Follow TV Tropes

Following

Webcomic / Girls Next Door

Go To

"Apartments for rent: nice area within walking distance from college. Fourth wall not included."

Girls Next Door by Pika-la-Cynique is a Buildingverse Fan Webcomic, told from the perspective of the eponymous Girls Next Door:note  Sarah of Labyrinth and Christine of The Phantom of the Opera. It follows them as they live together as roommates in an apartment building with No Fourth Wall, attend a university, and try to get on with their lives in spite of their respective stalkers-slash-suitors who live downstairs. They are often joined by friends and neighbors from all corners of fiction, including James, Javert, Crowley, Aziraphale, Legolas, Lizzie, Luna and Nanny Ogg.

This DeviantArt fancomic is Meta Fic that tends to run on Finagle's Law and Rule of Funny (or Rule of Fanservicenote ).

Has a voice-over project on YouTube (here) and an audio only one by Shirekat here. There's also a Hungarian translation project titled A Szomszédlányok. (Scroll down. They have tropes!)


Girls Next Door contains examples of:

  • Added Alliterative Appeal: A lot. From Sakura Sushi to the Convenient Café. Not to mention the Alliterative Titles for the pages. And Jareth:
  • And That's Terrible
    Javert: It is my belief that we could be facing a loss of all rationality, sense of right and wrong, as well as sensible narrative—we may fall prey to some form of mass hypnosis, leading to complete moral abandon and sexual debauchery.
    Jareth: ...and...?
    Javert: ...and that would be bad.
  • Angrish: Many characters, frequently.
  • The Alcoholic: Jamie and Marsha.
  • Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Jadis. The page where she talks about the effects of cold air on guys in Painted-On Pants is gold.
  • Art Shift: The art shifts between a more conventionally beautiful, serious style, and a more cartoony, exaggerated style. They shift back and forth with the mood of the story—serious scenes with serious art, and funny scenes with cartoony art. It's even lampshaded.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: On page 98, "...by letting you away with kidnap, blackmail and loud music after 10PM..." (Javert doesn't actually list by name the last straw after this, but it's definitely falls in the Felony Misdemeanor category.)
  • Asshole Victim: Two girl scouts who pester Erik and act supremely obnoxious. Predictably, it's hard to feel sorry for them when he feeds them to the Pale Man.
  • Beyond the Impossible: The main reason Chihiro is the unofficial president of the Wibsy (Weirdo Boyfrend & Supernatural Stalker club) is that, using Christine's words, "It's hard to trump dating a river." While the others have at least human-shaped (a fae, a ghost and a vampire, amongst others; Christine with her murderous deformed psycho is the most normal of them all) boyfriends/stalkers, this is impossible by their standards... though the river was in the form of a human boy that looked her age at the time Chihiro fell for him.
  • Big Damn Heroes:
    • Page 175 is called "Big Damn Heroines".
    • In 215, Jareth for Sarah and Luna.
  • The Big Damn Kiss: Big Damn Make-out Secession! 9 years after the series began, Jareth and Sarah finally have a consensual, continuity kiss... Page 297-299 puts everything on hold so we can fully appreciate that.
  • Bigger on the Inside: Jareth's wardrobe reaches (almost) to Narnia.
  • Bitch Slap: Sarah loudly slaps Jareth off-screen in "Long time coming". By the looks of everyone's reactions, she packed a punch.
  • Blue-and-Orange Morality: As a Fae, Jareth is technically outside of the standard morality spectrum, which is why Aziraphale and Crowley can't really do anything about his shenanigans when Sarah complains. Observing him with Heaven/Hell's tech only results in the ++CUCUMBER ERROR++ as well.
  • Bound and Gagged: Sarah, our darling Distressed Damsel.
  • A Boy and His X: Toby knows that all cool kids had a monster of some sort. So to hang out with the cool kids, on page 205 he borrows Ludo from Sarah so he can hang out with Totoro & Mei, Sully & Boo, Lilo & Stitch, Calvin & Hobbes, Max & a Wild Thing, and Bastian Balthazar Bux & Falkor.
  • Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Sarah's uncle, Agent Phil Coulson, who assures her that he can arrange to have any boy who bothers her sent to Guantanamo (or a "magic-proofed pocket parallel dimension," if necessary) and makes a note to get her a set of tasers like Natasha uses. Pika even describes him as being "made of overprotective awesome to Sarah in contrast to her somewhat absent-minded, harried father."
  • Brain Bleach:
    • Exactly what Christine calls for when Jadis hooks up with Satan.
    • And this when picturing Erik as a basement dwelling otaku.
      Christine: Moon Healing Power erase the bad mental images!!
    • And Erik here because of the new hobby of his roommate.
      Erik: Cannot unsee!!
    • The readers several times. Oh, the comic is Safe For Work, but things like Nanny Ogg in party mode are not for the faint of heart.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall/No Fourth Wall: Sarah once said she was going to have Hoggle brick up the fourth wall, but she evidently forgot to ask him or he forgot to do it, because there is No Fourth Wall in this comic. Crowley and Aziraphale are most prone to bringing it up, with Legolas coming in second in that regard, but they all mention it from time to time. They discuss their home canons, squeals, fan service, and even the continuity of this comic!note 
    • Medium Awareness: The characters are seemingly aware they're in a humor comic, and will sometimes comment on it. They're particularly aware of how fanservice-based their comic is, to Sarah's fury and Jareth's delight.
  • Brick Joke:
    • Back in comic #35, Sarah wrangles a promise from Erik to wake her up if she's ever found wandering towards a certain person's room in her sleep. 2 years and 93 comics later, she gets a rather rude awakening.
    • A literal example: Sarah packs a couple bricks into her and Christine's purses in case they need to smash their way out of the upcoming goblin ball. After all the dust settles from said ball, Jareth nearly gets brained by one of them. May also count as Foreshadowing, since the Christine memory-wipe issue has yet to be resolved...
  • Bridal Carry: At the end of the Ballroom arc Jareth bridal carries Sarah back to the girls' apartment.
  • Buffy Speak: The goblins aren't very eloquent, and they're prone to this in general. The way they title Sarah is a particularly funny example. They can't quite call her "Queen Sarah" yet, so they instead use the Buffy Speak version of the title: "Sarah Boss Lady."
  • Call-Back: The outtake gets one here.
  • Calling Your Attacks: Luna has to when she uses magic in battle. She is nice contrast to Sarah's random shouting.
  • The Cameo: Abundant during the Masquerade Ball. Notable couples popping up in the background include Ten and Rose, Vastra and Jenny, Hiro and Charlie, and Wash and Zoe.
  • Children Are a Waste: Jadis thinks this, at least about her own. She even sent a Christmas card addressed to the "Despised waste of genes". She apparently also contemplated Offing the Offspring but decided against it because she likes to see him suffer.
  • Cloudcuckoolander:
    • Luna Lovegood.
    • All the goblins.
  • Compensating for Something: Jareth thinks this about Darkness' horns. His mother seems to disagree.
    Jareth: Oi! Mister big red oh-no-my-horns-aren't-blatantly-compensating-for-anything so-called Prince of Sodding Darkness!
  • Cool and Unusual Punishment: Inviting Jadis to stay and telling the Opera House's lawyers where Erik was living was this, although mainly to allow the girls some free time away from the stalking to study. Sarah later threatens to invite Jadis around again if she discovers Jareth's involvement in the broken air conditioning.
  • Credits Gag: The Rant has credits for all appearing characters, now, for example Legolas is always credited as Legorlando, the Rabbit as Dread Creature of the Cave of Caerbannock, aka Bunny or Lady Gaga <© crossed out> IS A FREE BITCH, BABY.
  • Cuteness Proximity: Jareth uses his owl form as a means to get close to Sarah on occasion; when she doesn't react to the sad fluffy owl on her windowsill, he knows he's screwed up big time.
  • Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Here Jareth threatens Erik with magicking all the songs of Miley Cyrus into Christine's head if he doesn't let Sarah go. Later, he uses a rather elaborate threat about how he'll stop Webber before he makes the musical (leaving Erik with only his literary characterization). There are also frequent threats of bogging (being thrown "headfirst into the bog of eternal stench") from Jareth and Sarah.
  • Damsel in Distress: Mostly averted. Lampshaded in this comic.
  • Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: Sarah got roped into Jareth's family celebrations at times. This also bordered on Captive Date arranged by his mother.
  • Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?: Sarah made Jadis disappear by introducing her to Darkness so she manipulated two supernatural beings to get what she wants... it didn't work the way she intended but still worked.
  • Distracted by the Sexy: Christine when Beowulf appeared. Jareth several times ("Since when can you not tell blond from brunette, Jareth...?" "Ohh, silver lining.")
  • Dramatic Irony:
    • Sarah has a crush on David Bowie, while Christine has a crush on Leonidas, but could very well have a crush on Gerard Butler. If you don't get the joke, look up the actors of their respective stalkers. Almost Lampshaded when Christine thinks it's weird that Sarah likes Bowie, but couldn't put her finger on why.
    • Erik, meanwhile, still holds a flame for Christine, but is trying to move on with his new love interest Blind Mag. Both women were played by Sarah Brightman.
  • Dramatic Wind: Jareth likes to conjure one of these up now and then. Particularly when he's trying to convince Sarah to team up with him in a game of Risk.
  • Drop-In Character: Javert and James are never in their own apartment. Lampshaded:
    Jareth: What are you doing here?
    Javert: Good question. Why are we always loitering here, James?
    James: I dunno. 'Cos Erik has the biggest TV set?
    Jareth: Narrative convenience.
    James: Or that.
  • Enter Stage Window: Sarah tries to Invoke it by leaving her window open, so that her weirdo magic boyfriend will come in and snuggle with her. Unfortunately, this serves an an invitation to many other weirdo magic men, not just her boyfriend.
    Jareth: Wait was that why your window was open? You hoped I'd come in? [...] Precious, I have just spent a very busy night fighting off several very unpleasant entities [...] I barely smooth-talked a bleeding vampire prince out of responding to that great damn beacon of an open invitation of yours! [...] it seems that's what happens, when a very lovely disheveled maiden of certain latent magical potency throws open the window to her chambers with intent to invite to her bed.

  • Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The One With the Kiss
  • Eyes Do Not Belong There: Said almost word-for-word by Jareth when he encounters the Pale Man, who apparently followed Ofelia.
    Jareth: Sarah! What a nice surpriiiiiEYES where there shouldn't be!
  • Fanon Discontinuity: In-Universe. Love Never Dies never happened according to The Phantom of the Opera characters.
    Madame Giry: [to Raoul] We have all agreed screw ze squeal so if you don't want to be a dick don't be one!!
  • Fan Vid: See the Buildingverse page for a list.
  • Finagle's Law: The Apartment has a fail field surrounding it, so anything that should be awesome... isn't. Like when Edward Cullen happened upon the Barbecue for Toby's birthday... (In trope terms: "The perversity of nature" is good friends with the Rule of Funny but has some serious grudge against the Rule of Drama and the Rule of Cool.)
  • Flat Joy: Sir. Dydimus' "Huzzah." on Ambrosius bringing back the talking hat.
  • Foil:
    • One of the major backbones of the Buildingverse is the idea of making roommates out of characters from different stories who are very alike and serve as foils for each other very well:
      • Erik and Jareth: Stalkers with Crushes. Too dark and villainous for their canons to grant them happy endings, but too sexy and sympathetic for the fandoms not to wish it for them. Both are also musical and theatrical, with a taste for the dramatic. On the other side, as alike as they are, Erik has a great deal of fundamental human compassion, and chooses to let Christine go, while Jareth is conversely very inhuman and fae, and truly does not understand that kind of human morality.
      • Sarah and Christine: Ingenues who have grown into self-assured women. They struggle to reconcile knowing that stalking isn't sexy—they made the "right" choice in canon—but still being attracted to and caring about their suitors.
      • James and Javert: Sympathetic Inspector Antagonists. Honorable men who got the short end of the plot.
    • Sarah and Jareth's ballroom dance scene in Labyrinth and their ballroom dance at Éponine's ball are similar on a surface level, but very different under, directly contesting each other.
      • In Labyrinth, it's a scene of temptation, yes—the princess dress, David Bowie... but it's portrayed as kind of monstrous, what with the other partygoers. They're wearing demon masks, and acting... orgy-ish. And then they surround Sarah and start laughing at her. Inversely, at Éponine's ball the partygoers who are watching are Sarah's friends, who care about her. They're watching with bated breath, yes, and shipping them, but giving them space. The partygoers this time are kind and respectful—the fear and mockery isn't there.
      • Sarah's dresses also sharply contrast: At the Labyrinth ball, she is wearing the big poofy ballgown, dressed like a fairytale princess. But she looks young, like she's playing dress-up. The second time around, she's wearing a slinky green dress that makes her look like a grown woman. Moreover, this dress she picked out for herself, rather than being poofed into it by Jareth.
      • Hell, she's attending this ball in the first place of her own volition. The power dynamics are shifted. This is—nominally at least—Sarah's ball, that she's hosting for Éponine. And in practice, it's their ball jointly, and they are equally the hosts. That's a far cry from Sarah being tricked into it through a magic drugged roofie peach.
  • Fourth-Wall Observer: Downplayed in that everyone acknowledges the fourth wall, but Aziraphale and Crowley talk about it much more than anyone else—to the point that they essentially call out the comic on being too meta in one strip. Aziraphale also freaks out over the "continuity!!!" because of the invoked Time Skip (though Crowley doesn't seem to mind).
  • Funny Background Event: In 88, Sarah takes Erik out for coffee and advice while a certain failed heist can be seen through the cafe window.
  • The Gadfly: Let's just say that because a great part of the Phandom would hate whatever Raoul might do, he developed quite the trolling habit.
  • Geographic Flexibility: Named as Sudden Geography explained in this artist comment. Apparently it also adjusts any traveling speed to the speed of plot.
  • Girl Scouts Are Evil: Or at least Jerkasses. For their misfortune Erik qualifies as Retired Monster and didn't take their antics too well, so he introduced them to the Pale Man.
    • How this changed later depends on what you think about the Pale Man's new brownie sash.
  • GIS Syndrome: Some panels have photo backgrounds of unknown origin. Like Raoul's apartment in Paris.
  • Gonna Need More X: It going to take a lot of goblins for Jareth to scare off the contender.
  • Gratuitous Foreign Language: Pika doesn't really believe in the Translation Convention. So we had:
  • Guilty Pleasure: Music snob Christine names American Idol as a guilty pleasure of hers.
  • The Hero's Journey: Girls Next Door has been called Jareth's Hero's Journey. Jareth journeys into the Land of Adventure: the Unnamed University Town, which is—in most ways—far stranger than his own labyrinth. There, he meets friends and allies, and works toward his ultimate goal of winning over Sarah, what he sees as the Ultimate Boon—though as Sarah has come to redefine it, something closer to Apotheosis. He's still on the Road of Trials right now, but we have hope for him.
  • Hypocritical Humor: The girls have a V for Vendetta poster because...
    Pika: Sarah and Christine both enjoy kidnap romances and mysterious, gifted, eloquent, differently-moral older men [in masks] seducing young ingénues. Y'know, when it happens to someone else. *coughdenialcoughhypocritescough*
  • Idea Bulb: Leia gets an idea lightsaber here.
  • If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Erik tries to use this on Raoul... though it turns out that always acting like Murder Is the Best Solution lessens the effect.
    Erik: Let's just you and I get this straight, monsieur. While I may leave you alone out of deference to Christine's wishes, and even though I may be courting a fine lady—be it simply out of friendship for my former pupil, hurt her feeling and I will hunt you down and kill you.
    Raoul: A blood oath? Gasp. You know, opera ghost, the whole death threat thing kind of loses some of its dire menace when you are just as liable to bump off the janitor for getting in your way...
  • I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: One of Christine's favorite persuasion techniques is the cleavage squeeze. She also frequently combines it with Puppy-Dog Eyes for maximum effect. (As Sarah pointed out this only works on guys.)
  • I Never: Played by Sarah, Christine, and Lizzie at a sleepover.
  • Insistent Terminology: Jareth (and fae in general) don't pout/sulk they Glower Ominously.
  • Is That Cute Kid Yours?: When Ofelia comes back.
    Sarah: She says she's a princess of the Underground and that her father is the king in the castle past the Labyrinth. Doubtless you can explain.
  • Kids Love Dinosaurs: Toby got a free birthday wish from Jareth once. A six year old + Make a Wish + Fair Folk - Equivalent Exchange / Be Careful What You Wish For = DINOSAUR!!!
    • The goblins also (correctly) identified it as giant naked chikin'!)
  • Killer Rabbit: The one and only Dread Creature of the Cave of Caerbannock, aka Bunny.
  • Kissing Discretion Shot: 296 pages in, 9 years after the series began, Jareth and Sarah finally have a consensual, continuity kiss... and it isn't really shown. In the next page, it's completely subverted.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia:
    • Inflicted upon Raoul after he endures a very long, unpleasant day. The dubious morality of this is lampshaded.
      Christine: [Aziraphael and Crowley are] having a long and convoluted debate about whether wiping his memories of today would be a good or a bad thing. If they come to the conclusion that it's a kindness, Azi will take care of it. If they decide it's wrong and deceitful, Crowley will.
    • The next time Raoul is subjected to this, Christine only comments on the potential health risks a second mind wipe may or may not cause.
    • In a rather more serious example, Jareth does this to Christine when he learns she knows far more about his villainous tendencies than he'd like.
  • Let's Just Be Friends: Christine to Erik, as she tells Sarah on page 154.
  • Lighter and Softer: Despite having R-rated villains and some frank talk of intimate relations, it is this in relation to its successor because it plays said villains for humor, and tends to skim over the darker plots of Roommates. The "Dreams" arc was given a very brief, much more lighthearted alternate plot, and the proper arc is only vaguely alluded to.
  • Long-Distance Relationship: Raoul/Christine. As stated, Christine lives in the "secret" university town where the apartment is and Raoul lives in Paris (with Arsène Lupin).
  • Love Triangle: Pretty much any guy Sarah wants to be involved with besides Jareth. Look, there's even a quadrangle!
  • Magical Girlfriend: Gender flipped. Having a magical (or at least weirdo) boyfriend (or stalker) is the requirement to join the Wibsy clique. The trope is even referenced in the artist comment where they appear... with special mention that the Distaff Counterpart boy's club is found in Japan.
  • Make-Out Kids:
    • Christine/Raoul, when they are together, are disturbingly physical and unbearably cute.
    • Jadis/Darkness horrify everyone with this.
  • Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Referenced in the form of a Canny Human Dream Girl, because Jareth himself has the Manic Pixie part down. It's just word play though, as neither Sarah nor Jareth really embody the trope through.
  • Massive Multiplayer Crossover: The Phantom of the Opera, Labyrinth, Good Omens, Les Misérables, Pirates of the Caribbean, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, The Lord of the Rings and many more. Seems like every fiction in existence has a door leading to the Buildingverse (and back).
  • May–December Romance: Played with as the characters lean on the Fourth Wall. Jareth is a fairy tale kind from... a long time ago. Sarah is in college... and was 15 in 1986, and had at least one date with Jacob Black, definitely a teenager.
  • The Missus and the Ex: James' meet as Funny Background Event here... and they don't get along well.
  • Mind Game Ship: Deconstructed with Jarath and Sarah.
    Sarah: I never could tell if you wanted to win or if you wanted me.
  • Moment Killer: Legolas, Nanny Ogg also Luna Lovegood (She can PLOT-block whole adventure-romance storylines).
  • Mood Whiplash: Not quite as pronounced as Roommates, but it happens. See for example 211, which begins with a pretty intense discussion on why A Match Made in Stockholm really isn't a viable option and ends with Nanny Ogg smacking Jareth on the seat of his criminally tight pants.
    • The main difference is: GND uses this trope to ease drama with humor, while Roommates can whiplash in any way possible.
  • Mundane Luxury: Christine deeply appreciates 20th century plumbing.
  • Murder the Hypotenuse: Erik tried to do this so many times it became a running gag.
  • My Friends... and Zoidberg:
    Javert: Ladies, gentlemen, Jareth...
  • Naked People Are Funny: It's noted here that Sarah being confronted with people (usually men) in the altogether has become something of an unintentional Running Gag.
  • Narrating the Present / Narrating the Obvious: Legolas is prone to do this in his usual Captain Obvious way. Also, Grave Robber did it here. Legolas was not amused.
  • Negated Moment of Awesome: The Negated and Offscreen Moment of Awesome tropes are more or less running gags in the comic (blame the Fail Field). A couple of examples include:
    • Erik's "plan" to thwart Jareth during the kidnapped Sarah arc. Said plan included the use of salt and deadly black chikins, of which Jareth is known to be very afraid... but Jareth chose the direct approach never setting off the trap.
    • Jareth's planned fight against Peter from Heroes for Sarah's love... which never comes because thanks to Peter(s) and a bunch of goblins the date ends disastrously and Sarah vows to never see the guy again.
  • Never Wake Up a Sleepwalker: Erik advises Sarah not to wake Christine when she finds her sleepwalking toward his room for some late-night music lessons. Sarah dryly informs him that modern science has disproved that notion, then makes him promise to forget the potential trauma and just dump a bucket of cold water on her if he ever finds her sleepwalking toward Jareth's room. See Brick Joke for the follow-up.
  • Noodle Incident:
    • Sarah's prom photos.
    • Erik's Sushi Incident.
    • The chikins at first... but then subverted as the chikins have been more explained as time has gone on, especially after the events of Sarah and Luna's Labyrinth excursion.
  • No Sense of Direction: Sarah can mess up where "right under us" is.
  • Not Distracted by the Sexy: Sarah. Meeting Beowulf, she only blushed for one panel or so and kept eye contact with him despite his lack of attire. The viewers were spared thanks to Pixellation. Poor Christine not so much.
  • Not Proven: Jareth's involvement in any shenanigans and pranks.
    Sarah: Gip, please tell the Goblin King that if I find hard evidence he is doing this he is so dead. And in the meantime he's to knock it off before I invite his Mother back here.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: It's been noted how, for all her denial, Sarah seems to have developed quite a few similar characteristics to the Goblin King. Christine lampshades it by mentioning how well Sarah will fit in with Jareth's family.
  • Of Corset Hurts: Christine comes from an era of corsets. She says the end of the corset is one of the greatest things in the history of fashion.
    • Sarah tries one on once, and agrees Of Corset Hurts. That page—with Sarah trying to fit into this corset that she doesn't really know how to put on, with no help—is a bit Of Corsets Funny too. Jareth thinks Of Corsets Sexy. That particular comic page is a fan favorite, having spawned at least one fic on deviantART.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: More or less running gags in the comic (together with Negated Moment of Awesome). A couple of examples include:
    • The off-screen fight between Jareth and Frank-N-Furter, which many readers imagine to be an epic thrown-down of glittery madness.
    • The Chikin' Coup, which also evolved into a Noodle Incident. (Yes. It sounds ridiculous. But it caused a Fair Folk to develop chicken phobia!)
    • The battle between Bad Horse and the Old Spice Guy.
  • Oh, My Gods! / Thank the Maker: "Jim above preserve us," from Jareth and also from him "Oh, sweet Jim, George and Brian".
    Jareth: Oh by Jim's flared corduroys.
  • Once Done, Never Forgotten:
    • Mrs. Lovett calls the others out on this when they panic at finding she's been the chef for the BBQ. She asks why she'd even need to murder with a Wal-Mart nearby.
    • Jareth's magic/drugged peach. Sarah is not going to get over that one.
      Jareth: Oh, sweet Jim, George, and Brian, will you ever let that go?!
  • Otaku: It's rarely touched upon, but Erik likes anime. He once tried to get Christine to dress as Sailor Moon for Halloween. He also has shades of Basement-Dweller, despite having an apartment on the third floor.
  • Pass the Popcorn: The other tenants' reaction to the Rooftop Confrontation drama.
  • Portal Picture: Looks like Jareth has a Portal Mirror in his room.
  • Power Perversion Potential: Jareth has magical scrying powers and stalker tendencies. Yes. He uses that power to spy on the girls in the bath/shower (he isn't even that picky). He also seems to preserve his more interesting dreams in crystals. As Pika pointed out it's more stylish than a Porn Stash. And uses his minions to steal Sarah's underwear.
  • Precision B Strike: GND 77 - R.o.t.K., b:tch
  • Psychic Link: Jareth and Sarah share a mild mental connection made stronger in the Dreaming. Sarah is shown able to sense a simple wedding-fantasy, and something more complex (like say a would-be-sex dream) overrides her higher thought processes. This connection goes both ways.
  • Puppy-Dog Eyes: Christine's weapon of choice when dealing with Erik. Also attempted, horrifyingly, by the Pale Man in this page.
  • Questionable Consent: JS inherited it from their canon—Sarah's not going to let the peach be forgotten. Here in the comic, the trope Questionable Consent is played with many different ways in their relationship. As Character Development goes on, Questionable Consent gets increasingly subverted, inverted, and generally not played straight.
    • Subverted when Sarah has a magical dreams, and wakes from it to find herself halfway to Jareth's room. She is furious, and berates him for using magic to write dreams for her. But as the reader (but not Sarah) later learns, he wasn't using magic to fuck with her dreams. He called out to her, in some sort of telepathic, magic way... and she came, all of her own will.
    • This is so the default for their relationship that in the ball arc, Sarah has to specifically lampshade it, and ask for the trope to be defied.
      Sarah: I'd like to dance with you tonight because we both want to, Jareth—no creepy coercive trickery or impaired consent. Does that work for you?
    • The first time they kiss, it's via a minor form of Sexual Extortion, and fairly unconsensual, or at least the realm of "highly Questionable". The second time they kiss, much Character Development later, it's inverted: Jareth tries to make sure it's very consensual, which Sarah is impressed by.
      Sarah: I like the kissing part of your strategy—and I appreciate your statement of intent. I can kinda roll with this being-upfront-about-being-tricksy approach.
  • Reading Ahead in the Script: At least Jareth can do this. He even decided once that he doesn't like parts of the script and so just skipped those pages.
  • Recursive Fanfiction: This is a Roommates Spin-Off, which is a Massive Multiplayer Crossover fancomic. (Let us not even delve into what the fanfics for this series are.)
  • Recursive Reality: The characters come from stories that were real for them but are fictional in the world of the comic (as are all of the people responsible). The comic is fictional in our world, and they know this. And it's implied that it's possible to read the comic in the comic. Is there a true reality? Does the chain of fictionality ever end? We don't know. You reading this could be fictional in some other world/story too.
  • Rodents of Unusual Size: The original R.O.U.S. from The Princess Bride.
  • Rooftop Confrontation: There is an arc titled "ROOFTOP DRAMATICS!".
  • Running Gag: The prom photos, Owl!Jareth, Erik's hatred of glitter, the chikins.
    • Also that of various things appearing in Christine's mirror that are not Erik.
    • Sarah's David Bowie obsession—and her complete obliviousness as to why that is.
  • Sarcasm-Blind: Luna Lovegood. Curios ability in a World of Snark, also it highlights her niceness and naiveté.
  • Screaming Warrior: Sarah's battle style involves shouting random stuff while kicking ass. Mostly things that could insult/infuriate her opposition, like the names of chicken related food when fighting the dreaded chickin' revolutionaries here.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Fair Folk Trickster Archetype + Mad Artist Gadgeteer Genius x Escalating War = everybody else clears the general vicinity.
  • Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Christine is prone to the "gets more (and more and more and more) wordy in emotion fueled rants" type.
  • Ship Sinking: The Paris arc pretty much takes Erik/Christine off the table, with Christine's official stance being that although she has (very complicated) feelings for Erik, Raoul is the person she can be herself with rather than just The Muse and for that among other reasons she chooses to be with him. Erik, after a lot of angst and being led into temptation by Jareth, eventually comes to terms with this and not long after is seen with his Buildingverse-canon Crossover Ship.
  • Shipper on Deck: Both our heroines are shippers.
    • Christine is a Sarah/Jareth fangirl. She also seems to ship Javert/Valjean.
    • Outside the story, it has been stated that Sarah has a soft spot for Christine/Erik, but is too good of a best friend to go mucking about in Christine's relationship business.
    • On page 264, we learn that Frank N. Furter also ships Sarah/Jareth… and violently so.
      Frank N. Furter: Are you REALLY saying—that after 3 years and over sixty colour pages OUT of the Fail Field—YOU TWO ARE STILL NOT KNOCKING BOOTS?!!
  • Shout-Out:
  • Spy Catsuit: Christine has one that Sarah also borrowed at times. Also we don't know where Legolas' came from.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Both Jareth and Erik.
  • Stating the Simple Solution: Luna takes it a step further in "***-Blocked", casually performing the simple solution to finding Jareth's stolen Requisite Royal Regalia ("Accio pendant.") and thus completely destroying "the set up of what was sure to be an epic adventure-romance-hurt/comfort-quest type fanfic."
  • Take a Third Option: The 200th page speshul, quite literally. In the poll for this speshul The Box and The Prom Pictures options won, but the characters didn't want either... so they so counted on the readers being distracted by fanservice. (Which "accidentally" was the 3rd most chosen poll option.)
  • Tangled Family Tree: Jareth's inexplicable relation to pretty much every magical blond in fiction (Jadis is his mom, Nuada is his nephew, Howl is his great great great great grand-nephew once removed...) is something of a Running Gag. This comes from Roommates. In the Buildingverse every magical being is related somehow, not just the blonds.
  • Tell Me Again: When Crowley and Aziraphale go to karaoke with Sarah and Christine.
    Crowley: Ok. Tell me again how and why we got roped into this.
  • Tempting Fate: Sarah actually invokes the trope so it'll be subverted when she decides to rummage 'round Jareth's room, since doing so makes it predictable and thus not funny. It doesn't work.
  • Terrible Interviewees Montage: The Monster Hunter Interview pages. The applicants range from Ash (perfectly hopeless) to Harry Dresden (too destructive) and seem to end with Beowulf (too late).
  • The Thing That Would Not Leave: The Pale Man in the boys kitchen for 100 or so pages.
  • Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Many of the more romantic characters, but Jareth deserves a special mention as he more appropriately thinks like a Shipping Fic when it comes to his relationship with Sarah. After a fight he complained about the lack of an "anger fueled make-out session".
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Sarah to Christine. Both are very much competent in their own right, but Sarah favors the most direct approach, while Christine prefers more subtle manipulation.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: Many of the characters, particularly in comparison to Roommates. Justified, seeing that Girls Next Door is far less Meta-based, and much of the plot is driven by the characters' interactions. Through Rule of Funny and more gradual Character Development focusing on the four main characters (and less Mind Screwy storylines), Girls Next Door manages to land on the favorable side of this trope. Also Raoul compared to his canonical iteration, but he is still just The Gadfly.
  • Trade Snark: Jareth when describing Legolas' narrating as "Wisdom of the Eldar(™)" here.
  • Trenchcoat Brigade: Lampshaded.
    Sarah: ...that's a whole lot of leather dusters.
  • Time Skip: Magically from the inside, even if just a little. Jareth thought that pages 198-199 had too little fanservice, so we can very well skip right to 200. (Yes. This means that the comic doesn't have pages 198-199, and even #197 turns into an error messagenote .) At the next centennial, he does it again: page #297 is followed by page #301. This time the reasoning is very different though.
  • Truth Serums: Veritaserum. Sarah used it to get information out of the goblins... and unwittingly caused Christine's Let's Just Be Friends speech.
  • Tsundere: Sarah to Jareth, much as she loves to deny it.
  • Unholy Matrimony: The Jadis/Darkness ship definitely qualifies. Also a Guess Who I'm Marrying? situation for Jareth as he loathes Darkness with passion.
  • Unusual Euphemism: Swearing in the name of the bog ("bogdamn it"), mostly from Sarah. Also, WTF is the abbreviation of "What The Fae" around here.
  • Video Phone: Christine and Raoul keep in touch through internet video chat.
  • Villains Out Shopping: And eating sushi, and having picnics, and playing video games...
  • Visible Silence: There are plenty of awkward pauses depicted by a word bubble with only an ellipsis in it.
  • Weapon-Based Characterization: Erik has his Punjab Lasso, Norrington his sword, Sweeney his razor, Luna her Magic Wand and Sarah since the Return to Labyrinth arc her Frying Pan of Doom (admittedly as shout out to the Such Stuff.. arc of Roommates).
  • Weirdness Censor: The official answer to why the muggles don't notice all the weirdness is because Aziraphale & Crowley keep up a SEPnote  field around the building. Which apparently doesn't stop some muggles to date or run away from the resident weirdness.
  • Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Used to Hand Wave the issue of time differences during the Paris arc; since nobody is entirely sure where the Building and its environs actually are in relation to France, no sense in worrying they might be calling during the middle of the night there...
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Jareth is scared of black chikins. This is apparently the result of an attempted coup made by the smarter ones in his kingdom. He doesn't appreciate the humor the rest of the cast finds in it.
  • Witch with a Capital "B": Jadis. Even Jareth gets "Son of a Witch" sometimes.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Christine to Erik, after he kidnapped Sarah to force her hand in their pre-character development relationship.
  • With Friends Like These...: Everybody, but especially Jareth and Erik, who co-exist in a state of open warfare punctuated by occasional bouts of empathizing with each other's relationship drama.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Erik during the Rooftop arc. That cafe scene with Sarah establishes the woobie factor... right before he snaps and backslides into a full-on violent, jerkass, Stalker with a Crush.
  • World of Snark: It's easier to count the non-snarky characters: Luna, and arguably Legolas.
  • Writer on Board: Pika's feminist views show in the comic. Mostly when she gleefully deconstructs many sexist tropes and lampshades at least as many more in the process. Christine's Character Filibusters about things like the madness of A Match Made in Stockholm/Scarpia Ultimatum could be very well interpreted as Author Filibusters. Pika also makes it perfectly clear what she thinks about The Twilight Saga (and by extension sexist romances brim full with Unfortunate Implications; Their characters won't survive in the Fail Field) and Sequelitis (Never happened).
  • Written by the Winners: Averted and parodied. Sarah might be the winner, but "History is written by he, who rules despotically over the goblin scribes."
  • You Know I'm Blind, Right?: Erik reacts to Jareth doing naked yoga by screaming "CANNOT UNSEE!" He's unfortunately standing next to Mag at the time.


The Youtube Voiceover project provides examples of:

  • Limited Animation: Very very limited... you could swear it's just static images with an occasional effect or zoom.
    • It isn't?
    • It is, but if someone would do some mouth animation it would be actually hard to tell as thanks to the dynamic editing looks more alive than some actual cartoons from the 70s-80s.
  • Vocal Evolution: As the cast is mostly non-professional it's not surprising that they get better and better as time goes by.


The Hungarian translation provides examples of:

  • Gratuitous English: Some of the English is left unchanged. Mostly advertisement taglines and names of places (with subtitles if needed).


Top