This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Kizor: Dangit! Just when I was going to, right away, soon, in a few weeks anyway, suggest troping this under The Inevitable Resistance.
Mith: Removed Firefly's Browncoats as an example; apart from opposing a semi-The Empire they don't really fit anything mentioned. Mal having been a Browncoat won't make Alliance officers happy, but he doesn't get treated anything like a former terrorist.
Katsuyo: I disagree. The Browncoats fit a ton of the criteria: ragtag, underdogs, rabble-rousers, and fighting against hostile takeover (if not tyrannical rule). An argument can also be made for their use of guerilla warfare. While it isn't explicitly shown, it is implied in flashbacks that the Browncoats were much more unorthodox and covert than the Alliance, which would have been essential to their survival as the weaker force. Also, while they weren't exactly terrorists, the conflict fueled by the Browncoats' resistance certainly cost a lot of lives. Since the Alliance had hoped for peaceful annexation, that loss of life is largely attributed to the Browncoats. However, I know the Rule Of Cautious Editing Judgment. If someone else agrees with Mith, I won't put it back up.
Mith: If you could give an example of how they were more unorthodox or covert it'd help you, because I didn't get that sense and there aren't exactly that many flashbacks to draw a conclusion from. I'd tend to see it as more like the American Civil War on the specific issue of how the war was prosecuted, though probably more lopsided: largely army vs. army.
Scifantasy: I'm torn about the "password-protected radio programs" one. I know why it was said like that; even announcing the source medium (it's Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows) can qualify as a spoiler, but I read that line and, even though I am familiar with the source, I didn't make the connection until I read the spoiler.
Is it worth it to just admit the source material? It's pretty minor, as spoilers go, I think...
Phartman: Maybe, because I've never read Harry Potter* and thought the reference was about Neville Chamberlain.
*That's right, never. Now, come and get me.
MZ: I'm pretty new here, so this may be just me, but I think that trick does not work at all. Actual fans of the source medium it is referring to may get the reference, but by now for those people the thing under the spoiler tag will no longer be a spoiler. But people not (that) familiar with the source medium will probably not understand what source it is referring to until they read the text under the spoiler tag, and those are exactly the people for who this can still be an actual spoiler. Everybody loses. I think.
Roxana: The difference between 'La Resistance' and 'Terrorists' is perfectly simple and obvious. The former chooses legitimate military targets, the latter prefers unarmed civilians, women and children.
Fake Nog: Come lead La Resistance contre le Misuse of 'Terrorist' and Related Words with me, will you? The world needs us.
Wardog: Regarding Freelancer, "Each of the four main empires also has at least two enemies—an honorable dissident faction, and a band of bloodthirsty pirates." That really only applies to Rheinland (Bundschuh and Red Hessians respectively). The other "Houses" (empires) generally have more morally dubious pirate factions:
Liberty: Liberty Rogues: They may be the disposessed working classes, but theyr'e still murderous pirates. Xenos: Ditto, but with added xenophibia. Lane Hackers: Self-confessed hedonists with no ideological motivation behind their piracy. While they initially come across as a bit like a bunch of hippy stoners fighting against The Man, reading between the lines coupled with a bit of Wld Mad Guessing suggests they might actually be Corrupt Corporate Executives gone completely rogue.
Bretonia: Mollys: The worst-named pirate/rebel faction ever, and really just a successionist movement rather than a genuine La Résistance trying to reform society. Probably justified in their aims, given the corruption and behavior of the official mining corporations though. Gians: Eco-terrorists. May well have some justification, but they're still willing to tow asteroids into trade lanes causing major civilian fatalities.
Kusari: Blood Dragons: Probably the closest standard faction to a La Résistance, but on the other hand, their main ideology is simply "restore the heirs of the Emperor who was overthrown centuries previously" (so maybe they're just a more somewhat more benign version of The Undefeated), and - apart from plot-related missions - all their missions are merely to kill the police/military, who (unlike the Liberty Police) aren't obviously corrupt/brutal. Golden Chrysanthenum: a relatively noble (but very well armed and aggress) Women's Lib movement... who are also all drug addicts/dealers, and close allies with the utterly vicious Outcast pirates.
