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  • Mundane Utility has been defined as involving the use of any special power being used for mundane tasks (such as, but not limited to, housework, and regardless of whether the special power is actually efficient or even useful for the tasks) instead of just superpowers, and expand to include the use of magical and/or high-tech objects for mundane tasks in addition to to special powers, as intended by the original TLP draft (with the draft giving the example of using a Humongous Mecha to make a pizza).

    Original post 
Note: OP by: Amonimus

Mundane Utility by the description is about using superpowers for daily tasks where they are unnecessary. While Tropes Are Flexible, I think most examples are stretching it to "something awesome used for personal convinience" too much.

Going by Mundane Utility Wick Check,

  • 15% suit the definition.
  • 16% is either about using a powerful artificat for convinience (Priceless Paperweight?) or using sci-fi techonology impractically (Utility Weapon, Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids, Misapplied Phlebotinum?)
  • 39% don't really sound like a "mundane use" at all, either the effect is still supernatural, or the effect could only be achived by supernatural means in context.
  • In 20% I couldn't tell becuase it references an ability without telling what it does, or General examples that don't say how are they applied.

Suggestion: Rename to something like Awesome Ability Normal Ulitlity and move unfit examples to mentioned tropes. Optinally, append the description to mention wizards and fantasy creatures using normally destructive spells as home appliances or along the lines. Using levitation magic to clean the room isn't "mundane", it'd be efficient and natural in such setting.

Wick check:

  1. Expand, rename, rewite completely
  2. Split

82 wicks automatically collected in 287 seconds. 94 examples.



     Correct: Awesome Superpower wastefully used for personal convinience (14) 
  1. Recap.TheLegendOfKorraS2E1RebelSpirit -> * Mundane Utility: Korra uses the Avatar State to win an air scooter race. Lampshaded by Tenzin that she cannot use it as a "booster rocket". She also later uses her waterbending powers to win a shooting competition.
  2. Characters.MissKobayashisDragonMaidKobayashiHousehold -> * Mundane Utility: She used her electric powers to charge Saikawa's cellphone and used her horns as poles for a clothes line in Kanna's Daily Life.
  3. Fanfic.ImperfectMetamorphosis -> * Mundane Utility: Alice is shocked at Mima using a pocket dimension as a vomit bucket for Marisa.
  4. Characters.SuperHeroTaisenOriginalRiders -> * Mundane Utility: She uses the Flight ring for pretty minor things like pulling out chairs and cheating at Crapps.
  5. YMMV.ShallWeDateNinjaShadow -> ** In Shintaro's route, his and Saori's would-be First Kiss is interrupted when they notice that Ukyo, Yuzuki and Kagura are peeping on them. The hilarity is amped up by the arrival of Asagi, who chastises the other three for spying on Saori and her boyfriend... only for Kagura to point out that he was using his shikigami to peep too, flustering the Hell out of him.
  6. Sandbox.SailorMoonGRRebirthOfThePlanetaryGuardians -> * Mundane Utility: At one point, Debido utilizes his ability to manipulate moisture in the air to provide ice cubes for his drink.
  7. VideoGame.PokemonCafeMix -> * Mundane Utility: Several Cafe Skills in this game are depicted as Pokemon using their moves to do cafe work, such as Squirtle using Water Gun to wash dishes, Bulbasaur using Razor Leaf to cut vegetables, Snorlax Body Slamming pizza dough flat, etc.
  8. Characters.HopeOfTheShieldHero -> * Mundane Utility: Naofumi uses his shields' absorption ability to clean up after giving Raphtalia a haircut, so he basically treats it as an infinite trash can.
  9. Fanfic.HorizonStarDriven -> * Mundane Utility: Sir Nighteye uses his Foresight Quirk to make sure Mirio takes a break - and also to catch a spoiler of the first minutes of the movie he's going to see.
  10. VideoGame.Bravium -> * Mundane Utility: The strips shows the Barbarian using his newfound powers over electricity to give himself a spiky, cooler moustache.
  11. Characters.XMenClanAkkaba -> * Mundane Utility: In one issue, Uriel uses his own wings as a reclining chair.
  12. Fanfic.OwlsAndSoulsWitchesAndResonance -> * Mundane Utility: Besides the combat applications, both Eda and Spirit use Soul Wavelength to allow themselves to dampen the effects of alcohol.
  13. TabletopGame.PsionicsTheNextStageInHumanEvolution -> * Mundane Utility: One piece of the book’s artwork depicts Rose levitating a beer to herself.
  14. Manga.RurouniKenshin -> * Mundane Utility: In an anime filler episode, the protagonist at one point finds himself attending a fancy dinner party, so he picks up a knife and performs the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu (Steak style) to cut up a steak.

     In-Spirit: Awesome Magic Item wastefully used for personal convinience (7) 
  1. WesternAnimation.UncleGrandpa -> * Mundane Utility: Among his office supplies tucked away in his belly bag is a flaming blue sword that he uses as a letter opener.
  2. Recap.DeathBattleS06E01AquamanVsNamor -> * Mundane Utility: Once the Trident of Poseidon's powers are established to include teleportation, Boomstick hijacks it for a free trip to Disney World... by using beer.
  3. Funny.SonicTheHedgehog22022 -> * At one point during his home-alone partying at the beginning, Sonic realizes he's out of snacks, so he uses one of his rings to pick up a pack of Oreos straight from a grocery store shelf and leave some money behind, which is observed by a dumbfounded customer.
  4. ChildOfTheStorm.TropesIToP -> * Mundane Utility: According to Fury, Steve has, in the past, unaware of the significance of being able to lift it, used Mjolnir as a doorstop.
  5. Series.LockeAndKey2020 -> * Mundane Utility: In "the Premiere", Body uses the Hercules Key & Belt to move a heavy piece of furniture, and Tyler uses the Matchstick Key to start a beach fire.
  6. Webcomic.MurphysLaw -> * Mundane Utility: using Unseen Servant to make dinner.
  7. TearJerker.FateStayNight -> * The game's prologue has a tearjerker moment, the nature of which only becomes clear after finishing Unlimited Blade Works. Rin's summoning goes awry, which is why she ends up with Archer rather than Saber, and as a side effect, her living room becomes a giant mess. The first order she gives Archer, the legendary hero whom she summoned to help her fight for no less a prize than the Holy Grail? "Clean up this mess." On the first go-round, it's a pure Funny Moment, but after learning that Archer long ago lost sight of the Despair Event Horizon due to being involved in an endless cycle of pointless violence, performing so mundane a task as housecleaning is probably the closest thing to heaven he can imagine himself attaining, the more so because he was quite domestic during his lifetime as Shirou, and he's helping one of the girls whom, as Shirou, he loved the most.

     In-Spirit: Awesome Gadget wastefully used for personal convinience (6) 
  1. Literature.TheLostMetal -> * Mundane Utility: Wayne muses that Coinshots make great bottle openers.
  2. Characters.MODOK2021 -> * Mundane Utility: He's a shapeshifting robot with limitless uses, but the family just uses him for the most mundane purposes, like a smoothie maker or a toaster. At one point M.O.D.O.K. includes him in an evil plan only to use him as a ladder to reach something in his house. Only, as Super-Adaptoid points out, M.O.D.O.K. can fly.
  3. Main.TimeMachine -> Having a time machine can (but not always) have the side effect of Reed Richards Is Useless - as a little Fridge Logic one can think of many ways to better use it than visiting your grandparents or paying your bills on time.
  4. Main.SoundtrackCoverCharacterJam -> * The official soundtrack for Grapple Force Rena depicts Rena using her grapple gauntlets to spin vinyls on a DJ booth, as seen here.
  5. ComicBook.Battle -> * Mundane Utility: Smith 70's Vickers machine gun is water cooled, so it's often used as a field expedient way to boil water for tea.
  6. Film.BatmanTheMovie -> * Mundane Utility: Rather than use the Polaris missiles as weapons or an extortion threat,note  the baddies let the Riddler shoot them off to skywrite riddles for Batman and Robin.

     In-Spirit: Awesome Phlebotinum wastefully used for personal convinience (2) 
  1. NightmareFuel.Warhammer -> * Warpstone. A type of magical rock that can fall from the sky in meteors or be found underground. It is known and feared for its extreme danger, as even getting near to some is usually enough to cause people to start horrifically mutating. That's before one touches it, which makes things even worse. Getting the tiniest sliver in one's skin is usually enough to kill a human without strong divine intervention. Warpstone also has a great deal of magical power, so that lures foolish wizards and scholars to try obtaining the stuff. The Skaven rely entirely on Warpstone for practically anything in their civilization and have a higher resistance to it. They use it to make poison gas that will melt victims' internal organs and their eyes, and gunpowder that can send a bullet through solid plate armor. Clan Moulder use it to make their terrible monsters through direct application. Rich Skaven can get warpstone mixed into their armor or weapons, so that even hitting them or being hit by them gets the attacker a lethal dose. Skaven assassins liberally coat their weapons in it. Their Grey Priests will literally eat warpstone to gain an incredible boost in magical might for a short time. Skaven also use it for making lights and their money. Warpstone will kill Skaven eventually, but they don't care as long as their enemies get killed first.
  2. Literature.PrinceRoger -> * Mundane Utility: Killerpillar venom causes humans and Mardukans alike to die excruciating deaths, as their flesh dissolves and slides off their bones. Kostas uses it (in diluted form) to tenderize steak.

     Miuse: Not a mundane use / Subjective? (37) 
  1. Literature.DechanceChronicles -> * Mundane Utility: Using powerful sorcery to summon minor gods in order to win a gang war.
  2. VideoGame.QuantumConundrum -> * Mundane Utility: When the professor invented a freaking time-machine, he began using it to get futuristic clothing and to legally hunt tigers.
  3. FantasyGunControl.Literature -> ** During his time in the army Guiche was tasked with using magic to keep matchlocks dry in humid condition, and flying airships are armed with heavy cannons.
  4. Sandbox.SailorMoonGRRebirthOfThePlanetaryGuardians -> * Mundane Utility: Minako can leap across rooftops, jump to the second story of a building from a standing position, and more. So she uses such skills to never get caught during a game of tag.
  5. Recap.TheFlash2014S5E10TheFlashAndTheFurious -> * Mundane Utility: Caitlin uses her freezing powers to close Cisco's wounds.
  6. Characters.AccelWorldOtherBurstLinkers -> * Mundane Utility: His sword is potentially the strongest weapon in Brain Burst, but due to the one-shot nature of its attack he relies more on his own skills in combat, using its power only to attack the barrier that prevents players from entering or leaving the Imperial Palace.
  7. Film.TheProjectedMan -> * Mundane Utility: Steiner can use his hands like arc welders, burning/melting his way through doors, or just to destroy things.
  8. TeamFortress2.TropesHToP -> * Mundane Utility: Mad Milk and Jarate, in addition for use as a weapon of offense, can be used to put out friendlies who are on fire. Ditto the airblast.
  9. TeamFortress2.TropesHToP -> * Mundane Utility: The Medigun, as the Medic considers healing to be a side effect to whatever the hell he originally designed it for.
  10. Characters.BakuganBattlePlanetPartnerBakugan -> * Mundane Utility: His Tail Crusher attack is just him smashing his opponent with his tail.
  11. Characters.MobileSuitGundamSEEDAstray -> * Swiss-Army Weapon: Uses his own Tactical Arms in VS Astray. Which can switch between BFS, beam bow, sword arm, working pincer, and propulsion system.
  12. Characters.HopeOfTheShieldHero -> * Mundane Utility: His shields have various forms that can be used in such a way, like mining or storing money.
  13. Funny.SMG4TheWaluigiArc -> * Apparently, Wario went on a grand journey that took him to the deepest reaches of space to find... a therapist.
  14. Characters.ThirteenSentinelsAegisRim -> * Mundane Utility: When introduced, everyone quickly points out a model's civilian uses. As it turns out, the civilian uses are the intended ones; they're autonomous construction and terraforming equipment loaded with weaponry.
  15. VideoGame.LollipopChainsaw -> * Mundane Utility: One of the few video games to use a chainsaw to cut wood.
  16. VideoGame.TheTrappedTrilogy -> * Mundane Utility: Found two very old, probably valuable coins in your cell? Use one to unscrew a toilet lid and the other one to stop up a drain. (I assume it's an escape game, so not like there's any other use for them, also Example Is Uncertain)
  17. Characters.ArrowversePastCharacters -> * Abnormal Ammo: In "Outlaw Country," Turnbull uses his dwarf star alloy to make bullets that explode into blue flame on contact and can penetrate Nate's otherwise Immune to Bullets Chrome Champion form (sans explosion). Given that it's one of the rarest materials in existence, his waste of it in this manner also qualifies as Mundane Utility.
  18. Characters.TwoKinds -> * Mundane Utility: Makes particular use of his magic to help himself present as male, from wearing what is essentially a Bag of Holding as a bra to experimenting with an easily sustained illusion so he can go around barechested.
  19. TabletopGame.TheWitcherGameOfImagination -> * Ancestral Weapon: Self-sharpening swords cost quite a lot, but they also never wear out, so they are usually held by the same family for generations.
  20. CassandraTruth.FanWorks -> * In Make a Wish there's an entire magical family descended from the mythical Cassandra, all of whom have inherited the same curse. Instead of going mad as no one pays attention to their predictions, they use what they see to start profitable businesses, with a sideline of helping the good guys (like Harry Potter).
  21. Literature.FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem -> * Mundane Utility: Once it was discovered that the Augurey's cry predicts rain, some wizards started to keep them around as living weather forecasters. However, they can get really annoying during winter, when it rains constantly.
  22. Literature.FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem -> * Mundane Utility: Mooncalf dung is used as plant fertilizer. When it's harvested before sunrise and spread on magical plants, they grow much faster than normal and become extremely strong.
  23. Literature.FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem -> * Mundane Utility: The Clabbert has a large pimple on its head that flashes red when danger approaches. Wizards use it as an alarm to warn of approaching Muggles. However, as the book clarifies, the Ministry of Magic banned their use due to continued cases of Muggles asking why their neighbors were using holiday lights in July.
  24. Main.EnemyDetectingRadar -> ** Available as a spell effect in Morrowind and Oblivion, where it comes in a variety of types including "Detect Humanoid", "Detect Creature", and "Detect Undead". Using it (or applying it as an enchantment effect to an item) will cause the applicable enemy type to show up on the mini-map. Also available are "Detect Magic/Enchantment" and "Detect Key" (presumably the result of a mage losing his tower key once too often).
  25. Recap.YuGiOhVRAINSEp86WisdomOfTheDepraved -> * Mundane Utility: Blue Maiden can use her Power Gives You Wings to slow her descent once Lightning initiates his Divide and Conquer strategy.
  26. Characters.CodeGeassMainCharacters -> * Mundane Utility: Since her body doesn't change no matter how many calories she intakes, she prefers to pig out on pizza and other unhealthy foods.
  27. YMMV.EldenRing -> *** It's also accepted that, in a touching, but hilarious example of Mundane Utility, that one of the reasons Radahn learned Gravity Magic was so that he could still ride his loyal steed, despite the absolutely massive disproportionate difference in size between them.
  28. WesternAnimation.Onward -> * Fauns and Satyrs: In the trailer, there's a female faun painting a house wall, using her goat legs to leap and reach the high spots.
  29. Characters.DoctorWhoTheSilence -> * Mundane Utility: Their terrifying ability that any person who sees them forgets they saw them as soon as the person turns away? Turns out that they're confessional priests and the original purpose of the ability was a way of preserving the privacy of the confession.
  30. Recap.KamenRiderDoubleE33E34YsTragedy -> * Mundane Utility: When Saeko gets the first threatening letter, Dr Isaka burns it... as Weather Dopant.
  31. Characters.SpiderManPS4Heroes -> * Mundane Utility: In his own game, he uses his powers to discreetly access the transformer by crawling along the walls before recharging it with his electric powers.
  32. Characters.MetroCityRP -> * Mundane Utility: He uses his ability to make large amounts of robots and weaponry to sell lower-tech versions to the military for influence and cash.
  33. VisualNovel.AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth -> * Mundane Utility: In most cases, the Logic Chess segments are used to weasel info out of people who are being uncooperative by carefully guiding them to giving up information. In the final case, Edgeworth uses it to try to shake Sebastian Debeste out of his misery. Interestingly, despite being a more mundane use, it's actually the longest and most involved Logic Chess battle in the game.
  34. TabletopGame.PsionicsTheNextStageInHumanEvolution -> * Mundane Utility: You can use the Remote Manipulation ability to use keypads, pick locks, and basically do anything else that could be accomplished with hands. Enormously powerful, heat-proof, intangible hands, but still.
  35. Manga.RurouniKenshin -> * Mundane Utility: This trope is also subverted when he goes looking for the heir of a famous swordmaker: he uses one of the man's kitchen knives to slice up a daikon in the most awesome way possible, and then reveals that he was testing the blade.
  36. VideoGame.CultistSimulator -> ** Moth confuses. It's associated with shadows and chaos, and is good for sneaking by Watchers, stealing inconvenient evidence, and navigating dark forests (since it's also linked to The Wood). Nonsense ("buzzing in the brain") and shapeshifting ("shedding of skin") are also closely associated with it, as are haircuts (the closest a human can come to "shedding" rapidly, and there's also a symbolic link to the Hour of the same name). Moth cultists are strange tricksters who act in ways only they can understand.
  37. Main.Golem -> * Berserk: Golems are figures made out of mud. They look cute, but they're very resilient and will regenerate any damage done to them until the little clay figurine within them is destroyed. They're used by the witch, Flora, to safeguard her home as well as to carry out domestic chores.

     Miuse: Abused game oversight (7) 
  1. VideoGame.TotalAnnihilation -> * Mundane Utility: most of your Commander's D-Gun shots won't be directed at the enemy - rather, they'll be force-fired by you at the surrounding terrain to bulldoze it clear of wreckage, plants and general annoyances that prevent you from building there.
  2. TeamFortress2.TropesHToP -> * Mundane Utility: An unintended variant; Taunts are usually meant for mocking your enemies or for making a quick friend if it's a Taunt that can be interacted with, but they can also be used to peek your 3rd person camera around corners to check for threats without having to expose yourself.
  3. Characters.PaladinsSupport -> * Mundane Utility: Mal'Damba's ultimate is fantastic for disrupting team fights and crowd control, but one of the best uses of it would be right when his team is about to capture a point or deliver the payload, as there's nothing that can be done to stall the objective until it's finished, and by that point, it may be too late.
  4. TabletopGame.PsionicsTheNextStageInHumanEvolution -> * Mundane Utility: Temper, Temper, Temperature can be used to melt locks and metal doors, pop car tires, boil water, and the like.
  5. TabletopGame.PsionicsTheNextStageInHumanEvolution -> * Mundane Utility: Ignite can be used to light cigarettes and build campfires.
  6. VideoGame.InfernoMOO -> * Psychic Powers: And how. As your character gains in experience, you can take mutations that allow you to set people on fire with your mind (and occasionally get mental illnesses), teleport at will, fly around using their mind, project into the astral realm to scout (or rip a hole through it to be used for travel), generate electricity for combat and defibrillation of dead players (or charging your batteries)... the list goes on. Even characters that don't choose to specialize in these tend to pick up one or two useful ones.
  7. YMMV.PewDiePie -> * Author's Saving Throw: In response to the outcry from him cheating in Episode 20 of his Minecraft playthrough (to give himself potatoes), Felix apologized and promised that he wouldn't do so again for anything else, even when he was off-camera. To go even further, he decided to show the construction of Joergen's memorial in full to quell any further worries that he had been using cheats to build his other structures.

     ZCE: Don't know this power's potential (13) 
  1. Fanfic.OversaturatedWorld -> * Mind over Matter: A standard Unicorn Aspect power is telekinesis, usually used for Mundane Utility: Group Precipitation - Vice Squad:
    Glimmer [Goodwitch], toying with her martini’s olive in her telekinesis.
  2. Recap.DuckTales2017S3E12LetsGetDangerous -> * Mundane Utility: Taurus demonstrates the Ramrod by using it to make haggis for Scrooge.
  3. Characters.HighSchoolDXDIsseiHyoudou -> * Mundane Utility: How he acquired Dress Break in the first place was to peel vegetables at a distance.
  4. Characters.EarthTwentySevenTheTitans -> * Mundane Utility: Sometimes other Titans ask her to charge their phones.
  5. Fanfic.FatesCollide -> * Mundane Utility: When Gilgamesh destroys Mercury's prosthetic legs, Archer uses Tracing to make him new ones. He later uses it to repair the damage Chloe does to the von Einzbern mansion.
  6. Recap.LegendsOfTomorrowS4E16HeyWorld -> * Dramatic Wind: Zari uses her powers to invoke this effect for the airing of the Hey World commercial.
  7. Main.BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats -> ** They also sell insurance.
  8. Characters.SurvivalOfTheFittestMiniSupers -> * Mundane Utility: Her Gift is very convenient for her metalworking hobby.
  9. Characters.InfinityWars2018 -> * Mundane Utility: He can use his powers to make himself a sauna.
  10. VideoGame.QuantumConundrum -> * Mundane Utility:The nuclear Clothes Drier.
  11. Series.KamenRiderDouble -> * Ten Minutes in the Closet: Dango and Chizuru get locked in the RevolGarry together in episode 8. This seemed to be the non-romantic type; making up results in them spending the next few minutes of the episode street dancing rather than any hugging or kissing.
  12. Fanfic.TheSkystoneSword -> * Mundane Utility: Ilona's use of magic to open a letter in “A Wave of Clarity.”
  13. Funny.BaldursGateIII -> * In the Blighted Village, one sidequest has you stumble across a magic mirror. The protagonist can use it to fix their appearance, with the narrator lamenting, in a completely serious tone, that adventuring is killer on one's wardrobe. Alternately, if you try looking into it while controlling Astarion, being a vampire spawn, he won't see his reflection. Instead, you get this gem of a line:
    Lacking any evidence to the contrary, you assume you look amazing.

     ZCE: Doesn't explain the use (6) 
  1. Literature.TheBandsOfMourning -> MeLaan: Eyes, sensory apparatus, and an emergency canteen.
  2. WesternAnimation.StormHawks -> * Mundane Utility: There are many crystals which are used for simple, everyday tasks.
  3. Characters.TheGeniusOfSappheiros -> * Mundane Utility: In the expansion prologue, Biotopos requests for snacks in the bar, and then telling the workers to not bother preparing them as Matsuba can cut them up right away. Matsuba isn't quite happy about it.
  4. Characters.DurararaMainCharacters -> * Mundane Utility: Turns out that control over darkness and shadow is surprisingly versatile — though Shinra put his foot down at letting her use it for cooking.
  5. Anime.DigimonFusion ->
  6. Characters.IDontWantThisKindOfHero -> * Mundane Utility: He's a master of this.

     Non-examples (2) 
  1. PlayingWith.PlayingWithFire -> ** Blaze uses his ability to control fire for trivial purposes.
  2. PlayingWith.GodivaHair -> ** Alice's hair always conceals her front, even when she's moving around a lot or hanging upside-down. As it turns out, her hair is firmly stuck to her breasts, which Alice finds to make a pretty good (if painful) harness for her hobby of zip lining.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Mar 17th 2023 at 6:49:59 AM

themayorofsimpleton Now a lurker. Thanks for everything. | he/him from Elsewhere (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: Abstaining
Now a lurker. Thanks for everything. | he/him
GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#27: Feb 25th 2023 at 3:36:39 AM

The description needs to be rewritten and some examples still don't fit the revised definition (if I'm not mistaken), so I think wick cleanup will still be needed. I think sandboxes (maybe Sandbox.Mundane Utility and Sandbox.Mundane Utility Wick Cleaning) could be used for both.

And I'm not taking a break from TRS as a whole. I'm just not handling anything mod-specific for a while (aside from updating and pinning the opening post of this thread to have a to-do list and an archive of the wick check, since it's mostly the decision-making process I'm taking a break from and not the cleanup phases or anything else related to the wiki), so yeah, holler for now.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Feb 25th 2023 at 5:39:01 AM

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#28: Mar 17th 2023 at 4:50:47 PM

Copied the description to Sandbox.Mundane Utility to use as a base for the revised definition, and made Sandbox.Mundane Utility Wick Cleaning to keep track of wick cleanup since we didn't change the name.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
Icestar1186(2) from The Internet Since: Jan, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
#29: Apr 2nd 2023 at 3:44:23 PM

I think the name ought to be left alone. It might just be me, but I feel like a lot of recent TRS-related renamings have resulted in names that sound a little too clinical, and the suggested new name of "Awesome Ability Normal Utility" falls into that trap and simply sounds awkward.

MacronNotes (she/her) (Captain) Relationship Status: Less than three
(she/her)
#30: Apr 2nd 2023 at 4:03:22 PM

We aren't renaming the trope? In fact that was downvoted on the crowner. We are just redefining it per the winning option. The pinned to-do list has everything we have to do in order to fix the trope.

I also noticed that the crowner wasn't closed for some reason. That's fixed.

Edited by MacronNotes on Apr 2nd 2023 at 7:04:55 AM

Macron's notes
Icestar1186(2) from The Internet Since: Jan, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
#31: Apr 3rd 2023 at 6:57:40 PM

Oh, okay then. The OP suggested it and I hadn't seen anything to contradict that (and I believe it was still being considered earlier up the thread).

MacronNotes (she/her) (Captain) Relationship Status: Less than three
(she/her)
#32: Apr 3rd 2023 at 6:59:57 PM

Well, the to-do list is above the OP and states what we are currently fixing so it's important to read that as well. The crowner was called on the last page two months ago as well.

Edited by MacronNotes on Apr 3rd 2023 at 10:00:38 AM

Macron's notes
Yindee Just stoic wisdom. from New England Since: Jul, 2016
Just stoic wisdom.
#33: Apr 29th 2023 at 8:17:51 PM

I'm not great with descriptions, but I tried to tweak the sandbox slightly for one of the powers to be changed to an item. If anyone can think of something better/flashier, feel free to change it.

Vehicle-Based Characterization | Grief-Induced Split | Locker Mail
Berrenta How sweet it is from Texas Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
How sweet it is
#34: Jul 6th 2023 at 4:09:17 AM

Giving the thread a nudge; looks like progress has stalled.

she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
Yindee Just stoic wisdom. from New England Since: Jul, 2016
Just stoic wisdom.
#35: Jul 6th 2023 at 4:24:17 PM

[up] I added the couple tweaks I could but the overhaul of the description (however much it needs) I feel like is past my abilities. Would need a good writer.

Vehicle-Based Characterization | Grief-Induced Split | Locker Mail
MacronNotes (she/her) (Captain) Relationship Status: Less than three
(she/her)
#36: Aug 12th 2023 at 5:54:32 AM

Are Yindee's changes to Sandbox.Mundane Utility enough or do we need to do more?

Macron's notes
Tabs Since: Jan, 2001
#37: Aug 12th 2023 at 1:18:15 PM

I think the sandbox is fine as is.

GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
MacronNotes (she/her) (Captain) Relationship Status: Less than three
(she/her)
#39: Aug 13th 2023 at 7:05:20 AM

OK, if there are no objections, I can swap the sandbox in tomorrow.

Macron's notes
MacronNotes (she/her) (Captain) Relationship Status: Less than three
(she/her)
#40: Aug 14th 2023 at 10:53:11 AM

Looks like some of the posts that were here earlier disappeared?

Anyways, I updated the description. I guess wick cleaning is next but I don't know what needs to be cleaned as we expanded the definition to cover the misuse.

Edited by MacronNotes on Aug 14th 2023 at 2:03:58 PM

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Yindee Just stoic wisdom. from New England Since: Jul, 2016
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#41: Aug 14th 2023 at 11:03:15 AM

All that might need cleaning would be the stuff that falls under the "misuse" categories of the check. Would that be more of a projects thread?

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#42: Aug 14th 2023 at 11:06:36 AM

Together the misuse categories tally up to 40 wicks so I guess that's enough for a cleanup. I think we can do it all on this thread.

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#43: Sep 14th 2023 at 4:56:38 AM

I don't know if this is the right place to discuss this, but in the Persona 5's Takuto Maruki/The Dreamer's character page there is this:

Mundane Utility: He uses his Reality Warper powers in mundane ways several times:

- It's heavily implied that the only reason why Joker and his chosen date were able to find a cake at the last hour on Christmas Eve was because of Maruki's intervention.

- When Joker meets Mr. Yoshizawa on New Year's Day, he tries to call Sumire by her actual name while she (and Joker) still thought she was Kasumi, which leads to a bizarre moment where he is censored in real time. Only a little bit of Sumire's name is audible, but otherwise extremely muffled. Joker and Sumire both notice and are freaked out.

- Maruki censors his name on the Metaverse Navigator app when Joker, Akechi, and Sumire are trying to see who the Ruler of the mysterious Odaiba Palace is.

- When Maruki takes Sumire to keep her in his Palace, he alters the cognition of the Yoshizawa family so they think she went to a training camp, instead of allowing them to believe that she went missing.

I've written the first example myself, because I would say that using Phenomenal Cosmic Powers to allow somebody to buy a cake is as mundane as it gets. But am I wrong in thinking that the other three examples are not really this trope? Preventing a girl from remembering her true identity, preventing the protagonists from learning his own identity and preventing a family from knowing the truth about the disappearance of their daughter are not exactly mundane objectives, methinks.

Edited by SorPepita on Sep 14th 2023 at 1:58:13 PM

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#44: Oct 14th 2023 at 11:12:13 AM

I cut the sandbox that was used for rewriting the description, since it was already swapped in a couple of months ago.

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#45: Jan 11th 2024 at 12:37:12 PM

Bumping due to lack of activity regarding wick cleaning and wanting clarification on what should actually get cleaned. If I'm understanding the stickied post correctly, the main forms of misuse that should be looked out for are powers being used for things that aren't actually mundane and examples that'd better fit the likes of Not the Intended Use?

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#46: Mar 29th 2024 at 11:46:01 PM

[up][up][up] I agree, only the cake is a valid example for this.

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Trope Repair Shop: Mundane Utility
21st Feb '23 3:51:32 PM

Crown Description:

Mundane Utility has experienced Trope Decay. The current description says it's for the use of superpowers for mundane tasks, while the original YKTTW draft suggests that it wasn't supposed to be limited that way, and could involve high-tech or magic objects instead of special powers. What should be done with Mundane Utility's definition, and should it be renamed?

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