Line #12 PlayingWith/OutsideContextProblem


1	'''Basic Trope''': An encounter with something totally unprecedented.
2
3	* '''Straight''': After making peaceful first contact with [[HumanAliens the Cybelians]], [[RubberForeheadAliens the Tandurians]] and [[ScaryDogmaticAliens the Gukk]], the [[TheAlliance League of Planets]] is utterly stymied when they come across [[StarfishAliens the #!@?]].
4	* '''Exaggerated''': The #!@? are so weird [[Literature/{{Solaris}} no one even knows how to get their attention, much less communicate with them]].
5	* '''Downplayed''': While baffling at first, the #!@? are neither omnipotent nor totally beyond the ken of scientific inquiry. The League manages to hold their own against them [[DoingInTheWizard until their origins and motives are deciphered]].
6	* '''Justified''':
7	** The #!@? are [[EnergyBeings incorporeal]] [[AngelicAliens demigods]] with no indication of culture, language or any other markers of a usual spacefaring species.
8	** The universe, physics, and evolution are not inclined to foster totally mutually intelligible lifeforms. [[note]] [[NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction Things would be too boring for exobiologists otherwise]][[/note]].
9	* '''Inverted''': [[RidiculouslyAverageGuy The Norm]] are about as run-of-the-mill as you can get for an alien race, and get along famously with everyone in the League (except the Gukk, [[BloodKnight but]] [[{{Jerkass}} that's]] [[RapePillageAndBurn understandable]]) as a result.
10	** [[HumansAreCthulhu Humankind is the totally unexpected encounter.]][[note]]hope we didn't kill them with a common cold again.[[/note]]
11	** An Outside-Context Solution
12	** The plot spends nine hundred and nine-nine pages with the protagonists going all "this situation is something nobody ever encountered before and has never dealt with!" and in the last page TheCavalry arrives and turns out to be CrazyPrepared enough (even if they still think [[TheWormGuy the doctor who developed the scenario is crazy]]) to deal with the event with ease.
13	* '''Subverted''':
14	* '''Double Subverted''': (from Inverted #1) ... Until the Norm ambassador unzips his flesh-suit in front of the LOP assembly, [[CelestialBody revealing his terrifying, bottomless cosmic mind to everyone]].
15	* '''Parodied''': The arrival of the mysterious [[HiddenAgendaVillain Enig-Men of planet Konundruum]] is met with confusion by the [[GenreBlind brave but guileless League of Planets]].
16	* '''Zig Zagged''':
17	** But his CelestialBody was [[MindScrew (somehow)]] also a flesh-suit. He really is a RidiculouslyAverageGuy after all.
18	** Every major member race of the League has traits that make them [[ValuesResonance humanlike in some ways]] and [[CultureClash totally unknowable in others]].
19	* '''Averted''': The League treats first contact with the #!@? like any other, and though progress is slow, they eventually become [[MundaneFantastic just another alien race]].
20	* '''Enforced''': An average encounter would not justify the MultiPartEpisode that [[ExecutiveMeddling the guys upstairs wanted to boost the network's ratings]], so the writers were ordered to make the #!@? as nigh-incomprehensible as possible to not have to rely on {{padding}} (too much).
21	* '''Lampshaded''': At first, the crew of the League starship running first contact protocols for the #!@? isn't even sure they've encountered a sapient species or a rounding error in their instrument calibrations.
22	* '''Invoked''': Mankind uses [[ClarkesThirdLaw their superior technology and social organization]] to cement their power over the junior members of the League.
23	* '''Exploited''': The #!@? use their indescribable nature as a front for some rather describable antics, such as [[GalacticConqueror controlling the galaxy in secret]].
24	* '''Defied''':
25	** The #!@?, while exotic-looking, prove to be almost comically human in most respects, complete with [[ThisLoserIsYou all the flaws and foibles of an average human population on display]].
26	** The cast very notably [[JustIgnoreIt and pointedly]] [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight refuse]] to have any of the typical reactions that happen when something like the #!@? pops up in a story (freaking out, AdmiringTheAbomination, etc.) and [[AbsurdlyDedicatedWorker continue to carry on whatever duties they were doing]], and if taking care of business requires to kill the aliens - or die trying - because that’s the only way it will get done, [[IWillFightSomeMoreForever they will do so without hesitation]].
27	* '''Discussed''': Since no problem is technically outside context if it can be thought of first, [[CovertGroup the League's "Lovecraft Legionaire" think tank endeavors to do just that in the hopes of smoothing over potential first contact problems]].
28	* '''Conversed''': Attempting to educate [[ApatheticCitizens the human public]] about a species like the #!@? proves difficult, as most of them consider the proper stance [[AliensAreBastards for any alien race to be "shoot first and ask questions never"]].
29	* '''Implied''': No one goes to see the #!@?, and the #!@? aren't seen much.
30	* '''Deconstructed''': The fact that no one can conceive of an alien species outside the normal parameters results in [[WeComeInPeaceShootToKill several nasty misunderstandings with the #!@?]], [[HopelessWar most of which do not go well]] [[EarthThatUsedToBeBetter for the League]] [[SlaveRace and its members]].
31	** The futility of trying to communicate with the #!@? puts a damper on further space exploration, making contact with other alien races a distant prospect at best. Eventually, the League drifts apart into [[FeudalFuture several cosmic fiefdoms where trade and scientific advancement are both stifled in favor of infighting and recrimination between different species]].
32	* '''Reconstructed''': [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow Sometimes too much knowledge is a bad thing]], and knowing too much about the #!@? isn't good for anyone's health. [[GoMadFromTheRevelation Or sanity]]. [[BodyHorror Or physiology]]. What little information can be gleaned about them [[NothingIsScarier is more than enough]] for the League to give them the widest possible berth.
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34	----
35	'''[[VoiceOfTheLegion You have]] [[HiveMind no idea]] [[AssimilationPlot what you're]] [[YouHaveNoIdeaWhoYoureDealingWith dealing with,]] [[PunyEarthling man-ape.]] [[OutsideContextProblem Do not]] [[SelfDemonstrating/AllBlueEntry antagonize us.]]'''

Context PlayingWith / OutsideContextProblem