Big-Lipped Cleanup Thread

YMMV.My Little Pony Make Your Mark Special.

• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The scene near the end with Opaline Arcana looking through a portal and acting like a Card-Carrying Villain. For context, this scene is sandwiched in-between Pipp Petals starting up the Maretime Bay Day concert in celebration along with the after-party scene where The Mane Five are holding a meeting in The Crystal Brighthouse; two scenes that should have felt better together while Opalines' scene should have been at the very end to serve as a nice Sequel Hook for the rest of the series.

This is misuse as it introduces the Big Bad as opposed to having no impact on/being forgotten by the narrative, and is instead complaining about the pacing. Cut?

Edited by Ferot_Dreadnaught on Sep 9th 2023 at 11:09:53 AM

I asked about this back in May but forgot all about it. I've removed it because it only meets one of the three criteria.

YMMV.RWBY

• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Volume 2's post-credits scene with Yang meeting Raven in Beacon's courtyard is a scene that is never once referenced again in the entire show, and Volume 3 retcons it out of existence by having Yang specifically say she never spoke to Raven and only saw her when Raven saved her from Neo. While the coloring of the scene indicates that it could be a dream, it's an odd scene to end the season on. ^Explanation  Several production rumors have indicated that Rooster Teeth were strongly opposed to including the scene and pushed against Monty adding it, but he refused to budge.

In terms of the three criteria, it meets the third point but not the first two:

1. There is mild set up: A mysterious woman (Raven) saves Yang and then disappears. At the end of the volume, Team RWBY reflects on what happened, acknowledge they don't know who the "mysterious girl" is, then go to bed as Yang says she'll sleep for a week. The volume wraps up with other characters, the end credits roll, and then the end-of-volume Stinger plays a dream sequence involving the "mysterious girl" doing a Dramatic Unmask to Yang. So, mild set up and no plot interruption.
2. It does make sense in context as a dream sequence that occurs after Team RWBY has gone to bed and after one of the last things discussed before going to bed was not knowing who this woman is.
3. It doesn't have any plot impact that we know of. It's well known that this is a scene that the creator sneaked in over the objections of his co-creators, who felt it was too spoilerific. He added it in anyway. All the creators have said since is that it's too spoilerific for them to know how to come back to, but if they might in the future if there's an opportunity. It was very much a "don't hold your breath" statement, so the fandom assumes it's never going to be mentioned ever again.

Edited by Wyldchyld on Sep 10th 2023 at 9:43:06 AM

This example was recently added to YMMV.Super Mario Bros Wonder:

• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The Wonder Effect in The Desert Mystery counts as this - and less so because it summons an ancient ruin with no further context being provided. Instead, what makes the section qualify for this trope is that it is filled with unusually colored red Talking Flowers that shout nothing but "Intruder!" over and over. This is the only time in the game where the flowers are in any way antagonistic towards the player (especially when considering there's a booby trap that they possibly set up themselves), and it doesn't really get elaborated on at all. Even the Wonder Seed gets in on it, enticing you to enter the ruin and leading you into the trap.

Something tells me that this doesn't fully meet the criteria, as I believe there's some foreshadowing.

I haven't gotten to that part yet, but the Wonder effects are all bizarre by design, so I doubt it stands out that much. Besides, you always know when a Wonder effect is about to happen.

Easy cut.

As someone who has played Super Mario Bros. Wonder to near 100% completion, I can tell you that the game is very much Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The Game.

I cut the example.

Edited by ChillyBeanBAM on Nov 12th 2023 at 1:26:38 PM

Verity:

• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The book opens with a man's violent death after he tries to step on the street to early and is hit by a truck, blood splattering on Lowen's shirt with Jeremy appearing to help her out. Ultimately it comes across as trying to write a meet-cute situation while also adding in shock value, especially egregious since the incident is forgotten almost immediately after.

If it establishes a meet-cute between the characters, didn't it technically impact the plot?

on one hand, it does impact the plot, but the entry is correct- this man is never mentioned again, and someone being in a car crash is a very odd way to have a meet cute. I'd say cut it though.

American Dad!:

• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: One gag randomly depicts the cast as Animated Actors. When Stan walks off the set because he thinks the B-Plot he and Francine are in doesn't make any sense, he storms off past a giant version of Klaus in front of a green screen. This is promptly forgotten in the following scene.

The cast being Animated Actors is a Running Gag on the show. While it wasn't brought up again in that episode, it is referenced in others.

• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Mametarou. He comes into the cafe half-dressed, despite the freezing temperatures outside, starts a weird dance and then orders as if nothing's wrong. The protagonist can thankfully get him to either leave or put some clothes on, but the encounter is still pretty out there. It is also not mentioned or referenced again even once and contributes nothing to the plot.

From YMMV.The Closing Shift. Now normally this would be a valid example, but I think it takes place during a dream. Would that invalidate it?