FICTIONAL tropes that make you grind your teeth 2: Electric Pulverizer

fightingirish said:
But does it? For the most part, it seems to be banking on the assumption that such a person is not credible, which is why it's such a shocking affair to find out that they are. Like the large brute that turns out to be intelligent or the beautiful woman that can fight, it depends on our assumptions of what a character should be like.
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That's exactly why I don't like it: it's a specific instance of a trope subversion used enough times that it has become the trope, that when an audience sees someone trying to peddle a conspiracy theory in a plot, they're now more than likely to believe them because they're "the conspiracy theorist", and unfortunately in turn said assumption has spilled out into mainstream thinking.
 
LGear said:
My issue with fictional conspiracy theories is more about the narrative trying to convince the audience that the person raving about ancient aliens and such with no actual concrete proof is always right. I don't mind conspiracy theories in fiction as long as they're actually presented in a way that doesn't glorify conspiracy theorists in turn, e.g. a normal person suddenly gets caught up in the conspiracy and now they have to untangle that web to figure out how to stay alive, or perhaps the knowledge of the conspiracy is being presented by someone who actually has inside knowledge of it instead of just being a mad raving pundit.
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Or at least have the person who believes in aliens acknowledge that they could be wrong or that there could be any number of other explanations for weird things happening and that without solid evidence it's impossible to say for sure what the truth is.

Basically more of the professor guy, less of the Vlogger guy:
 
It's like Daniel Jackson.

In the movie, his theory was that the pyramids are older than we think they are.

In the show his theory was that the pyramids are landing pads for alien spaceships.

These are not the same.
 
"We tricked you, these people that died are actually alive!" Is annoying
Like tons of people die but then they reveal it was all a prank or test or something used to get people to take things seriously
 
Whenever historical movies decide to edit history to "spice things up".

Almost all of them do this. It's easier to name ones that don't....if they exist in the first place.
 
You know it's kind of amazing how dinosaurs changed in several million years, but crocodiles and turtles aren't all that different despite being around the same amount of time.
 
World Turtle said:
You know it's kind of amazing how dinosaurs changed in several million years, but crocodiles and turtles aren't all that different despite being around the same amount of time.
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Actually....Croccodilians have changed a lot in that time period.

The Mesozoic was filled with fully terestrial croccodilomorphs, including omnivorous abd herbivorous species.

There were also fully aquatic Croccodilomorphs in that era.
 
One thing that honestly drives me crazy is when series, shows, or books/fics stop and complain about "impractical weapons" and talk about how stupid they look or how useless they'd be. When you go for three paragraphs going on about how "dumb (insert weapon here) looks" and then have the people who honestly would have no reason or experience to have an opinion one way or another start agreeing with you, it gets really, REALLY ANNOYING.

Like, I can get, and even appreciate, poking fun at people who do stuff like use scythes to look edgy or cool. Or getting a laugh over copycats who try and imitate something they really, REALLY do not have the requisite skill to pull off (like Sword Art Online having Kirito use the energy blades in GGO really effectively due to his pre-existing experience with both gaming AND swordsmanship, but when he leaves and imitators try and copy him, they fail HARD due to just plain not having the skills needed to do it). But taking time away from a story to point and laugh at a flat representation of something you decide is stupid? That just is a huge waste of time and energy to me, and it's exhausting to sit through.

Take a Dungeon Crawler setting for example. Pointing out that it'd be impractical to use a weapon like a scythe, which uses swings for a lot of its attacks and general range of motion, in a confined space with limited mobility is one thing, it's even something I can agree with (and I'm someone who loves scythes). Constantly making fun of scythes being stupid and useless and impossible to use in a fight? That tends to set my blood boiling.
 
CapMorgan5599 said:
Constantly making fun of scythes being stupid and useless and impossible to use in a fight? That tends to set my blood boiling.
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All questions of form aside, it's still a really sharp bit of metal on a stick. Those can be pretty effective weapons.

You'll be glad to know Discworld has a quote for the occasion. "Though the scythe is not pre-eminent among weapons of war, anyone's who's been on the wrong end of, say, a peasant's revolt will know that in skilled hands it is fearsome." The fact that it can be a bit unpredictable and hard to control if anything makes it more dangerous.
 
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Scythe as Weapon mostly style and theme not about practicality. Many Scythe wielding user also fight with scythe while leveraging the inward side of the blade. Ruby from RWBY use it as some kind of hook while decapitate grim. Death from Castlevania either use clone or teleport to yank it from behind your back to cut off your body in most game. When fighting with scythe you position scythe after clash behind enemy and pull that inward blade to cut their limb like cutting crops. Was it practical? No. But when your aim is style not practicality it can be menacing or spectacle
 
NanoMoose said:
anyone's who's been on the wrong end of, say, a peasant's revolt will know that in skilled hands it is fearsome
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That's an oxymoronic statement, because peasants are the definition of unskilled, inept fighters. It's the widely reviled Knights who were the skilled warriors of Medieval Europe...and guess what? They used lances, maces, swords, and axes.

The reason peasants used scythes was because they didn't have any choice. They were mostly too poor to afford decent weapons or horses. All they could use were farming implements.

Tax:
Bottomless magazines.
 
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I don't like it in MMA movies where it's supposed to emulate the feeling of real MMA, but the moves are done too cleanly so that comparing real MMA fights to movie scenes, I know where the move is just too conveniently done to be convincing to me.
 
fightingirish said:
Whenever historical movies decide to edit history to "spice things up".

Almost all of them do this. It's easier to name ones that don't....if they exist in the first place.
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I wonder why Hollywood doesn't put out more feature-length historical documentaries. They don't need to attach fictional narratives to those. They can just show reenactments of the history, backed by full Hollywood studio budgets, without making anything up or misrepresenting anything. Right now, documentaries seem to be the purview of television and streaming services that (AFAIK) don't have the budget that feature-length films enjoy.
 
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