The Chase now has a TVTropes page!

Your help is needed!

It was started by JackobolTrades, which is like the nicest thing that anybody has done in a long while.

The tropes page can't go without your help, so here is a wonderful community project and a chance to make The Chase even better. Quick, somebody write something about Berry Punch kicking Primrose Propers in the cooter.

As a note to any other tropers at work, I would recommend liberal use of spoiler-hiding text; there's a lot to be spoiled.

3703143

Would you mind looking after the troll entries? The one on wish fulfilment in simply untrue.

Also, the assertion that Bucky is more powerful is blatantly false. Even Lyra has smacked him down.

3707178

Sure; I'll do what I can.

They're already being transferred to the YMMV page, so they can certainly be removed from the main page. The YMMV entries can likely be tidied or rephrased a bit as well, as it's for differing opinions not, complaining about stuff you don't like.

By the by, would you mind answering a couple of questions to aid in filling out the trope page, or should we save those for when the Q&A is live again?

Feel free to ask me anything.

3708041

Also, it is the running gag throughout the story that Bucky sucks at magic and he is a one trick pony. Witching Hour recognises this, Luna keeps trying to get him to learn more defensive magic, Lyra has even told him that in a real fight with unicorns that Bucky would be taken to school or even killed.

During the train escort arc, it was Twilight and her nearly infinite levels of power that kept the train on the tracks and the engines running at full steam.

Bucky just kept them from exploding and held them together with ice and telekinesis. His role was minor compared to Twilights.

Pretty much every credible magic user in The Chase outclasses Bucky at actual magical skill. Bucky is good at killing stuff, not so good at magical finesse. He's a brute. He uses a mountain to kill gnats. Which I am sure is a trope unto itself, like Nymphadora Tonks or Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter series, who had scary levels of brute force but lacked fine control and were loose cannons.

3708052

Hmm...that's probably "Unskilled, but Strong", or a variant thereof. I'll see about getting that added in the next batch expansion.

Speaking of which, the page has been expanded a fair bit (although it's far from complete; it's mostly bits about magic and power, and needs a lot more in the way of story elements and character traits). Taking you up on your offer for questions, there are a few tropes I came across that I wanted to ask about. Feel free to hold back spoilers or "you'll see in just a few chapters" answers, but here's my bit of curiosity for the day:

Agony Beam. It seems familiar, but I can't recall any unicorn casting a spell intended only to do pain. I remember Bucky teleporting Dinky as punishment, but...

Containment Field. When they work metal or when Bucky was experimenting with brewing, they held the worked-on ingredients in a field, right? More than basic telekinesis?

How Involuntary is Thistle's Shapeshifting? Can she form a tail on land or legs in the water? Also, while on the topic, does her mass change when she shifts?

Does the Scorned Mare contain extradimensional spaces now?

Are there non-warrior castes of gryphons?

Is the global firearms ban Celestia's work? Does it make guns illegal to make? Own? Use? And while on the topic, how do lightning guns get a pass?

Lunar pegasai have shadow powers - do they lack weather manipulation? Can they stand on clouds? Setting aside their weakness in light and differences in flight, do solar pegasai have something they do not?

Do all spells have magic words? Are there more complex elements outside of focus or will? For example, do any use diagrams (mental or otherwise), outside of demon summoning?

How do such spell requirements vary, and how do you vary the spell when you want it to do something different? By way of example, was Dinky's botched Want-It-Need-It a mispronunciation? A mistake in grammar? Cadence or stress?

Agony Beam. It seems familiar, but I can't recall any unicorn casting a spell intended only to do pain. I remember Bucky teleporting Dinky as punishment, but...

These do exist. Under dark magic.

Containment Field. When they work metal or when Bucky was experimenting with brewing, they held the worked-on ingredients in a field, right? More than basic telekinesis?

Yes. Way more than standard telekinesis. Rising Star tries to work on his field so water doesn't leak out of it.

How Involuntary is Thistle's Shapeshifting? Can she form a tail on land or legs in the water? Also, while on the topic, does her mass change when she shifts?

She can shapeshift on land or in water, it is just really impractical. She is also much larger in merpony form with a massive tail.

Does the Scorned Mare contain extradimensional spaces now?

Not yet, but it will.

Are there non-warrior castes of gryphons?

Yes. Smaller weaker griffons are hunters, servants, and workers.

Is the global firearms ban Celestia's work? Does it make guns illegal to make? Own? Use? And while on the topic, how do lightning guns get a pass?

Yes. Celestia and the Council of Immortals outlawed guns and projectile weapons. Lightning guns are magic, and not subject to the same laws. It isn't fair at all, but that is how it is.

Lunar pegasai have shadow powers - do they lack weather manipulation? Can they stand on clouds? Setting aside their weakness in light and differences in flight, do solar pegasai have something they do not?

Lunar pegasi can't sit on clouds or manipulate weather. They are supernaturally strong, have better hearing and vision, (Sentinel can hear other ponies hearts beating from a distance if he focuses) and are far more durable than a regular pegasus.

Do all spells have magic words? Are there more complex elements outside of focus or will? For example, do any use diagrams (mental or otherwise), outside of demon summoning?

Some spells have magic words, but powerful unicorns can bypass those sometimes. Some spells do require diagrams. Like demon summoning... if you actually want to contain the demon.

How do such spell requirements vary, and how do you vary the spell when you want it to do something different? By way of example, was Dinky's botched Want-It-Need-It a mispronunciation? A mistake in grammar? Cadence or stress?

Dinky mispronounced the words and didn't have the proper focus.

3717456

This applies to Bucky, who soils himself during the train escort mission.

3719120

Consider it on the list!

3719241

There may be some clean up required from the Rage Review edits. Sorry... maybe the tv tropes page should just be deleted entirely?

I hate even suggesting that, but let's face it, the harassment will continue in any form that it can and this just proves it.

3968539

Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I've looked over the recent changes, and while there does appear to be one recent editor who's making either unjustified statements or describing his opinions as those of "many readers", it's relatively minor and easy to pick out. Some of it was even properly placed on the YMMV page, and thus requires even less cleanup. Rest assured, it's nowhere near as bad as all that, though the editor is clearly not a fan.

Having said that, the page remains nowhere near complete; there are a large pile of tropes left to add, and I expect I'll be doing more of that given some free time and the inclination.

While I know it it may not mean much from me, given that I'm not bearing the brunt of the harassment, but I've always been a fan of the old saying, "The best revenge is living well". As far as the 'tropes page is concerned, I intend to simply keep doing what I've been doing. Try not to worry about it, though let me know if you notice it getting trolled.

3970189

Thanks!

The writing will continue come conflagration or flood...

3970189

Also, the planet of hats one is totally off... somebody clearly hasn't actually read The Chase.

We have unicorns acting like pegasi, snobby pegasi, militaristic earth ponies. numbskull unicorns, and nopony ever quite acts as one might expect for them to act... if you judge the by tribe.

3970197

Oh, I know, I know; that one struck me as especially egregious. I thought the story does a pretty good job of showing that those are stereotypes, and in extreme are an example of Fantastic Racism rather than being a tribe's Hat.

Mind you, I'd say that at this point the Lunar Pegasai and (now defeated) Big Gryphons are deserving of the Proud Warrior Race hat, but that's an aside.

3970284

Well, that much IS true.

3970284

Another problem.

Artifact Title: The story was about a chase...for the first two chapters. It gets the occasional Title Drop or use as metaphor, however.

The story is still about a chase. Just not this chase presented in the beginning. Whoops.

4004014

Right, I'll see about that then. If you care to drop any cryptic hints, I'll make use of those as well.

Oh, I noticed the bit on Said Bookism; I've not really been looking for that as I read, so I have no strong opinion there; thoughts?

4004200

Meh, there is some.