Roommates is a Cerebus Rollercoaster under the surface. This happens when the drama hits.
- Generally speaking most Heartwarming moments in the series also double as this, because of the high probably of someone's traumatic back story, psychological problems etc. playing part in it.
- Javert's nightmare about his suicide here
. - Jareth's Backstory revealed in the Kid!Jareth arc. (He never had one in canon.) "It's only forever... It's not long at all..." Lonely Rich Kid up to eleven with parents form the Supernatural Elite in the middle of a Divorce Assets Conflict from hell, which finally leaves him with his mother who is Evil with a capital E.
- Each and every page where a character contemplates the futility of fighting his story.
- Dark!Jareth: When Sarah doesn't see it, so even his last desperate attempt failed. Yeah. This guy is creepy and dangerous.
- Dark!Jareth: When Sarah doesn't see it
- Spoiler from Zombieland: It's bound to shed tears. Talahassee visits his son's grave and we learn why he moved to the 'verse: He tried to use the Nobody Can Die / Death Is Cheap nature of the comic to bring him back. It didn't work. Death by Origin Story is final.
- The Such Stuff as Dreams are Made On arc is full of it:
- The Erlkönig's thoughts on the nature of his people.Erlkönig: We ruin all we touch. What is much, we devour. What is beautiful, we mar. What is living... We strangle. What is innocent... We shatter. We want, but cannot hold. We seem, but cannot be. We take, but giving... Giving... That is our undoing.
- On this page, James' pain is Played for Laughs. But in the Dreams arc, it's a full-blown tearjerker.
- James' whole Cooldown Hug / Heroic Sacrifice action (and Jareth's reaction to it) is also heartwarming and awesome... Again demonstrating Ashe's outstanding talent for creating mixed emotions and Mood Whiplash.
- The revelation that Jareth's realm is of "The Unwanted" (his Mother's realm is Winter and his Father's is Summer). Someone give this guy another hug.
- In another flashback, the Erlkönig had given young Jareth one last speech before being banished.Erlkönig: Fight for the ending you want. Somewhere, someone will feel the same and believe. Then, even if you lose, even if you die... You will live. You will live on in dreams. It is the only way to escape. And you must escape. Or there is no hope for any of us.
- The end quote.Jareth: Do you know how some families fight and shout and curse at each other but at the end of they day they're still your family and you're with them to the end of the world because you love them and they love you?Sarah: Well, yeah...Jareth: My family isn't like that.
- The Erlkönig's thoughts on the nature of his people
- What the Shadow Child's aka Disbelief I'm Not Afraid of You / "The Reason You Suck" Speech attacks do to the cast. (As a direct example James got flashbacks about his Father and second movie which results in Heroic BSoD / Angst Coma)
- Javert 'beating' the child (through sort of understanding him) and winning the hunt...namely due to how depressed he looks at the end of the page.
- Note how he does this after acknowledging to the kid that sometimes he wishes he wasn't the cynical one while he normally seems fine to be considered The Cynic.
- Javert 'beating' the child (through sort of understanding him) and winning the hunt...namely due to how depressed he looks at the end of the page.
- After the wild hunt, Jareth thanks his roommates for not calling him out in front of the other hunters and essentially asks who wants to give him "The Reason You Suck" Speech for the trouble he caused first. Even if it turns into a CMOH, it hurts to see how Jareth is clearly still beating himself up over the Dark!Jareth thing and maybe doesn't realize how much his friends do care. It may help that Javert of all people is the one who forgives him.
- James and Javert clinging to the fact they're not 'really evil characters'.
- On "King's War" pg 24 the Erlkönig clearly wants to offer comfort to his injured son, but is terrified that in Jareth's injured state he will only hurt him further. The poor Fey looks like he's about to cry. Thankfully Mrs. N will have none of that.
- Glinda's reason for attacking the Goblin Kingdom in the King's War is because Jareth made James regent and she still sees James as his canon, glory-seeking, antagonsitic self and declares his only contributions to his own canon to be his futile chase after Sparrow and his betrayal at the end of the second movie that endangered everyone. Up until now James has had the least troubles over his own canon, but it's still getting thrown in his face. Ouch.
- Socks the Champion's death.
- Even worse, after Glinda is talked down the Conclave reveals they did not intervene because "no wrong" had yet been done. James clearly has the above death in mind when he screams "NO WRONG? NO WRONG?"
- Let's not forget those last two words in the arc: "You're welcome."
- After spending the day helping him recover, Sara starts to drift off on a depowered Jareth's shoulder. He quickly rouses her a bit, explaining to her what's going on so she doesn't wake up and think he's manipulated her into this somehow. She replies, sleepily, that since he doesn't have his magic right now she knows she can "sleep safe." The stricken look on his face speaks volumes.
- Story erased everyone's memories of the King's War Arc. Which means they forgot about Sock's death. And yet James still ended up crying without knowing why.
- Tony's reaction when he figures out that GLaDOS has taken out all of his AIs. His attempt to contact them and the reference to what happened to Jarvis in Avengers: Age of Ultron makes it heartbreaking.
