Tropescilloscope: Take a Third Option

When life hands you lemons, make toast. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Historical Hero Upgrade Bolivian Army Ending Ship Tease Bloodier and Gorier Card-Carrying Villain Breaking the Fourth Wall All Just a Dream Accidental Murder The Un-Reveal Bad "Bad Acting" Bland-Name Product Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Due to the Dead Word of God Sanity Slippage Instant Death Bullet Stuff Blowing Up Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Big Applesauce Product Placement Death Glare Disguised in Drag Novelization Anyone Can Die Mighty Whitey Affably Evil Nothing Is Scarier Crapsack World N-Word Privileges Pragmatic Adaptation This Is Gonna Suck More Dakka Villain Ball Downer Ending Awesome, but Impractical Adaptational Badass Truth in Television Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Show Within a Show Match Cut Wham Line A God Am I The '90s Deadpan Snarker Ambiguous Disorder Air-Vent Passageway I Need a Freaking Drink Bury Your Gays Hypocritical Humor Blood from the Mouth Deliberate Values Dissonance Femme Fatale One-Word Title Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Meaningful Background Event Greater-Scope Villain Handicapped Badass Throwing Your Sword Always Works Artistic License – History Last-Name Basis Intrepid Reporter The Atoner Manchild Chekhov's Gunman Film Noir Stock Footage Off with His Head! Framing Device The Stoner Vitriolic Best Buds Soundtrack Dissonance Fan Disservice Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Badass Grandpa Stealth Pun Homage Gory Discretion Shot Riddle for the Ages Married to the Job Sealed Evil in a Can Grievous Bottley Harm The Bully The Hero Romantic Comedy The Dog Bites Back Slap-Slap-Kiss Epic Fail Twist Ending Badass in a Nice Suit Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Death of a Child Reality Is Unrealistic Cool Old Guy Beware the Nice Ones Our Vampires Are Different La Résistance Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Film Noir Index Beard of Evil Let's Get Dangerous! Pyrrhic Victory Laser-Guided Karma Chiaroscuro Thriller Brainless Beauty Never Found the Body Gone Horribly Right Cool Old Lady B-Movie Chekhov's Skill Good Is Not Nice Cool Car The Alcoholic Bald of Evil You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Amoral Attorney Domestic Abuse Book-Ends And the Adventure Continues Establishing Character Moment Karma Houdini Shout-Out Crazy Jealous Guy Put on a Bus Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Failed a Spot Check Sexy Discretion Shot Bait-and-Switch Alas, Poor Villain Insistent Terminology Face–Heel Turn Off-into-the-Distance Ending Ambiguously Gay Motor Mouth Missing Mom Bloodless Carnage Very Loosely Based on a True Story From Nobody to Nightmare 20 Minutes into the Future Dramedy Cool Guns As the Good Book Says... Death by Irony Knight Templar Smoking Is Cool Armor-Piercing Question Evil Laugh Soft Glass Manly Tears Politically Incorrect Villain I Did What I Had to Do Peek-a-Boo Corpse Mr. Fanservice All for Nothing Large Ham Even Evil Has Loved Ones Video Credits Major Injury Underreaction Jump Scare Ms. Fanservice Alpha Bitch MacGuffin Mystery and Detective Films Artistic License – Biology Psycho for Hire Driven to Suicide One Steve Limit Easily Forgiven Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Fantasy Films Canon Foreigner The Vamp Better to Die than Be Killed Horror Comedy Bottomless Magazines The Chessmaster Chekhov's Gun Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Vacation Films Hair-Trigger Temper Berserk Button Adaptation Name Change Sports Stories Spell My Name with an "S" Stepford Smiler Not What It Looks Like Hong Kong Films Red Shirt Alliterative Name Deal with the Devil Dies Wide Open Gainax Ending Mind Screw Punch-Clock Villain It's Personal Fun with Acronyms For Want of a Nail The Ghost Unreliable Narrator Overly Long Gag Protagonist Title Does Not Like Shoes The '60s Anguished Declaration of Love The Ditz Extremely Short Timespan Black Dude Dies First Fatal Family Photo Four-Temperament Ensemble Spared by the Adaptation Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Black Best Friend Abusive Parents The Great Depression Say My Name Those Two Bad Guys Big-Bad Ensemble Outrun the Fireball The Mole Gender Flip Chewing the Scenery Disney Villain Death Madness Mantra The Starscream Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Evil Brit Mistaken for Gay Heroic BSoD And I Must Scream Martial Arts Movie Sole Survivor Bring My Brown Pants Dark Reprise Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Affectionate Parody Left the Background Music On Action Girl In the Back Science Fiction Films Adaptational Heroism Double-Meaning Title Only One Name Zombie Stories Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Hidden Depths Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Body Horror Eye Scream Henpecked Husband Totally Radical The Film of the Book German Films Neck Snap Death by Adaptation Red Right Hand Animal Title Index The Chick Dull Surprise Overprotective Dad Shut Up, Hannibal! Suspiciously Similar Substitute Spanner in the Works Death by Sex Reality Ensues Mexican Standoff Evil Counterpart Idiot Ball Brother–Sister Incest Market-Based Title Heterosexual Life-Partners In Medias Res Drowning My Sorrows For the Evulz Artistic License – Gun Safety Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Dying Moment of Awesome Evil Is Hammy Heroes Want Redheads Rule of Cool Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Plot Hole Ungrateful Bastard He Knows Too Much Historical-Domain Character Guile Hero Plucky Comic Relief Almost Kiss Straight Gay Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Logo Joke Naked People Are Funny As Himself Pay Evil unto Evil Dropped a Bridge on Him Never My Fault I Have Your Wife Kick the Dog Kick the Son of a Bitch Running Gag I'm a Humanitarian Leitmotif Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Irony Rule of Symbolism Actor Allusion Manic Pixie Dream Girl Too Dumb to Live Silent Movie What the Hell, Hero? Ironic Echo Gratuitous English Would Hurt a Child Race Lift Happily Married NO INDOOR VOICE Loophole Abuse Names to Run Away from Really Fast Shoot the Shaggy Dog Bullying a Dragon Villain Opening Scene Defrosting Ice Queen Obviously Evil Have a Gay Old Time Really Gets Around Informed Ability Decoy Protagonist Department of Redundancy Department Suddenly SHOUTING! Every Car Is a Pinto The '70s Eldritch Abomination Cowboy Cop Cruel and Unusual Death Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Improbable Aiming Skills Ripped from the Headlines Black Comedy Exact Words Combat Pragmatist Immune to Bullets Butt-Monkey "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Early Installment Weirdness Foreshadowing Heel Realization Curse Cut Short Covers Always Lie No Celebrities Were Harmed Car Fu Back from the Dead Groin Attack Badass Bookworm Fingore Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Obfuscating Stupidity War Is Hell Epic Movie Wrong Genre Savvy Ass Shove Unwitting Instigator of Doom Australian Movies Humans Are Bastards Earn Your Happy Ending Corrupt Corporate Executive The '50s Mama Bear Vampire Fiction Enemy Mine folderlabel Killed Mid-Sentence Boom, Headshot! Hate Sink Cat Fight Ghost Fiction Translation Convention Cain and Abel Manipulative Bastard Unusual Euphemism There Is No Kill Like Overkill Rich Bitch Fanservice Extra Mooks "Well Done, Son!" Guy Brick Joke Genre Shift Dark Is Not Evil Papa Wolf Darker and Edgier Break the Haughty The Sociopath An Axe to Grind Intergenerational Friendship Superhero A Minor Kidroduction Dirty Old Man Red Eyes, Take Warning Apocalypse How Russian Films Hollywood Darkness Arch-Enemy The Voiceless Foil Black Comedy Rape Sci-Fi Horror Noodle Incident An Arm and a Leg Ax-Crazy A Father to His Men Casting Gag Jerk with a Heart of Gold '80s Hair My God, What Have I Done? Token Minority Diabolus ex Machina Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking The Brute Insult Backfire Biopic Yandere Half the Man He Used to Be Dual Wielding Unresolved Sexual Tension Funny Foreigner World of Ham Same Language Dub Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Insane Troll Logic Defiant to the End Naïve Newcomer Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Cluster F-Bomb Adapted Out Pimped-Out Dress Not Even Bothering with the Accent Playing Gertrude Oh, Crap! Revenge Light Is Not Good Freudian Excuse Skewed Priorities Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Together in Death Curb-Stomp Battle O.O.C. Is Serious Business Training Montage Artistic License – Physics Parental Substitute Jerkass Has a Point Adaptational Attractiveness Early-Bird Cameo Amusing Injuries Big Brother Instinct After the End No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Fantastic Racism Villain Protagonist Dirty Coward Artistic License – Law Fainting Redshirt Army Stylistic Suck It Will Never Catch On Villain Song Evil vs. Evil Silence Is Golden Evil Is Petty Crazy-Prepared Despair Event Horizon Index of Film Westerns Not So Above It All Foregone Conclusion Love at First Sight Here We Go Again! Beauty Is Never Tarnished BFG Betty and Veronica Creator Cameo Conspicuous CG Setting Update Kubrick Stare Leaning on the Fourth Wall Moment Killer Danny Peary Cult Movies List Parental Abandonment Broken Aesop Anachronism Stew All There in the Script The Musical Authority Equals Asskicking Knife Nut Morality Pet Random Events Plot Bi the Way Roaring Rampage of Revenge Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Bare Your Midriff Dirty Cop Grey and Gray Morality Police Brutality Improvised Weapon Line-of-Sight Name Shirtless Scene Title Drop Red Oni, Blue Oni No Ending Catch-Phrase As You Know The Bad Guy Wins Bad Boss Smug Snake The End... Or Is It? Drives Like Crazy Reasonable Authority Figure Victoria's Secret Compartment Blackmail Imagine Spot Tempting Fate Men Are the Expendable Gender Adorkable Rated M for Manly Big "NO!" Cassandra Truth Re-Cut Continuity Nod Action Survivor Ominous Latin Chanting Dogged Nice Guy Scenery Gorn It Can Think You Have Failed Me Implacable Man Villainous Breakdown The Hero Dies Hypocrite Sequel Hook All There in the Manual Man on Fire My Beloved Smother Beta Couple Drugs Are Bad In Name Only Shown Their Work Green-Eyed Monster Comically Missing the Point Gorn Public Domain Feature Films Badass Boast Retirony Television Movie Index Bittersweet Ending Kill 'em All Laughing Mad Only Known by Their Nickname Sequel Escalation Take That! Depraved Bisexual Brutal Honesty Crucified Hero Shot Abhorrent Admirer Small Name, Big Ego Call-Forward Fish out of Water Deus ex Machina Not So Different Bond Villain Stupidity Spiritual Successor Lock and Load Montage Vomit Indiscretion Shot The Cameo Mr. Exposition The Oner Self-Deprecation Trailers Always Spoil Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique The Stoic Undying Loyalty Make It Look Like an Accident Take a Third Option Eagleland Catapult Nightmare Disney Death Precision F-Strike Double Entendre Bavarian Fire Drill Ascended Extra Cool Shades Five-Man Band Once More, with Clarity! Time Skip Determinator Big Bad Captain Ersatz Sinister Minister Eiffel Tower Effect Damsel in Distress Eureka Moment From Bad to Worse Extreme Doormat Annoying Younger Sibling Not Quite Dead Canadian Movies Offscreen Moment of Awesome Author Avatar Gold Digger "The Reason You Suck" Speech British Films Interrupted Suicide Evil Plan Lampshade Hanging Batman Gambit Genre Throwback Christmas Movies Index Vomit Discretion Shot Hope Spot Children Are Innocent Aside Glance Demoted to Extra Pragmatic Villainy Broken Pedestal Evil Sounds Deep No-Sell The Lost Lenore Film Series She Cleans Up Nicely All Men Are Perverts Adult Fear Serious Business Stealth Hi/Bye Flipping the Bird Calling the Old Man Out Wicked Cultured Historical Villain Upgrade One-Man Army Final Girl Does This Remind You of Anything? No-Holds-Barred Beatdown An Aesop Rape as Drama Dumb Blonde Sir Swears-a-Lot Mad Scientist Deliberately Monochrome The Smart Guy Pre-Mortem One-Liner Jitter Cam He Who Fights Monsters Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! As Long as It Sounds Foreign Wretched Hive Cloudcuckoolander Tagline The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Psychological Thriller Only Sane Man Anti-Hero Posthumous Character Based on a True Story Leave the Camera Running Bloody Hilarious Fanservice Dark Action Girl Fourth Date Marriage Broken Bird Loads and Loads of Characters Music Stories Evil-Detecting Dog Costume Porn Rewatch Bonus Country Matters Guns Akimbo Freeze-Frame Bonus Shell-Shocked Veteran Only in It for the Money Rule of Three Camera Abuse Those Two Guys Star-Crossed Lovers Mugging the Monster Real Life Writes the Plot The Big Guy Dwindling Party Artistic License – Geography Dressing as the Enemy Mundane Made Awesome Rousing Speech Break the Cutie Would Hit a Girl Badass Longcoat Creative Closing Credits Arc Words Bar Brawl Unspoken Plan Guarantee Bunny-Ears Lawyer Creepy Child Narrator Dutch Angle Arranged Marriage Wham Shot Offscreen Teleportation Disproportionate Retribution Woman Scorned Daddy's Girl Darkest Hour Scenery Porn Captain Obvious Malevolent Masked Men The Ace Non-Indicative Name Those Wacky Nazis Sassy Black Woman Needs Wiki Magic Love Distracted by the Sexy How We Got Here Heel–Face Turn I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Face Death with Dignity Reality Has No Subtitles Punny Name Bond One-Liner The Alleged Car Recycled IN SPACE! Male Frontal Nudity Pretty in Mink The Reveal Genre Savvy Works Set in World War II Sacrificial Lion Cat Scare Bilingual Bonus Male Gaze Age Lift Big Damn Heroes No OSHA Compliance Only a Flesh Wound Hoist by His Own Petard Sadistic Choice The Dragon Reckless Gun Usage Room Full of Crazy Military and Warfare Films Italian Films Redemption Equals Death Jerkass Dark and Troubled Past Hollywood Law Parental Incest Hooker with a Heart of Gold Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer She's Got Legs Storming the Castle Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Japanese Films Neck Lift Author Appeal Wounded Gazelle Gambit Ambiguous Ending A Date with Rosie Palms Romantic False Lead Made of Iron The Smurfette Principle The Lancer Big Fancy House Toplessness from the Back Bound and Gagged Properly Paranoid Scary Black Man Action Prologue Get Out! Character Development Not So Stoic Stalker with a Crush All Girls Want Bad Boys It's All About Me Faux Affably Evil Older Than They Look Tap on the Head Took a Level in Badass Empathic Environment Coming-of-Age Story Red Herring Advertised Extra What You Are in the Dark Mood Whiplash Drill Sergeant Nasty Meet Cute Adaptational Villainy Did Not Get the Girl Rule of Funny Whole Plot Reference Nice Hat Expository Hairstyle Change Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Famous Last Words Adaptation Dye-Job Documentary Fake Shemp Refuge in Audacity Badass Normal Flashback Black and Gray Morality Slasher Movie Slasher Smile Well-Intentioned Extremist Big Bad Duumvirate Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Anti-Villain Animal Motifs Call-Back Composite Character Our Zombies Are Different No Name Given Poor Communication Kills Blatant Lies Hero of Another Story Gilligan Cut You Killed My Father Camp Gay You Have Outlived Your Usefulness The '80s Not Using the "Z" Word Humiliation Conga I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Meaningful Echo Retired Badass Fiery Redhead Serial Killer Adaptation Distillation Woman in White Corpsing Animated Credits Opening Action Genre Exactly What It Says on the Tin Agony of the Feet Dramatic Irony The Quiet One Facial Horror Horror Films Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Hero Antagonist The Remake Anachronic Order Villain with Good Publicity Closed Circle May–December Romance Your Cheating Heart Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Psychopathic Manchild Didn't Think This Through Real Life Spiteful Spit Pretty Little Headshots Monumental Damage French Films Mythology Gag Kill It with Fire The Power of Love Award-Bait Song Auto Erotica The Faceless The Cavalry Love Triangle Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Destination Defenestration Scare Chord Dissonant Serenity The X of Y Made of Explodium Shower Scene Aluminum Christmas Trees Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Expy And Starring Fat Bastard Your Head A-Splode Asshole Victim Nice Guy "Shaggy Dog" Story timeperiod Shipper on Deck Dramatic Gun Cock Paper-Thin Disguise Suspiciously Specific Denial Artistic License – Military Chase Scene Fire-Forged Friends Friend to All Children The Dreaded Meaningful Name Babies Ever After Improbable Weapon User Eyepatch of Power Be Careful What You Wish For Adaptation Expansion My Greatest Failure Belligerent Sexual Tension Obstructive Bureaucrat Demonic Possession Unusually Uninteresting Sight Pet the Dog Getting Crap Past the Radar Taking You with Me The Casanova Faking the Dead Never Trust a Trailer The Stinger No Antagonist Worthy Opponent Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene True Companions Deconstruction Determinator aka: The Determinator Blood Knight Everyone Has Standards Race Against the Clock Bowdlerise Honor Before Reason Disappeared Dad Contrived Coincidence Jerk Jock Maybe Ever After Attempted Rape Kids Are Cruel Historical In-Joke The Load Took a Level in Jerkass Important Haircut Central Theme Antagonist Title A.I. Is a Crapshoot Lighter and Softer Actually Pretty Funny Cold-Blooded Torture Heroic Sacrifice Slashed Throat Adults Are Useless Credits Gag What Happened to the Mouse? Death Seeker Fatal Flaw Big Eater Parental Neglect Visual Pun Police are Useless Karmic Death Up to Eleven "Awesome McCool" Name Accidental Misnaming The Place Developing Doomed Characters Fate Worse than Death The Mafia Rasputinian Death Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Mercy Kill Becoming the Mask Tranquil Fury Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Even Evil Has Standards Taking the Bullet Hell Is That Noise Celebrity Paradox Super Strength Frame-Up Funny Background Event Daylight Horror Retcon