Exploding Calendar/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: A montage of a calendar's pages falling off to show time passing.

  • Straight: While Alice waits for Bob to come home from a business trip, a calendar with its pages falling off is shown.
  • Exaggerated: The calendar has several pages.
  • Downplayed: A brief montage of Alice tearing off a few pages is shown.
  • Justified: The calendar is caught in a breeze from a nearby open window.
  • Inverted: When Alice time-travels back, a montage of pages being put back on a calendar is shown.
  • Subverted: A calendar's pages start falling off... but Alice grabs them and glues them back on.
  • Double Subverted: But they immediately start falling off again.
  • Parodied:
    • Alice accidentally rips off a page - and instantly time travels to the next day.
    • The pages fall off so fast the calendar flash-ignites (or even literally explodes).
  • Zig Zagged: A calendar's pages start falling off... but Alice grabs them and glues them back on. Then they start falling off again! But then Alice uses super glue to keep them there. They fall off anyway, so Alice finally uses duct tape.
  • Averted: No calendar is shown.
  • Enforced: "We need to make sure the audience understands a lot of time has passed!"
  • Lampshaded: "Why are the pages of this calendar falling off?"
  • Invoked: Alice tries to make time pass by blowing a fan on a calendar.
  • Exploited: Alice, realizing time is passing, keeps pulling pages off to advance further ahead.
  • Defied: Alice refuses to purchase any calendar in fear of this trope.
  • Discussed: "This calendar must be really cheap, since all the pages keep falling off!"
  • Conversed: "You ever wonder why in movies time passing is always shown by a calendar?"

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