#trope: misunderstandings

[xitsensunmoon]

Sun you're NOT helping

[voicesbyzane]

God remember that part in dungeons and dragons honor among thieves where it looks like they're going to do the Act 3 misunderstanding 10 minute friendship breakup but then the characters actually stop and talk about what they're going through and why they did what they did like healthy adults and the scene ends with them feeling a new level of trust and vulnerability with eachother.

[captainmaxatx]

Logan and Wade almost always do the nasty with the lights out and Wade is a little disappointed but he gets it and he resigned himself to a lifetime of dark sex long before Logan came along, sucks to know that your partner doesn’t want to look at you while getting down to business but its something Wade can live with.

Meanwhile, after a long day of stupid big bright lights Logan loves to have the lights out when making love with Wade because there isn’t any extra light bugging him and his natural night vision means he can see Wade perfectly, just the way he likes it

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

in The Wigmaker Job and to a lesser extent Veilguard we get a great deal of exposition/clues into how painfully observant Lucanis is. part of him being a top tier assassin is his ability to be hyperaware of everything going on around him and interpreting what that information means correctly, because if he gets it wrong he can die. so i don’t personally really think he was ever truly unaware that Rook was flirting or interested in him. i think instead his denial/avoidance about it stems from the fact that he feels like he is tricking Rook into thinking he’s someone deserving of love. he knows that they are interested in him, he just thinks they shouldn’t be, and wouldn’t want to be if they knew the “real him”

[moth-sapphic]

Bilbo is making his rounds through the medical tents after the battle, doing whatever he can to be useful. He checks in on the princes, bunks close together, both deep in a fitful, feverish slumber. He's dabbing away the sweat from Fili's brow when he hears Kili stir.

"Uncle..."

Bilbo rounds the bed and is quickly by Kili's side. "He's okay, he's just in the other tent-"

"-No. Not Thorin," Kili says, shaking his head. He looks up at Bilbo with a little pout. "Uncle Bilbo."

The title takes Bilbo completely by surprise, but he is touched nonetheless. He smiles fondly at the young dwarf and places a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'm here, what do you need?" He says, seeing no point in correcting Kili in his fevered, confused state. The poor boy must be delirious, he thinks.

It's not until later, when Fili and Kili are both of clear minds and still referring to the hobbit as "uncle", that Bilbo starts to feel he might have missed something important...

[kateksmallcuteowl]

June 26: Soulmates/Soulmate Marks AU

Your mark shows how old will your soulmate be when you fall in love with them. (Meaning both romantically and sexually)

For an event by @bagginshieldweek24

More headcanons after the cut. Seriously, there’s a lot, as I developed a whole idea but had no time to write a fic because of exams.

— Dwarfs come of age in around 80 y.o., having a soulmate from another race is a very rare occurrence; throughout the history of Middle-earth, there have been at most a dozen such cases, so most dwarves are unaware of this possibility. Having a mark with a number younger than the age of majority is a lifelong shame, essentially an admission of pedophilia. Unfortunately, this happens more often than having a soulmate from another race.

— Thorin spent his entire adult life, from the moment the mark appeared, wearing an extra layer of bandages under his bracers to prevent anyone from seeing the number. Fortunately, among dwarves, it is not considered inappropriate to hide the marks, as many value their privacy.

— The mark and thoughts about it were the reason why Thorin often appeared especially gloomy when the topic of romance came up.

— He truly tried to compensate for his "defectiveness" with his virtues.

— Of course, Thorin is a virgin.

— Bilbo, on the other hand, didn't think much about this; hobbits don't see anything wrong with living without their soulmate or seeing their soulmate as a friend. They are generally a loving people and don't worry about the concept of "the one and only."

— Although the topic of soulmates is considered highly romantic in hobbit literature, Bilbo was somewhat disappointed when he realized he would likely never meet his soulmate. (Hobbits are also unaware of inter-racial soulmates.)

— I tried to make young Bilbo look more like Frodo, so here he has smaller curls and a different style of shirt.

— Thorin and Bilbo both hid their marks, so when they felt an attraction to each other, especially after the Carrock, both were initially upset, thinking they weren't soulmates. Thorin, of course, was much more upset.

— During the two weeks they stayed with Beorn (yes, I'm mixing the movie and the book, what are you going to do about it? Slow burn needs time to be slow), they managed to reach the point of kissing near the river or something like that. But when Bilbo tried to unlace Thorin's tunic, Thorin stopped him and said that, unlike hobbits, for dwarves, sexual interaction is a very serious step in emotional attachment. It wouldn't be fair not to tell Bilbo what kind of monster he was getting involved with, because after seeing what Thorin had to show him, Bilbo might not even want to look him in the eye. Bilbo was honestly frustrated. (It is implied that Thorin used some term characteristic of a pedo... ahem)

— With a terrifyingly serious face, Thorin unwrapped the bandages on his wrist, and Bilbo, with a sinking heart, prepared to see a number like 5 or 12. Instead, there was a very respectable and completely normal age. Thorin turned away, not wanting to see the disappointment in the hobbit's eyes. Bilbo spent a few seconds calculating how long dwarves live and how old Thorin actually was.

— Thorin thought Bilbo wanted to shame him for having the audacity to enter into a relationship at such an age, knowing his soulmate's extremely young age. With closed eyes, he forced out that he was 195 and knew how disgusting he was because of it.

— Instead of a slap or something worse, which Thorin wouldn't have opposed, thinking any normal person had the right to treat him like that after seeing it, Bilbo reached for his own wrist and, with suspicious enthusiasm, pulled off the leather bracelet he had worn since the Shire. On the pale skin was clearly marked Thorin's age, written in dark ink with characteristic dwarvish notches.

— Some time passed in silence as they both realized that such a coincidence simply couldn't be.

— They were in for a very pleasant evening away from the company🌚🌝

— Later, when the entire company gathered by the fire, Bilbo and Thorin would come to them, holding hands, the hobbit nearly glowing with happiness in front, and a red-to-the-tips-of-his-ears Thorin slightly behind. This would be the first time anyone in the company saw Thorin without bandages, and if not for the matching age on Bilbo's wrist, now also not hidden by a bracelet, they wouldn't have believed Thorin could be normal with such a number on his skin.

— And the dwarves would realize how young Bilbo was by their standards.

— Truly, the ways of the Valar are mysterious.

— At the very end of the night, Fili would nudge Kili with his elbow and hint that since their uncle had an inter-racial mark, he might not be so angry and yell when he finds out that his brother has a four-digit number on his wrist.

[rosehathawhey]

Taggie O'Hara and The Mystery of the Christmas Bracelet RIVALS (2024-) | Episode 3

[pearlypeacepeacock69]

Very OOC but! Dash bullying Danny because

He's always had a crush on Danny

Thinks FENTON is a ghost that killed and replaced HIS Danny

Thinks PHANTOM is the ghost of HIS Danny

He's distraught he didn't get to confess but bitter sweet that his Danny is still kinda around.

Thinks he's connected the dots and tries to convince his friends to do the same without telling them why "to protect HIS Danny"

So he believes he's bullying the "imposter" while also supporting his crush Phantom/ OG Danny.

[blushweddinggowns]

I'm all for the angsty overhearing a conversation trope where it's all sad because of a misunderstanding. But I also love the opposite. Overhearing a conversation where the other person is just singing their praises. Especially with Steve and Eddie.

Like Steve being very aware that he likes Eddie, but way too afraid of rejection to actually do anything about it. So he just pines away, and gets closer and closer to him with the full expectation of it never going anywhere. Until one day, he comes to pick Dustin up from Hellfire too early, and he can hear everyone talking through the door. About him. But mostly it's Eddie, his loud voice carrying across the room. And he's just raving about him, and somehow managing to bring him up in conversations that have nothing to do with him.

Do you remember that time Steve saved my life by shoving my guts back into my body? Yeah, that's the level of skill and luck you're going to need to survive this.

Did you guys know that Steve actually gave me this background music? He's weirdly knowledgeable about classical stuff. Isn't that cool? He's so smart and-oh, yeah, the merchant agrees to the deal.

So uh, is Steve maybe seeing anyone? He isn't right? Like he would tell me if he was, wouldn't he?

And he doesn't give a single fuck at the collective groaning of the group whenever he gets going, never failing to pull out the I almost Died saving the world with you card to get them to shut up. And by the time it actually ends, Steve is a glowing, blushing mess who can't stop smiling.

Or the other way around. With Eddie full on assuming he has 0 shot because Steve's, Steve.

The golden boy who could obviously never be into him like that, or any other guy for that matter. So he doesn't do anything about his feelings, he just hangs out with him more and more and falls for him more and more, waiting for the inevitable day when he gets a girlfriend and his fantasies could finally die. Except one day, he spends the night at Steve's, but he isn't in bed when he wakes up. He goes to find him, just to hear him downstairs loudly talking to Robin. Because neither of them know the concept of inside voices when they're together. And he waits at the top, listening in just for the fuck of it, but mostly because he doesn't want to interrupt.

"I just feel like bed sharing the way you guys do is gay as hell," Robin sighed, "Especially at your age. Also, should we even be talking about this with him in the house?"

And before Eddie has time to freak out over that and the possibility he's gotten caught with his feelings, Steve is already answering, "I know right? And don't worry about it, he sleeps like the dead. But I don't know what to do about it. He still hasn't done anything. Am I just reading this whole thing wrong?"

"Well you could try making the first move instead of trying to trick him into doing it," Robin tried.

"And ruin our friendship incase I'm wrong? Yeah, no. Besides, I go like, full dumbass around him when I'm nervous. He's too hot. I'd probably walk into a wall in the middle of professing my undying love."

"Yeah," Robin sighed, "You probably would."

And Eddie is just having a moment upstairs. A full on I think I may have to jump for joy moment. Or even, I think I'm five seconds away from squealing like a teenage girl moment.

Yeah, I like that shit.

[elumish]

You speak on romance as a genre a lot, and there’s a trope I’d love to hear your thoughts on. I don’t know if there’s a real name for it, I usually just call it “perceived rejection” wherein Character A overhears/misinterprets/somehow comes to believe that Character B hates them, doesn’t want them around, only puts up with them for appearances, etc and now have to live with that misunderstanding until it’s cleared up. If there’s a proper name for the trope, I don’t know it, but I bet it’s related to another semi common romance trope of the love interest admitting they’re wrong/needing to beg forgiveness for something (ala pride and prejudice).

You’ve certainly read more of the genre than I have, I’m just wondering if you’ve seen this a lot and noticed any patterns about it?

Ooh, the hated misunderstanding trope (eavesdroppers never any hear good of themselves edition).

As with all misunderstanding plotlines, this is the sort of thing that can work really well or can feel extremely contrived. In my opinion, the two biggest things that make or break this trope are:

Is it believable that the character would hear the thing that they heard in the way that they heard it?

Is it believable that the character would misinterpret what they heard in the way that they did?

The most successful implementations of this trope, from my experience, are either when the thing that they heard reaffirms a belief they already had and/or is factually accurate. Overhearing that someone started pursuing them over a dare or bet, for example, has a much bigger impact on the reader if it's true than if the character misinterpreted what someone was saying.

The reason for this is that the biggest failure with misunderstanding plotlines is that they rely on characters continuing to not talk to each other. If what someone overheard was accurate, even if it's not the person's main motivation anymore (or isn't the whole truth), then simply clearing up the misunderstanding isn't sufficient, because the truth was still hurtful. Then the other character needs to make up for it, which makes for a more satisfying emotional arc.

I feel like I see this show up most in a few different ways:

Character B started their relationship with Character A under false pretenses but is now in love with them, and Character A overhears someone talking about the false pretenses

Character A already thinks that Character B is planning to leave them and then overhears something that implies that

Character A overhears Character B being defensive about the relationship or otherwise denying that it's romantic

Character A misunderstands an overheard conversation that Character B is having and assumes it's about their relationship

The problem particularly with the latter three is that often I read the conversation and either it doesn't seem like a conversation any human being would actually have in real life (so it feels manufactured just for the drama) or I can't read the misinterpretation from the conversation (so the misinterpretation feels contrived).

[konaizumi]

What I really like about this scene and what puts it over the top for me is that Joke knows Jack is talking about him. Like, there's surprise and shock that Jack is openly addressing it, but there's no confusion. There's no "who is this mystery person that Jack has feelings for?" This scene just felt a lot more exciting and tense because Joke understood what Jack was saying and exactly what he was choosing.

Just something about Joke visibly trying to lock it in a bit bc he can't afford to stop and fully process while in such a high stakes situation just has me obsessed, and it lead so well into the confession/kiss scene later on. The way that Jack and Joke both know what's going on, know how the other feels, but there's still that bit of uncertainty and hesitance--not necessarily about how the other feels, but simply bc circumstances are weird and uncertain.

[sop-soap]

RARE BLITZ PERSONAL LIFE W???

[artsy-writy]

Humans are so fucking weird that we use the term alien to describe an...alien's species despite alien simply meaning different or 'not belonging to this place or world'.

Imagine an alien's confusion when a humans first meets them and all their transalation devices translate is "out of this world."

———

Human: Oh shit-

Alien 1: Poop? Did we leave any waste product leaving around before we called up this human for a get to know meeting?

Alien 2: *checking notes* I believe...humans say 'shit' as an exclamation to something surprising, good or bad.

Human: Are you both...aliens?

Alien 1 and 2: *freezes, not understanding the translator chipped in their brains*

Alien 2: *turns around and whispers despite humans not being able to understand them regardless* did this humans just say 'out of this world'?

Alien 1: I think so...check what that means in your notes.

Alien 2: *checks notes. Double checks. Triple checks.* Uh...apparently that's what humans say when they meet someone or something extremely beautiful that they can't believe exists.

Alien 1 and 2: *stare at each other, blinking with confusion. Both turn to human.*

Human: so...?

Alien 1: *nudges Alien 2 while backing away*

Alien 2: *writes new notes* Humans are always in mating season and will find newly met species attractive....*looks up to human* I hope you may give me time to go over your confession.

Alien 1: *at the door, about to leave, nervous* me too...we have been told about certain humans' desire to connect with 2 or more mates...we will consider your confession and get back to you within 2-3 human days.

Human: ...*still not understanding their language, smiles awkwardly just hoping they won't get eaten.*

[theskyisorange]

I don't think you guys actually understand the term found family. The way you guys keep on pushing traditional nuclear family dynamics on supposed "found family". Like it's weird.

I saw a twt abt Joaquin and Yelena being like siblings or something idk. And I just ???? Don't get me wrong, I was actually interested in exploring the relationship between Yelena and Joaquin. But not everything has to be like siblings, parents, child or whatever yk.

"Bucky is Yelena's dad" this, "Bob and Yelena are siblings" that, or even the "Joaquin is Sam's kid" thing.

Like they can be friends and still be found family...

[ligayakoart]

Some AU that briefly crossed my mind a while ago where the only thing that swapped was their personalities

[stars-obsession-pit]

Jack and Maddie have realized something horrifying. Their son is being possessed by a dangerous ghost, and has been for some time. They don’t know exactly how long, but looking back, the signs had been for a while.

His strange reactions to their ghost hunting inventions, his new habit of vanishing from his room (or even from school) randomly, his sudden decline in grades, and a million other small things. The issues had gotten worse recently, but had been present for some time. It painted a grim picture. Had he been fighting it this whole time, the ghost gradually wearing away at his will?

No, that can be worried about later. First things first, they’re going to forcibly evict the monster and make sure that no ghost will ever be able to take over his body again.

…meanwhile, Danny is panicking with his friends about his newest foe. A remarkably powerful ghost who stole his body and keeps thwarting every attempt to take it back. Even beyond the typical dangers of a powerful ghost being out and about, its actions could end up revealing him!