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Changed line(s) 41 (click to see context) from:
* OhCrap: Georgette Delahanty is sent into a whirling panic when she recieves the [[DeadlyEuphemism turn-off]] notice for her husband, Marshall.
to:
* OhCrap: Georgette Delahanty is sent into a whirling panic when she recieves receives the [[DeadlyEuphemism turn-off]] notice for her husband, Marshall.
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Changed line(s) 6,9 (click to see context) from:
''"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman'' is a short story by Creator/HarlanEllison published in 1965, and won both the UsefulNotes/{{Hugo|Award}} and UsefulNotes/{{Nebula|Award}} awards. A couple hundred years into the future, the whole known world lives under the yoke of [[ClockKing the Ticktockman]], who holds all to his ScheduleFanatic standards. All, save for the Harlequin, who is determined to take his time in his hijinx-laden mosey through life, and encourages the people of the world to do the same.
The whole story can be read [[https://www.d.umn.edu/~tbacig/cst1010/chs/ellison.html here]].
The whole story can be read [[https://www.d.umn.edu/~tbacig/cst1010/chs/ellison.html here]].
to:
A couple hundred years into the future, the whole known world lives under the yoke of [[ClockKing the Ticktockman]], who holds all to his unflaggingly strict ScheduleFanatic standards. All, save for the mysterious, elusive Harlequin, who is determined to take his time in his hijinx-laden mosey through life, and encourages the people of the world to do the same. Only time will tell if his spontaneous acts of tomfoolery leaves a lasting impact on the world...
''"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman'' is a short story by Creator/HarlanEllison published in 1965, and won both the UsefulNotes/{{Hugo|Award}} and UsefulNotes/{{Nebula|Award}} awards.A couple hundred years into the future, the whole known world lives under the yoke of [[ClockKing the Ticktockman]], who holds all to his ScheduleFanatic standards. All, save for the Harlequin, who is determined to take his time in his hijinx-laden mosey through life, and encourages the people of the world to do the same.
The whole story can be read [[https://www.d.umn.edu/~tbacig/cst1010/chs/ellison.html here]].
''"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman'' is a short story by Creator/HarlanEllison published in 1965, and won both the UsefulNotes/{{Hugo|Award}} and UsefulNotes/{{Nebula|Award}} awards.
Changed line(s) 12 (click to see context) from:
* ApologisesALot:
to:
* ApologisesALot:ApologisesALot: The Harlequin is prone to this, even profusely apologizing to all in attendance after his wonderful trick with the web-traps.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: When a minee brings a turn-off notice to the Delahanty residence, Georgette panics, wishing that it's not for her, hoping that it'd be for her husband Marshall instead. She's right, to her horror.
* BusbyBerkeleyNumber: A brief comment likens an overhead view of workers marching away from their workplace to go home to one of these.
Changed line(s) 28 (click to see context) from:
* DownerEnding: The Harlequin is captured, unmasked, tortured far away, and brainwashed into accepting the Ticktockman's tightly regimented worldview, and goes on live television to renounce his former ways as the Harlequin.
to:
* DownerEnding: The Harlequin is captured, arrested, unmasked, tortured far away, and brainwashed into accepting the Ticktockman's tightly regimented worldview, and goes on live television to renounce his former ways as the Harlequin.Harlequin. What's more, the only real effect of his serial japery was getting the Ticktockman himself to run late -- by only ''three minutes.''
Changed line(s) 36 (click to see context) from:
* InMediasRes: The story begins with the Ticktockman and his retainers on the hunt for the Harlequin, then chronicles some of the Harlequin's exploits before moving toward the conclusion. Admitted as such in the opening:
to:
* InMediasRes: The story begins with the Ticktockman and his retainers on the hunt for the Harlequin, then chronicles some of the Harlequin's previous exploits before moving toward the conclusion. Admitted as such in the opening:
Changed line(s) 40,41 (click to see context) from:
* RiddleForTheAges: Precisely ''how'' the Harlequin procured his avalanche of jelly beans is explicitly unanswered by the story:
-->''"Now wait a second[=--=]second accounted for[=--=]no one has manufactured jelly beans for over a hundred years. Where did he get jelly beans?\\
-->''"Now wait a second[=--=]second accounted for[=--=]no one has manufactured jelly beans for over a hundred years. Where did he get jelly beans?\\
to:
* OrderVersusChaos: The Harlequin represents Chaos, a jester with a fondness for zany schemes and off-the-wall prankery, striking out against a world of rigid Order, where everything is done on a strict timetable and deviation from the schedule is punished harshly.
* RiddleForTheAges: Precisely ''how'' the Harlequin procured his avalanche of jelly beans is explicitly left unanswered by the story:
-->''"Now wait asecond[=--=]second second[=--=] second accounted for[=--=]no for[=--=] no one has manufactured jelly beans for over a hundred years. Where did he get jelly beans?\\
* RiddleForTheAges: Precisely ''how'' the Harlequin procured his avalanche of jelly beans is explicitly left unanswered by the story:
-->''"Now wait a
* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: [[GenderInvertedTrope Gender-inverted]] and {{deconstructed|Trope}} with the Harlequin and his girlfriend, Alice. She's exasperated and fed up by his constant mayhem as the Harlequin, always out late on a quixotic quest bereft of objective or end. Later, when the Ticktockman has captured him, he tells him that Alice wanted to belong and fit in like everyone else, and that the Harlequin was being a thorn in her side in that regard.
Changed line(s) 45,48 (click to see context) from:
* ShutUpHannibal: The Harlequin gives a good one to the Ticktockman:
-->'''Ticktockman:''' [[TitleDrop Repent, Harlequin!]]\\
'''Harlequin:''' Get stuffed.
* StylisticSuck: The story was said to be written as an affront to the "rules of good writing", with one "paragraph" being a single long run-on sentence.
-->'''Ticktockman:''' [[TitleDrop Repent, Harlequin!]]\\
'''Harlequin:''' Get stuffed.
* StylisticSuck: The story was said to be written as an affront to the "rules of good writing", with one "paragraph" being a single long run-on sentence.
to:
* ShutUpHannibal: The After he's apprehended, the Harlequin gives a good one fearlessly mouths off to the Ticktockman:
-->'''Ticktockman:''' [[TitleDrop Repent, Harlequin!]]\\
'''Harlequin:''' Get stuffed.
Ticktockman about his strict ways, and is notably undeterred after being told that he'll be turned off:
-->'''Harlequin:''' Scare someone else. I'd rather be dead than live in a dumb world with a bogey man like you. You're full of it. You're a tyrant. You have no right to order people around and kill them if they show up late.
* StylisticSuck: The story was said to be written asan a deliberate affront to the "rules of good writing", with writing". Run-on sentences are not uncommon, and one "paragraph" being paragraph indeed is nothing ''but'' a single long run-on sentence.sentence bookended by two words on each end, and a paragraph describing the methods of the Ticktockman's forces while on the hunt for the Harlequin is only made of "They used _____" sentences.
-->'''Ticktockman:''' [[TitleDrop Repent, Harlequin!]]\\
'''Harlequin:''' Get stuffed.
-->'''Harlequin:''' Scare someone else. I'd rather be dead than live in a dumb world with a bogey man like you. You're full of it. You're a tyrant. You have no right to order people around and kill them if they show up late.
* StylisticSuck: The story was said to be written as
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* TitleDrop: The Ticktockman urges the Harlequin to repent of his ways while interrogating him after he's captured, and the Harlequin [[ShutUpHannibal isn't having any of it]].
* VerbThis: The Harlequin gives a good one to the Ticktockman during their GrandInquisitorScene:
-->'''Ticktockman:''' You can't adjust. You can't fit in.\\
'''Harlequin:''' Unstrap me and I'll fit my fist into your mouth.
* VerbThis: The Harlequin gives a good one to the Ticktockman during their GrandInquisitorScene:
-->'''Ticktockman:''' You can't adjust. You can't fit in.\\
'''Harlequin:''' Unstrap me and I'll fit my fist into your mouth.
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Changed line(s) 27 (click to see context) from:
** Oh, and have you heard of that Harlequin japer? That dumb little jellybean stunt of his delayed the master schedule by seven minutes! ''Seven minutes!'' The Master Timekeeper's gone into a state!
to:
** Oh, and have you heard of that Harlequin japer? That dumb little jellybean stunt of his delayed the master schedule by seven minutes! ''Seven minutes!'' The Master Timekeeper's gone into a state!state! He's demanded that this fool answer for his crime!
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Changed line(s) 25 (click to see context) from:
* DisproportionateRetribution: Been tardy one too many times lately, have we? Here in the city of the Ticktockman, that's grounds for ''death,'' y'know.
to:
* DisproportionateRetribution: DisproportionateRetribution:
** Been tardy one too many times lately, have we? Here in the city of the Ticktockman, that's grounds for ''death,''y'know.y'know.
** Oh, and have you heard of that Harlequin japer? That dumb little jellybean stunt of his delayed the master schedule by seven minutes! ''Seven minutes!'' The Master Timekeeper's gone into a state!
** Been tardy one too many times lately, have we? Here in the city of the Ticktockman, that's grounds for ''death,''
** Oh, and have you heard of that Harlequin japer? That dumb little jellybean stunt of his delayed the master schedule by seven minutes! ''Seven minutes!'' The Master Timekeeper's gone into a state!
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/berry_cover_harlequin_ticktock.jpg]]
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* BringMyBrownPants: One pedestrian who the Harlequin surprises on his makeshift air-boat pisses herself out of shock.
to:
* BringMyBrownPants: One pedestrian who the Harlequin surprises on his makeshift air-boat pisses herself pees her pants out of shock.
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* BringMyBrownPants: One pedestrian who the Harlequin surprises on his makeshift air-boat pisses herself out of shock.
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Changed line(s) 25 (click to see context) from:
* {{Epigraph}}: The story begins with a lengthy excerpt from Creator/HenryDavidThoreau's "Civil Disobedience", noting how people can be treated as disposable components by the societies that they serve, reducing them to the jobs that they perform and nothing more.
to:
* {{Epigraph}}: The story begins with a lengthy excerpt from Creator/HenryDavidThoreau's "Civil Disobedience", ''Civil Disobedience'', noting how people can be treated as disposable components by the societies that they serve, reducing them to the jobs that they perform and nothing more.
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Changed line(s) 15 (click to see context) from:
* BatmanGambit: The authorities of the Ticktockman try to hit the Harlequin with one of these, as when he announces that he'll be in attendance at a gathering of scientists at "8:00 p.m. precisely", they assume he'll be late, as he makes a huge point of being. However, he shows up twenty minutes ''early'', foiling the authorities' expectations and surprising them so much that [[HoistByHisOwnPetard they were trapped in the very spiderwebs that were meant to ensnare him]].
to:
* BatmanGambit: The authorities of the Ticktockman try to hit the Harlequin with one of these, as when he announces that he'll be in attendance at a gathering of scientists at "8:00 p.m. precisely", they assume he'll be late, as he makes a huge point of being. However, he shows up twenty minutes ''early'', [[DefiedTrope foiling the authorities' expectations expectations]] and surprising them so much that [[HoistByHisOwnPetard they were trapped in the very spiderwebs that were meant to ensnare him]].
Changed line(s) 25 (click to see context) from:
* {{Epigraph}}: The story begins with a lengthy excerpt from Creator/HenryDavidThoreau's "Civil Disobedience", noting how people can be treated as mere components by the societies that they serve.
to:
* {{Epigraph}}: The story begins with a lengthy excerpt from Creator/HenryDavidThoreau's "Civil Disobedience", noting how people can be treated as mere disposable components by the societies that they serve.serve, reducing them to the jobs that they perform and nothing more.
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* {{Epigraph}}: The story begins with a lengthy excerpt from Creator/HenryDavidThoreau's "Civil Disobedience", noting how people can be treated as mere components by the societies that they serve.
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Changed line(s) 28 (click to see context) from:
* GivenNameReveal: The Harlequin's first name is revealed to be Everett when in his apartment with his girlfriend, Alice.
to:
* GivenNameReveal: The Harlequin's first name is revealed to be Everett when in his apartment with his girlfriend, Alice.Alice, while not in his Harlequin garb.
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* GivenNameReveal: The Harlequin's first name is revealed to be Everett when in his apartment with his girlfriend, Alice.
Added DiffLines:
* LudicrousPrecision: When the Harlequin is captured, the Ticktockman informs him of his total late-time, down to one one-millionth of a microsecond.
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* BerserkButton: It's {{implied|Trope}} that the Ticktockman ''despises'' being called the Ticktockman, preferring to go by "Master Timekeeper":
-->''"Even in the cubicles of the hierarchy, where fear was generated, seldom suffered, he was called the Ticktockman. But no one called him that to his mask.\\
You don't call a man a hated name, not when that man, behind his mask, is capable of revoking the minutes, the hours, the days and nights, the years of your life. He was called the Master Timekeeper to his mask. It was safer that way."''
-->''"Even in the cubicles of the hierarchy, where fear was generated, seldom suffered, he was called the Ticktockman. But no one called him that to his mask.\\
You don't call a man a hated name, not when that man, behind his mask, is capable of revoking the minutes, the hours, the days and nights, the years of your life. He was called the Master Timekeeper to his mask. It was safer that way."''
Changed line(s) 20 (click to see context) from:
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The Harlequin is captured, unmasked, tortured far away, and brainwashed into accepting the Ticktockman's tightly regimented worldview, and goes on live television to renounce his former ways as the Harlequin.]]
to:
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The The Harlequin is captured, unmasked, tortured far away, and brainwashed into accepting the Ticktockman's tightly regimented worldview, and goes on live television to renounce his former ways as the Harlequin.]]
Changed line(s) 33 (click to see context) from:
* ShoutOut: [[spoiler:The ColdBloodedTorture inflicted on the man who was once the Harlequin]] is stated to be reminiscent of Winston's fate from ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', and even states that nobody in-universe knows of the book.
to:
* ShoutOut: [[spoiler:The The ColdBloodedTorture inflicted on the man who was once the Harlequin]] Harlequin is stated to be reminiscent of Winston's fate from ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', and even states that nobody in-universe knows of the book.
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* StylisticSuck: The story was said to be written as an affront to the "rules of good writing", with one "paragraph" being a single long run-on sentence.
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Changed line(s) 32 (click to see context) from:
* ScheduleFanatic: '''Everyone'' must be one in this future, else they have their time late deducted from their lifespan, if not their very life itself.
to:
* ScheduleFanatic: '''Everyone'' ''Everyone'' must be one in this future, else they have their time late deducted from their lifespan, if not their very life itself.
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->''"Why let them order you about? Why let them tell you to hurry and scurry like ants or maggots? Take your time! Saunter a while! Enjoy the sunshine, enjoy the breeze, let life carry you at your own pace! Don't be slaves of time, it's a helluva way to die, slowly, by degrees... down with the Ticktockman!"''
-->-- '''The Harlequin'''
''"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman'' is a short story by Creator/HarlanEllison published in 1965, and won both the UsefulNotes/{{Hugo|Award}} and UsefulNotes/{{Nebula|Award}} awards. A couple hundred years into the future, the whole known world lives under the yoke of [[ClockKing the Ticktockman]], who holds all to his ScheduleFanatic standards. All, save for the Harlequin, who is determined to take his time in his hijinx-laden mosey through life, and encourages the people of the world to do the same.
The whole story can be read [[https://www.d.umn.edu/~tbacig/cst1010/chs/ellison.html here]].
!!Tropes featured in ''"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman'' include:
* AnswerCut: When first the story asks, "Who is the Harlequin?", the very next scene is of him causing his wacky hijinx around the city.
* ApologisesALot:
-->'''Alice:''' You know, you speak with a great deal of inflection.\\
'''Harlequin:''' I'm sorry.\\
'''Alice:''' No need to be sorry. You're always saying 'I'm sorry.' You have such massive guilt, Everett, it's really very sad.\\
'''Harlequin:''' I'm sorry.
* BatmanGambit: The authorities of the Ticktockman try to hit the Harlequin with one of these, as when he announces that he'll be in attendance at a gathering of scientists at "8:00 p.m. precisely", they assume he'll be late, as he makes a huge point of being. However, he shows up twenty minutes ''early'', foiling the authorities' expectations and surprising them so much that [[HoistByHisOwnPetard they were trapped in the very spiderwebs that were meant to ensnare him]].
* ClockKing: The Ticktockman himself, par excellence, meticulously measures out all of the events in each day in his city. And he's holding everyone else in his domain to his same standards, like it or not.
* ClocksOfControl: Under the yoke of the Ticktockman, everybody in the city is bound to an unbendingly strict schedule, which they must follow lest time be subtracted from their life.
* DeadlyEuphemism: As per the Ticktockman's DystopianEdict, a person who's late all the time would be "turned off", and ordered to get all of their affairs in order.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Been tardy one too many times lately, have we? Here in the city of the Ticktockman, that's grounds for ''death,'' y'know.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The Harlequin is captured, unmasked, tortured far away, and brainwashed into accepting the Ticktockman's tightly regimented worldview, and goes on live television to renounce his former ways as the Harlequin.]]
* DystopianEdict: Mention is made of a decree late in the 24th century introducing the Ticktockman's programme for subtracting time from dilly-dalliers.
* ForeverWar: A throwaway line implies that the populace is told all the time that there's a war going on that necessitates the Ticktockman's stiflingly strict ways, but it's implied that that narrative is complete bunk.
-->''"It was, after all, patriotic. The schedules had to be met. After all, there ''was'' a war on!\\
But wasn't there always?"''
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: PlayedForLaughs the first time the authorities try to capture the Harlequin at a doctor's convention. He spooks the authorities with a bullhorn so hard, that the spiderweb-like nets that were meant to capture him, wind up ensnaring ''them'' instead. Both him and the doctors in attendance get a huge kick out of it.
* InMediasRes: The story begins with the Ticktockman and his retainers on the hunt for the Harlequin, then chronicles some of the Harlequin's exploits before moving toward the conclusion. Admitted as such in the opening:
-->''"Now begin in the middle, and later learn the beginning; the end will take care of itself."''
* OhCrap: Georgette Delahanty is sent into a whirling panic when she recieves the [[DeadlyEuphemism turn-off]] notice for her husband, Marshall.
* RiddleForTheAges: Precisely ''how'' the Harlequin procured his avalanche of jelly beans is explicitly unanswered by the story:
-->''"Now wait a second[=--=]second accounted for[=--=]no one has manufactured jelly beans for over a hundred years. Where did he get jelly beans?\\
That's another good question. More than likely it will never be answered to your complete satisfaction. But then, how many questions ever are?"''
* ScheduleFanatic: '''Everyone'' must be one in this future, else they have their time late deducted from their lifespan, if not their very life itself.
* ShoutOut: [[spoiler:The ColdBloodedTorture inflicted on the man who was once the Harlequin]] is stated to be reminiscent of Winston's fate from ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', and even states that nobody in-universe knows of the book.
* ShutUpHannibal: The Harlequin gives a good one to the Ticktockman:
-->'''Ticktockman:''' [[TitleDrop Repent, Harlequin!]]\\
'''Harlequin:''' Get stuffed.
* TakeThat: The whole story is a swipe at the idea in American society that punctuality is as paramount as can be, at the expense of stopping to smell the roses whenever it tickles one's fancy.
----
-->-- '''The Harlequin'''
''"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman'' is a short story by Creator/HarlanEllison published in 1965, and won both the UsefulNotes/{{Hugo|Award}} and UsefulNotes/{{Nebula|Award}} awards. A couple hundred years into the future, the whole known world lives under the yoke of [[ClockKing the Ticktockman]], who holds all to his ScheduleFanatic standards. All, save for the Harlequin, who is determined to take his time in his hijinx-laden mosey through life, and encourages the people of the world to do the same.
The whole story can be read [[https://www.d.umn.edu/~tbacig/cst1010/chs/ellison.html here]].
!!Tropes featured in ''"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman'' include:
* AnswerCut: When first the story asks, "Who is the Harlequin?", the very next scene is of him causing his wacky hijinx around the city.
* ApologisesALot:
-->'''Alice:''' You know, you speak with a great deal of inflection.\\
'''Harlequin:''' I'm sorry.\\
'''Alice:''' No need to be sorry. You're always saying 'I'm sorry.' You have such massive guilt, Everett, it's really very sad.\\
'''Harlequin:''' I'm sorry.
* BatmanGambit: The authorities of the Ticktockman try to hit the Harlequin with one of these, as when he announces that he'll be in attendance at a gathering of scientists at "8:00 p.m. precisely", they assume he'll be late, as he makes a huge point of being. However, he shows up twenty minutes ''early'', foiling the authorities' expectations and surprising them so much that [[HoistByHisOwnPetard they were trapped in the very spiderwebs that were meant to ensnare him]].
* ClockKing: The Ticktockman himself, par excellence, meticulously measures out all of the events in each day in his city. And he's holding everyone else in his domain to his same standards, like it or not.
* ClocksOfControl: Under the yoke of the Ticktockman, everybody in the city is bound to an unbendingly strict schedule, which they must follow lest time be subtracted from their life.
* DeadlyEuphemism: As per the Ticktockman's DystopianEdict, a person who's late all the time would be "turned off", and ordered to get all of their affairs in order.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Been tardy one too many times lately, have we? Here in the city of the Ticktockman, that's grounds for ''death,'' y'know.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The Harlequin is captured, unmasked, tortured far away, and brainwashed into accepting the Ticktockman's tightly regimented worldview, and goes on live television to renounce his former ways as the Harlequin.]]
* DystopianEdict: Mention is made of a decree late in the 24th century introducing the Ticktockman's programme for subtracting time from dilly-dalliers.
* ForeverWar: A throwaway line implies that the populace is told all the time that there's a war going on that necessitates the Ticktockman's stiflingly strict ways, but it's implied that that narrative is complete bunk.
-->''"It was, after all, patriotic. The schedules had to be met. After all, there ''was'' a war on!\\
But wasn't there always?"''
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: PlayedForLaughs the first time the authorities try to capture the Harlequin at a doctor's convention. He spooks the authorities with a bullhorn so hard, that the spiderweb-like nets that were meant to capture him, wind up ensnaring ''them'' instead. Both him and the doctors in attendance get a huge kick out of it.
* InMediasRes: The story begins with the Ticktockman and his retainers on the hunt for the Harlequin, then chronicles some of the Harlequin's exploits before moving toward the conclusion. Admitted as such in the opening:
-->''"Now begin in the middle, and later learn the beginning; the end will take care of itself."''
* OhCrap: Georgette Delahanty is sent into a whirling panic when she recieves the [[DeadlyEuphemism turn-off]] notice for her husband, Marshall.
* RiddleForTheAges: Precisely ''how'' the Harlequin procured his avalanche of jelly beans is explicitly unanswered by the story:
-->''"Now wait a second[=--=]second accounted for[=--=]no one has manufactured jelly beans for over a hundred years. Where did he get jelly beans?\\
That's another good question. More than likely it will never be answered to your complete satisfaction. But then, how many questions ever are?"''
* ScheduleFanatic: '''Everyone'' must be one in this future, else they have their time late deducted from their lifespan, if not their very life itself.
* ShoutOut: [[spoiler:The ColdBloodedTorture inflicted on the man who was once the Harlequin]] is stated to be reminiscent of Winston's fate from ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', and even states that nobody in-universe knows of the book.
* ShutUpHannibal: The Harlequin gives a good one to the Ticktockman:
-->'''Ticktockman:''' [[TitleDrop Repent, Harlequin!]]\\
'''Harlequin:''' Get stuffed.
* TakeThat: The whole story is a swipe at the idea in American society that punctuality is as paramount as can be, at the expense of stopping to smell the roses whenever it tickles one's fancy.
----
