TV Trops

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > General Bullshit > TV Trops

«‹›222 »

Sham bam bamina!: Nov 6, 2012; ƨtupid cat

Asgerd posted:

Of course not, the fanfic in question is so prolific it has a page of its own!

Because it's so prolific, not because there is No Such Thing As Notability for these people. :rolleye:

# ? Sep 25, 2013 20:16

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 25, 2024 00:15

Bear Sleuth: Jul 17, 2011

Spalec posted:

At least they actually call him a pedophile and don't try any of this 'Ephebophilia' bullshit they'd normally do.

Going out of their way to make Humbert seem like not such an evil guy is just as bad.

# ? Sep 25, 2013 20:18

Apple Tree: Sep 8, 2013

Spalec posted:

At least they actually call him a pedophile and don't try any of this 'Ephebophilia' bullshit they'd normally do.

Not entirely to their credit: Nabokov is ornate but he's also precise:

quote:

In fact, I would have the reader see 'nine' and 'fourteen' as the boundaries - the mirrory beaches and rosy rocks - of an enchanted island haunted by those nymphets of mine and surrounded by a vast, misty sea ... Furthermore, since the idea of time plays such a magic part in the matter, the student should not be surprised to learn that there must be a gap of several years, never less than ten I should say, generally thirty or forty, and as many as ninety in a few known cases, between maiden and man to enable the latter to come under a nymphet's spell.

Even a troper would have a hard time equivocating a man molesting a nine-year-old. (Please tell me this is true.)

# ? Sep 25, 2013 20:41

Sham bam bamina!: Nov 6, 2012; ƨtupid cat

Apple Tree posted:

Even a troper would have a hard time equivocating a man molesting a nine-year-old. (Please tell me this is true.)

He's not "molesting" her if she conseaaaaaaaagughghgggh :unsmigghh:

# ? Sep 25, 2013 21:15

oldpainless: Oct 30, 2009; This 📆 post brought to you by RAID💥: SHADOW LEGENDS👥.
RAID💥: SHADOW LEGENDS 👥 - It's for your phone📲^TM� #ad📢

That sure is some pretty talk about a grown man wanting to have inappropriate sexual relations with an underage girl. I especially like how the blame is shifted to the girl as she casts her "spell" so the decent man is powerless and absolved of wrong-doing.

# ? Sep 25, 2013 21:21

Roland Jones: Aug 18, 2011; by Nyc_Tattoo

oldpainless posted:

That sure is some pretty talk about a grown man wanting to have inappropriate sexual relations with an underage girl. I especially like how the blame is shifted to the girl as she casts her "spell" so the decent man is powerless and absolved of wrong-doing.

That is the point. Humbert is a monster, but he's also the narrator, so he tries to paint himself as the victim/a good guy, even as he outright refers to some of his actions as rape if I recall correctly. This is unfortunately too subtle for people and you get things like the review calling the book a "love story" and, well, all the people contributing to that TVT page. Guy ruins at least three lives and creeps like those idolize and defend him.

# ? Sep 25, 2013 21:26

Lottery of Babylon: Apr 25, 2012; STRAIGHT TROPIN'

Apple Tree posted:

Even a troper would have a hard time equivocating a man molesting a nine-year-old. (Please tell me this is true.)

Ha ha ha ha ha

Headscratchers/Lolita posted:

Im confuse, only watching the movies, did Lolita seduce H.H. or was that just in his head?
* I haven't seen the films, but the novel is intentionally ambiguous about it. H.H.'s main goal is to garner sympathy from the reader, so naturally he would try to convince us that "she made me do it". At the same time, it's entirely possible that at some point or another Lo did knowingly seduce him, and she was a bit of a troubled girl anyway.

"Well, on the one hand, he's a lying pedophile, but on the other hand, Lo always did seem like a slut. Teach the controversy!"

Let's click on the Analysis tab and see what that page has to say!

Analysis/Lolita posted:

We don't have an article named Analysis/Lolita.

# ? Sep 25, 2013 21:27

DStecks: Feb 6, 2012

oldpainless posted:

That sure is some pretty talk about a grown man wanting to have inappropriate sexual relations with an underage girl. I especially like how the blame is shifted to the girl as she casts her "spell" so the decent man is powerless and absolved of wrong-doing.

Congratulations! You get Lolita!

^e;fb

# ? Sep 25, 2013 21:27

oldpainless: Oct 30, 2009; This 📆 post brought to you by RAID💥: SHADOW LEGENDS👥.
RAID💥: SHADOW LEGENDS 👥 - It's for your phone📲^TM� #ad📢

Roland Jones posted:

That is the point.

DStecks posted:

Congratulations! You get Lolita!

^e;fb

I know thats the point. I suppose I should have been more clear.

# ? Sep 25, 2013 21:31

Arc Hammer: Mar 4, 2013; Got any deathsticks?

Oh, were we talking about Nightmare Fuel? How about Cookie Clicker? The difference between TvTropes and the games thread we have here is that there is at least one (read: all) troper who thinks that this time waster is genuinely horrifying.

Terrified Tropers posted:

As you earn achievements, the pool of milk turns brown (chocolate), and then... red. It's supposed to be "rapsberry milk," an Author Appeal substance that most players have never heard of. Instead, you're likely to think it's a huge pool of blood. The fact that it turns red around the time you hit the Grandmapocalypse doesn't help.
The Grandmapoyalypse itself, featuring things such as giant Eldritch Abomination Grandmas that threaten entire cities and secrete cookies and sugar, other otherworldly abominations wanting to try your cookies, and "highways of flesh".
There's also fact that by the time you get there, you have turned every atom in the universe into cookie and have them rewrite the fundamental laws of the Universe, making it look like nothing can stop you. Nope.
Even without the Grandmapocalypse, you have things such as a time machine that steals cookies from the past, cookies becoming such Serious Business that they become the lifeblood of the world economy and showing allergic reactions to them brands you as a social outcast, devices that convert antimatter into cookies, and producing so many cookies that every last molecule in the universe turns into cookies!
All of these horrible and creepy things happen just so you can build a massive cookie empire. When you snap out of it, you will most likely never eat cookies or approach elderly women (especially your own grandmothers, if any) again for a long time.

Raspberry milk looks like blood you guys! This is totally a horror game!

I've actually tried Raspberry Milk. It's loving delicious. Of course tropers would be frightened by it.

# ? Sep 25, 2013 21:32

Razorwired: Dec 7, 2008; It's about to start!

oldpainless posted:

That sure is some pretty talk about a grown man wanting to have inappropriate sexual relations with an underage girl. I especially like how the blame is shifted to the girl as she casts her "spell" so the decent man is powerless and absolved of wrong-doing.

Like Roland said. It's one of those things where even the way the story is presented has to be viewed as Humbert equivocating his beliefs. You're almost supposed to buy into his poo poo while reading the novel. He's supposed to come off as making a good case for his "relationship" and how Delores is a sexy little seductress. The line "The hotel where you raped me." is supposed to discard all the subtlety and sick word games and show you exactly what Humbert is. It's when the reader realizes that they're with all of the guy's other relationships in that he's used a one sided conversation to lead you into being complacent with a complete monster. It's why Lolita is referred to as a book you read twice. Because after that turn you can go back and see Humbert being the smooth fucker that he always was but now you've seen the backstage area of the magic show and can discern his manipulative bullshit for what it is.

# ? Sep 25, 2013 21:34

Apple Tree: Sep 8, 2013

Lottery of Babylon posted:

"Well, on the one hand, he's a lying pedophile, but on the other hand, Lo always did seem like a slut. Teach the controversy!"

They sort of do seem to acknowledge that Humbert misrepresents things:

quote:

Insistent Terminology: Humbert is not attracted to children, but nymphets. It's made abundantly clear that the distinction exists only within his own head.

(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/Lolita?from=Main.Lolita)

...But then that links to this:

quote:

Insistent Terminology

A character constantly corrects a word (fine, if you say it's called a term, then it's called a term) used in their introduction or any speech that otherwise refers to them, but never seems to stop (all right, keep) anyone else from using it. Sometimes this is because they could be called something people see as unflattering or a poor choice of words.

(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InsistentTerminology)

I have read that paragraph about five times and I still don't understand what it means.

They also go with 'reading twice':

quote:

This is a book you need to read twice, just to appreciate how horribly screwed up everybody is. And we mean everybody. As Nabokov noted in his afterword, one publisher rejected the manuscript on the grounds that Lolita had no good people in it. Thanks to the Unreliable Narrator, however, the extent of just how screwed up they are is not immediately apparent.

Though I'd say you don't need to read it twice to get that Humbert Humbert is an unreliable narrator: loving children is bad, this is pretty much a given, and a narrator who argues otherwise should put any sensible reader on their guard. And also that saying 'everyone is horribly screwed up' is really missing the point of an unreliable narrator - especially one who has absolutely no interest in most of the people he meets. It rewards multiple readings because it's a beautifully written book, but multiple readings don't seem to have helped that troper very much.

Probably also this is a page that's unusually careful by TVTropes standards; given that there was much argument over it and it's their flagship for 'Not pedophiles, just commentators' presentation, we should probably view this as their storefront in terms of quality.

Which doesn't say much for them.

# ? Sep 25, 2013 21:54

Lottery of Babylon: Apr 25, 2012; STRAIGHT TROPIN'

Razorwired posted:

Like Roland said. It's one of those things where even the way the story is presented has to be viewed as Humbert equivocating his beliefs. You're almost supposed to buy into his poo poo while reading the novel. He's supposed to come off as making a good case for his "relationship" and how Delores is a sexy little seductress. The line "The hotel where you raped me." is supposed to discard all the subtlety and sick word games and show you exactly what Humbert is. It's when the reader realizes that they're with all of the guy's other relationships in that he's used a one sided conversation to lead you into being complacent with a complete monster. It's why Lolita is referred to as a book you read twice. Because after that turn you can go back and see Humbert being the smooth fucker that he always was but now you've seen the backstage area of the magic show and can discern his manipulative bullshit for what it is.

It's not even just that line; there are lines that serve that role constantly throughout the book. You'll get a few pages of Humbert describing his idyllic life with Dolores, followed by "oh by the way she cried herself to sleep every night". Nabokov includes such regular reminders that Humbert is a total scumbag that even without a second read you still can't possibly come away from the book with "Lolita was such a whore" unless you're a pedophile yourself.

Naturally, tropers notice that he's persuasive, but they don't figure out that he's just an eloquent monster doing his best to make himself look good; instead they say he's Affably Evil Anti-Villain, and his actions are excusable because in an audiobook he's voiced by :swoon:

JEREMY IRONS :swoon:

Since Lolita didn't have an Analysis page, I have to wonder: what does? Let's have a look.

Analysis: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S1 E14: Suited For Success posted:

Satire, Intertextuality and Self-Reference in "Suited for Success"

[snipped: 1000+ words about how deep a show about cartoon ponies for little girls is]
[also snipped: separate analysis pages for the "background ponies" and multiple fanfics]

Analysis: Hamlet posted:

We don't have an article named Analysis/Hamlet. We do, however have:

Awesome/Hamlet
Characters/Hamlet
DrinkingGame/Hamlet
FanficRecs/Hamlet
Film/Hamlet
Fridge/Hamlet
Funny/Hamlet
Haiku/Hamlet
Headscratchers/Hamlet
Heartwarming/Hamlet
Laconic/Hamlet
Main/Hamlet
Quotes/Hamlet
ReferencedBy/Hamlet
TearJerker/Hamlet
Theatre/Hamlet
Trivia/Hamlet
WMG/Hamlet
YMMV/Hamlet

Analysis: Evony posted:

Ad Campaign

Today, surfing the web is a very popular hobby. Companies are always looking for ways to get a quick profit. To get more consumers to spend their money and purchase their products, various companies have begun broadcasting/publishing their ads on the Internet. Some of these ads work, but some of these ads fail and end up getting ridiculed, mocked and scorned. In 2009, Evony had a very �unique� ad campaign. It ended up as the metaphorical village laughingstock because it sent its viewers the wrong message.

The first and most prominent thing seen in the ad is an attractive swimsuit model wearing a black lace bikini. Some people browsing the website might click the ad out of curiosity because they think/assume the game has those attractive girls that are pictured in the Evony ads. Some of them end up being disappointed with the game itself after playing it because the game does not have the girls shown in the ad in any shape or form. In other words, the game basically lied to them. This particular ad for the Evony is seemingly catered towards young teenage men. In popular media (like video games and comic books), there seems to be a trend of objectifying women by having them wearing skimpy clothing like bikinis, swimsuits, catsuits, and short skirts. All of these things have one thing in common: they all emphasize a woman�s breasts and legs. Some women like playing video games as a hobby. If those �gamer girls� see this ad, they might feel uncomfortable and offended. As a result, Evony might lose a potential consumer base.

The game claims that it is free to play forever. Some players look at this claim with some curiosity or a bit of skepticism. Either way, they try the game. After all, most people like free things. This claim looks too good to be true. After all, there is no such thing as a free lunch or free. In other words, everything on Earth has a cost to pay. Evony itself is not exempt from this rule.

Over time, the game will accumulate many costs such as: running the game servers smoothly, making sure server connections do not go down, moderating the players, and listening to consumer feedback in an attempt to make the game more fun to play. The company who runs Evony might shut down and go out of business because the costs might become too difficult to pay over time and overwhelm them.

To pay for these costs, the company that runs and operates the Evony game decides to charge the player ways to make the game easier for them, such as making the game more playable to a greater degree and giving the player who paid very strong perks. These things are optional; however, the company who is running Evony decided to make the game slow and unbalanced, making it obligatory to pay for these things in practice. To a certain degree, this advertisement lied to its consumers through omission. The advertisement has decided to say the game is free to play, but it does not explain the game�s silver lining in fine, specific detail.

The ad claims that Evony is the best web game out there. This claim does not work because Evony does not back up its claim. An excellent way to back up a claim is to support it with a citation. For instance, gaming journalism quotes can help people judge whether to buy or ignore the game. Without a good citation, consumers looking at the ad might not know whether a game is good or not. As a result, some potential customers are turned away from Evony.

The claim of Evony being the best game ever is questionable. After all, every game has its strengths and weaknesses. Evony is no exception to this rule. Critics of Evony have said these things: the game is too similar to the other Real Time Strategy games (Civilization and Age of Empires more specifically); the game installs spyware on the customers� computers without their permission; the game does not enforce its rules in a strict yet fair manner; and the game becomes tedious to play at times. At one point, the company that is currently running Evony has tried to sue a prominent Evony critic in a libel lawsuit because they thought he was defaming them. In reality, he wanted the truth about how the Evony Company was using dirty practices to keep itself running smoothly. Eventually, the company dropped the case like a sack of potatoes.

The advertisement claims that Evony can be played in secret. However, this claim contradicts itself as soon as the game is played first-hand. Evony players can watch their peers play the game in real-time. Evony also provides its players a public chat-room typically used to talk about anything general and/or interact with the other players. There are also the Evony forums, used to give the game creators some feedback.

The combination of the swimsuit/pornography model in the black bikini and the phrasing of the statement give the advertisement a different, sexual meaning. The ad portrays a girl in a bikini and since there is a phrase that says that the game must be played in secret, one can get the implication that the game has an erotic nature to it.

Evony is just a simple simulation browser-based game. However, the advertisements of the game say otherwise. They use erotic images that send the wrong message to people. They use false claims of the game being the best web game without offering proof. They claim the game is free to play, but there are hidden charges within the game itself. If these ads continue to run, Evony might lose a lot of potential customers.

Analysis: War and Peace posted:

We don't have an article named Analysis/WarAndPeace.

Analysis: The Legend of Zelda posted:

Series Chronology

The games in the series have been released in non-chronological order quite frequently. Shigeru Miyamoto and Eiji Aonuma have told the press that they have a "Master Timeline" document in their possession detailing how every game is connected. The document for the series has not been released, mainly due to Nintendo not wanting to RetCon things left and right when they change their mind about something or get new ideas.

However, it has been determined that several games are connected. Some of the games have direct sequels, such as Zelda II being the direct sequel of the original game and Majora's Mask being the direct sequel to Ocarina of Time. Most of the games which were released after Ocarina of Time usually reference it having taken place sometime in the past; and as it shows the origin of Ganon, the Big Bad, it marks the start of the main chronology. However, it is not the first game; Skyward Sword features the origin of the Master Sword and therefore predates Ocarina, and Minish Cap (which doesn't involve Ganon or the Master Sword) may take place prior to Ocarina of Time but after Skyward Sword.

Word Of God has confirmed that the series has a split timeline caused by Link's time travel during Ocarina of Time; these are referred to as the "adult" timeline (where Adult Link defeats Ganon and Hyrule is restored) and "child" timeline (where Link is sent back to his childhood by Zelda, where he gets the chance to nip Ganondorf's plot in the bud). The split leads into The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks on the adult timeline and Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess on the child timeline. However, there is a lot of fan speculation about the timeline, resulting in frequent massive flame wars and an entire community dedicated to the Zelda timeline.

At the end of 2011, Nintendo released Hyrule Historia where an "official" timelne is released - and it includes three different paths. It's here. Of course, both Miyamoto and Aonuma admitted things did not line up exactly right. These "gaps" are often left there on purpose so they don't write themselves into a corner when designing a new game.

Analysis: One Hundred Years of Solitude posted:

We don't have an article named Analysis/OneHundredYearsOfSolitude.

Analysis: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS posted:

Anyways, I suppose the point of this long rambling discussion is to say this: Elite mages are really powerful. But they're not invincible, nor is the series an excercise in class warfare (Nanoha lives in a fracking townhouse). With the benefit of excellent training, surprise, and other firepower multipliers, they can accomplish amazing things - in that way, they are somewhat like knights (although in methodology they're a bit more like commandos). And yes, they *could* be overwhelmed by a handful of guys weilding mass weapons. But they could also be overwhelmed by a handful of lesser mages as well - it's not an issue of 'mass weapons mean the rich guys can get hurt', and that doesn't make them worthless. A Nimitz' class aircraft carrier, centerpiece of the USN, is an overwhelming advantage on the battlefield, but it costs something like 6.2 billion dollars, without even counting the planes. A $3,800,000 torpedo can snap it half. A main battle tank costs something in the area of 6,500,000, yet can be destroyed by a $85,000 missile. This does not make them worthless or obsolete. It's not quite like that, anyways: you need heavy weapons to efficiently take down high-level mages, and to actually match them... you basically need Mobile Infantry power armor, only better. Magic has its advantages - it burns through nonliving matter like paper, yet can be made (or simply is) nonlethal - very nice for counterinsurgency/police operations (imagine if every weapon in the US Army had a less lethal option). It requires minimal supply, and has the ability to produce effects that would... difficult... with conventional weapons system. A barrier jacket provides defenses normally associated with heavy armored vehicles... while looking like street clothing (or it could anyways)). It turns normal humans into reflex-boosted flying super-strong leviathans. Which reminds me: don't forget that mages aren't just dumb hunks of firepower and barriers. So you've got a bunch of guys in cover, waiting to ambush a mage with their AT weapons. Okay. What's to prevent the mage from detecting them on searchers, or with the remote probes that they can summon (if they know where to ambush, the mage knows where to scout) - or just spotting them (the mage is likely better trained at spotting ambushes than they are concealing themselves) before/as they reveal themselves, and then flying the hell out of dodge at Mach 3? Followed, of course, by saturating the area with long range burst spells - they can't exactly use civilians as cover... because magic is less-lethal. Alternatively, what's to prevent a bunch of D-rank mages waiting in hiding to ambush a high-level mage with a dozen bombardment attacks from every direction? (Besides... you know. All the things I just mentioned). Or better yet, what's to prevent a group of modestly trained mages (C/B rank (or heck, just a few such mages out of a larger group) from lying in wait, concealed by illusion spells, until their target approaches - at which time they throw a couple quick binds at them, to prevent them from running away just long enough to get hit by the aforementioned dozen some bombardment spells. (Several things, no doubt, but it's better than the original plan). I think the real issue is simply lethality. Magic has a integral less-lethal option and/or requirement (sometimes its suggested that only certain things are less-lethal... but if so, apparently everyone uses it. Most other types of weapons do not, and almost certainly not in a 'high power' form. With magic, you can have an effect that burns through a tank's armor and knocks out the crew inside. That's hard to do with a HEAT warhead/railgun/laser/whatever. Banning the more ridiculous WMD (think 'planet collapsing Imaginary Path bombs' or 'interdimensional RKK Vs') was also a concern, but not the only one... honestly, the reasons Fate gives seem a little silly. An Arc-En-Ciel, after all, is fired by the turn of a key, and 'obliterates everything within 100 kilometers' (for reference, the Tsar Bomba, the biggest nuclear weapon ever detonated, had a 'total destruction' blast radius of 25 kilometers.) This was from a weapon mounted on a police ship.

Analysis: The Odyssey posted:

We don't have an article named Analysis/TheOdyssey.

# ? Sep 25, 2013 22:03

WickedHate: Aug 1, 2013; by Lowtax

Arcsquad12 posted:

I've actually tried Raspberry Milk. It's loving delicious. Of course tropers would be frightened by it.

Tropers hate and fear all that is good.

# ? Sep 25, 2013 22:41

Sham bam bamina!: Nov 6, 2012; ƨtupid cat

Lottery of Babylon posted:

Since Lolita didn't have an Analysis page, I have to wonder: what does? Let's have a look.

Good lord. Wikigroaning is actually comforting by comparison!

And since I'm not about to read any of that, I have to ask: is it actual analysis of this trivial nerd bullshit or just empty sperging out?

Like I don't know the loving answer. :cripes:

# ? Sep 25, 2013 22:50

Thinky Whale: Aug 2, 2012; All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Fry.

It's funny how, though you'd expect it to be from TVTropes, it was on FandomSecrets that I saw the most mind-boggling wrong sentence in the English language:

"I thought Lolita was sexy."

# ? Sep 25, 2013 22:53

Srice: Sep 11, 2011

I like how the analysis section for that anime is basically sperging about power levels. The internet truly never changes.

# ? Sep 25, 2013 23:10

Lottery of Babylon: Apr 25, 2012; STRAIGHT TROPIN'

Sham bam bamina! posted:

And since I'm not about to read any of that, I have to ask: is it actual analysis of this trivial nerd bullshit or just empty sperging out?

Like I don't know the loving answer.

The Evony analysis is literally "Its ads claim that it is the best game ever. However, it does not include academic citations proving that it is the best game ever. Furthermore, there are many games in existence, so this particular one is unlikely to be the best game ever."

The Zelda analysis is sperging about canon timelines.

The Magical Girl Something Bullshit analysis looks like sperging about weapon ranges or something, my eyes instinctively slide off the page when I look at it.

The MLP analysis on that particular page was astonishingly not that awful outside of the core premise of being an analysis of a single episode of a cartoon pony show for little girls - not brilliant, and still dumb for analyzing the depth of a single pony episode while leaving so many great works of literature untouched, but not terrible enough in content to be worth mocking, which is part of why I snipped it. A look at the numerous other pony analysis pages (including two for pony rape fanfics) shows that I stumbled upon the least bad one because the rest are just horrid.

Analysis: Magic: The Gathering posted:

[snipped: 14000 words of sperging about nothing but the distinctions between the five card colors]

Analysis: The Color Purple posted:

We don't have an article named Analysis/TheColorPurple.

Analysis: Super Paper Mario posted:

This is a work in progress. Adding to it and editing it would be appreciated!

The Power of Love

Super Paper Mario is a love story. From the grand story of the Starcrossed Lovers that drives the plot, to the NPC in Flipside pining away for her lover who's addicted to gambling, nearly every character in the game discusses or shows love. The boss battles in the game are, with a few exceptions, symbols of love being corrupted in some fashion.
The Wedding

The game begins with the forced marriage of Bowser and Princess Peach, conducted by Count Bleck. While marriage is usually a pure and beautiful ceremony, an act of creation, this wedding is used only to begin the destruction of the universe. Neither of these characters truly love each other, (though it has been implied that Bowser legitimately likes Peach, but not to the point of love, and it's definitely not true the other way around) so it becomes an abhorrent act. Conversely, Blumiere and Timpani love each other dearly, and their love saves the universe.

Francis

Francis is probably the most subtle example of a boss representing corrupted love. It's clear as you play through Bitlands that he's very lonely, and has directed his affection towards physical things (like anime and dolls) in the place of real people (and, as one of the questions to get into his room indicates, has lost the few friends he has over these physical things). When he finds Tippi, he's so lonely he captures the talking butterfly and treats it exactly like he would any of the other physical things he has. When Peach shows up, he mistakes the attraction he has to her for full-on romantic love, and tries to treat her (once again) like one of his physical things, in this case a Visual Novel. In the end, none of his physical things make him any happier, and Peach beats the crap out of him.

Note that you can meet an ex-toy collector in Flipside - he says he gave up all that when he realised it didn't make him happy, and ended up getting married. He also still owns some of the cute stuff - this reinforces the idea that you can have fun things like that, and still be sane.

The Pure Hearts

As a device to drive the plot, it's suitable for Mario to be searching for "pure hearts."

Analysis: The Jungle posted:

We don't have an article named Analysis/TheJungle.

Analysis: Accidental Pornomancer posted:

As stated on the Main Page, this trope is what happens when the writer tries to blend a Nice Guy and/or Innocent Fanservice Girl with The Pornomancer and/or Slut in order to avoid the negative connotations of the latter two. People who have a lot of sex are typically portrayed in fiction as unchaste or villainous, and it's usually par for the course for heroic characters to treat sex seriously and carefully. Modern characters who have a lot of sex are usually Plucky Comic Relief, or their promiscuity is treated as a Character Flaw that runs contrary to being with their One True Love. In modern times, your average Chick Magnet or Dude Magnet is likely to be clueless to preserve their Nice Guy image.

The Accidental Pornomancer trope was much more prominent in older societies, which had different laws and opinions about sex and "rape". In particular, Mythology and Religion were very fond of this particular trope. (Such as Hercules impregnating King Thespius's daughters during his labors, Odysseus forced into being the lover of both Circe and Calypso, and the incident between Lot and his daughters.) Double Standard Rape Divine On Mortal was exceptionally common as well; after all, it's "not their fault" if they're so hot that even a god wants them.

This trope is an excellent Power Fantasy because it means that the audience can enjoy reading a character who is ultimately "good" but still finds themselves in Deus Sex Machina situations. The easiest way to shatter a sexual fantasy is to make the audience feel guilt or responsibility. However, the less of that and the more Head-Tiltingly Kinky the scenario, the more potent the fantasy.

This allows people who otherwise inexperienced with sex or unable to relate to The Casanova to engage sexual subjects and fantasy with not much discomfort. People who are meek or unassertive can put themselves into the shoes of this character, with the key to this trope being the character's attitude. It's about cases of coitus when it wasn't something the character initiated or acted upon; sex is something that just happens. If they had any hand in bringing to be, then it means they're The Casanova, Really Gets Around, or actual Pornomancer. The "accidental" in this title means that sex is something which pursues them just as (or more) often as they pursue it.

This is not an easy trope to do. It requires constant Rule of Sexy to explain why Coitus Ensues and thus stretches Willing Suspension of Disbelief. Also, it helps when there is some explanation for why the character remains innocent despite all the sex they constantly have. Due to societal preconceptions, someone who constantly has sex is "promiscuous" and someone who is constantly taken advantage of sexually is being victimized. We have a trope which covers this for women, but it's seen as very unusual for a male. As such, it takes a very delicate touch to pull this trope off in a serious narrative.

Below are common excuses why an Accidental Pornomancer is absolved of their responsibility:

Dismay: "I don't think we're supposed to be doing this..."
Confusion: "I don't get it, what's the big deal about me?"
Apathy: "Sure, I get laid, but it's not like it means anything."
Deflection: "It's not my fault! I had to do it!"
Blame-shifting: "They wouldn't take no for an answer."
Pity: "I didn't want to break his/her heart or hurt his/her feelings."
Reversing the question: "If someone that hot wanted you, would YOU say no?"
Resignation: "Alright, you win again. Your place or mine today?"
Complete obliviousness: "Yes, I slept with a different person everyday this month. Doesn't everybody?"

Analysis: Candide posted:

We don't have an article named Analysis/Candide.

# ? Sep 25, 2013 23:12

Sham bam bamina!: Nov 6, 2012; ƨtupid cat

I actually started to skim that "Accidental Pornomancer" thing for a second because it had such a bizarre title and ran into this lovely little gem:

posted:

The Accidental Pornomancer trope was much more prominent in older societies, which had different laws and opinions about sex and "rape".

I did not read any further.

# ? Sep 25, 2013 23:43

OH NO MY DICK: Feb 24, 2013; Forums Jesus

I was gonna ask why rape was in scarequotes but once I thought about it I knew exactly why.

# ? Sep 25, 2013 23:49

Lotus Aura: Aug 16, 2009; KNEEL BEFORE THE WICKED KING!

quote:

Double Standard Rape Divine On Mortal was exceptionally common as well; after all, it's "not their fault" if they're so hot that even a god wants them.

I'm pretty sure this one sentence, and the not-even-hidden implications thereof, is :tvtropes:

.txt

# ? Sep 26, 2013 00:54

Anais Nun: Apr 21, 2010

Thinky Whale posted:

It's funny how, though you'd expect it to be from TVTropes, it was on FandomSecrets that I saw the most mind-boggling wrong sentence in the English language:

"I thought Lolita was sexy."

I love Lolita. Not only is it one of the greatest novels ever written in the English language, but it's also the perfect litmus test of a terrible person.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 01:04

Penny Paper: Dec 31, 2012

Who wants their brains to leak out of their ears from sheer boredom? All of you? Okay! TVTropes just came up with a podcast version of their site!

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WikiSandbox/OTT

It's up to 16 episodes.

Penny Paper fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Sep 26, 2013

# ? Sep 26, 2013 04:26

LordGugs: Oct 16, 2012

Was listening to ELO while reading this thread so I decided to see what they had.

quote:

Last Note Nightmare: Horace Wimp...Horace Wimp...Horace Wimp...

Really...this is the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A30Bt29i5KM terrifying guys I swear!

quote:

Nightmare Fuel: "Fire On High", at least until the guitar comes in.
See also, the Last Note Nightmare example from The Diary of Horace Wimp.
The robotic vocoded voice that says "Please turn me over" at the end of Mr. Blue Sky.

I never knew MR. BLUE SKY was so scary.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 04:39

Venusian Weasel: Nov 18, 2011

Gee, tropers seem awfully adverse to runout tracks. I'll bet they poo poo themselves every time they hear the end of "A Day In The Life".

Fake Edit: yep. They don't even make it to the end.

Nightmare Fuel/The Beatles posted:

Two instances on "A Day in the Life": The deranged string crescendo, which qualifies as a Middle Note Nightmare, and the creepy looping voices at the very, very end of the song, which qualify as a "secret" Last Note Nightmare.

Judging by the full page, you'd think the Beatles were some sort of horror/goth group.

I'll give them "Long Long Long" though, the last bit of that song was a little creepy when I listened to it at 3am that one time.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 08:03

Apple Tree: Sep 8, 2013

I wondered how they felt about stories that lend themselves to :tvtropes:

when it came to the classics. Here's what I got when I tried 'Pamela':

quote:

We don't have an article named Literature/Pamela. If you want to start this new page, just click the edit button above.

I was going to look at more, but I think that screen shot says it all.

quote:

Naturally, tropers notice that he's persuasive, but they don't figure out that he's just an eloquent monster doing his best to make himself look good; instead they say he's Affably Evil Anti-Villain, and his actions are excusable because in an audiobook he's voiced by JEREMY IRONS

He gives an excellent performance, too. And it's actually appropriate to cast an actor with a pleasant voice, and not just because nobody wants to listen to twenty-odd hours of droning or squawking. It matches the beautiful prose style, but it also is right for the character, because as far as we can tell Humbert Humbert is attractive. He describes himself as such, but his vanity is such we needn't take too much note of that; what does support it is that he has no trouble getting adult partners, his landlady falls for him despite his making little effort to charm her, and even Lo's 'seduction' of him fits: she practises flirtation on him in the way that normal girls do practice on apparently safe targets, only he exploits it - but again, it suggests a appealing exterior.

Sadly, the troper take on him is, well, troperish:

quote:

Jeremy John Irons (born 1948) is an English film, television, stage and voice actor, well-known for his deep, gravelly voice, described by one critic as "whipped cream with glass shards" that reeks of MagnificentBastardry. He has won an Academy Award, two Golden Globes and an Emmy.
Irons is very British in his Hollywood roles, and isn't afraid to have some fun while doing a villain role for cash. It's difficult to make a meaningful anagram out of his name.

(Because I believe in credit, I tried to find out which critic said that about him. The Net vouchsafes nothing, so I cannot blame TVTropes for that, darnit.)

Also, he's 'very British', whatever the gently caress that means.

Apple Tree fucked around with this message at 14:39 on Sep 26, 2013

# ? Sep 26, 2013 09:12

Jerry Manderbilt: May 31, 2012; No matter how much paperwork I process, it never goes away. It only increases.

Bear Sleuth posted:

Going out of their way to make Humbert seem like not such an evil guy is just as bad.

Tropers, Tropers, Tropers: such bleeding hearts for all the wrong kinds of people.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 12:17

Lottery of Babylon: Apr 25, 2012; STRAIGHT TROPIN'

Analysis: Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better posted:

The portrayal of quadrupedal animals (reptiles except snakes, amphisbaneans, and legless lizards, amphibians except caecilians, and mammals except kangaroos, jumping mice, springhares, jerboas, and humans) in cartoons, comics, video games, animated films, and other works that feature animals from the Nearly Normal Animal to Funny Animal tiers as either bipedal or quadrupedal as they are in real life depends on the animal's species. Some are more likely to be portrayed as bipedal (like mice, rats, and bears), some are more likely to be portrayed quadrupedal as in real life (like horses and cattle), and others can be either/or. For example, in many cartoons that features cats and dogs, the cats are more likely to walk and run on two legs while the dogs are more likely to stay on all fours.

Analysis: Animal Farm posted:

We don't have an article named Analysis/AnimalFarm.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 22:42

AmiYumi: Oct 10, 2005; I FORGOT TO HAIL KING TORG

Do they still manage to poo poo up every single article with terrible Dr. Who crossover?

# ? Sep 26, 2013 23:19

ddinkins: Sep 5, 2012

AmiYumi posted:

Do they still manage to poo poo up every single article with terrible Dr. Who crossover?

I don't think it has to even be Dr. Who. All of these articles, at their very best, seem like a chore to read. At their worst, well...

# ? Sep 27, 2013 00:42

DoubleNegative: Jan 27, 2010; The most virtuous child in the entire world.

AmiYumi posted:

Do they still manage to poo poo up every single article with terrible Dr. Who crossover?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WMG/TimeLord

They've "helpfully" collated the Dr. Who crossover into its own page.

Dr. Who Fanwank posted:

Alternately, every life form in every universe is a Time Lord at some point in reincarnation. Thus, the Ultimate Question is really 'How many Time Lords are there in total?' 42.

Deep, man.

# ? Sep 27, 2013 01:20

WickedHate: Aug 1, 2013; by Lowtax

SourceElement posted:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WMG/TimeLord

They've "helpfully" collated the Dr. Who crossover into its own page.

Deep, man.

"Reference! I made another reference!"

It's like a slightly smarter version of Disaster Movie, but smarter in an insufferable way and not nearly as smart as they think.

# ? Sep 27, 2013 01:26

Sham bam bamina!: Nov 6, 2012; ƨtupid cat

You know, this thread's been a lot of fun so far, but I really miss having a central focus. The old TV Tropes threads had Pedogeddon and novel-length anime fanfiction. The Malatora thread had Taygon the psychotic cult leader and novel-length Malatora fanfiction ( :allears:

). Reddit had the Redditbomb; Bitcoins had two devastating bubbles. A lot of the old "classic" mock threads had poo poo like forum invasions, which obviously won't fly here, but that kind of stuff at least worked for the time. Don't get me wrong, I'll always enjoy pointing and laughing at idiots with horrible ideas, but I keep wishing that some insane thing would just come along and kick this thread up a level.

# ? Sep 27, 2013 02:10

Arc Hammer: Mar 4, 2013; Got any deathsticks?

While the MLP page is bad, I don't think anything quite matches the sperging you will find on the Warhammer 40000 page. It doesn't help that Games Worskshop's policy basically says "anything goes" when it comes to fluff or homebrew game rules. So you get people taking it a little too seriously. Like most 40K players.

Sham bam bamina! posted:

You know, this thread's been a lot of fun so far, but I really miss having a central focus. The old TV Tropes threads had Pedogeddon and novel-length anime fanfiction. The Malatora thread had Taygon the psychotic cult leader and novel-length Malatora fanfiction (). Reddit had the Redditbomb; Bitcoins had two devastating bubbles. A lot of the old "classic" mock threads had poo poo like forum invasions, which obviously won't fly here, but that kind of stuff at least worked for the time. Don't get me wrong, I'll always enjoy pointing and laughing at idiots with horrible ideas, but I keep wishing that some insane thing would just come along and kick this thread up a level.

Our mere presence can often be enough to drive them into a rage. I remember during the last thread how the tropers basically poo poo themselves when they realized SA was monitoring their every post for nuggets of humor.

Arc Hammer fucked around with this message at 02:38 on Sep 27, 2013

# ? Sep 27, 2013 02:33

LaughMyselfTo: Nov 15, 2012; by XyloJW

Sham bam bamina! posted:

You know, this thread's been a lot of fun so far, but I really miss having a central focus. The old TV Tropes threads had Pedogeddon and novel-length anime fanfiction. The Malatora thread had Taygon the psychotic cult leader and novel-length Malatora fanfiction (). Reddit had the Redditbomb; Bitcoins had two devastating bubbles. A lot of the old "classic" mock threads had poo poo like forum invasions, which obviously won't fly here, but that kind of stuff at least worked for the time. Don't get me wrong, I'll always enjoy pointing and laughing at idiots with horrible ideas, but I keep wishing that some insane thing would just come along and kick this thread up a level.

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3569947&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=9#post419769620

In this post I found another lovely, tropery piece of (full-length!) fiction that we might be able to get something AITTBU-esque out of, but I'm not actually sure if it's any worse than the average Troper creation.

# ? Sep 27, 2013 02:36

Kinu Nishimura: Apr 24, 2008; SICK LOOT!

LaughMyselfTo posted:

In this post I found another lovely, tropery piece of (full-length!) fiction that we might be able to get something AITTBU-esque out of, but I'm not actually sure if it's any worse than the average Troper creation.

If someone can sit through such amazing gimmicks as a character who does nothing but shout "Frog! Frog! Frog! Frog! Frog!"

# ? Sep 27, 2013 02:55

Hedgehog Pie: May 19, 2012; Total fuckin' silence.

Haha, I'll never get tired of demonstrating the disproportionate amounts of space dedicated to the most niche, nerdy things while ignoring creatively significant texts and artists. Don't forget that webcomics and Let's Plays are high art on TV Tropes too, they were always good ground for that exercise.

Missed the thread, especially the legitimately enlightening art criticism and Namtab's fan-fiction riffing; I remember an atrocious Harry Potter one that hasn't been brought up yet to my knowledge, something about him being an insufferable geek who constantly points out why Rowling's magical world wouldn't work in real life. I think this is their thread on it. Somewhat surprising to see that some people seem to have seen it as funny, mocking some of the very principles of TV Tropes. Of course, it still has over 200 pages(!) of "discussion" on it. This isn't even "I don't care about Lolita but please reconsider restoring then necessary page on [generic bad, pornographic anime]."-level bad, it's just...

quote:

2) If Harry applied the knowledge he used to do partial transfiguration to Wingardium Leviosa, he would get full telekinesis. Which means he could pull all the stuff you're not allowed to do with free transfiguration with a first-year spell. (adjusting wave-functions will get you pretty much every non-information-adjusting or magic-adjusting spell in the books)

quote:

I would imagine that delicate work using false memory charms would require careful planning on the part of the caster, including a reasonably detailed and accurate model of one's intended subject/victim to ensure one's ability to decide what memor(y/ies) would most likely elicit the desired response. Using Obliviation one can employ a trial and error method in almost any sort of interaction.

quote:

Indeed. One must develop sufficiant skill at anything before attempting to use it in as sensitive a situation as magical mental manipulation. A sufficiantly intelligent and careful wizard who has no qualms experimenting on muggles has options. That is of course assuming that some inherent difference between the minds of witches/wizards and muggles doesn't make any data gained in such a fashion inapplicable.

... good for sucking the life out of those books.

# ? Sep 27, 2013 07:35

Razorwired: Dec 7, 2008; It's about to start!

Sham bam bamina! posted:

You know, this thread's been a lot of fun so far, but I really miss having a central focus. The old TV Tropes threads had Pedogeddon and novel-length anime fanfiction. The Malatora thread had Taygon the psychotic cult leader and novel-length Malatora fanfiction (). Reddit had the Redditbomb; Bitcoins had two devastating bubbles. A lot of the old "classic" mock threads had poo poo like forum invasions, which obviously won't fly here, but that kind of stuff at least worked for the time. Don't get me wrong, I'll always enjoy pointing and laughing at idiots with horrible ideas, but I keep wishing that some insane thing would just come along and kick this thread up a level.

Yeah, the posting quality bar is pretty low in this thread so far. I've been pretty poo poo in it because there's nothing really going on at TVTropes right now. They're just being kinda lukewarm terrible. Hopefully we can stick it out for a little while because one of two things may give us something to mock in real time:

Fast Eddie is at his craziest when he hears that the Goons are watching. He starts outright banning anyone for saying anything nicer than "Goons are literally Nazis." He'll also edit the SA trope page to remove stuff like "Goons talk a lot of poo poo but they literally fund a school and give a decent chunk to other charities. So they can't be all bad." And booting anyone who questions him about it.

NaNoWriMo is every holiday ever for this thread. We can always hope for another MCAC. Or at least some of the elements that MCAC used in order to fulfill the wordcount challenge portion of NaNoWriMo. I'm actually surprised more Tropers don't just copy and past entire singalongs because it's 11:30 and I need my thousand words.

# ? Sep 27, 2013 08:08

Josef bugman: Nov 17, 2011; Pictured: Poster prepares to celebrate Holy Communion (probablY)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund

Thinky Whale posted:

"I thought Lolita was sexy."

Its terrifying to imagine that these sorts of people exist and are walking about.

What is also scary is what happens when a person leaves and realises how horrible they've been, is there ever any redemption for one of the poor brain damaged fuckers who realises years down the line that "oh poo poo, rape is always bad and these fuckers are making light of it" or "holy crap everyone here is a paedophile".

I mean most would just shrug and go back to porno-anime and try and justify how people "don't understand" it, but I'd feel sorry for the people who realise how horrifying it all is and then have no way to undo being on there.

# ? Sep 27, 2013 08:10

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 25, 2024 00:15

Apple Tree: Sep 8, 2013

I dunno, I thought Lottery of Babylon's Animal Farm find was pretty stellar. But you want horrible writing? I'll show you horrible writing. This is their idea of how working-class Londoners talk:

quote:

Armed Blag

Wotcha, me old china. How's your Ruby? Bit 'ot innit? Well, each to 'is own self. Me, I luv 'em.

Lemme tell ya 'baht a little caper that the criminal fraternity used to play in back in the day. You know, when people smoked that 'ganja or 'ad girls' 'air.

The blag. Now, this ain't what it means today. This weren't no getting access with a high-class set of bluffs. And it ain't some fancy name for your blog. A blag was an armed robbery done right, done old-school. Sometimes we done over the bank itself but more likely was tooling up a few villains to do over the security van moving the pay packets between em. One variant was them little sub-Post Offices that usually 'ad one pensioner serving and no thick glass, no thing. Piece of piss, that.

See, before you had your fancy-schmancy credit cards and online banking, you had all your money in readies. Proper cash.

So to get this money from the banks out to the works, they drove it about in security vans. Amateur transit-jobs squired about by flabby ex-Old Bill done for being on the take along with herberts thinking they was Bruce Lee. They'd 'ave a shatter-proof windscreen and a lockbox but none of your exploding coloured-dyes and time locks.

If you knew where the van was going to be and when (there were ways of getting that- like discovering someone at the company liked his girlie mags and making the consequences clear if he didn't help you), you could turn it over. This is what was called a "cash-in-transit robbery".

What you did then was get your sawn-off and some pickaxe 'andles, then attack it, Robin Hood/Lawrence of Arabia style, making sure your faces were covered. You coshed the guards (you didn't shoot anyone, no siree. Not back then) and slung yer hook with the take before the Sweeney showed up. They were armed and not very nice.

Of course, then you had to make sure no-one turned you in before you ended up in the Costa del Sol, sipping champers with your lovely lady. 'specially, you had to watch out for the big crooks.

Kind of dead now, cos of all the DNA and what not. Those were the days.

Translation into plain English:

A type of typically British Crime Caper revolving around the robbery of an armoured car carrying a company's payroll. For obvious reasons, it will be set in more primitive times when workers received a pay envelope (full of cash) rather than a pay cheque, necessitating the delivery of said cash by said armoured car. The cast is likely to be full of Violent Glaswegians and other British Undesirables, notably London Gangsters.
Compare Train Job and The Caper.

You're welcome.

(Goodness knows, Cockneys say 'fancy-schmancy' and 'no siree' all the time down my way.)

Apparently, though, this is something only a pedant would mock:

quote:

As any Brit will tell you, there is no such thing as a "British" accent. It's especially odd when the speaker uses both the phrases "British accent" and "Scottish accent", given Scotland is in Britain. Presumably they mean "English", but England also has a ridiculous number of very markedly different accents ... When we say "British Accent" here, we don't mean a single accent but rather one of the deluge of them recognizably from Britain.

...Nevertheless, any number of people from the UK are such extreme sticklers about this trope as to fly off the handle upon hearing the very words "British accent" without pausing to consider that the user of the words was probably using an umbrella term because specifics were unnecessary in the context of what he/she was saying, instead of claiming or implying that in all of Britain there is only one accent.

...Speaking of which, many Americans seem to believe the Australian accent is a British accent, as demonstrated by the use of a "fake British accent" by Ross Geller in Friends which is in fact far closer to an Australian accent. As Australia and Britain are on opposite sides of the world, this is not the case, but keep in mind that many Americans literally cannot tell the difference. (Italics theirs. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/BritishAccents)

I have found the area in which tropers are opposed to being sticklers for detail. It's the point where someone tells them their Dr Who impression is crap.

# ? Sep 27, 2013 10:18

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > General Bullshit > TV Trops

«‹›222 »