Ostentatious Secret: Difference between revisions
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So you want to have a secret. You may not even be sure what the secret is. You are pretty sure, though, that you want everyone to know that there is a secret. That you have. That everyone else doesn't have. Because it is yours. And you have it.
Sometimes ostentatious secrets are eventually [[The Reveal|revealed]], and sometimes they stay that way forever. This can be just a [[Running Gag
One problem is that secrets tend to build up to a Secret Critical Mass. After this point, the obsession of others to discover the secret far outweighs any potential dramatic payoff from [[The Reveal]], and it requires some extremely deft [[Playing
The [[Ancient Tradition]] and the [[Ancient Conspiracy]] are often ostentatious secrets: their existence can be widely known, and membership may also be, though it's less common.
Contrast the [[Open Secret]] and [[The Not
{{examples
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
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* The mysterious blue box in the David Lynch film ''[[Mulholland Drive]]'', which has a matching blue key. It is shown to open once or twice, though the [[Mind Screw]] makes it hard to tell what if anything is going on.
* Marsellus Wallace's briefcase in ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'', the contents of which are described as beautiful, are never known to the audience. [[Wild Mass Guessing]] ensues.
** According to [http://www.cracked.com/article_19138_7-hotly-debated-movie-questions-that-totally-have-answers.html this article], it was originally just diamonds, but they decided that a
== [[Literature]] ==
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== [[Mythology]] ==
* This is apparently one of [[Norse Mythology|Odin's]] powers. As [[Neil Gaiman]] put it in ''[[
** Also, whatever Odin whispered in his son Baldur's ear as he, Baldur, lay on his funeral pyre. Odin would use that secret to best Vafthrudnir in a [[Riddle Contest]].
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[The Order of the Stick
** V's gender would qualify for this as well.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[
* Robin's incredibly important stolen briefcase in ''[[Teen Titans (
* A meta-example for ''[[
== [[Web Original]] ==
* ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' character Alice Jones has her backpack as an Ostentatious Secret. What's inside? {{spoiler|The ''severed head'' of Guy Rapide, her almost-boyfriend.}} Not so much her wanting everybody to know about it than it being extremely obvious that she's keeping something in her pack.
{{quote|
'''Alice Jones:''' *smiles* ...It's a secret. }}
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[[Category:The Secret Index]]
[[Category:Ostentatious Secret]]
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