I've decided to start a cleanup thread for Narm, since it seems to attract a lot of misuse and complaining. Like I said in my ATT post
, "some misuse is easy to catch (e.g. saying a joke is Narm when Narm by definition can't be a joke), a lot of examples fall into grey areas that seem like misuse but it's hard to tell. Like nitpicks that at first glance seem to be valid examples, but feel like stretches the more you think about them."
I think one of the main reasons for misuse is that most people aren't clear on what Narm actually is. To my understanding, it's when a scene is intended to be dramatic, but comes off as cheesy/funny unintentionally. But going by the page description, it's kind of vague what actually qualifies something as Narm. At the top, it says "Narm is a moment that is supposed to be serious, but due to either over-sappiness, poor execution, excessive Melodrama, or the sheer absurdity of the situation, the drama is lost to the point of surpassing "cheesy" and becoming unintentionally funny." But then later on in the same page, it gives a much more vague definition:
In CGI movies or video games unrealistic movements or facial expressions may result in Narm. Dated special effects during dramatic scenes can cause Narm for younger audience members who were raised on nothing less convincing than the Phantom Menace. Totally Radical dialog in cartoons or commercials pandering to children can also be a rich source of Narm. Even a good performance in a bad movie can evoke Narm if the actor's performance isn't enough to save the scene.
That last sentence I feel just confuses the whole thing. It makes it sound like absolutely anything can count as Narm, no matter if it works in context or not.
Most often, Narm is misused to mean "anything I personally don't think worked," whether or not it was intended as dramatic or comes off as funny. And when a work is high-profile enough, hoo boy, pretty much every scene is Narm to somebody. You can look at the Narm subpages for Doctor Who, Star Wars, and Game of Thrones and find tons of examples of people nitpicking the tiniest of details in a scene and blowing whatever it is out of proportion.
Another problem is that since it's such a subjective trope, it's not clear if there's supposed to be any sort of in-fandom consensus on the example in-question, or if every example is valid under the "it's called YMMV for a reason" excuse, even if the only person who thinks the example is Narm is the troper who adds it in.
I think it needs to be clearer whether nitpicks are valid examples of Narm, especially since nitpicking overlaps so often with barely-disguised complaining. The most frequent offenders for Narm entries I see are complaining, nitpicking, adding jokes, and ZeroContextExamples. I'm going to use Venom (2018) as an example, with my comments in bold:
- The scene of Eddie freaking out on the medical table is presented as the teaser's Money-Making Shot. It... doesn't quite work as intended, which isn't helped by it being sped up, making it look like a parody.
- The final trailer features a more complete version of the clip showing Venom's face "shutter" over Eddie. Whether or not this works or if it looks like a cheap special effect depends on who you ask.
- What makes the freakout even more narmful is that Eddie's screams are different screams playing on top of each other. The actual film lacks this strange effect. This example seems fine to me, but falls into the "The trailer is Narmy but the finished product isn't" doublespeak.
- The leaked trailer revealed some pretty terrible lines (“The guy you work for is an evil person.”). Tom Hardy's horrible New York...ish(?) accent isn't doing the delivery any favors either. And it really does not help that his voice cracks on the reading of "evil person". Thankfully, that line is not in the film proper. Do we keep examples that are purely in the trailers? Also an example of "thing falls flat" instead of "thing is funny."
- Hardy's line reading of "You're not real, you are just in my head." sounds like he's suffering from Elmuh Fudd Syndwome. At worst, he sounds like Adam Sandler's signature Manchild babbling. However there's some speculation that, based on the context of the scene and Eddie's stumbling movements, he's actually drunk, or perhaps even overdosed on medication (considering he was seen taking a bunch of pills, thinking he's sick). That and it could be a case of Reality Ensues, as it's unlikely anyone would keep the mental clarity to speak normally as an alien parasite is slowly bonding with their body. Natter. Goes back and forth between snarky complaints and defending the moment. Also nitpicking.
- Movie trailers cutting quotes out of context to form a new sentence is nothing new, but the editing on the line "you will only hurt bad people" is particularly poor, and it's very easy to hear that the line has been cut together out of separate pieces of dialogue. Not really a dramatic thing, so I don't think it counts as Narm. And it definitely isn't funny, it just falls flat.
- How Jenny Slate's character pronounces "symbiote" note . Plus, her giving firm, equal stress to all three syllables like she's speaking some foreign language. Luckily, this was cut from the theatrical release. Nitpicking and not funny.
- The shot of Eddie crashing straight through a half-fallen tree in the forest that he could just as easily have ducked under comes across as more comedic than cool, as if they just needed an additional gratuitous shot of something breaking. Especially if your mind goes to Victor from Wet Hot American Summer and his inexplicable refusal to jump over anything. It really does not help that the evil bad-guy vehicle chasing him looks like a slightly modified golf cart. The context for this one in the movie is that Venom is taking control of his body and forcing him to blindly flee through the woods to escape the Life Foundation. Context makes it not-Narm. Cut?
- Although it may look better in the context of the full scene, Eddie flying 50 feet into the air on his motorcycle off a slightly steep hill seems to rather severely break the laws of physics. Clearly written before the movie came out. Cut?
- The Jump Scare (on both sides of the fourth wall) where Venom suddenly shouts Eddie's name as he brushed his teeth would have been much more scary if not for the fact that the latter Screams Like a Little Girl. There's also the fact that he somehow throws himself backwards so hard that he crashes into the bathroom wall. Intended as comedic, so it isn't Narm.
- Remember how creepy and awesome that shot from the second trailer of the symbiote forming around Eddie's face in order to eat a guy was? In the third trailer, the potential Nightmare Fuel of that moment is significantly undercut by Venom slobbering all over the man's face with its tongue in an amusingly over-the-top manner. One is reminded of the scene with Patrick licking the yellow popsicle, or perhaps "This is the taste of a liar".... This seems pretty in-character for Venom. I'm not sure with this one.
- The guy who Carlton Drake subjects to Orifice Invasion in the third trailer would have been disturbing, if not for the victim's bland expression. Moment that falls flat; not funny. Cut.
- The symbiote's Venom-face forming on the end of Eddie's arm to talk to him strongly resembles a deranged hand puppet rather than a vicious alien parasite. There's also the fact that they can communicate telepathically, making that sequence unnecessary. Seems fine.
- Venom's violent threats to his enemies are this if they're not aggressively tasteless Black Comedy. His threat to mutilate a man until he's "like a turd on the wind" is particularly groan-inducing, especially coming after a genuinely frightening threat. How It Should Have Ended was even driven by this to make a video on just the trailer for the very first time, in which he mangles a bunch of other sayings. Pretty sure they are intended as comedy, so it's not Narm. Cut.
- The animation of the yellow symbiote just looks like mozzarella cheese come to life. Nitpick. Also... inaccurate? It's more of a mucus yellow.
- After Venom heals Eddie's broken legs, he flatly states "My legs! They were broken... and now they're not broken..."
- "My leg!" Seems fine to me.
- "HOSPITAL!!!! (extremely long pause) Now!" Zero-Context Example.
- Eddie and Anne quite casually discussing cannibalism as one of the symbiote's favorite activities. It's something that would probably sincerely shock and disgust the average person and likely require therapy, and yet it's bandied about like it's a pretty normal occurrence. These kinds of entries are tricky to me. They seem valid at first glance, but there's something off about them. I don't think this one counts if the work itself is treating the moment lightly.
- Any menace from Cletus Kasady is completely undercut by Woody Harrelson's truly ridiculous wig. A common comparison is that it causes him to look like a live-action Sideshow Bob, or a make-up-less Pennywise. Uses complainy word-choice. Otherwise fine.
- Kasady promising that there will be "carnage" after he gets out is so on-the-nose that it feels like it's straight out of a parody. First off, that's not an example of Anvilicious. Secondly, this verges on a nitpick to me. I'm not sure. It's not really funny, just lame.
- The final trade of words between Venom and Riot before the final battle is nothing but total Ham-to-Ham Combat - that and the two symbiotes happen to be Perpetual Smilers, which just gives off the feeling that they don't really give that much of a damn about their goals.
- Towards the end of the film, it's revealed that Venom used to be something of a loser on his home planet, like Eddie. This is his entire reason for wanting to save the Earth. Moment played as a joke, so it isn't Narm.
- Despite angrily forcing Eddie to spit out cooked meats because they're no longer living animals, the symbiote develops a taste for tater tots, and it practically demands that Eddie buy some during a conversation in the ending. The director admitted in an interview that the writers just thought it was funny and put it in the script. It unfortunately invites comparisons to a similar tots-focused scene in Napoleon Dynamite as a result. Entry admits it's a joke. So it isn't Narm.
- Drake having bonded with Riot is treated as a huge shocking twist going into the final battle... except for the fact that the audience was already well aware of it and saw the whole process. It feels very much like a consequence of Executive Meddling to give Riot more screentime. Another tricky example. Seems to fall under "scene doesn't work" instead of "scene is funny."
- Right after Eddie is separated from the symbiote, a rather obvious ADR overdub replaces the intended "fuck you" with the much less vicious "we're done". Not really funny, just falls flat.
- Eddie's "DRAKE! STOP!" sounds less like he's in pain and more like a little kid telling his Big Brother Bully to stop giving him a wedgie. Nitpicking. Most people wouldn't even pay this sequence any mind.
Another issue with Narm is the distinction between moments that are unintentionally funny on their own, and moments that are only unintentionally funny after Memetic Mutation or similar feat. Does the latter truly count as Narm? Because you can make the case that everything that has ever been made can fall under that.
Edited by MisterApes-a-lot on Mar 31st 2019 at 7:06:31 AM
MisterApes-a-lot
Since: Mar, 2018
#77: Oct 16th 2019 at 8:44:45 PM
So someone has added back this entry under X-Men Film Series:
- Mystique claiming that the women are always saving the men around here and suggesting that Charles changes the name to 'X-Women' despite many proven wrong on many occasions.
I just want to check that it's okay to remove it again.
#78: Oct 16th 2019 at 9:04:08 PM
- Narm:
- In "Meet Your Maker", the incels of the Elementary-verse are apparently so dangerous, so harmful, that Sherlock speaks of them with the same disdain he'd use to speak of white supremacists, terrorists, white supremacist terrorists, or his dad. They've also been banned by every major web hostnote , forced onto the Darkweb, and have Homeland Security looking to question/arrest the guy that hosts the largest site, but in real life they've lost...a subReddit. And one website.
- The idea that Moriarty faked an American accent as Irene well enough to fool Sherlock falls a little flat when Natalie Dormer's accent slips through plenty of times in "The Woman" to the point where casual viewers can pick up on the fact that it's a faked accent.
- In "Paint it Black", Sherlock deduces that a suspect is using the chat function in an online video game for secret conversations. He comes to this conclusion because the suspect logged 50 hours "without earning a single point". Leaving aside that logging 50 hours on an MMO is barely unusual, video games haven't bothered with points in years. In all fairness, Sherlock could easily be talking about experience points, which are a staple of online games, and just using a simplified explanation for the benefit of Mycroft (and perhaps the audience), who might not be so familiar with the terms. Not to mention the fact that online leaderboards have created a resurgence in the use of points in videogames in the last few years. And, in that context, the 50 hours is more remarkable in that most anyone who'd spent even that unremarkable period of time with an MMO would have at least done something - nobody plays an MMO for fifty hours without even leaving the tutorial area.
For the first one, there is a reason why Incels are treated as pariahs, something to be discussed elsewhere. That being said the idea of the site owner being blackbagged is a bit silly.
The second one is complaining pure and simple.
The third one is full of natter. I think the idea behind what he says, that the suspect logs in to the game but does not play it, is crystal clear.
MisterApes-a-lot
Since: Mar, 2018
#79: Oct 16th 2019 at 10:58:11 PM
The second two are definitely "Things Falls Flat" misuse. I could see the first one being kept, but I think it needs rewording as to why it's funny.
Stage7-4
Since: Dec, 2014
#80: Oct 18th 2019 at 11:42:40 AM
Having a bit of a back and forth on the Code Vein YMMV. What do you think of this as Narm:
- Narm:
- Early in the game you save a human woman and escort her to a shelter. After this she'll occasionally appear at your home base and can be talked with and give you gifts. Yet despite her minor story prominence she is never given a name and spends the entire game subtitled as "human woman," despite many other less prominent characters getting names.
The sticking point for me is that she gets a cutscene like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woJf9DfqVyM but they can't give her a name. And she'll be the only character in your home base without one. She even says she wants to not be treated like an animal but she doesn't have a name.
Edited by Stage7-4 on Oct 18th 2019 at 11:45:02 AM
#81: Oct 18th 2019 at 11:43:42 AM
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
That entry reads like misuse to me.
Stage7-4
Since: Dec, 2014
#83: Oct 18th 2019 at 11:55:51 AM
From the Narm page:
Narm is a moment that is supposed to be serious, but due to either over-sappiness, poor execution, excessive Melodrama, or the sheer absurdity of the situation, the drama is lost to the point of surpassing "cheesy" and becoming unintentionally funny.
I'm not seeing the "surpassing 'cheesy'" part, nor anything unintentionally funny about the character not having a name. It reads less like a documentation of a general reaction and more like one troper trying to use YMMV to nitpick.
Also, what you did on that page is edit-warring. You should've brought it to discussion instead of adding it again.
Edited by dragonfire5000 on Oct 18th 2019 at 11:57:19 AM
Stage7-4
Since: Dec, 2014
#84: Oct 18th 2019 at 12:02:42 PM
Yeah that's my fault, I remembered that after I did it so that's why I went here first before anything else.
I'll delete it from the entry. Let it never be said I won't clean up my mess.
#85: Oct 18th 2019 at 12:33:01 PM
![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_up_emoticon_3268.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
. Make sure to use discussion threads when cases like these pop up to avoid getting in trouble in the future.
rjd1922
he/him | Image Pickin' regular
from the United States
Since: May, 2013
Relationship Status: Love is for the living, Sal
he/him | Image Pickin' regular
#86: Oct 31st 2019 at 7:41:32 AM
These examples on YMMV.The King And I (the animated movie) seem like misuse/complaining, and the last one is pure natter:
- Kralahome's many acts of sorcery, all resulting in an Epic Fail due to one absurd interruption after another.
- Anna constantly complaining of how she and the King's subjects must bow before him "like a toad"; not helping is her actually hopping like a toad while singing about her many complaints towards the King.
- Really, the character animation as a whole is really something to behold, what with their over-the-top gesturing on top of their frequently Large Ham performances.
- Anna describing the scene of a British gala to the King, and then she begins dancing with the ghost of her deceased husband. It wouldn't be so hilarious if the king wasn't watching her as she began dancing with herself!
- Anna coaching the king on his table manners during the dinner party with the British and Siamese dignitaries is also an incredibly awkward scene, with said dignitaries playing along with their antics.
- Sir Edward venturing off to Siam to dethrone the King and save Anna after a very vague letter from Kralahome arrives, not sparing a second to consider the consequences.
- The Nostalgia Critic: (As Sir Edward) We got a random letter! LET'S DESTROY A NATIOOOOON!
- On the other hand, it didn't take the British Empire a lot of convincing to attack a poor Asian/African nation. What's more, Britain had coveted the idea of adding Him to British India for years; it took a LOT of diplomatic maneauvering and not a little luck to keep it from happening.
MisterApes-a-lot
Since: Mar, 2018
#87: Nov 2nd 2019 at 1:33:42 PM
Yeah none of those say why the example is intended as dramatic but comes off as funny. I could maybe see keeping the toad one, if it's legitimately intended to be dramatic, but the rest are just snarky complaining.
Silverblade2
Since: Jan, 2013
#88: Nov 15th 2019 at 3:08:14 AM
Narm.Young Justice has some good examples but many also fall under complaining or "the scene fall flat":
- From the same finale Superman's "good job kid" moment to Superboy may also be this, given the lack of characterization on the former's part causing the scene to fall flat and feel like an empty gesture.
- Superman trying to corral the ugly little alien invaders into their ship so he could fly them away from the exploding island in Alienated feels too forced (and comes too late in the series) to be genuinely convincing as an act of selfless compassion on his part. Superboy saying that Superman will be more upset to learn he couldn't save the ugly little alien invaders just makes it even more of an Informed Attribute.
- The dialogue and line delivery can feel awkward (ex. "You've got a baby in there!") and forced/on-the-nose (ex. Beast Boy's talk of starting a "revolution" with the Outsiders' debut and then Gaby also calling them a "revolution" by pure coincidence, the Call Backs to well-known Season 1 lines such as "Get whelmed.", etc.). Not helped with the more blatant use of Talking To Himself which can create some flat deliveries after repetitive use (as well as inaccurate attempts at accents for international characters) and the animation sometimes failing to properly convey the emotions behind these lines.
- Violet's shift from perfectly well-behaved to sudden misconduct after learning she is dying is a bit jarring, as it all occurs in the span of a single day/episode and she isn't even fully informed on the situation (specifically, the likelihood Jace could find a solution to fix it, which she mentions is possible). It would have been far less of an issue if it had been built-up in a previous episode.
- The second half of Season 3 has used freeze-frame montages in place of proper animation multiple times. By the second or third time this happens, it starts to feel less like a stylistic choice and more due to budget constraints.
- While it is extremely catharic to see Lex Luthor get some comupence and lose his position as General-Secretary, his attempts to push back on the (true) accusations by simply parroting well-known "arguments" and counterpunches of a certain prominent American figure can across as very silly (and downright nonsensical, 'internataional libel laws' are not a thing, libel laws are set by each country) and as a tad absurd given he's been shown to be far more intelligent than this. Simply put, they could've just let Luthor fail in his own defense and take the defeat without using pointless topical references.
- Indeed, Luthor throughout the entire Season suffers from a severe case of Character Derailment from his David Xanatos-esque personality, to simply being a thinly-veiled caricature of said prominent American figure reeks of Writer on Board, especially for those who were fans of his earlier character.
MisterApes-a-lot
Since: Mar, 2018
#89: Nov 15th 2019 at 7:30:09 AM
I'd say they can all be cut.
MisterApes-a-lot
Since: Mar, 2018
#90: Nov 25th 2019 at 9:50:30 PM
User despoa added these entries back onto Captain Marvel (2019) after they were removed, with the edit reason "What is subjectivity?", which is... irrelevant.
- Narm:
- As Honest Trailers points out, while Samuel L. Jackson might have been deaged visually to portray '90s Nick Fury, whenever he tries to do anything physically demanding like running, it's clear that he's still a guy in his late 60s struggling to act like he's 20 years younger.
- Some felt that the film's use of No Doubt's "Just a Girl" as the theme to the final battle completely robbed it of any seriousness or stakes, and that it felt like it was trying to copy Guardians of the Galaxy with its classic rock soundtrack or Thor: Ragnarok with its use of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song." (Bonus points for its use coming in after a flashback montage of Carol getting right back up after her many mistakes to show that, no, she's not "just a girl.")
- The reveal at the end of the movie (that Carol's callsign was "Avenger") feels more than a bit silly and forced, as if Marvel thought that the audience wouldn't understand how much of an impact Carol had on Fury without him supposedly naming the team after her.
These are all just things rendered ineffective, not so-cheesy-it's-funny. The first one isn't dramatic, the second isn't funny, and the third one gets bashy (and just shoehorns in the word "silly" to pretend to be a valid example).
Remind me, how do you holler the mods, again? It's blatant edit-warring with zero discussion being had, encouraging even more misuse of a widely misused trope. Same goes for the reversions on the pages for X-Men Film Series and Star Wars.
Brainulator9
Short-Term Projects herald
from US
Since: Aug, 2018
Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
Short-Term Projects herald
#91: Nov 26th 2019 at 10:07:59 AM
There's a button on the top of each post. I hollered your post.
#92: Nov 26th 2019 at 6:43:04 PM
Willbyr deleted the examples, and I warned despoa over PM that they were edit-warring, and linked them here.
Edited by nombretomado on Nov 26th 2019 at 6:43:14 AM
rjd1922
he/him | Image Pickin' regular
from the United States
Since: May, 2013
Relationship Status: Love is for the living, Sal
he/him | Image Pickin' regular
#93: Nov 30th 2019 at 7:32:54 PM
Removed this from Trade Martin's "We've Got to Stop the Mosque at Ground Zero" on Narm.Music since research failures aren't inherently narm, and it also seems to violate the Rule of Cautious Editing Judgement.
What really takes the cake, though, is if you know that the intended building site wasn't actually at Ground Zero, but two blocks away from it, and it was primarily an Islamic community center rather than a mosque. After all, Trade Martin must have heard about that at some point, but still didn't remove the song. In other words, he wants to believe that a mosque is being built at Ground Zero, just so he'll have something to get mad about. (Or maybe the song was just too profitable?).
Keet cleanup
Wyldchyld
(Old as dirt)
#94: Dec 1st 2019 at 6:27:05 AM
Someone has just created the following narm page for RWBY.
My questions are these:
- Is a sub-page justified?
- How many of these examples are valid? (I can see some of them are but they're so atrociously worded the validity may not come across.)
I've put the examples on the page below. In summary: I think the vast majority are valid, but several need a rewrite.
- Blake's reaction to everyone finding out of not only her Faunus nature but also her ties to the White Fang is to simply bolt out of the room, which comes off as more of an "abandon thread" reaction than anything serious.
- It might be an example, but it needs rewriting due to grammar issues.
- While he got better with time, Adam's voice acting since his debut in the "Black" trailer has been frequently criticized as being unintentionally hilarious, as it sounds like his VA is trying way too hard to sound "cool." This all came to a head in Volume 3 in "Battle of Beacon": Adam's one-liner when Blake runs into him ("Hello, my darling.") is extremely corny even though it's intended with a lot of malice.
- Keep as is.
- Ozpin's fight with Cinder has him striking her multiple times with his cane, but the way its animated, the juggling nature of the hits makes it look like Cinder's dancing in place.
- This did become a bit of a meme for a while, so it is a valid example. It just needs a slight clean-up.
- A moment in the opening for Volume 4 has Blake fighting Adam, which is during the chorus where it usually has people doing badass things. Then Adam goes to her and there's a camera shot of Blake with her hands up screaming. It becomes hilarious despite the context of this scene.
- It's a valid entry, but it's written as a very wordy Zero-Context Example, partially due to poor wording.
- During the opening of Volume 6, there's a moment where Salem screams at the screen in frustration in a shot focused entirely on her face. It's supposed to be a menacing moment; unfortunately, the position of her mouth (as well as the motion blur from the vibrating screen and how her teeth are only barely whiter than her pale skin making it hard to tell where her face ends and her teeth begin without pausing), combined with her hairstyle, accidentally makes her look somewhat similar to an axototl, making it a little hard to take seriously.
- This entry is inaccurate because it actually reveals the mistakes people make with interpreting opening credits before the season has aired, and this entry honestly reads as someone's attempt to show off their knowledge of obscure salamander species that most people will never have heard of (speaking as someone who has heard of them, I can safely say they've spelled axolotl wrong). When aired, the scene actually reveals she's screaming in frustration and despair. It's meant to be played for seriousness either way, but given the attempt to show off, is this a valid example? If so, should it be rewritten to be more accurate and remove unnecessary references to incorrectly spelled animal species?
- Ruby's speeches can be pretty goofy sounding, making them sound like generic shounen anime speeches. In particular is her speech in Volume 6, Chapter 9. While pretty motivational, it turns funny/stupid when Ruby declares that they never needed help from an adult, considering they have needed help from adults in some of their fights.
- I honestly don't know about this one. The fandom criticised the accuracy of her speech, but I don't know if that automatically translates into narm.
- Qrow punching Oscar upon finding out the truth behind Salem could have been serious, but the way it was animated looked like something out of a slapstick comedy, especially with the way Oscar's face is animated.
- Keep. Perhaps a slight explanation on why Oscar's face looks like slapstick since that's a bit zero context.
- Raven portrays Ozpin giving her and Qrow the ability to transform into birds in a way that is meant to paint him in a morally grey light despite not detailing any downside to actually having the ability. While Qrow later reveals that he and Raven volunteered for this, thereby revealing that Raven was misleading Yang, the way Yang latches onto Ozpin giving them this shapeshifting with such anger was treated by the fans as being hiliariously disproportionate to the situation. Further more, the fact all of Team RWBY and JNPR are weirded out by the idea of Ozpin giving people shapeshifting powers fell flat with the fandom due to the wide variety of Semblance abilities the show has revealed to the audience. note
- Keep, although there are a few spelling errors to clean up.
Edited by Wyldchyld on Dec 1st 2019 at 2:54:39 PM
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
MisterApes-a-lot
Since: Mar, 2018
#95: Dec 1st 2019 at 6:54:24 PM
Here's my two cents:
- Blake's reaction to everyone finding out of not only her Faunus nature but also her ties to the White Fang is to simply bolt out of the room, which comes off as more of an "abandon thread" reaction than anything serious. I agree that it needs a rewrite if it's really a valid example. Right now it reads like "thing falls flat" misuse.
- While he got better with time, Adam's voice acting since his debut in the "Black" trailer has been frequently criticized as being unintentionally hilarious, as it sounds like his VA is trying way too hard to sound "cool." This all came to a head in Volume 3 in "Battle of Beacon": Adam's one-liner when Blake runs into him ("Hello, my darling.") is extremely corny even though it's intended with a lot of malice. Typically I dislike overly general examples that go "A character's entire voice/appearance/attitude". Credit where it's due: this entry gives a specific example of it being Narm. Though the first sentence comes across as "thing falls flat, but you can make snarky comments about the thing," which is usually flirting with misuse.
- Ozpin's fight with Cinder has him striking her multiple times with his cane, but the way its animated, the juggling nature of the hits makes it look like Cinder's dancing in place. Definitely needs a rewrite. Are the hits themselves intended as dramatic? If they're just being played straight and not intended as dramatic by themselves, you could move this to Special Effects Failure.
- A moment in the opening for Volume 4 has Blake fighting Adam, which is during the chorus where it usually has people doing badass things. Then Adam goes to her and there's a camera shot of Blake with her hands up screaming. It becomes hilarious despite the context of this scene. I agree with your comments. But is the shot of Blake screaming intended to add to the drama? If not, that's Mood Whiplash that people can make snarky comments about, which is less valid as an example.
- During the opening of Volume 6, there's a moment where Salem screams at the screen in frustration in a shot focused entirely on her face. It's supposed to be a menacing moment; unfortunately, the position of her mouth (as well as the motion blur from the vibrating screen and how her teeth are only barely whiter than her pale skin making it hard to tell where her face ends and her teeth begin without pausing), combined with her hairstyle, accidentally makes her look somewhat similar to an axototl, making it a little hard to take seriously. This comes across to me as another "inherently fine, but you can be snarky about it" entry. Add the phrase "making it a little hard to take seriously", which is usually an indicator of "thing falls flat" misuse. I also think it's too wordy.
- Ruby's speeches can be pretty goofy sounding, making them sound like generic shounen anime speeches. In particular is her speech in Volume 6, Chapter 9. While pretty motivational, it turns funny/stupid when Ruby declares that they never needed help from an adult, considering they have needed help from adults in some of their fights and Maria directly saved Ruby during the Brunswick episodes. This is another "you can be snarky if you apply Fridge Logic" entry. I typically lean towards "not valid" for these, but I'm open to hearing what other people think.
- Qrow punching Oscar upon finding out the truth behind Salem could have been serious, but the way it was animated looked like something out of a slapstick comedy, especially with the way Oscar's face is animated. Agreed that it's a bit ZCE.
- Raven portrays Ozpin giving her and Qrow the ability to transform into birds in a way that is meant to paint him in a morally grey light despite not detailing any downside to actually having the ability. While Qrow later reveals that he and Raven volunteered for this, thereby revealing that Raven was misleading Yang, the way Yang latches onto Ozpin giving them this shapeshifting with such anger was treated by the fans as being hiliariously disproportionate to the situation. Further more, the fact all of Team RWBY and JNPR are weirded out by the idea of Ozpin giving people shapeshifting powers fell flat with the fandom due to the wide variety of Semblance abilities the show has revealed to the audience. note Cut the sentence about it "falling flat". I'd also say this one needs a rewrite, both to make it more concise and to make it clear that it's not a "can be snarky with Fridge Logic" example.
Wyldchyld
(Old as dirt)
#96: Dec 4th 2019 at 2:22:33 PM
This was also added to the Narm.RWBY page:
- During the Battle of Haven, Blake confronts Adam and he charges her. Blake uses her Semblance to teleport into Adam's sword slice in an animation gaffe, and then in super slow motion, delivers an overhead smack that knocks Adam flat on his ass. Blake is then seen interacting with Ruby and Yang, and it's only in the next episode that Adam is seen getting up.
- I'm not sure about this one because it appears to cover a long span of action that covers two episodes. If it was just the scene where she leaps in the air to smack Adam, I don't think there would be a problem with the entry.
Edited by Wyldchyld on Dec 4th 2019 at 10:23:36 AM
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
MisterApes-a-lot
Since: Mar, 2018
#97: Dec 5th 2019 at 12:25:00 AM
As written, it strikes me as misuse.
#98: Dec 7th 2019 at 12:13:02 PM
Speaking of RWBY, this was put under Narm Charm
- While the idea of someone making a plant grow into the shape of a heart, especially when it's bamboo, is rather ridiculous and corny, seeing the guy give it to his partner, which is also the first time we see an LGBT couple in RWBY, is pretty sweet.
Heart shaped bamboo is hardly implausible. In fact it's rather common.
Primis
Since: Nov, 2010
#99: Dec 8th 2019 at 6:10:23 PM
Found this on YMMV.Channel Zero:
- Narm: It may be hard to take a child psychologist seriously when his last name is Painter.
Is this a reference to something? Because I don't get it...
MisterApes-a-lot
Since: Mar, 2018
#100: Dec 9th 2019 at 11:53:31 AM
I think it's just saying that it's a silly last name? I'm in favor of cutting it for misuse.
Total posts: 2,639
Edited by MisterApes-a-lot on Oct 16th 2019 at 7:52:59 AM