History Main / TwentyFourHourTropeClock

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The wee hours of the night, between about 1:00 and 5:00. People should not be awake at this time, so if you are, it’s a sign that something’s up. Maybe you’re the undead and it’s the only time you can go out. Maybe you’re a criminal hoping to escape the cops’ notice. Maybe you’re an insomniac… or you’ve been [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife up all night reading TV Tropes]].

* DoomsdayClock - which is always stated as ''X minutes to '''Midnight'''''.

* DoomsdayClock - which is always stated as ''X minutes to midnight''.

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Lots of nightmare sufferers wake up around this time, just to rub salt in their wounds.

Sun down. End of the day. Common ending cue. Also very romantic.

Night is a dangerous time. The sun is out completely and everything is dark. It’s cold, lonely, and hard to see-- probably why humans have a natural fear of the night. All decent people are at home in bed, which means ''indecent'' people are out and about, prowling the streets and doing unscrupulous things. Night is a spooky time, good for illegal activities, spying, [[WildTeenParty wild parties]], and trips to the local HauntedHouse. Basically, all the things that make a story interesting.

The rotation of the Earth on its axis creates a 24-hour cycle known as a "day." Each day consists of a number of markers based on the position of the sun; these including morning, evening, and night. All are vital to the development of human life, so it's no wonder they're also important in human drama.

Waking or staying up to watch the sunrise is considered romantic by some. Stock music cues are Grieg’s ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAbwMGZtIsY Morning Music]]'' and Rossini’s ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RM7cQCC4sU Ranz des Vaches]]'' from the William Tell Overture.

Also called twilight ([[Literature/{{Twilight}} no comments, please]]), it’s the period when the sun is down but the moon isn’t up. Dusk is a transition time--kids gets called in for supper, shops close up, humans start changing into werewolves.

Sunrise, the three minute period when the sun climbs we’ve been here before, haven’t we? Oh well, days are cycles. It happens. Daily.

Compare PlotTime, FlashbacksAndChronology.

Sunrise, the three minute period when the sun climbs over the horizon and signals the start of day. Sunrise is the start of the day, a time of new beginnings, and as such it's an incredibly common place to open stories.

Dawn/sunrise are also frequently used to end stories. Generally if a story ends on a sunrise, it’s because the heroes have [[EarnYourHappyEnding gone through hell]] all night and daylight signals that the fighting is over. After all the stuff the heroes have been through, sunrise is the sign of renewal and continuing life. [[RuleOfSymbolism It’s all very symbolic.]]

'''Associated tropes:''' [[index]]

Vaguely 7:00 until 9:00, “morning” is the “waking up” period. This is another frequent starting point for stories, because unlike sunrise, normal people actually ''do'' wake up around then. Expect aspects of the average morning routine-- hitting the alarm clock, brushing teeth, eating breakfast, trimming nose hairs, putting on clothes.

9:00 to 11:59. NothingExcitingEverHappensHere (except for the main character being late for whatever they were late for in the morning).

Night is a dangerous time. The sun is out completely and everything is dark. It’s cold, lonely, and hard to see-- probably why humans have a natural fear of the night. All decent people are at home in bed, which means ''indecent'' people are out and about, prowling the streets and doing unscrupulous things. Night is a spooky time, good for illegal activities, spying, wild parties, and trips to haunted houses. Basically, all sorts of things that make a story interesting.

Due to the high danger factor, night’s a [[strike:perennial]] diurnal favourite for writers.

StockRoom cues: Sound effects of crickets chirping, owls hooting, and wolves howling. Shots of nocturnal animals are frequent (especially shots where their eyes are glowing). Shots of the moon, [[WeirdMoon always full]] and frequently partially covered by a cloud.

The spookiest time of day, bar none. Midnight is “the witching hour”-- magical things happen at midnight, and not the good magic. TheHiddenHour is often before or after midnight.

Early morning ends at ''dawn'', which leads to…

Also called twilight ([[{{Twilight}} no comments, please]]), it’s the period when the sun is down but the moon isn’t up. Dusk is a transition time--kids gets called in for supper, shops close up, humans start changing into werewolves.

Compare PlotTime.

The rotation of the Earth on its axis creates a 24-hour cycle known as a "day." Each day consists of a number of markers based on the position of the sun-- these including morning, evening, and night. All are vital to the development of human life, so it's no wonder they're also important in human drama.

Below is a quick guide to times of day, with a brief description of their general use in stories and any specifically associated tropes.

'''Associated tropes:''' [[index]] CockADoodleDawn, CueTheSun, ShotAtDawn [[/index]]

'''Associated tropes:''' [[index]] GoodMorningCrono, LateForSchool, NotAMorningPerson, SecondEpisodeMorning, SynchronizedMorningRoutine, WakeupMakeup [[/index]]

'''Associated tropes:''' [[index]] EatingLunchAlone, ShowdownAtHighNoon [[/index]]

'''Associated tropes:''' [[index]]RidingIntoTheSunset, WatchingTheSunset, AgainstTheSettingSun, LipLockSunBlock [[/index]]

'''Associated tropes:''' [[index]] AlwaysNight, MidnightSnack, most DreamTropes, IndexOnTheMoon [[/index]]

'''Associated tropes:''' [[index]] WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve, MidnightSnack [[/index]]

OtakuOClock

'''Associated tropes:''' [[index]]CockADoodleDawn, CueTheSun, ShotAtDawn [[/index]]

'''Associated tropes:''' [[index]] [[/index]]

'''Associated tropes:''' [[index]] [[/index]]

'''Associated tropes:''' [[index]] [[/index]]

'''Associated tropes:''' [[index]] [[/index]]

'''Associated tropes:''' CockADoodleDawn, CueTheSun, ShotAtDawn

'''Associated tropes:''' GoodMorningCrono, LateForSchool, NotAMorningPerson, SecondEpisodeMorning, SynchronizedMorningRoutine, WakeupMakeup

'''Associated tropes:''' EatingLunchAlone, ShowdownAtHighNoon

'''Associated tropes:'''

'''Associated tropes:''' RidingIntoTheSunset, WatchingTheSunset, AgainstTheSettingSun, LipLockSunBlock

'''Associated tropes:'''

'''Associated tropes:''' AlwaysNight, MidnightSnack, most DreamTropes, IndexOnTheMoon

'''Associated tropes:''' WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve, MidnightSnack

'''Associated tropes:'''

!!Launching tomorrow, unless there are any objections.