Arcadia/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.



Basic Trope: A lifestyle in the countryside where people live In Harmony with Nature.

  • Straight: Alice and Bob move from The City and settle down in a peaceful and secluded house in the countryside.
  • Exaggerated: The house is in the middle of a forest 100 miles wide, has no running water or electricity, is cut off from the world in every single way, and the only way to the house is via helicopter.
    • Alice and Bob create their own planet filled with vast forests in another solar system. The only way to get to their house is via a spaceship.
  • Downplayed: Alice and Bob move to a rural farm house next to a busy highway. They visit The City occasionally.
  • Justified: Alice and Bob wish to escape the air and noise pollution of the city.
    • Alice and Bob grew up living this lifestyle, and wishes to return to it.
  • Inverted: Alice and Bob live in a bustling city where they never see a single tree or blade of grass in their entire life.
  • Subverted: Alice's house is established to be quiet, calming, and surrounded by the lush green trees and grass... before revealing that it's in the middle of a bustling city.
  • Double Subverted: Despite this, Alice still lives a peaceful lifestyle, in harmony with the trees in her property.
  • Parodied: Moving to Alice's house is shown to be the solution to all of humanity's problems. Cancer can be cured if someone moves to Alice's property. Noone is ever hungry or thirsty in the house. Even a nuke has no effect if set off inside Alice's property.
  • Zig Zagged: Bob moves to Alice's countryside house, but the house is designated as being in a rapidly developing urban zone and will be demolished soon. Then, Bob moves to Alice's other house, situated in the middle of a forest, but a highway is being built through there - so Bob moves to Alice's other other house in the middle of a city. Bob gets tired of living in the city, and finally buys a house in the countryside.
    • The house is surrounded by peaceful forests and wildlife, which is surrounded by a city, which itself is surrounded by more forest, and another city...
  • Averted: Alice and Bob live in a normal house in a city. The city has some trees and public parks.
  • Enforced: "I remember my childhood home being peaceful and secluded. Let's give a new generation of audiences the same feeling."
    • "We need to teach a new generation about the importance of being in harmony with nature."
  • Lampshaded: "This laid-back country lifestyle is so peaceful and relaxing."
  • Invoked: Alice visits a real estate agent to find and buy houses in the countryside.
  • Exploited: Sir Baddie McBadface buys every single property in the countryside, then sells them back to Alice at an inflated price. Alice, wishing to live away from cities, has no choice but to buy from Sir Baddie McBadface.
  • Defied: Bob convinces Alice that living this lifestyle is a bad idea, citing the distance to amenities and facilities like supermarkets and universities.
  • Discussed: "Alice, why do you like the country lifestyle so much?"
  • Conversed: "Wow, I wish I can live in a house that peaceful."
  • Deconstructed: Alice buys a house and moves into the countryside, and the audience sees her explore the neighboring forest. However, Alice, from the isolation, slowly misses things taken for granted in the city like a supermarket and university. Audiences are shown the lack of job opportunities from residing in such a remote location, and how Alice's savings slowly depletes. If Alice chooses to have children, the work will show her struggling as she finds a nearby school.
  • Reconstructed: A work is about Alice moving, then dealing and overcoming all the challenges of living in a remote place. Alice works from home, and buys a car to deliver her kids to school. While she is in the city, she picks up groceries in the supermarket. Once she's back in her house, she gets back to exploring the forests.

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