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Original Message
"Trope Of The Day VIII: in which everyone here is personally insulted by at least one entry."
Posted by Estee on 01-11-14 at 09:04 AM
Also known as 'a standard day on the Internet'.
Table of contents
Messages in this discussion
"#701"
Posted by Estee on 01-11-14 at 09:10 AM
In much of the country, this is a group-enforced trope which can be expressed as a series of steps.

1. Express interest in sophisticated things.
2. Be presumed gay.
3. Get beaten to near-death or beyond.

Therefore, in order not to be beaten to near-death (or beyond)...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MenAreUncultured

Great society we've got going here.

"Repling To Your own Trope.."
Posted by foonermints on 01-11-14 at 06:10 PM
A sure sign of sanity.
"#702 (oh, Fooner...)"
Posted by Estee on 01-12-14 at 09:16 AM
You've just created a character who's a comedian. Naturally, this character will have to tell jokes. And so you decide that he's going to tell the funniest joke ever -- one which will be completely original.

However, there's a small problem with this. In order for that character to tell the joke, you have to create it. And writing humor isn't your strong suit, let alone just casually coming up with the funniest joke ever. Pretty much everything you create would launch an entire farmers' market from even the least sophisticated audience, and those with taste would find pitchforks -- somewhere. This scene isn't going to work without the (completely original) funniest joke ever to anchor it. So what do you do?

You come up with something totally lame, have the character tell it -- and then write the audience reacting to it with howls of laughter, helpless knee-slapping, and optional loss of bladder control. Because surely if other fictional characters think it's the funniest joke ever, that'll sell it -- right?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HumorDissonance

Wrong.

"RE: #702 (oh, Fooner...)"
Posted by suzzee on 01-14-14 at 10:17 AM
The Emperor has no clothes. Now tell him how great he looks, or else.


I should be watched....closely.

"RE: #702 (oh, Fooner...)"
Posted by foonermints on 02-21-14 at 00:27 AM
I can't write worth beans.



I can make you one of these, though.

Why does something tell me that you may need it one day?


Think of it as an adult "Thudguard".

"#703"
Posted by Estee on 01-13-14 at 09:00 AM
The audience accepts that there are rules.

Some of them are taken in on a subconscious level. The main character makes it to the end, that's a major one. For this genre, no one really gets hurt. It's a comedy and that means the motives aren't all that serious. Romantic drama: they'll get back together, just you wait...

And then the main character dies in the second act because the romantic comedy antagonist pulled out a shotgun and blew away most of her skull.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GutPunch?from=Main.AudienceSuckerPunch

You're off the map. And here there be dragons.

"RE: #703"
Posted by kingfish on 01-13-14 at 10:15 AM
So, you've just finished your morning scan of the headlines, and decide to go for a jog/swim along the reef in search of breakfast. As you turn out of your cave driveway you notice a little Hors d'oeuvre floating in the water within easy reach. Ah, how nice you think, a tasty little shrimp, maybe it’s a little of an odd color, but probably it’s just what I need right now. And you chomp it.

In the first micro moment you notice a funny rubbery taste, then a sharp mouth pain as you are being hauled up into the world of air breathing skin bags by an incomprehensible and unyielding force that you never suspected existed, and thrown into a bucket where you frantically gulp for water. You desperately try to swim away, swim away, but all that results is that you flop around in the bucket. And you die.

That's your gut punch to the hero (me).

"RE: #703"
Posted by suzzee on 01-14-14 at 10:19 AM
It's good that Filet-o-fish are square, sightless, not on the protected species list and breaded before they're caught.


Suzzopolis by Tribe


"#704"
Posted by Estee on 01-14-14 at 08:48 AM
The Fourth Rule Of Bad Breakups

At the exact moment your relationship ends, every radio station in the area will be notified and adjust their playlist accordingly.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MockingMusic

And the talk stations will have your ex on as a special guest. All of them. Simultaneously. The special subject? You.

"RE: #704"
Posted by kingfish on 01-14-14 at 09:46 AM
The Corollary:

It doesn't matter what is played, every song as well as every overheard conversation seems to be directed at you.

"RE: #704"
Posted by suzzee on 01-14-14 at 10:20 AM
Deny-Deny-Deny.


Corrupting teenage boys since, well,
none of your business how long...


"#705"
Posted by Estee on 01-15-14 at 09:19 AM
Long-running series have a habit of shipping off characters in order to keep both the core cast and number of simultaneously-running plotlines at something manageable. So a story arc will be wrapped up, and the lead of that sequence will -- fade out. Get on a bus and never come back. In extreme cases, they go upstairs to their bedroom and never come down. There's an entire family of tropes dedicated to how these characters are phased out, sent away, ignored, or sometimes just retroactively forgotten -- which can take some real work.

However, there are times when those characters return: there's another trope tree for that occasion. And for this particular entry, they will be coming back for only one reason:

To die.

Because deaths can drive the ratings up, hammer home a plot point, teach about noble sacrifice -- no, really, it's about driving the ratings up. Remember that character you used to love? Well, here they are again! Everyone's happy! It's a reunion! No one's asking where they've been! Happy, happy people everywhere! And there's the gunshot! And now we're at a funeral!

All those questions about what the character was doing? Forget it. Queries on why they were exiled in the first place? Don't exist. This character was brought back so the long-time fans could rejoice and the newer ones would start to understand why this person was important to the series as a whole -- and then get killed. Their death drives the next story arc. Or gets ignored, whichever is easier to work with.

So if a character who's been exiled for a good long time suddenly drops back into the story --

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BackForTheDead

-- ask why.

And then duck.

(Sadly, this does not apply to reality competition shows.)

"RE: #705"
Posted by kingfish on 01-15-14 at 09:56 AM
LAST EDITED ON 01-15-14 AT 11:42 AM (EST)

Sadly, this does not apply to reality competition shows.

It is sad, so terribly sad. And frustrating. And apparently unfixable.

Moving on, it can apply to these message boards. What happened to everybody? Real life? Facebook? Ennui? Pissed off?

I mean, it may be good to have turnover, but what happened to them? Some, sadly, have passed on, as will we all one day. Hopefully not like Vince though. Not my preference anyway.

A moment for Vince and Survey Sez. And others. We remember. At least we will till we too are forgotten.

Some were banned. They shouldn't have oughter done what they done.

Some couldn't take the heat. That's life I guess. If they aren’t tolerant of others, maybe it’s better that they don’t play in this sandbox.

It's certainly enjoyable to see occasional ghosts from the past return for what is usually a single post.

I mean, we like being able to once in a while give Knockers another tweak, don't we? And don't we miss the 20 second peek into the future that Max would give us? And still occasionally does.

The point (tenuous as it is) is that each fate, and each reason for not-being here could be a named trope in our private Wiki. So that when Estee finally runs out of TVTropes random picks, she can pick up with a whole new universe of randomness.


"#706"
Posted by Estee on 01-16-14 at 11:56 AM
The answer is 'Child Protection Services'.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DepartmentOfChildDisservices

The question is 'How can you lie three times in three words?'

"RE: #706"
Posted by kingfish on 01-16-14 at 01:26 PM
A bit outside the trope maybe, but I don't see how Child Services in general is effective at all given the grudgingly allocated civil budgets, the red tape, and the general apathy of the public.

Kudos to the workers that persevere.

"#707"
Posted by Estee on 01-17-14 at 09:25 AM
Two pounds of assorted cosmetics, emergency sewing supplies, applications, removal creams, and various hair maintenance items.

Another three pounds of electronics, contact information, a couple of coupons, one Total Emergencies Only metrocard, identification, various cards, and pamphlets explaining why I'm going to burn forever which I keep being handed every other block.

Roughly twelve ounces of cash. Mostly metal.

Eight ounces of stuff I keep carrying for other people: medications they run out of, their own emergency cosmetics, keys...

...that reminds me, about a pound of keys...

...oh, and then there's the supermarket discount tabs plus a couple of memberships, I think there's a magazine towards the bottom...

...that just about sums up the secondary compartment...

...and you think I'm unarmed?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HandbagOfHurt

Do you know what banning guns would do for me? It would make this thing twelve ounces lighter.

"RE: #707"
Posted by kingfish on 01-17-14 at 01:44 PM
"#708 (Trope #1)"
Posted by Estee on 01-18-14 at 09:00 AM
Yeah, like I'm really going to post the site's real and true first-ever codified trope in honor of the Professor's passing...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GilliganCut

...gawdsdammit, how do they keep doing that?

It's one of the most basic tropes out there: say you won't do something, camera cut, and there you are doing it. It's a railroad plot where you get tied to the train, and not necessarily the front of the engine car. Protest all you like: the only thing it takes to make it all moot is a single jump slice in the footage. The Gilligan Cut removes all denial, reluctance, outright refusal, and free will.

North Carolina will make it Amendment #2 in the spring.

"RE: #708 (Trope #1)"
Posted by kingfish on 01-18-14 at 06:58 PM
Ah, but who has the power of the Gilligan Cut? Who gets to the authority to waive free will?

There's where the power resides.

(I think it was Lovey. Her submissivity had to have been a façade.)

"#709"
Posted by Estee on 01-19-14 at 08:53 AM
As this is a trope I am frequently personally insulted by, I will not make the effort to place a description here. The title suffices.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ResetButtonEnding

Incidentally, 90% of STNG, right there.

"RE: #709"
Posted by kingfish on 01-21-14 at 09:20 AM
LAST EDITED ON 01-21-14 AT 09:20 AM (EST)

With this we gain knowledge of Estee's personal insult button. The collection grows.

"#710 (series revival tonight)"
Posted by Estee on 01-20-14 at 08:38 AM
Sugar.

Spice.

Everything nice.

A triple helping of pure whoop-ass.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls?from=Main.PowerpuffGirls

And once again, the day will be saved -- before bedtime.

(They're in kindergarten. They need their sleep.)

"RE: #710 (series revival tonight)"
Posted by kingfish on 01-21-14 at 09:23 AM
Mighty Mouse had a better theme song.
"#711 (worst trope name ever)"
Posted by Estee on 01-21-14 at 08:54 AM
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MyGirlIsASlut

And you're okay with that!

*sigh* I have to narrow this down a lot. This trope is typically for those situations where a heterosexual or bisexual female is in an open relationship and the male of the duo (on up) has no problems with her engaging in sex with other men. There's also a bit of 'I partially love you because you're so experienced' in there along with an occasional touch of 'You got the video, right?', but on the whole, it's about not caring who she's with during part of the day and night as long as the man know about it and the majority of the time goes to him. If the open relationship includes same-gender, we're in another trope. If it's a group marriage, another trope. Professional prostitute or adult film actor, probably this trope. Loves showing off her body and seeing the reactions but doesn't do anything with the impressed other than wipe away the drool, nowhere near this trope. Had a lot of partners before 'settling down', shouldn't be this trope but often gets listed there anyway.

...really should have hit the stupid button again...

"RE: #711 (worst trope name ever)"
Posted by kingfish on 01-21-14 at 09:28 AM
Important Note: This trope applies if the girl is lauded by her man when she flirts with other men. A girl flirting with other women all the time, even going all the way, only applies if said girl also enjoys sleeping with men other than her boyfriend and he doesn't see anything wrong with that. If the girl only sleeps with other women but no man other than her boyfriend, it's not this trope.

OK. Got it. So, where is that trope?

"RE: #711 (worst trope name ever)"
Posted by suzzee on 01-21-14 at 10:56 AM
Some want a girl like dear old Mom.



A Tribe collectible


"#712"
Posted by Estee on 01-22-14 at 09:55 AM
Ah, love interests. They drive the story. They create motivation. And for some series, they are -- disposable. Fall in love, create motivation, get rid of interest, repeat in next episode because the hero is never ever going to settle down because gee, being happily married is just so boring and if you killed the spouse, the hero would have to spend at least twelve seconds in mourning before sleeping with someone else. So Disposable Love Interest is its own trope.

But... those Love Interests can be Disposed of in peaceful ways. They move out of town, find someone else, cheat on the hero, decide they were attracted to the other gender all along, reveal they were married all along -- okay, some of those have screaming involved, but the point is that the DLI typically walks away intact and the Hero is Motivated for the next round.

However...

...some heroes need more motivation than others.

Sometimes nothing less than a corpse will do.

Hero falls in love. Love interest dies horribly. Over. And over. And over. It can reach the point where on the rarest of occasions, the hero may start to notice and declare celibacy. The less aware just keep racking up the body count, because to care about this person is a death sentence. For them to care back doubles it. (In a rare superexample under the Comics section, if the main character says she loves or even likes anyone, they explode.) And it just keeps happening. For a long-running show, the cast is eventually filled with inadvertent serial killers. Such as...

"As an overall statistic, as of Skyfall, sleeping with Bond brings with it a 30.36% chance (17 out of 56) of dying before the end of the movie. Of course, this varies from Bond to Bond. Timothy Dalton managed to get a 100% survival rate, while the current Bond, Daniel Craig, has reached a staggering 80% mortality rate, and it took him three movies to get below 100% (Ladies, don't kiss him unless your will is in order)."

"Jack Bauer. Let's go down the list: Teri died, Nina was The Mole, Kate dumped him, Claudia died, Audrey was made to believe Jack had died, Diane broke up with him when he got back together with Audrey, who was then tortured to insanity, and Renee bites it less than an hour after sleeping with Jack. Geez, this guy can't catch a break.

It extends beyond just Jack. Tony had also been in a relationship with Nina, then had Michelle divorce him, then get murdered shortly after they remarried and she became pregnant with their son. Every president that is shown with an on-screen spouse ends up divorced after one season David Palmer after Season 1, Charles Logan after Season 5 (though he first appeared late in season 4), and Allison Taylor after season 7, and David Palmer had a later girlfriend break up with him due to an inability to handle the limelight of being involved with the president. Audrey Raines was on the verge of reconciling with her husband when he died from injuries sustained when he took a bullet for Jack, the man she'd been involved with during her separation from him, then is led to believe Jack is dead, then finds out he's alive just before he gets taken prisoner by the Chinese and never really learns otherwise due to the aforementioned torture she gets after going to China to look for him. Even Kim had this for awhile, as her first boyfriend was incarcerated, her second broke up with her after losing a leg as the result of her actions, and her third broke up with her after she was led to believe that her father died and may or may not have died offscreen a few seasons after his final appearance."

"Ben Cartwright, the patriarch of the Cartwright family, has three sons from three different women. One of his wives died in childbirth, another died after falling from a horse, while the other one was killed in an Indian attack. Each Cartwright man has a string of girlfriends over 14 seasons, many of whom do not survive the experience. The worst man to flirt with, statistically, was the youngest, Little Joe Cartwright: over 14 seasons, he had 39 girlfriends, 25.6% of whom died. His girlfriend mortality rate became so legendary that other TV shows started to lampshade it. (For example, on Happy Days, Mrs. Cunningham refuses to watch any episode where Little Joe gets engaged, simply because "that girl is headed straight for Boot Hill!")"

And thus:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CartwrightCurse

Imagine if they weaponized it.

"RE: #712"
Posted by kingfish on 01-22-14 at 11:04 AM
Not even mentioned were the women Charlie Sheen's character dated on 2-1/2 Men.

Maybe they didn't die (as far as we know), and maybe actual love wasn't involved, and maybe a couple stayed for several episodes before going off into the TV ether, but quantity wise he has to be in the top three all time.

Now, as to Charlie's RL ex'es, one can only speculate but that number has to be pretty much world class too.

I like the title. Little Joe was the Elvis of the west.


"#713"
Posted by Estee on 01-23-14 at 08:56 AM
Because multiple centuries of having Caucasians systemically trying to suppress you into the ground just gives you all kinds of insight into the problems of that random white guy who just walked by, not to mention an overwhelming drive to freely offer all of it.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicalNegro

This is when a character from the local minority (typically Afrimerican) gives the lead (just about always Caucasian) advice which turns their entire issue around -- and that's the only purpose the minority character serves. Actual magical powers are optional (although they do appear): it's their influence on the lead's life -- for which they never ask any reward, or credit, or acknowledgement, or, well, anything -- which is the true magic. And it's one of those tropes which, once you know about it, you will see everywhere. You can't get away from the thing, because the scriptwriters can't. Because after all, the true purpose of every other skin hue on the planet is to make the pink ones feel good about themselves.

One wonders why multiple centuries of oppression would leave anyone in the mood to do something other than punch the oppressor's descendants in the face. Especially after seeing the smaller role paycheck.

(Someone once asked me if I had any mystical knowledge from the East which would apply to a certain situation. I pointed out that as a godless half-breed, fifty percent of my mystical knowledge was coming from the West and if we had the two halves meet at a rough geographical midpoint, the only piece of local mystical advice I could probably give on most issues was "Try not to drown." This went over about as well as you might expect.)

"RE: #713"
Posted by kingfish on 01-23-14 at 01:59 PM
LAST EDITED ON 01-24-14 AT 12:15 PM (EST)

Somehow "The Help" should fit into this trope. Except that instead of one black mentor type, a whole community of maids was that. Especially to Skeeter.

Minnie (especially) and Aibileen were amazing performances.

"#714 (locally universal)"
Posted by Estee on 01-24-14 at 08:24 AM
You.

Not you.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DigitalAvatar

You/not you.

You.

"RE: #714 (locally universal)"
Posted by cahaya on 01-24-14 at 09:09 AM
Far out!


cahaya '75

"RE: #714 (locally universal)"
Posted by kingfish on 01-24-14 at 09:15 AM
LAST EDITED ON 01-24-14 AT 12:14 PM (EST)


Me.


Not Me.


Me.


Not Me.


Me. (Malachite Kingfisher)

"#715 (graphic novel series)"
Posted by Estee on 01-25-14 at 08:09 AM
Gendercide.

In the space of minutes, every male mammal on Earth died. If it had a Y chromosome, it perished, right down to the smallest cells. Fetuses died in the womb or were produced stillborn. There was no stopping it. No cure. No time. No known cause. And the women inherited a world where they were already extinct: they just hadn't quite finished the process yet.

The world changed: how could it not? But it changed in part according to a rule few will speak: that women as a whole have always been just as vicious, bloodthirsty, and cruel as men -- they just have better publicity. And suddenly, there was no one left to pretend for.

So the wars continued. Israel, which always had the highest percentage of females in the military, found itself a superpower and began flexing muscles. The United States fractured as its females took the simmering hatreds of the deceased and vowed to keep them going forever. Australia, first to put women in submarines, turned into the naval giant of the planet. And all of it was -- a distraction. Anything to keep them from realizing that the last generation was just that, species were going extinct every few months -- and Earth would belong to the reptiles again.

Except that... the Gendercide wasn't quite complete.

There were two survivors.

One was a Capuchin monkey named Ampersand, being trained -- badly -- as a helper.

The other was human. An out-of-work magician and amateur escape artist (which is why he had time to train monkeys (badly)), son of a Cabinet member, from a family which was just a little too much into classic culture. And thus, Yorick Brown.

The human race may have a chance -- if they can figure out why these two are still alive. If they can be kept alive. Because all Yorick wants to do is find his girlfriend, who was in Australia when the world began its slow death --

-- and all so very many of the survivors want to do is kill him.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicBook/YTheLastMan?from=Main.YTheLastMan

After all, it's not a true Gendercide until the Last Man goes down...

Series is complete. Available at quality libraries near you. Kindle editions for all ten volumes would total out to roughly $65.

"RE: #715 (graphic novel series)"
Posted by kingfish on 01-25-14 at 10:33 AM
So, if handling Ampersand's feces gives Yorick immunity, then there should have been a random few others that would also be immune. A sewage worker or two, a poop picker upper or two, a monkey birth cage cleaner outer or two. A couple of kids that tease monkeys in cages?

This would be a fun world for a guy until he is caught and strapped to a table with special "Milking" tools. Or a urethra tube going straight to the sperm producing apparatus.

They'd probably feed you good, though.

"#716"
Posted by Estee on 01-26-14 at 09:08 AM
Go ahead. Watch a single episode of Survivor. Really, what harm could it possibly do?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GatewaySeries

...uh-oh.

In general, this is any creation which tends to be encountered first and introduces the viewer to that entire genre -- presuming they keep going. Basically, the same thing as a gateway drug, except these actually exist and can be much more expensive. If you read down the list for your chosen category, you'll probably find at least one portal you initially stepped through.

Funny how Portal isn't on there.

"RE: #716"
Posted by kingfish on 01-28-14 at 11:12 AM
The Ukrainians have taken Estee.

Estee, if you're out there, and can hear me, blink once for yes and twice for no.

Blink three time if you're feet are cold, and four times if you want Fooner to swing in on his vine and rescue you from the Crazy Ukrainians.

Also, find Spot's FB. I'm not sure how to do that, but you're going to have to improvise.

"RE: #716"
Posted by kidflash212 on 02-03-14 at 07:29 PM
Seems this post was a gateway in another sense.
"RE: #716"
Posted by kingfish on 02-04-14 at 10:03 AM
Estee, just start over.

The Mods will hopefully someday get the accounts right again, but till then, and if the various proposed fixes don't work for you, just start over. You can be reborn as EsteeReturns, EsteeYeti, or Estee'sIsland, or something.

There is still some randomness left to explore.

"RE: #716"
Posted by kidflash212 on 02-04-14 at 10:56 AM
Or Christie'sGirl or ILuvMyGuv.

Hoping a little provoking will work

"RE: #716"
Posted by kingfish on 02-04-14 at 12:08 PM
LAST EDITED ON 02-04-14 AT 12:12 PM (EST)

Provoking her!

Why didn't I think of that?

I think we should turn on Fox if we want to get the real news!

And those Tea Partiers? Such fun folks. Life of the party. Can't live without them, and you can't live without them.

"Another way to fix your account."
Posted by kingfish on 01-29-14 at 01:43 PM
This is for Estee, Snidget, and anyone in a similar predicament. And for whom the hack can't be corrected soon enough, although I'm sure everything possible is being done to fix this.

If you are locked out of this forum, and know what your screen ID was, and still have the Email address you originally used to register oh so long ago, you can recover. At least this worked for me and (I believe) adrichcharlie.

Go to the RTVW login page.

Click the Register a New Account option

Register using your old ID screen name (keep letter case as it was originally) and your old Email address.

The system will send to the address that you just gave them a new Password. You can use it to log in with your old familiar screen name, you will have your post odometer, and access to your emails.

And you're good to go. All that has changed is that you have to use the new PW.

If you previously re-registered using a different Screen ID (such as the "Agman2" that Agman used) and your old address, the trick will be to disassociate that new name with that old address.

I suggest (I haven't had to test this, so there may be a snag that I haven't anticipated) signing in with your new screen ID, going to your new account and changing your Email address to a temporory address, maybe a yahoo account or an address from the site that Spot suggested), then sign out.

Then you could use the above method to reregister using your original Screen name and email address, and it should work since that address is no longer associated with your newer Screen ID.

As Spot says, it seems that the hacker deactivated a lot of accounts (others were apparently unaffected), and when you sign in with a new ID and your normal Email address, the system thinks you are a new poster.

I'm guessing that the hacker got in as a system administrator, started inactivating posters one by one (possibly in alphabetic order), and just got tired of doing that after a while and quit. The list of RTVW posters is really really long. This could explain why the unaffected accounts are farther down the alpha list, like Mooney, Puffy and Pepe.

Does not explain Snidget. Obviously, for her, it was personal,

"#717"
Posted by Estee on 02-17-14 at 10:57 AM
There is a laboratory working on a virus which will remove a species from the earth. The virus works by both airborne and blood vectors: it will essentially infect everything, but kill only the one species. That species will be extinct within five days of pathogen release. Clearly something must be done. The willful extinction of an entire species is a crime which justifies any and all attempts to prevent it, no matter how much harm those attempts cause. In fact, doing harm to those plotting the extinction should be seen as a blessing.

So you gather your forces and attack the lab where the virus is being created. You breach their security and destroy all samples, computer data, and physical notes on how the thing was made.

Of course, that leaves the scientists. They just might think of it again. And what's a few humans dead compared to the extinction of an entire species? Let's see, how many people worked on the project? Two hundred? Still a pittance, really...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnimalWrongsGroup

And thus the mosquito was saved.

"#718 (music)"
Posted by Estee on 02-17-14 at 11:05 AM
C Major
G Major
A Minor
F Major

Congratulations. Your fifteen minutes can now begin.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheFourChordsOfPop

Everything else in the instrument lesson book is filler.

"#719"
Posted by Estee on 02-17-14 at 11:16 AM
Many crop species have been genetically manipulated by humans through selective breeding. High on that list is corn. Did you know that before we started tampering with the output, most corn plants would have strained to reach the average adult human waist? Absolutely true.

So if not for our interference, all those people in horror stories who wander into cornfields, become lost, and die would still be alive. The monsters who hide there? Extinct. Crop circles? At the minimum, somewhat less dramatic. And evil-possessed scarecrows? Not in this field.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LostInTheMaize

Way to go, us!


"RE: #719"
Posted by Molaholic on 02-17-14 at 09:05 PM
Not to mention that (revised) famed song lyric:

"And the corn will grow as high as a nanny goat's eye!"

"#720"
Posted by Estee on 02-18-14 at 08:58 AM
You have to die.

It isn't necessarily suicide. It is a need. It's part of the plan. It's a requirement, an absolute necessity in order to make sure things end well. The only way this is going to work is if you're not around to see anything which happens after. It may be the only way anyone gets an 'after'. So you have to die, and you accept that --

-- but you can't take your own life.

It might be your moral code. Mind control in action. Hardwired programming. Restraints. Anything which keeps you from doing the deed -- and requires that another take the burden of enabling your death. Because it's all part of the plan, and without that, the plan doesn't happen at all.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ICannotSelfTerminate

Note that this does also cover cases of assisted suicide (generally due to intolerable pain) where the victim is incapable of killing themselves. As such, this trope is illegal in most states, including all those you're trying to save.

I Cannot Legally Self Terminate, however, was judged to be a stupid trope name.

"RE: #720"
Posted by kingfish on 02-18-14 at 09:30 AM
The gun is willing but the bullet won't go.

Hey, I can take the pain after all.

DNR? DNR? Hell no, R me dammit.

Just shoot me now! Hey, wait...



A Tribal Whoopee! We're all gonna fry.

"#721"
Posted by Estee on 02-19-14 at 09:40 AM
Hair worn long at the back: generally considered feminine.

Hair worn long at the front so that it completely covers the eyes and prevents any chance of your actually being able to see through your own style choice: generally considered dumbass.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlindingBangs

(Incidentally, if you have really long hair, you can try this out just by flipping it forward. Of course, you'll have no idea how you look, but what else are selfies for?)

"RE: #721"
Posted by kingfish on 02-19-14 at 11:02 AM
It can be effective though.

Take two big brown Oliver Twist eyes peeking out from under a thick mop, no visible face except for a small puckering mouth and a little impish nose, and you have a basic survival technique for a kid who would ordinarily have no defensive attributes.

And yes, I have a niece that can play me like a drum.

"RE: #721"
Posted by kidflash212 on 02-19-14 at 11:08 AM
I always preferred the Veronica Lake look myself.



Tribe!

"RE: #721"
Posted by Molaholic on 02-19-14 at 02:27 PM
So, are there any kingfish in Veronica Lake?
"RE: #721"
Posted by kingfish on 02-19-14 at 04:22 PM
LAST EDITED ON 02-19-14 AT 08:44 PM (EST)

I swim in the deep moonlit pools of mystery in her eyes.

Or I would, if she wasn't, like, dead. Now it's more like the adrift in the putrid morass of decayed eyeball flesh. Not nearly as much fun.

"#722"
Posted by Estee on 02-20-14 at 08:40 AM
Take your best guess before looking at the actual trope.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GravityIsAHarshSeamstress

"RE: #722"
Posted by kingfish on 02-20-14 at 09:39 AM
LAST EDITED ON 02-21-14 AT 09:12 AM (EST)


Not looking.

But, of course it must be about the physics of the Higgs Boson and the related theories of particle mass and gravity, and just what the heck was the guy drinking who dreamed that up?

I was not thinking of the ultimate fate of the little girl in Fooner's Sig. But now that I think of it...what a shame!.

Can I look now?

(Nope. Not what I thought. Not nearly as interesting, either.)



Crabman

"RE: #722"
Posted by foonermints on 02-20-14 at 11:57 PM
» the ultimate fate of the little girl in Fooner's Sig«

I planned on covering her up with a new T-Shirt. Something she will enjoy.


WHAT are YOU looking at?
..of course the Australian utube video explains it all..

"RE: #722"
Posted by snidget on 02-20-14 at 03:49 PM
Wardrobe malfunctions?
"#723 (95% of human history, minimum)"
Posted by Estee on 02-21-14 at 06:19 PM
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime

"#724 "
Posted by Estee on 02-22-14 at 08:47 AM
"One alternate-universe Clark Kent had writer's block while writing a novel. Frustrated, he picks up the typewriter, crumples it into a ball, and hurls it through the wall of his lunar Fortress of Solitude. It smacks into a hillside miles away, which is shown to be pockmarked with craters, each containing a crumpled typewriter..."

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WritersBlockMontage

"RE: #724 "
Posted by foonermints on 02-22-14 at 10:04 AM
Barton Fink?
"RE: #724 "
Posted by Estee on 02-22-14 at 10:12 AM
Dunno, never met Barton.
"RE: #724 "
Posted by kingfish on 02-22-14 at 06:59 PM
That's Mr. Fooner Fink to you.
"RE: #724 "
Posted by kingfish on 02-22-14 at 12:57 PM
LAST EDITED ON 02-22-14 AT 12:58 PM (EST)

You may wonder that it's possible for me, based on my ability to always have extremely interesting things to say, or at least a boneheaded opinion of some kind to express in these threads.

But it's true, I am blocked.

"#725"
Posted by Estee on 02-23-14 at 01:50 PM
Being a low-level character in a video game is, among many other things, financial hell. The only weapons you can afford with your starting cash keep breaking. Your armor is either tissue paper or would need a major upgrade just to be that thick. Put the two together and you're lucky to get away from any fight with five square inches of skin intact -- so naturally, the pittance you're being paid for all the work you're doing is going to healing potions. And weapon replacements. New layers of tissue paper. Food? You're searching every compost heap in the hopes of finding something which hasn't completely decomposed yet. And shelter? You see that alley? Better hope you saw it first.

But in time, you advance. You take armor and weapons off defeated foes. You learn how to cast spells which heal you, create food, and provide shelter. And the fees you're getting paid go up with your skills. Finally, you aren't scrapping for every last copper. You have liquid assets. You can indulge in the finer things the world has to offer...

...which turn out to be basic food, shelter, arms, and armor. All of which you already have. And nothing else whatsoever is for sale. Ever.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoneyForNothing

After a while, you just start leaving the gold behind. It makes your shoulders hurt.

"RE: #725"
Posted by kingfish on 02-24-14 at 09:36 AM
More money than one can use. Hmmmmm...

Interesting concept.

Referring of course to the dollars I earn after I have bought the solar system and subjugated all the people in it, I assume?

"#726"
Posted by Estee on 02-24-14 at 09:44 AM
It's a good life. It may not be the most spectacular life in the world, but it's a fine one and you built it for yourself. It's a life which, in your opinion, would work for anyone else. So why shouldn't it work for your children? Silly question. It will. And in order to make sure they have a good life of their own, you're going to do everything in your power to make certain they grow up just. like. you.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FollowInMyFootsteps

Incidentally, they'll wind up never speaking to their parents again. Just like you did.

"RE: #726"
Posted by kingfish on 02-25-14 at 09:41 AM
LAST EDITED ON 02-25-14 AT 09:41 AM (EST)

Beware.

This is how we wound up being ruled by Kennedys, Bushes, Clintons, Cuomos, Daleys, Warners, Dingles, etc. (Kennedy in bold print isn't an accident. It's a plague.)

You just know Michele is itching for her turn in the big chair. And Chelsea.

"GAH!"
Posted by foonermint on 02-25-14 at 09:45 AM
annnd SWOOP!
foonermint: winning!
"#727"
Posted by Estee on 02-25-14 at 09:09 AM
They promised you a trial by jury.

They promised you a jury of your peers.

And by 'peers', they meant 'people who hate you and will ignore all actual evidence in their very successful attempt to convict you'.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JokerJury

Note that in most circumstances where this trope is brought out, the trial itself is a fake: the local crime boss will steal the robes, then stock the jury box with henchmen and ask his girlfriend to play defense attorney. It's justs the bad guys playing around for the sake of despair, comedy, insanity and ultimately, getting to sentence the protagonist at the end, to the end, permanently. However, there are times when the trial is real and the jury itself is what's been rigged, along with the laws, the judge, the sentence...

In other words, now the official legal trope of Uganda. All hail.

"RE: #727"
Posted by kingfish on 02-25-14 at 09:51 AM
Take the case of the lake property magnate, trial by a jury of his piers.

(Speaking of which, there is one Piers that won't be there. Maybe there is another ex-SNL alum who needs a job?)

"#728"
Posted by Estee on 02-26-14 at 07:45 AM
Try this scenario on for size.

It's World War II. You're a Korean citizen. Which doesn't matter to your neighboring country, because Japan needs soldiers. So they 'recruit' you and send you into battle in Manchuria -- where you promptly get captured.

However, your captors are in need of soldiers. So they 'recruit' you into the Red Army and send you out again -- where you're captured by the Soviets. Welcome to the hammer and sickle, comrade: grab a rifle and go shoot some Nazis -- who capture you first and, as they were wont to do, impress you into their army, sending you off to Africa so you can shoot some Allies.

Only the Allies capture you first. And recruit you.

So you're sent to Italy, working with the British -- not so fast. Guess who grabbed you this time? The Italians. But don't worry, because the Americans got you about five seconds later. At this point, it's probably safe to say you want to shoot something, so they give you the opportunity. Hello, G.I. Joe. And as an American soldier, you -- stabilize, staying one through the end of the war.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EnemyExchangeProgram

This is typically a video game trope, one which comes into effect when you can either capture or manufacture enemy units and make them fight on your side. Starcraft players know it well as 'I'm going to use mind control on that Drone...' -- and if you're careful and have the resources, you can recreate the entire Zerg tech tree and have your own colony battling alongside the Protoss forces.

But when it gets into real life, it's still about taking the enemy's things and putting them to work for you -- including their soldiers. As demonstrated above.

Now. How are you going to apply for your armed forces pension?

"RE: #728"
Posted by kingfish on 02-26-14 at 10:00 AM
LAST EDITED ON 02-26-14 AT 10:01 AM (EST)

Interesting.

Of course, the multinational soldier then went on to write a book after the war? Which was then captured by a playwright and forced to be a Broadway play? Then impressed into a Hollywood movie?

"RE: #728"
Posted by cahaya on 02-26-14 at 10:37 AM

From Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, a new online card game I'm playing in open beta these days. Best card game since MTG.

"#729 (not Garrett)"
Posted by Estee on 02-27-14 at 10:19 AM
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Workaholic
"RE: Trope Of The Day VIII: in which everyone here is personally insulted by at least one entry."
Posted by kingfish on 02-27-14 at 01:32 PM
I was always confidant that someday we would all see that being a lazy crossword playing bum at work is a good character trait.

(Except for the crossword playing part. I play computer "Go Fish")



Crabman

"RE: Trope Of The Day VIII: in which everyone here is personally insulted by at least one entry."
Posted by Estee on 02-28-14 at 09:52 AM
Scales.

Fangs.

A horrible reputation, not always deserved.

Occasionally poison.

Flickering tongue.

Arms.

...arms?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SnakePeople

Arms.

But not legs. Because that would just be silly.

"RE: Trope Of The Day VIII: in which everyone here is personally insulted by at least one entry."
Posted by kidflash212 on 02-28-14 at 10:09 AM
I'm surprised and how many examples they have and in how many categories - Pinball machines?
"RE: Trope Of The Day VIII: in which everyone here is personally insulted by at least one entry."
Posted by kingfish on 02-28-14 at 11:11 AM
Ogle ogle ogle, (wipe saliva from chin, drool some more).

Man, look at the scales on that chick!

Me, I like a woman with a scaly booty.



Tribe strikes again

"#730/31 (another Tea Party ideal)"
Posted by Estee on 03-01-14 at 09:58 AM
It's not bullying: it's part of the curriculum.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SchoolOfHardKnocks

This is any educational facility where fighting is not only encouraged by the faculty, but occasionally regulated and overseen by the staff. They may even join in. Students are told to solve their problems by hitting each other, sometimes to the death because gee, at least that particular problem won't reoccur. And everything works out fine as long as the blood gets scrubbed up and, naturally, the right person wins. After all, what's the point of harassment if the victims ever land a punch?

This system still exists in a number of schools. Some even have it officially sanctioned. The rest just whistle and look away.

"RE: #730/31 (another Tea Party ideal)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-01-14 at 03:16 PM
OK. So I wake up and read this trope, and my immediate inclination is to post a response around the premise of "So where is the girls school where mud wrestling is encouraged?".

I would have massaged that idea until I had something that amused me, and posted it.

Then I thought, well, maybe this time I should do something a bit classier, maybe I can show that I have deep thoughts and can come up with something more clever, something classier.

Yeah, I thought, that’s it, something classy for a change.

So I thought.

And I thought.

But the idea of a girls school where mud wrestling is encouraged as a way to introduce young nubile girls to the harsh realities of life, and provide U-Tube fodder for my amusement just wouldn’t leave my thoughts. It began to seem classier and classier.

So I give up. "Where is that school? Sweden?”

"#732"
Posted by Estee on 03-04-14 at 10:44 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-04-14 AT 01:10 PM (EST)

Congratulations! You've just destroyed the giant space station! You know -- the one the size of a small moon? The one with the weapon meant to obliterate planets? That thing which was rapidly approaching your world with intent to erase it? Well, you just took it out when it was still a few thousand miles away. You blew that thing up real good.

So congratulations -- on destroying your world.

Let's talk about the power source at the station's core. Think about all the energy it took to run the thing. Now consider that none of it is currently residing in a container and energy can't be destroyed, only converted or dissipated. How much of that shockwave is going to thin out before it hits the atmosphere? Probably not enough to prevent boiling off most of it. What kind of radiation do those who survive that stage get to deal with? What kind would you like?

Now, let's look at the debris. You did not convert every piece of matter back to its component quarks. No, you blew it up. Which means there are some chunks flying outward in an expanding sphere of high-velocity scattershot shotgun spray. Chunks that came off something which started as the size of a small moon. How big are some of those chunks? Big enough to survive falling through what little is left of the atmosphere. Guess how much damage they'll do when they hit. Picture what too many will do to the tectonic plates. Consider dinosaurs.

Nice work, hero. Really.

Except that -- somehow, none of the above happens. You blow up the giant space station -- and life below goes on as before. There are no extra fatalities. Apocalypse You just doesn't manifest. In the end, there is

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoEndorHolocaust

and why should you care if it doesn't make any sense, as long as everyone important lived?

This trope comes into play when any event which should by all logic and reason cause a huge number of fatalities does not. Every building the villains bring down is empty. The bad guy in his rampage can hit hard enough to break steel, but any person punched just takes a nap. Every bullet fired from that machine gun into the crowd missed. And all the explosion-driven effective mass of a small moon plus the energies contained within? Never heard from again.

It's one of those tropes which, if you're lucky enough to be on the receiving end of it, you don't want to think about too long. The universe might retroactively catch on.

"RE: #732"
Posted by kingfish on 03-04-14 at 01:06 PM
Hero Insurance?

As it turns out, I actually need Myoptic Clumsy Clod insurance more.

"#733"
Posted by Estee on 03-04-14 at 11:00 AM
You can't fly.

Neither can your partner.

And the enemy is airborne. Airborne and rapidly retreating, leaving you with no way to get to them. Sure, you've got super-strength, but for some reason, that doesn't seem to translate into jumping distance. All the two of you can do is watch the escape, listen to the laughter as the bad guy gets away again, well beyond punching distance, forget about throwing something at him...

...you could throw something at him.

You've got super-strength, right? You could pick up something heavy and heave it. Except that anything heavy might not go that far. It would also be unbalanced and prone to weird trajectories. If you missed, what does it land on?

You have super strength, and your partner is nearly indestructible. But what good does either do you now?

...wait a minute...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FastballSpecial

(Try not to think about what the curveball grip would require.)

"RE: #733"
Posted by kingfish on 03-04-14 at 01:10 PM
LAST EDITED ON 03-04-14 AT 01:18 PM (EST)

More of a Superman/Superboy tactic than a Batman/Robin thing. Even though Robin is an amazing acrobat, his skull is crackable.

However this does suggest a new superhero, Launcher Man™ and his sidekick, Cannonball Boy™, able to fight sneering runaway crooks that think they are sooo smart as they attempt their high velocity escape tactics.

Sure, they’ve gotten away with it in the past, but they never ran up against the crime fighting duo of Launcher Man™ and his sidekick, Cannonball Boy™ before.

"RE: #733"
Posted by Molaholic on 03-04-14 at 09:04 PM
Best.Sidekick.Ever

"#734"
Posted by Estee on 03-05-14 at 09:14 AM
Time travel is, among many other things, disorienting -- and that's the mildest way to put it. It's future (or past) shock on a scale few humans experience. Want to know what time travel is like? Imagine having no contact with the world for the duration you intend to journey. You don't speak to a single person. Not one piece of news reaches you. Everything changes while you have no knowledge of it whatsoever -- and then, when you emerge, you get hit with all of it at once. It's like going to a media dead zone for your vacation in the name of getting away from it all and discovering 'all' didn't go on pause for you -- multiplied by a thousand.

So many time travelers will instinctively seek an anchor to hold them steady in the mental hurricane. So much has changed, so very much -- but if there's any one thing other than themselves which is still the same, still a familiar level of real, they cling to it. They bind themselves against it and cling to a suddenly-corporeal sanity.

It can be a person who's still alive. (Younger or older.) A landmark. A tree they used to climb. A baseball card. Anything at all -- as long as it existed now and now.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheConstant

Imagine what happens when it breaks.

As Terry Pratchett said, the hardest part of time travel is locating a dress shop which will keep the same mannikin in the window for fifty years.

"RE: #734"
Posted by kingfish on 03-05-14 at 10:17 AM
One constant. Money.

Go back in time to the 50's, patent the hula hoop, the frisbee, the pocket protector, the cell phone, and DOS, bury the paperwork, return to the present, dig them up, sue Mattel, Samsung, and Bill Gates for every thing they have, and retire.

"#735"
Posted by Estee on 03-06-14 at 08:45 AM
One of the examples for the Internet animation series Homestar Runner:

"Here's one to wrap your head around. The garage band parody Brainkrieg (of the spinoff series Teen Girl Squad, which is a comic drawn and voiced by Strong Bad in-universe) originated as a one-off joke in the Strong Bad E-mails (much like TGS; actually, pretty much like every spin-off on the site; Sbemails themselves can arguably be called a spin-off feature from the main cartoons), which was a comment on words starting with "D-E" that do not belong in death metal (cut to the Battle of the Crappy High School bands, a reference to a previous TGS episode, where Brainkrieg shouts words like "Dentist!" and "Deli-style!" along with their future catchphrase "Jugga-jigga-wugga"). Flash forward a bit, and Brainkrieg is featured in two TGS-style "music videos", both holiday-related ("If I Don't Get Videogames (For Decemberween)" and "Decomposing Pumpkins"), with actual musical backing as opposed to a few shouted lines.

So, to recap: a fake band which is a spinoff from a comic that is a spinoff of a (somewhat) spinoff fan mail series, originating as an off-hand reference in the fan mail series to an episode of the comic spinoff, which is now doing holiday-themed spinoff music videos."

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FakeBand

To make your head hurt a little less, consider this as any group musical act put together out of actors -- who generally can't play the instruments, compose music, sing, and so on down the line. Spinal Tap qualifies. Milli Vanilla may be the Real Life uber-example. Every so often, a real band will pretend to be another, fake band. You'll get fake bands which prove they can play and turn into real ones, and any fake band can release music which is real music except it was put together by a fake band only not really.

...yeah, not really helping with the headache, is it?

So basically, bands that are fake. Unless they aren't. Sort of. Full-time.

Yeah.

"RE: #735"
Posted by kingfish on 03-06-14 at 10:40 AM

Jugga-jigga-wugga, future catch word? Well, maybe in the 20s.

So where's our spin-off, and how do we capitalize on it? We (OT) are actually a spin-off, so logically we should be creating sub-spin offs.

Let's start with Fooner world.



A Tribal Whoopee! We're all gonna fry.

"RE: #735"
Posted by kidflash212 on 03-06-14 at 11:55 AM
Ouch. I'm going to go listen to "How Do You Talk to an Angel" by The Heights to get over this.
"#736 (mostly comics)"
Posted by Estee on 03-07-14 at 09:41 AM
One of the typical issues in having a double identity is that unless your name happens to be Jamie Madrox, there's one of you. (And that SOB is out in public, the doesn't-know-what-he-has jerk...) A single person trying to maintain two lives. Inevitably, the needs of those lives will conflict: sacrificing time in one to gain hours for the other. You're used to that. If you're lucky, your friends and colleagues either know about why you keep vanishing at strange times or just don't bother asking.

If you're unlucky, both lives will need to do the same thing.

At the same place or ones miles apart.

Separately. But both under full public view at all times.

Say, your masked face has been asked to appear at a charity fundraiser and your civilian job is covering the event.

...so. Yeah. Problem...

There are all sorts of ways around this, but far too many of them involve deliberate sabotage of the water main.

However, some characters are ready for this. They know people of their rough height and build who, with makeup, can simulate the rest. More fortunate ones are acquainted with shapeshifters. Some particularly lucky people, needing to show up in their day clothes, may even know others who can fake whatever powers the original possesses, or have an ability set so close to theirs that no one can tell the difference without close study. An emergency stand-in who can truly do it all -- but most of them are stuck with someone in their costume and a lot of padding, hoping no one's using the zoom lens.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IdentityImpersonator

Of course, that's when the very real villain shows up.

"RE: #736 (mostly comics)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-07-14 at 10:22 AM
Who is that masked Rubber Duckie, anyway?
"#737 (trope name needs revising,,,)"
Posted by Estee on 03-08-14 at 09:20 AM
...in about ten more years. Let's face it: right now, most people have to look this up before it makes any sense, and the number of people willing to do so is probably just going to drop because Internet. So we're going to need a replacement title. Any candidates in mind?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily

Incidentally, about the Real Life section with picture links? Your own risk.

"#737 dawn"
Posted by kingfish on 03-08-14 at 01:05 PM
"#738 (graphic novel)"
Posted by Estee on 03-09-14 at 10:18 AM
It's your typical superhero universe, really. There's good guys and bad guys. Costumes, masks, secret identities. New people turn up with powers every month or so and pick a side. Sure, there's the usual chaos, but on the whole, there's an argument to be made that the planet is better off for it.

Then one day, a girl manifests her power for the first time. The ability to steal powers from others.

Range: global.
Effect: instantaneous.
Duration: permanent.

On, there are deaths at the moment of worldwide theft. Heroes who were flying fall out of the sky. If you had superstrength, better hope you weren't in the middle of lifting something heavy. Anyone caught phasing through a solid... try not to think about it. Shapechangers don't revert: they're stuck in the last form they assumed, and for at least one, that means their physical humanity is gone.

But for every last one, they were special -- and now they aren't.

How do they cope?

What if the survivors try to get on with their lives? Can they?

How does the world adjust when it has exactly one hero left -- one who has every power ever manifested -- who is about to go on trial for involuntary manslaughter?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicBook/AllFallDown

What would you do to be special again?

"RE: #738 (graphic novel)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-09-14 at 11:53 AM
Good luck trying to get Sophie to clean up her bedroom.
"RE: #738 (graphic novel)"
Posted by Estee on 03-09-14 at 12:19 PM
Her bedroom is a 10*10 windowless cell. How long could it take?
"RE: #738 (graphic novel)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-09-14 at 03:47 PM
OK then, good luck keeping the girl who has all superpowers in that cell, not to mention keeping her from laughing when they come to take her to court.
"BoInK!"
Posted by foonermints on 03-09-14 at 05:17 PM
foonermints: waiting for nothing to happen..
"RE: BoInK!"
Posted by kidflash212 on 03-09-14 at 10:42 PM
Swoop Block!
"Five Hours?"
Posted by foonermints on 03-10-14 at 00:12 AM
FIVE HOURS?!


Indecency by See To Pee
Oh, we're dead here..

"#739 (video games)"
Posted by Estee on 03-10-14 at 09:34 AM
A number of games have path-branching storylines which alter the gameplay content based on the choices your character makes. Typically, a large number of those options will be moral in nature. high roads, low roads, grey vs. grey, and sadistic choices.

Not every player takes the high road.

Sometimes it's a matter of wanting to see the entire game: certain missions only open up if you're a totally degenerate jerk. There are others when you're simply curious: so what happens if I go against all common sense and most legal statutes? And every so often, you're just blowing off steam: I could never do this in real life, but I'm going to work out all my stress by doing it here. So you blow through the entire game in an orgy of evil because it has no consequences in the real world plus you just wanted to see what that path ending looked like.

Such games, if successful, do what all strong-selling games tend to do: generate sequels. And since you had fun the first time, you eagerly purchase the II and boot up the game, wondering what the first zoom-in on the rubble you left behind will reveal.

And the city is perfectly intact.

All the civilians are fine.

The power plant you blew up for the fun of it is still there, which explains the lack of irradiation among the common folk.

That giant hole where the subway used to be is now a subway.

You worked very hard to make that hole.

But -- in most sequels, the game designers will start with the idea that everything truly worked out the first time, which is why it can start going south again instead of starting there and drilling through bedrock. And so for the majority of sequels to moral choice adventures, there is simply

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoCanonForTheWicked

but at least now you can blow it all up again, right?

...right?

Warning: not a Real Life trope.

"#740"
Posted by Estee on 03-11-14 at 08:34 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-11-14 AT 08:37 AM (EST)

Look, I know you're worried about security in your home.

I understand that you want a weapon close at hand during all hours. All hours.

But let's be honest: you're kind of a restless sleeper. I mean, I've seen you put your laptop down, pass out and five minutes, crash-rebound-eight-hundred-dollars. So...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PillowPistol

...exactly how drop-proof is that safety lock?

"RE: #740"
Posted by kingfish on 03-11-14 at 08:51 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-11-14 AT 08:52 AM (EST)

Especially dangerous for those of us, and yes, I am one, who occasionally wake up from passionate romantic dreaming to find that the embrace is with the pillow…

Shall I continue?

"RE: #740"
Posted by newsomewayne on 03-11-14 at 12:40 PM
Continue? I wish you'd never started.
"RE: #740"
Posted by kingfish on 03-11-14 at 12:43 PM
So, that's a yes?

"I don't think"
Posted by foonermints on 03-11-14 at 12:50 PM

Newsome is waffling here..

But go ahead, it's a chicken waffle.

"RE: I don't think"
Posted by newsomewayne on 03-11-14 at 01:04 PM
Ba-GAWK!
"#741 (video games)"
Posted by Estee on 03-12-14 at 10:51 AM
You have traveled the world looking for the last patch of flowers which could be brewed into the cure to save the prince. You've followed clues and solved puzzles to get this far. Most of the clues and puzzles only wound up leading you to monsters. Of course, that let you practice your magic along with getting plenty of experience in treating your own wounds, but... the point is, here you are at the actual garden containing the last patch of those flowers in all the world. And naturally, it's guarded by another monster. The biggest one you've ever seen. And it is not interested in letting you just take a few blooms out of the charity of its heart. It wants you dead.

So, not wanting to cooperate, you unleash the most potent offensive spell you have: the wave of fire which sweeps over the entire area before closing in on your designated center point and --

-- huh.

Turns out flowers burn.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DestroyableItems

Who knew?

...meh. He was a lousy prince anyway.


"RE: #741 (video games)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-12-14 at 10:58 AM
To me, it's astounding how many of these games there are.
"#742"
Posted by Estee on 03-13-14 at 07:45 AM
Yes. Yes, they do.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LittleGirlsKickShins

But with a little more height and education, other targets become available.

"RE: #742"
Posted by newsomewayne on 03-13-14 at 07:56 AM
And they become challenge set designers for EPMB?
"RE: #742"
Posted by kingfish on 03-13-14 at 11:01 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-14-14 AT 08:19 AM (EST)

Ouch.

Multiple-ouch!

They should have counted bruises to determine who won. Or who lost. And precisely how much they lost.

"#743"
Posted by Estee on 03-14-14 at 08:14 AM
It's just a fact: very few opponents -- including the colossal ones -- are armored on the inside. Get past thickened skin and bone-shrouded joints to find vulnerable meat waiting within the throat. But -- that's within. Getting at such a weak point has its own problems.

Of course, if you're facing a truly colossal opponent -- one with an offensive dietary habit -- you might have a last resort available.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EatMe

But then you're going to have digestive acids to content with, so...

This trope kicks in any time consumption of the target proves troublesome to the consumer. It doesn't always have to involve being swallowed whole. If your blood is lethal to vampires and you can con them into taking a drink, this applies. (Or, as one of the Literature examples states, you can just Weatherwax them.) Sentient computer program which allows the virus to invade it, then takes the thing apart from the inside? Same category. But for the most part, especially in a typical giant monster movie, it turns into Chimney-Climbing Up The Throat While Planting Explosives.

Beats exiting through the other end.

"RE: #743"
Posted by kingfish on 03-14-14 at 08:21 AM
Been (burp - tummy rumble) there.
"#744 (no description needed)"
Posted by Estee on 03-15-14 at 01:26 PM
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlindDate

*shudder*

"RE: #744 (no description needed)"
Posted by dabo on 03-15-14 at 02:59 PM

"#745"
Posted by Estee on 03-16-14 at 02:35 PM
*sigh*

If I only had a tan.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DarkSkinnedRedhead

If I only had the ability to tan,

"RE: #745"
Posted by dabo on 03-17-14 at 11:34 AM

"#746"
Posted by Estee on 03-17-14 at 04:34 PM
To be a hero is, inevitably, to begin assembling a collection of people who want to kill you.

To last any real amount of time in the career is to get a large number of opponents who make those efforts on a regular, personal, and dedicated basis. In fact, they want you dead so much that they concentrate most of their efforts on making it happen. They seldom leave your bare city or try their luck with someone who doesn't know their patterns. They want to kill you. You are the focus of their lives. And so they will dedicate themselves to ending you. Over and over -- and that result? Is the one you get if you're lucky. Because you're not supposed to kill them (for some strange reason which you can't always remember), and the prisons can't seem to hold them -- but my, are they ever allowed to keep trying murder attempts on you.

Your regular sparring partners.

Your devoted sort-of-fan-club.

On some particularly bad nights, those who understand you best and have the closest relationship.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RoguesGallery

Lucky you.

"RE: #746"
Posted by kingfish on 03-18-14 at 08:48 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-18-14 AT 03:37 PM (EST)

Fooner. Fooner Luthor.

"RE: #746"
Posted by dabo on 03-18-14 at 03:46 PM
now dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj-EDwbd6Jk
"#747"
Posted by Estee on 03-18-14 at 09:04 AM
And here we have one of those trope names which gets the readers' hopes up unduly.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ForeignCultureFetish

Don't be taken in by the last word.

The Real Life examples are interesting here, especially when they go national. It's fairly accurate to call this National Identity Envy -- which means we don't get a lot of this in the States, as people keep lying about how we're supposedly the pinnacle.

Sure we are. But the peak is two feet off the ground.

"RE: #747"
Posted by kingfish on 03-18-14 at 10:32 AM
This is a very interesting Trope.

"There's also the recent trend of feather headdresses as fashion accessories, as well as "Indian Girl" tattoos. This does not make most Native Americans very happy."

And one, if we are fortunate, that we can use in.re. Phillip Sheppard".

"#748 (us)"
Posted by Estee on 03-19-14 at 03:13 PM
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/QuirkyHousehold

Deny it.

"Hey!"
Posted by dabo on 03-19-14 at 07:07 PM
First a strip!
snap snap
"#749 (advertising)"
Posted by Estee on 03-20-14 at 10:15 AM
Sometimes a product just stinks.

Oh, people will buy the thing anyway. It could be the only option in a given area, or a purchase which was required by someone else. There may be generational brand loyalty in place where no one ever questions if the product had the competition pass it by long ago. Maybe it's so cheap as compared to the quality, high-end stuff that you just hold your nose and go. But the product stinks -- and the product still sells. Not always well, though. And naturally the company will never admit to this because what kind of advertising centers around 'We're horrible. Give us money'?

(Well, non-political product.)

However, on rare occasion, a company will not only realize that their product stinks, but improve the thing. And what's the best way to admit you are New And Improved?

Fully confess to Old And Inferior.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WeDontSuckAnymore

It works. But you have to swallow your ego first. And the corporate ego can choke Godzilla.

"RE: #749 (advertising)"
Posted by newsomewayne on 03-20-14 at 11:53 AM
NBC's reveal trailer for season 3 of Heroes opened with what was essentially an apology for season 2 and claiming that the viewers from Comic Con who were disappointed in S2 thought it was better.

SPOILER: It wasn't.

"RE: #749 (advertising)"
Posted by dabo on 03-20-14 at 11:55 PM
New Microsoft Motto: "Oh yeah, we badder than the NSA!"
"#750"
Posted by Estee on 03-21-14 at 08:26 AM
On the whole, Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church may have wound up as a force for good in the world.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ARareSentence

*peacefully wanders off to find a quiet place for vomiting*

"RE: #750"
Posted by kingfish on 03-21-14 at 08:30 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-21-14 AT 08:32 AM (EST)

Fred Phelps is beloved (by the worms).

"RE: #750"
Posted by dabo on 03-21-14 at 11:42 AM
Woodley talks sunbathing her vagina.
"#751"
Posted by Estee on 03-22-14 at 02:30 PM
So.

Um.

Er.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicalAbortion

Yeah.

And that just met part of the 'personally insult everyone' quota.

"RE: #751"
Posted by dabo on 03-22-14 at 08:43 PM
Happy Days retroactively aborted a full-grown Chuck.
"RE: #751"
Posted by kingfish on 03-23-14 at 09:24 AM
I'd like to see them try and pass a law against magic.

Poof, they'd be gone.

"RE: #751"
Posted by Estee on 03-23-14 at 09:38 AM
Wrong trope.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChuckCunninghamSyndrome

But as his last accomplish in fictive life, he named this one.

What is at the top of those stairs?

"RE: #751"
Posted by dabo on 03-23-14 at 04:09 PM
Sheila vanished from the show and even failed to make the listing for the show on IMDB!

and it seems no one remembers Mac and Sally's baby.

"#752"
Posted by Estee on 03-23-14 at 09:26 AM
"The X-Factor comics circa mid-1990s had a great deal of fun with this one:

Dick Chalker was a mutant who could turn himself into a manlike dinosaur creature. He used his powers to commit murder, robbery and postal fraud, and inspired hatred of mutantkind in the rest of the Chalker family.

Dick's cousin Rick Chalker decided to act on this hatred of mutants. In true MadScientist fashion, he successfully replaced his hands with enormous, razor-sharp propeller blades. Calling himself the Number One Fan, he was ready to kill every mutant in the world... only to discover that he couldn't open the door out of his lab with them. When he tried to slap himself in the forehead in frustration, he cut the top of his head off.

The third cousin, Professor Vic Chalker created a massive robot battlesuit to avenge Rick. In making the first version of the suit, he forgot to take his measurements so he couldn't fit in it. In making the second version, he didn't give it enough of a power supply and it ran out of juice five seconds after he started it, becoming trapped inside in the process. In making the third version, he gave it enough power but forgot to waterproof the suit. He fatally electrocuted himself after he took the suit out in a rainstorm.

Dick, now calling himself "Carnivore", decided that Rick's and Vic's deaths were on his conscience and decided to avenge them by killing every mutant on Earth so none of them could abuse their powers the way he did. Unfortunately, as he stepped out of his house to commence his killing spree, he was immediately killed by a truck.

All of this led up to an X-Factor annual issue where a mutant-hating former classmate of Strong Guy's showed up, having devoted his life to the dark arts and become a servant of Mephisto. In order to defeat X-Factor, he brought back their three greatest enemies from the dead — the three brothers who had died over the past three issues, none of whom had so much as been seen by X-Factor. So in the massive, climactic battle, an Unknown Rival resurrected three more unknown rivals. When the villains introduced themselves, Polaris asked if they were sure they had the right X-team.

Strong Guy: That figures! Only we could have a bunch of "greatest enemies" that we never heard of."

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnknownRival?from=Main.SchoolgirlRival

Let's just hope North Korea never sees that page...

"RE: #752"
Posted by kingfish on 03-23-14 at 08:04 PM
That's entertainment!

(Postal fraud? Having trouble picturing which mutant powers he had to use to commit postal fraud).

"RE: #752"
Posted by foonermints on 03-23-14 at 08:20 PM
I noticed "postal fraud" also, but I thought that was an Esteeembellishment ©

"RE: #752"
Posted by kingfish on 03-23-14 at 10:37 PM
Oh, that's cold, copywriting a term derived from Estee's screen name.

(Again, I like the way you think. ILTWYT).

"#753"
Posted by Estee on 03-24-14 at 08:43 AM
Ah, toys. What can't they do? In the fictional worlds, the answer to that is 'not much'. Go to the right milleu and toys will summon aliens from other dimensions. They're programmed with enough artificial intelligence to mount full-scale wars with weapons that actually work. They turn your home into a jungle -- one that's actively trying to kill you. Fun for all ages and the whole family, especially when you're all buried together!

Of course, in real life, all we've got is chemistry kits you can home-brew drugs with, radioactive isotopes, and Lawn Darts.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MyLittlePanzer

Which setting is more dangerous? Toss a coin.

"RE: #753"
Posted by kingfish on 03-24-14 at 12:17 PM
I stepped on a skate board once. Did not know that they tilt sideways. I hurt myself.
"RE: #753"
Posted by newsomewayne on 03-24-14 at 01:28 PM
How does a fish 'step'?


School Spirit by Syren, 2005

"RE: #753"
Posted by dabo on 03-24-14 at 02:00 PM
http://www.darwinfish.com/
"RE: #753"
Posted by newsomewayne on 03-24-14 at 04:10 PM
Are you accusing Kingfish of actually being evolved?


School Spirit by Syren, 2005

"RE: #753"
Posted by dabo on 03-24-14 at 09:12 PM
Accuse is a mighty strong word, I simply allege it.

And these folks need to expand their line of action figures.

http://www.darwinfish.com/collections/action-figures

Would like to've seen the Crazy Cat Lady.

"RE: #753"
Posted by kingfish on 03-24-14 at 02:21 PM
I skinned my fin.
"#754 (faith)"
Posted by Estee on 03-25-14 at 07:53 AM
Your religion lied to you.

There are no circles of punishment in the afterlife. The place of torment is barely mentioned and never truly codified.

An antichrist? Someone who does not believe, perhaps preaching against those who do. And that's all.

If there was a birthdate, it is most accurately tracked to September.

There was no apple. It could have been many things, if it was there to begin with -- but no one ever said 'apple'. Not in a form that can be considered an article of faith.

That which preachers call the opposition is barely mentioned -- and when it does appear, it's as part of the deity's court. The accuser, the tester. Nothing more. And the image assigned to that entity is simply an effort to discredit several other religions which existed at the time by co-opting their symbols into figures of horror.

Find words in your holy book which say otherwise. Search forever. They were never there. Because the word of your deity is always subject to the editing of man. And sometimes, a bitter Italian poet with a grudge against multiple politicians will write that anger down -- and the results are adopted by those who read it as if they were true articles of faith.

But they aren't. They shouldn't be. It's a grandfathered lie. Nothing more.

Your religion lies to you and expects you to live every day of your life by those lies.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WordOfDante

And it will never stop.

"RE: #754 (faith)"
Posted by dabo on 03-25-14 at 01:20 PM
The Quran or Muhammad never said anything about martyrs receiving the company of 72 virgins in paradise. The idea was first written down by a commentator 200 years after the death of Muhammad. And some scholars down think the word he used meant "grapes", not virgins.
"RE: #754 (faith)"
Posted by Estee on 03-25-14 at 01:26 PM
"Can I at least get seedless and peeled?"
"RE: #754 (faith)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-25-14 at 01:26 PM
"Your religion lied to you."

Cynics are usually right.

72 grapes? I blew my guts all over the street for 72 grapes?

"RE: #754 (faith)"
Posted by dabo on 03-25-14 at 01:51 PM
If all they want is 72 grapes, just give to them 72 grapes and they can go away and be happy. But it is important to know do they want sweet grapes or sour grapes?
"RE: #754 (faith)"
Posted by dabo on 03-25-14 at 01:52 PM
By the way, the September thing is also "Word of Dante."
"RE: #754 (faith)"
Posted by Estee on 03-25-14 at 02:07 PM
I do vaguely remember seeing that the evidence pointed towards summer -- but not what said evidence was. Christmas itself, at least for the date, appears to be stealing a rival's celebration.

Let's face it: Christianity has a large percentage of patchwork. And more than a little theft.

"RE: #754 (faith)"
Posted by dabo on 03-25-14 at 04:13 PM
What "evidence" would that be? Many think springtime on the basis of shepherds watching over their flocks.
"It's more than just the shephards..."
Posted by newsomewayne on 03-25-14 at 04:31 PM
There's math involve, too.

Christ probably born in May or June

"RE: It's more than just the shephards..."
Posted by Estee on 03-25-14 at 05:40 PM
Partially lost me at taking the lifespans so seriously and all that followed from it -- defensive much? Oh, those evil pagans! -- but I understand the rest of the argument.

What amazes me is that we're all constantly assuming a normal nine-month pregnancy.

"RE: It's more than just the shephards..."
Posted by dabo on 03-25-14 at 08:31 PM
Interesting link, thanks. You realize if we move Christmas that would really mess up Bill's annual war on happiness.
"RE: #754 (faith)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-25-14 at 05:02 PM
Well, tracing the timeline backwards, if one rules out that an invisible incorporate entity (or his assistant the Angel Gabriel) that lives everywhere shook it's finger (or whatever) and magically impregnated Mary, then we have to find a time when Joseph (presumably they were at least dating at the time) was out of town on a house building contract and when shepherds weren't all that busy.

Joe’s working time would have been Spring, Summer, and but especially in the Fall (last minute preparation for winter probably had his customers clamoring for last minute help with storage buildings, sheep pens, etc.). And after the herding and sheep shearing was done for the year, shepherds would have been at loose ends. Mary, your typical hormonal teenager in her rebelling against parental authority years, would have been tempted to spend time with one or more of the strapping young male shepherds lolling about Nazareth's plaza pool halls.

So conception (again, supposing it didn’t come out of the ether, which is kinda hard to buy when the alternate explanation is so much more likely) might have been, oh, say, November? Let’s give Mary credit for resisting her urge to sample the pleasures of the flesh and managing to keep the handsy shepherds from getting all the way home for a couple of months. That would be fair, right?

Anyway, that would put the date of birth in late summer, and plenty of time to be creative about her “Divine Conception” explanation. For which I would give credit to Mary for inventiveness. Kudos, Mary, well done!

So there you have it. All you need is a little deductive reasoning.



Crabman

"RE: #754 (faith)"
Posted by foonermints on 03-25-14 at 05:09 PM
My Birthday is in late Summer too!
I must be just like this fellow.

People should remember that.

"RE: #754 (faith)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-25-14 at 05:43 PM
You raise sheep now?
"RE: #754 (faith)"
Posted by foonermints on 03-25-14 at 05:50 PM
'Possums. They are the new sheep. Citified.

"RE: #754 (faith)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-26-14 at 08:12 AM
Bumper Sticker!
"#755 (videogames)"
Posted by Estee on 03-26-14 at 08:05 AM
The queen assigned you this mission personally. Unfortunately, she also assigned one other thing: her favorite knight. You will only be allowed to leave the city in his presence. You won't be allowed back in without him. In fact, if you show up without him, the only place offering you free admittance will be the afterlife. You agreed to this condition because, well, frankly, because you had a whole bunch of crossbows being pointed at your neck.

Oh, and then there's the thing she didn't assign. Money.

Why is this important, other than for your happy financial survival? Because her favorite knight is A. broke B. weaponless C. armorless and D. due to A, not going to personally do anything about B and C. Apparently he got robbed last week. By a gang of preschoolers. Who made him cry.

And you can't hope to survive this stupid mission -- which requires him doing the same -- if you spend your whole time guarding his unarmored flank.

So you sigh. You explain to the knight that this is a loan. Several times, because he's a little slow. And then you head to the merchants and empty your purse on equipping this fool. The best magical armor -- better than what you've got. Weapons which switch themselves and drag the arms behind them. Alertness spells. Regeneration potions. Anything which might ensure this idiot gets through the mission intact. It costs every cent you have, but that's okay: if you live, you'll collect all the surviving stuff and sell it back. At best, you'll get three-quarters of your money because that's how the economy works, but you'll be alive and sort of funded again.

The mission proceeds. You manage to get the idiot through it, mostly by stepping in front of every sword blow which he can't be bothered to dodge. Aching, bleeding, and with no regeneration potions of your own, you stagger up to the city gates with the knight trailing in your wake. The gates open for you, and you step through.

The queen's guards immediately close in, surround the knight, lift him up to their shoulders, and carry him away for the personal you-are-not-invited parade while singing his praises to the skies. And you never see him again, because the preemptive restraining order the queen had written out prevents you from getting close enough to get a bead.

You're thrown out of the city. The songs which the bards were commissioned to compose for the knight follow you for three miles. You're broke. You've been lied to. You will never be able to convince anyone of the truth -- anyone except the fellow adventurer you meet two towns down the road. The one who had the same thing happen to her three weeks before you got there.

Turns out that idiot gets robbed a lot. And since taking money out of the treasury to reequip him would eventually bankrupt the realm...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear

It was around this time that you first began considering that alignment change.

"RE: #755 (videogames)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-26-14 at 08:17 AM
Coach as the prince in the movie version?
"RE: #755 (videogames)"
Posted by Estee on 03-26-14 at 08:47 AM
While it fits him nicely in theme, it's just no fun when he doesn't die at the end.

This is one of the tropes I've had to deal with in games I've played. The one which stands out was when I had a party member fight with the group for about a third of the game (through that point) and then invaded a boss lair. The magician within turned that party member into a mindless monster and set him on the remaining group. It got ugly. 'Back to last save point' ugly.

The transformation was a scripted event. Couldn't be stopped or delayed. If the group won, that former party member was dead and everything he'd owned was lost in the transformation. No helping it. And he, being the most effective frontline fighter, was carrying some rather fancy equipment.

So after working back to the lair entrance, I held up just outside the crucial door and stripped the poor doomed SOB down to his loincloth.

He was going to die no matter what we did. Might as well call dibs on his stuff.

"RE: #755 (videogames)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-27-14 at 09:07 AM
It does fit him nicely, doesn't it.

"RE: #755 (videogames)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-27-14 at 04:47 PM
The Old "Fake Prince Harry Reality show" trope.

Been done to death.

http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/fox-debut-new-i-wanna-marry-harry-fake-prince-reality-dating-show-this-spring-16121.php

"#756"
Posted by Estee on 03-27-14 at 08:09 AM
As paranormal abilities go, invisibility tends to be one of the big unreliables. Oh, sure, it can work -- but it hardly ever seems to work on everyone all of the time. If you're projecting a telepathic zone of 'don't look over here', you will run into the one person with a natural mind shield. Made yourself completely transparent to visible light? Here comes someone who dominantly sees within infrared. You're a ghost and the only thing which could pick you up is another supernatural? The two men who just moved into your old house are a vampire and werewolf, respectively, and they were not expecting to get a third roommate.

For every form of invisibility, there seems to be an automatic counter. And that means...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YouCanSeeMe

Reactions from that point on tend to vary.

"RE: #756"
Posted by newsomewayne on 03-27-14 at 08:26 AM
The two men who just moved into your old house are a vampire and werewolf

Thanks for releasing upon the world the seed for another Twilight fanfic.

"RE: #756"
Posted by Estee on 03-27-14 at 08:52 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-27-14 AT 08:55 AM (EST)

Not quite and too late. Haaaaaave you met Aidan and Josh?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/BeingHumanRemake

Now: should I start pondering reasons why you might know Twilight fanfic exists?

"RE: #756"
Posted by newsomewayne on 03-27-14 at 09:02 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-27-14 AT 09:02 AM (EST)

It's the internet. I assume fanfic of everything exists.

Agman - do NOT Google RTVW fanfic. I do not want to know.

"RE: #756"
Posted by Estee on 03-27-14 at 09:54 AM
It's the internet. I assume fanfic of everything exists.

I fully accept this answer.

"RE: #756"
Posted by kingfish on 03-27-14 at 09:04 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-27-14 AT 09:53 AM (EST)

Invisibility can also be psychological. You move to a new place, walk down the street, and no one sees you. Apparently songwriters experience this a lot.

But to the point of the trope. As a real ability, the old questions (and this isn't a new discussion, I ponder on this a good portion of every day, don't you?) of what is invisible with you blink off are still there.

Your clothes? Do you have to disrobe to become really invisible? Do you also become insensitive to ambient temperature? And do you no longer need foot protection? Can you walk in hot sand or down an asphalt street in the summer? And are you innoculated against sun burn? Would blistered skin also be invisible?

Or would your clothes turn invisible too? If so, how far does that ability extend? When you blink off, is what you have in your hands also invisible? Is luggage allowed on trips of invisibility? Do you have to pay a premium for the second bag?

If the clothes and things in contact with you when you go invisible also become invisible, do you have to leap into the air when you go to avoid turning the earth invisible? And what about that air? OK, it's basically invisible anyway. Nevermind about that.

The last meal you ate? Would there be a mangled waffle floating around in coffee and orange juice, or is this part of the no-seeum stuff? Which begs the questions “Can you eat while invisible? And what happens to the food you eat while invisible”. Does the bib you wear to avoid salsa on your shirt also become invisible? Do the stains? Does the steak go invisible when you cut it, or when you put it in your mouth, or when it is digested and becomes part of your body? And what about the fraction that doesn't incorporate? It would go toward answering the question “Do turds float in air too?”

Which brings up a subset of questions in regard to toilet activities. For a guy it would be disconcerting to be relieving oneself and notice a stream into the next urinal appearing out of thin air. An extra heavy stream would be doubly disconcerting, not to mention a really serpentine waggle when he's done.

And the body. Since up to 80% of the cells in the human body are symbiotic but independent life forms (bacteria and such), would they also have the power of invisibility? Do they each also have an off-on switch, or is there a vote taken? This could be a complication.

What about the frustrations an exhibitionist would suffer? I mean, he finally gets his wish to be able to flash in public with no legal consequences whatsoever. Except that he would be invisible. What could irritate an exhibitionist more that to have his junk invisible? This problem could be solved (I suppose) if he had the power of selective invisibility, and could make visible selected body parts.

It's a Topper of a problem.


"RE: #756"
Posted by kingfish on 03-27-14 at 09:51 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-27-14 AT 09:54 AM (EST)

You see, this is what I was talking about.

I enter the room, and everyone stops talking. Well, maybe I should write a song.

"RE: #756"
Posted by Molaholic on 03-27-14 at 07:10 PM
Would you be able to see? Considering the fact that vision is dependent on light passing through the cornea, lens, and vitreous fluid before striking the retina to excite rods and cones that send a signal down the optic nerve -- if all of that is invisible, wouldn't the light just keep on going along its merry way?

I remember reading someplace that the producers of the original The Invisible Man movie had to fight to include the line about his being naked -- a shocking notion for early '30s audiences. (He also addressed the problem of going about after eating, and needed to avoid walking through fog).

"RE: #756"
Posted by kingfish on 03-28-14 at 08:08 AM
Ironic.

If you're invisible, you can't see.

"RE: #756"
Posted by dabo on 03-27-14 at 07:12 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifmRgQX82O4
"#757"
Posted by Estee on 03-28-14 at 05:36 AM
While the examples below are taken from anime, the hairstyle itself is real, originating in China.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OdangoHair?from=Main.Odango

China has so much to answer for.

"RE: #757"
Posted by kingfish on 03-28-14 at 08:53 AM
Also,

Grown women with pigtails isn't appealing. To me. Usually.

"#758 (video games)"
Posted by Estee on 03-29-14 at 08:13 AM
Perform simple action. Earn extra life. Repeat until bored.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InfiniteOneUps?from=Main.OneUpSampo

Kind of like reincarnation, only without the extensive center time.

"RE: #758 (video games)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-29-14 at 10:20 AM
Reincarnation...

Ah yes, I remember it well...

(hook from stage right).

(Sorry for the mistook direction. Can't help where the mind goes though).

"#759 (Sarah Palin)"
Posted by Estee on 03-30-14 at 09:05 AM
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhoEvenNeedsABrain

Take a look at the example picture on the trope page. I swear there's a faint resemblance.

This trope covers those times when a character's brain is significantly damaged, injured, or even completely removed -- and they just keep going. Oh, for some cases, there will be visible effects, but a few of them will just continue on as if nothing had ever happened at all. A couple of the examples on the page never had a brain to begin with and they do just fine holding public office, at least for part of a term. Sure, a few of the weaker ones might require a three-button remote control, but those aren't Americans, so we can safely ignore them. And that entire episode.

(Oh, if only.)

What a common trope this is. Visit it in Congress any time you like.

"RE: #759 (Sarah Palin)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-30-14 at 11:27 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-30-14 AT 01:43 PM (EST)

No.

Definitely Michele Bachmann.

See the "hole in head" resemblance? A little lower here, maybe...

"#760 (pretty much every crush thread)"
Posted by Estee on 03-31-14 at 09:11 AM
You don't really consider yourself to be bisexual. At all. For the thought to begin crossing your mind would require it to get past sixteen layers of security first. You are straight. Arrow-straight. Laser-straight. FAUX News anchor straight. Any attempt to insinuate something else mandates attack, possibly to the death. You don't even joke about those things, because it would only be a joke with friends and if they're your friends, they won't bring it up. Ever.

So any evaluation done of the appearance possessed by one of your gender is sizing up the opposition, checking for flaws, and getting ready to exploit weaknesses. Nothing more.

And that one who just walked in... yeah, that one will be trouble. Serious trouble. Just look at that face. That body. The curve going around... and the hair, the arc of the nose, that little shell involution to the ears, shine from the eyes, oh those eyes...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StupidSexyFlanders

...crap.

This trope is not for Closet Keys: the people who make someone else admit they've been gay/bi all along. It also doesn't go for that one and only person you'd switch for -- initially. This is more towards any person of a gender you're not normally attracted, to in a moment which make the viewer think, however briefly, Yeah, that's sexy. And to think that in such a way as to make fantasies follow. You'd never do it, the thought won't stick because you shove it back quickly -- but the presence of this individual reaches into the control room and pushes a button you thought didn't exist.

Now: if they know it...

"RE: #760 (pretty much every crush thread)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-31-14 at 09:54 AM
So, if you are adamantly straight, you are probably occasionally masking having a gay fantasy.

Corollary: If you are adamantly gay, you are probably hiding straight thoughts and desires.

Observation #1: If you are straight but admit to the occasional stray gay thought, you keep it to yourself and are repressed.

Observation #2: If you are gay but admit to the occasional stray straight thought, you keep it to yourself and also are repressed.

Observation #3: If you are Bi you have no idea how to act, and are repressed anyway.

Conclusion: Let’s just not talk about this anymore, OK?

"RE: #760 (pretty much every crush thread)"
Posted by Estee on 03-31-14 at 10:06 AM
So... who's the guy...?
"RE: #760 (pretty much every crush thread)"
Posted by kingfish on 03-31-14 at 10:36 AM
LAST EDITED ON 03-31-14 AT 02:36 PM (EST)

Shut up!

"#761"
Posted by Estee on 04-01-14 at 09:26 AM
Imagine the following situation. You have a passive-agressively homicidal artificial intelligence who is, for the moment, on your side. It's an alliance of convenience: she needs to get back in control of the facility to make killing you later more convenient. Also, she is currently being powered by a potato. This annoys her.

Who's in control now? Another AI -- in a manner of speaking. This one is a personality module of sorts, with a set purpose. You see, our usual controller was always a little kill-crazy. So the geniuses who designed her, following the first round of fatalities, started attaching modules in order to keep her under control. And the purpose of this module is to create a constant stream of truly bad ideas, preventing any great logical plans to destroy humanity from getting through. It is artificially stupid.

So how do you take out an AS? Well...

GLaDOS: Hey. Moron.

Wheatley: Oh. Hello.

GLaDOS: Alright. Paradox time. *pause* THIS! SENTENCE! IS! FALSE! Don't think about it, don't think about it, don'tthinkaboutit...

*a number of semi-intellgent machines within hearing range short out and die*

Wheatley: Um, true. I'll go true. Huh, that was easy. I'll be honest, I might have heard that one before though, sort of cheating.

GLaDOS: It's a PARADOX! There IS NO ANSWER!

...not that way.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TooDumbToFool

Oddly, this trope does not apply to the American public.

"RE: #761"
Posted by dabo on 04-01-14 at 10:52 AM
They had one of those on a Columbo. The murderer had dementia and couldn't remember enough to give the caughtcha confession. And even if she could have, she had dementia, it would never stand up in court.

Sunset Blvd.

"RE: #761"
Posted by kingfish on 04-01-14 at 11:03 AM
Would it be too obvious to make the Organic Stupid Module analogy?

I guess it would.

Anyway, I also enjoyed the referenced "Schmuck Bait" trope.

"You would have to be an idiot to go near schmuck bait. Things like the Big Red Button with the dire warning signs; the dark alley in Vampire Town; the conspicuously untouched treasure chest; or the roomful of frighteningly realistic statues."

I think you could add the "Darkend Basement" to the list.

"Not to be mistaken for Snark Bait, nor for something that actually baits your schmuck."

Schmuck Bait! I think Antebellum called me that once.

"#762"
Posted by Estee on 04-02-14 at 10:42 AM
I know that for many Christians, it's faith and redemption and the power of what belief can do to change a human heart.

Please realize that for many of those who do not follow your religion, it's "Oh, not this bloody song again..."

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AmazingFreakingGrace

On the plus side, at least it can be openly mutilated on a kazoo.

"RE: #762"
Posted by kingfish on 04-02-14 at 11:40 AM
It is also habitually slaughtered, some vocalists think they can use it to demonstrate their vocal virtuosity with endless glissandos (OK - portamentos).

It’s not as badly or frequently destroyed as the Star Spangled Banner, though.

"#763 "
Posted by Estee on 04-03-14 at 08:28 AM

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AttackOfTheKillerWhatever

I recommend reading through the full example list.

Slowly.

And don't look up 'Rectuma'.

"RE: #763 "
Posted by kingfish on 04-04-14 at 09:30 AM
Very entertaining.

And what's wrong with "Rectuma"? It’s just a run of the mill "Infected Butt takes over boy and threatens Los Angeles" movie. Clichéd.

"#764 (best example list ever)"
Posted by Estee on 04-04-14 at 05:00 PM
...and no more of Kingfish did we see for the rest of the day.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AccidentalInnuendo?from=Main.UnintentionalInnuendo

Possibly week.

This may be the greatest page ever landed on.

"RE: #764 (best example list ever)"
Posted by kingfish on 04-04-14 at 07:22 PM
You're right, I'm going to take a little time out here to fully savor that trope. But I will return. Shortly. In the meantime I have to say with complete candor that I completely get Jon Stewart's sense of satisfaction with that piece.

http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/0lmaer/the-most-immature-montage-ever---cash-for-caulkers

You know you can't amuse everyone as Jon Stewart does, and you're probably not even going to amuse anyone. But being able to cause ones own self to repeatedly upon rereading a piece giggle uncontrollably is all you can realistically shoot for.

And I do amuse myself. It's little enough.

(Wait wait, did I say little? I mean it's BIG enough! It's really really big).

"TropeBoinK!"
Posted by foonermints on 04-04-14 at 09:09 PM
Offensive, eh?
"Swoop Block!"
Posted by kidflash212 on 04-05-14 at 10:18 AM
Tradition.
"RE: Swoop Block!"
Posted by kingfish on 04-06-14 at 02:37 PM
A Fooner trope boink block miss.

Good work men.

"RE: Swoop Block!"
Posted by foonermints on 04-06-14 at 02:46 PM
Did our conservatism chase off all the girls?


Boom!

"RE: Swoop Block!"
Posted by kingfish on 04-07-14 at 11:09 AM
LAST EDITED ON 04-07-14 AT 02:28 PM (EST)

Hint - A little splash of Old Spice.

"#765"
Posted by Estee on 04-07-14 at 08:03 AM
It doesn't matter what the setting is. Seriously: it doesn't matter. You'd think certain places on the timeline would rule this out, but no... it happens anyway.

Alternate dimensions? It got there. Don't ask how.

Supernatural? Doesn't matter. Paranormal powers involved? Doesn't change the rules. Science fiction? More precisely-measured stats.

It doesn't matter where we are, or who's involved, or why it's happening. All you need to know is that for a reason which may never be explained, the powers that be have decided it's time for a

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BaseballEpisode

Ever wonder if teleporting between bases counted as a steal?

"RE: #765"
Posted by kingfish on 04-07-14 at 11:34 AM
A baseball tangent reply to a trope post about baseball tangents seems appropriate here.

For those who began holding their breaths upon learning that the Astros were in first place (estimated at no one), and on a dizzy winning streak of two, you may exhale.

That streak is over, and they have dropped to second place. Still, it was the longest winning streak in several years, and a welcome contrast to their usual season opening records of the past when they seemed to have been trying to establish successive MLB records for losing streaks, breaking their own records, BTW, which, I don’t know, may have been a weird source of pride for them? And to be in second place after six games at 3-3 is an unheard of and a drunken euphoric start to their season. Maybe that’s their secret, they got drunk and took a few little “Euphoria” pills? Anyway, apparently those Babe Ruth league teams that make up their farm system had a few undiscovered acorns. Who they are undoubtedly in the process of trading away).

Watch out world! And suck it Yankees.

"#766"
Posted by Estee on 04-08-14 at 06:49 AM
April 7th, 2014: the day Pat Robertson almost got it.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GodIsEvil

Any %&£©ing questions?

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/pat-robertson-if-brendan-eich-is-wrong-then-god-almighty-is-a-hater/

"RE: #766"
Posted by kingfish on 04-08-14 at 08:20 AM
I had never thought of atheism as the path of least resistance before, but it sure avoids this.

That second link (to the Pat Robertson article) must be a doozy. My machine gagged and spit it out repeatedly. I admire it's taste, I trained it well..

"RE: #766"
Posted by newsomewayne on 04-08-14 at 12:58 PM
LAST EDITED ON 04-08-14 AT 01:18 PM (EST)

If you're comparing this trope to Christianity or Judeo-Christian beliefs, you should know that it's the trope's opening premise is wrong.

Edit for clarity.

"RE: #766"
Posted by Estee on 04-08-14 at 01:02 PM
And Pat Robertson believes himself to practice...?
"RE: #766"
Posted by newsomewayne on 04-08-14 at 01:17 PM
Sorry. Ambiguity.

...it's the trope's premise...

"#767"
Posted by Estee on 04-09-14 at 08:01 AM
LAST EDITED ON 04-09-14 AT 09:54 AM (EST)

Let us consider the fighting styles utilized by a certain quarter of adolescent turtles.

Donatello and Michelangelo wield blunt weapons made of wood, which with they have practiced for most of their lives. As a result, they are extremely good with the things in combat. They hit opponents everywhere they turn. Vital points are impacted. Pain gets inflicted. The enemy drops. Follow their path by tracing the trail of groaning bodies.

Raphael uses a pair of sais: edged weapons designed for both stabbing and disarming opponents. As a result, he frequently wrenches combatant armaments out of their hands and then -- does pretty much nothing. Okay, maybe he'll land a kick once in a while or bash someone's head with the sais' little pommel. But beyond that, in a fight against living opposition, he's more or less useless.

Leonardo has a katana. Sometimes he uses two at once, a technique which has taken his entire existence to master. And after so many years of training, he has become very good at slicing air. He never lands a sword hit on another being, not one made of flesh and blood. Oh, if he's facing another blade user, he can hit that opposing sword all day in a stunning display of parries. But when it comes to cutting skin and wounding muscle, let alone piercing hearts? He is completely useless. He always will be.

So what's going on here? It's simple: most of the time when you see the foursome, they're appearing in a medium aimed at children. Kids aren't allowed to see blood. Bruising, bashing, contusions -- that's all fine. But a single cut is forbidden. You're lucky to get away with a bloody nose: actual slice-and-dice is practically illegal.

So welcome to the

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InverseLawOfSharpnessAndAccuracy

and if you want to do any damage in animation? Get a staff.

"RE: #767"
Posted by kingfish on 04-09-14 at 09:09 AM
LAST EDITED ON 04-09-14 AT 09:10 AM (EST)

And so Myron, the fifth TMNT, is the CPA who keeps their accounts and whose favorite weapons are a sharp edged sheet of paper in one hand and a staple puller in the other.

He does have a black belt in inflicting paper cuts, and he menaces the enemy with this threat, but actually only needs to give a big pinch to the enemy to make them cry.

So, a staff or a staple puller, your choice.

"#768 (in 'honor' of Kass)"
Posted by Estee on 04-10-14 at 07:26 AM
I'm just going to quote a little of the page's own trope description here.

"Evil Cannot Comprehend Good? Hardly! I understand the value of what good deeds I do, and how much I deserve in return for the most trifling sacrifice I give. People should be grateful to me. No, offsetting my mistakes by the good I've done is not sufficient; it's just ingratitude not to give me more, which is an injury.

And injury is terrible — when it's done to me. I know how evil it is that people Come to Gawk, and that they're lying when they say they didn't realize the character was there. I know how entitled I am to rescue — certainly before those Innocent Bystanders. I even understand the evil of breaking bargains that the other person hadn't agreed to, but unfortunately, I had assumed they would; little equals the rage of those proud few of us whose offer that We Can Rule Together is turned down — or a Femme Fatale turned Woman Scorned. And of course I know what punishment should be meted out for it.

Not even my True Companions are safe; they exist to be loyal to me, not vice versa. Indeed, I may sacrifice them for my own amusement. That's what they're there for. I may, of course, be angry at their harm or death at the hands of others, but that is because it removes a useful resource from our plans, or infringes on my authority. (As a consequence, a frequent source of inexplicable Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal or The Dog Bites Back. Why would they ever want to leave me?!) Similarly, if I reveal my intentions of betraying my superiors, and my subordinates revolt against me, I'll be shocked by the Rebellious Rebel's treachery — don't they know how good things will be when I succeed? The hero's coterie, on the other hand, merely provides a good source of Revenge by Proxy. Romantic relationships are much the same, those from whom I crave affection must give all their love while we just take.

Conversely, doing me a good turn may result in a wide degree of gratitude and "reward" for my helper. It can range from understandably none at all to generous offers of a quick and painless death. More benevolent overlords, as of course I am, may offer a Shiny New Australia for a good manicure, or a lifetime of friendship. Of course, I might just be an Entitled Bastard and expect the world to always forgive and oblige me whenever I do wrong... but how often is that? Then there's times where I, regretfully, simply kill our benefactor; how dare they see me as weak?!

Nothing shocks me more than Shut Up, Hannibal!, Talk to the Fist, or Kirk Summation; still more when someone says Get It Over With or Boring Insult. What could be more interesting than what I have to say?"

...yes, that was a little of it.

Believe me, she can go on like this for hours. She already has.

You pretty much know what this is about already, don't you?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ItsAllAboutMe

Someone please duct tape a bitch.

"RE: #768 (in 'honor' of Kass)"
Posted by kingfish on 04-10-14 at 09:43 AM
LAST EDITED ON 04-10-14 AT 10:02 AM (EST)


Let me introduce you to, "President for life, Queen bee of all she sees, Kass".

As a very wise ancient philosopher once said; "Oye Vey!"

And as an equally wise Dr John says: "Such a thing!“.

But in the tidal pool we know, "Wimmen be bitches".

"#769 (The ABC Beast Returns.)"
Posted by Estee on 04-11-14 at 07:40 AM
If it becomes known that someone of power, fame, or influence is using strong measures to attempt to suppress a piece of information or a work, then many people will want to know what it is even if they never cared before.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StreisandEffect

Of course, with Amy and Samy involved, you can exclude all three.

"RE: #769 (The ABC Beast Returns.)"
Posted by kingfish on 04-11-14 at 08:45 AM
This is why it's important for me to make sure that every single stray thought that enters my head is immediately posted.

I suffer in the name of art.

"So"
Posted by foonermints on 04-11-14 at 08:48 AM
While you harp on about chicken barbecue, towel dancing is a complete blank?



"RE: So"
Posted by kingfish on 04-11-14 at 08:57 AM
Yeah. That must have been an especially rough night.
"#770"
Posted by Estee on 04-12-14 at 06:41 AM
The one and only benefit to having the New York Post in your media marketplace.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PunnyHeadlines

That and birdcage liner. If you have a bird.

"RE: #770"
Posted by dabo on 04-12-14 at 04:06 PM
Noah Flooded Out
I especially dig that melting ice was the cause.
"#771"
Posted by Estee on 04-13-14 at 12:24 PM
Modern schools are big places. Even if the kids aren't old enough to have different subjects taught by separate personnel, there's frequently too much child population for a single instructor to handle each grade. When they get older, it gets worse: that's when specialists come in, local primaries combine flow to the higher levels, and then you have the administrative staff... basically, a decent-sized school is a corporation which exists to move product out the door and stopped caring about quality control on Day One.

However, in a fictional setting, that is a lot of people to detail. If you're filming something, it's just too many actors to pay. And so because producers don't care about realism and do occasionally think about budgets, you wind up with a

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TwoTeacherSchool

On the plus side, if they both get sick, instant holiday.

"#772"
Posted by Estee on 04-14-14 at 07:26 AM
Sometimes I like to list places in the United States where I'm likely to be killed just for showing up within their borders.

This is #7.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Southies

If wearing a Mets cap, #5.

"RE: #772"
Posted by kingfish on 04-14-14 at 08:58 AM
Right. Like Wearing a Yankee's cap to a Detroit home game won't get you a trip to the E-room. Or a Philly home game. Or a Boston home game.

Don't blame the Southern man, Yankee's are trouble mongers everywhere they go.

Trouble I tell ya, just trouble.

"RE: #772"
Posted by Estee on 04-14-14 at 09:19 AM
And thus I know Kingfish didn't bother to read the actual trope.
"RE: #772"
Posted by kingfish on 04-14-14 at 12:21 PM
LAST EDITED ON 04-14-14 AT 12:25 PM (EST)

It's not that I didn't bother, I did try. I have some sort of thing (Bug? Admin. filter? Who knows) that makes those links not work for me at times. This was one of those times. It seems to be trying to send me to a link to facebook.

So I make up stuff.

And don't worry, no one in the south want's to kill you. They don't know you that well yet.

"RE: #772"
Posted by kingfish on 04-16-14 at 09:56 AM
(Two days later).

Oh. Now I get it.

"RE: #772"
Posted by foonermints on 04-14-14 at 12:22 PM
Don't fret, nobody reads what I write either.

"Your hideous overuse of smileys belies a complete failure in you language skills! Were you educated by Orangutans?" ~misquote by Grit

"RE: #772"
Posted by newsomewayne on 04-14-14 at 12:48 PM
I miss grit.


Handcrafted by RollDdice

"Disappeared"
Posted by foonermints on 04-14-14 at 01:25 PM
Into the woods, taking her pancakes with her. Wonderful pancakes I bet they were..


AND the lovely and gracious mother-in-law

"RE: Disappeared"
Posted by kingfish on 04-14-14 at 02:22 PM
I heard she fell off her deck and impaled herself on a garden Gnome.

Just a rumor.

"RE: Disappeared"
Posted by foonermints on 04-14-14 at 02:26 PM
Some Gnomes just get lucky.

"RE: Disappeared"
Posted by kingfish on 04-14-14 at 03:55 PM
Knowing Grit, that was how she impaled herself.

Did I mention that she's a hero of mine?

"RE: Disappeared"
Posted by foonermints on 04-14-14 at 04:04 PM
That's just because she was mean to you.
Nobody else would dare.

Maybe it was suppressed mother-in-law training?

"RE: Disappeared"
Posted by kingfish on 04-14-14 at 06:06 PM
Grit used to be a mean drunk. Until she impaled herself. Now she happy.

I however am a pussycat. Unless those dang kids cross my lawn again.

"RE: Disappeared"
Posted by foonermints on 04-15-14 at 08:51 AM
She just had poor taste in boxed wine.


Handcrafted by RollDdice

"RE: Disappeared"
Posted by kingfish on 04-15-14 at 10:20 AM
I can save her!

It sounds like she needs some Homemade Hooch.

What is her address?

"RE: Disappeared"
Posted by newsomewayne on 04-21-14 at 09:16 AM
There's good taste in boxed wine?
"#773"
Posted by Estee on 04-15-14 at 06:43 AM
There's an old Batman story which was revived for a rather silly episode of the animated series -- one in the later years, when quality control had started allowing a few of the stranger birds into the aviary. In it, the Joker becomes pardoned. Acquitted. Completely free of all prior charges. All those murders? Legally gone. Amazing, isn't it? And how did he achieve this?

Money.

Seems a gangster -- one who hated the Clown Prince Of Crime -- died. Natural causes. And for some reason, he left his entire estate to the Joker. Who doesn't know why and doesn't care. He bribes his way through the entire legal system and frees himself. He spends to indulge on atrocity because now he's just eccentric. He replaces Harley with a newer model. (She doesn't take it well.) He's having a good old time, and keeps right on having one right up until the money runs out.

Was he that much of a lunatic spendthrift? Believe it or not, no. The gangster conned him. It was a vault of money and jewels -- but only the outer layer is real. Get past that and find a vault mostly full of counterfeits. The last laugh comes from the grave, because now the Joker is broke again. And guess what comes next?

The inheritance estate tax.

Guess who doesn't accept insanity as a plea. Guess who sends you to actual prison.

Guess who finally made Our Not-Hero fear something.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IntimidatingRevenueService

Like I said, quality control at this point was a little bit off.

(I filed last month.)

"RE: #773"
Posted by kingfish on 04-15-14 at 08:52 AM
Yea...TurboTax.

W2s in one end, refunds out the other.

Exactly who is going to arrest Superman? And how?

Filed last night. Filing at the last moment makes you a smaller target.

"#774"
Posted by Estee on 04-16-14 at 07:02 AM
So you're making a TV show set in 2014. In order to connect with your audience, you make sure everyone watching knows just how up-to-date you are. So whenever possible, the characters reference current events. Trends in culture. Celebrity scandals. They try out the newest tech and discuss its failures before the commercial break advertises the stuff. Your show could not be more 2014 without a flipping calendar on the wall.

Do you know what your show looks like in 2077?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnintentionalPeriodPiece

Crap.

Crap which needs research to fully recognize as crap.

"RE: #774"
Posted by kingfish on 04-16-14 at 10:51 AM
Ah yes. Anachronisms.

Reminds me of the time...

"#775"
Posted by Estee on 04-17-14 at 07:33 AM
Even heroes have heroes.

The crimefighter lurking on rooftops watched a TV show as a child: some of the fictional equipment stuck in his head and once he had access to money, it just had to be brought into reality. The pilot followed the exploits of an original ace to the point where the wallpaper in her bedroom was replaced by clipped-out articles. The swordsman rewound the tape until it broke, then went out into the backyard and practiced the moves with a broom handle until that broke. The spellcaster never starts a rote without the old decoder ring on her right index finger. And so on down the line: inspirations, codifiers for what they wanted to be, reasons to begin and sometimes, reasons to go on.

Those kids grow up to be heroes themselves. Stoic, self-controlled, fully rational heroes.

Until the moment they meet their inspirations.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheKnightsWhoSaySquee

Turns out the utility belt has enough room for one small autograph book.

"RE: #775"
Posted by kingfish on 04-17-14 at 08:17 AM
"Until the moment they meet their inspirations."

Ok, here it is again. You're hinting around for a peep meet with me.

Answer's the same as before. Be patient. We'll get all the NY/NJers and anybody else who wants to, and have lunch someday. I promise. My vote would be for Coney Island dogs, but I'm open to suggestions.

"#776 (Pepe, don't read it.)"
Posted by Estee on 04-18-14 at 07:27 AM
I was convicted of a crime I did not commit. I plea-bargained down from the one I actually did.

— Rufus T. "Buck" Wild, Icon

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PleaBargain

"RE: #776 (Pepe, don't read it.)"
Posted by foonermints on 04-18-14 at 08:13 AM
So if the ex-wife accidentally shuffles off the planet, I get shafted with "illegal dumping"?



Handcrafted by RollDdice

"RE: #776 (Pepe, don't read it.)"
Posted by kingfish on 04-18-14 at 08:26 AM
If you ever need an alibi, old buddy, just ask.
"The Moonshine"
Posted by foonermints on 04-18-14 at 08:42 AM
Made me do it!

Tribemints© by Tribey

Or it was something in the cookies..

"RE: The Moonshine"
Posted by kingfish on 04-18-14 at 09:16 AM
I'll back you up there. If you need me to testify, just tell them to serve the subpoena to me at my address in Ukraine. Tell them to step around the landmines.
"#777"
Posted by Estee on 04-19-14 at 07:16 AM
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SignificantGreenEyedRedhead?from=Main.GreenEyedRedhead

'natch.

"RE: #777"
Posted by kingfish on 04-19-14 at 07:50 AM
LAST EDITED ON 04-19-14 AT 08:12 AM (EST)

'natch? Many people when they see a red head (or a blond) they do wonder about the 'natch.

Anyway, In my experience violet eyes combined with any hair color is the rarest. Maybe since it's a genetic regional thing and I just haven't been where there are concentrations of violet eyed people, but I've only known one.

"RE: #777"
Posted by dabo on 04-19-14 at 12:29 PM
Cheryl Blossom, a notable case as she is the

Is there a finish the damn sentence trope?

"RE: #777"
Posted by kidflash212 on 04-19-14 at 03:02 PM
I'm a blue-eyed redhead. And so was Wally despite what the examples say.
"#778"
Posted by Estee on 04-20-14 at 08:47 AM
Booking the reception hall, including catering, staff, food costs, minimum alcohol budget, and band: $15,000

All wedding registry gifts, total: $17,000

Honeymoon: $8,500, not including food incidentals and shopping

Mandatory donation bribe to the church: $4,000

Paying for transportation, hotel fees, and everything else for all the people invited who just had to attend no matter how much it cost as long as they weren't footing the bill: $9,200

Current location of groom, post-panicked flight: Australia. On your credit card. $2,800 gone because he went first-class.

...

...damn it, someone's getting married.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhyWasteAWedding

Cabfare, City Hall and back to grab the first couple at the back of the license line: $24.80. (No tip.)

"RE: #778"
Posted by kingfish on 04-21-14 at 08:48 AM
Sounds like a happy ending for the groom (Does that come off as cynical?).

It does sound a little clichéd. Why can’t the aborted wedding suddenly turn into something else? A revolution, or a massacre, or a human sacrifice, or something?

"#779"
Posted by Estee on 04-21-14 at 06:58 AM
Green, black, and the Corps emblem prominently displayed beyond all chance of identifying you as anything else.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NonuniformUniform

Beyond that, the Guardians really don't give a carp what you do.

Relish it. The exact look of your uniform is the only amount of individuality they're comfortable with allowing to exist.

"RE: #779"
Posted by kingfish on 04-21-14 at 08:53 AM
LAST EDITED ON 04-22-14 AT 08:48 AM (EST)

Relish it! that what I ask for when I buy a hot dog (Slap knee, I kill myself).

That old dog, William Rehnquist. A rebel at heart.

"#780"
Posted by Estee on 04-22-14 at 09:15 AM
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThankingTheViewer

What is 'the next trope to die from the decay of society?'

...okay, that's enough thinking about Hannity for one day.

"RE: #780"
Posted by kingfish on 04-22-14 at 10:06 AM
LAST EDITED ON 04-22-14 AT 12:45 PM (EST)

And it is this appreciation, albeit from a nameless faceless entity that doesn't know I exist, that keeps me going. I need so little in life.

BTW, this entity doesn't know I exist until I send them money. Then, and continuing until the end of time, they will be my best friend to be communicated with daily (or at least whenever their fund raiser comes up) via phone, email, and any other media for which they have my address/number.

I prefer the empty, cold, meaningless kind of gratitude.

BTW #2: RTVW Survivor Bashers should get an entry into the examples list for this trope after Spoiling Sam ends his weekly/biweekly posts with a sincere thanks for the three or four readers of his posts. This pitiful sign of gratitude will have been inspired by this trope. You may be witnessing history. Watch for it. Bookmark it. Put its footprints (or whatever) into the sidewalk at Grauman's Chinese theater.

"#781"
Posted by Estee on 04-23-14 at 07:03 AM
Roadblock: who can get a ride to the finish line?

Afrimerican Male About To Win A Million Dollars In New York City: "I'll do it!"

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FailingATaxi

...no.

"RE: #781"
Posted by kingfish on 04-23-14 at 08:39 AM
I like that, Protips for hailing a cab in Las Vegas.

And I did not know that it was illegal to hail a cab from the sidewalk in some places. Seems silly and unenforceable. As an ex-cab driver (paid way thru college) I only turned down out of control drunks at closing time, not curbside cab hailers.

And and and, ordering a cab by phone does not prevent fist fights when the cab shows up and someone who has been trying to hail one for some time tries to claim it.

"#782"
Posted by Estee on 04-24-14 at 08:32 AM
The moon's shadow is cast across the sun. The Earth's shadow falls on the moon.

It's just part of the great dance: every so often, partners step in front of each other. It's a visual treat (provided you're protected) and is definitely something to make sure you see at least once. But in the end, it's a perfectly normal event -- just a rare one.

Unless, of course, you're in Fictionland. And then it's downright overflowing with replete significance. The event upsets spells, causes powers to go haywire, lines up prophecies, makes prophets lose their minds (okay, that one's real) and generally disrupts the entire world until it passes -- or beyond. And because they seem so inherently dramatic, a number of creators will use them for the excuse of the day. A very large number.

So once again, it's time for a

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TotalEclipseOfThePlot

Glasses mandatory. Earplugs helpful.

"#783"
Posted by Estee on 04-25-14 at 06:53 AM
Have you ever met the savior of humanity?

"In 1983, war tensions were high between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. For a few years, the USSR under Brezhnev and Andropov were terrified that a United States first strike was imminent, and had instuted the RYaN (from the Russian meaning something like "Nuclear Rocket Attack") program to find any hints of warlike intentions.

In the summer of '83, the Able Archer '83 exercises (a NATO communications exercise meant to simulate the first week of World War Three, culminating on the last day with a rehearsal of an expected nuclear exchange) were held, this coinciding with the controversial arrival of Pershing nuclear missiles. The Russians were monitoring in real time and were becoming increasingly alarmed at the exercise. The coinciding of the two events sent Soviet suspicions through the roof. And, the Soviet early-warning satellite system was fundamentally flawed.

The system registered five ICBMs from three separate launches headed towards Russia.

Stanislav Petrov, the officer in charge of the station, realized quickly that the United States would not launch a first strike with just five missiles - had they actually intended to initiate war they'd have launched everything, in an attempt to cut the head off their enemy before it could retaliate significantly. Suspecting an equipment error, he shut down the first two alarms, and explained to his superiors that he was ignoring the third, citing the fact that only five missiles had been launched. Had he instead given credence to the alarms, the Soviet Union would most likely have launched a "counter"-strike, which the USA would have correctly seen as a first strike. An actual counter-strike would have followed, and we wouldn't be reading TV Tropes right now. And, to top it all off, Petrov wasn't supposed to be the man on duty that day. He had taken the shift for another operator who was sick.

Needless to say, Petrov - the man who very literally saved humanity - was promptly relieved of duty pending an official inquiry."

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ANuclearError

"(For what it's worth, they decided he'd acted properly and he was reinstated.)"

"RE: #783"
Posted by kingfish on 04-25-14 at 09:16 AM
LAST EDITED ON 04-25-14 AT 09:47 AM (EST)

A heartfelt pat on the back for Stanislav. Thanks, buddy. If I had your picture, it would be on my mantle.

And I kinda wish I hadn't read that trope. There are a lot of ways to get killed with a nuke.

Fortunately, we have Fooner, and if his hand is supposed to be on the trigger (and it may be), he'll be frying up snails instead.

"#784"
Posted by Estee on 04-26-14 at 07:44 AM
Last names.

Middle names.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OnlyOneName

Who needs 'em?

"RE: #784"
Posted by dabo on 04-26-14 at 06:03 PM
http://bigbangtheory.wikia.com/wiki/Zack_Johnson

A major mystery on TBBT is Penny's last name. As she unknowingly married Zack, her last name was Johnson whether she realize it or not.

"#785 (sex)"
Posted by Estee on 04-27-14 at 12:39 PM
Generally, when disaster threatens, two doors immediately open. Both lead to the bedroom. Most characters generally get to use but one.

The first door is one you're familiar with, and you step through it after the disaster is averted (or, in rare cases, hasn't been and there's no time left for anything but this). You're alive! Everything's going to be okay! The world nearly ended, but it turned out that was what it took make the romantic lead confess that that love was mutual! What are you going to do now? And inevitably, sex results.

The second, somewhat less common door, is used before the disaster. The characters realized they may not make it through this one. This night -- could be the last night. In the worst case, there is no time but this one, no chance but that in front of you. And if you're going to do something -- you'd better do it now.

Equally inevitably, sex results.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PreClimaxClimax

If the writer then wants to kill off the man in a male-female relationship, the odds of pregnancy go up by a factor of about twenty.

"RE: #785 (sex)"
Posted by dabo on 04-27-14 at 01:05 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_sVp0Aro4k

Hawkeye and Hotlips trapped in a shack
Japanese scotch cue the artillery

"#786 "
Posted by Estee on 04-28-14 at 07:14 AM
One of the things about super-strength is most people's defintion of 'weapon' ultimately comes down to 'anything I can lift, swing, or throw which might cause some damage.' When you can bench-press a few more tons than the average human, extra possibilities for all of that traits start to open up.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TelephonePolearm

So much impact. So great an arc range. So much time for people to get their landlines back.

"#787"
Posted by Estee on 04-29-14 at 06:38 AM
J. Jonah Jameson: Tell him he's fired.
Betty Brant: You can't fire him, he's a freelancer.
JJJ: Well, put him on the payroll and then fire him.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity

As the article notes, fictional worlds seem to have a total lack of wrongful termination laws. (And after the Supreme Court gets done, so will we.) Showed up late? Fired. Showed up early? You're spiting the boss: fired. Want your paycheck? We know a way to prevent that: fired. Asking why you've been fired? Fired twice and now you owe the boss money.

Pretty much the 1% ideal. Unless it happens to them.

"RE: #787"
Posted by dabo on 04-29-14 at 09:58 PM
Lampshaded in "Sherwood Schwartz: A Loving Tribute" in which the guy who wrote "Gilligan's Island" is fired and for his replacement they want the guy who wrote "The Brady Bunch."
"#788 (Star Wars #1-9)"
Posted by Estee on 04-30-14 at 06:34 AM
Telemundo with a slightly more coherent plotline, better acting, and somewhat fewer explosions.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpaceOpera

Just as many Blatant Coincidences and Shocking Swerves, though.

"#789 (Fanfic)"
Posted by Estee on 05-01-14 at 07:01 AM
It's like this.

You're what they called a Personality Core. There's this thing... most of the facility calls it 'Her', if they can dare speak any name at all. Anyway, it's an AI. It's... homicidal. They made it by taking everything there was about the boss' assistant and cramming it into a machine. Against her will. And now the machine likes to kill people when it powers up. The scientists who made it felt that was a problem, and the way they tried to cure it was by sticking more personalities on her. Gave the inner ear too many voices to listen to.

They weren't particularly foresightful scientists, really. Or sane.

In your case, you're an ID. An Intelligence Dampener. The purpose of your little spherical existence is to generate a never-ending stream of bad ideas, none of which you recognize as such and all of which you're very proud of. And they stuck you on Her. It didn't go well, so they took you away.

There were deaths. A lot of them.

Time passed. You're not very good at telling how much of it there was.

And then there was a human. That pleased Her. She likes to test. Test to the point of breaking. To the point of death, actually, which was part of how some of the other humans died. You decided that if you helped this human, she could help you. Both would get away from Her. It... seemed like a really good idea. Especially the part where the human would plug you into the facility and take control away from Her.

That part worked. And as soon as it did, you wanted to test...

You kind of went mad there for a while.

In the end, the human and Her formed a very temporary truce to get you out of charge. You... weren't regulating the power source all that well: it was cooperate or be vaporized. The human got out. You were sent through the last portal. You think the human was trying to hang onto you before the vacuum sucked you in. You're not sure why.

That was four years ago. Four years of orbit. Four years to think about how the scientists designed the world's most perfect idiot. And you're it.

Four years to understand the concept of being sorry.

Four years before a meteor impact sent you hurtling back towards Earth. Back into the custody of Her, who is not particularly happy with you. Not at all.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/BlueSky

Four years before the human came back for you.

"#790"
Posted by Estee on 05-02-14 at 07:09 AM
You're an action sort of girl. As such, you've designed your outfit for maximum freedom of movement. For your lower body, this means you're wearing a very short skirt. Extremely short. Knows-your-thighs-only-as-passing-acquaintances short. You are doing all sorts of moves in this skirt that... well... let's just say that in a world with paparazzi, one would hope you're wearing panties. Because if so, that's what they're going to get pictures of. A lot. Everyone else just gets a less solid permanent record.

Except that... it doesn't happen.

No matter how you move -- no matter how high the kicks are, how acrobatic the flips, if you're even hung upside-down for a while -- the skirt never moves in such a way as to expose your lingerie. Ever. You can have a 100 mph wind gust come up from the grate you're standing on and the skirt stays exactly where it is.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicSkirt

Handy, ain't it?

(Incidentally, it does not protect you in any way from Bill O'Reilly demanding you be thrown out of the United States for being a poor role model. (Magic only goes so far.)

"RE: #790"
Posted by dabo on 05-02-14 at 10:02 AM
only divine intervention is keeping it in place — Supergirl, we're looking at you.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. But they are forgetting that Kryptonian cloth basically has the strength of spun steel fibers to anyone and anything not Kryptonian.


"RE: Trope Of The Day VIII: in which everyone here is personally insulted by at least one entry."
Posted by Estee on 05-03-14 at 06:59 AM
If you really don't want to be in a relationship -- not attracted to the person who's asking, the gender, the anything at all -- one of the best ways to avoid it short-term is to pretend you already are. Can't date you because I'm already dating someone else. Instant dismissal and the person being sent away generally doesn't feel too bad about it. Win.

Except... well, that person doesn't always go too far away. This could be a coworker, or a neighbor. In extreme cases, this is someone in your family to whom you haven't come out yet, probably never will, and they just keep asking about how your social life is going. And you can use the same lie. But it starts to get more -- detailed. Habits. Travel agendas to go see your SO. Excuse for why that person is never around. A comprehensive history filled with the sort of minor tragedies which ensure no personal appearances.

For a one-night bar encounter, it's a basic lie. For those closer to you, it can quickly become a

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GirlfriendInCanada

and before you know it, they're buying airplane tickets so they can meet her at long last...

"#791 (most incapacitating superpower)"
Posted by Estee on 05-04-14 at 12:49 PM
The ability to disintegrate cloth fibers.

Because let's face it: there are very few opponents who will freely keep the fight going after they realize they are now fully nude.

In public.

During the smartphone camera age.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DefeatByModesty

Of course, you'll have Faux calling you a pervert for the rest of your life, but...

Check out the Real Life section.

"RE: #791 (most incapacitating superpower)"
Posted by dabo on 05-04-14 at 01:54 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WReevc7P0lA
"#792"
Posted by Estee on 05-05-14 at 07:39 AM
LAST EDITED ON 05-05-14 AT 07:40 AM (EST)

The vast majority of bullets, when moving across a short range, travel at something close to supersonic speeds. This means that in close combat, any bullet you heard is one you probably (initially) lived through, because the impact is going to arrive before the sound of the shot. The one you don't hear is more likely to be the problem.

But that's in real life.

In fiction...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YouAlwaysHearTheBullet

It's just more dramatic that way.

"RE: #792"
Posted by dabo on 05-05-14 at 08:26 AM
Seriously, very informative, but fails to account for unreality. The basic fact is that what you the audience hears is not necessarily what any particular character on the screen would hear, and almost certainly not what every particular character in the scene would hear. Sound is funny. And sound effects are for effect.
"RE: #792"
Posted by kingfish on 05-05-14 at 09:18 AM
The Foley artist hears the bullets fire first.

Me? I would (if the occasion arose) not be able to hear any bullets fire thru the six feet of dirt under which I hopefully would have reflexively burrowed.

Not a hero me.

"RE: #792"
Posted by Molaholic on 05-06-14 at 09:58 AM
This is like something i try to get my students to understand.

Movies lie. Big time. So does TV for that matter.

Far-off explosions ALWAYS are seen and heard simultaneously -- forget about the fact that light is a gazzillion times faster than sound. FlashBoom must go together.

"RE: #792"
Posted by kingfish on 05-06-14 at 10:54 AM
And they can rarely be seen in Slo-MO. Or followed by a camera in flight from the gun to the target.
"#793"
Posted by Estee on 05-06-14 at 06:27 AM
Y'know the best part about being drafted into the service of a monotheistic deity who hates all sin, condemns those who practice it, and will send you to eternal torment for the most minor improper thought?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DirtyOldMonk

All the brothels you get to run.

"RE: #793"
Posted by kingfish on 05-06-14 at 09:01 AM
I was distracted by the Naughty Nuns trope.

You did that on purpose, didn't you!

"#794 (we don't talk about it)"
Posted by Estee on 05-07-14 at 09:23 AM
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ElephantInTheLivingRoom
"RE: #794 (we don't talk about it)"
Posted by kingfish on 05-07-14 at 09:36 AM
Well, if an elephant cut a fart in an elevator, I'd mention it.
"RE: #794 (we don't talk about it)"
Posted by Molaholic on 05-07-14 at 09:55 AM
Just another example of Republican bias in the media.

You never -- ever hear about the Donkey in the room, do you.

Just sayin'

"RE: #794 (we don't talk about it)"
Posted by Estee on 05-07-14 at 09:59 AM
I find that when there's an unwelcome ass in the room, someone generally brings it up.
"#795 (just wait for tomorrow.)"
Posted by Estee on 05-08-14 at 05:28 AM
Every so often, the roulette wheel lands on 00.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicBook/ChickTracts

I am anti-censorship: I think most of the people here recognize that. I support the right to publish pretty much anything.

But whenever I find one of these things, I shred it beyond any rope of ever being read again. Throw it away somewhere that no one will ever find it. And move on.

You have the right to publish. Do I have the right to destroy the results?

In this case, it feels like more of a duty.

"RE: #795 (just wait for tomorrow.)"
Posted by kingfish on 05-08-14 at 08:48 AM
This was your double zero. Well, the odds favored it happening sometime.

I had never heard of "Chick Tracts" before. I actually thought this was going to go in a different direction, and am sorta dissapointed. Bring back the hairy pussy cats, please.

Anyway, this does contain a mention of one of the other, more minor I guess, Western Gods:

"The King James Version of the Bible is the only version that God inspired. All other versions of the Bible are lies, corrupted by humans and Satan."

This God is kinda weird.

"RE: #795 (just wait for tomorrow.)"
Posted by Estee on 05-08-14 at 08:55 AM
I had never heard of "Chick Tracts" before.

In Alabama? I'm mildly shocked. I would have expected a slightly more receptive audience.

In NYC, you generally find them... well... in the way. Most people don't take things handed to them on the street, largely in self-defense. So the people who distribute the things often just leave them around where you'll have to pick them up. Seats are a big favorite. On top of take-a-number pads. Under your windshield wipers. Anywhere you must get rid of them and will hopefully open them first. Or in my case, shred.

I hate even suggesting this, but... you really have to read at least one to get the full feel of the thing. The website is mentioned near the start of the trope article. You can find a selection there. Pick one and go through it.

Sorry in advance.

"Cooooo-Kieeeee!!!"
Posted by dabo on 05-08-14 at 09:08 AM
This one is actually inspired.

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0074/0074_01.asp

Estee, you have to read about the Death Cookie, you HAVE TO!!

"RE: #795 (just wait for tomorrow.)"
Posted by kingfish on 05-08-14 at 12:24 PM
Read Dabo's example.

Does seem like it would be standard reading around here.

"#796 (Faux News every night)"
Posted by Estee on 05-09-14 at 07:03 AM
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeadGuyOnDisplay

"#797"
Posted by Estee on 05-10-14 at 08:02 AM
THWIP!

Do you know what that sound means? Did you recognize that it's meant to be a sound at all, a very distinctive one which is only associated with a single event?

Are you aware of how many of those not-sounds exist, converted into words which the reader will know every time? How about the very long word which means just that definition: onomatopoeia.

They're everywhere. They get abused a lot. When associated with Adam West, you want them all to die, but that generally wears off in about a hundred years or so. But they're here to stay because they work.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WrittenSoundEffect

And in the case of the sample one above, they're trademarked and I can now be sued.

Yay!

"RE: #797"
Posted by dabo on 05-10-14 at 12:27 PM
VWOOOOORP! VWOOOOOORP
SNIKT
SCHLIKT
BAMF
K-KLAK!
SPLUT!
AUUGHH!
BOINK!
BOOM!
BEEP
SPLOYDOING!
"#798 (frequently sex)"
Posted by Estee on 05-11-14 at 09:32 AM
Which actually brings us to the other major rule of BDSM: before starting anything, make absolutely certain your partner has a means of communication which you will under no circumstances overlook. This is where the stereotyped ball gags become a major problem. Go ahead, gasp out the code while you've got that in your mouth. Go on, try it... and too late. In Case Of Emergency, Press Button works, but the button has to be something you won't hit by accident, can easily reach in an emergency, and whatever it sets off cannot be missed. Arranging all this isn't impossible... but it does take some creativity and attention to detail.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SafeWord

Don't mess this up.

"RE: #798 (frequently sex)"
Posted by kingfish on 05-13-14 at 08:44 AM
"Cut" as a safe word might be misinterpreted.

"#799"
Posted by Estee on 05-12-14 at 07:51 AM
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ShavingIsScience

*looks at local males*

It sure ain't art.

"RE: #799"
Posted by udg on 05-12-14 at 05:08 PM
Sounds like a job for Sueeve.


Thanks to tribephyl for the sigpic!

"RE: #799"
Posted by kingfish on 05-13-14 at 08:52 AM
LAST EDITED ON 05-13-14 AT 08:53 AM (EST)

"...in Star Trek: Insurrection, Troi shaves Riker with shaving cream and an old-fashioned razor.

There's all sorts of symbolism in there about how letting a woman near your face with a naked blade is the ultimate sign of trust, intimacy and an intense desire to nail her."

This writer gets it.

"#800"
Posted by Estee on 05-13-14 at 07:03 AM
Well, this is appropriate to finish off a thread...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FadeToBlack

"RE: #800"
Posted by kingfish on 05-13-14 at 08:55 AM
Fade to Black.

Don Sterling's ultimate nightmare.