Reality Ensues/Surprisingly Realistic Outcome cleanup

• Yang accidentally dislocates Jaune's arm as she's only ever had Huntsman friends and forgot how fragile civilians were. Not realistic, covered by Does Not Know His Own Strength
• Despite being high level criminals and terrorists, Roman and Cinder are far less antagonistic to Jaune than the district manager for a competitor cafe chain. To them Jaune is simply a humble cafe owner and thus not a threat to their plans. Not surprising
• When Jaune finds his cafe being robbed, his attackers badly beat him with Jaune unable to get in a single blow in return. Despite his shame afterwards, Militia explains that he was alone, untrained, and unarmed against four armed attackers; the best he could hope for was to live through a beating. At worst, he'd have been killed. Not really surprising. Plus, this is a RWBY fic, so the attackers' weapons were probably unrealistic
• The district manager of Café Prime comes to Jaune with a contract regarding the upcoming Vytal Festival but it's filled with legal terms Jaune has trouble understanding. Naturally he goes to Weiss, who's been acting as his business consultant, right? Nope; Jaune instead makes an appointment with a lawyer specializing in business law to go over the contract and make any necessary revisions. Not surprising
• Just because Jaune now has a very expensive lawyer representing him doesn't mean he's won against Café Prime. He still has to fight what is likely to be a long and drawn out legal battle against them, while avoiding any legal pitfalls they may throw his way. Plot happens. Nobody'd expect the characters to solve their problems so easily.
  • Also a case for Prime who until said lawyer showed up were essentially acting like thugs (and getting away with it) purely because nobody was really sure what they could and couldn't do. Weiss was the only one who had any real idea, but only had a general grasp of Vale's business laws. As soon as the SDC lawyer steps in that stops and comes back to bite Prime in the ass purely because the man knows exactly what he can use to hang them with in the courts. Same as above.
• Ruby's different attempts at hiding when Mercury comes into Jaune's apartment each fail. Hiding on a shelf in his linen closet causes the shelf to come off the wall since it's not meant to hold a teenager's weight. Then hiding under Jaune's blankets fails because she didn't take care to hide her massive cape properly. Needs more context. Why would audiences specifically expect her to hide successfully?
• After Jaune and Ruby learn Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury are criminals on a higher level than Junior or Roman, Jaune can't actually do anything about it. Ruby may be a Huntress in training with the support of everyone at Beacon, but Jaune's just a civilian who runs a diner. Plot happens, plus the concept of huntresses isn't realistic
• In Cinder's backstory, her mother hid her in a cubby when the Grimm attacked their village. Since Grimm are drawn to negativity, they quickly found Cinder's hiding spot and started digging their way through. Not realistic
• Eventually, Café Prime decides to simply settle out of court, offering Jaune half a million lien and the firing of Sterling as reparation. While Jaune finds the whole thing anticlimatic, both his solicitor and Roman inform him it was almost guaranteed to happen. Plot happens. Why would audiences specifically expect this to not happen?
• When the Grimm attack Vale, Jaune is armed with Aura and Crocea Mors... and absolutely no training, as a result of which he completely fails to kill the sole Grimm that stumbles across his diner, and his fear and pain draw more Grimm to him. Weak character beaten by strong unrealistic character. Not this trope.
• After the Breach, all hospitals are overflowing with people injured in the attack and medical staff are dead on their feet trying to care for everyone. Not a realistic event. Possibly covered by Deconstruction Fic since it's applying overlooked logical consequences to a canon event.
• Jaune's problems with Café Prime officially end after the breach, when he gives out most of his gifts to those injured. His generosity and goodwill make him so beloved that he is untouchable to Café Prime, as it would destroy their reputation. Character reaction
• Part of Pyrrha's success in tournaments came from her fans sending hate mail and threats to any possible competitors, which ruined their self-confidence and made them easier to defeat. Character reaction
• Adam and Blake attempt to talk through Hand Signals but have trouble getting all the relevant information across since said gestures were meant for silent communication on missions and are mostly used for designating targets and team formation. Also, Yang quickly notices what they're up to and suggests Blake simply go talk to the man. Needs more context to explain audience expectations. Probably covered by Did Not Think This Through.
• As Adam reveals, most of the White Fang didn't notice Blake's departure. She wasn't terribly high ranking so the few that did notice generally just assumed she died on a mission. Character reaction, discussed trope.
• Part of Jaune's rant against everyone involved is that while Vale and Atlas might well win a war against Cinder and the White Fang, countless civilians will die because of it. Discussed trope
• During the meeting, Jaune breaks a tray of cakes out of rage, cutting himself in multiple places, then proceeds to loudly curse out everyone in the room. While the speech succeeds in its goal, between the multiple sites of bleeding and the adrenaline crash he suffers, Jaune passes out as soon as he's finished. Deconstructed Percussive Therapy, since the trope happens normally, but has additional logical consequences that are usually overlooked.

• Over the course of the story, Zolph suffers several injuries, and said injuries sometimes put him out of commission for times ranging from days to months depending on how severe the injury in question is. The more severe examples of these injuries include getting pinned to a wall, getting his arm cut off, having a hand dug into his chest and having his heart squeezed on. The last one is too fantastical, and there's probably a trope somewhere about characters suffering from injuries
• Valkoran trooper Will Helms' treatment by his own peers in regards to his inability to stay dead. If they haven't known him long or do not know of his inability, they are shocked by both his death and resurrection (especially if done an accident). If they've known him long enough and are on generally good terms with him, they are desensitized to his deaths and sometimes have him take the bait for things that would kill anyone else permanently. On the other hand, people like Masochus will kill him over and over again for their own amusement. By the time of Episode II, Helms has learned to abuse this trait to his own advantage, but still finds getting killed annoying. Too fantastical, that last bit is just exploited Death Is Cheap

Episode I

• Chapter 2 - Zolph tries to take on Maesterus, who had just came close to killing Luke Skywalker after cutting off his prosthetic hand. However, as Luke is the Jedi academy's headmaster and Zolph is only simple knight, Zolph doesn't fare any better against Maesterus - in fact, he fares worse, as while Luke is able to bounce back and curb-stomp Maesterus back, Zolph gets nailed to a wall. Less skilled person loses to more skilled person, not surprising
• Chapter 10
  • Zolph and Gahmah Raan engage each other in an evenly matched duel that lasts 10 minutes in-universe. It ends with both of them fatigued, and hampers Zolph in two ways. Not only did the duel get every Valkoran personnel on Kratzar's attention, it puts Zolph at a disadvantage when he runs into Maesterus. Plot
  • When Zolph loses his right arm to Maesterus, Zolph tries to invoke a Situational Hand Switch and fights back in spite of losing his sword arm. Maesterus knocks the lightsaber out of Zolph's hand with little effort and destroys it. Plot
• Chapter 11 - a few members of the Galactic Alliance's Red Shirt Army have their first encounter with a Forceless Archfiend, Hydrojus. After Hydrojus demonstrates his ability to kill people by crushing them with their own insides or making them burst, the surviving Red Shirts of that mission are traumatized and ordered on leave for at least a month. Characters have trauma
• Chapter 12
  • Similar to his mission on Kratzar, Zolph disguises himself as a Valkoran Trooper, but carries his lightsaber in case he runs into a Force-sensitive Sensor Character like Maesterus or Dynn Manthis. He thinks he can work around the blatant giveaway by claiming it's a battlefield trophy, but not only can the sensor characters tell who he is, Admiral Gravlek is easily able to out him as a Jedi because Valkoran army procedure prohibits battlefield trophies and was having the rest of the ship's crew play dumb to lure Zolph into a trap. (Gahmah Raan was easily able to out him in Chapter 10 as well, and unlike Gravlek's case, it was the exact same lightsaber he saw a chapter earlier and Gahmah just took the time to annoy Zolph into fully exposing himself). Plot, possible Idiot Ball for Zolph (don't know the context)
  • Due to a developing Force Bond between Zolph and Dynn, the former feels some of the latter's pain from the Forceless arm's physical abuse. However, because Zolph doesn't have an organic right arm anymore, it doesn't hurt him as much when the Forceless arm (which has since wired itself into Dynn's nervous system) bends itself backwards. What?
• Chapter 13-14
  • Being only 18 years old, losing close friends and loved ones so early in his life takes its toll on Zolph's psyche, especially when he's forced to Mercy Kill Dynn Manthis due to unusually horrific circumstances. Character has trauma
  • Even though Zolph frees her from the Forceless arm, the Body Horror that Dynn was subjected to (namely having her abdominal organs shifted around and her stomach turned into a mouth) meant that she was compromised. A parasitic supernatural entity was the only thing keeping her alive. Too fantastical
• Epilogue - When Maesterus reveals his identity to Zolph, Zolph is both in disbelief and very annoyed that Maesterus waited as long as he did to tell him. Implausibility of Maesterus being a distant ancestor aside, Maesterus also has the burden of having killed Alec (who is also a descendant by extension) even if it wasn't by his own free will. On the flip side, Maesterus also points out that Zolph wouldn't have believed it back in their first encounter either, because Maesterus looks like a Darth Vader clone and Zolph was still incensed at the time. He needed to wait until Zolph had enough experience to think things over. Plot, too fantastical

Episode II

• Continuing from Episode I, Zolph is still very traumatized by Dynn's death after six months. This culminates in him not only experiencing some horrifying (and potentially lethal) PTSD episodes in places strong with the Dark Side of the Force (such as the cave on Dagobah), but also temporarily becoming a Death Seeker. Zolph goes through some psychotherapy (and is prohibited from taking missions as a personal distraction) in response to this and it helps out his mental health significantly, but no amount of therapy is going to make one's PTSD just go away. Even when the end of Episode II provides a slight glimmer of hope that Dynn may or may not be Back from the Dead but way out of reach, Zolph acknowledges that he may still be affected by her death for the rest of his life. Character has trauma
• Chapter 5-6 - Zolph knows Machinus is a droid, so he decides to take the practical approach and try to have him disabled with an EMP grenade next time they meet. However, since Machinus is both a droid that used to be a living being and one of the Valkoran Empire's biggest technological geniuses, he already knows about the weaknesses of technology in general and is equipped with electroshock absorbers to counter such methods. Plot
• Chapter 7
  • Just because the Kur'Ada Equalisits have turned on the Valkoran Empire doesn't mean they're suddenly going to be friends with the Galactic Alliance and Jedi Order, especially since the Kur'Ada have a historical prejudice against Force users. This is emphasized by them destroying an Alliance ship during the Battle of Kashyyyk. Not surprising, maybe Reformed, but Not Tamed?
  • Zolph and Hiriss may miss Dynn Manthis, but some others in the Alliance who didn't know her as well only know her as an enemy or a traitor, unaware of the fact that she was playing the role of a deep cover double agent. Not surprising
  • Replacement Goldfish characters aren't supposed to be substitutes. When Zolph points out that he sees a lot of Dynn in Hiriss (her cousin), Hiriss has to set him straight and point out that using her to fill in the void Dynn left isn't psychologically healthy for him. Character stuff
• Chapter 8 - The Battle of Alpheridies is very one-sided in the Valkoran Empire's favor. The Valkoran forces, an army of normal people that mostly use blasters and commanded by a Force user with years of training vs. the Kur'Ada Equalists, a clan of space ninjas that use swords most of the time and haven't been learning to use the Force long enough in preparation. Likewise, training in the ways of the Force when you're not as naturally attuned to it as would-be-Jedi can be very difficult, and the lower-ranking warriors only get experience with it enough to help them see without their optics. Too fantastical, not surprising
• Masochus is an example of how a Sith Lord would be viewed in a society of mostly rational people. When he was still a Sith, the other Sith exiled him because he was too psychotic and wasteful even by their standards (why the Dark Council didn't execute him as would be expected is a different story). As a commander of the Valkoran Empire (whose other commanders outside Emperor Valkor are either Well-Intentioned Extremists or Knight Templars at worst), he's hated even worse. Character reactions
  • As for his appearance, he skinned himself down to the bone (making himself look like a lich) with only a few muscles, vital and sensory organs left. Barring the fact that only the Dark Side of the Force is keeping him alive in this condition (and taking even more toll on his sanity), he's turned himself into an invalid that has to use the Force to even move his own body, which makes his movement marionette-like. Bad indentation, too fantastical
• Chapter 10 - After blowing the lid open about Grein's former allegiance to the Valkoran Empire, Masochus tries to generate animosity between Zolph and Grein, but it doesn't go as planned. Not only was Grein already planning to tell Zolph she was a former Valkoran agent after the mission to Guaymar, they've been friends long enough to trust each other regardless of background, Grein hasn't really done anything that would be considered treacherous to Zolph and Zolph's opinion of the Valkoran Empire has mellowed out by that time. When Masochus tries to inject Zolph with a Forceless symbiote in an attempt to trigger his berserk Force-channeling form and make him kill Grein for keeping secrets, Zolph targets Masochus instead since he's already done more to piss Zolph off than Grein has (specifically, grafting the Forceless arm on Dynn) and would have killed him with little effort had the dosage he was injected with been bigger. Plot, too fantastical, normal example of Did Not Think This Through
• Episode II: Chapter 11 - In a subversion of No Biochemical Barriers, when Gahmah Raan offers his guests from off planet some tea, Zolph shows some caution in regards to what he and his team are drinking because the tea was brewed by an alien species that is widely unknown in every regard and said tea could potentially be toxic to humans and near-humans. It was only confirmed to be safe when Grein (who can use her self-liquefaction ability to filter out toxins) taste-tested it. As stated, subverted No Biochemical Barriers
• Chapter 13
  • A weapon that can control gravity is going to need protection from itself. Because the shield got sabotaged before the gravity control ship was sent to Christophsis, it ended up crushing itself under pressure when it greatly increased gravity not long after entering battle. Furthermore, according to its developer, Machinus, not only was the gravity control ship not really supposed to be used as a weapon (it was designed as a support vehicle for use on worlds with unusual gravity), he thinks doing so is incredibly stupid due to the collateral damage it would cause (as demonstrated on Christophsis, it ends up killing some Valkoran fighter pilots too). Too fantastical
  • It takes getting stabbed in the torso only once for Zolph to be debilitated in his first duel against Valkor. The other amounts of Cold-Blooded Torture he goes through not long after results in him getting hospitalized for a month at the end of the chapter. Not surprising
  • General Ven Choi may be an excellent swordsman and may have landed a few hits on Valkor, but as a member of the Kel Dor species, being dependent on life-support is a major handicap when All Planets Are Earthlike is the standard for the universe. When Valkor's close enough to him, he simply rips Choi's respirator mask off of his face, setting him up to die from oxygen poisoning (although that's not what ultimately kills Choi). Plot, too fantastical
  • Zolph somehow manages to resist the Force-harvesting power Mortaqa used to kill everyone else (minus Grein and the Valkoran forces) on Christophsis, but rather than breaking down over it, Valkor simply orders her to behead Zolph, albeit slowly by letting her lightscythe burn through his neck. Plot
  • Ordering the deaths of a planet's entire civilian population when he has the means to avoid collateral damage - and just for the sake of emotionally tormenting a 19-year old boy - hurts Valkor's public approval by a huge chunk of his own empire, as many in that chunk now know how Ax-Crazy he is if they didn't know before. With the exception of his more fanatically loyal followers, this hurts morale with his own troops for the rest of the Battle of Christophsis (especially with Valkor threatening to eat the family of one of his generals), causes division within the ranks of one battalion and one trooper almost commits suicide out of guilt. As Maesterus bluntly points out to Valkor at the end of the chapter, he's walking on thin ice after that, even if he's a nightmarish Eldritch Abomination that could kill with relative ease. Too fantastical, plot
• Chapter 14:
  • With the one person confirmed to be immune to her powers put out of commission for a month, Mortaqa has put the Galactic Alliance and the Jedi Order in a stranglehold. This means that the Alliance has lost every battle they encountered her within minutes of starting, and even Luke Skywalker is constantly on the move. The only reason they haven't completely lost yet is that Valkor's toying with them. Plot
  • Grein may have survived the annihilation of Christophsis, but that was only because Emilin had just enough willpower to keep Facadma from making her kill Grein. As such, she doesn't risk traveling to Chilades with Zolph, even to save her sister from Facadma's possession. Plot
  • The political repercussions of the Christophsis massacre have reached their peak by the end of the chapter, as half of the Valkoran Empire - now under the leadership of Maesterus - has defected from Emperor Valkor, leaving Ockla Prime more vulnerable. Even having Mortaqa/Facadma score Valkoran victories without causing any more civilian casualties has done nothing to win their favor back. Plot
• Chapter 15 - The Valkoran Separatists acknowledge that even if they made a Heel–Face Turn and make an Enemy Mine with the Galactic Alliance against Emperor Valkor and the Forceless Collective, they most likely won't be Easily Forgiven, as they're still guilty of war crimes against the Alliance such as piracy and terrorism, some of those under Maesterus's orders (even if Maesterus was trying to wage a soft war to subtly alert the Alliance to the Forceless Collective in the wake of the galaxy still recovering from the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion). As such, the leadership expect to be facing military tribunals and imprisonment, if not execution. In turn, Zolph thinks about negotiating to get them a lighter sentence if not amnesty after the Valkoran War. Not surprising
• Chapter 16 - The design and production problems of the Valkoran Fortress Tanks are detailed in this chapter. Since these things are the size of a capital ship, they take a lot more resources to build than the average land vehicle and because they are built within a planet's atmosphere (and thus the builders have to deal with gravity), it takes longer to build than a capital ship, and as such, there are only less than ten Fortress Tanks finished by the end of the Valkoran War. Also because of their size, they are virtually impossible to transport from planet to planet and their interiors have Inertial Dampening and a self-contained Artificial Gravity system to keep the crew from being thrown around by the fortress's movements. When Besh Squad hijacks one and uses it to destroy another Fortress Tank defending the Valkoran capital's surface, the five-man squad is only able to rotate it and aim its hyper-velocity gun and decide to destroy the vehicle once they are done rather than use it during the rest of the Ockla Prime campaign, as not only does the vehicle need a large crew to operate and defend, the Valkoran could easily just take it back. This turns out to be a good thing later in the campaign when the Forceless Collective's fleet shows up, because with their numbers and willingness to sacrifice themselves, they could easily take better advantage of the tank than the Galactic Alliance could. By Episode III, what few Fortress Tanks the Seferite Order own are either being stripped down for parts to use in more practical projects or sold to pay off lawsuits against them (frivolous or legit) from weapon manufacturers or reparations for their war crimes under the Valkoran Empire. Holy Wall of Text, Batman! This is just plot
• Episode II: Epilogue - As his avatar is on the verge of death, Valkor tells Zolph that Dynn Manthis is Back from the Dead. Because the source of this claim is Valkor, Zolph isn't quick to believe he's telling the truth one-hundred percent, especially after all the torment Valkor's made him endure, and that's ignoring the notion of resurrecting the dead. Even when evidence is presented in Episode III that he can indeed resurrect creatures that died while in the Forceless Collective's possession, Zolph's still skeptical about Valkor's intent on telling him about Dynn's resurrection, even though it is true as shown in Episode III's Distant Prologue. Just because someone is capable of carrying out a specific promise doesn't mean they will. Not surprising

Episode III

• Prologue
  • After waking up to the new world she is in, Dynn realizes she doesn't have any personal possessions she had in her previous life, which are in another galaxy. Not surprising
  • One of the first things Dynn tries to do is find a way to get rid of the Forceless arm after all the trouble it caused her last time. Unfortunately, it's easier said than done, because she's in an abandoned hospital that's been converted to resuscitate Forceless (which can regenerate over time), and amputating her own arm right then and now would risk her bleeding out. Even when she gets it safely amputated following her escape from the Darksand Correctional Facility, she's still weakened from the blood-loss caused by trying to incapacitate the hand and the sudden loss of a limb. Plot, not surprising
  • Admon Onae is a little older than the Forceless Collective and has been fighting them for the last 25,000 plus years. However, he doesn't have any Forceless symbiotes to keep him from aging, and he's only lived as long as he has through some kind of Force/Plamora rituals. He knows he could die at any time, and as such, he's looking for a successor. Plot, too fantastical
  • Dynn's reaction to realizing she's marooned on a planet that is in another galaxy (and her home galaxy hasn't discovered the means for quick extra-galactic travel yet) and hasn't even reached its space age (thanks to Medieval Stasis enforced by the Forceless Collective) is despair and anxiety, as she thinks she'll be stuck there for the rest of her life. And that's not even getting into the fact that Zolph still thinks she's dead at that point and the other baggage that went along with her death. Plot, character has trauma
  • In a Played for Laughs example, Dynn quickly assumes that Muriga is a desert planet based on what she's seen, but since she was brought Back from the Dead on Muriga after dying on Krantisi and she's only been conscious for at least an hour, her assumption is very erroneous. Admon is quick to point out what she saw is just one part of the planet. Subverted and Played for Laughs example of Single-Biome Planet
• Chapter I
  • While Zolph might be able to use his Force-channeling ability to undo Forceless possession, he is the only known person in the galaxy to have this ability and thus, is unable to be everywhere at once. Even when he's available, he can only de-possess one person at a time, and the process leaves him open to attacks, which forces Zolph to continue mercy-killing possession victims in multi-person battles. Zolph also doesn't put it past the Collective to alter their anatomy to be possession-dependent like they did with Dynn. Plot
  • Related to Force-channeling, just because Zolph turned into the Silver Seraph once does not mean he's mastered the ability from Ockla Prime forward. Becoming the Silver Seraph requires a lot of emotional restraint, and the Forceless Collective is an enemy that relies on psychological warfare to unbalance their enemies, with Zolph having been repeatedly broken by them. When Cina Onae tries to force Zolph to transform by injecting Black Matter into him, he ends up turning into the Black Berserker instead. Plot
  • Following up on Valkor's claims in Episode II's epilogue, the Galactic Alliance military issues false counterpropaganda to claim that the Forceless Collective cannot imprison people's souls and resurrect them later. Aside from all of it being implausible to any normal person (these claims coming from supernatural creatures is besides the point) and the first part being potentially demoralizing, the second part can be used to sway over any fool who is desperate enough or has crossed the Despair Event Horizon. Again, just because they can does not mean they will. On the flip side, when the Forceless Collective unleashes a resurrected Terraris on Blenjeel, Zolph and Hiriss keep quiet about the creature's identity in front of lower-ranking personnel, but also note that it's only a matter of time before the Collective starts further undermining the Alliance's counterpropaganda by unleashing Archfiends that had more public exposure in the Valkoran War. Counterpropaganda is only effective enough when it has enough truth to it. Plot, too fantastical
  • Some politicians are desperately trying to deny the existence of the Forceless Collective, and present the Valkoran remnants as the current Big Bad despite evidence of the contrary. As Leia points out, the Yuuzhan Vong invasion left a lot of emotional scars on the galaxy that are still fresh after a few years, and even if it seems ridiculous, some of these people are too scared to deal with another unfamiliar enemy so soon (especially since the Collective is from another galaxy and uses some Organic Technology like the Vong did). Plot
• Chapter 2
  • The Naval Blockade trope only works in the Star Wars universe with a limited number of ships due to Space Is an Ocean and the blockade being placed in relation to charted Hyperspace Lanes, and it's too risky for outside forces to stay off the routes due to the dangers of hyperspace travel. Combined with the Seferite fleet not being as large as it used to be, the concept of planetary blockades is shown to be hyperbole when they are fighting against an enemy that uses a foreign, barely understood method of fast space travel (and one that apparently ignores the rules and hazards of hyperspace travel by not being hyperspace travel) and are easily able to get through the holes in the fleet. Deconstructed Naval Blockade
  • On the opposite side of the Valkoran Empire splitting in Episode II, Arcidus reveals that the Christophsis massacre didn't convince all of the Empire's citizens to leave Ockla Prime. With the Empire completely split in half and many of its people being propagandized for years and living comfortably on Ockla Prime, many of the citizens weren't convinced or didn't care that Valkor did something horrible or were afraid to suddenly leave the home they knew for their whole lives behind. And sure enough, the citizens that stayed were likely killed or possessed by Forceless in the Battle of Ockla Prime. Not surprising
• Chapter 3: As Captain Xadisall Varessi notes, and in a notable aversion of Planetville, liberating Felucia — a planet covered almost entirely with plants — is logistically going to be next-to-impossible when your enemy has Demonic Possession (including being able to possess and mutate plants) as one of their defining abilities, and they've already possessed most of the planet at that point. The most the Galactic Alliance and Jedi can do without ravaging almost all of Felucia is evacuate any survivors who haven't been possessed and try to stop what's happening on the planet from spreading to other ones. Plot, covered by other tropes

• Whenever the Loud siblings get into a fight in the show, it's always Played for Laughs and never results in anything more severe than some Amusing Injuries. Not so in this fic; the beating Lincoln receives from his sisters is shown in a far more realistic way, resulting in him getting severely injured and needing hospitalization. Not only does he suffer physical injuries, he also comes to fear all of his sisters (except Lily, who was not party to the madness, and is rightly pissed with her older sisters), believing they intend to finish the deed and kill him. Deconstruction Fic
• When Ronnie Anne attacks Lynn at school in order to avenge Lincoln, both girls get suspended for three days. No matter the intentions behind it, deliberately picking a fight in school is against the rules. Plot happens. Doesn't explain why it's surprising.
• A thirteen year old child trying to control nine younger children is a disaster waiting to happen. ZCE, not surprising
• Once word got out that the Loud sisters beat their brother so badly that he was sent to the hospital, they become outcasts, with their friends abandoning them. All of their friends were horrified and disgusted that they would hunt their brother that badly and cut ties with them. Even the ones that have not outright ended their friendship keep their distance from them. While some have decided to support the girls, most of them make it clear their friendship is over and want nothing to do with them. Some of the ex-friends only consider forgiving the girls if their brother forgives them. Character reaction, not surprising
• Lisa may be a Child Prodigy with a doctorate only at the age of four, but she also lacks the morals of a mature person. Psychology, not realistic
• Luan's April Fool's Day antics have severely damaged her relationship with her family and they're even outright scared of her. Character reaction
• Ronnie Anne gets dominated in her first confrontation with Lynn. The toughest girl in 5th grade she might be, but she's no contest compared to a gifted athlete two years her senior with martial arts training. Ronnie only beat Lynn during their fight in the cafeteria because she let her. Covered by Curb-Stomp Battle The last sentence implies that there is a reason to think Ronnie will win the fight, but it needs more context.
• The girls discussed about if Lincoln never forgiving them, they should learn to accept it. In practice however, while he rejected their apology out of fear than anger or spite, it's shown that talking about it is easier than action. On a related note, despite Lincoln acknowledging his sisters' remorse, he still feels conflicted about actually forgiving them. Not only because of how severely they've beaten him, but what will stop them from repeating if they lose their tempers again when their parents aren't around. Character reaction, discussed trope.
• The world of pageants was not kind to Lola, and the stress of trying to keep ahead of all her Alpha Bitch competitors warped her personality. Character reaction, plot happens
• Even though Lincoln was willing to contact his sisters though text after losing some fear of them, he also begins to resent them, along with losing some (if not all) of the love and trust he had in them. Character reaction
• Most of Lana's pets were given away to an animal shelter, as the Loud family couldn't afford to keep them all. On a related note, one of Lana's snakes had to be put down because it ate several of the other animals in the shelter. Plot happens. If a family can care for a lot of children, it's not that unrealistic to care for a lot of pets.
• Chapter 35 shows that Bobby and Lori already knew that Clyde was in love with the latter, but he's six years her junior and they both know all he has is a precocious crush on her, which he'll eventually abandon for girls closer to his age. Not an outcome
• Even in a house with a lot of siblings, children all have different needs and can't always be raised the exact same way due to differences from person to person. Especially if it's the difference between a boy and a girl. Rita realizes that despite not wanting to treat their children differently, raising a son has and will continue to present challenges to her that the girls don't and there are times she shouldn't treat Lincoln like his sisters. Lynn later voices that they've always treated him as one of them, and taken for granted that he's a boy and no matter how in touch with his feminine side he is, he's still a boy and will have a different attitude towards certain things than his sisters. Psychology, not an outcome
• Chapter 39 shows that Lincoln's sisters aren't just one personality, and are subject to their own flaws. Lincoln realizes that his plans don't take into account the fact that his sisters aren't just flat characters and will act outside their perceived archetype. Though Lynn does later downplay this by pointing out that his plans probably would work if they weren't always trying to interfere. Psychology, not an outcome

Three Can Keep a Secret

• Despite Mabel's wide variety of talents, her dependence on Dipper being her Cloudcuckoolander's Minder means that life is significantly harder for her when they separate. Her grades drop and she suffers mood swings between her bubbly self and the more morose anger she gains after the separation. Plot happens, character psychology
• Just because Gideon turned against Bill Cipher doesn't mean that the townsfolk are going to forgive him for joining up with him in the first place. Specifically, they tried to return him to the prison Bill freed him from, as he is still an escaped convict. Character reaction
• Dipper's and Mabel's recurring All Take and No Give and Unwanted Assistance issues and Butt-Monkey/Karma Houdini roles in canon build up to a crescendo of realistic consequences in this fic once Mabel's Warranty runs out. Mabel spends the first six or seven chapters self-absorbed in the misery that was her life without Dipper in Piedmont, scheming to make life less pleasant for him in Gravity Falls in order to motivate him to return with her at the end of the summer, all while projecting her manipulative intentions onto others to justify trying to ruin Dipper's relationships with them. Once Dipper finds out that Mabel gave the Rift to Bill three years ago, he's mad at her less for her initial mistake and more for not telling him the truth at any point between then and now. This, combined with her insistence that Dipper doesn't know what's best for his own life, continuous self-serving behavior, and attempts to pressure Dipper to return to Piedmont for her own sake despite how unpleasant life was for him there, leads to his trust that she has his best interest at heart breaking down completely. He spends the rest of the series trying to rebuild some sort of functioning relationship but wary that she has an agenda throughout their every interaction. Character reaction, plot happening
• A large number of people died from the events of Weirdmageddon. Not only that, but most of the magical and supernatural creatures of the forest along with them; the gnomes are now an endanged species, the Liliputtians are extinct, and the Manotaurs were reduced in number but are implied to have been completely wiped out when Mabel accidentally collapsed the mine in which they were all working. Not realistic
• Almost everyone in town has suffered some kind of mental trauma from Weirdmageddon and the decision to not speak about it only makes things worse. Numerous people have turned to narcotics in an attempt to self-medicate. Character psychology
• Ford was never able to get legitimate grant money for his crazy sounding research into the supernatural, and was being indirectly funded by a Government Conspiracy that wanted to manipulate him into weaponizing Gravity Falls' weirdness. Plot happens, unrealistic
• Stan's idea of him and Ford becoming globe traveling treasure hunters was never a genuinely viable career path for those two to live on, particularly in the modern day when they're both old and private salvaging of historical artifacts has become a much more legally contentious issue. They have, however, reconciled over the conflict this caused between them, with Ford apologizing for his cold reaction to the idea when he was a teen and the normally stubborn Stan being able to accept that the idea is non-viable after the two made a serious assessment of the costs involved. Plot happens, character reaction
• Because Preston had inherited his wealth and assets, he'd never actually had to work at growing his fortune before. But since his literal selling out during the Weirdmageddon and the subsequent failure of his local finances, his lack of actual experience at working to grow finances has caused a domino effect of ruin onto his family. Instead of peacefully living off the remaining assets with a smaller but respectable lifestyle, Preston can't bring himself to accept his family becoming "commoners"; his liquidating his family's remaining long-standing assets in favor of get-rich-quick schemes result in routine financial failure, and his refusal to invest in quality housing due to his insistence that they'll be back in the mansion soon enough forces his wife and daughter to live in squalor. Weirdmageddon put them in a bad situation, but Preston being Money Dumb with his remaining fortune has kept them there. Plot happens, character reactions
• Because Preston only values other people for the money to their name and continues to snobbishly look down on "commoners" like the Pines family regardless of their actual skills, he never sees the unique investment potential inherent in their revolutionary technology. Pacifica, Preston's teenage daughter, has long realized that investing some of the remaining Northwest fortune into the Pines' discoveries would likely grow that fortune a hundred-fold as soon as any of the resulting products hit the market, but doesn't tell her father and intends to do this herself once she's old enough to inherit. Character reaction, plot happens
• Preston and Priscilla raised Pacifica to think of love only as a weakness and tool to control people, telling her that when she's an adult she should use men's attraction to her to get their money, prestige, and influence and then leave them behind once they're no longer useful. Once the family loses its extreme wealth, the Northwest parents' marriage breaks down, because it's implied they married each other for the same selfish reasons as they taught to their daughter and without the money, there's nothing left Priscilla or Preston value that they can get from each other. This same mentality becomes a major mental roadblock for Pacifica in forming relationships, because she struggles to escape the idea that romance is inherently manipulative and doesn't want to exploit Dipper like her parents exploited each other. Character reactions, plot happens

Three More Can Keep A Secret

• Star doesn't actually have the authority to appoint Buff Frog as Mewni's new monster expert. Queen Moon is also upset with her for losing the previous one in the wilderness while directly calling Buff Frog unqualified and though she does end up hearing him out about the Lucitor family's double dealing there's no indication she ever changed her mind and legitimized the appointment. Plot happens, possibly unrealistic
• This trope mingles together with Author Tract in an instance in the third story outline. Gravity Falls' mysterious nature and goings-on naturally attracted the attention of conspiracy theorists. As the town's situation becomes more abnormal in the third story and it becomes clear that the Pines and the Butterflies are in charge of the situation, those conspiracy theorists decide to act. It verges into Author Tract with the specific kind of conspiracy theorists that show up: in the middle of the Massive Multiplayercrossover Space Opera, Gravity Falls suddenly gets gatecrashed by an Alt-Right Militia that heard about the strange goings-on in the town and are now making attempts to kidnap, interrogate, and likely murder the Pines and their allies. Plot happens for unrealistic reasons
• Even if Dipper doesn't entirely understand Gem weapons and technology, the arm ship is still a computerized firing weapon and still folows the laws of physics as Dipper understands them, and is thus still vulnerable to malfunctions in general and Newton's Third Law in particular. Dipper's sabotage of Yellow Diamond's hand-ship's blast function makes it unable to fire properly; rather than any direct blow against it, it's the ship's own attempt to fire, and the subsequent uncontrolled forces of the kickback, that destroys the ship. Unrealistic
• Because King has a voice identical to Bill, his voice provokes Ford's PTSD and results in Ford unleashing a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. King ends the "episode" in a full-body cast. Character reaction

Field Work

• While both love each other and it's not a mark against them as people, Mabel's and Mermando's relationship does end up having significant problems due to their difference in species. Not only does their physical time together necessitate that Mabel always be the one to enter his environment since Mermando can't survive long in hers, but they're also entirely sexually incompatible. Since neither are the type to think things through, this results in Mabel ditching the one date we see between them out of sexual frustration, with Mermando not even understanding the problem. Not realistic

• After hearing Lelouch's story, some of the Autobots offer to warp to the throne room and take out Charles right away. Lelouch refuses as, if the resulting Evil Power Vacuum and Succession Crisis didn't tear Britannia apart, the empire's 0% Approval Rating means that the other nations would jump on the chance to take it down in a moment of vulnerability. Either way would end up resulting in a whole lot of citizens getting killed in the crossfire. Killing the Big Bad is rarely like hitting a "make everything better" button. Not an outcome
• Whenever Knightmares go up against Cybertronians, the former are slaughtered in drove, be they Mooks or a Quirky Miniboss Squad like the Glaston Knights. Even Suzaku in the Lancelot gets his ass kicked. For all the advances the Britannians and Japanese have made in Knightmare production, they're still leagues behind the Cybertronians and unlikely to make any noticeable steps toward closing that gap without external help. Strong unrealistic army beats less strong unrealistic army
• Unlike in canon, Suzaku's poor mental health is acknowledged by his allies (in this case, Thundercracker of all people) as a potential handicap to his fighting abilities. Not an outcome, involves psychology
• Cornelia remained Viceroy of Area 11 and head of the forces opposing Zero in canon despite continuously failing to defeat him because the Black Knights were a regional threat and she was the highest authority in Area 11. With the Autobots (who are potentially a global danger to Britannian dominance) siding with the Black Knights, though, her failures are no longer excusable, and following the Battle for Narita, she is demoted to serving under Megatron in all further confrontations against the Autobots and Black Knights. Plot happens in response to unrealistic events
• The Vehicons, despite being Mooks, are more than capable of putting up a fight against the Black Knights, even when the latter has the aid of Knightmares. After all, the Vehicons have been fighting for longer and are using their actual bodies in a fight, while the Black Knights are driving their Knightmares and have only been fighting for a few weeks at most. Not realistic
• While Shirley does join the Black Knights in Chapter 21, she's relegated to a non-combat role, partially because Lelouch doesn't want her to get hurt, but also because she doesn't have any combat training and isn't equipped emotionally to handle killing. Not an outcome, involves psychology
• During Nunually Held Hostage, Mao manages to steal a Sutherland and learned to drive it by reading the mind of the pilot he killed for it. But he has no real training with it, let alone combat experience, so when he ends up in a two-on-one fight with Cliffjumper and Arcee, the "fight" barely lasts a minute and he gets clobbered without even getting a lucky strike in. Not realistic
• The Decepticons and Britannians' inability to get along eventually costs them dearly - not only do they lose the Immobilizer due to Airachnid's backstabbing nature, but her decision to trap Cornelia in silk allows Lelouch to Geass her and learn about everything the Decepticons and Britannians have in Japan, as well as the fact that Cornelia will change sides if she learns Lelouch and Nunnally are alive and the former is Zero. Plot happens, involves unrealistic powers
• Similarly, during the mission to rescue Tohdoh, Lelouch is able to take advantage of the disunity between them to separate them and have the Autobots and Black Knights take advantage of their weaknesses. Plot happens. Doesn't explain why it's surprising, and involves psychology
• How does Sayoko, Lelouch's maid, manage to infiltrate the Black Knights to keep an eye on him? She does it by...signing up. As she points out, the Black Knights are big enough now that even Lelouch can't personally know everyone who puts in their resume for them. Probably covered by anticlimax or another trope.
• A subtler bit is how difficult it is to maintain the "secret" part of "Secret Identity". While Lelouch may be able to keep his identity as Zero concealed from the average Joe who doesn't know him, those in close proximity and know him figure it out much easier: With how many people uncover his secret identity, it's not really surprising anymore.
  • Rai figures it out because he wound up stumbling upon Lelouch unmasked after a mission. C.C. even points out that he would have figured it out eventually given they were living together. Plot happens. Why would we specifically expect this not to happen?
  • Having spent her entire life with Lelouch, Nunnally is able to recognize his voice in an instant. It's how she figured out that Lelouch was Zero when he made his debut. She spent much of the story trying not to believe it until Chapter 29 when Lelouch finally tells her everything. Covered by Shocking Voice Identity Reveal
  • Tohdoh was able to figure out Zero's identity as early as Narita, noting when he's rescued in Chapter 26 that Lelouch is still as dramatic as he ever was. Maybe covered by The Tell. Also doesn't explain why it's surprisingly realistic, so it's just plot happening.
  • Euphemia's familiarity with Lelouch means she was able to deduce his identity shortly after the hotel incident, albeit as a gut feeling. Same as above.
  • Sayoko also suspected that Lelouch was Zero, and joined the Black Knights to keep an eye on him. She even figured out herself that Bumblebee was Lelouch's car. Same.
  • Considering that Lelouch started skipping classes more after the debut of his masked persona and Bumblebee having little to no difference in vehicular appearance in-between combat operations and masquerading as Lelouch's car, someone close to Lelouch was bound to put together that he was Zero. As Milly managed to do. Same.
  • Schneizel reveals to Megatron in Chapter 31 that he had his own suspicions as well, noting that Zero's methods and tactics, while slightly different due to working with the Autobots, are the same ones Lelouch would implement whenever Schneizel would play chess with him. Same.
• Britannia may have been uncontested in military might in the main Code Geass series, but against the Autobots and Decepticons, they are absolutely inferior in terms of technology, weaponry, and strategies. This is shown a lot during the story, but the biggest showing is Chapter 34, where the Decepticons invade Pendragon and wipe out the capital and its entire army in less than an hour. Not realistic
• It's eventually revealed that a growing number of Britannians are disapproving of the imperial family and military's crimes, becoming vocal particularly after Clovis' actions are exposed. Even in a society built on racism and Social Darwinism, there will be people who disagree with their leader's actions. The SAZ Massacre is the eventual straw that breaks the camel's back, as not only do many Britannians side with the Black Knights but Gino, Monica, and Nonette, who are among the Empire's most elite knights, end up defecting as well. Character reactions
• Suzaku not getting results or winning battles, and even refusing to kill, eventually cause most of the Decepticons to lose faith in him; while Starscream is the earliest and most vocal critic, by Chapter 28 even Megatron has lost patience with him. Character reaction, plot happens
  • When Megatron threatens to have him removed from the military, Suzaku says that he can't do that because he's Euphemia's knight. Megatron counters by saying he can just reach out to someone higher up in the military and have them do it. Not an outcome
• Upon learning how evil the Decepticons really are, Euphemia suggests to Cornelia that they ally with the Autobots and Black Knights against them. But between her wounded pride over her many defeats at their hands and her anger at them for Clovis' death, she refuses. Character reaction
• Even though most Britannians blame Japan for Lelouch and Nunnally's supposed deaths, does not mean that they've forgotten Charles' part in it by banishing them in the first place. Euphemia tells Suzaku that she hates her father for it, Cornelia doesn't like being compared to him as she also hates him for practically sentencing two of her siblings to death, and Guilford tells Cornelia that he'd side with her over the Emperor because he doesn't trust him. Nonette became a Knight of the Round primarily because she believed he was similarly responsible for Kaizaren's apparent death, and she wanted to expose him. Character reactions
  • It's also implied that the reason no one blames Charles is because they're afraid of him. As Emperor, he has absolute authority, and has already proven that he's willing to exercise it even against his own family; since it's too risky to blame him directly, it's implied that everyone's just taking their anger at him out on Japan. This is proven true for Cornelia when Lelouch uses his Geass on her in Chapter 22. She admits that she's afraid of going against Charles, as she knows he will retaliate by doing something to Euphemia. Character reactions
• Initially, while the Black Knights get along with the Autobots, they still view them as being machines instead of people. It's only when they see the Autobots' fearful reactions toward the Scraplets that makes them realize that the Cybertronians are living beings, who can feel emotions and die. Character reactions towards unrealistic creatures

Code Prime - R2: Revolution

• While the Britannians might have been able to hold their own during the assault on Pendragon despite eventually losing, they only did so because they had the very best of their forces present, excluding the Knights of the Round. When the Decepticons proceed to conquer the rest of the empire, it falls within weeks, in part because the Decepticons brought in their elite forces, such as the Combaticons, the Constructicons, and Squadron X. Unrealistic plot happens
• The various super Knightmares that show up midway through R2, such as the Guren SEITEN and the Lancelot Albion, make their debut in the very first chapter of this story because, with the Black Knights and their allies having to spend six months lying low, they had plenty of time to push their machines to their absolute limits and develop multiple new systems. Not realistic
• Since the Decepticons are more concerned with getting results over flashy displays of oppression, their human slaves, while not treated well, endure far less mistreatment than the Britannian Numbers. Covered by Pragmatic Villainy, probably not an outcome.
• With how much the Decepticons have ravaged Mount Fuji in just a short time, and the benefit the Energon inside it would give them, its cultural relevance no longer outbalances the tactical advantage of eliminating it, so Kyoto gives the Black Knights and Autobots permission to detonate the Energon within. Not realistic
• Guilford's failed plan to revolt against the Decepticons is met with difficulty as two of his collaborators, Milly's mother and Kallen's stepmother, still have discriminatory views against the "Elevens". Even if Britannians and Japanese are all enslaved together by a more powerful force, some people will just be too stubborn to let go of certain views on people. Character reactions.

• With so much water around them and no distractions, it doesn't take long for Kodachi to find out about Ranma's Jusenkyo curse. Since she's a Cloudcuckoolander, she shrugs it off. In fact, she's more angry that Ranma thought she wouldn't just brush it off than anything else. Example relies on unrealistic magical curse.
• When Captain Kintaro tries to rape Nabiki, she slaps him. Rather than doing any serious damage, it only lightly bruises him, since he has military training whereas Nabiki only pursues hobbyist and personal fitness levels of athleticism. Slapping someone isn't a very effective way of hurting them... what's surprising about that?
• In a world where travel is primarily based on wind-powered sailing, a lot of time is just spent getting from point A to point B. Boredom is a recurring issue for our heroes to battle with. On reflection, this turns Luffy's early obsession with getting a musician from "amusingly Skewed Priorities" to "legitimate concern". Easy Logistics aversion? Deconstruction Fic? Not the trope it's supposed to be either way.
  • To counter this, the crew stock up on books whenever they get the chance. But this only helps so much as there's so much downtime while sailing they read all the books they find quickly. Not really surprising as written.
  • The majority of the Nerimans are used to training and some level of fighting on a regular basis, so being stuck on a small boat where they can't do that drives them up the wall. A major reason for attacking Marine ships is that it gives them a way to work off their pent-up energy. Not really surprising.
• Nabiki is outraged when she learns that Ryoga is P-chan; conversely, the rest of the crew are surprised by this, as they figured her greed would cause her to keep a lid on it in the name of personal profit rather than tell her sister. Character reaction.
• During a truth-or-dare session, Shampoo is asked why she doesn't reciprocate Mousse's feelings. Her rationale fundamentally boils down to the fact that Mousse's dishonorable nature — his willingness to blame his problems on others, to try and bully other people (mostly Ranma) away from Shampoo, his shameless eagerness to cheat both subtly and overtly in combat, and his tendency to flat-out break honor-invoking promises — all disgust her. Character reactions
  • During the same session, Nabiki reveals how Ranma once went on a date with Kuno. Kodachi, Shampoo, and Ukyo are enraged, but when Ranma explains that he only did it because Kuno had obtained a wish-granting sword and figured he could trick Kuno into using a wish to remove his curse, they cool down immediately. Character reaction
  • Also in that same session, when pressured into it, Ranma admits that he has noticed that he's surrounded by very attractive girls, some of whom aren't actually engaged to him. He's just never "done anything about it" because of fear of violence and honor concerns. Deconstruction Fic and a character reaction again.
• When Ranma and Luffy bump into each other, no Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny occurs, as they have no reason to be hostile towards one another. Ranma even buys Luffy some food and they engage in a friendly conversation before parting ways amiably. Averted Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
• Since pirates in the One Piece world are expected to proudly show off their criminal status, Ranma and co. are regarded as cowards for not designing a Jolly Roger nor picking a name for their crew. Combined with the fact that they need some moniker to refer to them by, this leads to Ranma's first bounty declaring that he is captain of "The Dirty Coward Pirates". Example relies on the honor system of an unrealistic world.
• When Nabiki comes up with a plan to turn Ranma over to the authorities for the bounty and then have him escape, it fails because the Marines they try to fool aren't as stupid as the folks back in Nerima. And when a fight inevitably breaks out, the Marines don't play around: they employ a Devil Fruit user and even knock-out gas to subdue the protagonists. Example relies on unrealistic knockout gas and magical powers, and also a character reaction and Deconstruction Fic.
  • During said fight, Nabiki is effortlessly subdued since she's a Non-Action Girl. Literally just Non-Action Guy played straight... come on...
  • Nabiki came up with a such a risky plan because a) Ranma and his crew have been curbstomping every Marine force they've come up against in the last 2 months since being stranded, inflating her estimate of how capable they are of overcoming their foes, and b)she's always been a rather short-sighted and selfish schemer, whose plans in canon largely work because she deals with the other teens of the Nerima Wrecking Crew, who aren't usually the brightest. And even then, it's backfired on her in the past. Deconstruction Fic
  • The others agree to Nabiki's plan because they've been curbstomping every Marine force they've come up against in the last 2 months since being stranded; despite Ranma warning them that many weak foes can be a legitimate challenge, they've all gotten overconfident, so Nelson's forces being above what they've faced in the East Blue to that point is a very harsh reality check. Character reaction, Misuse based on the old Reality Ensues name.
• Being from our modern era, the protagonists are horrified when they discover that slavery is practiced in the One Piece world. Values Dissonance
• Eric the Whirlwind doesn't try to take revenge on the Nerimans or fight the Marines after killing Nelson. He's a mercenary and has nothing to gain from continuing the fight. Character reaction/Mercenary does his job and doesn't care about fighting beyond his pay, not surprising.
• Shampoo's Zoan form gives her super-powerful legs that vastly empower her running and jumping skills. But, since she just got this form, her control over her new and improved muscles still needs a lot of work. In a nutshell, she's great in a straight line, but her turning sucks. During her first sparring session with Ranma, Ranma's superior maneuverability and control lets him literally run circles around her, despite her power up. Example relies on magical transformatioons.
• Patty's habit of insulting the Baratie's customers results in him receiving a kick to the crotch by an indignant Nabiki. Since the rest of the staff have been pestering him to stop doing that specifically because it's bad for business, she doesn't get in trouble for it. Character Reaction.

• Getting the obvious out of the way, it should be noted that in the original episode, Lincoln was more annoyed by the fact that he has to wear a squirrel costume so his family doesn't consider him bad luck anymore. Here, however, he's upset and downright depressed because he feels like his family doesn't see him as a brother or even a son anymore. By chapter 3, upon seeing his furniture being burned after his mother said that it was sold, Lincoln finally reaches his Rage Breaking Point. Chapter 5 reveals that Lincoln developed a strong resentment towards his family because of the way they've treated him. Character reaction
• Chapter 6 has Bobby point out that throwing a minor out of his own house is a crime and, based on the severity, can be punished by 1 or even 10 years in prison. Likewise, Lincoln struggles with actually getting the cops involved, despite having every right to do so, since he can't stomach the damage it would do to his family if his parents wound up in jail and his sisters separated from one another forever. Which shows that even though his family had treated him horribly, he's still lived with them with all his life nonetheless, and he doesn't have the emotional strength to actually go through with it. Not an outcome
• As Lucy finds out (and the rest of the girls secondhandedly), apologies are all well and good, but if you keep trampling on someone's rights, especially when that someone is your sibling who's sacrificed a lot for your sake, eventually just saying that you're sorry isn't going to cut it and you'll have to demonstrate your change of heart. And it must be to the satisfaction of the person you're trying to appease, not yours. Character reaction
  • Furthermore, Lincoln threatening to call the police if his family fails to convince him they deserve his forgiveness, bluff or not, also brings up the fact that just because somebody can't stomach doing a particular thing doesn't mean they won't do it if they are not given a legitimate reason not to do it. As said before, the Louds have to apologize to his satisfaction, not theirs. Not an outcome
• Lola is often played up as being The Dreaded, a demon in human form who even her eldest sisters are terrified of crossing. However, when she tries to exert this on Lincoln in chapter 4, he picks her up by the collar and she realizes that since he's too angry to fear her right now and that she's a six-year-old dealing with someone older, bigger, and stronger than her, she can't intimidate him which freaks her out. Not enough context.
• Even putting aside personality differences based on a child's individual nature, raising a boy requires different techniques from raising girls and trying to use the same methods will backfire. Not enough context. Probably not an outcome, and involves psychology.
• A double dose with Lana trying to chase Chandler and his goons off of Lincoln. All her dirt throwing does is act as a distraction since it's more an annoyance than anything else. Then when the boys gang up on her, Lana's tough face melts away into a scared and crying 6-year-old. Subverted A Handful for an Eye
• Chandler starts crying and begging for mercy after Lincoln gives him and his gang a very brutal beatdown when they start bullying Lana, reminding us that, bully or no bully, he's still a young kid who had just gotten the shit beaten out of him. Doesn't explain why we'd specifically expect Chandler to beat Lincoln
• Chandler's injuries from said beating were also so bad that he ended up in the hospital. His father has been heard talking about suing the Loud family for Lincoln putting his son in there. On the flip side, however, the entire event was recorded on a video that has since gone viral, including the scenes of Chandler bullying Lincoln and later Lana. As multiple people point out, this is more than enough evidence to defend Lincoln's actions as self-defense, so there is little chance of the lawsuit succeeding. Not an outcome
  • Confirmed in chapter 13, where it's shown his father did try and get Lincoln arrested, only for the police to refuse the complaint since they had seen the video and decided Chandler got what was coming to him. Plus when Chandler's father tries to press the claim further, it's pointed out that he isn't exactly in the police's good graces given the below-mentioned sewage plant incident. Not surprising.
• Given their history of flaking on him from time to time, Lincoln doesn't trust any of his friends other than Clyde to keep the details of everything that's happened to him a secret. Character reaction
• Chandler's father nearly got arrested for the sewage plant party and had to do a lot of kissing up along with taking a salary cut to avoid being fired. Plus his wife outright thought he was insane for planning it in the first place. Character reaction
• In Chapter 16, we find out that the pranks from "Fool's Paradise" had lasting effects on their victims, with Lynn and Lana even being medical concerns. Deconstruction Fic since it's a fanfic applying overlooked realistic outcomes to canon events.
• In Chapter 19, Lori points out that since the Loud parents are adults with jobs, she has spent most of her life acting as a Parental Substitute for her younger siblings and unlike Lincoln, who has the decently helpful Lynn as a fallback as well as Luna and Luan if needed, Lori has been on her own in looking after everyone plus no one expects Lincoln to look after the other teenagers while that's expected of her. Not surprising
• In chapter 20, Lynn Sr. explains that he and Rita did try to use the homemade mugs Lincoln gave them each anniversary, but because they were so poorly made (something that Lincoln himself acknowledges), they simply couldn't serve their intended purpose. They brought the first pair to a local pottery maker to have them redone, and actually still use those 2, but couldn't afford to have the others remade as well. Doesn't explain why it's surprising.
• Chapter 22 sees The Reveal that Lynn was actually not happy about Ronnie's Loving Bully ways and she (not unjustifiably either) sees the younger girl as a hypocrite for calling out the Loud girls' treatment of their brother after she spent months bullying him though Lynn does give a Hypocrisy Nod about the Loud girls' own poor treatment of Lincoln. Lynn is still correct about how Ronnie-Anne isn't so different from them. Character reaction
• Chapter 25 features Ronnie and Lynn both going down hard when massively outnumbered and having to watch the backs of the much less athletic Lincoln and Conner. Curb-Stomp Battle or Zerg Rush
  • Lynn also points out that Ronnie, not having been trained in martial arts or the use of anything more dangerous than a book, isn't going to last long against a bunch of assholes with baseball bats and despite her being better suited for said fight, Lynn still ultimately gets her clock cleaned and winds up collapsing on the ground when her injuries catch up to her and cut off her Heroic Second Wind. Not surprising.
  • When Ronnie gets Stuffed into a Trashcan, the experience causes her to swallow garbage and get violently ill. Same
  • Despite being furious about what they were trying to do to Lincoln, Lori still stops Carol from breaking a bully's neck since that would have crossed a line that would have gotten her arrested. Not an outcome
  • Like the fight with Chandler and his goons, no one on Lincoln's side who was involved in the fight in Chapter 25 gets in trouble because the witnesses all clarify that the thugs started the whole thing and Ronnie, Lynn, Lori, and Carol were just protecting Lincoln and Conner. Not surprising
  • On the topic of the above subject, Lori and Carol are both still arrested temporarily as they were in the middle of a very violent fight which the police knew nothing about yet. Once the police interview the witnesses who confirm that Lori and Carol were acting in self-defense, they allow the teens to go. Not surprising.
• Chapter 26 shows that despite Bobby forgiving Lori, their relationship is still not the same as before with the latter's involvement with Lincoln. Character reaction
  • Mr. Santiago ends up being killed in a car accident in the epilogue. Due to him being the source of most of the Santiago's income, Mrs. Santiago had a hard time paying the bills. This ends up forcing the family to move in with the Casagrandes. Plot happens. Someone dying in an accident or not are both realistic, so it doesn't fit the trope at all.
  • Lynn also still hasn't fully forgiven herself for whole ordeal. Even after seven months had passed, and earning Lincoln's forgiveness more than once, she began to have issues with self-doubt and started to hear voices in her head. Character eaction

Take It In Stride

• Despite two years having past, Lynn still hasn't forgiven herself for her actions. '''Character eaction
• The Louds bought a new family van since Vanzilla was showing its age. Plot happens.
• In Chapter 8, Lincoln mentions how when he tried to switch middle school classes Principal Ramierz decided to sign him up for the Canadian student exchange program instead, just like in canon. Unlike canon, Lincoln never went to Canada because the second Lynn Sr. and Rita found out, they were furious about their son being tricked into joining a foreign exchange program and confronted Principal Rameriz; they even threatened to get the superintendent of the school district involved if she didn't immediately take Lincoln off the program. Turns out that trying to force an underaged student to go to another country against their will and without the parents' permission will not go over well with the parents of the student in question. Character reaction.
• When Lynn, Lincoln, Ronnie Anne, Sid, Lola, Lana, and Lily go on a day trip to Dairy Land, it's mentioned that the amusement park was forced to get rid of the Milk Shaker because the ride forcing people to get hit with their own vomit violated a lot of health and safety standards. They also had to update their safety standards for several other rides to prevent the park from being closed down. Not an outcome if it happened offscreen
• Similar to the Lana incident in the previous story, when Lucy ends up on the wrong end of a fight against three older girls, her bravado fades in the face of severe pain and she ends up pleading with them for mercy. Not to mention that while Ronnie showing up in a protective fury, as she's not remotely pleased that someone is manhandling her boyfriend's little sister turns the tide and leaves the bullies battered and fleeing, both girls are still severely banged up and require first aid as soon as they get back to the Loud house and the rest of the Loud siblings are quickly furious about Lucy's assault, having to be talked down from taking retribution because the situation is taken care of. Character reaction and losing a fight, doesn't explain why we'd expect them to win.

Ace Attorney

• The fan-made case The Broken Turnabout:
  • Phoenix's influence over Vera Misham's trial, combined with his personal stake in the outcome, ultimately resulted in the verdict being overturned on the basis that Phoenix couldn't be trusted to remain impartial. This in turn necessitated a retrial that was completely free of Phoenix's influence; the usual trial system is used, Klavier and the judge are replaced by Franziska and the judge's brother, respectively, and the defense are forbidden from using any of the evidence Phoenix gathered in his investigation. Maybe?
  • The series's familiar pattern of exonerating clients by finding out who the true culprit was is turned on its head. With subtle prompting from Phoenix, Apollo points out that, as defense attorneys, he and Athena are not obligated to prove anyone's guilt, just to prove that their clients are innocent of whatever crimes the prosecution accuses them of. Yes, and?
  • Franziska's case is treated as a lot weaker when it's shown to rest solely on the testimony of a person who has very good reason to lie, with no definitive evidence that backs it up. As Apollo points out, he could come up with any explanation for what happened, and as long as it didn't contradict any of the case's evidence, it would be just as valid as Franziska's. Not surprising
  • After the trial, Phoenix admits to Franziska that yes, he was bitter over getting screwed out of his attorney's badge. Franziska also tells him that, while she disapproved of his actions regarding Vera's first trial, she did see some merit in introducing jury trials. Yes, and?
• In Cup of Tea, Edgeworth tries to set a romantic mood with a candlelight and wine dinner. Phoenix ends up drinking too much wine and is too drunk to get physically aroused. Subversion of But Liquor Is Quicker

The Adventure Zone

• Dinner for Two deconstructs the popular "Taako forgives Lucretia thanks to Lup" fanfic idea in The Adventure Zone fandom. In it, Lup's plan to get her brother to forgive her best friend by trapping them together with a forcefield and magic chains only ends with both sides of the party worse off than before, and Kravitz outright furious with her. The message being that if you try to force others to fix a strained relationship simply because that's what you want, without so much as warning the two involved, it's only going to end in disaster. Not surprising, too fantastical

Ah! My Goddess

• The Grave in the Corner: Keiichi may have wished for Belldandy to stay with him forever, but at the end of the day, he was still mortal. Yes, and?
• As shown in The Vain Rose's Garden, open relationships take a lot of work on everyone's part to function. Not only do both parties have to trust each other, but they also have to deal with possible jealousy from their partner sleeping with someone else. A recurring worry for Keiichi is whether he'll ruin things with jealousy if one of his girlfriends sleeps with someone else. When Urd and Keiichi engage in partner swapping with Skuld and her boyfriend, they all sit down together afterwards and discuss things to make sure they don't accidentally ruin their relationships. Character stuff
  • Furthermore, because such relationships are frowned upon (and often illegal), Keiichi and the goddesses have to take great care to make sure other mortals don't find out. Not surprising, bad indentation
  • Later chapters show that Skuld is having trouble coming to terms with her bout of partner swapping. Even though she agreed at the time and talked about things afterwards, she still feels inferior to her older sister and worries her boyfriend will prefer Urd to her. Character stuff, bad indentation

Aladdin

• In Queen of Diamonds, after Jasmine is returned to Agrabah, she has to deal with various issues as princes are far more reluctant to appeal for her hand in marriage now that she has acquired a 'damaged' reputation after living with Aladdin for two years. This is surprising or realistic how?

American Dad!

• YOU DID WHAT?: One-shot! deconstructs the episode "White Rice" and, by extension, every other time Stan had Francine's mind altered or rewritten. Rather than being Easily Forgiven and Played for Laughs, Francine is utterly furious with Stan for taking her life away from her and divorces him on the spot. Even Roger, who needs to be a jerk to survive and takes glee in doing so, is shocked at Stan's behaviour and takes Francine's side. Too fantastical, Deconstruction Fic

Amphibia

• Sasha and the Frogs: Many instances show that it really doesn't matter if you end up in a world of Frog Men. Actions have consequences as Sasha learns it the hard way. Examples include: Still not this trope
  • Ignoring the warning sign about swimming in the lake only to be eaten by said lake monster. Not surprising
  • A human has different dietary needs than an Amphibian. Not surprising
  • Lying to the whole village about your product will cause them to resent you for your actions. Not surprising, character stuff
  • Being a toxic friend will eventually backfire once they find out you've not exactly been a true friend to them. Not surprising, character stuff

Angel

• In Impact, when Cordelia (mid-season three) swaps places with her past self at a point shortly before Doyle's death, she has trouble convincing Angel and Doyle of what's happened to her. She realises that this is because she is initially trying to relate to Angel as though he's the Angel she's been getting to know for the next two years when this Angel still doesn't really know her as more than one of Buffy's old friends, and while her relationship with Doyle had potential, she acknowledges that most of the bond she's used to thinking of them having came from her inheriting his visions, which obviously hasn't happened yet. Too fantastical

Animorphs

• All Assorted Animorphs AUs: In "What if Elfangor and Loren raised Tobias?", the Fangor parents are not happy when they learn that their son has been risking his life and hiding it from them. Loving parents want their kids to be safe, not surprising
• In Dæmorphing, Tom was infested during a period of formative brain development^note from ages 14 to 17. When he's finally freed in Abel or Cain, his brain is so damaged that he can barely move at first and has bipolar disorder. Too fantastical
• Sporadic Phantoms often takes aim at how profoundly weird the actions of the Animorphs look from an outside perspective. After all, someone would notice all the animal sightings, and the paper trails to Visser Three's scheme of the week. Too fantastical

Archie Comics

• Maybe the Last Archie Story: Archie's gang -who regarded foiling Mad Doctor Doom's schemes as funny adventures back when they were kids- react to him returning and kidnapping Sabrina as one group of high-schoolers about to face dangerous armed criminals would do: they are afraid of get hurt or killed as rescuing their friend, and Moose gets stabbed and transported to the hospital. Too fantastical

Arrowverse

• To Hell and Back (Arrowverse):
  • Slade and Shado's romantic relationship is a result of this, according to Oliver. The two of them were the only two adults on a death trap of an island, trying to protect, raise, and train three traumatized kids and a baby on their own, and only able to rely on each other for comfort and help. Considering the amount of stress they were both under, it would've been more surprising if they hadn't gotten attached to one another. It's because of this that Oliver refuses to take inspiration from them for his own love life; while he recognizes his adoptive parents genuinely loved each other, the circumstances that led to it aren't something he should replicate. Not surprising
  • Oliver is absolutely hopeless at love. Prior to Lian Yu, the only experience he had was a one-month fling with McKenna Hall, his parents' still patchy marriage, and rom-coms. After Lian Yu, on top of all the trauma, the closest example he had to a healthy relationship was the aforementioned Slade and Shado. His siblings were no help either, as Barry was still confused and hung-up on his feelings for Iris (who is literally the only person he's ever been interested in), while Kara was too obsessed with raising Kal-El to care about any romance. Finally, his only prospective love interest during that time was Nyssa al Ghul, who is emotionally repressed and even more inexperienced than he is due to being raised by the League. Compounding all that together, it's no wonder he's Twice Shy with Laurel. Not surprising
  • The Justice League is constantly strained with their duties because they have only four people on the team — hardly ideal for protecting the world. Even then, they can't add members nilly-willy, and even when they do, they stop at seven because adding anymore will screw up the team dynamics. Too fantastical, not surprising
  • Having a public base is just giving your enemies a place to target, which is why Oliver hates the Hall of Justice. '''Yes, and?
  • Just because someone has had a crush on you for years does not mean you are in any way obligated to return their affections, as Laurel shows Tommy. Likewise, flaunting your mutual attraction with someone else in front of them will just alienate that person from you. Oliver and Laurel do exactly that to Tommy several times (albeit, unintentionally), and it costs them his friendship. Character stuff
• Vigilantes' Dawn:
  • The Lances' divorce. Even without the angst of indirectly causing one of her daughters' "deaths", one could hardly expect Dinah Lance to be willing to deal with Quentin's alcoholism while in the midst of coping with her own grief. Not surprising
  • One of the epigraphs note that vigilantes that lack powers often have to make unsavory deals for the sake of the greater good. Not surprising
• Blackbird (Arrow):
  • Sara just got out of a traumatic experience that saw her suffer several near-death experiences, a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome, heavily implied rape, and the presumed death of her only remaining friend (Oliver). She was so badly in shock and desperate to go home that she is literally unable to scrounge up more than a token protest when her mother trades her sister for her. Unsurprisingly, when Sara finally gets out of said shock and realizes what she and her mother just did, she falls into a pit of self-hatred that leaves her a shadow of herself, with implied Death Seeker tendencies. While it doesn't completely excuse her from what happened, it does make her more sympathetic than everyone involved in the situation besides Oliver and Laurel herself. Character has trauma
  • Whatever is left of Oliver and Sara's relationship is unsalvageable after he learns about what happened to Laurel. While Oliver is sympathetic to her plight, he cannot find it in himself to forgive Sara for her part in what happened. The two can hardly consider each other to be friends now, let alone anything more than that. Character stuff
  • Sara has barely been taking care of herself for the last three years. Thus, she's barely able to handle the hike up the Himalayas to Nanda Parbat, so much so that Oliver (who hasn't been all that charitable to her lately) is genuinely worried she'll keel over. Not surprising
  • Malcolm isn't an idiot. Once he learns Oliver is going to the Himalayas, it doesn't take long for him to figure out that Oliver is the Hood and where exactly Laurel's actually been for the last three years. Yes, and?
  • No amount of extra training is ever going to fully prepare Oliver for a duel with a man that has centuries of experience on him. Less skilled loses to more skilled, not surprising
  • When she wasn't carrying out missions for the League, Laurel was stationed at the culturally isolated Nanda Parbat and presumably didn't receive any news about Starling City (either by nature or deliberation). Hence, she has never heard about the Hood and doesn't understand the gravity of Oliver being him is. Yes, and?
  • After three years of breaking countless laws, Laurel has lost any desire to be a lawyer, believing she no longer has a right to that dream. Instead, she becomes a bouncer for Oliver's club, figuring she might as well apply the skills she learned from the League for something legal and useful. Character stuff
  • Being the favorite child of an Abusive Parent doesn't mean that parent is necessarily a better parent to you. For all that Dinah treats Sara better than Laurel, as the first story goes on it becomes clear that she is a horrible mother to Sara. Dinah forces a Sadistic Choice of having to trade Laurel to the League on Sara to assuage her own guilt, then lets Sara fall apart during the next three years over her guilt. It's no wonder Sara decides to move in with Quentin the first chance she gets. Character stuff
  • While Sara is pivotal in freeing Laurel from the League, it doesn't absolve all the grief and pain she's caused her over the years, especially considering Sara was the reason (however unwillingly) Laurel was forced to join the League in the first place. Laurel can barely stand to see Sara at first, and while she does eventually get over her sister's presence and shows genuine worry when she sees how much Sara has fallen apart over the past three years, she openly acknowledges that she can no longer be the person to help Sara with her recovery. Character stuff
• What It Takes:
  • Officially, Quentin only knows that Oliver was the Hood/Arrow, Roy was Arsenal, Laurel is the Black Canary and Felicity Smoak was helping them. Knowing that many members of Team Arrow, it's easy enough for him (and others) to figure out that Thea and Diggle were the other members, even if there's no solid proof at first. Not surprising
  • As the most wanted person in the city, Laurel is living on the run, doesn't go out in the day, and can't shop for even basic necessities. This starts to take its toll: she's noticeably thinner due to limited food and constant activity, her clothing becomes progressively dirtier and worn out, and personal hygiene is no longer something that she can afford to focus on. Oliver worries about both the lack of nutrition in her diet, and the lack of sunlight she's able to expose herself to. A doctor eventually confirms that she is malnourished, dehydrated, and suffering from a lack of Vitamin D. Not surprising
  • Liza Warner isn't outright deafened in one ear after Laurel's initial Canary Cry, but her hearing is damaged. Her refusal to slow down and treat it leads to it worsening. It also proves increasingly difficult to hide, and has consequences in the field, such as when she can't hear her teams calling her. Not surprising
  • The people of the Glades have a peaceful protest march supporting the Black Canary, and condemning City Hall for their actions. As a terrorist leader who basically owns the city now, Darhk doesn't bother playing by the law and has them attacked and arrested. Not surprising
  • The world notices when nuclear weapons get used, and some regions are more volatile than others. After Darhk launches a nuke at Nanda Parbat (near the Hindu Kush), tensions around the world escalate, with India and Pakistan being particularly on edge and pointing the finger at each other. The U.N. Security Council also has an emergency session to deal with the situation. Even after it's revealed Darhk, an international terrorist, was responsible, the entire world is still very tense as they deal with the fallout. Not surprising
  • The League of Assassins has been around centuries, if not longer; and the Lazarus Pit nearly guarantees immortality for the current Ra's. A nuke hitting their base of operations is still something they cannot survive or recover from, particularly when they didn't know it was coming (helped by their shunning modern technology). Too fantastical
  • While Thea is in good shape, months of non-vigilante activity have caused her skills to atrophy enough that she would have had trouble against Athena without Oliver stepping in to help her. Not surprising
  • After the truth about Darhk is released to the public and he's subsequently dealt with, the FBI swoops in and puts Starling City's entire city government under investigation for their complicity in his actions. Not only did they unwittingly support an international terrorist and started a witch hunt for some of the only people trying to stop him out of greed, they also did other questionable actions under his direction such as releasing hundreds of dangerous criminals onto the streets because they were either prosecuted by Laurel or captured and sent to the police by the vigilantes. It's all but stated that the careers of every official that supported Darhk are over. Not surprising
  • Laurel has been there for her father for everything, enduring years of emotional abuse and neglect out of love for him and constantly forgiving him for his mistakes. However, his decision to out her as the Black Canary and side with Darhk, leading to loads of other consequences for her other loved ones, ultimately proves to be the last straw for her. When he tries to reconcile with her at the end of the story, she firmly and soundly rebuffs him, admitting she can no longer keep on compromising her self-worth and happiness for his sake. Character stuff

Assassin's Creed

• The general fanon assumption about Altair's Super Drowning Skills is surprisingly grounded: after all, the Levantine tends towards the desertic as a biome, meaning that water is lacking or present in very small quantities, not big bodies such as rivers or lakes. So Altair is unable to swim because he never had the opportunity or the need to learn how to do so. General example
• Fanon also tends to depict Altair as rather small. Considering that people in the Middle Ages were historically verified to be shorter in stature and that the Middle East has an average height noticeably lower than Europe or the Americas, of course Altair is going to be petite. General example

Attack On Titan

• In Losing Control, it's suggested Annie has amnesia after she apparently doesn't remember anything when Levi interrogates her. Hange quickly points out that's not how amnesia works; she'd instead have loss of self-awareness or defective short-term memory, not a complete memory loss. Subverted and discussed Laser-Guided Amnesia

Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra Side note, Korra should be in "L", not here

• The Avatar's Mistress: (NSFW fic)
  • Asami admits to Korra that after she enabled Varrick to effectively steal Future Industries, her board of directors almost kicked her out of the company, since the incident destroyed their faith in her and suggested that she wasn't experienced enough to lead a multi-billion yuan corporate entity. Not surprising
  • Zaheer is revealed to have been quietly executed while in captivity, after he was discovered practicing Jinora's Astral Projection technique. Given the potential uses for this technique, and the fact that he's a dangerous criminal responsible for the near-destruction of the Earth Kingdom, no-one wanted to take any chances with him. Not surprising, too fantastical
• Fractures (ATLA):
  • When Zuko was first banished by his father, Zuko declared that not only would he not stop the Avatar, but that he'd instead help him overthrow Ozai and end the war. In response, Ozai immediately has him imprisoned for treason. Not surprising
  • After spending three years locked in a cell and tortured daily, Zuko is severely traumatized. He can barely eat or sleep, suffers frequent nightmares, and needs a wheelchair to get around. Character has trauma
  • A number of Zuko's generals don't respect or trust him as he's an obvious invalid with none of the strength of personality his father possessed. At least one is outright planning on finding a way to restore Ozai to the throne. Even Zuko's former friends Mai and Ty Lee are wary of him as they don't know where he's been for the last three years. Not surprising
  • While well meaning, Zuko also isn't trusted by anyone outside of Fire Nation as they only know him as Ozai's son and the newest Fire Lord. Most of his attempts to deal with them are met by hostility. Not surprising
  • When Lu Ten reveals himself to have been alive for the past several years and living in the Fire Nation capital as a commoner, Zuko outright refuses to believe his cousin is who he says he is. If he did, Zuko would be forced to acknowledge that his cousin knew what he was suffering for the last three years and did nothing to help. Character stuff
• In How I Became Yours, as Azula is regaining her lightning bending powers, Mai takes the opportunity to throw a knife into her chest, which nearly kills her. This averts Talking Is a Free Action and shows that mundane weapons, even ones as seemingly unimpressive as knives, are a threat against benders. Not enough context, else I'd say something kind of Talking Is a Free Action playing with
• Chapter four of The Fun and Perky Warrior's Wolf Tail is nicknamed "the one where the universe objects to Azula's badass power plays" by the author. Namely, her Establishing Character Moment from canon, in which she orders her crew to port the ship despite the danger of low tide, comes back to bite her when low tide actually comes and strands her Royal Procession ship in the bay. Deconstruction
• In No Other Future, which takes place in the Another Brother verse (an AU in which Zuko is Happily Adopted by Hakoda and raised in the Southern Water Tribe), Kana gently points to the girl who's crushing on him he never will be a good husband and father. As he can't help but fall asleep for the whole duration of arctic winter, he's basically useless for several months, and any children he would sire might inherit his problem. Not surprising
• Reluctant Hero:
  • Zuko is not happy to learn he's the Avatar, as it means he's now his birth-nation's greatest enemy. When the Northern Water Tribe decides to abduct him to help him fulfill his destiny, he takes it bad, and aggravating this is the fact he's separated from his uncle. He spends the first part of his sojourn trying to escape and his later breakdown isn't seen as surprising by Yugoda. Literally stated as not surprising by the example
    Yugoda: He was taken from his family and all he knew, was told he has to save the world, and had to deal with that old goat Pakku on top of it all. I'm surprised he didn't break like this sooner.
  • After hearing his teachers agree it may be best to wipe Zuko's memories from the Fire Nation clean, the teen immediately loses trust in them and becomes even more desperate to flee. He ends up entering the Avatar state and destroying a good chunk of the Northern Water Tribe city due to this and the fact he was sick to be away from his family and shoehorned on a position of savior he never wanted to begin with. Too fantastical
  • The Pohuai stronghold's Fire commandant decided to destroy the mountain shrines near only because an Avatar built them without taking the time to ask why exactly shrines were here. The mountain is soon overrun by jiangshi and the resident Fire garrison has to contain the mess. When the crisis is peacefully resolved, the new commandant immediately orders the shrines' restoration. Too fantastical
    • Sokka has to work with the Fire soldiers to resolve the crisis because a) he's more informed on the situation, b) zombies are everyone's problem and c) Katara will not leave the mountain alive if the undead are not stopped. He's not happy about it but still fulfills his duty. Not surprising, regular example of Enemy Mine, and bad indentation
  • Empires and colonies need workers to run properly, so the Fire soldiers do their best to ensure the Earth Kingdom locals are safe and comfortable enough to be productive. They also are watching for rare talents such as spiritual awareness, which is too precious and useful to waste the user on a farm: after seeing Sokka speak to a great spirit, the garrison immediately takes him in custody and sends a message to the Fire Sages to secure an apprenticeship. Not surprising, too fantastical for the spirit bit
• Repairs, Retrofits and Upgrades:
  • Asami is in a world of pain over her father's death, and finally starting a relationship with Korra and going on a vacation won't fix that. Character has trauma
  • Kuvira may have given up, but her army is still massive and will uphold her former ideals even if she won't. It seems Suyin's belief they were a Keystone Army of unwilling conscripts was inaccurate. They're also entrenched throughout the territory and fortresses which resisted the Fire Nation for a century, and won't be beaten easily. Subversion of Keystone Army?
  • The Colossus was an engineering and logistical nightmare which worked partly due to dumb luck, and used so much metal, acquiring enough material to build a new one isn't possible. Too fantastical
• The Saga of Avatar Korra:
  • Korra's first use of firebending is a frightening one. Because she's a toddler at the time, she sets her parents' home on fire by accident. Too fantastical
    • Senna, Korra's mom, doesn't automatically deduce that her daughter is the Avatar and first suspects that there was a mixup after the labor. When she decides that it isn't the case, Senna is still frightened about what her husband will think if he sees Korra firebend, fearing that Tonraq will think that she was unfaithful. Thankfully, Tonraq is understanding and automatically suggests that they find a teacher for their daughter, since he would never doubt Senna's faithfulness to him. Too fantastical, bad indentation
  • The Earth Queen's tyrannical rule in this continuity is more brutal, resulting in many refugees fleeing and seeking asylum in other nations. However, Unalaq mentions that taking in the amount of refugees that are flooding out is putting a strain on the economies in the Northern and Southern Water Tribes, resulting in pushing a request for the Fire Nation's assistance in the matter. Not surprising
  • Despite being in their "care" for the past 14 or so years, Korra still rebels against the Red Lotus and wishes to leave the compound much like she did in canon. Despite being quieter and calmer than her canon counterpart, Korra is still restless from being trained and isolated from the rest of the world and wishes to get started on being the Avatar ASAP. Not surprising
  • When Bolin talks to Mako about the idea of dating Korra later on, Mako quickly shoots down the idea and states that if she ended up living with them, Korra would essentially be like their sister. Trying to instigate a relationship with her would most likely end bad considering that they all live together. He also notes how difficult it was for the brothers to earn a living by themselves and adding another person would make it more difficult if Korra wasn't going to work. Not surprising
  • Mako panics about Bolin being in danger after he is arrested; Asami naturally assumes that Bolin is a lot younger than Mako and is surprised when Mako says differently. Character stuff
  • Despite bonding with Asami, Bolin, and Mako during her time in Republic City, Korra is still conflicted between her loyalties to them and the Red Lotus. Years of being given a warped view of the world are hard to erase, but Korra is starting to question this perspective from what Asami has been teaching her. Character stuff
  • Mako and Bolin are still working under Shady Shin when they meet Korra, so they aren't as afraid of breaking the law like they are in canon. So when Mako decides to torture some information about the Red Lotus's whereabouts to find and rescue Korra from a spy acting as a monk on Air Temple Island, Asami watches this play out in horror and it ends up damaging his relationship with her, despite Mako's good intentions. Character stuff
    • Furthermore, Mako is questioned by the police afterwards but no charges are pressed. Yes, and? Bad indentation too
    • This strained relationship carries on in the beginning of Book 2. Asami is still freaked out over the incident. Character still holds a grudge, bad indentation
  • Korra's reunion with her parents is more bittersweet than outright joyful, since they are complete strangers to her and vise-versa. However, they all still work on getting to know one another and bond. Not surprising
  • By the end of Book 1, the Red Lotus has been all but wiped out by Korra, Senna and Tonraq reunite with her, and Tenzin is ready to start Korra's airbending training. Happy ending? Not so much. Everyone is still pretty traumatized by what they went through in the book's climax and get counseling in the beginning on Book 2, though it isn't that successful, since the realm of psychology is still new at that point (Republic City is essentially based on a combination of steampunk and the Roaring Twenties, after all). Asami's father, Hiroshi, distrusts benders even more since Asami got caught up in the fighting and nearly died. And anti-bending hatred in general is much worse than canon at this point, since the terrorists that attacked the city were mostly bender-based. Characters have trauma plus plot
  • Plenty of changes from canon occur off-screen, such as Lin reconciling with her sister earlier on as well as her relationship with Kya. One diverging point is all it takes to reboot the entire universe, after all. For Want Of A Nail
• The Stalking Zuko Series:
  • Aang is majorly distrusted by the Fire Nation, not because he's their historical enemy or because of propaganda. No, they distrust him because he and the Ocean Spirit slaughtered countless Fire Nation soldiers, many of who had family. (An argument can be made that the Ocean Spirit was the one that did the killing, but it's unlikely that the Fire Nation will know or care about this factor.) Too fantastical
  • When Aang spares Ozai, the rest of the Gaang realize that, without his bending, Ozai's still a threat, and his followers are plotting a coup. On the other hand, it's revealed that no one actually likes Ozai, with his supporters mainly being those who benefited from having him in power, and once Zuko finds evidence that proves that Ozai killed people himself, he's disqualified from succession and the movement loses steam. Plot
  • When Zuko is hit by lightning, he had to see a real doctor and was comatose for a few days and bedridden for a week afterwards. Not surprising
  • In the prequel Jet's Troubling Obsession, when Zuko tries to show Jin the view of Ba Sing Se, she lacks the fitness and strength that most of the Avatar cast has and had to be assisted by Zuko to get on the roof; this was supposed to compare the cast to normal people. Maybe?
• Towards the Sun:
  • The only reason that Azula was able to take position as Fire Lord was due to Ozai changing the law to make 14 the minimum age to become Fire Lord. Neither Azula nor Zuko would be considered legal adults in the rest of the Fire Nation had they not made themselves Fire Lord. They are both considered too young to be ruling without a regent. In fact, the Fire Sages try to make a deal with Iroh to become Zuko's regent or take the throne so an actual adult is ruling the country instead of a child working himself to death. Plot
  • Remember those Fire Nation ships Aang took out while channeling the Ocean Spirit in Season 1? This story confirms that he killed over a thousand soldiers doing so. Plot
  Aang: I know I kind of… broke a few of your ships. At the North Pole.
  Zuko: [thinking] Sent over a thousand people into graves of steel and salt, yes.
  • An entire war isn't won simply because you beat the enemy's leader. It takes Zuko all but literally spelling it out for Aang to understand that the Fire Nation only started withdrawing troops and ending the war because Zuko declared a ceasefire and ordered them back, not because he beat Ozai. Plot
    • So far as anyone is concerned, the Fire Nation won the war. The Water Tribes are a non-factor, the Air Nomads are functionally extinct, and the Fire Nation controls more of the Earth Kingdom's territory than the Earth Kingdom does. And no, Zuko isn't going to give up the Fire Nation colonies simply because Aang asked. Plot, bad indentation
  • While Ozai was stopped from burning down all of the Earth Kingdom, he still wiped out a considerable amount of farmland. As it was just before the harvest, the nation is now facing a serious famine. Plot
  • With Kuei going missing and not telling anyone where he went as he went Walking the Earth, many people believed that he was eaten by his bear once his bear got hungry. A Sheltered Aristocrat that never had to fend for himself or his pet is very likely to be dead. Yes, and?
  • A bunch of politically inexperienced teens have to draw a peace treaty on behalf of their nations during a peace conference with the Fire Nation. A lack of communication and understanding on both sides leads said politically inexperienced teens to completely botch any peace in the short and long term. Plot
  • Zuko is furious when he finds out that Iroh had been secretly running a White Lotus cell under his nose on the Wani. Had Iroh been caught, Zuko and the entire crew of the Wani would have been executed as accomplices regardless of their lack of involvement. Plot
  • During Zuko's Agni Kai against Iroh, many of the palace staff notice that he didn't firebend at all and wonder if the Avatar Depowered him. While Aang didn't, the lack of public knowledge of how energybending works makes the unpopular Avatar a convenient scapegoat and boogeyman. Plot

Axis Powers Hetalia

• The fanfic HetaMulan, is a NyoAmerica fic where she keeps her true gender a secret, only for it to be revealed. It turns into a nightmare for Amelia, as most of the countries in the world start to treat her differently. Some of the countries start being overly-polite around her while others start to mistrust her thanks to the fact that she kept such a big secret from them. And others, mainly North Korea, the Middle Eastern countries, and Russia start to act more hostile to her, even dropping threats! As she notes early on, this, along with many other reasons, is why she passed herself off as a male. Plot
• In Parting Sentiments, a Recursive Fanfiction sequel to the infamous Financial Crisis Gang-Rape comic, England apologizes to America some years after the incident. His apology is genuine and sincere, he fully owns up to his actions and admits that he was wrong... but America still rejects it anyway, making it abundantly clear that he absolutely refuses to ever forgive England for what he did and it's not something he'll ever just "get over". Easily Forgiven does not apply when you not only betray the one person that trusted and loved you the most, but also physically and emotionally hurt them on the deepest level imaginable and really have no reasonable justification for having committed such an act in the first place, nor when the apology has a self-serving reason behind it either. Deconstruction?