What do the examples do?: Het Is Ew

This page has the same problem that All Fan Fic Writers Are Female had: It just lists random homosexual pairings that appears in fanfics. This is not what the trope is about, AND it's pointless as that can be done with any fiction with at least 2 characters of the same sex.

I suggest cutting the examples out, and keeping only those that mention Het Is Ew in media.

I can agree with the decision to take out any examples that are not in media, but I think that Het Is Ew is a shipping trope, so if we were to take out examples from it for the reasons you described, it might make make sense to do the same for Launcher of a Thousand Ships and the like. I do not have very much experience with shipping or fanfic stuff though, so I would be interested in hearing what someone who does has to say here.

edited 10th Jan '11 1:20:26 PM by LouieW

"irhgT nm0w tehre might b ea lotof th1nmgs i dont udarstannd, ubt oim ujst goinjg to keepfollowing this pazth i belieove iN !!!!!1 d

Launcher of a Thousand Ships is somewhat forgiveable, in that it's actually about specific shipping pairing. So naming characters is okay. (Though some examples are pointless. Take the Bleach one, that names a significant portion of the main cast, before saying they get paired with others... Isn't that what most shipping fandoms do?) I'd say cut examples that have more than one or two people listed because several are missing the point of the trope.

Het Is Ew is not about specific pairing, it's about an attitude. Listing shipping examples is pointless.

I agree with cutting the examples that aren't in media. Otherwise it seems like it would be Complaining About Yaoi Fangirls and Fan Dumb.

“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”

I think it would be enough to cut the most pointless ones that only state that "this fandom has Het Is Ew shippers". "Yeah, this one has too". "Same here" "and here" "And here".

Some of the others actually give explanations about how it is used in the specific fandom, considering special casts, or settings, how it is supported or Jossed by canon, making it almost as valuable as Launcher of a Thousand Ships examples.

edited 10th Jan '11 1:50:58 PM by EternalSeptember

Bumping This

Isn't that exactly what these examples are?

I say Kill It with Fire cut them.

People aren't as awful as the internet makes them out to be.

The examples actually seem somewhat less hateful than those of Most Fanfic Writers Are Girls (before that one got restricted to in-universe only). Still, I wouldn't oppose a cut.

edited 13th Jan '11 8:27:32 AM by DoktorvonEurotrash

It does not matter who I am. What matters is, who will you become? - motto of Omsk Bird

The problem is that since there's no real way to get a decent view an entire fandom, 'fandom tropes' like these tend to be purely about the subjective experiences (and, often, personal grudges) of individual tvtropes editors. It's hard not to read some of these examples and get the sense that the person who added them just had a serious chip on their shoulder about one or two people.

Personally I'd argue that fandom-specific tropes (tropes purely describing fandoms, as opposed to, say, audience reactions) ought to have their examples removed. Tropes that appear in individual fanfics are fine; but communities of fanfic writers can't exhibit tropes.

Hence limiting it to in-universe examples. Leave this one to when someone exhibits Het Is Ew in the story.

Do those even exist?

Yes, please. Examples of the trope being used to tell the story. That would be ever so pleasant a thing to have. Being that that is why we started the wiki and all. All this fan reaction stuff has just kind of crept in over the years.

Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty

Sure. Can think of at least one myself offhand. Condie Ling from Rick And Steve is a (self described) Fag Hag, and reacts that way to the mention of heterosexual sex, even calling hetero sexual couple "breeders" (despite being heterosexual herself). On the page, the Real Life example would qualify. Ideally would like more in-media examples before we do the example cut.

edited 13th Jan '11 3:52:37 PM by Ghilz

Huh, just noticed this discussion. Lots of good points.

Good lord, in-universe only.

In universe only. Everything else is really Troper Tales.

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick

I think the first example in the "Other" section is worth keeping, if only for the following note in the... okay, what's it called when an indented bullet point is used as a sidenote on the example?

"That's probably because Trolls enjoy stirring up trouble. What better way than to turn basic ideals and morals on their heads?"

Usually Thread Mode, Natter, or incorrect Example Indentation.

edited 1st Feb '11 2:21:35 PM by troacctid

Rhymes with "Protracted."

... "Example Indentation" is what I was looking for.

That said, it isn't necessarily Natter to use Example Indentation to note something about a particular example.

Much like free-falling from the height of three thousand feet is not necessarily a bad situation to be in, because you could, theoretically, be skydiving.

Pretentious quote || In-joke from fandom you've never heard of || Shameless self-promotion || Something weird you'll habituate to

I vote in-universe only. Oh, and Vandread is a wonderful example of that.

Is it actually causing a problem and/or a Flame War?

I really don't think we need an Example Sectionectomy for places that haven't actually attracted unusual degrees of bitching. There's a higher proportion of Natter than average, but I don't think we need a General Order: Example Sectionectomy on the entire Shipping side of the wiki, which is (correct me if I'm wrong) where this is leading.

I despise hypocrisy, unless of course it is my own.

At the very least, zap the examples which just go "trope is present in this fandom". The ones which go into some detail could stay. Maybe add a soft-split for in-universe examples.

Accidental mistakes are forgivable, intentional ones are not.

Personally, I would shed no tears at the deletion of all examples on the shipping section. However, I'm pretty firmly against changing the status quo if it doesn't cause problems, so I support this idea unless there is a problem with natter on the page.

I don't think restricting it to In-Universe examples makes sense. The trope description is only about fanfic writers. How many characters in media could there really be who write fanfic and hate heterosexual pairings? I can't think of one.

edited 20th Feb '11 4:43:18 PM by vilefile