| rdfs:comment | - Trends are often considered the come-and-go "necessary evil" of human culture. Whether they're locked in a cycle or they plain old wither and die forever, they help define specific moments in history, for better and worse. So it only makes sense that In-Universe examples of trends exist in fiction. Of course, whenever it does occur, it's Strictly Formula: Since our protagonist is usually The Everyman, he/she won't have the item in question at the beginning of the story, but will really, really want it. Hilarity Ensues, with several typical outcomes: Examples of Trend Aesop include:
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| abstract | - Trends are often considered the come-and-go "necessary evil" of human culture. Whether they're locked in a cycle or they plain old wither and die forever, they help define specific moments in history, for better and worse. So it only makes sense that In-Universe examples of trends exist in fiction. Of course, whenever it does occur, it's Strictly Formula: Since our protagonist is usually The Everyman, he/she won't have the item in question at the beginning of the story, but will really, really want it. Hilarity Ensues, with several typical outcomes:
* The protagonist acquires the item, and it sucks.
* The protagonist acquires the item, and it's just what they wanted and everything is fine. In this case it probably won't have been a major focus of the plot.
* The protagonist acquires the item and immediately loses it.
* The protagonist acquires the item just as it goes out of style and the next fad takes its place.
* The protagonist never gets the item, but ends up achieving its supposed benefits some other way, proving that they didn't really need it.
* The protagonist does uncharacteristically unpleasant things to get the item, alienating their real friends in the process, and discovers that the cool kids make lousy replacements, so loses interest, gives it up and wins their old friends back. In addition, the trends themselves tend to aim for extreme stuff, with things that wouldn't even last a single day in Real Life. Many a Disco Dan will do the exact opposite and follow a trend that's already passed. A Sitcom, Slice of Life or Teen Drama series is almost guaranteed to have at least one of these. Related to Be Yourself and Disobey This Message, since they're both pretty much the end result of this, as well as Anyone Remember Pogs. Examples of Trend Aesop include:
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