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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Drolyt
Devising a plan where you benefit even if the plan fails? I'm fairly certain that's older than media. The very first people with any intelligence must have been doing that even before the first caveman started painting on cave walls. Such plans were probably in existence before the invention of language.
I do know this, as i mentioned.
My question is: does the practice to call this kind of plan in fiction "Xanatos Gambit" comes from TvTropes or had already been used before.
Between the first season of Gargoyles in 94 and the beginning of TvTrope in 2003, how was this kind of plan called?
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
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Originally Posted by
Petrocorus
I do know this, as i mentioned.
My question is: does the practice to call this kind of plan in fiction "Xanatos Gambit" comes from TvTropes or had already been used before.
Between the first season of Gargoyles in 94 and the beginning of TvTrope in 2003, how was this kind of plan called?
I have no idea. TvTropes doesn't really enlighten, all it mentions is that it was named after David Xanatos from Gargoyles (a pretty good cartoon I haven't seen in a long time). Google returns 33,000 results for the term, compared to 30,400 for lampshade hanging or 136,000 for hang a lampshade (although these results seem to be mostly about hanging actual lampshades rather than a figure of speech) and a mere 7,990 for Cerebus Syndrome. I'm going to hazard a guess that TvTropes did not invent the term.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
Probably by a whole variety of names, even if it's just something as mundane as a "win/win situation". I don't really understand this apparent need to give storytelling techniques individual buzzword names. Being able to convey an idea is far more important than knowing the "proper" name for it.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
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Originally Posted by
Nimrod's Son
Isn't D&D enough, then? That line of thinking can get a little weird...
Hey kids! Do YOU use the same deodorant as The Giant?
... You do realize there are millions of people who wear a certain brand of shoes because their favorite sports star does, or uses a particular shampoo because their favorite actress does, or wears a particular piece of clothing because some hot model does? Yes it can seem kinda creepy and weird, and The Giant isn't really that famous, but seriously I wasn't talking about anything that extreme. People like to know that other people are into their hobbies. It's nice to know that you're not the only one who managed to waste hours of your life editing TvTropes. For a lot of people, for whatever reason, it's even better to know that someone famous and powerful or someone you look up to shares their interest. That's a bit different from wanting to know what deodorant The Giant happens to use.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
Man, if it turns out Rich is perfectly well enough to use a computer but he's spending his time reading TVTropes instead of making OotS, there's surely gonna be a backlash... :smallamused:
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
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Originally Posted by
Nimrod's Son
Man, if it turns out Rich is perfectly well enough to use a computer but he's spending his time reading TVTropes instead of making OotS, there's surely gonna be a backlash... :smallamused:
Lol. Seriously though, making those comics isn't as easy as it looks. I have no idea what's up with The Giant beyond the rumors that he's ill, but browsing websites is much easier than editing full color comics. He could very well have one of those setups where the computer plugs into his Tv and he has like a remote thingiy to navigate the web more easily from the comfort of his couch.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Petrocorus
My question is: does the practice to call this kind of plan in fiction "Xanatos Gambit" comes from TvTropes or had already been used before.
I believe it does. TVTropes is a huge meme factory.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
I think Xanatos Gambit is one of a very few original phrases from TV Tropes. Another part of why the idea that the Giant reads TV Tropes is so unconvincing: everything he's referenced is a reference to something else that's well known. If he was going to reference TV Tropes he would say "Crowning Moment of Awesome" or "What Do You Mean It's Not Symbolic".
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
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Originally Posted by
Haven
I think Xanatos Gambit is one of a very few original phrases from TV Tropes. Another part of why the idea that the Giant reads TV Tropes is so unconvincing: everything he's referenced is a reference to something else that's well known. If he was going to reference TV Tropes he would say "Crowning Moment of Awesome" or "What Do You Mean It's Not Symbolic".
Here is the OP:
Quote:
Does anyone know if he does? Because it seems he's taken every fantasy "trope" and either parodied it or "lampshaded" it. OOTS also seems to be the Wiki's favourite thing since Mystery Science Theatre.
The question is whether he reads TvTropes. He's obviously never referenced TvTropes directly. I'm under the impression The Giant is not fond of those sorts of references, so the fact that he does not make them means nothing.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
Yes, I read the OP. :smallannoyed: But I also read the posts in between this and it, and it's clear there are many people to whom it is not obvious; it is to them I respond.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
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Originally Posted by
Haven
If he was going to reference TV Tropes he would say "Crowning Moment of Awesome" or "What Do You Mean It's Not Symbolic".
Maybe some of the strip titles would fit?
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
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Originally Posted by
hamishspence
Maybe some of the strip titles would fit?
If they do, then none of the "Tropers" here have put any forward. The closest I've seen is "Because Good Is Dumb", which as mentioned earlier is a direct quote from Spaceballs.
What wasn't mentioned earlier was the word "Because" in that quote, which I don't recall seeing whenever someone here mentioned it in relation to TVTropes. I may be wrong on that point, but if TVTropes called it "Good Is Dumb" and not "Because Good Is Dumb" then that's the final nail in the coffin of the argument that the title in question is a reference to anything other than Spaceballs.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
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Originally Posted by
Nimrod's Son
If they do, then none of the "Tropers" here have put any forward. The closest I've seen is "Because Good Is Dumb", which as mentioned earlier is a direct quote from Spaceballs.
What wasn't mentioned earlier was the word "Because" in that quote, which I don't recall seeing whenever someone here mentioned it in relation to TVTropes. I may be wrong on that point, but if TVTropes called it "Good Is Dumb" and not "Because Good Is Dumb" then that's the final nail in the coffin of the argument that the title in question is a reference to anything other than Spaceballs.
I have to agree that none of the titles appear to be from TvTropes, although I didn't check all 704.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
A wizard did it may be a reference to the trope. Or to Xena's guest appearance on The Simpsons (hey, I remembered it, why shouldn't Rich?)
The most disturbing thing about it: If it is a reference to TVTropes, it's a trope-pun.
Of course the strip in question is about so much more than just that.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
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Originally Posted by
Geomancer
A wizard did it may be a reference to the
trope. Or to Xena's guest appearance on The Simpsons (hey,
I remembered it, why shouldn't Rich?)
The most disturbing thing about it: If it is a reference to TVTropes, it's a trope-pun.
Of course the strip in question is about so much
more than just that.
That's a common one though, it could be a reference to the Simpson's episode, but it could also be a reference to Sarda from 8-Bit Theatre, another popular Webcomic. I'm still leaning towards "he must have visited TvTropes at least once or twice", but I claim no knowledge.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
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Originally Posted by
Drolyt
That's a common one though, it could be a reference to the Simpson's episode, but it could also be a reference to Sarda from 8-Bit Theatre, another popular Webcomic. I'm still leaning towards "he must have visited TvTropes at least once or twice", but I claim no knowledge.
IIRC, Brian lifted that joke from the Simpsons' episode in question. To quote South Park, "Simpsons Did It."
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
I don't normally like to read or respond to threads, but this one is something that I can definitively answer in one post, so why not?
Yes, I am aware TV Tropes exists as a website.
No, I do not read it regularly. Most of the few times that I have ever visited the site came as a result of someone linking a trope that they feel I have used in the comic, and I followed the link so that I may understand what their criticism/point is.
No, I have never decided to do something in the comic because it was listed on TV Tropes. I don't use it as a checklist for ideas, as has been claimed, and I have never intentionally referenced it in any way.
As far as some of the specific points being argued in this thread:
1.) I've taken film and literature classes; I knew what a trope was before 2003. I acknowledge that the word has become much more commonplace since then, possibly as a result of the site, and that I may have felt more comfortable having Elan use the word in relation to story structure as a result of seeing it bandied about the internet.
2.) The term "Cerebrus Syndrome" was coined by Eric Burns of Websnark, who has published several reviews of OOTS strips over the years and of whose blog I was an avid reader in the days before it dried up and blew away. You will note that I contributed art to the man's wedding proposal several years ago. If TV Tropes is using that phrase, it's because Eric invented it.
3.) "Lampshade hanging" is one of several terms that mean the same thing; the Turkey City Lexicon (which I have read) uses the term "Signals from Fred". I could have had the hobgoblin lean in with a telephone and say that Fred was on the line, which was my first instinct, but if I had, I don't think anyone would have understood it. At any rate, I'm pretty sure I heard the term elsewhere, but I can acknowledge that I may have read it in the work of someone who was, themselves, referencing TV Tropes (such as another webcomic artist). So I can give you that this one may be indirectly caused by the site.
4.) I love the Gargoyles cartoon, but to my knowledge I've never made any reference to Xanatos.
5.) "Good is Dumb" is from Spaceballs. Geez.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
Huh. Glad to have that officially sorted. I'm a little more surprised than I probably should be that the Giant knows this site exists. Happy, though.
Since he apparently read this whole thread, maybe I should have taken the time to shamelessly self-promote this declaration of the troper hivemind. Ah, well.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
I don't think I have ever been happier to see the Giant's answer on a topic.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Geomancer
Or to Xena's guest appearance on The Simpsons (hey, I remembered it, why shouldn't Rich?)
That wasn't Xena, that was Lucy Lawless.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Drolyt
That's a common one though, it could be a reference to the Simpson's episode, but it could also be a reference to Sarda from 8-Bit Theatre, another popular Webcomic.
We know for a fact that Rich read 8-Bit Theater, because Rich did a guest comic for 8BT once.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
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Originally Posted by
SPoD
I don't think I have ever been happier to see the Giant's answer on a topic.
I'm glad he posted, too.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
I have a feeling I'll be quoting it at some point in the not-so-distant future. :smallamused:
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
The OP's question has been answered. Can we send this thread back to the oblivion where it deserves to be?
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
Well, I guess we have an answer. He knows of TvTropes, but does not read it regularly and does not take ideas from it, which was pretty much what I thought. I guess this thread is over.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
Even with Word of God giving the answer, I doubt this question is dead in the water...somebody will come up with it again.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
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Originally Posted by
factotum
Even with Word of God giving the answer, I doubt this question is dead in the water...somebody will come up with it again.
which is why we'll use this thread to quote his answer. Sound good?
but yeah, with word of God this thread is over.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
I'm glad to see Giant's answer to the question as well.
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
And now it's turning into a "Me-Too" thread...
Oh Mods of our fathers - close this thread. We beseech ye!
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Re: Does Rich Burlew read TvTropes?
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Originally Posted by
Asta Kask
And now it's turning into a "Me-Too" thread...
Oh Mods of our fathers - close this thread. We beseech ye!
I agree with this guy. I'm glad we got an answer, but do we really need to hear everyone gloat about how they were right? The thread no longer serves a purpose.