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Liminal Time
- 78 statements
- 14 feature instances
- 17 referencing feature instances
| Liminal Time | type |
FeatureClass | |
| Liminal Time | label |
Liminal Time | |
| Liminal Time | page |
LiminalTime | |
| Liminal Time | comment |
Whenever (and wherever) a character or a place or a thing or a time changes from one state to another, there is a time and space in between, a liminal state — from the Latin limen, or threshold. Because this is a time of transformation, it is story gold and widely used, such as the elegant simplicity of a Fairy Tale, where the son or daughter leaves, or is torn from, the parental home, entering a liminal state, and then, at the end of the tale, marries so as to form a new household, this time as husband or wife. Liminal times — such as midnight, sunrise, sunset, or even noon; solstices, equinoxes, and the beginning of the year — can be used to signify that the events are important. This can also include times when contrary states draw near each other. Ghosts are mostly likely to walk when the realms of the dead and the living draw near, which is often but not always an otherwise liminal time, such as year's end. Liminal times are notoriously dangerous for people, even when they are merely transitions from one time of day to another, such as midnight, or one year to the next, and still more so when they change status, as when an unmarried couple become those liminal creatures, the bride and bridegroom, finally to reach the state of husband and wife. They are eerie and uncanny avenues for strangeness and magic to appear, out of control, unleashed until the time ends. They are also notorious for Loophole Abuse and No Man of Woman Born, particularly for the Impossible Task. If a task can be performed by neither one thing nor the other, it can often be done by someone who is changing and so half one and half the other. Duality Motif may appear. On the bright side, they are, by definition, not permanent, unlike Liminal Beings. A Super-Trope to: Afterlife Antechamber Astral Checkerboard Decor At the Crossroads Birthday Beginning: The protagonist's journey begins featuring their birthday. Bittersweet 17: Age 17 marks the transition to young adulthood. Cock-a-Doodle Dawn Dangerous 16th Birthday Fictional Age of Majority Growing Up Sucks The Hidden Hour Initiation Ceremony New Year Has Come Riding into the Sunset Rite of Passage Showdown at High Noon Shot at Dawn Special Occasions Are Magic: When holidays, birthdays, etc. cause supernatural happenings. Thirteenth Birthday Milestone Total Eclipse of the Plot Undeath Always Ends Walking the Earth Watching the Sunset When the Clock Strikes Twelve: Indeed, the twelve strokes of the clock may be regarded as in neither one day nor the other. |
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| Liminal Time | fetched |
2023-08-20T02:59:19Z | |
| Liminal Time | parsed |
2023-08-20T02:59:19Z | |
| Liminal Time | processingComment |
Dropped link to FairyTale: Not an Item - CAT | |
| Liminal Time | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Liminal Time / int_41b0198a | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Liminal Time / int_41b0198a | comment |
In The Dresden Files, times of renewal often have powerful magical effects. For instance, sunrise will destroy all but the most powerful spells. And there exist special times and places in which certain rules are suspended, and it becomes possible, for instance, for a mortal to become immortal or an immortal to die. Halloween is one of these. Harry's being born in such a time puts him slightly outside of the normal world and gives him protection against a certain class of supernatural beast. | |
| Liminal Time / int_41b0198a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Liminal Time / int_41b0198a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Dresden Files | hasFeature |
Liminal Time / int_41b0198a | |
| Liminal Time / int_468bebb0 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Liminal Time / int_468bebb0 | comment |
On the Discworld, this moment of acute and painful existential angst, usually perpetrated by the Wizards of Unseen University, is called the thlabber state. Nobody knows why it is called this. Witches have a similar moment of vulnerable uncertainty at the moment where they cease to "borrow" the mind and body of an animal and return to their human form. For instance, when Granny Weatherwax returned to her human body after occupying the hive-mind of a swarm of bees, she was uncertain as to how many legs she had, wanted to suck up sugar syrup with her proboscis, and tried to leave the room via the closed part of a window. In Witches Abroad, Granny Weatherwax believes that the half moon is a more occult phase than the full or new moons, for this reason. The notes on Lilith indicate that she is vulnerable on the last day of Carnival, which is between the living and the dead. When they are trapped in the mirror, both Granny and Lilith ask whether they are dead. Death answers, both times, that the answer is somewhere between No and Yes. Thief of Time and The Discworld Almanack both state that liminal time is an important part of witchcraft, and witches are naturally drawn to liminal events. It's called "edge magic". |
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| Liminal Time / int_468bebb0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Liminal Time / int_468bebb0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Discworld | hasFeature |
Liminal Time / int_468bebb0 | |
| Liminal Time / int_4ff8055d | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Liminal Time / int_4ff8055d | comment |
In the Labyrinths of Echo, liminal states of any kind are Melifaro's magical specialization. His primary purpose to guard the border between the real world and the Dark Side whenever his colleagues cross it into the latter, but he also displays the ability to stay in-between his normal state of mind and succumbing to Mind Control, etc.. | |
| Liminal Time / int_4ff8055d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Liminal Time / int_4ff8055d | featureConfidence |
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| Labyrinths of Echo | hasFeature |
Liminal Time / int_4ff8055d | |
| Liminal Time / int_616039c3 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Liminal Time / int_616039c3 | comment |
In one episode of The Incredible Hulk (1977) David is stuck mid-transformation between regular David Banner and the Hulk form. (This has happened a couple of times in the comic book too.) | |
| Liminal Time / int_616039c3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Liminal Time / int_616039c3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Incredible Hulk (1977) | hasFeature |
Liminal Time / int_616039c3 | |
| Liminal Time / int_6a9440b2 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Liminal Time / int_6a9440b2 | comment |
In John DeChancie's Castle Perilous, Kwip can walk through walls. In Castle for Rent, he pauses half in and half out, and the text comments on his paradoxical state. | |
| Liminal Time / int_6a9440b2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Liminal Time / int_6a9440b2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Castle Perilous | hasFeature |
Liminal Time / int_6a9440b2 | |
| Liminal Time / int_6c39a620 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Liminal Time / int_6c39a620 | comment |
Ascendance of a Bookworm: Women are expected to bring some changes to their appearance when they they reach certain ages. Girls up to ten years old can wear skirts as short as knee-length, but after that skirts aren't allowed to be shorter than shin-length. When they become adults at age fifteen, they are supposed to bind her hair and wear the longest skirt possible. For practical reasons, that second rule is followed less strictly by women from lower classes than by those from higher classes. | |
| Liminal Time / int_6c39a620 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Liminal Time / int_6c39a620 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ascendance of a Bookworm | hasFeature |
Liminal Time / int_6c39a620 | |
| Liminal Time / int_70da6e51 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Liminal Time / int_70da6e51 | comment |
In the Goosebumps Horrorland book "My Friends Call Me Monster", Michael only eats enough eggs to turn himself halfway back from monster to human. He is in humanoid form with claws and some scales. | |
| Liminal Time / int_70da6e51 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Liminal Time / int_70da6e51 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Goosebumps | hasFeature |
Liminal Time / int_70da6e51 | |
| Liminal Time / int_73c51d30 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Liminal Time / int_73c51d30 | comment |
Bronze Skin Inc.: Julia touched the anchor where the ghost captain is trapped in the middle of the day, but he only wakes up at sunset, implying that he can only appear at night. | |
| Liminal Time / int_73c51d30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Liminal Time / int_73c51d30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Bronze Skin Inc. (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Liminal Time / int_73c51d30 | |
| Liminal Time / int_77bda8e9 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Liminal Time / int_77bda8e9 | comment |
In Witches Abroad, Granny Weatherwax believes that the half moon is a more occult phase than the full or new moons, for this reason. The notes on Lilith indicate that she is vulnerable on the last day of Carnival, which is between the living and the dead. When they are trapped in the mirror, both Granny and Lilith ask whether they are dead. Death answers, both times, that the answer is somewhere between No and Yes. | |
| Liminal Time / int_77bda8e9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Liminal Time / int_77bda8e9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Witches Abroad | hasFeature |
Liminal Time / int_77bda8e9 | |
| Liminal Time / int_77be988d | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Liminal Time / int_77be988d | comment |
Thief of Time and The Discworld Almanack both state that liminal time is an important part of witchcraft, and witches are naturally drawn to liminal events. It's called "edge magic". | |
| Liminal Time / int_77be988d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Liminal Time / int_77be988d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thief of Time | hasFeature |
Liminal Time / int_77be988d | |
| Liminal Time / int_93133ff6 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Liminal Time / int_93133ff6 | comment |
Towards the end of Beyond: Two Souls, Jodie becomes stuck between the world of the living and the Infraworld (essentially, a world populated by the spirits of the deceased), and has to decide between going back to life or moving on (leading to different endings). | |
| Liminal Time / int_93133ff6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Liminal Time / int_93133ff6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Beyond: Two Souls (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Liminal Time / int_93133ff6 | |
| Liminal Time / int_ad69db83 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Liminal Time / int_ad69db83 | comment |
In an episode of Eerie, Indiana, Marshall discovers that he can move from the present time to an alternate timeline when he sets his watch back one hour. | |
| Liminal Time / int_ad69db83 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Liminal Time / int_ad69db83 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Eerie, Indiana | hasFeature |
Liminal Time / int_ad69db83 | |
| Liminal Time / int_b3a3fa47 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Liminal Time / int_b3a3fa47 | comment |
Each season of Babylon 5 started and ended on the (Earth standard calendar) New Year in-universe (as each season represented one year in real time). Since transitional or "cliff-hanger" events often ended the seasons, these events occurred on New Year's in universe. | |
| Liminal Time / int_b3a3fa47 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Liminal Time / int_b3a3fa47 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Babylon5 | hasFeature |
Liminal Time / int_b3a3fa47 | |
| Liminal Time / int_d2c81f1e | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Liminal Time / int_d2c81f1e | comment |
In Tam Lin, Tam Lin cites the transition between All Hallows' Eve and All Hallows Day as the time to rescue him. | |
| Liminal Time / int_d2c81f1e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Liminal Time / int_d2c81f1e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tam Lin | hasFeature |
Liminal Time / int_d2c81f1e |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
| Liminal Time | processingCategory2 |
Fairy Tale Tropes | |
| Liminal Time | processingCategory2 |
Magic and Powers | |
| Liminal Time | processingCategory2 |
Older Than Dirt | |
| Liminal Time | processingCategory2 |
Time Tropes | |
| Your Name / int_4a6b3288 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Ladyhawke / int_4a6b3288 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| A Curse Dark as Gold / int_4a6b3288 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Castle Perilous / int_4a6b3288 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| European Folk and Fairy Tales / int_4a6b3288 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Tam Lin / int_4a6b3288 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| The Egg / int_4a6b3288 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| The Goblin Emperor / int_4a6b3288 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Tigana / int_4a6b3288 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Witches Abroad / int_4a6b3288 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| World of the Five Gods / int_4a6b3288 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| Stormbringer (Tabletop Game) / int_4a6b3288 | type |
Liminal Time | |
| The Property of Hate (Webcomic) / int_4a6b3288 | type |
Liminal Time |
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