History Literature / MixBeerWithLiquorAndYouWillGetSicker

* ApologisesALot: Lauchlan to a T. Corbin even comments on it; "I swear every other word out of your mouth is bloody 'I'm sorry.' It's almost starting to lose its meaning," to which Lauchlan promptly apologises, though he was tactful enough to rephrase himself.

* RollInTheHay: Played straight in chapter five.
* ShrinkingViolet: Lauchlan is an example of this. He has few friends and limited social skills. His crushing lack of self confidence and guilt complex prevent him from reaching out to those around him, and when relationships turn bad he blames and punishes himself for it.

* GentleGiant: Lauchlan is described as being 6’2” tall, broad shouldered and has [[PhysicalScarsPsychologicalScars prominent facial scarring]] and is soft spoken and kind hearted to a fault. He adores the draught horses he cares for, and will normally put their own needs before his own.

* InsecureLoveInterest: Lauchlan is in a near constant state of guilt and insecurity over the stories course, blaming himself for each and every emotional hiccup their relationship endures.

** Also reflected in the nameless street urchins. They decide that it would be great fun to torment a pair of Lauchlan’s horses by throwing snowballs and whacking them with sticks. [[BerserkButton This hits something of a nerve in Lauchlan]].

* ApologisesALot: Lauchlan to a t. Corbin even comments on it; "I swear every other word out of your mouth is bloody 'I'm sorry.' It's almost starting to lose its meaning," to which Lauchlan promptly apologises, though he was tactful enough to rephrase himself.

* LieBackAndThinkOfEngland: Subverted, justified and gender switched. Lauchlan goes into his relationship with near to no knowledge of male to male relations beyond [[IkeaErotica tab A goes into slot B]]. He actually believes than the dominant partner will be the only participant who feels pleasure, and resigns himself to performing this trope. Thankfully, [[IdealizedSex Corbin is quick to disillusion him]].
* MassiveNumberedSiblings: [[spoiler: Good god, Corbin -- the trope is PlayedForDrama for all it is worth. By the time Corbin left his family, his mother had given birth to ''sixteen'' children altogether (some of them twins) and had no intentions of stopping this business anytime soon. Corbin recalls that they basically lived like animals, extremely poor and each of them a working hand as soon as they were old enough to walk. [[MoralEventHorizon The last straw]] was when his favorite sister Eloise died of a disease, his mother got a new baby a few weeks later and named the new child Eloise, basically just replacing his sister.]]

* OneHeadTaller: Played with. Lauchlan towers above his love interest Corbin, who is only five foot tall. Corbin's forceful personality makes him the most dominant of the relationship, and will often climb or stand on things in order to nullify the height difference during intimacy. Intimacy aside, Lauchlan is often so cowed by Corbin's temper that he forgets the height difference completely. He is often described shrinking down and backing away from Corbin, a subconscious attempt to make himself seem smaller and less threatening.

* OneHeadTaller: Played with. Lauchlan towers above his love interest Corbin, who is only five foot tall. Corbin’s forceful personality makes him the most dominant of the relationship, and will often climb or stand on things in order to nullify the height difference during intimacy. Intimacy aside, Lauchlan is often so cowed by Corbin's temper that he forgets the height difference completely. He is often described shrinking down and backing away from Corbin, a subconscious attempt to make himself seem smaller and less threatening.

* TraumaCongaLine: Lauchlan seems perpetually stuck in one. [[spoiler: So far he's had an eye violently removed and his arm broken, been then fired from his job because his appearance (brought on by the violent enucleation) was too unsettling, he's been shipped far from home simply to make sure he wouldn't come back, becomes homeless and is forced to live in the poor house and later the streets. Even when his luck takes a turn and he's taken under the wing by a kindly mentor, things go wrong, as he's left by his lover and his mentor promptly dies.]]

* WhatDidIDoLastNight: The story begins in the aftermath of this trope. Lauchlan can remember next to nothing of the events of the night before, mainly that he hurt Corbin in a way he didn't think himself capable of. Corbin seems to have a perfect recollection of the nights events, but has shown no intention of sharing this information with Lauchlan.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Lauchlan has a deep-rooted case of scotomaphobia (fear of becoming blind) if any pointed implement comes too close for comfort he becomes increasingly distressed to the point of blind, thoughtless panic. Hes also rather jumpy when people approach or touch him on his blind side, and forget trying to get him to take of his eyepatch.

* {{Achey Scars}}: Lauchlan’s scars ache in the cold, and when he’s reminded of the incident that inflicted them. This is lampshaded when Lauchlan remarks that he knows the pain is just in his head, but he can’t seem to convince his body of the fact.
* ApologisesALot: Lauchlan to a t. Corbin even comments on it; “I swear every other word out of your mouth is bloody ‘I’m sorry.’ It’s almost starting to lose its meaning,” to which Lauchlan promptly apologises, though he was tactful enough to rephrase himself.

* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: subverted and lampshaded. Lauchlan is found by Corbin in compromising positions several times, but Lauchlan is never actually masturbating. Lauchlan remarks that this is becoming a particularly humiliating trend.

* CuddleBug: Lauchlan doesn't often receive physical affection, but when the opportunity arises he’s very, very happy to take it.

* EyeScream: Lauchlan lost his right eye in childhood. [[spoiler: Unfortunately the incident that injured it didn’t remove it completely, and the remains had to be [[MeatgrinderSurgery enucleated. Without anaesthetic. While Lauchlan was fully conscious and watching.]]]]
* {{Facepalm}}: Corbin is driven to facepalm many times over the course of the story. He’s particularly prone to the nose bridge pinch.

* KavorkaMan: Corbin, by his own admission, had been around the block a few times before his relationship with Lauchlan. Though he’s not much to look at, his actions certainly attest to having considerable prior experience.
* KindheartedCatLover: Lauchlan adopts an alley cat that had taken refuge in his house. She is jokingly referred to as a “stray infestation.”

* Mercy Kill: [[spoiler: Camilla (one of Lauchlan's favourite horses) broke a leg by stepping into a hole. Lauchlan is forced to sell her to the knackery, and she’s shot minutes later with Lauchlan still in earshot.]]
* MustMakeAmends: Lauchlan physically hurt Corbin during their drunken misadventure (probably due to his complete lack of experience with same-sex relations), and has been trying to make up for it ever since. Curiously, Corbin doesn't even seem to care, and brushes off Lauchlan's concerns and apologies. Lauchlan keeps on trying regardless.

* NoSocialSkills: Lauchlan is often bewildered or completely ignorant of social nuances and cues that play out right in front of his face. {{Word of god}} has it that he is on the autism spectrum.
* OneHeadTaller: Played with. Lauchlan towers above his love interest Corbin, who is only five foot tall. Corbin’s forceful personality makes him the most dominant of the relationship, and will often climb or stand on things in order to nullify the height difference during intimacy. Intimacy aside, Lauchlan is often so cowed by Corbin’s temper that he forgets the height difference completely. He is often described shrinking down and backing away from Corbin, a subconscious attempt to make himself seem smaller and less threatening.
* OneHourWorkWeek: Carefully subverted. Lauchlan's job as a stable master is an important part of the story. He’s described as working from five am to an undisclosed time in the evening and gets the day off on Sundays. This is described as a vast improvement over his previous work as a domestic servant, where he and his family worked from dawn till dusk seven days a week.
* ParentalSubstitute: Lauchlan has a loving and devoted mother, but has had two substitute father figures after his biological father died. His stepfather Theodore was particularly close to him, and taught him to read and write. Percival took him under his wing after circumstances forced him to leave his family, taught him his trade and left him his house after he died. However, this is averted when Lauchlan cannot bring himself to treat Percival as a father when he still loves and respects his stepfather, which becomes a source of guilt after Percival’s death.

* SlidingScaleOfPlotVersusCharacters: MBWLAYWGS rests firmly on the character end of the scale. There is no driving plot aside from the character’s archs, and no conflict aside from what is driven by said archs. On Ao3 it’s described as a character study.
* TheSnarkKnight: Corbin is fairly mild example. He commonly uses sarcasm, profanity and his generally caustic personality to chip through Lauchlan’s acute sense of propriety and shyness. However, he is equally wiling to use snark to deflect and redirect conversation in his favour, drifting into the territory of the {{stepford snarker}}.
* TraumaCongaLine: Lauchlan seems perpetually stuck in one. [[spoiler: So far he’s had an eye violently removed and his arm broken, been then fired from his job because his appearance (brought on by the violent enucleation) was too unsettling, he’s been shipped far from home simply to make sure he wouldn’t come back, becomes homeless and is forced to live in the poor house and later the streets. Even when his luck takes a turn and he’s taken under the wing by a kindly mentor, things go wrong, as he’s left by his lover and his mentor promptly dies.]]
* SpotOfTea: Tea is drunk relatively frequently, both for leisure and as a remedy for Lauchlan’s influenza.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Lauchlan has a deep-rooted case of scotomaphobia (fear of becoming blind) if any pointed implement comes too close for comfort he becomes increasingly distressed to the point of blind, thoughtless panic. He’s also rather jumpy when people approach or touch him on his blind side, and forget trying to get him to take of his eyepatch.

* CantHoldHisLiquor: Lauchlan rarely drinks and gets drunk notoriously easily. This leads to a bout of {{hangover sensitivity}}.

* CryIntoChest: Played with. [[spoiler: Lauchlan reaches emotional rock bottom,resulting in him curling [[{{TroubledFetalPosition}} into the foetal position]] and breaking into tears. Corbin manages to un-curl him and tries to embrace him by holding his head to his chest, but Lauchlan ends up dragging him into his lap in his desperation.]]
* CuddleBug: Lauchlan doesn’t often receive physical affection, but when the opportunity arises he’s very, very happy to take it.

* EyeScream: Lauchlan lost his right eye in childhood. [[spoiler: Unfortunately the incident that injured it didn’t remove it completely, and the remains had to be [[MeatgrinderSurgery enucleated. Without anaesthetic. While Lauchlan was fully conscious and watching.]]

* ForcedIntoTheirSundayBest: While not ‘forced’ Lauchlan hates wearing his best clothes. He describes himself as thuggish and lopsided in them, and compares himself to a circus animal stuffed into human clothing for the entertainment of the crowd.
* GentleGiant: Lauchlan is described as being 6’2” tall, broad shouldered and has [[{{Physical Scars Psychological Scars}} prominent facial scarring]] and is soft spoken and kind hearted to a fault. He adores the draught horses he cares for, and will normally put their own needs before his own.

** Also reflected in the nameless street urchins. They decide that it would be great fun to torment a pair of Lauchlan’s horses by throwing snowballs and whacking them with sticks. [[{{Berserk Button}} This hits something of a nerve in Lauchlan]].

* Mercy Kill: [[spoiler: Camilla (one of Lauchlan’s favourite horses) broke a leg by stepping into a hole. Lauchlan is forced to sell her to the knackery, and she’s shot minutes later with Lauchlan still in earshot.]]
* MustMakeAmends: Lauchlan physically hurt Corbin during their drunken misadventure (probably due to his complete lack of experience with same-sex relations), and has been trying to make up for it ever since. Curiously, Corbin doesn’t even seem to care, and brushes off Lauchlan’s concerns and apologies. Lauchlan keeps on trying regardless.

* OneHourWorkWeek: Carefully subverted. Lauchlan’s job as a stable master is an important part of the story. He’s described as working from five am to an undisclosed time in the evening and gets the day off on Sundays. This is described as a vast improvement over his previous work as a domestic servant, where he and his family worked from dawn till dusk seven days a week.

* SlidingScaleOfBeauty: The characters are all over the place, especially since Lauchlan is somewhat of an unreliable narrator due to his status as a {{shrinking violet}}. Corbin rests comfortably at level VII, and by all his appearances in art Lauchlan should sit respectably at level IV, but seems to see himself as a level XI. He may well have some level of dysphoria stemming from the {{eye scream}} incident, and his few, failed relationships.

* {{Apologises A Lot}}: Lauchlan to a t. Corbin even comments on it; “I swear every other word out of your mouth is bloody ‘I’m sorry.’ It’s almost starting to lose its meaning,” to which Lauchlan promptly apologises, though he was tactful enough to rephrase himself.

* {{Beautiful Dreamer}}: Subverted, to an extent. Lauchlan watches Corbin whilst he sleeps and remarks that Corbin seems much less intimidating this way.
* {{Cant Hold His Liquor}}: Lauchlan rarely drinks and gets drunk notoriously easily. This leads to a bout of {{hangover sensitivity}}.
* {{Caught With Your Pants Down}}: subverted and lampshaded. Lauchlan is found by Corbin in compromising positions several times, but Lauchlan is never actually masturbating. Lauchlan remarks that this is becoming a particularly humiliating trend.
* {{City with no Name}}: The city the story takes place in is never named, though it is undeniably British.
* {{Comfort Food}}: Lauchlan and porridge.
* {{Compassionate Critic}}: Corbin often berates Lauchlan for showing more compassion than is deserved. This is justified when Lauchlan realizes that his [[{{Adults Are Useless}} soft-handed approach to leadership has been taken advantage of, to the point where the children have formed what amount to gangs and terrorize one another.]]
* {{Cry Into Chest}}: Played with. [[spoiler: Lauchlan reaches emotional rock bottom,resulting in him curling [[{{TroubledFetalPosition}} into the foetal position]] and breaking into tears. Corbin manages to un-curl him and tries to embrace him by holding his head to his chest, but Lauchlan ends up dragging him into his lap in his desperation.]]
* {{Cuddle Bug}}: Lauchlan doesn’t often receive physical affection, but when the opportunity arises he’s very, very happy to take it.
* {{Death Glare}}: Corbin is a master of the deathglare, and unleashes them to great effect.
* {{Eye scream}}: Lauchlan lost his right eye in childhood. [[spoiler: Unfortunately the incident that injured it didn’t remove it completely, and the remains had to be [[{{meatgrinder surgery}} enucleated. Without anaesthetic. While Lauchlan was fully conscious and watching.]]]]

* {{Forced Into Their Sunday Best}}: While not ‘forced’ Lauchlan hates wearing his best clothes. He describes himself as thuggish and lopsided in them, and compares himself to a circus animal stuffed into human clothing for the entertainment of the crowd.
* {{Gentle Giant}}: Lauchlan is described as being 6’2” tall, broad shouldered and has [[{{Physical Scars Psychological Scars}} prominent facial scarring]] and is soft spoken and kind hearted to a fault. He adores the draught horses he cares for, and will normally put their own needs before his own.
* {{Guilt Complex}}: Lauchlan has the mother of all guilt complexes. He holds himself personally accountable for the wellbeing and happiness of people who don’t even like him, and seems to believe anything done purely for pleasure on his part is an act of selfishness, a trait he loathes and believes will cause everyone pain. As a result, he rarely even considers his own emotional wellbeing and actively represses his own desires and emotional needs.
* {{Idiosyncratic Episode Naming}}: All of the chapters, and the story itself, are named after idioms and sayings that usually relate closely to the chapters content. For instance, chapter one is titled A Can of Worms, and sure enough one whopping, metaphorical can of them is opened during the chapter.

* {{Insecure Love Interest}}: Lauchlan is in a near constant state of guilt and insecurity over the stories course, blaming himself for each and every emotional hiccup their relationship endures.

* {{Kindhearted Cat Lover}}: Lauchlan adopts an alley cat that had taken refuge in his house. She is jokingly referred to as a “stray infestation.”
* {{Kids are Cruel}}: Finch is a renowned bully and terror at fourteen years old. He and his sycophants threaten violence on children up to five years younger than they are, steal their wages and play cruel pranks when on the clock.

* {{Mercy Kill}}: [[spoiler: Camilla (one of Lauchlan’s favourite horses) broke a leg by stepping into a hole. Lauchlan is forced to sell her to the knackery, and she’s shot minutes later with Lauchlan still in earshot.]]

* {{Lie Back And Think Of England}}: Subverted, justified and gender switched. Lauchlan goes into his relationship with near to no knowledge of male to male relations beyond [[IkeaErotica tab A goes into slot B]]. He actually believes than the dominant partner will be the only participant who feels pleasure, and resigns himself to performing this trope. Thankfully, [[IdealizedSex Corbin is quick to disillusion him]].
* {{Must Make Amends}}: Lauchlan physically hurt Corbin during their drunken misadventure, and has been trying to make up for it ever since. Curiously, Corbin doesn’t even seem to care, and brushes off Lauchlan’s concerns and apologies. Lauchlan keeps on trying regardless.
* {{No Social Skills}}: Lauchlan is often bewildered or completely ignorant of social nuances and cues that play out right in front of his face. {{Word of god}} has it that he is on the autism spectrum.
* {{One Head Taller}}: Played with. Lauchlan towers above his love interest Corbin, who is only five foot tall. Corbin’s forceful personality makes him the most dominant of the relationship, and will often climb or stand on things in order to nullify the height difference during intimacy. Intimacy aside, Lauchlan is often so cowed by Corbin’s temper that he forgets the height difference completely. He is often described shrinking down and backing away from Corbin, a subconscious attempt to make himself seem smaller and less threatening.

* {{Parental Substitute}}: Lauchlan has a loving and devoted mother, but has had two substitute father figures after his biological father died. His stepfather Theodore was particularly close to him, and taught him to read and write. Percival took him under his wing after circumstances forced him to leave his family, taught him his trade and left him his house after he died. However, this is averted when Lauchlan cannot bring himself to treat Percival as a father when he still loves and respects his stepfather, which becomes a source of guilt after Percival’s death.
* {{Roll In The Hay}}: Played straight in chapter five.
* {{Shrinking Violet}}: Lauchlan is an example of this. He has few friends and limited social skills. His crushing lack of self confidence and guilt complex prevent him from reaching out to those around him, and when relationships turn bad he blames and punishes himself for it.
* {{Sliding Scale of Beauty}}: The characters are all over the place, especially since Lauchlan is somewhat of an unreliable narrator due to his status as a {{shrinking violet}}. Corbin rests comfortably at level VII, and by all his appearances in art Lauchlan should sit respectably at level IV, but seems to see himself as a level XI. He may well have some level of dysphoria stemming from the {{eye scream}} incident, and his few, failed relationships.
* {{Sliding Scale of Plot Versus Characters}}: MBWLAYWGS rests firmly on the character end of the scale. There is no driving plot aside from the character’s archs, and no conflict aside from what is driven by said archs. On Ao3 it’s described as a character study.
* {{The Snark Knight}}: Corbin is fairly mild example. He commonly uses sarcasm, profanity and his generally caustic personality to chip through Lauchlan’s acute sense of propriety and shyness. However, he is equally wiling to use snark to deflect and redirect conversation in his favour, drifting into the territory of the {{stepford snarker}}.
* {{Trauma Conga Line}}: Lauchlan seems perpetually stuck in one. [[spoiler: So far he’s had an eye violently removed and his arm broken, been then fired from his job because his appearance (brought on by the violent enucleation) was too unsettling, he’s been shipped far from home simply to make sure he wouldn’t come back, becomes homeless and is forced to live in the poor house and later the streets. Even when his luck takes a turn and he’s taken under the wing by a kindly mentor, things go wrong, as he’s left by his lover and his mentor promptly dies.]]
* {{Spot of Tea}}: Tea is drunk relatively frequently, both for leisure and as a remedy for Lauchlan’s influenza.

* {{Snowed In}}: Lauchlan and Corbin are subject to this, though Corbin seems to have taken advantage of the situation in order to have Lauchlan to himself, only to be laid up with hypothermia in the process.
* {{Stress Vomit}}: Lauchlan is prone to this, particularly when something reminds him of his childhood trauma.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Lauchlan has a deep-rooted case of scotomaphobia (fear of becoming blind) if any pointed implement comes too close for comfort he becomes increasingly distressed to the point of blind, thoughtless panic. He’s also rather jumpy when people approach or touch him on his blind side, and forget trying to get him to take of his eyepatch.

* InLoveWithLove: Lauchlan believed himself to be in love with [[lasthetromance Ida]], a woman who had left him, but as he begins to explore his sexuality, he realized that he had not loved her that way, and in fact, could never feel anything for her beyond loving the idea of her. Finally having answer as to why his relationships keep on falling apart, this revelation is surprisingly comforting.

* {{Achey Scars}} : Lauchlan’s scars ache in the cold, and when he’s reminded of the incident that inflicted them. This is lampshaded when Lauchlan remarks that he knows the pain is just in his head, but he can’t seem to convince his body of the fact.
* {{Apologises A Lot}} : Lauchlan to a t. Corbin even comments on it; “I swear every other word out of your mouth is bloody ‘I’m sorry.’ It’s almost starting to lose its meaning,” to which Lauchlan promptly apologises, though he was tactful enough to rephrase himself.
* {{Beautiful Dreamer}} : Subverted, to an extent. Lauchlan watches Corbin whilst he sleeps and remarks that Corbin seems much less intimidating this way.
* {{Cant Hold His Liquor}} : Lauchlan rarely drinks and gets drunk notoriously easily. This leads to a bout of {{hangover sensitivity}}.
* {{Caught With Your Pants Down}} : subverted and lampshaded. Lauchlan is found by Corbin in compromising positions several times, but Lauchlan is never actually masturbating. Lauchlan remarks that this is becoming a particularly humiliating trend.
* {{City with no Name}} : The city the story takes place in is never named, though it is undeniably British.
* {{Comfort Food}} : Lauchlan and porridge.
* {{Compassionate Critic}} : Corbin often berates Lauchlan for showing more compassion than is deserved. This is justified when Lauchlan realizes that his [[{{Adults Are Useless}} soft-handed approach to leadership has been taken advantage of, to the point where the children have formed what amount to gangs and terrorize one another.]]
* {{Cry Into Chest}} : Played with. [[spoiler: Lauchlan reaches emotional rock bottom,resulting in him curling [[{{TroubledFetalPosition}} into the foetal position]] and breaking into tears. Corbin manages to un-curl him and tries to embrace him by holding his head to his chest, but Lauchlan ends up dragging him into his lap in his desperation.]]

* {{Death Glare}} : Corbin is a master of the deathglare, and unleashes them to great effect.
* {{Eye scream}} : Lauchlan lost his right eye in childhood. [[spoiler: Unfortunately the incident that injured it didn’t remove it completely, and the remains had to be [[{{meatgrinder surgery}} enucleated. Without anaesthetic. While Lauchlan was fully conscious and watching.]]]]

* {{Forced Into Their Sunday Best}} : While not ‘forced’ Lauchlan hates wearing his best clothes. He describes himself as thuggish and lopsided in them, and compares himself to a circus animal stuffed into human clothing for the entertainment of the crowd.
* {{Gentle Giant}} : Lauchlan is described as being 6’2” tall, broad shouldered and has [[{{Physical Scars Psychological Scars}} prominent facial scarring]] and is soft spoken and kind hearted to a fault. He adores the draught horses he cares for, and will normally put their own needs before his own.
* {{Guilt Complex}} : Lauchlan has the mother of all guilt complexes. He holds himself personally accountable for the wellbeing and happiness of people who don’t even like him, and seems to believe anything done purely for pleasure on his part is an act of selfishness, a trait he loathes and believes will cause everyone pain. As a result, he rarely even considers his own emotional wellbeing and actively represses his own desires and emotional needs.
* {{Idiosyncratic Episode Naming}} : All of the chapters, and the story itself, are named after idioms and sayings that usually relate closely to the chapters content. For instance, chapter one is titled A Can of Worms, and sure enough one whopping, metaphorical can of them is opened during the chapter.
* {{Insecure Love Interest}} : Lauchlan is in a near constant state of guilt and insecurity over the stories course, blaming himself for each and every emotional hiccup their relationship endures.
* {{Kindhearted Cat Lover}} : Lauchlan adopts an alley cat that had taken refuge in his house. She is jokingly referred to as a “stray infestation.”
* {{Kids are Cruel}} : Finch is a renowned bully and terror at fourteen years old. He and his sycophants threaten violence on children up to five years younger than they are, steal their wages and play cruel pranks when on the clock.

* {{Mercy Kill}} : [[spoiler: Camilla (one of Lauchlan’s favourite horses) broke a leg by stepping into a hole. Lauchlan is forced to sell her to the knackery, and she’s shot minutes later with Lauchlan still in earshot.]]
* {{Lie Back And Think Of England}} : Subverted, justified and gender switched. Lauchlan goes into his relationship with near to no knowledge of male to male relations beyond [[IkeaErotica tab A goes into slot B]]. He actually believes than the dominant partner will be the only participant who feels pleasure, and resigns himself to performing this trope. Thankfully, [[IdealizedSex Corbin is quick to disillusion him]].
* {{Must Make Amends}} : Lauchlan physically hurt Corbin during their drunken misadventure, and has been trying to make up for it ever since. Curiously, Corbin doesn’t even seem to care, and brushes off Lauchlan’s concerns and apologies. Lauchlan keeps on trying regardless.
* {{No Social Skills}} : Lauchlan is often bewildered or completely ignorant of social nuances and cues that play out right in front of his face. {{Word of god}} has it that he is on the autism spectrum.
* {{One Head Taller}} : Played with. Lauchlan towers above his love interest Corbin, who is only five foot tall. Corbin’s forceful personality makes him the most dominant of the relationship, and will often climb or stand on things in order to nullify the height difference during intimacy. Intimacy aside, Lauchlan is often so cowed by Corbin’s temper that he forgets the height difference completely. He is often described shrinking down and backing away from Corbin, a subconscious attempt to make himself seem smaller and less threatening.
* OneHourWorkWeek : Carefully subverted. Lauchlan’s job as a stable master is an important part of the story. He’s described as working from five am to an undisclosed time in the evening and gets the day off on Sundays. This is described as a vast improvement over his previous work as a domestic servant, where he and his family worked from dawn till dusk seven days a week.
* {{Parental Substitute}} : Lauchlan has a loving and devoted mother, but has had two substitute father figures after his biological father died. His stepfather Theodore was particularly close to him, and taught him to read and write. Percival took him under his wing after circumstances forced him to leave his family, taught him his trade and left him his house after he died. However, this is averted when Lauchlan cannot bring himself to treat Percival as a father when he still loves and respects his stepfather, which becomes a source of guilt after Percival’s death.
* {{Roll In The Hay}} : Played straight in chapter five.
* {{Shrinking Violet}} : Lauchlan is an example of this. He has few friends and limited social skills. His crushing lack of self confidence and guilt complex prevent him from reaching out to those around him, and when relationships turn bad he blames and punishes himself for it.
* {{Sliding Scale of Beauty}} : The characters are all over the place, especially since Lauchlan is somewhat of an unreliable narrator due to his status as a {{shrinking violet}}. Corbin rests comfortably at level VII, and by all his appearances in art Lauchlan should sit respectably at level IV, but seems to see himself as a level XI. He may well have some level of dysphoria stemming from the {{eye scream}} incident, and his few, failed relationships.
* {{Sliding Scale of Plot Versus Characters}} : MBWLAYWGS rests firmly on the character end of the scale. There is no driving plot aside from the character’s archs, and no conflict aside from what is driven by said archs. On Ao3 it’s described as a character study.
* {{The Snark Knight}} : Corbin is fairly mild example. He commonly uses sarcasm, profanity and his generally caustic personality to chip through Lauchlan’s acute sense of propriety and shyness. However, he is equally wiling to use snark to deflect and redirect conversation in his favour, drifting into the territory of the {{stepford snarker}}.
* {{Trauma Conga Line}} : Lauchlan seems perpetually stuck in one. [[spoiler: So far he’s had an eye violently removed and his arm broken, been then fired from his job because his appearance (brought on by the violent enucleation) was too unsettling, he’s been shipped far from home simply to make sure he wouldn’t come back, becomes homeless and is forced to live in the poor house and later the streets. Even when his luck takes a turn and he’s taken under the wing by a kindly mentor, things go wrong, as he’s left by his lover and his mentor promptly dies.]]
* {{Spot of Tea}} : Tea is drunk relatively frequently, both for leisure and as a remedy for Lauchlan’s influenza.

* {{Stress Vomit}} : Lauchlan is prone to this, particularly when something reminds him of his childhood trauma.
* WhatDidIDoLastNight : The story begins in the aftermath of this trope. Lauchlan can remember next to nothing of the events of the night before, mainly that he hurt Corbin in a way he didn't think himself capable of. Corbin seems to have a perfect recollection of the nights events, but has shown no intention of sharing this information with Lauchlan.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes : Lauchlan has a deep-rooted case of scotomaphobia (fear of becoming blind) if any pointed implement comes too close for comfort he becomes increasingly distressed to the point of blind, thoughtless panic. He’s also rather jumpy when people approach or touch him on his blind side, and forget trying to get him to take of his eyepatch.

* {{Sliding Scale of Beauty}} : The characters are all over the place, especially since Lauchlan is somewhat of an unreliable narrator due to his status as a {{shrinking violet}}. Corbin rests comfortably at level VII, and by all his appearances in art he should sit respectably at level IV, but seems to see himself as a level XI. He may well have some level of dysphoria stemming from the {{eye scream}} incident, and his few, failed relationships.

* {{Sliding Scale of Plot Versus Characters}} : Mix beer with liquor rests firmly on the character end of the scale. There is no driving plot aside from the character’s archs, and no conflict aside from what is driven by said archs. On Ao3 it’s described as a character study.

* {{Cry Into Chest}} : Played with. [[spoiler: When Lauchlan reaches emotional rock bottom, [[{{TroubledFetalPosition}}curls into the foetal position]] and breaks into tears. Corbin manages to un-curl him and tries to embrace him by holding his head to his chest, but Lauchlan ends up dragging him into his lap in his desperation.]]

* {{Compassionate Critic}} : Corbin often berates Lauchlan for showing more compassion than is deserved. This is justified when Lauchlan realizes that his [[{{Adults Are Useless}} soft-handed approach to leadership has been taken advantage of, to the point where the children have formed what amount to gangs and terrorize one another.]]

* {{Why Did it Have to be Snakes}} : Lauchlan has a deep-rooted case of scotomaphobia (fear of becoming blind) if any pointed implement comes too close for comfort he becomes increasingly distressed to the point of blind, thoughtless panic. He’s also rather jumpy when people approach or touch him on his blind side, and forget trying to get him to take of his eyepatch.

* {{Gentle Giant}} : Lauchlan is described as being 6’2” tall, broad shouldered and has [[{{Physical Scars Psychological Scars}} prominent facial scarring]] and is soft spoken and kind hearted to a fault. He adores the draught horses he cares for, and will normally put their own needs before his own.

* {{Guilt Complex}} : Lauchlan has the mother of all guilt complexes. He holds himself personally accountable for the wellbeing and happiness of people who don’t even like him, and seems to believe anything done purely for pleasure on his part is an act of selfishness, a trait he loathes and believes will cause everyone pain. As a result, he rarely even considers his own emotional wellbeing and actively represses his own desires and emotional needs.

* {{Caustic Critic}} : Corbin often berates Lauchlan for showing more compassion than is deserved. This is justified when Lauchlan realizes that his [[{{Adults Are Useless}} soft-handed approach to leadership has been taken advantage of, to the point where the children have formed what amount to gangs and terrorize one another.]]

* {{Lie Back And Think Of England}} : Played with, justified and gender switched. Lauchlan goes into his relationship with near to no knowledge of male to male relations beyond [[IkeaErotica tab A goes into slot B]]. He actually believes than the dominant partner will be the only participant who feels pleasure, and resigns himself to performing this trope. Thankfully, [[IdealizedSex Corbin is quick to disillusion him]].

* {{Lie Back And Think Of England}} : Justified and gender switched, Lauchlan goes into his relationship with near to no knowledge of male to male relations beyond [[IkeaErotica tab A goes into slot B]]. He actually believes than the dominant partner will be the only participant who feels pleasure, and resigns himself to performing this trope. Thankfully, [[IdealizedSex Corbin is quick to disillusion him]].

* {{Guilt Complex}} : Lauchlan has the mother of all guilt complexes. He holds himself personally accountable for the wellbeing and happiness of people who don’t even like him, and seems to believe anything done purely for pleasure on his part is an act of selfishness, a trait he loathes and believes will cause everyone pain. As a result, he rarely even considers his own emotional wellbeing, actively repressing his own desires and emotional needs.

* {{Gentle Giant}} : Lauchlan is described as being 6’2” tall, broad shouldered and has [[{{Physical Scars, Psychological Scars}} prominent facial scarring]] and is soft spoken and kind hearted to a fault. He adores the draught horses he cares for, and will normally put their own needs before his own.

!! [Mix Beer With Liquor and You Will Get Sicker] contains examples of:

• {{Apologises A Lot}} : Lauchlan to a t. Corbin even comments on it; “I swear every other word out of your mouth is bloody ‘I’m sorry.’ It’s almost starting to lose its meaning,” to which Lauchlan promptly apologises, though he was tactful enough to rephrase himself.

• {{Beautiful Dreamer}} : Subverted, to an extent. Lauchlan watches Corbin whilst he sleeps and remarks that Corbin seems much less intimidating this way.

• {{Cant Hold His Liquor}} : Lauchlan rarely drinks and gets drunk notoriously easily. This leads to a bout of {{hangover sensitivity}}.

• {{Caught With Your Pants Down}} : subverted and lampshaded. Lauchlan is found by Corbin in compromising positions several times, but Lauchlan is never actually masturbating. Lauchlan remarks that this is becoming a particularly humiliating trend.

• {{Caustic Critic}} : Corbin often berates Lauchlan for showing more compassion than is deserved. This is justified when Lauchlan realizes that his [[{{Adults Are Useless}} soft-handed approach to leadership has been taken advantage of, to the point where the children have formed what amount to gangs and terrorize one another.]]

• {{Cuddle Bug}}: Lauchlan doesn’t often receive physical affection, but when the opportunity arises he’s very, very happy to take it.

• {{Death Glare}} : Corbin is a master of the deathglare, and unleashes them to great effect.

• {{Facepalm}}: Corbin is driven to facepalm many times over the course of the story. He’s particularly prone to the nose bridge pinch.

• {{Insecure Love Interest}} : Lauchlan is in a near constant state of guilt and insecurity over the stories course, blaming himself for each and every emotional hiccup their relationship endures.

• {{Gentle Giant}} : Lauchlan is described as being 6’2” tall, broad shouldered and has [[{{Physical Scars, Psychological Scars}} prominent facial scarring]] and is soft spoken and kind hearted to a fault. He adores the draught horses he cares for, and will normally put their own needs before his own.

• {{Guilt Complex}} : Lauchlan has the mother of all guilt complexes. He holds himself personally accountable for the wellbeing and happiness of people who don’t even like him, and seems to believe anything done purely for pleasure on his part is an act of selfishness, a trait he loathes and believes will cause everyone pain. As a result, he rarely even considers his own emotional wellbeing, actively repressing his own desires and emotional needs.

• {{Kindhearted Cat Lover}} : Lauchlan adopts an alley cat that had taken refuge in his house. She is jokingly referred to as a “stray infestation.”

• {{Kids are Cruel}} : Finch is a renowned bully and terror at fourteen years old. He and his sycophants threaten violence on children up to five years younger than they are, steal their wages and play cruel pranks when on the clock.
• Also reflected in the nameless street urchins. They decide that it would be great fun to torment a pair of Lauchlan’s horses by throwing snowballs and whacking them with sticks. [[{{Berserk Button}} This hits something of a nerve in Lauchlan]].

• {{Must Make Amends}} : Lauchlan physically hurt Corbin during their drunken misadventure, and has been trying to make up for it ever since. Curiously, Corbin doesn’t even seem to care, and brushes off Lauchlan’s concerns and apologies. Lauchlan keeps on trying regardless.

• {{No Social Skills}} : Lauchlan is often bewildered or completely ignorant of social nuances and cues that play out right in front of his face. {{Word of god}} has it that he is on the autism spectrum.

• {{One Head Taller}} : Played with. Lauchlan towers above his love interest Corbin, who is only five foot tall. Corbin’s forceful personality makes him the most dominant of the relationship, and will often climb or stand on things in order to nullify the height difference during intimacy. Intimacy aside, Lauchlan is often so cowed by Corbin’s temper that he forgets the height difference completely. He is often described shrinking down and backing away from Corbin, a subconscious attempt to make himself seem smaller and less threatening.

• {{Parental Substitute}} : Lauchlan has a loving and devoted mother, but has had two substitute father figures after his biological father died. His stepfather Theodore was particularly close to him, and taught him to read and write. Percival took him under his wing after circumstances forced him to leave his family, taught him his trade and left him his house after he died. However, this is averted when Lauchlan cannot bring himself to treat Percival as a father when he still loves and respects his stepfather, which becomes a source of guilt after Percival’s death.

• {{Shrinking Violet}} : Lauchlan is an example of this. He has few friends and limited social skills. His crushing lack of self confidence and guilt complex prevent him from reaching out to those around him, and when relationships turn bad he blames and punishes himself for it.

• {{Sliding Scale of Plot Versus Characters}} : Mix beer with liquor rests firmly on the character end of the scale. There is no driving plot aside from the character’s archs, and no conflict aside from what is driven by said archs. On Ao3 it’s described as a character study.

• {{The Snark Knight}} : Corbin is fairly mild example. He commonly uses sarcasm, profanity and his generally caustic personality to chip through Lauchlan’s acute sense of propriety and shyness. However, he is equally wiling to use snark to deflect and redirect conversation in his favour, drifting into the territory of the {{stepford snarker}}.

• {{Snowed In}}: Lauchlan and Corbin are subject to this, though Corbin seems to have taken advantage of the situation in order to have Lauchlan to himself, only to be laid up with hypothermia in the process.

• {{Why Did it Have to be Snakes}} : Lauchlan has a deep-rooted case of scotomaphobia (fear of becoming blind) if any pointed implement comes too close for comfort he becomes increasingly distressed to the point of blind, thoughtless panic. He’s also rather jumpy when people approach or touch him on his blind side, and forget trying to get him to take of his eyepatch.