Line #14 PlayingWith/LotusEaterMachine


1	'''Basic Trope''': A dream/hallucination designed to keep you trapped there through sheer pleasantness.
2	* '''Straight''': [[TheHero Bob]] is in a world that is paradise to him, but fade... he's hooked up to [[MadScientist Carl's]] machine!
3	* '''Exaggerated''':
4	** Bob is spontaneously good at everything he wants to be and can do no wrong, because Carl put a hallucinogenic microchip in his wristwatch.
5	** All of society live inside a giant virtual reality machine that allows people to live out their fantasies.
6	* '''Downplayed''': Bob is in a simulated world that's pretty much the same as the real world.
7	* '''Justified''':
8	** Carl realized that Bob would never stop until his work was done... and so made a world where it was.
9	** The device is Bob's way of taking a vacation. A dream lasts 10 seconds, but can feel like ages. A quick nip into WhatCouldHaveBeen so he can remember what he's fighting for, and he's right as rain.
10	* '''Inverted''':
11	** Carl traps Bob in his worst nightmare.
12	** Bob's mentor designs such a machine as a LeaveYourQuestTest to see whether Bob has enough HeroicWillpower.
13	** The entire story takes place in a simulated world, and Carl gets rid of Bob by disconnecting him somehow.
14	** Bob ''thinks'' Carl has put him in a LotusEaterMachine, but the audience knows that this is reality.
15	* '''Subverted''':
16	** The machine was the fantasy, the paradise ''is'' reality.
17	** Bob's paradise becomes a nightmare.
18	* '''Double Subverted''':
19	** ...Except that was [[DreamWithinADream layering]] Carl used to trick Bob.
20	** ...And then is paradise again as soon as he deals with the threat. People love him even more now!
21	* '''Parodied''': Carl suggests that it would be easier for Bob if he weren't a hero, and the mere suggestion causes him to fall into a dream.
22	* '''Zig Zagged''': Bob's in a machine of Carl's [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment machinations]], except that's the reality. But not really, that was a clever ruse. And now it's becoming nightmarish, but Bob saves the day and makes everything ''better''... but that pushes it into UncannyValley perfection, making it no longer perfect...
23	* '''Averted''': Carl doesn't use this sort of manipulation.
24	* '''Enforced''': "We need Bob to be out of the way for the first half of the episode, but he would ''never'' let this happen..."
25	* '''Lampshaded''': "Ah, yes. Put me in a perfect world. I'll ''never'' figure it out."
26	* '''Invoked''':
27	** "I won't ''make'' you stay. I'll just make you ''want'' to."
28	** A huge amount of money is invested in creating a perfect virtual reality.
29	* '''Exploited''': Bob realizes early on he's in a fake world, but loves it so much he decides to just stay.
30	* '''Defied''':
31	** Carl builds a happy-dream-machine, but decides that his hatred for Bob is too great and he won't give him a happy experience even as a trap. Instead, he starts working on a nightmare-machine.
32	** "You can't give me a perfect world. [[WorldHalfEmpty Such things cannot be obtained,]] only [[WorldHalfFull sought after.]]"
33	* '''Discussed''': "And now you're going to get me out of the way by offering me a fake image of my heart's desire."
34	* '''Conversed''': "You'd think Carlps would know Bill's willpower is too strong for that sort of thing."
35	* '''Deconstructed''':
36	** Bob's dream world is perfect... but [[TooGoodToBeTrue humans shouldn't be]], and the fact that they are makes everything ''[[UncannyValley creepy]]''.
37	** Bob falls into despair because he feels he's not worthy of living in a perfect world due to past mistakes.
38	** Although Bob returns to the real world, he becomes depressed because [[PerfectionIsAddictive it's so hopelessly terrible compared to the dream]].
39	* '''Reconstructed''':
40	** Carl realizes this in beta testing, and makes everything ''just'' imperfect enough.
41	** Carl mass-produces these machines as "mini-vacation machines".
42	* '''Played For Laughs''': [[AntiHero B]][[DarkAndTroubledPast o]][[BlackAndGrayMorality b's]] heart's desire is... half a cup of sugar. Turning it into a nightmare is spilling water into the sugar. Cue BigNo.
43	** His allies [[DreamWalker travel into the dream]] to save him, but find it to be extremely unexpected for Bob's personality, such as a ManlyMan Bob dreaming of living in a SugarBowl, or NonActionGuy Bob dreaming of being a SuperSoldier. When they manage to wake Bob up, he coughs in embarrassment and says "LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain".
44	* '''Played For Drama''': Bob desperately wants to stay, and no one can manage to get him to leave even though they'll all die without him. Then [[LoveInterest Alice]] [[CannotSpitItOut spits]] [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove it out,]] [[WhamEpisode forever changing the show]].
45	** Bob's unexpected dream illustrates his HiddenDepths desires that [[TragicDream he will likely never get to achieve in life]]. After being revived, he thinks back to his dream life and bursts into tears.
46	----
47	Go back to LotusEaterMachine. It's so nice and cozy...
48	----
49	%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
50	%%
51	%%* '''Implied''': ???

Context PlayingWith / LotusEaterMachine