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SeptimusHeap MOD (Edited uphill both ways)
Mar 21st 2021 at 7:58:09 AM •••

Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Misused, started by MirandaShadowind on Nov 27th 2018 at 9:24:47 PM

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
AFP Since: Mar, 2010
Mar 29th 2014 at 7:37:35 PM •••

So, is there a proper place around here for the Comic book related stuff? I'm thinking both the one-off comics (Float Out, Shepherd's Tale, Better Days, etc.) and the continuation series (Serenity: Leaves on the Wind). Do we want to just create a Comic Book/Serenity page and toss everything in there under folder headings, or what?

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SeptimusHeap MOD (Edited uphill both ways)
Mar 30th 2014 at 1:38:40 AM •••

A page ComicBook.Serenity seems good to me.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
AFP Since: Mar, 2010
Apr 8th 2014 at 8:02:41 PM •••

And done. I'll fill in some more of the tropes later.

Littlewiggle Since: Nov, 2012
Dec 2nd 2012 at 8:48:35 AM •••

...Do we SERIOUSLY need a list of 'Averted tropes'?

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flimflam Since: Dec, 2012
Dec 17th 2012 at 8:05:35 AM •••

Little bit, yeah. Lot of Sci-Fi shows don't avert those tropes, so the averted trope gives as much an idea of what the show is as the included tropes.

Discar Since: Jun, 2009
Dec 17th 2012 at 10:16:46 AM •••

I really don't think so. Not as a separate list, that is. It should be integrated back into the main list.

Larkmarn Since: Nov, 2010
Jul 24th 2013 at 1:34:24 PM •••

Agreed, it's sort of silly. A lot of them aren't even close to Omnipresent Tropes, either, and don't even bear mentioning on the page at all (Really, Reality Has No Subtitles entry? Really?).

Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
Discar Since: Jun, 2009
Jan 20th 2014 at 2:21:56 PM •••

I'll reintergrate them back into the main list if no one has any objections.

Larkmarn Since: Nov, 2010
Jan 20th 2014 at 2:37:16 PM •••

Well, most of them can just... go. Most of the aversions aren't of tropes common enough to merit a listing. Though some of them (like Kissing Under the Influence) are specifically referenced by the show so those should go into the main list as a subversion. But things like Instant Emergency Response? That's just a plain aversion of a non-omnipresent trope and as such really has no place on the list.

Edited by 108.48.88.58 Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
Discar Since: Jun, 2009
Feb 6th 2013 at 1:39:00 PM •••

This entry was just deleted:

  • Expy: Jubal Early is a lot like Boba Fett. He's a bounty hunter and his ship resembles Fett's Slave I.

Although I'm not the one who added it in the first place, I think he counts. The ship is a dead giveaway. Hell, we can even just say the ship is an expy of the Slave I, if that makes people feel better.

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Zaptech Since: Oct, 2010
Feb 6th 2013 at 3:57:35 PM •••

I'd be cool with the ship being an Expy. I just have an issue with Expy itself, because it seems that people keep square-pegging it into "this character vaguely resembles this other character, so they must be Expies!" when an Expy is essentially the exact same character with minor differences.

I know Whedon has said that Early was also inspired by Boba Fett, and the ship itself was a very deliberate reference to that, but Early himself is too dissimilar to be an Expy.

Redmess Redmess Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
Nov 6th 2011 at 2:21:20 PM •••

This topic forgets to describe what the series is ABOUT...

Optimism is a duty. Hide / Show Replies
fraxas Since: Apr, 2011
Jan 25th 2012 at 8:12:44 AM •••

"The show told the story of a run-down tramp freighter, and its crew and passengers, trying to get along in the more isolated reaches of human space in the aftermath of a civil war."

Close enough. The movie is what more gets into the anti-authoritarian evils of government and River's fugitive story, less so much the series.

hobbitguy1420 Since: Jan, 2001
Mar 26th 2011 at 5:27:09 PM •••

Er, is it just me, or did this Brick guy add a ton of Pot Holes that don't actually add anything to the article?

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Zaptech Since: Oct, 2010
May 7th 2011 at 12:10:15 PM •••

I agree. It's gone from being useful to being incredibly annoying. We do not need to Pot Hole every single instance of a character's name. This is heading into Sink Hole territory.

Edited by Zaptech
tnu1138 Dracula Since: Apr, 2009
Dracula
Apr 6th 2011 at 3:31:33 PM •••

Character Sheet issue on Saffron's page it mentions that the name Yo Saff Bridg id canon but there is no source for this should it be removed?

We must survive, all of us. The blood of a human for me, a cooked bird for you. Where is the difference? Hide / Show Replies
Zaptech Since: Oct, 2010
Apr 7th 2011 at 2:09:03 PM •••

Saffron is referred to that name by Mal in "Trash" while they're in the museum.

MrDeath Since: Aug, 2009
Apr 8th 2011 at 7:31:35 AM •••

Point of clarification, it wasn't a museum, it was the guy's private collection.

hobbitguy1420 Since: Jan, 2001
Oct 29th 2010 at 11:23:20 PM •••

Regarding the Being Tortured Makes You Evil entry: I have altered the entry to suit the known facts from the series and cut the parts that were, per my knowledge, speculative or incorrect. If my knowledge is accurate and someone can cite a source, please feel free to correct.

The entry as it was:

  • Being Tortured Makes You Evil: This is how the Reavers multiply: whenever they take a ship, they leave exactly one person alive, and make them watch.

The new version per my edits:

  • Being Tortured Makes You Evil: One of the Reavers' most sadistic tricks. Sometimes, when they take a ship, they leave one person alive, and make them watch. The one time we saw this in-series, it resulted in the unfortunate victim trying to become a pseudo-Reaver himself, as a coping mechanism.

My reasons for this edit: We have no indication from Bushwacked that this is truly how Reavers reproduce; indeed, it seems unlikely that non-Pax-infected folk can become "real" Reavers, lacking the biochemical trigger. Also, we have no indication that they do this every time they take a ship, nor that it is only and always a single surviving victim.

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Fighteer MOD (Time Abyss)
Oct 30th 2010 at 7:59:19 AM •••

Good edit. We shouldn't insert WMG into main articles, only known facts.

Edited by Fighteer "It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Gilgamirage Since: Jul, 2009
Mar 23rd 2010 at 6:19:21 PM •••

Replaced a reference to "Blind Idiot" Translation with one to Eloquent in My Native Tongue because, come on, painstakingly trying to get the translation right is hardly "blind idiot" level.

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Mercy Since: Jan, 2001
Mar 24th 2010 at 1:27:11 AM •••

Hmmm... Painstakingly? I have read articles that claimed the translator was not a native Mandarin-speaker, but an ABC whose linguistic background was in Cantonese. Probably the only people who know for sure are the actual production team. But I don't know how much credit should be awarded for "trying hard" anyway.

Dark Since: Jan, 2001
Mar 24th 2010 at 8:18:46 AM •••

I think the mere fact that they even went through a mild amount of effort disqualifies this from "Blind Idiot" Translation. Most of the works on that page didn't put forth any effort towards making their work sound decent, and if the actors practiced the proper translation and they had someone who knew the language on-set, that sounds like enough to qualify it for something better from "Blind Idiot" Translation.

Edited by Dark "We're still flying." "That's not much." "...it's enough."
Fighteer MOD (Time Abyss)
Mar 24th 2010 at 8:23:04 AM •••

I agree; calling it "Blind Idiot" Translation doesn't do justice to (a) the work they put it to make it sound right, (b) the sheer difficulty of getting American actors to speak good Mandarin.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
SamCurt Since: Jan, 2001
May 11th 2010 at 6:29:26 AM •••

On the other hand: Tam is the Cantonese transliteration of the Chinese surname in question; it is reasonable that they speak some Cantonese-influenced Mandarin. (The Mandarin version is Tan)

Scientia et Libertas | Per Aspera ad Astra Nova
HG131 Since: Oct, 2009
May 21st 2010 at 2:15:32 PM •••

Plus, we now have the phrase hun dan. So, cut them a break.

Brownian Since: Jun, 2010
Oct 20th 2010 at 2:49:00 PM •••

From a linguistic POV, I'm not sure that the show demonstrates this trope at all. Few loanwords are pronounced exactly as they would be in the languages of their origin (consider deja vu, gauze, kung fu, or wiener), and so it would be incredibly unlikely that a culture that speaks English predominantly would pronounce Mandarin words (or even phrases) much more accurately than they do in the show.

However, without information to confirm that the creators were intentionally aware that in this instance, RealityIsUnrealistic, I'm not suggesting that this trope be removed.

Just FYI.

Edited by Brownian Sooner or later, everyone goes to the zoo.
BlueDude2 Since: Dec, 1969
Oct 16th 2010 at 9:59:10 PM •••

What do we have to do to get Firefly its own quote page? I'm not being rhetorical, I really don't know the protocol. The Simpsons has its own quote page, as well as a number of other pages. Seeing as how Firefly is such a diverse Trope Namer, I don't think a dedicated quote page would be out of place. Joss Whedon is just that quotable!

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Taelor Since: Jul, 2009
199.60.112.10 Since: Dec, 1969
Oct 14th 2010 at 3:54:18 PM •••

Oops - just realized I added a Serenity quote to the Firefly page (under Mercy Kill), but it's pretty illustrative nonetheless.

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199.60.112.10 Since: Dec, 1969
Oct 14th 2010 at 4:19:32 PM •••

Ah, I see I'm far from the first person to add a Serenity reference to this page.

Fighteer MOD Lost in Space (Time Abyss)
Lost in Space
Sep 21st 2010 at 8:53:47 AM •••

I cut this entry because it seems overly broadly applied. Simply having an unassuming name is not enough to qualify for Fluffy the Terrible; it needs to be something like the hired killer being nicknamed "Pumpkin".

  • Fluffy the Terrible: The two most dangerous people on the boat have the gentle, unassuming names of Jayne and River.
    • Lampshaded in "Trash" (With a near Berserk Button reaction)
      River: Jayne is a girl's name.
      Jayne: Yeah? Well, Jayne ain't a girl! She starts in on that girl's-name thing, [reaches into his pants] I'll show her good 'n' all, I got man parts!
    • "Zoe" isn't exactly a name that strikes fear into the hearts of men either.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Fighteer MOD Lost in Space (Time Abyss)
Lost in Space
Jun 23rd 2010 at 7:41:21 AM •••

Re: Hatedom — Since when are we in the business of cataloguing every instance of fans hating on a show? That way leads madness. Your Mileage May Vary is implied in everything we do on This Wiki.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!" Hide / Show Replies
Dark Since: Jan, 2001
Jun 23rd 2010 at 12:35:26 PM •••

I wouldn't call having one actual entry on the entire page "cataloguing every instance", but it doesn't bother me if we remove it. I think that was there to show just how incredibly stupid people can be when it comes to hating the show.

It's also good for a laugh.

"We're still flying." "That's not much." "...it's enough."
Fighteer MOD (Time Abyss)
Jun 24th 2010 at 6:55:38 AM •••

Well, it's debatably okay to add if a work has a persistent and widespread Hatedom that takes center stage in any discussion of it, but every work has people who don't like it.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
199.64.0.252 Since: Dec, 1969
Jun 4th 2010 at 9:37:12 AM •••

That picture is TERRIBLE. I don't have a better one, but if anyone does, please change it. UGH.

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Dark Since: Jan, 2001
Jun 4th 2010 at 11:16:18 AM •••

Done and done.

"We're still flying." "That's not much." "...it's enough."
Fighteer MOD (Time Abyss)
Taelor Don't Forget To Smile Since: Jul, 2009
Don't Forget To Smile
May 20th 2010 at 9:18:05 PM •••

Removed for the following reasons.

  • Idiot Plot: Out of Gas, AKA Mal Almost Dies Due To Forgetting To Put On The Space Suit That Was Prepped For Him.
In the preceding edit war, the editor who added this post asserted as follows: "It's quite clear that the air is recycled from the suit. In fact, this makes my former version of this true, as if the suit recycles air the would have unlimited air." This is manifestly incorrect; a space suit will scrub the carbon dioxide out of your breath and then return the remaining oxygen to its reserve, but it cannot replace the oxygen that you have already used. It allows a given supply of air to last longer, but it will not make it unlimited. The editor further states that "Even if it doesn't, Mal should have put it on anyways just so he wasn't running out of air or freezing to death." While it is true that Mal could have prolonged his air supply by putting on his suit, as established above, it would only be a stop loss measure, and ultimately, it does not effect the overall plot. File it under Continuity Drift or What Happened to the Mouse? if you must. As to the second assertion, see this article.

Edited by Taelor The Philosopher-King Paradox Hide / Show Replies
Fighteer MOD (Time Abyss)
May 20th 2010 at 9:31:19 PM •••

I concur with the above troper. I've been following the mini Edit War and if you don't stop it, HG 131, an edit ban may be in your immediate future.

Edited by Fighteer "It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Dark Since: Jan, 2001
May 20th 2010 at 9:32:50 PM •••

Dark: Yes, the suits are not physically connected to the ship. What I meant is that they need air to fill their tanks, correct? Where do they get that air? Most likely, the ship, before they head into the black. There would be no point in pulling air from the ship to put in an air tank, as it would not last longer at all, since the ship likely uses the same scrubbing as the tanks that Taelor mentioned. That, or you're just removing 15 minutes of air from the ship to place it into a tank. 15 lost, 15 gained, net of zero. Even if the air in the tanks was already present, it would've made them last...how much, at most? An hour or so, perhaps? And they only have a few space suits. Not enough for the entire crew, considering at least one was wrecked in "Our Mrs. Reynolds". Either way, it doesn't matter. Using the suits would've prolonged the inevitable (since they weren't expecting anyone to find them), and the idea of getting everyone to leave ultimately saved more oxygen then they would have by using the suits. In addition, Mal came closer to death by bullet wound to the stomach than running out of air, making this a relatively moot point.

"We're still flying." "That's not much." "...it's enough."
HG131 Since: Oct, 2009
May 21st 2010 at 1:09:59 AM •••

The air would already be in the tanks, and it would be way more then an hour. I'll even agree with the idea that they don't have enough suits (though I'd assume they have something to patch them), but Mal should have put it on, as it was PREPARED for him, AKA the air was already there. So, the air is already in it, and the air might have helped, as I think that his problems weren't 100% bullet wound inflicted (AKA, he was dying from blood loss and running out of air).

Fighteer MOD (Time Abyss)
May 21st 2010 at 7:02:24 AM •••

It doesn't matter. The simple fact that we're having an argument over it means that it's not a clear-cut case of an Idiot Plot, and therefore doesn't belong in the Main article. Put it in JustBugsMe if you want; that's what it's there for!

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
70.146.173.100 Since: Dec, 1969
May 21st 2010 at 8:06:23 AM •••

Mal wasn't dying because he was running out of air. When the pirates arrived, they pumped fresh air into the ship, and then he got the atmosphere processors working when he reactivated the engine.

HG131 Since: Oct, 2009
May 21st 2010 at 2:13:50 PM •••

70.146.173.100: The ship was saying that it was about to run out of air.

Fighteer: Then why do pages like Hype Aversion exist? Not everyone agrees on it, it should be cut.

Edited by Dark
forlaughs Since: Jan, 2001
May 21st 2010 at 2:29:34 PM •••

Way too many assumptions (and it's just pretty wrong) in saying that its an idiot plot: 1) Mal coulda been saving the suit for when air/heat (although River could be wrong about that...) ran lower, just so he could be more comfortable for longer. 2) he could easily have been shot long before that point came, especially because the salvagers/pirates brought new air in with them. 3) he could have then fallen unconscious before getting a chance to put the suit on/didn't put it on once he was shot because he didn't have time or was incapable of putting it on or in a 'do or die, so what does the space suit matter?' mood. 4) what you're saying is that he could have gotten the extra air from the suit. Why would you use that air first, and also use it for protection from the cold (although space isn't really cold, then again its possible that part of the ships design makes it lose heat fast to make up for the engines) while the ship is still full of air and heat? it would make more sense to use the ship as long as possible, and then go to the suit as a last resort (not to mention comfort). And if air was really the only problem, then he could have just taken the air out of the suit. 5) it had no effect on the plot, which did involve some 'idiocy' in that they didn't repair their ship right so it broke, but the running out of air had no effect on the plot (other than that it would happen eventually, which it would have with or without the suit) and whether or not/when Mal puts on the suit really didn't matter at all, so it definitely doesn't fit under idiot plot.

"Let's be bad guys." -Serenity (Jayne) I'd rather be free than safe.
Dark Since: Jan, 2001
May 21st 2010 at 2:30:58 PM •••

Okay, I made the above edit just to be somewhat dickish.

Onto the point.

Actually, it said: "Life support failure. Check oxygen levels at once." Meaning it was low, but that wasn't the primary concern. I think the stomach wound probably was.

In any case donning the suit had no advantages. Supposing it was prepped with fresh oxygen, he would've had a few more hours. Awesome! More time to sit around and die.

However, those few hours weren't needed, as he was shot by the captain. Hell, wearing the suit would've cut down on his manual dexterity, meaning he was even more screwed in that case, since manipulating the engine part, stabbing himself with the needle, and getting the gun would've been difficult if not impossible.

Also your point about Hype Aversion is invalid. Fighteer wasn't saying that if not EVERYONE EVER agrees with it it should be cut - but we're having an argument about it, meaning it shouldn't be put on the main page until an agreement is reached by the involved parties. That's why the page (and this discussion) exists - so people can discuss it.

To cap this off: A bullet wound's probably gonna kill you faster than depleting oxygen levels - especially if your ship just got a fairly large injection of air from another ship. Mal wasn't being much of an idiot when he didn't don the suit because he figured he was dead anyway, why prolong the inevitable?

"We're still flying." "That's not much." "...it's enough."
74.168.26.130 Since: Dec, 1969
May 21st 2010 at 3:13:49 PM •••

70.146.173.100: The ship was saying that it was about to run out of air.

While the engine was offline. Once Mal plugs the part back in and starts the engine up, the voice cuts off.

168.178.40.53 Since: Dec, 1969
May 25th 2010 at 3:36:48 PM •••

I note that I've worn a haz-mat suit with SCBA gear before (like SCUBA, but not for underwater). It is FREAKING HARD to move, breathe, or do much of anything in them. And they're VERY heavy.

Now, granted, I'm a 90 pound girl, and Mal has more horsepower in those muscles, but it's still really hard even for people who have a lot of strength.

It might have saved Mal time, but on the other hand, he would also have been breathing harder because of the sheer effort of wearing the suit.

168.178.40.53 Since: Dec, 1969
May 25th 2010 at 3:41:34 PM •••

I recognize that the space suits aren't exactly the same as type A PPE, but really, I'd only expect a spacesuit to be a lot heavier, if just because of the insulation system.

People in the hazardous waste industry don't wear type A PPE for long, and neither do astronauts take long spacewalks in their suits. You can seriously pass out in them, which is a big problem if you're in a hard to get to area.

Gitman Since: Jan, 2001
Mar 29th 2010 at 10:18:27 AM •••

Cleaned up the examples and removed references to the movie that don't apply

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MrDeath Since: Aug, 2009
Mar 29th 2010 at 10:25:10 AM •••

Did you at least move them to the movie page?

Dark Since: Jan, 2001
Mar 29th 2010 at 10:55:46 AM •••

Yeah, he did, I just checked. That, or they were already there.

"We're still flying." "That's not much." "...it's enough."
Taelor Since: Jul, 2009
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