History Main / InnerThoughtsOutsiderPuzzlement

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kronk_dramatic_1.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Above is what Kronk sees; a dramatic [[GoodAngelBadAngel inner conflict between good and evil]].\\

* In ''Webcomic/{{Rain}}'', after being asked for her thoughts, Rain [[https://www.deviantart.com/jocelynsamara/art/RAIN-p469-A-Lot-of-Faces-438266711 goes through a variety of facial expressions while thinking but says nothing]]. This weirds out Emily and makes Kylie think she's holding in a sneeze.

** The above ended up getting parodied in WebVideo/SomeCallMeJohnny's [[https://youtu.be/Z13eY1NdP6g?t=691 review]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In Part 2 of "The Crystal Empire", Twilight enters a door enchanted by King Sombra which causes her to [[YourWorstNightmare see her worst fear]]. [[LotusEaterMachine In reality, she's just staring at a wall.]]

* ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'': When Catarina learns that Sophia is actually Nicol's little sister, she goes OhCrap and desperately tries to recall what she knows about the Nicol in ''[[FictionalVideoGame Fortune Lover]]'', even convening a Council of Catarinas in the anime adaptation. The Ascart siblings are puzzled as to why Catarina gets a StunnedSilence when Nicol introduces himself.

'''Cell:''' ''[staring at Ryu in confusion]'' ... [[CureYourGays have you tried praying it away]]?

* Humorously referenced in ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' during the dual between Yami and Marik. Kaiba starts to give an dramatic inner monologue about the situation, only to get interrupted by Yami's inner monologue, and somehow they have a conversation. Yami is surprised that Kaiba also monologues, to which an irritated Kaiba asks what he ''thought'' was happening whenever he would "stare off into space not talking for like ten minutes". Yami just assumed that he was being really slow. Their conversation is then interrupted by ''[[CloudCuckoolander Tristan's]]'' inner monologue, and it turns out he thought both of them were really slow.

* As part of Zeon's Hero Quest in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'', Mio becomes self-conscious when she notices Zeon staring at her. She concludes that he's cautious of her, owing to their respective backgrounds from opposing armies in the ForeverWar. In reality, he's fascinated by [[CatGirl her ears]], and silently wondering if they're really attached to her head.
->'''Zeon:''' (Mio's ears are quite striking... Do they really grow from her head...?)\\

-->'''Malos''': ''*sounding like he's about to laugh in disbelief*'' What the hell? Has he finally cracked?

-->'''Malos''': What the hell? Has he finally cracked?

* In ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'', [[PlayerCharacter the Watcher]] is able to communicate with the dead and see visions of the past that involve either a past life or someone else's death. Every time they do, however, it's in real-time, so everyone else in the party has to just stand around while they experience it.

* At several points during ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', [[AmnesiacHero Link]] has flashbacks where he begins to recover his memories while others are around. Every time there are others around they notice that he has zoned out for these flashbacks and comment on it when he snaps back to the present.

* TheReveal in ''VideoGame/MarkOfTheNinja'' is that [[spoiler:Ora isn't real]] and is only a hallucination caused by The Ninja's mark.
-->'''Azai:''' Who are you listening to?

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', the second time Kronk is visited by his [[GoodAngelBadAngel shoulder angel and devil]], it's with the other characters around. So when he begins talking to them about how he's feeling conflicted about obeying [[BigBad Yzma's]] orders to kill the good guys, everyone else hears him, and they react incredulously at Kronk, who as far as they can see is suddenly having an intense debate with thin air.

* In a scene from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' parodying ''Series/TheWonderYears'', as the narrator is talking, Homer gets creeped out by Bart staring blankly into space and asks him to stop.
** Another episode has Marge having a flashback, and Homer asking her why she thought he'd be able to see it.

''[{{beat panel}} of Nale, Haley, and Roy standing around]''\\

** Played straight in the same arc with Rosa. [[spoiler:While Rosa is in prison, she has Lieutenant Hawkins, the DirtyCop who framed both Rosa and Jake, come in to talk so the rest of the squad can act while Hawkins is distracted. Rosa knows that she has to keep Hawkins distracted for a certain amount of time, however she's so enraged by being so close to Hawkins and having to endure taunts and humiliation from Hawkins that Rosa [[ImagineSpot begins fantasizing]] about smashing the protective glass between them and beating Hawkins all around the room before violently murdering the other woman. Hawkins gets bored when she notices that Rosa is zoned out and not even listening to her taunting anymore, and leaves after snapping Rosa back to reality.]]

** Since Akira’s VirtualSidekick Alpha is InvisibleToNormals, and the two communicate via {{Telepathy}}, multiple times people around him react to his looking at her or reacting to her, which helps Shizuka figure out Akira's a DifferentlyPoweredIndividual. Interestingly this becomes a bit of an ExploitedTrope: When someone is interrogating Akira about a higher power backing him, Alpha does an IndyPloy by making him react taken aback to her, in order to make it sound like the interrogators guess that it's a foreign MegaCorp who’s backing him was correct. She does this by instantly changing her avatar’s clothes and then popping in front of Akira to lean in and kiss him. She went through all the trouble hiding her existence because Akira is a BadLiar.