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wingedcatgirl MOD (Holding A Herring)
16th Aug, 2020 10:46:23 AM

The cleanup sandbox has this one listed under "seems OK".

Trouble Cube continues to be a general-purpose forum for those who desire such a thing.
Serac Since: Mar, 2016
16th Aug, 2020 10:47:13 AM

Handicapped Badass isn't going anywhere. The badass tropes cleanup is allowing "badass despite something" tropes like Badass Bookworm, Pregnant Badass, or this one to stay.

wingedcatgirl MOD (Holding A Herring)
16th Aug, 2020 11:18:25 AM

Also, there's way more than two Disability Tropes on the site.

Trouble Cube continues to be a general-purpose forum for those who desire such a thing.
K1zBr5kk5r Since: Jul, 2019
16th Aug, 2020 11:24:11 AM

Thank you! So it’s just “this person is badass and (something that would not interfere with said badassery)” tropes that are getting removed, because the response is “can’t this be explained by other tropes?”

Is that the reasoning for this purge? Sorry if this feels super simple to you. I’m slightly new to the forum area of this site.

Serac Since: Mar, 2016
16th Aug, 2020 11:26:14 AM

Yeah, the "badass + trait" tropes are being removed because they're People Sit on Chairs.

WarJay77 (Troper Knight)
16th Aug, 2020 11:58:15 AM

Right, the idea here is that the combination of traits should be significant, usually because it's unexpected for such a character to be a badass; what gets cut or retooled are the ones that don't have that sort of significance and are just "Character is a badass and also they're gay / elderly / a biker / etc".

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
K1zBr5kk5r Since: Jul, 2019
16th Aug, 2020 08:40:33 PM

Thanks, everyone! Little clarification that I wish happened on my first question:

The tropes I listed are the two umbrella tropes. Disabled characters are often either inspirational, or badass, and other tropes fall into those categories. I wish I had made that clearer.

crazysamaritan MOD Since: Apr, 2010
16th Aug, 2020 09:08:36 PM

Not all disabled character tropes fall into those two categories. Albinos Are Freaks is neither, to take an example from the top of the list. Blind Musician is another that isn't inherently "inspirational".

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
K1zBr5kk5r Since: Jul, 2019
16th Aug, 2020 11:38:35 PM

I (as a disabled person) feel like these tropes often are presented that way, even if (on their own) a trope isn’t inherently either category. I either see “your life is a crapshoot, how inspirational is it that you can accomplish x, y, or z”, or “you are a badass”.

Maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places. If anyone has any ideas where a disabled person isn’t in these two, please, I’m all ears.

WarJay77 (Troper Knight)
16th Aug, 2020 11:47:42 PM

Again, just look through Disability Tropes.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
K1zBr5kk5r Since: Jul, 2019
17th Aug, 2020 12:30:56 AM

Thanks! Did I make sense? Or did I just sound like I was rambling?

RallyBot2 Since: Nov, 2013
17th Aug, 2020 01:25:25 AM

Don't worry. We get much more rambling than that on a daily basis.

tyrekecorrea Since: Jun, 2009
17th Aug, 2020 07:37:26 AM

Wait!

Doesn't anybody else think it's weird that so few others besides those with disabilities, who, by definition of the term disability, are not able to do the full range of what people without disabilities can, are able to even be classified as badasses anymore?

mightymewtron Since: Oct, 2012
17th Aug, 2020 07:52:48 AM

Because a lot of the badass tropes were deemed not worth keeping for having no real meaning besides "character is X and also a badass" and were covered by other tropes. Handicapped Badass stays because the character's cool abilities subvert the expectation that the character is less capable than others for being disabled.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
wingedcatgirl MOD (Holding A Herring)
17th Aug, 2020 07:55:07 AM

We're also keeping "badass because X" tropes too. We're just getting rid of "badass and coincidentally also X" tropes.

Trouble Cube continues to be a general-purpose forum for those who desire such a thing.
K1zBr5kk5r Since: Jul, 2019
17th Aug, 2020 10:16:35 AM

tyrekecorrea, Since disabilities create very real limitations on disabled people, sometimes others view us as completely helpless, then they get shocked that we accomplish day to day tasks (called Inspiration Porn. Probably the most annoying thing I have to deal with). Since Handicapped Badass is a subversion of existing attitudes around disabled people (on this site, those thoughts are known as Inspirationally Disadvantaged) Handicapped Badass is a trope.

(I should mention that taking this trope to far leads to viewing disabled people as completely without limits, thus also being “Inspiration Porn”, but that’s another rabbit hole for another day)

It’s like getting rid of “manly” tropes, but keeping Manly Gay. The stereotype around gay men is that they are all effeminate, so subverting those expectations by using Manly Gay makes that a trope worth keeping.

With the badass tropes (correct me on this), sometimes the second part has nothing to do with their badassery. Badass Gay is the example that made me aware of this purge, actually. Being gay has absolutely nothing to do with being Badass. Being disabled, however, does limit people in certain areas, so it does effect how badass you are, and in what areas.

TL;DR: Subverting existing stereotypes=trope

WarJay77 (Troper Knight)
K1zBr5kk5r Since: Jul, 2019
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