Crack is Cheaper/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Basic Trope: Geek stuff is expensive.
  • Played Straight: Seamus O'Taku spends most of his income on his geek paraphernalia.
  • Exaggerated: Seamus can't even afford groceries because of his geeky addictions.
  • Justified: The company constantly underestimates the North American demand for their products. Seamus is forced to purchase either overseas or at a considerable mark-up.
  • Inverted: Geeky stuff is cheaper and more affordable than everyday things like groceries.
  • Subverted: Seamus has the means to buy all this geek junk.
  • Double Subverted: But because of that, he loses his wealth in a short time.
  • Deconstructed: Seamus' hobby turns into a full-blown addiction, and the resulting money troubles are not a joke.
  • Reconstructed: But Seamus is then able to regain some standard of living through his hobby. (Maybe by working for a company focused around his hobby, or winning contests with cash prizes.)
  • Parodied: Seamus' geeky addictions have him living in a cardboard box on the street...with a whole bunch of Manga
  • Averted:
    • Geek stuff is reasonably priced.
    • Seamus does not buy geek stuff.
    • Seamus reads manga, watches anime, etc. online for free, or rents games and videos instead of buying.
  • Lampshaded: "I spent way too much on Manga last month..."
  • Enforced: A Deconstruction of Geek subculture.
  • Invoked: Seamus goes to an Anime convention.
  • Defied: Seamus knows that he can't afford to have the geek junk and still be able to eat this month. So he decides to either not buy it (or to buy it when he has more money.)
  • Discussed: "How does Seamus afford rent and groceries and Anime-related paraphernalia?!
  • Conversed: "It's expensive to be a geek."

How can you possibly afford to go back to Crack is Cheaper when you just spent all that money on cosplay?!