Round 35: Inspirations
Interpretive
1. Bold Explorer
The urge to explore is as old as Mankind, and in every generation, there are those who feel compelled to seek out new worlds; to see what lies beyond the horizon. It's easy to dream, but unknown lands can be dangerous
matthewalynch | ohpippins
2. Ghost City
A Ghost City is the larger version of a Ghost Town, and is used in visual media as shorthand for 'something terrible has happened'. A city typically contains millions of people, and the viewer knows that only the hugest of disasters could completely clear it of its inhabitants.
void ~ forgotten ~ dark ~ friendless ~ eerie
3. Too Quirky to Lose
A participant in a contest of some sort is really not as good as some of the other participants, but wins first prize anyway thanks to a combination of various factors, but primarily sheer chutzpah.
fauxism > comment & download | midnight_road > comment & download
4. Lady in Red
If a woman is sexy enough, there's a good chance that she will wear a slinky red dress at at least one point in time. If she's really, REALLY sexy, and especially if she's The Vamp or a Femme Fatale, it may become her default outfit. This trope deals with the latter.
Click to viewLady in Red by Chris De Burgh [lyrics]
5. Fashion Show
A bunch of people modeling new clothes while the surrounding crowd gets a good look at them. Usually the models walk one at a time down a raised aisle, known as a catwalk, but this can also be done by unveiling a series of tableaux one by one. In live action, it shows off what a good costume department can do.
No Fears by Duklida | Green Aurora by SueaPeek
6. Beneath the Mask
Virtually everyone has to wear a public mask in order to be accepted by others. That's a simple fact of human psychology. When circumstances (such as anonymity, strong emotion, or sufficient power) allow a character to take off that mask and act in complete accord with their inclinations, they reveal what's Beneath The Mask.
iheartgot | spuzz
7. Bad to the Bone
You're watching a movie and abruptly you hear a familiar song. From the cue you know that shit is going to go down and it is going to go down hard. This trope is humbly dedicated to any song that has been used in so many movies that playing it in a new movie tells the audience exactly what's going to happen in the scene.
Bad to the Bone by George Thorogood [lyrics]
8. Femme Fatale
The typical client in a Hardboiled Detective story (French for "fatal woman," idiomatically "woman to die for"). You know the type. Morally ambiguous, dressed all in black with legs up to here, she slinks into the PI's office, sometimes holding a cigarette on a long, long holder, saying "Oh, Mr. Rockhammer, you're the only one who can help me find out who killed my extremely wealthy husband." Did she do it? Do I care? Wait, where'd that saxophone music come from? Whatever her story is, whether she did it or not, she's definitely keeping some secrets.
mm3butterfly | tinebrella | reebeecaa
9. Odd Couple
Mr. Neat/Tidy/Law-Abiding/By-The-Book forced to work/live with Mr. Messy/Slob/Zany/Risk-Taker/Plays-By-His-Own-Rules. Despite the name, they're usually not a romantic couple (though this depends on the show in question).
misfit ~ dispute ~ strict ~ tension ~ unlikely
10. Nerd Glasses
It is a truth universally acknowledged that nerds wear glasses. Usually ugly, unflattering glasses. There are several types of glasses that are signifiers of deeply-entrenched nerd-dom.
alogicals | unknownclone
Technical
11. Divide and Conquer
Why work when you can get someone else to do the work for you? A favored tactic of The Chessmaster, both villain and Anti-Hero, is to get two of your enemies to fight each other instead of you. All icons made for this trope should feature blocking.
john_scorpy | daleksaresexy | superjesster
12. Wall of Text
A paragraph should ideally be a smooth, succinct experience that goes through a bit of exposition, illustrates an idea, sums up the point, and primes the reader for the next paragraph. Ideally. All icons made for this trope must feature text that takes up most of the icon (though it can be behind other objects).
@ dafont | @ dafont
13. Darker and Edgier
A Tone Shift that seeks to make a work of fiction "more adult". Usually, this is interpreted as "add more sex, profanity, violence, and controversial content" at its most extreme. Icons made for this trope must be dark and gritty or grungy.
partitioning | regis | blueymcphluey
14. Camera Spoofing
In order to fool a particularly inept Mook, our heroes must covertly make themselves invisible to a security camera. They replace the camera's view with an image of the same scene, so the ever-watchful officer will never notice. Icons made for this trope must feature faceless crops.
deanut | pamkips
15. Friendless Background
There are a lot of Characterization Tropes that can be used to quickly and non-verbally introduce a character, and one of the sadder ones is the Friendless Background. The character will, through fate or choice, be presented as not having any friends, or at least not within easy visiting or communication range. Icons made for this trope must feature a fake background and have only one subject.
houltey > like & download | lookslikerain > comment & download
16. Sherlock Scan
A device used to introduce a detective character and his skills. The detective mentions some fact about the person he's just met, something that is not immediately obvious and he has no way of knowing ("Quitting cigarettes appears to have been good for you", "How's the wedding planning going?", "You've holidayed in Italy recently"). The other character looks skeptical or surprised, then the detective describes his reasoning from a set of minor clues (state and style of clothes, marks on skin, tan, etc.) and consequent assumptions. Icons made for this trope must feature close-crops of significant features or items.
liesmiths | wickdshy | neverberoyals
17. Crop Circles
Crop circles are large geometric patterns that appear in fields of crops, usually corn (because cornfields are creepy), and are created by flattening the stalks in such a way that each individual one remains undamaged. Icons made for this trope must feature circular crops or textures.
starkwars | hauntes | lemonzter
18. Casting a Shadow
A form of Elemental Powers dealing with shadow and darkness. It can take several forms. Icons made for this trope must be predominantly dark with a contrasting area of light.
annassa_anemou | raiindust | partitioning | paintedtarget | endearest
19. Neat Freak
A character who has some sort of obsession with cleanliness as a character trait. It may be a sign of their dedication, obsessiveness, or perfectionism. Icons made for this trope must be clean and simple.
poisonfield | sietepecados | erzsebet
20. Field Trip to the Past
Doing your history homework the exciting way! This is a stock episode plot of having one of your protagonists learn their history by actually going back in time and experiencing it. Icons made for this trope must use muted or vintage colors.
v i n t a g e by earlgrey | Ugly Curtains by AnihyrMoonstar
Round 35: TV Tropes calls on you to pull out your genre savvy and do a bit of channel hopping as you make a set based on the twenty tropes listed above. You may re-use tropes and inspirations, but you must use at least five technical tropes and five interpretive tropes in your set. Icons should be labeled with the tropes used so we can check! You are certainly welcome to surf tvtropes for further inspiration so long as your icons use inspirations from our post as well. If you wish to mix and match inspirations between tropes to create your own brand of icon, feel free. After all, as the hero of your set, don't you get to make the rules?
+ All icons must be made specifically for this challenge, and by you.
+ Icons must be inspired by this post and its contents, and fit the theme laid out in this post.
+ Icons must be within LiveJournal standards (100x100 pixels, .png, .gif, or .jpg format; 40kb or less).
+ When you post your entry to the community, provide 3 examples and a cut (real or fake) leading to a public post.
+ Please take the time to look at other people's entries and leave feedback.
+ The extra inspiration post cannot be used as inspiration for icons. It is simply an extra place for you to develop an understanding of the theme.
+ Please remember to thank and credit the makers of any resources you find through this community.
+ Tagging guidelines are as follows: entries: yourusername, round: 35. Example: entries: rocketgirl2, round: 35
+ Your subject should be: Rond 35: TV Tropes
+ A list of participants and their claims can be found here. Sign-ups will be open until the end of the round.
+ Your icons are due Friday, the 20th of June at 11:59 pm EDT. [Countdown]