Suggestion: Obliviously Evil

With the release of Meet the Pyro today, I believe we now have a perfect illustration for this trope:

Caption:

Above: what [[Ambiguous Gender (s)he]] thinks (s)he's doing. Below: what (s)he's actually doing.

edited 27th Jun '12 2:49:17 PM by MisterVercetti

That. Is. PERFECT.

per·fect: Having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be.

See also: egregiously overused adjectives

I think it's pretty weak.

Okay, maybe not perfect, but it does illustrate the trope reasonably well.

I think it's pretty clearly better than nothing.

That is true. Not sure about the Ambiguous Gender pothole in the suggested caption, tho. Aren't all the other classes male? Is there any reason to think that might not be true of the pyro? Don't play TF2.

I dunno, the difference in poses in these two shots doesn't make it quite clear that the two events are happening at the same exact moment, which kind of loses the comparison. Could be interpreted as "he used to love them... but they screwed him over. Now he's back, and is about to show why revenge is a dish best served hot".

And this is from somebody who really liked "Meet the Pyro". There's gotta be a better "What Pyro Sees/What's Really Happening" shot. Maybe the Pyro giving the Heavy a lollipop/the sharp side of his axe...

edited 27th Jun '12 3:56:59 PM by ShadowHog

Valve sort of toys around with whether or not the Pyro is male or female, by doing things such as putting a pink purse in his/her locker or switching whether they use the word "him" or "her" when they discuss the character in interviews. If we go with this image and use the suggested caption, it may be desirable to settle on one or the other or use creative wording to avoid the issue altogether.

edited 27th Jun '12 4:01:57 PM by cfive

Case in point.◊ (That's the official captions, at that. It alternates pronouns every time they're used.)

I agree that the lollipop scene may be a better illustration, seeing as the actions the Pyro does with the lollipop/axe match up better than the actions he does with the bubbles/flaregun.

In theory the lollipop/fire axe would be best yeah, but the way that scene is cut is no good for an illustration, I think.

My Fan Myopia says we have got to make this work. Screencaps of the flamethrower/rainbow thrower could work too, but I couldn't find two moments where the poses line up that well. (I do like the initial suggestion though.)

edited 27th Jun '12 4:30:47 PM by bananasloth

Hmm, if only the video had a good Match Cut. With that said, the suggested caption text does a decent enough job of explaining away most ambiguity that could come from the image. Should we just try it and see how it works out?

edited 27th Jun '12 8:06:22 PM by cfive

It is better than nothing and nobody has suggested anything else. Still dislike the caption, it is that it repeats "(s)he" three times. That is weird and can be avoided. Maybe do it once. But there are other pronouns.

The suggestion is better than no image. Just use "they" in the caption; it can funtion as a singular pronoun and is smoother than s/he, (s)he, she/he, etc. and understood more than xi, zie, ey, etc..

Redoing a little bit. I do like alternating the pronouns for comedic effect...

edited 28th Jun '12 7:06:03 AM by ShadowHog

That's both clever and funny, but people who don't know who the Pyro is might get confused and think it's two different characters. I think it could work, though. The suggestion to use "they" as a pronoun could also work. Using "It" as a pronoun might read more smoothly than "they".

Let's lay out the current suggested captions:

Original Suggestion:

• Above: what (s)he thinks (s)he's doing.
• Below: what (s)he's actually doing.

Telcontar's Suggestion

• Above: what the Pyro thinks they're doing.
• Below: what they're actually doing.

Shadow Hog's Suggestion:

• Above: what the Pyro thinks he's doing.
• Below: what she's actually doing.

The caption using "it"

• Above: what the Pyro thinks it's doing.
• Below: what it's actually doing.

edited 28th Jun '12 9:45:27 AM by cfive

"The Pyro" (as Shadow Hog has it) also works in place of he/she/they. If Ambiguous Gender is potholed anywhere, I think it should be from "it".

Would you be suggesting:

• Above: what the Pyro thinks it's doing.
• Below: what the Pyro's actually doing.

If so, that would work, and it brings the number of Ambiguous Gender potholes down to one.

edited 28th Jun '12 9:48:44 AM by cfive

Sure.

That's good with me.

Alright, then one more time:

The last one works fine.

Looks good.

It seems that we're in agreement on the caption, so I've added the picture and caption to the page. If a better picture comes along, we can always Keep Until Better Image Suggested.

edited 28th Jun '12 10:47:23 AM by cfive

That's fine by me.

Added in the IP tag/comment.

edited 28th Jun '12 11:11:46 AM by DarkConfidant