OP
Category: Needs Help
The trope is about placeholder names for hypothetical characters usually found in skits, a-gag-per-day comics, homework problems, etc. that doesn't have established cast. These people are not "real" characters as much as they are vehicles to deliver jokes, problems, etc., and as such are just given generic names. The names doesn't actually have to be Alice and Bob, or even use the ABC convention (e.g. "Derp" and "Derpina" from most 9gag comics). However, there's a lot of examples on the page that are just about "works have lead characters named Alice and Bob", although this is already a misuse because the characters in question are definitely not "hypotheticals".
Results (wick check)
- Example as a Thesis in trope descriptions (8/50)
- Pothole in Playing With/ pages (39/50)
- Just characters named Alice and Bob (3/50)
Analysis
Outside the page itself, the majority of the wicks (a whopping 78%) come from Playing With/ pages. These are technically correct, because the all "characters" in the Playing With entries, regardless of their actual names, are just made-up randos used to depict trope scenes and are not fully fleshed-out characters (some PW pages don't even have consistent character names throughout the playing with entries). As such, the Alice and Bob wicks on these pages basically boil down to "characters named Alice and Bob". Of the remaining 11 wicks, 8 are found in trope descriptions as Example as a Thesis, and the other 3 are just instances of people named Alice and Bob, with 0 examples using the names in a manner that demonstrate any meaningful pattern.Proposed Solution
Give the page an Example Sectionectomy, and make it def-only.Wick check for Alice and Bob.
open/close all folders
Example as a Thesis in Trope Descriptions
- Delayed Reaction: Alice and Bob are having a conversation...
- But That I Would Believe: Suppose Alice, whether reasonably or unreasonably, distrusts Bob...
- Worst. Whatever. Ever!: So Alice and Bob have just finished a harrowing experience and a witty one liner is needed to sum up the entire situation.
- Mooching Master: Alice is Bob's master.
- Twin Threesome Fantasy: Bob is attracted to Alice. By some process similar to Oven Logic, he imagines that two Alices must be twice as sexy as one.
- Write a Film Noir: Bob heard a knock on his door and quickly downed the shot of whiskey he had just poured, then turned to see who it was. The outline was definitely of a woman...
- This Is No Time for Knitting: Alice and Bob are in trouble.
- Weather and Environment: Alice and Bob get caught in the rain, leading to them having sex or kissing while sheltering.
Playing With/ pages
- Don't Eat and Swim
- Bully Magnet
- Pizza Boy Special Delivery
- Ignored Enemy
- Bishōnen Line
- Opposites Attract
- Stigmatic Pregnancy Euphemism
- Cheating with the Milkman
- Cherry Tapping
- Snow Means Love
- High-School Sweethearts
- Take Off Your Clothes
- Death by Materialism
- Foot-Dragging Divorcee
- Wrong Insult Offence
- Gold Digger
- Light Is Good
- Unresolved Sexual Tension
- Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy
- Belligerent Sexual Tension
- Theme Twin Naming
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished
- Give Away the Bride
- Vote Early, Vote Often
- Freeze Sneeze
- Going to See the Elephant
- Honorable Marriage Proposal
- Everyone Is Christian at Christmas
- Baby Factory
- Mating Dance
- Screw Learning, I Have Phlebotinum!
- Toilet Seat Divorce
- Death of the Hypotenuse
- Mad at a Dream
- Fauxshadow
- Female Flatfoot and Snarky Guy
- Literal-Minded
- Precocious Crush
Just characters named Alice and Bob
- NaNoWriMo: now we also see Andrew, Bea and Carol.
- Viewers Are Goldfish: "Alice learned that Bob had a girlfriend" scene as a short flashback, instead of merely recapping it, slowed the action down and caught the emotion better, perhaps.
- Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice: A joint vacation to Las Vegas then threatens to become a polyamorous weekend pairing up Ted and Carol and Alice and Bob.
