#Karma Houdini (trope)

[besttropeveershowdown]

The Most Annoying Trope Showdown: Round 1, Poll 9

All Just a Dream

The reveal that a certain plotline was all a dream.

Propaganda:

It immediately kills all stakes, breaks audience immersion, and basically makes the case 'you should never have been invested in that plotline'. An incredibly unsatisfying ending.

It's just so lazy and makes everything pointless! What changed? Everyone is exactly the same as before the story. Not to mention that's not how dreams work, unless you immediately write it down you're gonna forget the vast majority of the dream really quick, if you even remember it at all. And dreams are messy and don't make sense, they jump from location to location and don't follow a coherent plot. If a character is dreaming, it should be very obvious because they're so different from reality.

Karma Houdini

A character who has done bad things is never punished by the narrative for it.

Propaganda:

Insufferable!!

[lonepower]

we both love sasha w/ michael but i gotta ask What about sasha/annabelle? also to shake things up, jesse/emily from control!! :D

uh. well. i'm very sorry to say this to you but there is literally nothing about the web in general and annabelle in particular that i do not despise, both irl and on a character/narrative level, so uh

I LIKE JESILY A LOT BETTER THOUGH!!!

...even though they still didn't quite get bingo 😔

[inspectorspacetimerevisited]

Why is it that the Inspector never tracked down whomever sicced the Skeleton on unsuspecting passengers

during the events of ‘Skeleton on the Trans-Siberian Railway’?

[gemwing1988]

Heart, Soul & Mind — King Dice TV Tropes

Warning, this fanmade trope will contain spoilers for the Cuphead fanfiction, “Heart, Soul & Mind” and possibly the sequel, “Playing With Loaded Dice”. Please read with care and enjoy.

The manager of The Devil’s Casino and the secondary antagonist of Heart, Soul & Mind. A despite being referred as a good for nothing lackey by the Devil himself, King Dice remains loyal to Old Scratch and is willingly to partake in his wicked schemes to take over the Isles.

After his humiliating defeat at the hands of the Cup Brothers in the events of the game, Dice is left bitter and determined for some revenge best serves cold. But he’s also hoping for a consolation prize when our heroines and their friends wind up on the Isles, his eyes on Lexie…

Abhorrent Admirer: He up and decided to make himself Lexie’s unwanted suitor despite knowing she is already dating Liam. And Dice as abhorrent as he comes.

Actually Pretty Funny: Or in some case, actually pretty catchy as he happily snapped his fingers to the beat of Elvis Presley’s song, “Return to Sender” as it blasted out from the card the Dreamstones send to him and the Devil thanks to a spell Natty casted. He also commented that Lexie has great taste in music.

Amusing Injuries:

And Now You Must Marry Me:

Whatever he has to pass up as a heart, he has it set on making Lexie his wife and “Queen of Diamonds”.

He attempts to do this straight once he kidnapped Lexie in the sequel.

Ax-Crazy: In the sequel, “Playing With Loaded Dice”, he becomes severely unhinged when in possession of a crown once belonging to an evil king that makes him demonic and Drugged on Power.

Berserk Button: Aside from losing a bet, Dice develop another one in the form of Liam “getting in between him and his gal”.

Big Bad: In Playing With Loaded Dice due to the Devil’s absence.

Baddie Flattery:

Brainwashed and Crazy: Under influence of the evil crown he possessed in the sequel.

Co-Dragons: With Anubis. He might be the Devil’s right hand but Anubis is the Devil’s number one Bounty Hunter, both valuable to his assets in their own right.

Crazy Jealous Guy:

Deadpanned Snarker:

The Determinator: No one or nothing will stop him from getting what he wants and that’s Lexie’s hand in marriage.

Didn’t See This Coming:

Didn’t Think This Through:

Embarrassing Nickname: Katie likes to call him “cheese cube” just get under his skin.

Entitled to Have You: Despite knowing that Lexie is dating and eventually engaged to Liam, Dice is adamant of making her his gal, believing he has the best of everything a girl could want.

Even Evil Has Standards: He might be sleazy but even he wouldn’t bring himself to spike a woman’s drink.

Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:

Evil Gloating:

Evil is Petty:

Evil is Not a Toy: The mysterious figure he paid to find the two crowns warned him that overusing the power the evil king’s crown would make go mad with power and he would never break free from its influence. Dice really should have listened…

Faux Affably Evil:

Forceful Kiss: He is pretty much prone to plant one on Lexie every chance he gets.

The Ghost: Gets mentioned a couple of times in later fanfic series, especially when he’s compared to his TCS counterpart.

A God Am I!: When he turns Brainwashed and Crazy by the demonic crown in “Playing With Loaded Dice”.

Green Eyed Monster:

Humiliation Conga Line:

Hypocrite:

Idiot Ball:

I Have Your Wife:

I Have You Now, My Pretty: He doesn’t waste time having Lexie to himself with the flirting and Evil Gloating.

Karmic Butt Monkey: While he’s still a threat to the Dreamstones and their companions, he suffers a lot of karma in the Humiliation Conga Line variety.

Karma Houdini Warranty: After several chapters of getting away with stealing Mugman’s soul, Dice faces his biggest comeuppance at the hands of the very same mug he had hurt when Mugman gets his soul back in the final battle.

Kick the Dog:

Laser-Guided Karma:

Malicious Misnaming: He enjoys calling Liam “shrimp”. He also calls Natty “pinky” because she wears a pink shirt.

My God, What Have I Done?!: After he is defeated and the crown is destroyed, the heroes couldn’t resist telling him he had carelessly said some unsavoury things about the Devil as the crown had warped his mind. To say the least, he dreads to think how the Devil would react should he ever get hear about it.

Never My Fault:

Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!:

Not Brainwashed: Subverted. Despite warnings from the figure who sold him the crown, Dice willingly placed it on, granting him dreadful powers his imagination. At first he’s pretty much in control and knew what he’s doing but he eventually grows Drunk on Power and becomes much more unhinged akin to Magnifico’s path of full on villainy from Wish

Oh Crud!:

Red Eyes, Take Warning: More like green eyes, take warning. When his eyes turn jade green when he’s at his most despicable, better get ready for whatever he has in store.

Revenge:

He was eager to get some payback on the humiliation he had received after the Cup Brothers had busted him up in the events of the game, managing to nab Mugman’s soul.

Again, he doubles down in Playing With Loaded Dice.

The Rival:

To Liam when it concerns Lexie.

He often alternates between Katie and Natty.

Screams Like a Little Girl:

Slimeball:

Smug Snake:

Stalker with a Crush:

This Is Gonna Suck:

Thinking Up Portals: Much like in the game when you visit the Die House, Dice is capable of conjuring plot holes beneath his feet and jump down into them to teleport from one place to another anytime he wants. He also has portals into his own little pocket dimension on occasions.

Trash Landing: Dice gets tossed into a dumpster full of trash Tom & Jerry-style thanks to Aya’s telekinesis.

Tyrant Takes the Helm: Since the Devil is imprisoned in the Astral Planes at the end of Heart, Mind and Soul, Dice takes stage as temporarily the Big Bad as the Big Bad after he takes brief ownership of a crown that contains demonic powers. Since it was in possession of an evil king, the crown warped Dice’s mind, corrupting him into a much more ruthless and more tyrant-like until it was destroyed after his defeat.

Underestimating the Hardcore:

Undying Loyalty: Despite the fact that the Devil called him a good for nothing lackey since the final showdown in the game, Dice still stays as his right hand man. He is genuinely horrified at what unsavoury things he must have said about the Devil under the influence of the crown in the sequel after he is defeated.

Villainous Crush: The moment he laid eyes on Lexie for the first when he and the Devil were observing her in the prologue, he was instantly smitten. And is heck bent on making her his gal.

Villain Takes an Interest: Upon seeing Lexie as the Devil was spying on her in the prologue, Dice was instantly smitten.

We Can Rule Together:

You Gotta Be Kidding Me!:

You Meddling Kids!:

[timur-pannonicus]

Shitpost

Hypothetical anti: Azula is an irredeemable villain!

Me: Yes, and I want her to have a happy ending.

Anti: She can never make up for what she's done!

Me: Then she shouldn't even try, just focus on herself.

Anti: She caused so much suffering!

Me: And I want her to get away with it.

Anti: That's not how it works!

Me: But it can work, have you heard of the Karma Houdini trope?

---

Do I stand behind what I just said? Don't really know, I'm just feeling cheeky and a bit self deprecating and perhaps this will make someone laugh. In that case it was worth it.

I tagged this post as humor so please no heated debates, else I'll remove the post.

[llycaons]

the worst trope poll is really funny because some of the submissions are genuinely nauseating and some are just kind of annoying and some are like 'they make me sad :(' like I saw the karma houdini entry and laughed out loud

the idea that the JOB of the narrative is to dole out punishment and rewards as the heroes and villains 'deserve' is a hilariously childlike view of fiction and this is coming from someone who usually prefers happy endings. like. this is so stupid. a bad guy 'getting away with it' was banned by the fucking hayes code so these are the kinds of moral quandries the submitter is apparently dealing with 🙄 like sure you may not like it. but the WORST TROPE? EVER??

[kamilekaplan]

Introducing The Honourable Kamile Aleyna Kaplan.

Special Advisor to the Prime Minister & Downing Street Chief of Staff. Political fixer. The Campaign Manager.

( melisa aslı pamuk, she/her, thirty three ) We just saw kamile kaplan entering 10 downing street. I heard through the grapevine that their loyalties lie with the government, and that they also go by the campaign manager. Be careful, they work as the downing street chief of staff & special advisor to the prime minister and are known to be vain, selfish, or secretive. However they’re also known to be diligent, organised, and protective.

CHARACTER PARALLELS: amy dunne (gone girl), helen of troy, anora mac tir (dragon age: origins), phillippa eilhart (the witcher games), miss scarlet (clue), saadia (skyrim), briala (dragon age: inquisition), vivian rutledge (the big sleep), arianne martell (asoiaf), delilah briarwood (critical role), malcolm tucker (the thick of it), humphrey appleby (yes, minister & yes, prime minister), lady macbeth (macbeth), elizabeth urquhart (house of cards uk), dominic cummings but he's a hot woman

TV TROPES: faux affably evil, manipulative bitch, opportunistic bastard, karma houdini, consummate liar, femme fatale, proud beauty, silk hiding steel, everyone has standards, ambition is evil, chronic backstabbing disorder, nice to the waiter, deadpan snarker, determinator, deadpan snarker, death glare, married to the job, pet the dog, tranquil fury

BIO.

STATS.

TIMELINE.

HEADCANONS.

PINTEREST.

PLAYLIST.

[anyaexe]

character inspiration: darlene alderson (mr. robot), georgina sparks (gossip girl), fox mulder (the x-files), chloe (don’t trust the b---- in apartment 23), villanelle (killing eve), maeby fünke (arrested development), beth harmon (the queen’s gambit), elaine benes (seinfeld), han solo (star wars), jade west (victorious), maddy perez (euphoria), kalinda sharma (the good wife)

{ DAVIKA HOORNE, 22, DEMI-GIRL, SHE/THEY } Is that CHARANYA ‘ANYA’ SAETANG? A JUNIOR originally from LONDON, UK, they decided to come to Ogden College to study COMPUTER SCIENCE on an ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP. They’re DETERMINATOR on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance.  user/asaetang/documents/folder/information/basic info.

full name: charanya saetang nickname: anya, annie, chara birthdate: 15 april 2000 birth place: highbury, islington, london, uk big six: aries sun, aries moon, aries rising, aries mercury, taurus venus, taurus mars gender: demi-girl orentiation: lesbian

user/asaetang/documents/folder/information/personality.

+ bright, vivacious, funny, determined, engaging, captivating, lively

- unrelenting, impulsive, confrontational, short-sighted, destructive, harsh

three skills: guessing passwords, picking locks, tying cherry stems with their tongue. primary trope: the determinator. secondary tropes: the gadfly, deadpan snarker, karma houdini, jerk with a heart of gold, moral myopia, big sister instinct, dark action girl, toxic friend influence, pet the dog, troll, wild card, unreliable narrator

user/asaetang/documents/folder/biography.

 anya came into the world a harbinger of chaos. not even ten minutes after her entrance into the world, and she’s flung out her tiny little arm, accidentally swiping a vase of flowers off the nearby hospital bedside table in the process. when recounting the story later, their parents speak of it as an omen. a sign of what was to come. as a child, they’re a handful. a force to be reckoned with. all balled fists and scrubbed knees, tantrums and clever tricks. there’s nothing particularly notable about their childhood. her parents love her, in spite of her stubborn streak, and the neighbourhood kids make up for the lack of any siblings. it’s all good, all so picturesque. but they’re so bored it hurts.

she’s in her early teens the first time she has unmonitored access to a computer. it’s quarter past midnight, and they have accidentally downloaded a virus onto their family computer. their first thought is this: fuck. their second is that there has to be some way to pick this thing apart. it’s seven in the morning by the time she dozes off, the piece of malware well and truly gone. 

from there, it’s history. she’s never been good at anything before, but she’s damn good at this computer business. write assembly language like it’s their mother tongue. able to spot a missing semicolon in a sea of nonsensical texts. small computer programs turn to looking for exploits on major websites. the boredom is dampened a little, muffled slightly, with each time she uses an sql injection to return data that should be encypted. with each little stupid thing they deal with online. but it’s still there, lurking at the back of her mind, like a tiger. ready to pounce. and she’d do anything to keep it at bay.

how_do_they_embody_their_trope.mp3

There’s no stopping the determinator, they set themselves a goal, and they strive tirelessly towards it, letting absolutely nothing get in their way. And what Anya wants, Anya gets. It doesn’t matter what it is, how ludicrous the idea might be, whether other people will get caught in the crossfire - once she’s set her mind on something, it’s final. It’s happening. Even in instances where this comes at a detriment to themselves, or to people they care about. Chaos follows in her wake, constantly at her heel like a well-trained dog. It’s not that they are intentionally looking to wreak havoc, it’s just an unfortunate consequence. After it has all burnt down, Anya rises from the ashes with a shrug and a grin, ready to do the same thing again. For someone who can retain so much information, it’s truly astonishing how little she’s able to learn from their own mistakes.

print(”relationship to greer”)

Considering how much of our lives currently play out online, it’s good to have someone on your side who knows how to navigate cyberspace. Someone who knows what buttons to press (quite literally, in this case). And that is exactly the role Anya filled for Greer. It was simple work, a grade average changed a couple of points here, a fake ID ordered there. Occasionally gaming the system to get people Greer didn’t like suspended on various social media platforms. Small things, things no one would notice. Nothing particularly intrusive. Anya never really considered the morality of the services they were providing. Truthfully, she couldn’t care less whether she was doing the right thing. After all, moral high grounds don’t measure up to a crisp bank note in your hand or a few moment spent in a quiet corner of the library, hunched over a poorly lit laptop screen with a pretty girl. 

[lolotheparagon]

What are some your favorite tropes?

Love:

Card-Carrying Villains

Opposites Attract/Odd Friendship

Dark is Not Evil/Light is not Good

Real Men Wear Pink

Villain with Good Publicity

Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon

The Comically Serious

Slasher Smile

Ridiculously Cute Critter

Hate:

Abhorrent Admirer

Karma Houdini

Status Quo is God

Vague Age

Cerebus Syndrome

All Girls Want Bad Boys

Abuse Double Standards

Will They, Wont They?

[besttropeveershowdown]

The Worst Trope Ever Showdown: Round 1, Side A

Can't Argue with Elves

A race that's always right.

Propaganda:

It's so annoying! What gives those smug elves/vampires/aliens/whatever the right to lord it over the common schmuck? Usually boils down to a "might makes right" ordeal writ large when a fictional species' "superiority" is based on some physical/magical advantage they have.

Karma Houdini

A character who has done bad things is never punished by the narrative for it.

Propaganda:

Insufferable!!

[daughter-of-the-prophet]

Isabela (Dragon Age II) Part 2

I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: She develops a platonic version of this trope towards Areida Hawke. After Areida spares Isabela from being handed over to the Arishok, Isabela is shocked that Areida still wants to be friends with her even though her stealing the relic from the Qunari was what lead to the events of the Qunari invasion on Kirkwall in the first place and that she lied to her about it.

I Need a Freaking Drink: At the start of Act 3, especially.

Incredibly Lame Pun: Every single one of the talents in her unique skill tree is a pirate reference of some kind. Notable because almost every other skill tree's names try to be serious or informative. Not Isabela.

She has an armor upgrade named Rigid Boning.

She seems quite fond of puns at times in-game, chuckling at the sound of "ghast-hole" and dubbing Idunna an "apostitute" before laughing delightedly. Yeah... Bela's kind of a dork.

Indy Ploy: Most of her "plans" tend to involve little planning and mostly going with her gut.

Isabela: "Step one, we go to Velasco! Step two, something exciting happens! Step three, profit!"

Informed Attractiveness: Discussed in-story. Isabela readily admits that she is not as attractive as her reputation leads one to believe. Her real secret is that she just casts a wide net.

It's All About Me: While she can be a lot of fun, and even very affectionate at times (mainly to Merrill), it is made uncomfortably clear at several points in the story that she places herself and her hedonistic tendencies first, even when it might hurt others. Eventually under Areida's influence, her conscience starts to get the better of her, much to her dismay.

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: When Fenris asks her about the incident where she released Castillon's would-be slaves, she downplays it with this exact phrase.

Karma Houdini: For stealing the Tome of Koslun.

The Lad-ette: She enjoys dirty jokes, drinking and getting into duels and bar-room fights.

Lampshade Hanging: She lampshades quite a few things.

Isabela: "If we kill them we get their stuff!"

Alistair: "Isabela, right? You look... different."

Isabela: "Don't we all?"

Lovable Rogue: A pirate captain not afraid to fight dirty and is quite the snarker.

Lovable Sex Maniac: She's a Lovable Rogue and Ethical Slut who has a very positive outlook on sex and constantly talks about it, as long as it remains Safe, Sane, and Consensual.

Missing Steps Plan: Invoked during her summing up the plan to deal with Velasco and Castillion.

Isabela: "Step one, we go to Velasco! Step two, something exciting happens! Step three, profit!"

Mommy Issues: Not fond of the woman. Given her mother sold Isabela into marriage to an Antivan merchant for a few gold pieces and a goat (without even haggling the price), it's hard to blame Isabela for how she feels.

To add insult to injury, her mother was a Qunari convert who sold her because she refused to follow in her footsteps. No wonder she also holds a grudge against the Qunari.

Morality Chain: Areida Hawke becomes this to her, particularly at the end of Act 2.

Morality Pet: Isabela's friendship with Merrill may be the only one that the pirate has that isn't based on teasing them. In fact, when Merrill wishes that she had an 'interesting' life like Isabela, she tells Merrill that she's a good person and deserves better than that.

Her fond anecdotes about her crew before the shipwreck indicate that they actually had quite a bit of camaraderie, and she clearly misses them.

Ms. Fanservice: She has about a foot of cleavage to back this up. And no pants. And frequent panty shots.

Ms. Vice Girl: She's a Friendly Pirate who revels in sex, violence, greed, and drunken revelry. She does admit to Areida that part of is just to keep up her Pirate, since she's a Pirate Girl in a male-dominated environment.

Mundane Object Amazement: Merrill's so fascinated by boots that reach thigh length that she sometimes drops marbles in them.

My Grandma Can Do Better Than You: One of her in-battle taunts is mocking her opponent by saying they hit as hard as her grandmother.

My Greatest Failure: In Those Who Speak, she reveals her greatest regret is taking on a job to smuggle slaves, and having to sacrifice them by throwing them overboard in order to escape the Orlesean navy. This is partly why she has such a strong stance against slavery, despite her Bystander Syndrome.

Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By stealing the Qunari relic, Isabela set a chain of events in motion that resulted in the Qunari attacking Kirkwall, the deaths of many innocent people, and a power vacuum that allowed Meredith to abuse her power and bring the Mage/Templar conflict closer to exploding.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: She got stuck and shipwrecked in Kirkwall as a consequence one of the few selfless good acts she did in her life, when she freed a bunch of refugees from a slave ship after she got hired to escort it. In order to pay off her debt, her employer Castillion tasked her with the near-impossible task of stealing the Tome of Koslun, which ended up with her being pursued by the Qunari and getting shipwrecked in Kirkwall.

Noodle Incident: She's behind a few of them. One of them involved a duel that somehow grew into a 20 person brawl in the streets.

Areida mentions the time she thought she had found the Relic and led them on a wild-goose chase all across the Wounded Coast, only to discover that the chest contained nothing more than some bad poetry... and an old boot.

There's also a letter from her at the Hawke estate, at the beginning of Act 2, saying that she "expected treasure, not spiders. Get well soon." It seems like they had several unsuccessful treasure chases in the wilderness during the three-year intermission.

Only Known by Their Nickname: Isabela is not her birth name, but it's the only name to which she'll respond. Her birth name is revealed to be Naishe in the comic Those Who Speak, but she considers that person to be dead.

Pair the Spares: Hooks up with Fenris, of all people, in Act 3. Granted, the relationship is purely physical by all accounts.

Parental Abandonment: She was sold into marriage at an implied young age by her mother and never knew her father. Those Who Speak sheds new light on this; Isabela's mother was a thief and a con woman who grew disillusioned with her criminal life and started to seek "salvation" by converting into the Qun, but Isabela refused to convert, so she gave her away.

Phrase Catcher: "Shut up, whore!" from Aveline. It becomes an Insult of Endearment once their friendship grows overtime.

Pirate Girl: She used to be a fearsome pirate captain. Her ship is the Siren's Call, which she inherited from her deceased husband, a merchant whom Zevran killed. She even called herself the "Queen of the Eastern Seas". But her pirate days were over when her ship sank sometime before Act 1, during the same storm that wrecked the Qunari in Kirkwall, leaving her stuck in the city. Given that we later learn she was on the run from said Qunari, it's left ambiguous whether it was the storm or Qunari cannons that actually sank her ship.

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Not by choice. Due to the loss of her ship and crew as well as the Qunari tome, Isabela is forced to spend most of Dragon Age II standing around the Hanged Man, drinking and acting vaguely pirate-y when not with Areida.

Rape as Backstory: It's implied the reason she let her husband Luis get assassinated was because he had her "entertain" his friends.

"Rashomon"-Style:

She has given different accounts of how exactly the assassination of her husband Luis went. She has claimed she had nothing to do with it but was glad it happened, or to have helped Zevran do it after she found out he wanted to kill her husband or to have actually been the one to have contracted the Antivan Crows to assassinate him.

Varric notes Isabela has given conflicting stories on the details of her Parental Abandonment. Sometimes her mother sold her off as a slave for some coins, sometimes she gave Isabela away with the promise she would be "looked after". Whatever the case, it is very clear she resents her mother for it.

Really Gets Around: Her sex life is a constant topic in conversations with the other companions, to the point finding past lovers of hers is a Running Gag. It reaches in-story memetic levels as time goes by, as she and Varric recall several patrons who attempted to (unsuccessfully) flirt with her and she recalls her vast sex life.

Sex Goddess: Her promiscuous life has led her to become a very experienced and skilled lover, to the point she often talks about kinky sexual techniques. She even claims to be so good in bed, she can turn even the straightest woman lesbian/bisexual.

Shipper on Deck: She writes erotic "Friend-fiction" involving Aveline and Donnic, and shares it with Varric.

Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: She might be an amoral Pirate, but she drew the line at slave trafficking, and one of her few selfless acts was turning on her employer Castillion when he hired her to escort a slave ship. She not only refused to finish the job but actually freed the captured refugees. In Those Who Speak, her past with slavery is fleshed out more, revealing she was a slave herself, being sold out by her mother. When she earned her freedom and became a pirate, she avoided slavery until she got deep into debt with the Felicisima Armada and was forced to take a slave trafficking job, but ended up botching the job when she got caught by Orlesian pirate hunters and she was forced to throw the slaves into the sea to escape, something she considers to be her greatest failure and she swore never to get involved with slavery again.

Slut-Shaming: Many characters often look down on her, or at least deride her for her promiscuous life.

STD Immunity: Averted. It's all but outright stated that Isabela does face repercussions for her grandiose sex life, but Anders is able to cure these without much trouble.

Stripperific: Isabela has the bustiest model in the story and she has the outfit to show it off. Also, no pants.

Supermodel Strut: Isabela walks with a deliberate swagger to her hips. This is even pointed out and Discussed by Merrill, who wants Isabela to teach her how to do it, but Isabela more-or-less says that a sexy strut just comes to a woman naturally.

Merrill: "How do you do that?"

Isabela: "Do what, Kitten?"

Merrill: "You sort of... swagger when you walk. I've been trying, but I trip over my own feet when I do it."

Isabela: "You just strut. It's not something you practice."

Merrill: "How do I learn it, then?"

Isabela: "It comes to you. Usually at night. It's like a lover... or maybe a burglar. Either it ravishes you or runs off with all your jewelry. And you have to run it down and stab it in the heart. And... that metaphor got a bit away from me, didn't it?"

Merrill: "I think it did, but it was certainly exciting!"

The Tease: She's openly flirtatious with most people, sometimes as an actual come-on, but often just because she has fun riling them up.

Thrill Seeker: Part of why she's a pirate and why she likes working with Areida is that she simply enjoys the thrill and the danger. When recovering from being KO, she even says that "Nothing like a Near-Death Experience to get the blood pumping".

Trick Bomb: She is a Rogue, so she can use different types of bombs.

Urban Legend Love Life: While she's still quite promiscuous, she admits she exaggerates when talking about her sex life, in order to preserve her "image" as The Lad-ette Pirate Girl. But she also seems to do it because she likes to scandalize people.

Venturous Smuggler: During her time as a pirate captain, most of her jobs were smuggling illegal contraband through the seas.

Vitriolic Best Buds: While she and Aveline obviously don't get along at the start of the story, due to being on opposite sides of the law, by the end of the story they develop an unusual friendship, even though they never stop insulting each other.

Yaoi Fangirl: In one of their conversations, she seems really turned on at the thought of Danarius oiling Fenris up and "keeping [him] close at hand" while Fenris "glistens." Fenris asks her if she's already written a whole story about it in her head, and she doesn't deny it.

You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Areida convinces her of this at the start of Act 3.

You Fight Like a Cow: Some of her combat lines can get pretty snarky:

Isabela: "You hit like my grandmother!"

Isabela: "You hit like an Orlesian dandy!"

Your Door Was Open: Apparently she breaks into the Hawke estate frequently.

[whiteashesblackfeathers]

i think carlisle should face zero consequences for beating up chicory its the good and moral thing to do

[thekingofthenameless]

1 and 17 for the fandom ask game?

1: If you could hit any character without repercussions, who would it be?

Mm, I don't know. I can't really think of any right now-

OH WAIT. MORGANA. I'm sorry to whoever likes her, but she did so much.

, but she didn't even struggle with it.

She made the Decimaar Blade into what it is now, and wasn't upset at all the deaths that would cause even though she's supposed to want to protect magickind; she even got pissed at Merlin for supposedly not doing that, but he confirmed that he was in Wizards Episode One.

She made Merlin, her master, her scapegoat for everything bad that happened to her. She blamed him for cutting off her hand even though it was Arthur. She blamed him for Arthur's death even though she saw Bellroc murder him.

She literally stabbed him in the back, tied him up, and forced him to watch her attempt to kill his other apprentice and son.

Then she killed his Trollhunters through Angor Rot, and made him a slave and took his soul to force him to do that when he just wanted to protect his people.

She knew Claire was vulnerable after her giant portal, and she took advantage of it. She possessed her, a sixteen year old girl, and used her body to try and kill Jim, another sixteen year old. Then after she was captured, she made death threats against Jim and Toby.

And she didn't have the excuse of not knowing they're children either. When she was making those threats, she called Jim a whelp.

She knewsthey were children and she didn't care.

Then she shapeshifted a child's body into an adult woman, (which is implied to be Merlin's magic since he shapeshifts in the Arthurian Legends), to seduce Strickler into trapping three children in the Shadow Realm forever.

Then after Gunmar set her free, she immediately, mercilessly when

Compare this to Angor, who just got his soul back and was forced to brutally murder Trollhunters for centuries. He was shocked. He wanted her to stop.

And her response to Claire somewhat calling her out about possessing her in Wizards?

"We had fun."

She's interesting but I also really dislike her. I think part of it might be because of her Karma Houdini tendencies?

I am going to redeem her in Emerald Embers but it will be hard. So hard.

I also want to hit Gunmar. And Morando.

17: Are there any tropes you wish were used less often?

Okay this isn't exactly a list of them; it's more of a list of tropes I hate?

But whatever.

I have many, and I'll explain why.

(Rant incoming.)

MISCOMMUNICATION.

It drives me nuts, for many reasons. It's an excuse for the writers to insert pointless drama. Sometimes it makes the characters OOC. Most of the time the characters in question are adults who should be able to talk like ones. If people actually talked to each other, so many feelings wouldn't get hurt/bad things wouldn't happen!!!

Angst? What Angst?

LET CHARACTERS HAVE LASTING TRAUMA INSTEAD OF IT BEING QUICKLY FORGOTTEN ABOUT.

Sure, that's what fanfiction is for, and I'm doing it, but it would also be cool for lasting trauma to actually be canon like The Legend of Korra's depiction of the main character's PTSD.

Amphibia is really bad with this. And I have to admit that despite my love for it, the whole Tales of Arcadia series does this quite a lot as well.

Redemption Equals Death.

It's stupid and overused. Let characters live and face the consequences of their actions.

Once again, even ToA did this with characters such as Angor Rot, Tronos Madu, and Morgana.

Bloodless Carnage.

This isn't as nearly as high on my list but it can be quite stupid. Characters will literally lose whole limbs and there will be no blood seen whatsoever.

Love Triangles.

They're annoying, overused, and once again, just there for pointless drama.

Thanks for the ask!

[eienias20]

finished watching Kamen Rider Black Sun

that was awesome. the last 3 or 4 episodes were so peak and the first half of the final episode was just brilliant.

i wasn't sure what to expect from this new take on the characters of Kamen Rider BLACK (which i watched years ago and loved thoroughly) but it did very well for itself!

also the theme song "Did You See The Sunrise?" is a banger: youtube link

more specific thoughts and spoilers below

it took me a bit to get used to who was who from the cast because it bounces between 2022 and 1972, ppl changed allegiances and such.

First thing first, the way the last episode opened, copying the opening of the original Kamen Rider BLACK series, GLORIOUS!

Anyway in reagrds to the cast, in the end I liked pretty much everyone. the main riders, Gorgom, support characters. Only a few stood out as nopes.

Wasn't feeling Yukari from moment one, Dounami revealed she was a spy of his near the end to Nobuhiko. Truth or not, i found her way manipulative and both riders just did everything she wanted. "Prevent the kingstones from falling into the wrong hands by taking them away from the super powered bug men and giving them to one lady" yeah. great plan.

Bishum and the new Prime Minister at the end, Karma Houdini. i hate that trope. ppl who do terrible horrible things / antagonists that just get away with it in the end. Even after Aoi revealed everything done by the government in regards to the creation of Kaijin, just like irl, distract ppl and they forget all about it. returning to their prejudice against Kaijin. No wonder Aoi, Nomi and Kujira are training an army. Can't blame them for that.

Speaking of, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about Aoi. I'm tired of the trope of "big guy protecting small morality chain" thing but i enjoyed it here. She managed to find her way despite the fact that she lost both her moms, her dad, her best friend, was betrayed by another friend (who she forgave) and lost her new father figure / mentor. Being Aoi is suffering. Between all that and how she came out in the end, I was happy? for her. Sounds messed up to say but just by getting through all this, she is strong and has to be to carry on the fight.

Gorgom. Already hit on Bishum. Baraom I felt was underutilized but he and Darom I did understand why they chose the approach for coexistence that they did. Dounami is garbage but they didn't want to start a war they couldn't win. They both loved Kaijin and wanted the best. That's something even Kotaro understood during his fight with Darom.

Bilgenia was much the same, the first to break away from the Gorgom Party and take the Creation King because he disagreed with Darom bending the knee to Dounami. someone says that he is driven by his love of Kaijin, i forget who. Now granted, Bilgenia did turn Aoi and her dad into Kaijin and he killed her mom too. Not writing those actions off, he was messed up.

Meeting his creator towards the end and questioning everything he has ever done. That's the kind of development i didn't expect. I knew he wasn't long for this world when he changed his stance. His final battle against the police force coming to kill Aoi was excellent. In that moment he became my GOAT. Honestly for me, a lot of bad, but he did kill Yukari who i didn't trust for a second.

Smaller peeps like Shunsuke, Oliver, Nomi, Kujira, Nick and Koumori were fine in there roles. I liked them well enough but Nomi, you should've turned heel far earlier than you did. Granted Bilgenia would easily dispose of him. Guy was definitely torn.

Finally Kotaro and Nobuhiko. They're both excellent. Kotaro not wanting anything to do with this fight anymore, being pulled into it and his growing desire to protect Aoi. Much like the og series, he has a bond with Nobuhiko that leads him to not wanting them to clash but once the Creation King is dead and Nobuhiko loses his resolve. Things change.

Which speaking of, I was wondering the whole time what could happen to alter Nobuhiko's course. He made an army to raid the Gorgom Party, he was a lot more direct and aggressive than Kotaro but i wouldn't say strictly evil. Not like OG Shadow Moon. What was the point? It was Dounami revealing the truth about Yukari and then the prejudiced assholes beating Shunsuke to death and hanging his corpse over his home. Yeah. That would do it.

That whole scene, watching Nobuhiko's face. It clicked. I bought all of that as valid reasons for him taking over Gorgom and proceeding with an even more aggressive plan to become the Creation King.

This is a lot longer than I thought it'd be. I can't believe Shunsuke died when he did. I kept expecting he would, but when he actually got killed by those assholes it was a surprise. Poor kid.

With how the series ended, Nobuhiko dying after his final battle with Kotaro, Kotaro becoming the Creation King due to the previous one's heart and his holding of both Kingstones and then Aoi having to kill him with the broken remains of the Satan Saber. That was heavy. Aoi really lost the last thing that she had.

I wasn't sure how the series would end but both main riders dying wasn't what I thought would happen till just before. I don't know if they have any plans for another season or not. I don't believe so since well the riders are gone. There are implications with what the new Prime Minister is up to and Aoi's Black Sun army. Amazons had 2 seasons but if this is it for Black Sun, i'd say its a good ending for a great series.

Time to watch Kamen Rider Geats now.

[laufire]

I did a ~selective viewing of some Suits episodes to do a refresher before jumping in and finally watching the last season... I'm determined to do it because I want to see where a lot of these people's stories went (Louis, Louis/Sheila, Samantha, Katrina, Alex...).

But just the premiere has made more aware than ever of how much I LOATHE Donna. And Darvey. Neither can be on screen without me making this exact face:

[ID: the queen on Brave making a disgusted involuntary expression at her food’s taste.]

I hate her Karma Houdini ass more than ever istg. She massively screws up like once per season, yet nothing happens to her as a consequence, because she's Awesome TM and people aren't allowed to disagree or dislike her, ever (that investigator who refused to work for the film when Donna was a bitch to her and then refused to be convinced to talk in their favor... where are you babe ilu. Same to Anita Gibbs and oh so many

delightful antagonists. Hardman deserves to ruin her life for what she did to Robert, period. The bf she just cheated on should get to be a bitch at the very least).

What's worse, her last stunt not only didn't have negative consequences for her, but it caused MY MAN ROBERT ZANE to be disbarred and damage his reputation (likely irreparably, though I’m hoping that’s not the case and I’m going to choose to believe it even if it’s post-series) to save her and Harvey's asses.This in turn harmed the firm that Alex and Samantha just put their names on, hurting Samantha’s reputation as Robert’s right hand, and caused Louis to lose control of the firm. But none of them are allowed to even be mad at her for it, because It’s Donna. Samantha is within her fucking rights to tear into her but she must make peace with her; it must be understood that Louis worships the ground she walks on (although thankfully lately it’s just words, as he relies far more on literally everyone else -Sheila, Katrina, his therapist, Alex, Robert, Harvey...), Robert can’t be mad and instead must be seeking ~redemption, etc.

One thing that made me FURIOUS though, it’s her call to Rachel at the beginning of the episode. Rachel, her so-called closest friend, and the daughter of the man whose life she just ruined. And she calls her and leaves a message in her voicemail (which I’m choosing to believe as Rachel not picking up because as far as she’s concerned, they’re not on speaking terms), to cheerfully inform her that’s she’s finally worn down the man she obsessively obsessed about for over a decade to fuck her a second time. Hoo-fucking-ray. What the fuck is wrong with her that she calls Rachel to tell her that, right now??

Which leads me to what I can’t stand about the situation. It’s not like the show is pretending that Donna and Harvey are the Ultimate Romance, the writing is consistent and all (LOL at the fact that Louis caught them the morning after, saw Harvey in last night’s clothes... and thought they’d being working all night because the idea is so unthinkable lmao. And some narrative choices are VERY ON POINT, like the fact that things happen in Donna’s appartment and not Harvey’s -where everything about his romantic life has been front and center-, or how Harvey isn’t even allowed to be mad that Donna was still involved with another man without his knowledge when they slept together, something that to the Harvey we knew in the show, would’ve made him feel like shit and angry as hell), but the narrative of Harvey Finally Sees How Awesome Donna Is And That She’s Always Right And Should Be In Charge of Every Facet of His Life... jfc. I hate it here!!

They are living proof of the fact that I hate the Relentless Pursuer trope no matter what genders involve it, I guess, but at what cost. AT WHAT COST I SAY DDDD: I feel terrible for him ugh.

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Okay. Last one. Trope: Karma Houdini Warranty

Bakugou pure and simple or Endeavour. Just everything they tried to hide being exposed and revealed to the world. Watch as that happens and it would be beautiful.