History Fanfic / PoundTheTable

* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: Charles Xavier is very cautious about how he uses his telepathy for this reason; according to Erik, he was more cavalier about it when he was younger, until he accidentally caught a glimpse of what is implied to be Erik's memories of the holocaust. He hasn't casually read anyone's mind since.

* BaitAndSwitch: When Katherine Pryde is asked to testify at St. John Allerdyce's trial on his behalf, many readers were worried that the stress would activate her mutant gene, reveal her powers on the stand and torpedo Noa's whole case. [[spoiler: Kitty doesn't, but in the kerfuffle after St. John is declared guilty, Noa's [[GlamorFailure glamor is broken]] and her mutant features are revealed for all to see.]]

* ConvictionByContradiction: An aversion. In St. John Allerdyce's assault case, the prosecution's first witness, one of the victims, is caught in a lie about how the events went down and chooses to invoke his right to remain silent, causing the prosecution to withdraw the other victims from being witnesses. The Allerdyces are ecstatic since it proves that their whole case is built on a lie, but Noa and Matt have to throw cold water on their joy, since that in no way stops the whole trial.

* FriendOnTheForce: FBI agent [[AlliterativeName Catherine "Cate" Caine]], Noa's best friend in NYC and also captain of the local roller derby team. She and Noa have interacted a few times on both a personal and professional basis, [[spoiler: and Noa feels bad about lying to her to protect Erik and St. John, who are both on the run after St. John's conviction]].
* {{Gaydar}}: Noa and her new asssistant Joshua are able to ping that their new client Jacques Canter is gay, due to how well-groomed he is and who he checks out. This causes their other colleague Sophie to realize a few things about her youngest son.

* HopeSpot: [[spoiler: When the jury returns with their verdict, St. John almost collapses with relief when they find him not guilty for assaulting the first three muggers. However, for the assault on the fourth mugger, who broke his leg trying to run away, they '''do''' find him guilty.]]

* KangarooCourt: Avoiding this is one of the goals of the prosecuting Attorney and the Judge of the first act. While there are obvious attempts to sway the jury and the Judge is pretty blatant in his favoritism, nothing illegal happens in the court. After all, you can't make an example if the trial is a sham, not so close to re-election season. [[spoiler: However, Judge Andrews' antics of prejudicing the jury (by charging an officer with contempt for carrying a cigarette into the courtroom and reminding everyone of St. John's pyrokinesis) and not declaring a mistrial make it clear to everyone watching of the prejudice in the courtroom, especially after the jury returns a guilty verdict.]]
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: After all of Judge Andrews and DA Young's efforts to run St. John Allerdyce into jail, Andrews does one more instance of running after his retirement... running over Young with his car.]]
* KinkyCuffs: Variation; with a bunch of unconscious thugs in her apartment that need to be restrained, Noa gets out some red silk rope from her closet. Erik is very amused; [[LuminescentBlush Noa is very embarrassed]].

* PyrrhicVictory: The aftermath of the trial ''People of the State of New York v. S.J. Allerdyce'', at least for [[spoiler: Judge Andrews and DA Lou Young; their designated "dangerous mutant" St. John is found guilty, and the opposing counsel Noa Schaefer is outed as a mutant and is forced to resign from her law firm, but Steve Rogers a.k.a. ''Captain America'', who was observing the case incognito, gets the first word to the press and completely ''[[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech lambasts]]'' the judicial system for doing to mutants what the Nazis did to minorities, and then a mutant and Auschwitz survivor appears and not only publicly agrees with the Captain, but rescues St. John and spirits him away. Between those two and JJJ having a full head of steam, Andrews and Young end up getting shellacked in their re-elections (which was the whole reason they railroaded the case in the first place). Not to mention, Noa has plenty of evidence and briefs filed to bring both of them up on judicial misconduct charges.]]

* RuleOfThree: Noa gets worried when her secretary pages her three times during an important meeting, and heads out after the third page. [[spoiler:She's calling to tell her that her office has been vandalized with Nazi symbols.]]

* WorstNewsJudgmentEver: Inverted example. The day after the trial date for the first arc's case is set, Noa is expecting the media to be all over the story of a "dangerous" mutant being charged for assault, only for the front page to display a much more positive story: Captain America being found, thawed and rescued.

* MetaphoricallyTrue: When [[spoiler:Jameson's investigations into Peter and Spider-Man bear some fruit]], Noa explains the connection between them to be about both Peter and Spider-Man bearing guilt about [[spoiler:Aunt May's]] death during Spider-Man's first outing, while saying nothing about secret identities.

* CorneredRattlesnake: The Green Goblin decided to terrify and horrify Noa. [[spoiler: Her response was to bring the SEC, the FBI and Magneto down on his head.]]

* FriendOnTheForce: FBI agent Cate Caine, Noa's best friend in NYC and also captain of the local roller derby team. She and Noa have interacted a few times on both a personal and professional basis, [[spoiler: and Noa feels bad about lying to her to protect Erik and St. John, who are both on the run after St. John's conviction]].

* HateCrimesAreASpecialKindOfEvil: In a story in the 80s where minorities are a large theme, this comes as no surprise. [[spoiler:Noa breaks down in tears when she finds that her new office has been trashed and swastikas have been spray-painted everywhere, with particular ''artistic'' attention given to her mezuzahs and Jewish accoutrements. A suspicious amount, as Noa's FBI friend Cate notes, as the average skinhead wouldn't know what a mezuzah is and the hate crime is just a backdrop for a very [[ItsPersonal personal]] attack.]]

* HiddenDepths: Schmoel "Sam" Lieberman, senior partner at Noa's law firm and the one who hired her in the first place. At first glance, he seems like the textbook sexist boss who only hired Noa to be the "token female", holds her back because of her gender, calls her a dyke under his breath, and has a beef with her because she has stock in the "iron monger" company of Stark Industries (he's a Mondale supporter). But later, he tells her that she hasn't been made a partner because her CourtroomAntics piss off too many judges and he's had to placate more than a few of them by throwing several golf games, and he can't risk her getting sanctioned or disbarred. The reason he gives her the pro bono case for Judge Andrews (one of the aforementioned pissed-off judges) is because he needs to know she can handle a high-profile case like this with delicacy, and ''not'' end up on the Bugle's front page again. He is also regretful that despite two days of arguing and effort, [[spoiler: he couldn't save Noa's job, nor get her a better severance package, after she suffers a GlamorFailure in court, outright saying that she deserves better]].

* HumiliationConga: Happens to Boris Becker et al. When Becker loses to a newcomer Jacques Canter at the US tennis open, he accuses Canter of cheating with a mutant power, backed up by the officials, resulting in Canter being stripped of his awards and sponsors and barred from competing. When Canter decides to sue them for defamation, the resulting media attention grinds practically all sporting in the US to a halt as they await the verdict, and then Becker has to suffer through videos of college-age athletes recreating shots that he and several other tennis professionals, officials and analysts agreed were "impossible" being played as evidence (as well as having several of his promised experts decline to testify). [[spoiler: Losing the case and being forced to pay damages was a given, but then the judge decides that [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney the initial damages were chump change to a company as big as Nike, who could easily foot the bill as the cost of doing business]], so he ups the amount to a $250m amount that even Nike will feel in the morning.]]

* NoSell: [[spoiler: When Osborn sending thugs to Noa's house fails to do anything, the Green Goblin decides to pay her a personal visit, only to fly head-first into the Sanctum Sanctorum's wards (Noa lives in Greenwich Village, close enough to the Sanctorum)]]. The next day, the news has the headline "[[AddedAlliterativeAppeal GREEN GOBLIN’S GLIDER GLITCHES OVER GREENWICH]]".

* OrgyOfEvidence: When the Goblin decided to trash Noa's offices, he tried to make it look like a Neo-Nazi attack. However his desecration of her Jewish religious symbols revealed far more knowledge of Judaism than any Nazi would have.
* OutsideContextProblem: [[spoiler:Galactus's attack]] has the same impact on the story that a natural disaster would have - a massive, earthshaking event that the main characters can do nothing to affect; merely hunker down, pray for survival, and pick up the pieces in the aftermath.

* StunnedSilence: This is Peter and [[spoiler: Ben]]'s reaction when Noa tells them about the trust Jameson has set up for Peter's full earnings, for all of his Spider-Man photography work.

* AdaptationalHeroism: Magneto is firmly an AntiVillain and has not (yet?) given up on humanity.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Ben Parker is among the living in 1990. However, he is mentioned to be a widower, which basically means [[DeathByAdapation the opposite is true for May Parker]].]]

** During the last part of Chapter 16 [[spoiler:when Noa learns the name of her next client, who is being sued by Norman Obsorne]]:

* BullyingADragon: Noa is understandably uneasy about possibly deposing Norman Osborn during his lawsuit against her client, since she has just seen proof that he could be a superhuman (with SuperStrength at the minimum). Sam advises her to not let her fear hold her back and grill him like a roast under oath and in front of witnesses, [[PowerfulAndHelpless where his supposed strength means nothing]], document it when he retaliates, and when he inevitably slips up, call every ally she knows and come down on him like an avalanche.

* DraconicHumanoid: Downplayed; Noa's true, mutant form (which she normally hides behind her {{Glamour}} power) is based on the writer's ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' character, who is an Au Ra: [[LittleBitBeastly humanoids with a few draconic traits]] like horns, scale patches, and a tail, but are otherwise fairly human-looking. Dealing with a tail she can't let anyone see is, however, [[HumanFurnitureIsAPainInTheTail difficult]]...

* EntertaininglyWrong: Jameson reveals to Noa that he knows there's no way Peter Parker, a ''teenager'', just ''happens'' to be capable of getting good pictures of Spider-Man when professional photographers with experience in everything from disaster areas to warzones can't. The conclusion he reaches, however, is that Spider-Man is blackmailing a powerless kid into being his personal photographer to aid in his [[GlorySeeker glory seeking]]. Heartwarmingly, though, he has ''also'' opened an account containing all the royalties Peter is unknowingly earning for his photographs, to be paid out when he turns eighteen, so he can "get away from that menace."

* MetaphoricallyTrue: When [[spoiler:Jameson's investigations into Peter and Spider-Man bear some fruit]], Noa explains the rationale between them about both Peter and Spider-Man bearing guilt about [[spoiler:Aunt May's]] death during Spider-Man's first outing, while saying nothing about secret identities.
* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: For the last year or so, a computer virus has been showing up in the systems of various big companies and organizations, from Stark Industries and the Baxter Building to NASDAQ and Bristol Myers Squibb, that appeared to transmit their data over the dial-up lines bit by bit. No-one could figure out who was responsible, until it showed up in [[spoiler:the vandalized office computers of one Noa Schaefer, who recently took up a case opposing Norman Osborn]]...

* MuggingTheMonster: A few thugs show up at Noa's house to rough her up, only to find out that Erik Lehnscherr was house-sitting while she was out.
** [[spoiler:And then later Osborn tries to do the same when he's alone in the courtroom with Noa, only to find himself hogtied with metal cables.]]

* MundaneUtility: Thrown back to the 1980s, Noa takes advantage of her future knowledge to both pad her stock portfolio with companies that will be big in the future, and also catch Music/FreddieMercury live in concert.

* OhCrap: Noa and her client [[spoiler: Ben Parker]] have this reaction when their opposition Norman Osborn gets incensed enough to crack the arms of a mahogany chair with his bare hands, meaning that they are going up against a potential superhuman.

* ForWantOfANail: One result of Jameson's [[spoiler:successful investigation of Spider-Man and Peter Parker]] is that he now holds PI Mac Gargan in high esteem, so there will not be an impetus to turn him into the Scorpion.

** Due to how Noa lies about how she knows Magneto, Cate thinks Magneto [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/89805914/ is a rogue Mossad asset]].

* WrongAssumption: Norman Osborn, due to several misunderstandings, comes to the conclusion that [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/89805914/ Noa is a mind controller]].

** [[spoiler:Norman Osborn had Oscorp's legal council take up his case against Ben, and they were very capable of really making things difficult for Noa. Even so, his Goblin personality drove him to have Noa's office ransacked, making it seem like she was targeted by Neo-Nazis. But because he decided to have the computers in the office infected with the virus also used in corporate espionage, he'd inadvertently gave Noa a way to deny him his lawyers when they are forced to drop representing him in order to take up Oscorp's defense against the espionage charges. Granted, there was no way Norman could have known one of Noa's paralegals would have discovered the issue with the computers, or how that same paralegal was acquainted with someone who would recognize the virus as the same one being used against Oscorp's competitors.]]

** [[spoiler:Norman Osborn had high-powered lawyers, courtesy of Oscorp's legal team, take up his case, and they were very capable of really making things difficult for Noa. Even so, his Goblin personality drove him to have Noa's office ransacked, making it seem like she was targeted by Neo-Nazis. But because he decided to have the computers in the office infected with the virus also used in corporate espionage, he'd inadvertently gave Noa a way to deny him his lawyers when they are forced to drop representing him in order to serve Oscorp's defense against the espionage charges. Granted, there was no way Norman could have known one of Noa's paralegals would have discovered the issue with the computers, or how that same paralegal was acquainted with someone who would recognize the virus as the same one used against Oscorp's competitors.]]

* ConsummateProfessional: Despite her reputation for CourtroomAntics, Noa has a sharp air of professionalism about her when it comes to presenting a case correctly, mostly due to the need to be above-par at her job just to be recognised. After she strikes out on her own [[spoiler: after being outed as a mutant and being fired from her firm]], when a woman walks into her office and hands her a resume for the open secretary position [[spoiler: with mutant telekinesis]], Noa firmly tells her to come back in a week for a proper interview with all the proper references, and an actual suit. She's also not very impressed when her old boss calls in a few of her favours to get his son a job as her paralegal (however sympathetic she might be, she hates {{Nepotism}}).

* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: DA Lou Young was up for election, and was already leading in the polls. However, he decided he needed to be seen securing another conviction in order to make his case to the voters that he was tough on crime, no matter what, so he went after the 16-year-old mutant St. John Allerdyce. Because of his actions during the trial, his poll numbers collapsed. He wasn't voted out however, [[spoiler:because he died before that could happen.]]

* RevengeBeforeReason: [[spoiler:[[EvilIsPetty Norman Osborne goes out of his way to engage in extra-legal attacks on Noa for defending Ben Parker, including an attempt in his Green Goblin persona.]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard This only backfires on him as one his attacks, a virus uploaded into the computers of Noa's lawfirm, was discovered to be the same virus found in the computers of major companies.]] This opens him and Oscorp up to legal attacks from the affected companies and the FBI, resulting him in being unable to retain Oscorp's legal council in his lawsuit against Ben.]]

* YouOweMe: [[spoiler:Part of the reason that Noa takes up Ben Parker's defense pro bono against Osborne's civil suit. Ben is an old Korean War comrade of Judge Nolan and Noa knows that her improved financial status is the result of Nolan upping the damage claims awarded to her client Jacques Canter.]]

* ChekhovsSkill: When Noa was interviewing Joshua as a possible hire for her firm, the latter mentions he was getting his Masters in Computer Engineering. Following the vandalization of Noa's office, Joshua ends up to first to recognize a major issue with the computers. While he can't solve the problem, he does get expertise in the form of his professor. [[spoiler:Said professor not only recognizes the issue as a computer virus, but that he seen the virus in the computers of major firms.]]

** [[spoiler:Ben Parker was almost charged for assaulting Norman Osborne when the former was protecting Harry from the latter. Even if Ben avoided being charged, Norman is suing Ben.]]

* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: DA Young was up for election, and was already leading in the polls. However, he decided he needed to be seen securing another conviction in order to make his case to the voters that he was tough on crime, no matter what. Because of his actions during the St. John Allerdyce trial, his poll numbers collapsed. He wasn't voted out however, because he died before that could happen.

* DraconicHumanoid: Downplayed; Noa's true, mutant form (which she normally hides behind her {{Glamour}} power) is based on the writer's ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' character, who is an Au Ra: humanoids with a few draconic traits like horns, scale patches, and a tail, but are otherwise fairly human-looking. Dealing with a tail she can't let anyone see is, however, [[HumanFurnitureIsAPainInTheTail difficult]]...

--->[[spoiler:'''So instead,I leaned back in my chair and looked back over the city, and watched as Johnny Storm flew after what looked for all the world like a [[SilverSurfer shooting star.]]''']]

* RevengeBeforeReason: [[spoiler:[[EvilIsPetty Norman Osborne goes out of his way to engage in extra-legal attacks on Noa for defending Ben Parker, including an attempt in his Green Goblin persona.]] [[HoistByHisPetard This only backfires on him as one his attacks, a virus uploaded into the computers of Noa's lawfirm, was discovered to be the same virus found in the computers of major companies. This opens him and Oscorp up to legal attacks from the affected companies and the FBI, resulting him in being unable to retain Oscorp's legal council in his lawsuit against Ben.]]

* KangarooCourt: Avoiding this is one of the goals of the prosecuting Attorney and the Judge of the first act. While there are obvious attempts to sway the jury and the Judge is pretty blatant in his favouritism, nothing illegal happens in the court. After all, you can't make an example if the trial is a sham, not so close to re-election season. [[spoiler: However, Judge Andrews' antics of prejudicing the jury (by charging an officer with contempt for carrying a cigarette into the courtroom and reminding everyone of St. John's pyrokinesis) and not declaring a mistrial make it clear to everyone watching of the prejudice in the courtroom, especially after the jury returns a guilty verdict.]]

* ChekhovsSkill: Noa's employee Joshua was getting his Masters in Computer Engineering. He ends up to first to recognize a major issue with the computers of Noa's firm following the vandalization of the office. While he can't solve the problem, he does get expertise in the form of his professor. [[spoiler:Said professor not only recognizes the issue as computer virus, but that he seen the virus in the computers of major firms.]]

* DickDastardyStopsToCheat: DA Young was up for election, and was already leading in the polls. However, he decided he needed to be seen securing another conviction in order to make his case to the voters that he was tough on crime, no matter what. Because of his actions during the St. John Allerdyce trial, his poll numbers collapsed. He wasn't voted out however, because he died before that could happen.

* ChekhovsSkill: Noa's employee Joshua was getting his Masters in Computer Engineering. He ends up to first to recognize a major issue with the computers of Noa's firm following the vandalization of the office. While he can't solve the problem, he does get expertise in the form of his professor. [[[spoiler:Said professor not only recognizes the issue as computer virus, but that he seen the virus in the computers of major firms.]]

* HateCrimesAreASpecialKindOfEvil: In a story in the 80s where minorities are a large theme, this comes as no surprise. [[spoiler:Noa breaks down in tears when she finds that her new office has been trashed, with particular attention given to her mezusahs and Jewish accoutrements, and swastikas have been spray-painted everywhere.]]

* DisregardThatStatement: A common statement in the courtroom towards the jury, both for and against Noa's case, to which she usually thinks, "No, they won't. They never do."

* {{Gaydar}}: Noa and her new asssistant Joshua are able to ping that their new client Jacques Cantor is gay, due to how well-groomed he is and who he checks out. This causes their other colleague Sophie to realize a few things about her youngest son.

* HiddenDepths: Schmoel "Sam" Lieberman, senior partner at Noa's law firm and the one who hired her in the first place. At first glance, he seems like the textbook sexist boss who only hired Noa to be the "token female", holds her back because of her gender, calls her a dyke under his breath, and has a beef with her because she has stock in the "iron monger" company of Stark Industries. But later, he tells her that she hasn't been made a partner because her CourtroomAntics piss off too many judges and he's had to placate more than a few of them by throwing several golf games, and he can't risk her getting sanctioned or disbarred. The reason he gives her the pro bono case for Judge Andrews (one of the aforementioned pissed-off judges) is because he needs to know she can handle a high-profile case like this with delicacy, and ''not'' end up on the Bugle's front page again. He is also regretful that despite two days of arguing and effort, [[spoiler: he couldn't save Noa's job, nor get her a better severance package, after she suffers a GlamorFailure in court, outright saying that she deserves better]].

* TallPoppySyndrome: The Canter v. Becker et al. case involves a sports star getting a major win and then getting accused of [[TooQualifiedToApply being a mutant]] and barred from competing. While this case is underway, many of the top sports leagues put their major competitions on hiatus, since no athlete would dare to perform their best if it meant they could lose their livelihood from an accusation with minimal evidence. The amount of lost revenue and public pressure is the in-universe reason why this case rockets through the bureaucracy [[ArtisticLicenseLaw unrealistically]] fast.

* HumiliationConga: Happens to Boris Becker et al. When Becker loses to a newcomer Jacques Canter at the US tennis open, he accuses Canter of cheating with a mutant power, backed up by the officials, resulting in Canter being stripped of his awards and sponsors and barred from competing. When Canter decides to sue them for defamation, the resulting media attention grinds practically all sporting in the US to a halt as they await the verdict, and then Becker has to suffer through videos of college-age athletes recreating shots that he and several other tennis professionals, officials and analysts agreed were "impossible" being played as evidence (as well as having several of his promised experts decline to testify). [[spoiler: Losing the case and being forced to pay damages was a given, but then the judge decides that [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney the initial damages were chump change to a company as big as Nike, who could easily foot the bill as the cost of doing business]], so he ups the amount to a $250k amount that even Nike will feel in the morning.]]

Finding oneself [[SelfInsert transported into a fictional universe]] is hard enough, especially when it's the Franchise/MarvelUniverse. Being thrown into the Marvel Universe decades earlier than you were born is even worse. Add in being a mutant on top of all of that? Not fun.