometimes way above average.

This trope shows what happens when a character finds that a nerd is, indeed, sexy. The nerd's "objective" looks could fall anywhere within the wide spectrum of human attractiveness; all that matters is that a character finds something about the nerd that arouses his or her interest.

[Retain current last three paragraphs, perhaps adding Hollywood Nerd to the compare/contrasts.]

edited 24th Oct '10 11:06:30 PM by Leaper

Deboss I see the Awesomeness. from Awesomeville Texas Since: Aug, 2009
I see the Awesomeness.
#39: Oct 24th 2010 at 9:11:23 PM

[up][up]Girl who knows robotics is attractive.

Fight smart, not fair.
Leaper Since: May, 2009
#40: Oct 26th 2010 at 7:12:54 PM

Any thoughts/criticism of my intro rewrite suggestion? And/or what to do with the "guy chooses the not conventionally attractive girl" trope?

neoYTPism Since: May, 2010
#42: Oct 28th 2010 at 10:27:38 PM

"Any thoughts/criticism of my intro rewrite suggestion? And/or what to do with the "guy chooses the not conventionally attractive girl" trope?" - Leaper

What rewrite suggestion? And what about the latter trope?

Deboss I see the Awesomeness. from Awesomeville Texas Since: Aug, 2009
Leaper Since: May, 2009
#44: Oct 28th 2010 at 10:37:48 PM

Post 38 is the rewrite draft. The latter trope is currently what Nerds Are Sexy is written up as, but has been almost completely supplanted due to name-based Trope Decay (see first post).

ETA: What is the proper process for moving the current trope under Nerds Are Sexy to a new page? On one hand, it's obviously been through YKTTW, even if it was ages ago. OTOH, I can't find a single example on the current page that fits the "not conventionally attractive person gets the love interest over the conventionally hotter rivals" trope, so just moving it to a new page under a new name would leave it example-less.)

edited 28th Oct '10 10:46:05 PM by Leaper

Leaper Since: May, 2009
#45: Oct 30th 2010 at 1:36:36 PM

OK, I've decided to YKTTW the "not traditionally hot girl gets the guy." Does the crowner results and the general tenor of this discussion mean I'm free to put up the new description?

Leaper Since: May, 2009
#46: Nov 13th 2010 at 11:26:18 PM

Aaaaand it seems the YKTTW has attracted little to no attention. Perhaps that's not surprising, all things considered. Any tips, or answers to my other questions above?

rodneyAnonymous Sophisticated as Hell from empty space Since: Aug, 2010
#47: Nov 13th 2010 at 11:59:04 PM

Battened down the hatches; tried not to change any meaning.

Is that about a character type, or a situation?

edited 14th Nov '10 12:05:49 AM by rodneyAnonymous

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.
Leaper Since: May, 2009
#48: Nov 14th 2010 at 12:08:11 AM

I'm not sure it makes any difference for you to edit the current page, since the "average girl attracts the guy over the 'conventional' hotties" trope is getting moved to a new page/trope (if the crowner results thus far are any indication).

edited 14th Nov '10 12:09:06 AM by Leaper

rodneyAnonymous Sophisticated as Hell from empty space Since: Aug, 2010
#49: Nov 14th 2010 at 12:30:14 AM

Then how am I going to get credit for that work!

(I think problems are easier to solve when as many things as possible are clarified. It doesn't hurt.)

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.
Leaper Since: May, 2009
#50: Nov 16th 2010 at 11:19:40 PM

OK, I pulled the trigger and put in my rewrite (damn, I forgot how much it annoyed me that even the Laconic had this trope 100% WRONG).

Now that that's over with, is the Average Girl Wins issue still relevant to this thread? Or should it be in a new one? If so, which forum?


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