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Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure PurenessYou've pretty much got the idea-
Once More, with Clarity is when it's intended for the audience (one usage I've seen a lot is during The Summation of mystery works with a visual element)
Flashback-Montage Realization is when we're seeing the pieces fall into place for a character. Its generally presented in a way that makes it clear that the character is having one of these moments, too, generally by superimposing or cutting to and from the flashbacks in a way that lets us see their reactions (or lack thereof) to the dawning understanding. (Manga for instance like to do this by having a thought-bubble type panel with tiny thumbnails of the relevant pages or panels alongside the character's reaction(s))
The sort-of-subtrope status is because the two don't always overlap, however. Situations like Bioshock's reveal are both, but you can also have a Flashback Montage Realization without it being a reveal to the audience - say, we in the audience have always known that Agent A was secretly Bob's long lost sister Alice, but we get the flashback montage to show that Bob is finally putting it all together and indulge in a Continuity Cavalcade along the way.
Edited by Scorpion451
I'm probably just missing something incredibly obvious here and will feel awkward later, but ...
Could someone please explain the difference between Once More, with Clarity and Flashback-Montage Realization? I know the second is a subtrope of the first, but I am not certain what makes it narrower. They both seem to be about a sentence or whole scene having one meaning at first, but gaining a different one when shown again, because of the knowledge obtained in-between.
Is this about who The Reveal is for? Like, Once More, with Clarity is for showing the scene again after the audience's perspective has changed to confirm the difference, where as in a Flashback-Montage Realization, the protagonist is also seeing the repeat and experiencing the same "click" as well? Wouldn't determining if a scene was a character's flashback or just repeated for the convenience of the watchers be difficult in certain mediums?
However, among Once More, with Clarity's examples, there are quite a few that seem to be character specific. Some, like the example for BioShock, are even listed on both tropes. Then again, Flashback-Montage Realization is still a pretty new trope (only launched 7 days ago), so perhaps I am merely being impatient.
So, it seems I already have a sort of answer after all ... am I on the right track?