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resolved Storyline-exclusive villain. Literature
In Give Yourself Goosebumps, there’s usually two different storylines you could follow, depending on an early choice you make. Is the main villain considered a Big Bad if they only show up in one of the storylines? Or is it a slightly different trope?
resolved Animal Symbolism Literature
I'm trying to figure out what would be the trope name for characters loosely based off of or inspired by animals (not necessarily mythical), whether it be via their designs, personalities, or actions.
Edited by mystiqu3resolved A Day in the Limelight Literature
More of clarification than direct trope search: is there any better fit than A Day in the Limelight / Ascended Extra for the following scenario (and which of those two fits better):
Alice and Bob are the main characters of a Amateur Sleuth book series. Other than being mentioned, Bob's mom Mary is in exactly one scene in the first book. Second book doesn't change that much - Mary is in three scenes, but far less present in the dialogues of other people (and it's more about the agro-tourism business she runs than her directly). But in the third book, Mary is suddenly one of the more important characters of the story, playing rather big role in the plot, having plentiful interactions with various characters and is instrumental to solving of the case they are dealing with... and by the 4th book she virtually cease to exist, being mentioned grand total of once and never present in person. Meanwhile, through the series, Alice and Bob are firmly the definitive main characters, so it's not that their role or presence is diminished in any way.
Thus: is Mary an Ascended Extra (but for just one book) or is that specific book where she's in the tight circle of 5 most important characters her A Day in the Limelight
Edited by Tropiarzresolved A sequel to a previous episode in the same franchise Literature
A new administrator takes over a hospital, and clearly has a vendetta against the protagonist: he fires several of this docrot's friends and eventually this doctor himself. At the end, it turns out that this is personal revenge against the protagonist: the protagonist had previously discovered that the administrator's girlfriend had murdered a Serial Rapist, making it look like he died in a traffic accident. The accident, and the murder of the Serial Rapist, are covered by an episode in the same franchise.
resolved Distopyan Flag Spam Literature
Is there a trope for when someone (often a Fish out of Temporal Water) travels to a place and sees creepy flags everywhere, which are a visual aid to the fact that the setting is a political dystopia? The flags can be replaced with the leader's portrait, too.
resolved Sickly sweet Literature
There's a character who has chocolate (sickly, vomit-inducing sweet chocolate) as his motif. This isn't used to make him cute; on the contrary, it's used to portrait him as disgustingly sweet, both in- and out-of-universe.
Character has tendency to distort most words he uses to sound "cute" (including his name, which now sounds just ridiculous), but achieves opposite effect. He tries to act "kind", but only makes people trust him less due to this "sweetness" hiding quite sticky personality. Even his body is literally made out of chocolate (long story), which characters in-universe find to be just disgusting.
And yes, he is a villain, though of a very low grade. Backstabbing, snitching and generally annoying.
While he is certainly Faux Affably Evil, what I seek for is something about his "so cute, it's disgusting" vibe, because it's really important part of his characterisation, and characters react to it with disgust in-universe even before he had a chance to betray anyone specifically because he is sickly sweet.
resolved Last-minute Princess reveal Literature
A story/fairytale about a prince who meets a peasant, they fall in love and he learns to look past class prejudices to be with her...then in the end it's revealed she's the lost princess from another kingdom. Convenient.
Genders might be inverted, too. Modern versions of the trope have the peasant/poor girl be revealed to be related to a rich family.
resolved Fix-up the Hypothenuse Literature
Is there a trope for a relationship dynamic where a character approves of or engineers a relationship between two other characters, so as to leave a fourth character single (and willing to settle)?
For instance, if both Bob and Charles have feelings for Alice, and Eve's in love with Charles. Eve might set up Alice and Bob, or help Bob out, so Alice is off the picture and she can have Bob for himself.
resolved "Oh, it's you." murder victim Literature
A mystery novel trope where the last moments of a murder victim interacting with the murderer (almost always with the words "Oh, it's you" to show that the murderer is someone they know and don't suspect) are seen by the audience, but without revealing who the murderer is. Only really works in novels where the voice won't be identified.
resolved City-wide War Literature
Is there a trope for a "war" that takes place entirely in just one city? Like from Fantasy of Post-Apocalyptic stories where two or more factions are struggling for control of one city, saying stuff like "They have taken over the lower east side, but we still have a few buildings manned" and whatnot? The idea being that there's different logistics than a regular war, with smaller armies, more worry about food, faster cavalry, et cetera...
I'm thinking in particular of that one episode of South Park where Cartman and Stan fight for control of the town in a post-apocalyptic scenario.
resolved Jealous of affection shown to a pet Literature
I've looked at Envy and Jealousy Tropes, but I'm not sure what's the best match for seeing your crush stroke a pet that's on their lap, and feeling jealous of the pet.
resolved Is there a trope related to ghosting? Literature
I was looking for a trope related to ghosting, i.e. the practice of ending all contact with a person without former announcement, and the strict decline of any attempt to re-establish contact.
A more generic one, where a partner did not officially renounce the relationship, but is still nowhere to be found (and it's implied that they left on their own terms) would suffice too I suppose.
The closest resemblances I found were Runaway Bride and Disappeared Dad, but they only work in rather niche settings (just before marriage; as soon as the couple have already conceived children).
Examples I can think of from the top of my head:
- Bennett from the American TV Show "Orange is the New Black", who runs away from his pregnant girlfriend in S2 without any notice and is never seen again —> Disappeared Dad, from the perspective of a not-yet-born child (not really a great fit)
- Bolin from the Western Animation series "The Legend of Korra", who ends the relationship to his girlfriend Eska by running away and refusing contact afterwards —> Runaway Fiancé (but what if there had not been a marriage proposal before?)
- Hugo Weinschenk from Thomas Mann's novel "Buddenbrooks", who informs his wife that he'll come back soon, but is then never seen again despite multiple contact attempts via letter —> none of the above tropes fit
Thank you all in anticipation!
resolved Rhinestone Switch Literature
A woman is given or lent a diamond, and cleverly replaces it with a rhinestone replica - when she has to return the diamond (like if she breaks up with the man who gave it), she keeps the real one and returns the replica.
resolved "Story Breadcrumbs", but for literature. Literature
I only got examples about videogames, but books are my favorite hobby, so I need a trope which applies to them. The trope is this:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StoryBreadcrumbs
resolved George killing Lenny Literature
For some reason, a character (who's usually a good guy) has to kill a friend who's incredibly naïve and pure of heart, so he takes the friend somewhere isolated, talks about some happy stuff and kills the friend without warning, with tears in his eyes.
Usually it's because the victim would suffer a Fate Worse than Death if he was alive (like if he's been bitten by a Zombie, would face torture, long painful illness).
resolved Freudian marriage Literature
To quote a female character:
resolved Fascinated by the Villain's Cruelty Literature
Is there a trope for this type of behavior - An Anti-Hero, or an ambiguous ally to the hero, is fascinated by how evil and inhumane the villain is. Often because this character is more interested in other aspects of the conflict with the villain than "being good".
For instance, a glory hog on the side of the heroes might be happy to find out the villain slaughter a bunch of innocent people because once the villain is defeated, his fame'll be even greater. Or, he's a psychiatrist who sees the villain's crimes as something worth studying, so the more there is to analyse, the better. Or even, the hero's a bored Smug Super who's excited an actually dangerous villain shows up for him to fight.
resolved No Title Literature
Character that Blends in physically but is bold and speaks their mind
resolved Misleading book covers? Literature
Is there a trope where a book cover disguises the content of the work (on purpose), but doesn't fall under the precise definitions of Clandestine Cover, Book and Switch, or Covers Always Lie?
I'm trying to figure out where Transformers writer James Roberts' fan novel "Eugenesis" would go, with its classic lit parody cover: [1]
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Edited by AliceNaLiteratura