#basically these two are my “stock characters” originally meant to be for romantic tropes i wanted to write

[lemonduckisnowawake]

"There's a thin line between suicide and sacrifice, you know?" Z hissed, stabbing the table in front of her with her dagger.

A smiled in spite of himself at her antics, folding his arms and leaning back. "Not really, actually," he refuted, nodding at the knife. "Suicide is wanting to die. Sacrifice is being willing to die. Both deaths can be driven by outside forces, both may require the clear knowledge of expending your own life, and both can even have to willingness go die. But sacrifice never wants death; it only wants life that perhaps must take its own to preserve it."

Z stared at A for a long monet, mimicking his pose before dropping it.

"Right, then which are you, A?"

The man in question closed his eyes, unwilling to meet the ones piercing into his.

"....I'm still trying to figure that one out, actually," he admitted.

[mysterylover123]

BKDK + Romance Tropes

“mysterylover123

Childhood Friend Romance

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChildhoodFriendRomance?from=Main.UnluckyChildhoodFriend

“Childhood Friend Romance is a part of romantic plots, when characters develop romantic feelings for someone who they spent their childhood years with.“

This one is pretty easy, of course. Anime in particular really loves this trope. Childhood Friends Turned Lovers. 

Tsundere

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tsundere

“The Japanese term tsundere refers to an outwardly violent character who "runs hot and cold", alternating between two distinct moods: tsuntsun(aloof or irritable) and deredere (lovestruck).The term was originally used to describe characters who began with a harsh outgoing personality, but slowly revealed a soft and vulnerable interior over time, which made this a plot trope as much as it is a character trope...The Tsundere stock characterization is very popular with writers of Romantic Comedy because the conflicts between the two personality facets can be easily utilized to generate both drama and comedy. “

Lots of fans debate if BKG is a Tsundere, but in the basic def of Tsundere as character who starts as harsh and becomes kinder, especially towards LI, seems fitting to me. 

Wall Pin of Love/Kabedon

created by Just another black sheep 

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WallPinofLove

“This trope is better known to the Japanese public as the "kabe don" (wall pound). It's when a character (usually Always Male) physically corners a Love Interest using the body to block any chance of escape. It's often accompanied with a "BAM!" sound effect from pounding the wall (the "don" in kabe don)...The Wall Pin of Love is a very popular staple in Shojo and Yaoi romance.“

While I’m iffy about the implications of this trope, it is still an anime romance trope, and the anime team at Bones decided to throw in BKG doing a Kabedon for Izuku. I think they might ship it or something.

The Not Love interest

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheNotLoveInterest 

“The Not-Love Interest is the phenomenon in which the character fulfills a typical "Love Interest" role, but isn't intended by the writers to have that kind of relationship with The Hero...My Hero Academia:The Rival Bakugou to The Hero Midoriya. Bakugou is a source of inspiration to Midoriya, and more than one arc revolved around Midoriya trying to save or protect Bakugou. Both character's personal arcs are intimately intertwined and advance together with the plot of the manga.“ 

Always Save the Girl (Love interest)

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AlwaysSaveTheGirl

“The hero makes it plain that they value the life of their Love Interest over those of everyone else...It can come about as the result of a Sadistic Choice, only having enough time to rescue one person out of several, a case of the Dulcinea Effect, or whatever other requirements the plot puts in their way and plainly making a decision.“

Deku during the Hideout Raid/Training camp arcs really goes out of his way to save Kacchan, f the consequences. 

Battle Couple

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BattleCouple

“This is the kind of couple where bullets figure prominently in the story of their romance. Where "war buddy" and "significant other" are synonyms.”

They’re set up to be a superhero duo who fight together in the future. So this popular anime trope can apply.

Belligerent Sexual Tension

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BelligerentSexualTension

“There's a couple,...who are not able to admit their feelings. At the top of their lungs.Despite the conflict, there is an attraction. This is usually obvious to everyone around except the couple. Confront them with the obvious, they'll deny deny deny. Sometimes they will progress to admitting their friendship but insist they are Just Friends. Eventually, they can admit their feelings to practically anyone except their loved one. It ends up where both characters dance around admitting their feelings as if the words "I love you" are some sort of death curse, much to the frustration of the audience and the other characters.“

Pretty self evident, but they bicker a lot to hide their real feelings. 

Cherry Blossoms

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CherryBlossoms

“A common symbolic element in anime and other Japanese media, falling sakura petals have several interconnected meanings, depending on who they are falling on and the context thereof...Sakura season is thus a highly visible sign of spring, the beauty of nature, renewal of life, and first love... but can also represent the transiency and fragility of beauty, life (especially a samurai's life), and love.”

Again pretty simple: Cherry blossoms either meaning renewal/love or death. Since they pop up when D and K turn from middle school to high school, so the renewal/love interpretation seems to be right.

Crush Blush

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrushBlush

“Love — even Puppy Love, perhaps especiallyPuppy Love — makes the young and innocent blush.”

This blush isn’t in the manga. They added the blush onto baby Deku in the anime. (manga scene isn’t a close-up). And since he blushes around his official love interests...

Dismissing a Compliment

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DismissingACompliment

“Alice hears a compliment — of any type and quite possibly sincere — from Bob and says that it was not sincere, such as doubting he meant it for her particularly, or calling him a charmer, or a rogue, a silver-tongued devil or other less than honest characterization, or it flattery, or telling him to stop it, or describing it as an exaggeration.The compliment can be sincere; Alice can even know it. It's a ploy to avoid having to take the compliment at face value, and respond accordingly — assuming it's not fishing for more compliments.Ranges from a simple form of banter or flirtation — common with UST “

Yep. Lots of BKG doing this.

Finishing Each Other’s Sentences

(My favorite example of this is from Shoto Todoroki Origin: Deku: His movements are...Baku: Slower...”

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FinishingEachOthersSentences

“We've all heard it before... literally. Some people know each other so well, they finish each other's sentences. The effect is usually a demonstration of how close the two people are — they're so familiar with one another, they even think alike.”

First Girl Wins

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FirstGirlWins

“In romantic works, the first girl introduced — either overall or as a potential Love Interest — has a very good chance of ending up with the protagonist (especially if the protagonist is male).”

First Boy in this case. But yep. First Friend and BF Deku ever meets and likes as a little adorable kid. 

Her Boyfriend’s Jacket

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HerBoyfriendsJacket

“How does a TV show demonstrate that Bob and Alice are a couple? How to do it quickly and without making a big deal about it? Simple, Alice wears Bob's jacket. If Bob's some kind of athlete, expect it to be his letterman jacket.“

I think the gauntlets count. BKG gives Deku a piece of his clothing. 

Like an Old Married Couple

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LikeAnOldMarriedCouple

“Two characters who seem very comfortable with each other to the point that it seems like they have been married for a long time, though obviously it doesn't apply to couples who actually have been together for a long time. Usually it is done through constant arguments with each other, as only people who are so closely bonded can have such open communication between them (whether they will admit it or not).“

I picked this scene because they really do sound this way in this moment. Like, the “This is why we never have real conversations” scene. They sound like they’re arguing about getting directions.

The Reveal Prompts Romance

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheRevealPromptsRomance

“Alice and Bob are talking, and Bob has decided that it's time to come clean. He's going to tell her his dark and terrible secret. This secret could be one or more of any number of unpleasant or shocking or dumbfounding things. Maybe Bob is secretly a crime fighting vigilante, or a spy, or some kind of superbeing in disguise, or The Mole, or maybe he really likes reggae music. Whatever the secret is, it's going to be something that causes Alice to see Bob in an entirely new light, and totally reinterpret much of Bob's behavior.“

The Reveal is a pretty popular romance trope in Superhero comics - (Spider-Man and MJ, Superman and Lois, etc.) and so far Deku hasn’t told anyone else. 

Rivalry as Courtship

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RivalryAsCourtship

“A character in a story becomes romantically interested in someone and believes that the best way to get his/her attention is by being just as good as (s)he is, if not better, at something that (s)he does. “ 

This one is a rare anime trope but definitely around. So Rivalry Romance is kind of a thing. 

Violently Protective Girlfriend/Boyfriend

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend

“A violently protective girlfriend essentially acts like a much younger Mama Bear, except her Berserk Button is harm to her mate rather than to the kids; note that this inverts the usual expectation that the boyfriend is violently protective of the girlfriend (which may still be the case).“

Or Boyfriends, in this case. They are uber protective. 

[cornyregans]

Adapting Shakespeare to Sims: A Midsummer Night’s Resolution

Essay Word Count: 1,520 Thank You Word Count: 97 Total Word Count: 1,617

  Now that I have addressed how the scenarios at the Capp Manor and Monty Ranch parallel key scenes from Romeo & Juliet, I believe now is a good time to take a look at what goes down when you first play the Summerdream family. The Summerdreams are a family of four in Veronaville consisting of lovers Titania and Oberon, and their adopted children, Puck and Bottom. By looking at these four names you can deduce that all of these sims draw inspiration from characters from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in fact, their last name pretty much spells it out. As a result, we can easily deduce which Shakespeare play we should look at in order to dissect the scenario presented to us at the Summerdream home.

Shakespeare’s Original Play

  Like other comedies of the time, both by Shakespeare and by his contemporaries, A Midsummer Night’s Dream implements tropes such as love triangles, mistaken identities, use of stock characters, family tensions without deaths, and a group of interwoven plot-lines that manage to fit together by the play’s conclusion. That being said, arguably the most important aspect in identifying a comedy is whether or not it ends happily. In this particular case, A Midsummer Night’s Dream not only manages to deliver on what could be seen as a “feel-good” ending, but Shakespeare goes the extra mile by including a triple wedding for good measure.

  Now that we’ve gotten the genre of A Midsummer Night’s Dream out of the way, let’s take a look at the relevant characters. First, we’ll go over the four characters who lend their names to the Summerdream family. Oberon and Titania are the King and Queen of the Fairies, Puck is Oberon’s servant, and Bottom is a weaver who ends up as Titania’s lover due to a magical love drug. 

  The fairy plot kicks into gear because Titania refuses to let Oberon make her newly adopted changeling child into either a servant or soldier. This disagreement leads to a quarrel between the two, and eventually, Oberon calls on Puck in order to help him in both acquiring the changeling child and humiliating Titania. To achieve both of these goals, Oberon has Puck acquire a particular flower that, when its nectar applied to a person’s eyelids, causes them to fall in love with the first living thing they see. In Titania’s case, the first thing she sees after being exposed to the nectar is Nick Bottom with the head of an ass (the donkey kind).

  In addition to the fairy plot, there is also a bit of a love quadrangle surrounding four young Athenian nobles: Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, and Helena. Basically, Lysander and Hermia are in love with one another, yet Hermia also has a suitor in the form of Demetrius, who is in turn loved by Hermia’s best friend Helena. The two plots are intertwined when Puck is ordered by Oberon to sprinkle the flower’s nectar onto Demetrius’ eyelids so he’ll fall in love with Helena. However, Oberon’s instructions only specify to Puck that he is meant to sprinkle the nectar on the eyelids of a “young Athenian man,” this results in Puck mistakenly believing Lysander to be the man Oberon mentioned. After Puck sprinkles the nectar on Lysander’s eyelids, he ends up falling in love with Helena, while Helena in love with Demetrius, Demetrius in love with Hermia, and Hermia in love with Lysander. 

  Later on in the play, Oberon sees that Demetrius is still following Hermia around. As a result, he personally sprinkles the nectar on Demetrius’ eyes and has Puck fetch Helena so Demetrius will fall in love with her. This results in Demetrius falling in love with Helena upon waking up. Now both men are in love with Helena, Helena only loves Demetrius, and Hermia is still in love with Lysander.

  The plotline of the Athenian lovers is ultimately resolved when Puck sprinkles the nectar on Lysander’s eyelids causing him to fall in love with Hermia again; however, he does not do the same to Demetrius, who ends the play still in love with Helena. As for the fairy plot, Oberon does end up reversing the spell on Titania once he gets the changeling child he wanted. 

  The play ends with the triple wedding of Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, and Duke Theseus and Amazon Queen Hippolyta. Bottom and his fellow workmen perform a so-bad-its-good version of Pyramus & Thisbe at the reception, and Oberon, Titania, and Puck hop from marriage bed to marriage bed to bless all three of the couples. Finally, Puck addresses the audience with a soliloquy before the curtain call, apologizing to anyone that may have been offended by the fairy magic.

The Veronaville Version

  While the core aspects of the storyline are largely left intact, there are quite a few differences between Shakespeare’s original play and the version presented to us in The Sims 2. 

  In terms of the love quadrangle formed by the Athenian youths, only Hermia’s name and role remain relatively unchanged. Veronaville’s Hermia Capp has reciprocated crushes on both Puck Summerdream and Mercutio Monty; however, a look at her wants and relationship panel should you play the Capp Manor before the Summerdream family will show she’s more interested in the former. Hermia’s cousin Miranda Capp also has a crush on Mercutio, but unlike Hermia’s case, Miranda’s feelings are unrequited.

  The scene that is set up at the Summerdream house is meant to mirror the play’s romantic resolution. Puck and Hermia are situated next to each other upon entering the lot, with the tutorial pushing you to initiate their first kiss. Should you comply, the two will have their first kiss and subsequently be caught “cheating” by a jealous Mercutio. 

  Given Miranda’s absence at the party, this scenario doesn’t end up placing Mercutio and Miranda together à la Demetrius and Helena. That being said, a look at either sim’s relationship panel upon first playing their households shows that they already have a good rapport with one another. As a result, should you decide to pair them together, it’s very easy for Mercutio to reciprocate Miranda’s affections with minimal effort.

  Oberon and Titania’s role in this specific scenario is more akin to that of Theseus and Hippolyta than that of the characters they’re named after. Much like Lysander/Hermia and Demetrius/Helena, Theseus and Hippolyta also marry at the end of the play. However, since the other two couples are paralleled by teenagers, Theseus/Hippolyta (or in this case, Oberon/Titania) are the only ones who can end up tying the knot at this party. Though they are unable to marry without mods, you can also have Puck and Hermia go steady during the party as well should you choose to do so, which is basically the teenage equivalent in The Sims 2.

  A look at Titania’s wants panel upon first playing the Summerdream family shows that she wants to get engaged to Oberon, while Oberon wants to marry Titania. Their wants, combined with the wedding arch outside of the house, implies that the player should have them marry during the party. In fact, complying with these wants should raise the party’s score exponentially, which will, in turn, fulfill Puck’s want to have a great party.

  Finally, the party’s ultimate resolution may serve as a parallel to A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s play-within-a-play. As I mentioned while going over the plot, Bottom and his fellow workmen end up performing a so-bad-its-good version of Pyramus & Thisbe to celebrate the marriages of all three couples. By taking the in-universe reactions of Pyramus & Thisbe into account, the festivities at the Summerdream house could be bad, like the overall quality of the play, or good, like the unintentional humor the characters get out of watching it.

Final Thoughts

  As I stated the companion piece about the scenes from Romeo & Juliet, Veronaville contains many shout-outs to the works of William Shakespeare. While the names of the premade sims are the most obvious examples, the scenarios in place when first playing the Capp Manor, Monty Ranch, and the Summerdream household also fit into this category despite being more subtle. For the record, I first read A Midsummer Night’s Dream during my freshman year of high school for fun, and then in my sophomore year, it was required reading for my English class; That being said, much like with Romeo & Juliet, the similarities between A Midsummer Night’s Dream and tutorial at the Summerdream party weren’t made clear to me until last year while I was thinking about potential essay topics.

  While I’ve finished going over the Maxis-made scenarios in each of Veronaville’s occupied lots, there is still much I haven’t had the chance to cover yet. All of the sims inhabiting these lots, along with those in the sim bin, manage to parallel Shakespeare in a variety of other areas. Of course, some of these instances might be more obvious to you than others depending on your knowledge of Shakespeare canon, but I hope this essay was informative to you either way.

  Thank you so much for reading this piece on the events at Puck Summerdream’s party. While both of this weekend’s entries are on the shorter side, I do plan on posting some longer pieces soon (though I can’t say when due to my indecisiveness).

  I’m still debating on next weekend’s essay. I may post the essay I mentioned in a previous post about Capp family inheritance, but I haven’t made a final decision yet. But regardless of what I end up putting up here next, I sincerely hope you enjoyed what I had to offer this weekend.