Year Inside, Hour Outside/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: Time passes less quickly in the 'real world' compared to the 'fantasy world'.

  • Straight: Alice and Bob discovers a tunnel to Troperia. They stay there for a year, but when they return time only passed for an hour.
  • Exaggerated: Alice and Bob stay in Troperia for centuries (or more), but time only passes for two minutes in the 'real world'.
  • Downplayed: Alice and Bob stay for a year, and time passes for six months in the 'real world'.
  • Justified: Troperia's time and our time operates differently.
  • Inverted: Year Outside, Hour Inside.
  • Subverted: It turns out time did pass for a year in the real world, only the place they returned to hasn't changed a bit since last year.
  • Double Subverted: Or so it seems. Somehow, time only passes for an hour.
  • Parodied: ???
  • Zig Zagged: Narnia Time.
  • Averted: Time in Troperia is exactly the same as time in the 'real world', end of discussion.
  • Enforced: "If Alice and Bob have their adventures in Troperia for a year, how come their family and friends aren't worried?" "I know! Let's mess up the time in Troperia so that they're only gone for an hour!"
  • Lampshaded: "Gee, I'm pretty sure we were in Troperia for more than an hour..."
  • Invoked: Alice and Bob use a MacGuffin to change the time flow so nobody would grow suspicious.
  • Exploited: Alice and Bob exploits this trope by dropping by in Troperia at any free time they have, including restroom breaks, lunch time, etc.
  • Defied: ???
  • Discussed: "But what if everyone looks for us? Wouldn't they be worried?" "Nah, time's always funny in alternate realms."
  • Conversed: ???
  • Deconstructed: After their visit, Alice and Bob returns to Troperia after a few weeks to check on everyone's condition. It turns out time has passed for decades in Troperia, and they're defenseless without Alice and Bob.
    • Or, Alice and Bob stays in Troperia for decades (or centuries, if there is a sufficient MacGuffin) and ages appropriately. Upon their return, their friends and family are shocked to see Alice and Bob age so quickly in an short time.
  • Reconstructed: The trope doesn't apply if Alice and Bob is in the 'real world', so the same amount of time they left Troperia is the same amount of time that passes there.
    • Alternatively, Alice and Bob visits after a few weeks to discover that Troperia has evolved into a much more modern civilization due to the time that passes there.

If you want to go back to Year Inside, Hour Outside, fine. But don't forget to check the other pages, since time is funny here!

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