Trope Decay (new crowner Dec 17): Crossing The Streams

Crossing The Streams has undergone trope decay, so bad it's spread on its very page. Several of the samples miss the trope (Characters are warned not to do something / avoid doing it; and in the end doing it is what saves the day). Alot of the misuse are Shout-Out to the Trope Namer, or just "Something we are about to do could also have bad results".

Examples of Misuse on the page itself:

• The Magic The Gathering cards, for examples, are all misuses - no one warns you not to use the cards. Also, it's nattery.
• The Destroy All Humans 2 example, which is only a Shout-Out to the Trope Namer
• Chrono Cross, worst, THE ENTRY is a shout out to the Trope Namer. The example itself has nothing to do with it.
• Again with the spongebob example, just a Shout-Out to the trope namer.
• Doctor Who, also, Not A Subversion. No one warns him not to do it, and he's fully aware of what he's doing and the consequences, and he's building it FOR THAT VERY PURPOSE.
• Power Rangers: She doesn't end up doing it, so... no?

Then there's some examples which may be valid, but lack context:

->Warhammer40000 gives us Prince Yriel, who saved his Craftworld from being eaten by Tyranids by grabbing the Spear of Twilight out of stasis, beating the Tyranids but dooming himself to death from a wastin curse.

• But had he been warned not to use it?

->In Final Fantasy VIII, Ultimecia's master plan is to compress time. The heroes' plan to prevent her from doing that involves letting her do exactly that.

• But it's really not their doing is it? Either they do nothing... and she compresses time. Or they do something, and she compresses time?

edited 21st Jul '11 5:43:55 PM by Ghilz

I say just remove those examples, and then put up a notice describing what not to put.

Is there any misuse on the wicks?

edited 21st Jul '11 8:00:40 PM by pokedude10

Let's check

1. Abnormal Ammo: Incorrect. Same as Spongebob on the page proper.
2. Bag of Holding: Correct, though more of a Sink Hole.
3. Cast from Hit Points: Disputable. Sink Hole used for something that has potentially fatal consequences.
4. Beam-O-War: Correct
5. Divide by Zero: Correct
6. Farscape: Incorrect. Sink Hole for a super weapon
7. Forgotten Realms: Incorrect. It seems to be simply refering to an action that causes cataclysmic consequences.
8. Magicka: Incorrect. About how some magic stuff should not be combined.
9. Godzilla Threshold: Correct
10. Men In Black: Correct
11. Mythbusters: Incorrect. Shout-Out to Trope Namer
12. Situational Sword: Debatable. Sink Hole. No context.
13. Superpower Lottery: Incorrect. Sink Hole about synergic effects
14. Film.Thor: Borderline Incorrect, more of a Chekhov's Gun.
15. Zero-Effort Boss: Correct
16. Shock and Awe: Incorrect. Trope Namer Pot Hole
17. Magic Knight: Incorrect. Sink Hole.
18. Lusternia: Incorrect. Pothole for the word Cataclysm
19. Infernal Retaliation: Debatable. It's a sinkhole to the trope namer scenario, but the way its worded could go either way
20. Hyperspeed Escape: Debatable. Can't be sure from the lack of context. Leaning towards correct.

That's about 1/4 of the wicks. 4 Debatables. 10 Incorrects. 6 Corrects.

edited 21st Jul '11 8:52:29 PM by Ghilz

One thing I noticed in my wick survey is alot of people think this trope involves something when it can be lethal, or cause the end of the world, when the trope simply involves something you have been told not to do / are avoiding doing. The Men In Black one is a perfect example of this without World-ending consequences

I don't think shout outs really count as missue. Shouts out aren't what this trope is about, but I don't think they're a problem. Though the 'always something lethal' shouldn't fixed on the article if it hasn't already

Most of them are misuses though, coz they don't refer to the trope, just a pun or lame shoutout to the trope namer,

50% misuse is rather a lot, wouldn't you say? I think the problem is that we're dealing with a 27-year-old film and that more people remember the Memetic Mutation of the phrase than have seen the film itself.

May I suggest a rename?

From the page...

edited 5th Aug '11 6:54:27 PM by DrStarky

I like chekhov's disclaimer

Isn't that simply Chekhov's Gun only moreso?

(edit) Yes, I did.

edited 6th Aug '11 6:42:07 AM by Spark9

You mean Chekhov's Gun But More Specific.

And thats the same for most Chekhovs Tropes

See Chekhov's Skill (where the gun is an ability).

so why not one about warnings.

I agree, Chekhov's Gun is a very broad and widely used trope, and this is a common and significant subtrope.

It's Chekhov's Gun, but with a huge red sign declaring that "This gun is too dangerous to use".

Chekhovs Prohibition? Though let's avoid snowcloning another Chekhov name if we can.

I agree. Chekhov is a crappy name. Warning This Will Be Relevant Later?

I don't see what's wrong with a Chekhov snowclone if it fits.

Because even then, it's worn out its welcome.

But it fits. I want a better excuse than "It's overused."

...because I'm not the only one who'll say it's overused?

Okay, I got nothing.

So now it's used as both

1) As an even more wide supertrope to Dangerous Forbidden Technique.

2) As a substitute for "A + B = flying crocodiles on fire" (which probably is a legitimate trope in itself) due to the Trope Namer.

edited 9th Aug '11 8:24:40 PM by TBeholder

Whut?

Second that.

I wouldn't say Dangerous Forbidden Technique is a subtrope of Crossing The Streams, but merely related. DFT is more of a subtrope to Necessary Drawback while Crossing The Streams does belong in the Chekhov's Gun family.

Crossing The Streams doesn't necessarily mean "End of the World" but just "We don't do that unless we have to." Things like the Red Button from Men In Black fit even though it is only a Rocket Car Transformation switch.

If not a Chekhov's Gun derivative then it should be somewhere in the line of Last Resort Action. Hmm, maybe even Chekhovs Last Resort.

I would not even say Last Resort, as it's putting an emphasis the trope does not have. It's only that something is to not be done casually, which a character has been warned against doing.