Waste away the afternoon with this periodic table with pop culture tropes in place of chemicals

Graphic designer James Harris has taken the periodic table of the elements, which catalogs the basic building blocks necessary for all life in the universe, and done something useful with it. Harris’ Periodic Table Of Storytelling takes several of the film, television, and video game clichés assembled so thoroughly by the website TV Tropes, assigns them the equivalent of an atomic name and number, and gathers them together in a big, beautiful parody of the periodic table.

Each of the tropes on the chart is linked to the corresponding TV Tropes page—clicking the element Dx, for example, takes users to the page explaining deus ex machina, while clicking on Mcg brings up the page on the MacGuffin. The table also provides the chemical compounds for a select few shows and movies—Firefly, for example, is made up of one atom of Sbn (Screwed by the network) combined with a molecule consisting of Lrg (Lovable Rogue), Rcy (Recycled IN SPACE), and Mal (Rebellious Spirit). It’s an ambitious project that makes frittering away time on TV Tropes easier than ever, and is sure to please lovers of chemistry and pop culture alike.