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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   1871 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for April 10, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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I'm obsessed with tvtropes.org and r/TopCharacterTropes.

What are your favorite tropes and examples in media?

Probably Aluminium Christmas Trees, but I have grown tired of TV Tropes. I still get the urge to visit it after finishing a book or a movie, but every work's page is now a massive laundry list of tropes that mention the same plot points again and again because some spergy fan won't stop until he links every possible trope to this work.

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Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


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