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Reality Ensues/Surprisingly Realistic Outcome cleanup

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Surprisingly Realistic Outcome, previously called Reality Ensues, is one of the most heavily misused tropes this site has ever had, having gone to the Trope Repair Shop twice ([1] [2]) and Trope Talk once ([3]) before settling into its current state of having to receive constant cleanup.

    History 
Before being disambiguated, Reality Ensues was one of the site's oldest tropes, having started in 2008 as "an event breaks conventions to feature realistic consequences/results not typically featured in fiction." However, it gradually became one of the most infamous cases of Trope Decay the site had ever seen over the years as people shoehorned in any moment or feature that they could remotely construe as realistic, causing the trope to become extremely over-bloated with over 17,000 wicks by the time it first went to TRS despite only describing a scenario that should be rare by definition. This decay was retroactively attributed to the easily misinterpreted name; if we interpret "Reality" as referring to the fictional work's reality, "Reality Ensues" would describe everything that ever happens in a work of fiction, thus making the trope meaningless. In addition, many tropers saw excess use of this trope as a badge of honor for a series unafraid to be dark, impactful, and gritty, which exacerbated the problem even more.

These issues finally came to a head in 2019 when Reality Ensues went to TRS after a wick check found misuse to outnumber valid examples 30-40 to 1. After discussion, tropers agreed to drop the "broken convention" aspect of the trope and rename it Surprisingly Realistic Outcome to improve clarity. However, after the cleanup began, it soon became apparent that instead of properly reviewing examples, tropers were mass-moving them to the new name with no regard for whether they even fit the new definition, and the cleanup soon became regarded as the textbook example of botched TRS work. Despite removing nearly half of the examples, SRO was still in Overdosed Tropes with over 10,000 examples by the time Reality Ensues wick migration finished. This cleanup thread, which predates the TRS efforts by nearly two years, noticed the problem and took it to TRS a second time, which eventually turned into a Trope Talk discussion that finally fleshed out SRO with an actual description and established clear, concise criteria for judging examples. After that, cleanup began intermittently, eventually deleting nearly all the subpages and getting SRO below the Overdosed Tropes threshold; active cleanup continues.

    Cleanup instructions 
Due to the strict rules codified on the trope page, old SRO examples are typically nearly all misuse. To avoid clogging this thread, only pages with lots of them or ones with reasonable doubt over their validity should be discussed here. Examples that blatantly violate the rules should be deleted on sight.

Many Stock Phrases used in this thread describe particular types of misuse encountered frequently:

  • Not surprising. — The outcome described isn't a Bait-and-Switch and merely follows expected genre conventions.
    • Note that SRO can't be common in any fiction, as realistic events being surprising requires that they be rare. They might be unexpected at first if they keep happening, but they would eventually become expected; SRO being "common" in media is an oxymoron.
  • Plot happens. — The example merely describes an event or series of events but not why people typically expect something different.
  • Deconstruction / Genre Deconstruction / Deconstructed Trope / Deconstructed Character Archetype shoehorn. — The example is a deconstruction of some type misplaced under SRO.
  • Too fantastical. — The causes/outcome includes stuff Impossible in Real Life such as Applied Phlebotinum, Functional Magic, Science Fiction, etc., meaning they're too unrealistic by default.
  • Character reaction. — The outcome involves a character reacting in a certain way or having certain emotions, which we can't gauge the realism of because people's emotional reactions vary far too much.
  • Not realistic. — The supposed "realistic" outcome isn't legitimately realistic; using this phrase requires you to describe why it isn't realistic.
  • Too implausible. — The outcome describes an outcome that happened because of things too unlikely to count as relatively realistic compared to what they were subverting.
  • Cuttable ZCE. — The example is a Zero-Context Example, which can be cut unilaterally in a cleanup.
  • Not an outcome. — The example is a Discussed Trope, Lampshade Hanging, Conversational Troping, something that happens over too much time to be momentary, a general feature of the setting, or is otherwise not a singular event.
  • Too unclear. — The example is too convoluted or obtuse to judge.
  • Irrelevant. — The example describes stuff utterly irrelevant to the definition of SRO.

    Old OP 
I've been noticing a lot of Surprisingly Realistic Outcome misuse lately, from instances of Gameplay and Story Segregation to Awesome, but Impractical, and I thought a cleanup thread could help out a little.

A big thing I've noticed is that it's often used for anything remotely realistic, or something that's realistic but doesn't necessarily affect the story. Another problem is that the trope seems to be cherry-picked, where any instance of reality ensuing is put there, as well as when another trope could serve the example better.

Problematic examples from one sample page, Surprisingly Realistic Outcome.Disney Animated Series: "Despite his attempts Wander can't make friends with Dominator who constantly rebuffs his friendly gestures throughout season 2. Even at the end of everything, she still refuses. Sylvia even lampshades it, telling him some people are just like that."

"Spider-Man's fight against Sandman and Rhino, where Spidey uses Rhino's weight against him. rather than fighting him directly." "Beshte gets sunburns all over his body and is easily exhausted while he is lost in the Outlands. Justified due to the fact that hippos need water to survive to avoid sunburn and overheating."

"It's heavily implied that being the leader of the Lion Guard has taken a toll on Kion's social and private life."

"Milo Murphy's Law is about a boy named Milo Murphy whose entire life is centered around Murphy's Law. In another cartoon, being The Jinx would cause people to be afraid of them, resulting in an unsocial lifestyle. That does not apply here. While everyone does watch their step around Milo, they do not hate him for it. Being The Jinx does, however, give everyone Paranoia Fuel, given that Murphy's Law can happen at any time, so chances are you might need insurance, a phone in case of emergencies, among other things. Milo himself (as well as his friends Melissa and Zack) just learned to adapt to his condition, being prepared for anything. He has lived with Murphy's Law his entire life after all. That being said, that does not mean that they don't panic all the time. Examples include Milo panicking over his monthly doctor's note, and Melissa panicking over riding a rollercoaster with Milo."

" Hiro is initially not allowed to use Tadashi's former lab, as it can only be accessed by upperclassmen who earned the privilege. Subverted in the second half of the pilot when Professor Granville decides Hiro using the lab would benefit him. On a related note regarding Granville, she is tough, but fair when interacting with the students. She might be, as Wasabi describes "a hard case", but Granville being a complete sadist and picking on Hiro would be unrealistic. She is actually a decent person."

Edited by lalalei2001 on Oct 18th 2024 at 2:06:25 PM

MacronNotes (she/her) (Captain) Relationship Status: Less than three
(she/her)
#176: May 9th 2020 at 3:20:16 PM

Is this a valid example? I am still a little confused about the criteria of Reality Ensues

From VideoGame.Bitlife

  • Reality Ensues: Getting away with crime can be tricky, as it's up to random chance whether you'll be arrested, your victim fights back, or you'll get away scott-free. Even if you get away now, there's a chance you get arrested even decades later. Your crimes can even get revealed at your funeral. Being a Karma Houdini is a tough task to pull off.

Edited by MacronNotes on May 9th 2020 at 12:44:01 PM

Macron's notes
AnotherDuck No, the other one. from Stockholm Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Mu
No, the other one.
#177: May 9th 2020 at 9:41:10 PM

[up]The main character is expected to be punished for any crime where you're not on the morality/gameplay level of a murder hobo. Not an example.

Edited by AnotherDuck on May 9th 2020 at 6:41:49 PM

Check out my fanfiction!
Libraryseraph uu~ from Canada (Handed A Sword) Relationship Status: Raising My Lily Rank With You
uu~
#178: May 21st 2020 at 6:17:43 AM

Down the Rabbit Hole has a bunch of examples, but it's a documentary series. Things can't be Reality Ensues when they happened in reality, can they?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FOR MARIA
jandn2014 SMILE! from somewhere in Connecticut Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Hiding
Libraryseraph uu~ from Canada (Handed A Sword) Relationship Status: Raising My Lily Rank With You
uu~
#180: May 21st 2020 at 7:00:04 AM

Done!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FOR MARIA
Lalapolpolpol Since: May, 2019
#181: May 22nd 2020 at 1:28:22 PM

There seems to two cases of the wrong use of Reality Ensues in the Bokurano folder:

  • Chizuru "Chizu" Honda initially considers planning a Murder-Suicide against the teacher who was responsible for having her gang-raped, until she realizes that she's pregnant. When she becomes Zearth's pilot, which will result in her and her baby dying anyway, she uses Zearth's lasers to kill the men who raped her, and only spares her teacher because she'd have to kill her sister, too. When people try to stop her, and even consider threatening her, she points out that she has nothing left to lose, and so can't be reasoned with.

...how is this Reality Ensues exactly? This seems to be simply pointing out the justification behind the character acting the way she is, not the series being realistic or not.

  • Kana Ushiro and her father both have a surprisingly philosophical perspective on death. The latter asked his students to think about how their loved ones would react to their death, while the former believes that everyone's the star of their own story, and knows that many young people die every day. When Kana's chosen as the pilot, her father's heartbroken at the realization that his daughter will soon die, and Kana herself has an emotional breakdown in her final moments.

...again, how is this Reality Ensues? A character crying upon his own death is generally considered expected in fiction, and so is someone who knows that a loved one is about to die crying about that too. This seems to be simply a case of Character Death being Played for Drama if anything else.

gjjones Musician/Composer from South Wales, New York Since: Jul, 2016
Musician/Composer
#182: May 23rd 2020 at 6:22:06 AM

So, on pages such as RealityEnsues.Pixar and RealityEnsues.Marvel Cinematic Universe, should we organize the films in chronological or alphabetical order? Just wanted to be sure.

Edited by gjjones on May 23rd 2020 at 9:38:19 AM

He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.
Serac she/her (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
she/her
#183: May 23rd 2020 at 7:43:42 AM

This thread should probably be put on hold for now, as TRS voted to redefine it.

keyblade333 Ferdinand Von Aegir fan from In the void between worlds. Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
Ferdinand Von Aegir fan
#184: May 27th 2020 at 2:44:42 PM

While thats being done we can at least get some of these trimmed for now.

Weathering With You, Beyblade Burst, and Yu Gi Oh Arc V should really be deleted as none of them have enough to justify and aren't enough to justify pages like that.

Starting with Beyblade.

  • Episode 2: Valt defeating Rantaro in the pilot episode leaves him feeling invincible. As Shu warns Valt, a normal person getting overconfident after just one win instead of trying to improve will hurt them in the long run, evident by Valt’s near loss to Ken in the same episode.
  • Episode 9: Shu sustains a shoulder injury and is told by the doctor to take some time off from beyblading to give his body time to recover. However, he still insists on practicing for his upcoming matches, which ends up causing his shoulder to take longer to heal.
  • Episode 37: Training hard is important, but train too much and you’ll strain yourself and perform worse, so it’s important to take a break every now and then. Even Valt agrees with that logic.
  • Episode 49: No matter how hard a bey improves or has the strength to go on, if you don’t take proper care of your bey or send it in for repairs, then it could break in the middle of a match.
  • During Evolution, Valt and Rantaro face hatred and judgement from almost every member of BC Sol, especially from Stan and Django. Showing up as a newcomer and stealing the spotlight won't appeal you to a lot of people.
  • Evolution Episode 7: Relying on a new device can help you win, but without proper training you’ll only be able to rely on luck, which can only get you so far in the long run. Similarly, no matter how powerful you are, underestimating your opponent can be suicidal.
  • Evolution Episodes 10-12 prove that when the leader of a team leaves, some people can see it as motivation to improve themselves. However it does not mean that they will immediately come to that conclusion.
  • Evolution Episode 34: Being able to counter the specifics of your opponent’s bey is smart, but you can still lose if you don’t know about the other features of said opponent’s bey.
  • Evolution Episode 35: Regardless of whether you win or lose, all members of the team must put aside personal vendettas and listen to the manager of the club. Joshua ignoring Theodore and choosing to send himself into the final battle instead of Free is what costs his team the match.
  • Evolution Episode 38: Shasa rips into Free when he returns to Spain and rejoins BC Sol after suffering his first loss to Lui Shirosagi. Acting like you can just waltz right in and reclaim your spot on the team after leaving is not going to get you into good graces with your peers.
    • The context of Shasa's anger is also important. While Free ultimately had good intentions,note  he still abandoned them in a crucial moment during the European League without explaining why, causing them to suffer a horrible losing streak at first.
  • Evolution Episode #50: Free is forced to forfeit his match with Valt after injuring his arm due to overexerting himself in a previous episode. The reason why is because he is already naturally strong and has never really needed to train, so when he tried physical training for the first time, he hurts himself because his body couldn't handle the sudden physical strain.
  • Episode 41 of Turbo establishes that while he may have gotten a new Bey, is free of the dark power, and now on the right path to becoming a better Blader, Aiger still hasn't gotten over the trauma

Muramasa got.
rjd1922 Best robot boy | he/him | Image Pickin' regular, from the United States Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: Love is for the living, Sal
Best robot boy | he/him | Image Pickin' regular,
#185: May 31st 2020 at 6:19:54 PM

I don't think this in Moonfish's folder on My Hero Academia - League of Villains counts, considering many real-life places don't have the death penalty:

  • Reality Ensues: Unlike many other hero works that go overboard with Thou Shall Not Kill and have dangerous villains locked up indefinitely so they can break out again, Moonfish's violence has earned him the death penalty, just like a serial killer would receive in real life. Also, despite his insanity, the fact that he actively wants to kill and eat people means he gets the lethal injection, not a room at the asylum.

Keet cleanup
fragglelover Since: Jun, 2012
#186: Jun 1st 2020 at 5:40:08 PM

This is on Space Ghost Coast to Coast:

Reality Ensues: The "Flipmode" episode is a frequently manic and ridiculous episode, brought on by a gas leak that makes everyone high and helium-voiced, complete with guest Busta Rhymes regularly breaking out into uncontrollable peals of giddy laughter. Then in the middle of all the nonsense Space Ghost suggests they "go outside and do the show in the woods." Cut to Space Ghost, Zorak, Moltar, and Busta Rhymes awkwardly standing around a campfire, looking dejected and miserable.

Busta Rhymes: I just think that this is, this... this, you know, this, the way the events have occurred in the last year has been really disastrous for, not just people, but, you know, entertainment and, you know, many other things on the whole, and... I think that if we don't start...
Space Ghost: [talking over Busta Rhymes] I'm not getting a single good idea... let's go back inside where the gas is!
[cut to Busta Rhymes, back inside, giggling uncontrollably]

Lermis Purposefully Untitled from Out of touch with reality Since: Nov, 2018 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
Purposefully Untitled
#187: Jun 2nd 2020 at 6:46:38 AM

[up][up][up] I can help clean-up Arc-V, big fan of the show so I know the context.

By the way, can you guys help me with this? It's for a fic I'm troping.

  • Reality Ensues:
    • Soma can't use the soul that renders food non-poisonous to stop allergies. He also needs to keep it equipped the entire time the food is in his digestive system.
    • He also can't use the Super-Speed soul in public because it causes shock waves that cause damage and draw attention.
    • Mina points out that since Soma transforms into an albino bat, and they live in a crowded city, several zoologists will notice how unusual that is and will try to capture him.
    • When experimenting with reflective surfaces, Mina immediately vetoes Mercury because gathering the amount of Mercury needed would put them in a watchlist. They also veto two-way mirrors, because they have no way to get one. They also can't use a public bathroom (the two live in the dorms) because they are separated by gender.
    • Digital archives don't come out of nowhere; someone has to sit down and transcribe them, and it's long and boring work. On top of that, the archiver needs to have a certain set of skills to be effective, and the archives need to be accessible to any users. Which is why Julius ropes Soma and Mina into helping him digitalise Leon's diaries, which are written in Latin, as they two took it as an optional course in college.
    • Julius lived as a hobo for over 30 years, so he ended up using the Holy Water container as a reliable source of water (it refilled right after it was emptied). Eventually he came to use it for everything but bathing as a means to save money, which had a significant impact on his body - namely, his ridiculous resistance to Holy. Obviously lengthy and systematic consumption of a specific substance is going to have a lasting impact.
    • Kazuya is trying to use as little Magnetite from his personal stock as possible; while he has a lot of it, he has no means to replace it, so running out becomes a real risk.
    • Just about everything that happened to Richter Belmont. His grandfather trained him how to fight monsters from a very early age because he was terrified, and that training left Richter lacking in other significant areas. Therefore, when Richter defeated Dracula - with great ease, at that - he was left a man in his early twenties whose entire skillset was now useless, and lacking a purpose in life, which caused him many issues. As a result, Richter made several changes in the way the clan operated so such a thing wouldn't happen again.
    • The only reason the Belmont surname carried as long as it did was because men who married in the clan were forced to take up the surname, if there were no male heirs. For instance, Simon Belmont had only daughters.
    • Due to modern construction regulations, the building the cult tries to trap Soma in follow the fire safety rules. Soma takes advantage of this to escape.
    • Mina to Soma's plan to let his body sleep while he's studying in ghost form: "Your mind needs to rest as much as your body does. If you spent all of tonight studying, you'd still have to go to class the next day. You'd have over thirty hours of nonstop stimulation." Sure enough, Soma crashes.
    • Leon's bad spelling is because in his era there simply wasn't a standard spelling to begin with. Leon did exactly what most Europeans with any hint of education did and used Funetik Aksent in his writing. (That's early 12th century)
    • After he abandoned his title as a Baron, Leon was left without a money source and was broke.
    • How does the Vampire Killer detect the blood relationship with the original wielder even almost a millennia later? Answer is, it doesn't. Instead it "rewrites" the "default" blood with each new wielder; hence why the Morris family, who are also descended from Leon, cannot use the whip without killing themselves - the whip can't track their connection to the most recent user.
    • Kazuya points out that while they can generate money, they can't spend too much of it at once - or even carry it - because people are going to wonder where they're getting the money from.
    • In addition, said money comes in American pennies, which means they'll have to exchange it, creating even more problems. They can only exchanged it through Hammer, as anywhere else they'd get asked where they got so much foreign currency. (Fanfic is in Japan)
    • Hammer has to sell his guns in secret because unlike the States, Japan has extremely strict gun legislation.
    • Hammer points out that Senseless Violins is impractical as a trope because violin cases are not designed to withstand a gun discharging.
    • Julius's reunion with his long-lost family didn't go well at first, because the younger members had no idea who he was, and the older ones thought him dead. Him just showing up at the door didn't help matters either.
    • The Devil Summoning Program, no matter how mysterious it is, is still a program. In other words, its capabilities are limited by memory space. Kazuya has to use a ton of flash drives to store all the summoning rituals the program has stored.
    • Hector did not pass down the art of devil forging for many reasons, including being too dangerous for everyone involved, increasing the number of demons (which is counterproductive for their purpose) and drawing the attention of the witch hunters.
    • Soma points out that trying to swim in his pimp coat is near impossible because the drag is insane.
    • Kazuya may be a very hardy guy, but he's not invulnerable to blood loss.
    • Soma points out that a Healing Factor doesn't heal hunger.
    • The reason Soma is perpetually broke? His parents can't support him because of their financial problems.
    • Just because Soma managed to escape from the Mafia, it doesn't mean that they'll drop the problem with his dad's debt to them. They still have to find a way to pay.
    • The Belmonts had to hold regular jobs in order to make ends meet, as monster hunting isn't a paying job.

SpaceBattles.com fanworks (now oficial) index in my Sandbox.
Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#188: Jun 2nd 2020 at 12:45:15 PM

This example was recently added to Sonic the Hedgehog (2020):

  • Reality Ensues: Sonic defeats said thug by making him run through the bar's window. When we see said thug again, he's in a neck brace. Once again, real glass is tougher than movies let on.

Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#189: Jun 2nd 2020 at 3:47:05 PM

Fits, but needs to be rewritten.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
keyblade333 Ferdinand Von Aegir fan from In the void between worlds. Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
Ferdinand Von Aegir fan
#190: Jun 12th 2020 at 1:28:34 PM

Another page was made: Interspecies Reviewers.

  • Biology plays a big role in this work; this ends up making sure someone in the review team loses out whenever they all go to the same brothel for a review session of the ladies.:
    • Extreme size disparity of man and woman is not practical and is literally impossible in some cases. Fairies need to measure prospective male partners, and Kanchal has trouble taking the body weight of a Dagon lost in her pleasure, although he admits that he has become quite skilled in pleasing women who are larger than him in general as a result of practice.
    • The elvish mana sense affects their taste in women. Despite retaining their youthful good looks, older elves tend to have their mana stagnate and become unappealing to those of magical persuasion.
    • Brooz, as a hybrid dogman, has a strong sense of smell that makes him picky about the scent of his partners, and cannot enjoy minotaur woman's milk because his canine stomach can't digest it properly.
    • As a result of their amorphous bodies and ability to pleasure women without causing undue internal discomfort, slimes are very popular at the Genderswap Inn.
    • Egglaying races easily get hungry or hot and bothered by The Warm Raw Egg's egglaying show, but live birth/mammalians like humans and elves don't see the appeal.
    • The Incubus Lord that pops up in volume 3 has an additional heart inside his pelvis to ensure he can keep his genitalia well-circulated with fresh blood while retaining his ability to pleasure many women in a single day. Due to this, it's also a serious weakspot, as damage to this heart will kill an incubus very quickly.
    • The Arachnes seen in Chapter 39 use their legs to feel the vibration of their web tripwires; this means that their legs are very sensitive to touch, as Zel elaborates in his review. Due to their reliance on their ambush predator gimmicks for their succu-girl joint, some of the Reviewers end up not enjoying the session - Crim gets caught and manhandled without any intimate moments, Stunk doesn't like being completely bound up by his arachne, and Kanchal ends up too engaged with the 'dungeon' gimmick and ends up not getting caught.
  • Personal preference colors each man's review as well, such as Crim giving birdmaids a 7 due to preferring a more dominant partner, or Stunk not being into halfling ladies because their short height coupled with their cute looks makes them look too young for his tastes.
  • Crim is still reluctant to go out, but when he's told he's too big at the fairy club, he's mad rather than relieved he has no options. The biggest factor is that he still had to pay upfront and wasn't given a refund. Even though Crim is very forgiving, such as forgiving his friends for taking him to brothels even though he's uncomfortable with the idea, mainly because they see it a nice gesture, but being scammed by the fairies upsets him enough that he's the first reviewer to give a zero.
  • Due to the extreme size of their breasts, minotaur females are very muscular in order to be able to carry their chests without difficulty. Also, just like real cows, only those who have had kids can produce milk. In addition, milk-bearing makes their breast tissue tougher as a result of developing the milk glands.
  • Due to some demons being treacherous people, it negatively impacted their reputation and made it difficult for Demon Lords to win the elections. The trip to the Demon's Hole reveals that some of the horror stories about abusive demons resulted from poorly-worded marriage contracts causing demon wives to take advantage of their husbands. Demon Two admits that while the Reviewers wouldn't change things overnight for demons, and that he expected the changes to be gradual and possibly take a century or two to bear fruit, it was a strong start for bringing people around to being more accepting of the ways of demons; after all, if Deathabyss is voted into power as a result of a properly-worded electoral contract, she would honor everything about it and not welch on any promises made.
  • As a result of previous patrons abusing the gender-bending potion, the establishment that offers the potion no longer allows customers to leave the premises while under the potion's effects.
  • The guys are okay with checking each other out when they have been transformed into women, but reject the idea of sleeping with men in any form, even women turned into men. They also have a much smaller selection of women to choose from, as most of the girls are not into women, including men turned into women.
  • No matter how attractive she is, or even her offering a discount, Zel and Stunk turn down sleeping with Tiaplate the salamander as her body is literally hot enough to cook meat. She happily clings to Crim when she realizes he's interested and fire-resistant. When they try out Demia's newly-developed Fire Resistance Rings in chapter 36, the elemental protection from the rings only affects their bodies and not their clothing, and the insides of a salamander are still hot enough to make sex mildly unpleasant, causing Demia to muse that the rings need more work; Deathabyss, not being in the mood for any ribald shenanigans, gets annoyed when Demia asks her to try sausage that she cooked using Tiaplate's lower orifices.
  • Crim is the least experienced of the guys, so he has some self-control issues in the form of keeping calm. The salamander girl latches onto him when she notices Crim is obviously turned on.
  • Stunk and Zel point out that guys usually pick up the scent of the partner, such as smelling of perfume after sex. They both note how Crim smells of barbeque thanks to sleeping with Tiaplate, who they were cooking meat off of.
  • A brothel full of horny lilim gets very low scores, due to the fact patrons can die because the lilim will keep going even if they’re tapped out and exhausted, and there’s no measures, other than a warning before they enter, in place to ensure the patrons' safety.
  • With so many different brothels to choose from, it is entirely possible for some sex workers, like Guinea the minotaur in chapter 10/episode 5, to not see any action that day.
  • In chapter 12/episode 5, the madam of the myconid brothel can distinguish a man's preference with a look, however, she is stumped by Crim. She's never seen an angel before, so she can't know their general preference, and what she can intuit, like his shy nature contrasting with the fact he came to a brothel, leaves her confused. In addition, Zel's review and a page from from the bonus manga at the end of volume 2 shows that myconids with poisonous or toxic properties exist, so her recommendations are actually very important, in order to avoid prospective clients getting accidentally poisoned or suffering allergic reactions.
  • While they never actually laid a hand on Meidri proper in chapter 13/episode 6, the Reviewers DID make sufficiently-realistic copies of Meidri for their golem review that the real Meidri is both offended and creeped out when she puts two and two together, resulting in her beating all of them up in anger. As Crim was complicit in having a Meidri golem for himself, he isn't exempt from punishment and gets pummeled alongside the rest of the lads.
  • The owl birdmaid hostess running the egg-laying show warns the Reviewers that there are no guarantees as to the number of ladies willing to show up to lay their eggs on-stage, the egg-laying is a natural process that can't be staged after all, and there are also no guarantees as to what species turn up, ranging from birdmaids and reptillian women to mermaids and even sapient anemones. Stunk, Zel, and Crim eventually nearly get bored and almost leave before a penguin birdmaid 'idol' finally shows up, and they don't really get the significance of laying three eggs, where the regulars go wild at the implications thereof. On top of all this, no matter how intimidating a reptillian woman looks, she can still get creeped out and frightened when the male lamias get too pushy after she's laid her eggs.
  • Having sex with succubi may be a pleasure that's out of this world, but it is also very soul-draining, like the myths actual succubi are based off of. Despite succubi making perfect prostitutes, this is one reason why men don't sleep with them more often, unless it calls for a journey where they won't get any for a while.
  • The undead are shown to be mostly unpopular, due to their cold bodies and the smell of death that permeates them, as well as the more extreme examples like the ghosts and skeletons having no flesh to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh with. The one person shown with undead in their harem is a vampire himself, and the vampiresses in said harem approached him of their own volition to preserve their physical beauty since he doesn't go around making trouble for people and instead sleeps for decades in his coffin.
  • Other adventurers start posting their own reviews, causing a double dose of this trope.
    • Stunk and Zel are offended that people are copying them.
    • They can do nothing. The reviewers are using pseudonyms and live in an internet-free world. Also, the guys can't legally own the concept of posting their opinions on the tavern boards, so they can't make the others stop.
  • While Demia's clones allow you to do whatever you want with them (for a price), the only rule is that you have to keep it all indoors or in private, as Demia previously got in trouble when her clones ended up being 'used' in public all over the city, disrupting daily life. Furthermore, if you're too rough with the clones, it will shorten their lifespan due to damage.
  • If you're not a centaur or something, er, comparable, you're not gonna have a lot of fun with a centaur girl unless you're the giving type and/or your arm's feeling cold. You might think their human half can make up for it, but since their species is focused on developing their lower halves, their upper halves are clumsy and uncoordinated.
  • Crim gets paid less money at his day job at Ye Pubbe because he keeps getting dragged off by Stunk and Zel while he is in the middle of working (specifically, that time he skipped out of work for two weeks to go to Magic City). As a result, he has to work even harder to get more money and survive the month. In addition, when Stunk and Zel try to drag Crim off to another brothel while he is trying to earnestly work, Meidri angrily demands they wait until he is done his shift because whenever they do drag him off, it forces more work on her.
  • The incubus's reviews are worthless to the Interspecies Reviewers because the reviews are only 10/10 because the Incubus gives all women a 10/10 just for being women and that he does not account for the fact that there are species that can't sleep with other species, like the salamanders for most people or the fairies for the larger species, nor the fact that he has the abilities to do what other species could not do.
  • Oni can be quite possessive of their own. Incubi are known to have insatiable sexual appetites. The one incubus shown in the series has an oni girlfriend, but his tendency to go after other women results in his significant other getting angry at his infidelity, on top of using her money to pay for succu-girls. He gets stabbed, but survives since his more critical second heart is undamaged. She stabs him out of anger at his infidelity, but ends up getting arrested for domestic violence. The main Reviewer team takes one look at the mess and decides not to risk any controversy by not publishing the reviews done by the incubus.
  • The guys lost their money by going on a crawl, not just at the leprechaun brothel. The amount of gold they had was far too large to spend at a single establishment. Also, the reviews they wrote down were terrible due to their intoxication, and Stunk is shown on-screen having performance issues due to being too drunk to get it up properly.
  • When Deathabyss and Demia discuss the knowledge of technology from people that were sent to this world from another realm, Demia has to admit that there are factors and conditions in this world that make replicating certain technologies wholesale impractical and dangerous, such as mana walls interfering with potential aircraft flight lanes in the sky, making it difficult to replicate certain kinds of modern technology without reverse-engineering it and redesigning it to function in a mana-rich world. For example, she reverse engineered the physics behind modern aircraft aerodynamics as she picked up from these 'isekai'd' people and used the resulting principles to beef up her flying broomstick until it completely outperformed all other rival models. While Deathabyss is interested in funding Demia's work in this direction, she first needs to win the elections and get voted into the government before she can devote a budget to doing so.
  • Crim's experiences with the dream-eater were soured by the fact that he knew that the encounters inside the dream were only part of his fantasies and not reality, and he really wanted a chance to visit Elza again in the real world.
  • The Aquari-Harem has some unusual side effects from possessing animals that linger for a few days. Discworld Witches (or those who know about Borrowing and similar possession-based abilities) will immediately recognise the symptoms of having the instincts of an animal you possessed leaving an imprint on your mind. Stunk, Zel, and Kanchal end up slightly grossed out when they see a plate of escargot and butter-fried shrimps, while Crim has a messy accident in his shorts when he sees a bowl of fish roe.
  • The Reviewers' lewd public articles attract the attention of Uly the legendary heroine, who is none to happy about them due to her religious nature. Thankfully, she stays her hand when she finds out Crim is a part of them, grudgingly accepting it as Heaven's Will if a literal angel is among them. It's also shown that the Succu-girl brothels are actually allowed to operate with Heaven's blessing, as the Goddess wanted to foster interspecies harmony through love and lust, with the love coming in the form of the Wedding Miracle demonstrated in chapter 28, where interspecies couples getting married become compatible with each other.
  • Chapter 37 reveals that while succu-girls are allowed to operate in their districts, the Church insists that they keep their business inside said succubus districts. Meidri is naturally and understandably upset when she catches Demia's clone giving Crim a rather ribald wake-up call first thing in the morning, and she scolds the clones, telling them not to do such things inside Ye Pubbe. Furthermore, Demia learns through her clones about the truth of the Church's divine miracles being performed by angels delegated to carry out such duties by the Goddess, but as such matters are sensitive for the Church, she has to keep the truth to herself.
  • A supplementary chapter mentions that since the light spirits in their brothel are so bright that it's hard to see, it's possible accidentally step into...uh, stuff...that one probably wouldn't want to. Light spirits are cheerful and laid-back to the point that they don't bother with cleaning the place...or themselves.
  • Chapter 40 shows that the Reviewers have been so successful at monetizing their reviewing efforts that they've been able to eat well and not have to take on quests out of town for a few weeks; this slower pace of living has led to Stunk putting on some weight, much to his chagrin, as one of the succu-girls he frequents tells him. Brooz and Urigo frequent a gym in the Succubus District, so they've had less issues with getting out of shape. A pair of birdmaids that exercise at said gym also mention that sometimes horny people wander into it just looking for sex without the desire to actually work out, since it is inside the succubus district and supports post-workout 'extras'.

Muramasa got.
HighCrate Since: Mar, 2015
#191: Jun 12th 2020 at 5:29:58 PM

[up] Whoever wrote that brick wall of hot nonsense has a very different concept of "reality" than the common consensus. Cut.

gjjones Musician/Composer from South Wales, New York Since: Jul, 2016
Musician/Composer
#192: Jun 12th 2020 at 5:49:21 PM

[up] Cut as well.

He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.
keyblade333 Ferdinand Von Aegir fan from In the void between worlds. Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
Ferdinand Von Aegir fan
#193: Jun 15th 2020 at 11:34:39 AM

The other page with this issue is Beyblade Burst.

  • Episode 2: Valt defeating Rantaro in the pilot episode leaves him feeling invincible. As Shu warns Valt, a normal person getting overconfident after just one win instead of trying to improve will hurt them in the long run, evident by Valt’s near loss to Ken in the same episode.
  • Episode 9: Shu sustains a shoulder injury and is told by the doctor to take some time off from beyblading to give his body time to recover. However, he still insists on practicing for his upcoming matches, which ends up causing his shoulder to take longer to heal.
  • Episode 37: Training hard is important, but train too much and you’ll strain yourself and perform worse, so it’s important to take a break every now and then. Even Valt agrees with that logic.
  • Episode 49: No matter how hard a bey improves or has the strength to go on, if you don’t take proper care of your bey or send it in for repairs, then it could break in the middle of a match.
  • During Evolution, Valt and Rantaro face hatred and judgement from almost every member of BC Sol, especially from Stan and Django. Showing up as a newcomer and stealing the spotlight won't appeal you to a lot of people.
  • Evolution Episode 7: Relying on a new device can help you win, but without proper training you’ll only be able to rely on luck, which can only get you so far in the long run. Similarly, no matter how powerful you are, underestimating your opponent can be suicidal.
  • Evolution Episodes 10-12 prove that when the leader of a team leaves, some people can see it as motivation to improve themselves. However it does not mean that they will immediately come to that conclusion.
  • Evolution Episode 34: Being able to counter the specifics of your opponent’s bey is smart, but you can still lose if you don’t know about the other features of said opponent’s bey.
  • Evolution Episode 35: Regardless of whether you win or lose, all members of the team must put aside personal vendettas and listen to the manager of the club. Joshua ignoring Theodore and choosing to send himself into the final battle instead of Free is what costs his team the match.
  • Evolution Episode 38: Shasa rips into Free when he returns to Spain and rejoins BC Sol after suffering his first loss to Lui Shirosagi. Acting like you can just waltz right in and reclaim your spot on the team after leaving is not going to get you into good graces with your peers.
    • The context of Shasa's anger is also important. While Free ultimately had good intentions,note  he still abandoned them in a crucial moment during the European League without explaining why, causing them to suffer a horrible losing streak at first.
  • Evolution Episode #50: Free is forced to forfeit his match with Valt after injuring his arm due to overexerting himself in a previous episode. The reason why is because he is already naturally strong and has never really needed to train, so when he tried physical training for the first time, he hurts himself because his body couldn't handle the sudden physical strain.
  • Episode 41 of Turbo establishes that while he may have gotten a new Bey, is free of the dark power, and now on the right path to becoming a better Blader, Aiger still hasn't gotten over the trauma of his Z Achilles being destroyed.

Muramasa got.
Hutar Since: Dec, 2011
#194: Jun 30th 2020 at 6:34:40 PM

I gotta ask why was Interspecies Reviewers reality ensues cut?

Serac she/her (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
she/her
#195: Jun 30th 2020 at 6:46:52 PM

It was discussed a bit further up on this page. But basically, all of the examples were related to things like the biology of fantasy creatures, which by definition are not realistic.

Megafighter343 Since: Jul, 2016
#196: Jul 4th 2020 at 7:42:54 PM

So, gonna start bringing in entries from the Fanworks pages to help in the clean-up effort. Let's start with the Ace Attorney entries.

  • In Cup Of Tea Edgeworth tries to set a romantic mood with a candlelight and wine dinner. Phoenix ends up drinking too much wine and is too drunk to get physically aroused.
  • The fan-made case The Broken Turnabout:
    • Phoenix's influence over Vera Misham's trial, combined with his personal stake in the outcome, ultimately resulted in the verdict being overturned on the basis that Phoenix couldn't be trusted to remain impartial. This in turn necessitated a retrial that was completely free of Phoenix's influence; the usual trial system is used, Klavier and the judge are replaced by Franziska and the judge's brother, respectively, and the defense are forbidden from using any of the evidence Phoenix gathered in his investigation.
    • The series's familiar pattern of exonerating clients by finding out who the true culprit was is turned on its head. With subtle prompting from Phoenix, Apollo points out that, as defense attorneys, he and Athena are not obligated to prove anyone's guilt, just to prove that their clients are innocent of whatever crimes the prosecution accuses them of.
    • Franziska's case is treated as a lot weaker when it's shown to rest solely on the testimony of a person who has very good reason to lie, with no definitive evidence that backs it up. As Apollo points out, he could come up with any explanation for what happened, and as long as it didn't contradict any of the case's evidence, it would be just as valid as Franziska's.
    • After the trial, Phoenix admits to Franziska that yes, he was bitter over getting screwed out of his attorney's badge. Franziska also tells him that, while she disapproved of his actions regarding Vera's first trial, she did see some merit in introducing jury trials.

I appreciate that Cup of Tea has a potlink to the trope that is being subverted, but I'm not sure if that's enough to count it. Don't know enough to really give heads or tails on Broken Turnabout's examples.

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#197: Jul 5th 2020 at 12:45:48 AM

From TheNostalgiaCritic.Tropes O To S. Some of this relies on speculation and Fridge Horror more than the given context, and some just feels like pure misuse. I've marked it up with my thoughts, let me know if any of them can be salvaged.

    NC Review 
  • Reality Ensues
    • When the Critic points out that the protagonists of Bio-Dome are moronic losers with no jobs and really shouldn't have a nice house and hot girlfriends like they do in the movie, '90s Kid shows up to inform him that that kind of thing happened all the time in the '90s. However, he's interrupted when his landlord shows up with an eviction notice. And a battering ram. And a sawed-off shotgun. Since the result is comically escalated, it feels inaccurate to call this "reality."
    • His phone conversation with the director for My Pet Monster, which started with him calling the director to ask why he would make such a stupid movie, and the conversation turns to him trying to explain that he watches old movies to point out their shortcomings ("It's kind of my job."), and ends in depression which inspires the next episode where he eats junk food and watches old commercials. Maybe? Not sure if this subverts any of the storytelling conventions of a review show.
    • Played for Laughs in the Heavy Metal crossover, as, taking a cue from a girl's horniness after her father is killed, Diamanda kills another girl's dad to see if said girl will sleep with her, and gets punched instead. Keep.
    • Future Critic in the Scooby-Doo review, being quieter, shaky and remembering very little. Even Doc Brown parodies get older and start suffering from dementia. "Old people are forgetful" isn't subversive, it's a common trope.
    • While Doug's You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech to Critic in To Boldly Flee was one of the most heartwarming scenes in TGWTG history (even cast commentaries loved it) and would have stayed that way if it weren't for Real Life Writes the Plot, a lot of reboot episodes involve Critic having... issues with realizing his world is fake but still having to stay in it, including taking it out on those three people he has control over. This is more Fridge Horror because this rarely comes up in the show as a serious plot point, and I don't see how it subverts any conventions.
    • While it's very unlikely that he went, after the Master Of Disguise beatdown he says he'll be going away for a while, either to jail or a crazy house. Turns out beating people in public gets you in trouble with authorities! But as far as we know, he didn't go, since he's doing reviews in the next episode like it's nothing, so I feel like it doesn't count.
    • Disney Afternoon has Critic getting his Berserk Button pressed like has often happened, but actually shows what it's like for the person who pressed it. Malcolm (the presser) is in pain for most of the review, even the usually-in-control Tamara is shaken, and Critic gets a lot more creepy as a result. "Guy is in pain after getting beaten up" is subversive? It's not like this show shies away from showing the result of brutality.
    • A little more psychotic reality as he also wants to stab her, but Critic is a lot quicker to threaten Hyper Fangirl with a restraining order for stalking him than Todd was for the Chick doing the same. The former said it by her second vlog, Todd only thought of it by To Boldly Flee. I feel like it's pretty expected to threaten a stalker with a restraining order.
    • His countless Distressed Dude moments have warped his brain, leading him to say Aren't You Going to Ravish Me? with Todd, being easy to Stockholm Syndrome and nearly letting Hyper Fangirl keep him, is totally okay with a past version of himself being used like a non-consenting Sex Slave, and having the fear that every time he wakes up, there's a 50/50 chance of him being held against his will. The warping even leaked onto the second episode of Pop Quiz Hotshot, as he's kidnapping people to force them to be his friends (much like how Hyper kidnapped him to force him to be her boyfriend) and gives the implication that he thinks he has to capture people before they'll hurt him first. A lot of these are just dark jokes that are recontextualized here into Fridge Horror.
    • Also in Princess Diaries 2, from another angle, Hyper is really disappointed to learn that Critic had never fallen in love with her at all, he just had Stockholm Syndrome because she distracted him with things that would pander to his inner Manchild. Maybe? The review calls out the idea that just liking the same thing is enough to spark a romance, so that might be an example. On the other hand, shortly after this, Hyper gets blown through the roof because a PS 3 exploded from not being updated. That feels doubtful.
    • While not actually happening, The Smurfs has Critic be nervous about the amount of criminal charges he could face for kidnapping all the Pop Quiz Hotshot players, apparently doing the same thing to Malcolm, and Black Nerd telling the police that he did. It doesn't even happen so does reality even ensue? Plus no connection to Pop Quiz Hotshot is made in that episode.
    • In the beginning of Bridge to Terabithia, he reveals that all the groin attacks he's suffered over the years has made that area not function as well as it should. Keep.
    • He really wants a South Park-style "Both sides are bad" view in Darkside of the Internet, for offended people to be whiners and the bullies to just be losers, but is genuinely upset when it keeps its “serious documentary” tone and doesn't veer off into a cartoon. Doubtful.
    • Despite the un-reality of Zod being castrated by Superman (in Man of Steel review), he still doesn't magically heal up, and more than a year later it's destroyed enough to make his porn co-star scream in horror. Maybe.
    • While having the silliest reaction to Spoony's spooning, he somehow managed to have the most realistic trauma over it, going between swooning over Spoony to being angry at him, lusting over “the Spocker” multiple times, and the rape being the first thing on his mind when he sees Spoony naked again in To Boldly Flee. Most of the "conflicting" reactions to Spoony is because of flimsy continuity, the connection to "the Spocker" is speculative, and the To Boldly Flee thing is barely implied, if implied at all.
    • Critic's abusive mom dies in Jurassic Park III, and not only does she stay gone, but there's a downplayed subversion of Never Speak Ill of the Dead. He mentions her shit a lot less, but still has problems with his childhood. This is speculative, there's never any connection between his mom's abuse and her death. Plus, neither of these were wholly serious scenes anyway- the dead mom scene is played as a straight drama, then ends with a dinosaur popping out to scare him.
    • One for the whole show. 2007 Critic confirms in Christmas With The Kranks that he only got into reviewing because he wanted to be loved and not get hurt any more. As you can tell from over the years, it didn't help and he's teaming with issues from both past and present. I don't think this point is brought up in the scene.
    • Critic's Abusive Parents were of the Parental Neglect variety, so there's a lot of references to young Critic getting in trouble with strangers. The connection is never made, they're just jokes.
    • From their brief sympathetic interactions in earlier episodes, fans that hoped that Monkeybone (with Critic/Melody/Cliff) would have the kids being treated well. Not so much, as Critic is broken too and ill-tempered, and can only manage nice at the start and guilt at the end when he finds out who their parents are. It wasn't subverting anything; it was just dark comedy punishing them for writing a bad movie.

Edited by mightymewtron on Jul 5th 2020 at 4:51:49 AM

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Twiddler (On A Trope Odyssey)
#198: Jul 10th 2020 at 2:04:11 PM

Had an image suggestion, was told to take it here or to TRS.

Suggestion for RealityEnsues.Webcomics, from Paranatural: panels 6+9

ssjSega Since: Sep, 2017
#199: Jul 11th 2020 at 11:19:31 AM

So, here's the examples on Friendly Foreign Exchange Student Spider-Man!:


  • Reality Ensues: Peter's costume is one of the most advanced items on the planet, made of nanomachines, powered by an Arc Reactor (meaning effectively limitless power), and a built-in AI. Peter is smart, and he was attending a STEM school for geniuses... However, there's "Smart", and then there's what's necessary to fix it if something goes wrong, or to get Karen out of there. This becomes evident when the armor gets destroyed in the USJ attack, with no way to repair it to full functionality.
    • Peter jumps in to help stop a villain... and lands in a heap of trouble since he technically entered the country illegally, doesn't speak a single word of Japanese, his contacts don't exist, and he had violated anti-vigilantism laws.
    • Peter's armor was made by Tony for when Peter became an Avenger, and thus was prepped on the basis that Peter would be fighting world-ending threats like Thanos or Ultron. It's based on the same technology that makes up Tony's Bleeding-Edge armor. Peter bringing it to the entrance exam is a curb stomp.
    • Peter is strong and experienced. That same experience also means that he's a Broken Ace who is horribly traumatized by his past experiences fighting Thanos, and because of his origins, can't talk to anyone about it.
    • Mental trauma is a real problem. Even if Peter is strong, agile, and has had lots of time since the events of Infinity War, by the time of the USJ attack, he's exhausted from near-constant nightmares about his experiences keeping him up at night. It's one of the reasons his healing takes so long in its wake.
      • Both Kirishima and Momo have mental breakdowns in the wake of the USJ to All Might. Kirishima because he saw one of his classmates nearly murdered in front of him while he was helpless, and Momo because of that same helplessness and that she had killed the Noumu in order to rescue Peter.
      • Speaking of killing, adhering to a Thou Shall Not Kill policy is pretty impossible when the villain refuses to yield or when innocent lives are on the line. According to Aizawa, almost every hero who's been around long enough has killed a villain at some point or another. Even All Might, one of the rare few who hasn't, freely admits that he's been incredibly lucky in that regard.
    • Aizawa is not happy seeing Izuku and Todoroki use the full force of their Quirks against each other during the Sports Festival tournament. He plans to thoroughly chew them out the next time he sees them for throwing around power that could have killed one or both of them in a fight between classmates.
    • In canon, Gran Torino insisted on being the one to take on Izuku in the Internship arc, and Izuku went with him because he didn't get any internship offers. In this universe, All Might bemoans that he can't blame Izuku for not taking Gran Torino's offer, since he did get offers- and Izuku selected one from one of the top ten heroes of Japan rather than a little-known one whose biggest (public) claim to fame was teaching school for one year long ago.
    • Mirko's rabbit quirk gives her super-hearing. The Logical Weakness is Sensory Overload, and she had to train herself to sort out background noise for it to be useful. Not only that, but she regularly eats at the same beef-bowl restaurant because she would find restaurants that cut their food distracting, and even surmises that she will suffer from hearing loss in a few years due to the strain.
    • While he's a dangerous opponent, most of Stain's success as a killer comes from using stealthy tactics and targeting relatively low-powered heroes. When he gets into an open battle with one of the Top Ten heroes, Yoroi Musha, while the battle is apparently even, he's the one who ends badly injured and forced to escape, while Musha is mostly fine except for minor exhaustion.
    • Many people react badly when injured or scared, being a danger to potential rescuers, other victims, and themselves. As Mt Lady proves during the Natural Disaster exam, this is particularly bad for people with destructive quirks, and the rescuers most take special precautions for everyone's sake.

Are any of these proper RE entries?

Edited by ssjSega on Jul 11th 2020 at 11:21:05 AM

TheMountainKing Since: Jul, 2016
#200: Jul 11th 2020 at 2:10:32 PM

[up] I'll go through the sub-bullets:

1. Fantastical scifi tech no "real life" referent for how it works. Cut

2. Maybe, but it doesn't explain how it subverts expectations. cut

3. Again, totally fantastic situation. cut

4. Noe explanation for how it subverts any expectation. cut

5. "Trauma exists". cut

6. No explanation for how it subverts anything. Cut

7. I don't even know what this one means. Cut

8. This is just Logical Weakness. cut

9. Totally fantastic situation. Cut

10. No explanation for how it subverts anything. cut


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