We don't want to clog this thread since Surprisingly Realistic Outcome is an Overdosed Trope. Before posting here, check if the example you're analyzing qualifies for summary deletion from the three criteria below by keeping this trope's rigorous definition in mind.
- Does the example involve Applied Phlebotinum (Functional Magic, Science Fiction, Artistic Licence) or a character reaction? If so, it instantly violates the definition's second bullet point's realism requirements, and you should delete it without question.
- Is the example a Discussed Trope or an instance of Conversational Troping? If so, it violates the definition's third bullet point's emphasis on only counting outcomes, and you should delete it without question.
- Considering the definitions, would the example qualify better for Deconstructed Trope or Deconstructed Character Archetype from the trope page's rules? If so, move it to the appropriate one on the spot.
If the example survived all three tests, it satisfies the second and third bullet points, so you don't need to change it immediately. If you feel like it meets the first bullet point's requirements for being surprising, you can leave it. However, if you believe it doesn't meet the first bullet point or aren't sure, talk it over in the cleanup thread before deciding.
Many Stock Phrases you'll see used in this thread describe a particular type of misuse:
- Not surprising. — The outcome described isn't a Bait-and-Switch and merely follows expected genre conventions.
- Plot happens. — The example merely describes an event or series of events but not why we would expect something different.
- Too fantastical. — The causes/outcome described included the presence of stuff Impossible in Real Life such as Applied Phlebotinum, Functional Magic, or Science Fiction, meaning they're too unrealistic by default.
- No character reactions. — The outcome involves a character reacting in a certain way or having certain emotions, which we can't gauge the realism of because people's emotional reactions vary far too much.
- Not realistic. — Exactly What It Says on the Tin, but this one requires you to write a short description for why it isn't realistic.
- Too implausible. — The outcome describes an outcome that happened because of things too unlikely to count as relatively realistic compared to what they were subverting.
- Cuttable ZCE. — Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- Not an outcome. — The example is either a Discussed Trope, Lampshade Hanging, Conversational Troping, or happens over too much time to be momentary.
- Too unclear. — The example is too convoluted or obtuse to judge.
- Irrelevant. — The example describes stuff utterly irrelevant to the definition of SRO.
- Bad indentation. — Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
Old OP
I've been noticing a lot of Surprisingly Realistic Outcome misuse lately, from instances of Gameplay and Story Segregation to Awesome, but Impractical, and I thought a cleanup thread could help out a little.
A big thing I've noticed is that it's often used for anything remotely realistic, or something that's realistic but doesn't necessarily affect the story. Another problem is that the trope seems to be cherry-picked, where any instance of reality ensuing is put there, as well as when another trope could serve the example better.
Problematic examples from one sample page, SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome.Disney Animated Series:
"Despite his attempts Wander can't make friends with Dominator who constantly rebuffs his friendly gestures throughout season 2. Even at the end of everything, she still refuses. Sylvia even lampshades it, telling him some people are just like that."
"Spider-Man's fight against Sandman and Rhino, where Spidey uses Rhino's weight against him. rather than fighting him directly."
"Beshte gets sunburns all over his body and is easily exhausted while he is lost in the Outlands. Justified due to the fact that hippos need water to survive to avoid sunburn and overheating."
"It's heavily implied that being the leader of the Lion Guard has taken a toll on Kion's social and private life."
"Milo Murphy's Law is about a boy named Milo Murphy whose entire life is centered around Murphy's Law. In another cartoon, being The Jinx would cause people to be afraid of them, resulting in an unsocial lifestyle. That does not apply here. While everyone does watch their step around Milo, they do not hate him for it. Being The Jinx does, however, give everyone Paranoia Fuel, given that Murphy's Law can happen at any time, so chances are you might need insurance, a phone in case of emergencies, among other things. Milo himself (as well as his friends Melissa and Zack) just learned to adapt to his condition, being prepared for anything. He has lived with Murphy's Law his entire life after all. That being said, that does not mean that they don't panic all the time. Examples include Milo panicking over his monthly doctor's note, and Melissa panicking over riding a rollercoaster with Milo."
" Hiro is initially not allowed to use Tadashi's former lab, as it can only be accessed by upperclassmen who earned the privilege. Subverted in the second half of the pilot when Professor Granville decides Hiro using the lab would benefit him. On a related note regarding Granville, she is tough, but fair when interacting with the students. She might be, as Wasabi describes "a hard case", but Granville being a complete sadist and picking on Hiro would be unrealistic. She is actually a decent person."
-Edited with permission from the OP-
Edited by lalalei2001 on Aug 10th 2022 at 5:47:25 AM
#1127: May 29th 2022 at 10:49:12 AM
Holy Wall of Text, Batman!
If you need an essay to explain why something is "realistic", more often than not it ain't an example.
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WarJay77
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
from The Void
(Troper Knight)
Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
#1128: May 29th 2022 at 10:51:06 AM
I'll only err on the side of "Grindlewald isn't a psychopath" because he does end up not helping Voldemort in book canon, which is what the movies are supposed to be part of. Having a change of heart isn't a very psychopath-like thing to do, but he's still a very bad bad man. He just does have a conscience deep down inside.
Other than that, yeah, this example is bad.
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Someoneman
Since: Nov, 2011
#1129: May 29th 2022 at 1:45:59 PM
I removed the Magical Beasts example since it's not describing a situation with a well-established but unrealistic expected outcome.
Also, the E fanwork examples have been Exterminated.
Ed, Edd, n Eddy
- It smelled like an Ed at least
has an alternative ending to the episode where Jimmy framed the Eds for several misdeeds across the Cul-De-Sac: in this one-shot, Edd reveals that the kids' parents had set up security cameras around the Cul-De-Sac, which also caught Jimmy's actions on video. Naturally, everyone who was strung along becomes pissed with different reactions: If the premise of the fic is that something was different about an episode, it's not surprising that the events don't happen the same way
- Sarah is heartbroken that her best friend would lie to and manipulate everyone and doesn't want to be friends with him anymore Character reaction
- Nazz calls him out on his actions and states that his behavior was even worse, ruining Friendship Day and all the hard work the kids put into the celebration. She also apologizes to the Eds for accusing them earlier. Character reaction
- Kevin has qualms against hitting little kids, but tells Jimmy he would have him suspended by his underwear on a pole if he was Kevin's age. He admits to himself that the plan was good, but that Jimmy's motivation was petty and immature. He tells the Eds that it doesn't change a thing between them, though. Not an outcome
- The Kankers also witness Edd's explanation about the cameras and leave before they do something incriminating on video and get arrested; Jimmy tries to get them to go through with the deal he made with them (help him trick the Eds and they could have the Eds to themselves), but the girls want none of it. I have no idea what the "Surprising" outcome is supposed to be in this example. It's probably a character reaction anyway.
- Considering the "Shaggy Dog" Story of Forfeit, its fan sequel, The JadEd show that a laundry lists worth of transgressions against the trio who end up committing the Crime of Self-Defense only to be separated from one of those best friends facing the death penalty can kill The Power of Friendship in and of itself. Not enough context.
- Just ask DoubleโD whose promising future was destroyed along with his general faith in humanity due to the Butt-Monkey status shared with Ed and Eddy being enough for the kids to engage in Humiliation Conga with the help of the Kanker Sisters, culminating into said murder at the cost of all of them being mistaken for coldblooded killers. Not even the Cruel Mercy of watching Eddy Taking the Heat for their deaths wasnโt enough to spare himself from being sent to a Hellhole Prison for up to eighteen months, coming back out as a nearly empty shell with resentment towards the four and the knowledge Eddy will be put to death because of all this. Plot happens. Doesn't explain why it's surprising.
- In Eddy's New Friend, Eddy has been suffering nightmares about his brother's abuse, triggered by the No-Holds-Barred Beatdown from The Movie; being accepted by the rest of the neighborhood kids doesn't change the fact that he was relentlessly abused for years and things like Sarah yelling at Ed or being called "bro" are massive triggers. Even the happy ending of his new therapy dog Cash soothing him back to sleep is just the start of a recovery, not an instant fix. Character has trauma.
The Elder Scrolls
- Dragon From Ash:
- Skyrim is well-established as a heavily insular, xenophobic society that looks askew at the more inhuman races such as Dunmeri and Argonians. Having to acknowledge a Dark Elf as the Dragonborn — their mythic hero-prophet — causes more than a few Nords to be upset and disgusted as a consequence, grugdingly helping because of the prestigious position but still loathing the candidate himself. Not realistic
- Velandryn Savani was arrested for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and almost executed both out of laziness and racism by the Imperials, leaving him extremely sour and hostile towards them. The only reason why he accepts to work with them on the dragon problem is because the Stormcloaks are even worse racists, and the relationship is still fraught with tension. Character reaction
- Velandryn himself is completely horrified to find himself acclaimed as the Dragonborn, as it comes with powers his race despises and is affiliated with a human populace blatantly hating Dark Elves. With nothing in his culture predisposing him to like the role, he obviously struggles a lot to grow into it. Character reaction
- Travel time is a thing, so even a mere trek to bring Serana back to her home takes a bit more than a month. Especially when you let yourself be distracted by other quests. Needs more context, but could be a valid realistic aversion of Traveling at the Speed of Plot.
Elfen Lied
- In Promise on the Festival Night, Lucy gifts Kouta a wide-screen T.V., a Play System, and a copy of "Aliens Vs. Demons 3". This causes Kouta's father to grow suspicious of his son's friend because, even if she was from a rich family like she claimed, no sane parent would just give their young child that kind of money (estimated to be around 600,000 Yen, roughly around 5,583 USD) to give away. This causes Kouta's father to start investigating Lucy's life, eventually finding out that she lied about her home life and deducing that she's guilty of several crimes, such as fraud and murder. Character reaction, plot happens, not surprising.
Encanto
- ⫚ - His Daughters, The Miracles of the family:
- Simply telling three young girls not to ever mention their parents again does not go over well and it's shown that Isabela, Luisa and Mirabel are beginning to resent Alma for it. Character reaction
- Alma slapping Isabela isn't simply glossed over. The rest of the family begins walking on eggshells around her out of fear that she'll hurt someone else if they displease her. Pepa and Felix even talk about leaving. Same
- A little dinner scandal:
- Since Alma barely bothers to hide her dislike of Mirabel, several other members of the family have picked up on it, with both Camilo and Dolores directly saying how unfair it is, while Julieta implies that she's not exactly fond of it either. Character reaction
- Mirabel isn't planning on just taking her mistreatment of rest of her life and is planning on moving out when she turns sixteen. Same
- In spite of doing her best to keep her resentment over her marriage hidden, the moment Mirabel implies that Alma only wanted her to marry Mariano to be a Baby Factory, Isabela snaps and makes her feelings well known and it's implied Mariano didn't like the implications very much either. Same
Epithet Erased
- In The Night Visit, Percy, being a responsible officer, insists on making sure Molly's father takes proper custody of her so she's present when Martin not only admits to forcing his daughter to do an adult's job of doing everything required to run the store but also brushes aside her physical needs as important as well as shrugging off abandoning Molly at the museum; naturally this plus Molly's confirmation of her situation leads Percy to arrest Martin for child neglect, child abandonment and illegal use of child labor. Plot happens, doesn't explain why it's surprising.
- Since her sister thinks Molly deserves to be forced to "earn her keep" and either ignores or verbally abuses the 12-year-old, she's on thin legal ice as well and spits that Percy should take Molly with her since she doesn't want to deal with the supposed "lazy brat". Abusive sibling faces consequences. Not surprising.
- Despite her family giving her nothing but grief, abuse and neglect, Molly is still uncertain about being removed from their custody since she has no idea where she'll end up. And while she's happy when Percy promises to see she's cared for properly, the stress of the evening sends her into a deep sleep as soon as she has the ability to collapse safely. Not an outcome
#1130: May 30th 2022 at 7:23:26 PM
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And here we have the F works. I'd say a certain F word, but we should probably keep it family-friendly.
Fairy Tail
- In the Alternate Tail Series, Levy, without any money to pay rent for the seven years she was missing, has to search for a new apartment. However, she runs into several problems including not having enough having to pay for the deposit, her credentials being questionable due to being a member of Fairy Tail, and any apartment she can afford to buy is not adequate for living in. She finds a solution by moving in with Gajeel and Lily, who live independent of any landlords. Plot
- A Black Comedy example in Labor Day Surprise. In canon, the Exceeds sent serval eggs to Earthland to protect against a possible disaster in Edolas. However, there is no guarantee that the Exceeds would have found a safe home just as Happy and Carla did. Case in point, when a younger Gajeel found an Exceed egg, he saw it as food. Plot
The Familiar Of Zero
- Present but downplayed in Jus Primae Noctis, and even played for laughs, most notably when Saito notes that anyone who thinks spending the night with four beautiful girls in his room is a good thing has obviously never done it. There's a lot of arguing, competitiveness, and jealousy between the girls. Plot
- In Soldier of Zero, Guiche breaks up with Montmorency after the love potion incident as he simply can't trust someone who was willing to brainwash him into loving her. He's also deeply disturbed by the idea that if he'd been drugged, he would have raped her eventually. Too fantastical, character reaction
- While initially the other students found Louise's infatuation with Guiche under the love potion's effects more amusing than anything, they realize there's nothing funny about the situation after Louise nearly rapes him. Character reaction, bad indentation, subversion of Double Standard Rape: Female on Male?
- Zulu Squad no Tsukaima:
- Initially averted in the early arcs, as the OC, in spite of being an elite mook from Spec Ops: The Line, still has to deal with the usual shenanigans of the anime's Harem Genre. Huh? Then you don't list it???
- When the soldiers of the 33rd reverse engineer their modern weapons to help the outnumbered Tristainian military against the war with the Reconquista, the new untested guns, while initially effective at the start of the battle, start to misfire and cause the Tristainians to get overwhelmed. Plot, probably some other trope, bad indentation
- Enslaved could be renamed "Reality Falls Down on The Familiar Of Zero, Hard": Then it's Deconstruction Fic
- Saito's reaction when he's suddenly abducted from his world and basically Made a Slave is utter horror and panic, leading to a very tearful breakdown. It doesn't help that the staff encourages him to move on from his previous life and become an Extreme Doormat to not displease his new master. He would like nothing more than come home but the "other world" aspect is a bit of a fumble, and trying to flee would be difficult for a modern-day teen without any practical experience. Plot
- Louise is painfully aware of the fact she made Saito a huge wrong but tries to assuage her guilt by promising she would buy him everything he needs. Derflinger calls her out on this, accusing her of only wanting to show off her new familiar, and tells her she would let Saito go if she really wants to help him. She does. Plot, character, misused YMMV trope
- After Saito's enrollment in a mercenary unit, Derflinger reminds him a mercenary needs war to make money: they are sell-swords after all. Not surprising
- When he realizes the Holy Gandalfr - basically a saint or angel for the Church of Brimir - just fell on his lap, the Black Lord Albrecht immediately seizes the opportunity to kill his father and gain the throne by pretexting "the Founder wills it, look, He sent His Shield as a sign". Of course, this causes quite the political and religious stir... Plot
- Because the love potion incident happens earlier and plays out differently in Maid of Honour, Louise ends up spending a couple weeks enamored with Siesta. Said "fraternization" sees Siesta dismissed and though Louise tries to make things right by hiring Siesta as a personal maid, the older girl remains worried that Louise will try to seduce her again. Character reaction
- During the usual duel with Guiche, the crowd of students quickly become disturbed when instead of a fight, they witness a young woman being beaten by metal golems. Character reaction, bad indentation
- The aftermath of said duel brings up a point most Familiar of Zero stories ignore: Familiars are legally extensions of their masters. Not only does this make said masters responsible for their familiars but attacking a familiar is legally the same as attacking their master. And unfortunately for Guiche, Louise may be an Inept Mage but she's also the daughter of one of the most important noble families in the country. Plot, really bad indentation
- Siesta used to be a fan of bodice-rippers but ever since the incident where Louise basically tried to rape her, she's sworn them off entirely, now being distinctly uncomfortable with the idea of an aggressive suitor. Character has trauma
- During the usual duel with Guiche, the crowd of students quickly become disturbed when instead of a fight, they witness a young woman being beaten by metal golems. Character reaction, bad indentation
- In The Steep Path Ahead, Louise is a fan of pulling I Surrender, Suckers, which quickly results in her opponents refusing to accept her surrender, even when it's completely genuine. One of the mercenaries goes into a rant about how she violated one of the few rules everyone abides by and has proven herself untrustworthy. Deconstruction of I Surrender, Suckers
Fate/Grand Order
- In the Habenyan Chooses A Bride For Ritsuka series by exterminate68, Habetrot is picking the female servants as brides for Ritsuka. While many like Mash happily accept, some servants like Tomoe, Bradamante, Parvati, and Europa refuse because they are already happily married to their husbands from myth and history.
Fate/Stay Night
- Fate/Harem Antics: In an omake, Shirou Emiya has a harem of 23 girls, which makes his male classmates jealous. He tells them it's not all fun and games. He has to satisfy them all sexually, and although they take turns each day, it is wearing him out and he can barely stay awake. He's needed to expand his kitchen to have room to cook for them all, and with how much some of them eat, if some of them weren't wealthy, he'd be unable to feed all of them without going broke. Plot
Fillmore
- Influential:
- In the second chapter, Ingrid ends up at a Halloween party being thrown by Fillmore's girlfriend Shelby and when she goes looking for her partner, finds him being beaten by Shelby. After Ingrid decks the other girl and she and Fillmore make it outside, she asks why he wasn't defending himself; Fillmore very angrily and bitterly reminds her that he's black and Shelby's white so he actively couldn't fight back without risking being relabeled as a violent thug. Plot, probably some racism trope/Double Standard trope
- Fillmore also isn't happy that Ingrid showed up at the party since she and Shelby don't get along at all and Ingrid could have gotten hurt fighting Shelby. And he's furious that Shelby threatened Ingrid and would have been even before he caught Shelby with another guy because Ingrid is his partner and best friend. Character reaction
- When Anza gets hit full on by a car in Hit and Run, Tehama is quickly hysterical, with the other characters not much better, and the impact snapped his spine, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down; Anza reacts horribly to this, struggling with feeling useless and worthless and the fact that he's never going to walk again. And as the sequel states, even if his arms still work, this is only due to physical therapy and he's still recovering mentally and physically months after the accident. Plot, character reaction
- On a non-Anza note, in the sequel, Frank's obvious crush on Vallejo trumps his skill as a profiler, with the rest of the Safety Patrol telling Frank "You're Just Jealous" and "let him be with someone whose company he enjoys". Frank himself admits that he doesn't have any actual evidence that Amy is bad news other than getting bad vibes and as such, tries to ignore said bad vibes but does eventually tell Vallejo his fears; Vallejo, who has deep insecurities about not being attractive, blows off Frank's worries and walks right into Amy's trap. Frank happens to witness this and runs to get help; while Fillmore initially accuses Frank of a stalker, he does agree with Ingrid that they should go with Frank to where he claims to have seen the kidnapping to investigate because if Frank is lying, investigating will just be a small waste of time but if he's right and Fillmore ignores him, Vallejo could get hurt or worse. Plot, bad indentation
- Also, Fillmore requests to know why Frank let Amy take Vallejo since โOnce she lays her hand on one of your friends, sheโs no longer a lady.โ but softens when Ingrid realizes that Frank was a victim of the freeze part of "fight, flight or freeze", which, given what he saw Amy doing and saying on top of how she and her mannerisms had always made him uncomfortable, is a realistic and understandable reaction. Character reaction, really bad indentation
- On a non-Anza note, in the sequel, Frank's obvious crush on Vallejo trumps his skill as a profiler, with the rest of the Safety Patrol telling Frank "You're Just Jealous" and "let him be with someone whose company he enjoys". Frank himself admits that he doesn't have any actual evidence that Amy is bad news other than getting bad vibes and as such, tries to ignore said bad vibes but does eventually tell Vallejo his fears; Vallejo, who has deep insecurities about not being attractive, blows off Frank's worries and walks right into Amy's trap. Frank happens to witness this and runs to get help; while Fillmore initially accuses Frank of a stalker, he does agree with Ingrid that they should go with Frank to where he claims to have seen the kidnapping to investigate because if Frank is lying, investigating will just be a small waste of time but if he's right and Fillmore ignores him, Vallejo could get hurt or worse. Plot, bad indentation
Five Nights At Freddy's
- ''Adorable and Fluffy gives us a one in the middle of the story. Returning back to their old home, Michael and William discover the place in a horrible state of disrepair. As it turns out, since William was found to be the one behind the murders, of course the police would search high and low in the house to find any evidence or clues left behind. Plot
Final Fantasy
- In Final Fantasy VII Machinabridged, Yuffie's penchant for yelling "SURPRISE ATTAAAAAAACK!" when ambushing her prey only gets her knocked out; first by the Turks via Rude's forehead blinding her, then by Tifa punching her mid-gloating. Deconstruction of Calling Your Attacks?
- Us and Them: Aeris says at one point she'd think Cute Little Fangs on a child would be appealing. Later one of her sons is born with fangs. And now she has to breastfeed him. Tempting Fate?
- A Flower's Touch:
- Aerith forces her way into SOLDIER, but don't expect the commanding officer to welcome her with open arms, or for her to get any special treatment. She starts at the bottom and has to work her way up. Not surprising
- After Angeal goes off to confront his mother, Aerith bursts into Sephiroth's office and demands he go check on him. She turns out to have been right to do so, but it doesn't get her out of having to spend a month assisting the janitorial staff for disrespecting her superior. Then becomes two months after she talks back to Genesis. Plot
- Aerith is sent back in time to prevent the destruction of the Planet by keeping Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal from going insane and becoming destructive maniacs. But first she has to sort out all the baggage she's carryign from witnessing said End of the World as We Know It, watching all her friends die, dying herself and existing as a consiousness in the Lifestream, and that's before we even get to all the stuff from her childhood in Hojo's lab. Plot, character has trauma
- After the aforementioned forcing her way in, rumors start to spread about her, some of them suggesting she slept her way in or has family connections. It also causes a degree of resentment toward her, as she completely skipped the SOLDIER cadet program. Plot
Fire Emblem
- A Brighter Dark deconstructs Fire Emblem Fates as a darker, more serious retelling, without the presence of Anankos or the Invisible Kingdom of Valla. Then it's Deconstruction Fic
- Corrin was kidnapped at a very young age and all her life has known her loving Nohrian siblings. So when she's counter-kidnapped, she finds the Hoshidans' assertions of being her "real family" offensive, doesn't remember her mother at all, and the choice between the two is no choice at all. Plot
- Sakura's two retainers try to defend her and Mozu from over a dozen attackers. They put up a good fight but end up dead none the less. Two people lose to more people
- Ryoma makes several audacious decrees in order to face the Nohrian invasion, sure that everyone recognizes the threat. This backfires on him when it pisses off the numerous Shoguns who secede. Character reaction
- Hinoka is Killed Offscreen with no warning, showing that even the most important people can die anti-climatically with little fanfare. No
- Scarlet decides to fight to the death rather than surrender to Corrin after her Mystical Plague strikes Cheve. Her rebel forces, a small untrained militia of townsfolk armed with makeshift weapons, supported by a handful of Hoshidan soldiers last around 12 minutes against the fully trained and equipped Nohrian army. Not surprising
- In The Ghost of Ochs, Monica is forbidden by Seteth from participating in the Battle of the Eagle and Lion when she is brought back to the Officers Academy after her kidnapping, unlike in the game, when she, or rather, Kronya disguised as Monica, voluntarily sits out, and Flayn, who joins around the same time, is allowed to participate. Since she is rejoining the academy midway through the school year, she only has about a month, tops, to bond with her new classmates or her new professor before the big battle. Even a Badass Teacher like Byleth would have trouble properly implementing a battle strategy in such a short time for someone whose abilities she knows very little about, and the disruption of team chemistry by adding a newcomer to the mix would greatly decrease the Black Eagles' chances of winning. Plot
Firefly/Serenity
- Forward:
- River faces off against a rival pirate crew's Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy. The battle begins with them sizing each other up, and with the martial artist declaring River as a Worthy Opponent, who might be able to truly test his skills, and he rushes at her with his bo staff. River shoots him twice in the head. Then she demands chocolate. This is probably just some other trope
- Later on, River is facing a group of vengeful pirates. She's on the ground, and they're in their ship. She starts running for cover behind some boulders where they can't shoot her, only to get hit by the backwash of their engines and get thrown into said boulders, breaking her legs and back. Plot
Frozen
- Frozen Hearts:
- Hans and Heins have a harder time pretending to be a profession than most fictional characters. When pretending to be ice harvesters, they end up making some amateur mistakes, one of which results in an accident that almost gets Heins killed and is decidedly not Played for Laughs. Plot
- Helena's father, an alcoholic former castle guard, steps up to try to defend his daughter from a man trying to take advantage of her, returning to his old self in the process. He promptly gets fatally stabbed, not noticing the man's knife until it's too late. Plot
- Secret Passages is a fanfic that covers the five years prior to Elsa's coronation, as well as the events of the movie from Elsa's perspective.
- After Elsa accidentally hurt Anna as a kid, their parents separated them and reduced her contact with other people in the castle, Anna included. Even despite the isolation, Elsa craves socializing with her sister, and by her teenage years, begins to openly resent this living situation and rebel against her parents. Character reaction
- As a teenage girl, it's pretty natural that Elsa would come to hate being confined to her room, and lectured for things that aren't her fault. One scene has her venting her rage by throwing icicles and breaking a window in her room. Even though Elsa's trying to bottle her emotions, that still doesn't stop her from occasionally showing fits of anger. Character reaction
- Even though Elsa does her best to hide her powers around Anna, she's not 100% perfect at doing so and there are several occasions where Anna comes very close to finding out about Elsa's powers (such as the temperature in the room dropping when Elsa gets upset, or puddles left behind by her ice). Character reaction
- Agdar and Idun decide to keep Anna in the dark about Elsa's powers. As a result, Anna gets mad when her parents or Elsa refuse to even just tell her what is wrong with Elsa. Character reaction
- In the movie, Elsa refuses to let Anna get engaged to Hans, saying "You can't marry a man you just met!" Earlier, on one of Anna's birthdays, she explains to Anna in more detail why Anna's ideas of fairy tale romance with someone from another kingdom don't work at all: the suitor may be bossy, disagreeable, abusive, and may want to do things that aren't good for the rest of Arendelle; likewise, letting Anna marry a prince from another kingdom would mean declaring Arendelle subordinate to that kingdom. Plot
- The work also suggests Elsa sees Arranged Marriage as hypocritical since the process involves marrying someone she's never met, and yet she's not allowed to leave the castle. Character reaction
- Elsa's isolation from most human contact, aside from Anna, their parents, and trusted servants, also renders her very socially inept. This is especially clear when Anna has a nightmare and Elsa has no idea how to comfort her or calm her down. Character reaction
- Between "Let It Go" and when Anna shows up, Elsa finds that in her flight from the castle, she didn't consider that she'd need food to survive on her own. At one point, she leaves her Ice Palace and attempts to scour around for food. But with no hunting experience and no way of knowing what sorts of berries are poisonous and which ones aren't, she has no success. Plot
- A Marriage Of Convenience: In this fanfic, after Elsa was revealed to be a sorceress, this didn't bode well for many in and out of Arendelle, as her subjects thought of her as a monster, while her kingdom's allies sever or downgrade their trading ties, leaving it nearly bankrupt and vulnerable to an invasion by a powerful country or a rebellion from within. The only option left for Elsa was to marry someone of equal footing, but most refused, except for King Westergaard, who forcibly orders her to marry his youngest son Hans in exchange for economic and military aid, which forces Arendelle to become a vassal state to the Southern Isles. Anna, Kristoff and Elsa do not like this arrangement, as this offer came from the father of the man who tried to kill them, but then they would need his aid to save their kingdom. Plot
- The Alphabet Story:
- Anna admits that she thinks Elsa's attraction to women is weird and that she doesn't think it's healthy, but if her sister is happy then that's what matters. Anna's less-than-perfect reaction makes sense for an Ambiguously Christian woman in the 1840s. Deliberate Values Dissonance?
- Having a taboo Secret Relationship puts a heavy amount of stress on both Elsa and Kyra. Even with Kyra getting a Beard, it's clear that their relationship can't work out. Plot
- Even though she's queen, Elsa alone can't just make same-gender relationships legal in Arendelle. That's too major a change for her. All she can do is support changing the law. Elsa also realizes that such relationships won't be accepted in her lifetime. Plot
- A Frozen Headache revolves around Elsa dealing with and recovering from a concussion as a result of being knocked out by the falling ice chandelier. The writer didn't like how the film ignored Elsa's potential head injury. Plot
- At the end of the film, Anna freezes into solid ice and gets hit by a steel sword. She doesn't even crack. In Kingdom of Isolation, Anna's not so sturdy. She shatters into pieces, sending Elsa into Sanity Slippage. Plot
- By the Hands of the People:
- Fear towards Elsa's powers is a major factor towards Arendelle revolting against her. Character reaction
- Not all assassinations are clean. Elsa is killed upon impact, but Anna isn't. The muskets missed her vital regions. Even the second attempt at a kill fails because the bayonet doesn't hit deep enough. Plot
- Darkness Burning:
- The main premise of Anna and Elsa's parents being alive doesn't make things better for the sisters. It means that Elsa is forced to conceal her powers from her sister for a longer period of time and feeling trapped inside the castle walls to the point where she falls into depression and attempts to commit suicide. Plot
- Idun and Agdar both know that Elsa cannot get married or have children because of her powers being dangerous and know that Anna will have to continue the line of succession. Elsa isn't happy with Anna being treated as "a womb", though. Character reaction
- Related to the above, Anna is confused about Arranged Marriage because of her Thinks Like a Romance Novel mindset and ultimately scares a few suitors away, one of them actually turning her down because he's afraid of her going through with the marriage and then realizing later that it was a mistake. Plot
- Anna and her husband, Joachim, don't instantly fall in love or go through the Fourth-Date Marriage deal. It takes plenty of meetings, conversations, time spent together bonding before they can at least admit to liking each other. Even after getting married, it still takes time before the couple can really be in love with one another. Plot
- Anna is furious with her parents for keeping her from knowing about Elsa's powers, especially since it got to the point where Elsa attempted to commit suicide. By the end of the story, she still hasn't forgiven either of them for their lies or the "Conceal, don't feel" rule. But she still holds onto the hope that she'll be able to forgive them in the future. Character holds a grudge
Fullmetal Alchemist/Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
- In At Gate's Edge, Alphonse has orphaned for years due to the absence of his father, deaths of his mother and brother. He tries to sell his home to get away from the bad memories but can't sell it because it's Hohenheim's property and Al doesn't own it until Hohenheim either gives it to him or is confirmed dead. He is currently fighting the bank to get the property in his name. Plot
- In The Cripple Arc, Edward is trapped in an abusive relationship. As much as Edward wants to leave, no one in 1920s-era London is willing to hire a disabled man with no connections or job history. Plot
- In Heat, Marta climbs into Ed's sleeping bag at night because they're in the desert and as a reptile chimera, she's coldblooded. Plot
- In Another Journey, when the souls of Amestris were absorbed by Father during the Promised Day, not all bodies survived the experience. Those in risky activities such as driving, climbing mountains, and swimming or the elderly that couldn't handle the shock died when their souls were taken, and that fraction remained with Father when Hohenheim attempted to free all them. Too fantastical
underCoverSailsman
Peeks from Under Rocks
from State of Flux
Since: Jan, 2021
Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Peeks from Under Rocks
#1131: May 30th 2022 at 8:03:22 PM
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Freeze them out. "The Kingdom of Isolation" (Dark!Frozen) one isn't even realistic. The "Liquid Nitrogen Shatter" thing only works in certain types of situations. Otherwise: have you ever tried to cut a frozen steak?
Edited by underCoverSailsman on May 31st 2022 at 11:01:09 AM
Someoneman
Since: Nov, 2011
#1132: May 31st 2022 at 7:50:52 AM
The G section has been Gutted. Although it does contain a couple of ZCEs (the Girls und Panzer section) and one probably-valid example (Glee).
Gate - Thus the JSDF Fought There
- In the fanfic Here We Go Again! has the U.S. armed forces help the Japanese instead of just the Japanese going into the alternate world like how it was in the original story. Why would this be surprising or more realistic than the original?
- Rory. She's shown as exactly how creepy and/or terrifying a demigoddess who looks like a little girl and gets "excited" at the thought of battle would be. At best, to the Tankers, she's an annoyance. To Emerson and several others, she's a major threat. Character reaction and unrealistic
- The Hakone shootout in Chapter 22 is omitted. Why? Because the political shit storm that would occur between Russia, China, and America makes the whole thing stupid. Not an outcome
- Though Tank Goodness is certainly in effect, the author makes the effort to show that these awesome war machines are still, you know, machines requiring constant maintenance and logistics to function properly. Even if they are fighting an enemy without anti-tank weaponry, the tanks can still suffer from a Combat Breakdown, weapon jams, get stuck in the mud, or run out of ammunition during protracted battles. And, when operating without proper support like Here We Go Again does, there's always the very real possibility of being overrun by a massive enemy Zerg Rush, which almost happens to Cry Sum Moar and Here We Go Again during the siege of Italica. Not sure. Might count if it's normal for this kind of story to ignore the issues of tank maintenance.
Girls und Panzer
- Boys und Sensha-dล! has "simunitions" for the tanks in tankery, as the author believes tankery is otherwise dangerous enough. Despite this, Miho ends up being seriously hurt when she accidentally gets hit in the chest by a shell, and would have lost her legs if the tank had accidentally rolled over her. Not enough context to tell if it counts or not.
- Some fanfics run off the plotline that winning the tournament is not necessarily enough on its own to prevent Oarai from being shut down, such as in "Girls Und Panzer: New Fields of Battle". Flip Side of the Coin has an alternative take - Oarai remains open, but Anzio gets shut down instead. Same. Not enough context.
Glee
- Frequently Played With in Hunting the Unicorn—lots of tropes show up naturally, but everyone who actively tries to invoke a trope will end up just failing at best, or running into consequences at worst. Most notable is Blaine's past attempt to invoke Sex Equals Love, which... didn't work. Another case is where Blaine hits his head during a kidnapping and the Easy Amnesia/Tap on the Head tropes are very much averted. Namely, that the normally-sensible Blaine devolves into asking Kurt the same questions every few minutes, becomes terrified of falling asleep, and has headaches that he futilely tries to explain as strange-colored wind. He later tries to reason with his kidnapper, and ends up watching him try to strangle Kurt. Probably counts if the point of the fanfic is to highlight how some tropes could never happen in real life like they do in fiction. But the first part is a character reaction.
Gravity Falls
- As several fan fics — such as An Outsider's Look at the Pines and Anyway, I've Been There — show, one does not go through what the Pines twins went through with out a few marks. Characters have trauma
- In the very aptly titled Reality Ensues, Dipper decides to stay in Gravity Falls as Ford's apprentice while Mabel returns to California alone. Unfortunately, nobody bothered to mention any of this to the twins' parents. Needless to say, they are not too happy at the idea of letting their young, just-turned-thirteen-year-old son living with someone who is a virtual stranger (before that point, both parents didn't know about Ford's existence, and still thought that Grunkle Stan was 'Stanford' Pines), and apprenticing in a field that could potentially endanger their son's life when he hasn't even completed high school yet. The parents are, as a whole, angry at Stan for lying to them for years, angry at Ford for purposefully putting Dipper in danger and completely disregarding Mabel's feelings, and angry at Dipper for going behind their backs and staying behind without even consulting them first. Character reaction
- In the older AU story The Big Pines both Candy and Mabel underwent a form of Breast Expansion to gain Gag Boobs. However, regardless of the cause, both of them suffer from the realistic problems of having such unusually large breasts such as chronic back pain and difficulty sleeping. Candy, in particular, used the growth crystals to make herself grow from small to a G-cup, so unlike Mabel never built-up the back strength to support it. The last point is unrealistic
- Mabel 'did' grow naturally. However, because she grew so much so fast note most people assumed she got surgery. Her new build also caused her to become more self-conscious despite her normal outgoing nature. As it makes it difficult for her to find a meaningful relationship as most of the guys in high-school assumed because of her build that she was easy. Character reaction
- The Fan Sequel Where The Light Is gets into this territory at times:
- The central plot of the story is the protagonist Mouse befriending and falling in love with Ford. But unlike other fics that use Love at First Sight, it takes a while to get there due to both Mouseโs past trauma and Fordโs inexperience with romantic relationships. Character reaction
- Stan had a rather unhealthy diet throughout his life, especially in his homeless years. While it didnโt bother him in canon, in the fic itโs starting to give him health problems to the point where heโs actively changing his diet to prevent an early grave. Deconstruction Fic
- As Ford and Stan learn the hard way, one trip doesnโt completely solve a lifetime of bad blood and issues. Despite the fact that they have mended their bond and love each other, Ford still isnโt fully over the science fair incident until Mouse calls him out on it and Stan still has the same communication issues that was his Fatal Flaw in canon. Character reaction
- While adversity can bring a family together, it can also break them apart. Pacifica is working on becoming a better person after the loss of her manor, Preston didnโt and is actually worse than before. Adding to this, itโs implied that the Northwests arenโt well liked anymore (save for Pacifica) because of Prestonโs attempt to betray the town to Bill. Character reaction
- The Mystery Shack is a large place, but itโs not big enough for the Pines family to comfortably live there over the summer alongside Mouse, Melody, Soos and Abuelita Ramirez. The issue is resolved by Fiddleford allowing them to stay in the manor while heโs in Washington D.C. Plot happens. Why would we expect everyone to fit comfortably inside the shack?
- Itโs never extensively discussed, but itโs heavily implied that Stan and Ford had to do a lot of persuading to Dipper and Mabelโs parents to allow the twins to come see them. Likewise, Ford is a lot more concerned about their safety due to their parents putting a lot of trust in them to keep their kids safe. Not an outcome
- Like other fics, itโs shown that Ford and Dipper are still mentally scarred by Bill. Characters have trauma.
underCoverSailsman
Peeks from Under Rocks
from State of Flux
Since: Jan, 2021
Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Peeks from Under Rocks
#1133: May 31st 2022 at 9:21:30 AM
Gu P options:
- Bu S - Nope. Sensha-do is already using high-tech paintball rounds in-canon (and in-cannon if you'd like an Incredibly Lame Pun) - though that only comes up in expansion material - so not surprising, and some of the cannon incidents already highlight that the sport can be dangerous even with the futuretech safety measures. Overall, from the trope page, I think that fic author has misunderstood several things about canon, or the fic fans are reading too much in.
- Flip Side Of The Coin: No idea. In canon, the threatened shutdown of Oarai is a Corrupt Official breaking/bending rules. Not sure how transferring the shutdown to another school plays here.
Glee: That's actually several examples, all of which are ZCE.
Someoneman
Since: Nov, 2011
#1134: May 31st 2022 at 1:47:57 PM
Took a Hatchet to the H fanfics, except the Harry Potter folder, which is so big it could have had its own page.
Hannah Montana
- In "Amiss", looking at a world where Miley wasn't able to undo the wish that she could be Hannah all the time ("When You Wish You Were The Star"), she has become increasingly miserable and desperate after a year and a half living basically alone in this world, with alt-Lilly having acted as a friend just to blackmail her out of ten million dollars and alt-Oliver stealing things to sell when she tried to befriend him. By the time Angel manages to find a way to send Lilly to that world, Miley has begun drinking to cope with her pain, and even getting Lilly back in her life doesn't help Miley get over her issues. As a result, Lilly has to basically force Miley into a month-long rehab program, and even after Miley gets out she decides to quit being Hannah so that she can get more comfortable with herself, only returning to music a few years later. Character reaction
A Hat in Time
- Reliving and Old Nightmare :
- Snatcher suddenly finds himself human again. Since he's been a ghost for hundreds of years, he has difficulty remembering how to work a human body, to the point where he has trouble walking, eating, and even breathing (if only for a few moments). He has frequent panic attacks from physical sensations (such as just trying to eat food) and is hypersensitive to the noises his body makes. Not realistic
- When Snatcher realizes that he'll have to face Queen Vanessa, The Dreaded witch who betrayed his love and trust and indirectly killed him and his whole kingdom, which he has to do as a normal human and not a powerful ghost, he has a panic attack. Character reaction
- A Deal In the Dark:
- When Snatcher begins acting strangely due to being possessed by Moonjumper, Hat Kid is quick to pick up on something being wrong. She knows what Snatcher is like and him suddenly acting completely different catches her off guard. Just O.O.C. Is Serious Business being played straight. Also not realistic.
- After getting trapped in the Clock Tower while Mafia Town is flooded with lava with no way to cool herself off, Mustache Girl is left suffering from heat exhaustion and remains out of comission for a few chapters because of it. In canon, Convection, Schmonvection is averted when Mafia Town is flooded with lava (at least, in Death Wish mode), so a character being harmed by just being near the lava isn't surprising.
Homestuck
- In Brainbent, Eridan tried to intentionally invoke something he saw in a prison movie- specifically, the idea that if you end up in prison, you should make an example of anyone who tries to fuck with you so everyone else will respect you. Not only did it not work, it actually did the exact opposite of what he wanted: nobody respects him because they're all afraid of him, so instead of becoming admired and respected, he just got alienated even more, to the point that nobody wanted to talk to him, even people who were the closest thing he had to real friends. Wrong Genre Savvy, character reaction
- Cultstuck has Tavros run into a nasty case of this when he's trying to escape through the tunnels: even when he finds Karkat and thus has someone to guide him, the tunnels have lots of cracks and uneven surfaces, so while Karkat by himself can easily move through them, they suddenly become a lot harder to get through when he's pushing a guy in a wheelchair. It gets worse when Karkat is poisoned and their path to the Dark Hive leads them down a long flight of stairs. Why would it be surprising that having to push someone in a wheelchair makes it harder to go to certain places?
- At one point in the story, Karkat fights a threshecutioner, and this trope occurs in both a good way and a bad way: The good way is that while the threshecutioner is bigger and stronger than Karkat, Karkat's done far more training than him, so he can easily hold his own- in fact, he's better. The bad way is that while Karkat's been taught to fight, he's never been in a fight for real, so when he draws blood, he's shocked and horrified and it nearly gets him killed. Not realistic, character reaction
- 0k shows that while the main twelve may be big fish in the small pond that was Alternia, the Fleet is a whole different matter: No, a mutant isn't going to be allowed to join the Fleet, he'll be culled; no, an heiress with no exceptional fighting abilities won't be able to beat a much older and more experienced troll; no, someone with Sollux's powers won't escape being helmed; no, the Fleet isn't going to tolerate a stoner who's barely lucid, so it's not long before Gamzee's dead; no, someone as demanding and attention-seeking as Vriska won't be tolerated for long when nobody around her likes her or is willing to put up with her, so she gets killed soon enough; and yes, someone whose blood colour and rank is high enough really can get away with murder, so if you want to put a stop to it, you're going to have to be very damn careful. Most of these are not realistic, the rest are character reactions.
How to Train Your Dragon
- In Black As Night, it takes a lot of time for Hiccup to learn to handle his disabilities after he's blinded and loses his leg, and the emotional trauma almost never handled. Hiccup still has depressive episodes and confidence issues for some time, experiencing a particularly dark one with various foreboding slips during his wedding to Astrid. Not surprising
- In Bound, even after Astrid has spent time seeing Hiccup interact with Toothless and has managed to train the Nadder on Hiccup's instruction, she finds it hard to shake off a lifetime's experience that seems to prove that all dragons are bad, wondering if the two they've trained are just the exception rather than examples of what the dragons are really like. Character reaction
- The Home We Built Together:
- You can't expect a pair in their early teens to go from barely acquaintances to husband and wife over the course of a single afternoon to just go at it, even if they're teenagers. Astrid fakes the consummation with blood drawn from a dagger and they don't even officially do the deed until 29 chapters in. Character reaction
- There was no institutionalized sexual education or public-access pornography in The Viking Age. Such things either left for people to figure out themselves or left to close family to explain. By the time Hiccup and Astrid start getting intimate, they are at a total loss at what they are doing. Not sure
- Hiccup's detoxification in Persephone is a grueling experience even though he comes out better for it. And just like real-life alcoholics, extremely stressful events like being disowned by his father cause him to relapse. Character reaction
Hunger Games
- In The Parts We Play, while Peeta scored well in training and swiftly made a dramatic impression in the opening bloodbath by killing one Career and seriously wounding another, itโs hard for Haymitch to get him sponsors as Peeta explicitly states heโs willing to die to get Prim home, while Prim doesnโt earn much attention as she doesnโt kill anyone during the Games. Plot happens. Doesn't explain why it's surprising.
- In Valkyrie on Fire: Viam Eorum, while Katniss and Glimmerโs new โallianceโ of Victors rejects working with the Capitol and District 13, they freely acknowledge amongst themselves that they have no real idea how to run a war and appreciate their limits as military leaders and instructors, such as Prim knowing limited real medicine or the tactics Glimmer learned at the Academy being difficult to adapt to large-scale campaigns. Not an outcome
Edited by Someoneman on May 31st 2022 at 1:48:51 AM
underCoverSailsman
Peeks from Under Rocks
from State of Flux
Since: Jan, 2021
Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Peeks from Under Rocks
#1135: May 31st 2022 at 2:43:42 PM
A Hat In Time A Deal In The Dark: But did the setup make us expect that she'd be fine?
Ht TYD: The Home We Built Sex-ed Edition: Is that realistic? This is a farming village, after all. Some knowledge of biology is expected.
Edited by underCoverSailsman on May 31st 2022 at 4:46:45 AM
Idiosyncratic
CelestaPlebs
from Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Since: Aug, 2020
Relationship Status: Abstaining
CelestaPlebs
#1136: Jun 1st 2022 at 9:05:47 AM
Nobody's handled my analysis for Avatar The Last Airbender yet. Make sure to do that.
HoMM Fan
#1137: Jun 1st 2022 at 7:11:39 PM
While we carve through the fan works section, I've done a little diversion and check out SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome.Team Neighborhood, the only subpage of SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome.Other Media
Team Misuse
]
For this Machinima series, this trope is practically a Running Gag. Foreshadowing of misuse to come.
- The Grill:
- The RED Spy tries throwing three sappers at the grill instead of placing them normally. Despite arranging into an imposing, electrified, triangular formation in mid-air, all three harmlessly bounce off of their target. For once, the sappers only work as they do in the Spy's home game, rather than how he used a sapper in Meet the Spy. Example relies on unrealistic sapper tech with no real world equivalent, runnning on fictional rules.
- In the same fight, the RED Medic re-purposes the Demoman's Grenade launcher to fire small medkits at his teammates. Unfortunately, having a bottle of pills launched at your face is going to hurt, even if it heals you afterwards. Maybe this one works, but it depends on how it is shown in the work.
- After the Grill is destroyed by the Toaster, the Administrator arrives and tells the RED Team that they shouldn't be celebrating, implying that the damages caused by the fight will be paid for with money coming out of their pay. Another maybe.
- Cable Calamity:
- Scout's attempt falls down before it can even really begin, as he rushes across the road without looking and gets run over. Every attempt afterwards, the classes make the point of waiting for traffic to clear. ZCE, doesn't explain what his "attempt" is doing, as far as the example reads he gets run over by a car while crossing the road, not shocking by itself.
- The BLU Heavy takes a brutish approach to steal RED's cable: bust into the team's house under an ubercharge and fight his way for it. He succeeds (with surprisingly little resistance)... but he only steals the disconnected cable TV, so his teammates are met with nothing but noise when he turns on the set. Example is a mix of unrealistic (the ubercharge) and just Literal-Minded.
- The BLU Soldier is hit by reality threefold during his attempts to infiltrate the RED Ape-House. First, he tries to use his default rocket launcher and blows up, since he wasn't using a launcher designed explicitly for rocket jumping. He then tries again by performing a rocket jump with the Rocket Jumper, but without the B.A.S.E. Jumper. He just falls to his death after the realization sinks in. On the third attempt, he remembers to bring his B.A.S.E. Jumper and tries parachuting over to RED's Ape-House. Unfortunately, a wind current blows him way off course, and the poor Soldier lands in a fenced-off area containing a "misprogrammed artichoke dip." The first part might apply depending on setup, the other two attempts rely on an unrealistic rocket launcher that can propel but not harm the soldier.
- The BLU Engineer comes up with a plan to steal RED teamโs cable by rigging up the teleporter to their television. Despite Engie succeeding and escaping the RED Heavy through Spyโs intervention, he failed to take into account that the teleporter only teleports the cable feed, not the ability to control the channels. All their effort goes to waste when the RED Demoman turns in his sleep and accidentally lies on the remote. Example relies on unrealistic teleporter technology.
- Pool Fools:
- After finding out the Civilian had a pool installed, some of the RED Team try to hop the fence to get in. But since it's not a public pool and the REDs were trespassing, the Civilian promptly whips out a shotgun before they can even try. Guy doesn't like tresspassers... not surprising by itself.
- Engineer is a builder by trade so his team just assume he's being lazy when he refuses, and threaten him into compliance. Very quickly we see that when forced out of his more technical comfort zone, things go off the rails. Another maybe.
- He has no experience with pool building so he blunders his way through it, not helped by becoming delirious from working in the summer heat. Bad indentation and sort of redunant to the above.
- An in-ground pool is a massive landscaping job and he's only one man. His attempts to make things quicker with shortcuts just make things worse. See previous.
- BLU decides to hide in a crate labelled "Pool Toys" to get to RED's pool. Unfortunately, the BLU Sniper forgot to add air holes and it's over 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside, so by the time the crate crosses the street, they're all dead from heatstroke. Realistically, wouldn't they just leave the box before heatstroke sets in?
- Bush Beaters:
- The episode starts up the day after Pool Fools. It turns out that BLU Engie's pool construction mishaps - namely mixing water from a busted water main with instant-set cement - had wrecked BLU Team's plumbing system. The result earns him both a massive bill from the Mario brothers and the Administrator's ire. Doesn't really seem surprising considering the precedent set earlier, at least to me. Also, aren't they dead, according to the last episode?
- The RED Team doesn't get out unscathed, either. Their pool's destruction left behind debris that the Civilian and Miss Pauling need to pick up, ultimately meaning the investment was a great waste of money. The idea of paying for damages isn't really a surprise given the precedent set by the previous episodes.
- During their fight on the lake, RED Sniper ties RED Scout to a fishing line and hangs him over the edge of the water. Half of their boat is forced into the air due to the altered weight distribution. I... what? I barely understand what the intention here was supposed to be.
- The RED Team sees the Parker's Challenge broadcast live on TV. Since they don't have the audience's benefit of montages and camera work, the Mundane Made Awesome aspect is lost on them. Soldier lampshades this when he says it's boring, and quickly changes the channel. What's Parker's Challenge and why is this surprising or an outcome?
Nowhere near as bad as the fanfic subpages but still a good deal of misuse and questionable examples.
"Grandmaster Combat, son!"
Idiosyncratic
CelestaPlebs
from Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Since: Aug, 2020
Relationship Status: Abstaining
CelestaPlebs
#1138: Jun 1st 2022 at 8:23:10 PM
All either misuse or ZCE. Cutlist and dewick.
Add a title. Stay safe; stay well. Live beyondโฆ memento vivere! Should intermittent vengeance arm again his red right hand to plague us?
underCoverSailsman
Peeks from Under Rocks
from State of Flux
Since: Jan, 2021
Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Peeks from Under Rocks
#1139: Jun 1st 2022 at 11:06:48 PM
Team entirely misuse, I think. Dig a hole and dump those examples in with a lot of water and some quickset concrete.
x3 - I was at least partly waiting for your response to my questions. I think your "maybe" is probably a no, but you mentioned one other possible that I was not able to identify from your post.
UFOYeah
Since: Mar, 2022
#1140: Jun 2nd 2022 at 7:32:02 AM
A few days ago, I removed the following examples from Family Guy for the following reasons:
- In "Death Has a Shadow", the pilot, Peter ends up in trouble for not reporting an over-payment of welfare. In court, Peter finally admits guilt for cheating the government and lying to Lois. The judge is moved... but still sentences Peter (and then Lois, when she tries to defend his actions) to 24 months in prison. Peter only gets out because Stewie developed a mind control laser to hypnotize the judge. Likewise, Stewie only helps them because, as much as he can't stand them, he is still physically a baby, and requires their help for shelter and sustenance. Subversion of Easily Forgiven
- In "Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington", Brian, disgusted by the Griffins taking advantage of all the perks of Peter's new job as the head of a cigarette company note , decides to quit smoking cold turkey. As many former smokers can attest, it's not that easy since tobacco products are specifically designed to get and keep you hooked, and two scenes show him being irritable from withdrawal. He's back to smoking at the end of the episode. A case of Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere, and more character-bashing than anything
- In "The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire" Cleveland and Loretta meet up at the end of the episode, but instead of a heartwarming reconciliation, Cleveland and Loretta bitterly agree to a divorce. And for another example, it sticks permanently, with Loretta ultimately moving out of town until deciding to move back, doing so by forcing Cleveland and her own son out, and she's ultimately never a main character again afterwards. Another subversion of Easily Forgiven
I thought these reasons would be enough to justify their removal, but someone added them back with no edit reason.
underCoverSailsman
Peeks from Under Rocks
from State of Flux
Since: Jan, 2021
Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Peeks from Under Rocks
#1141: Jun 2nd 2022 at 8:26:07 AM
~The Super Blackwing 1 Can you explain some context so that we see what makes these:
- Surprising: What about the narrative or setup makes the viewer expect something other than what happens?
- Realistic: What It Says On The Tin. How is what happens more realistic than what we expect?
Idiosyncratic
CelestaPlebs
from Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Since: Aug, 2020
Relationship Status: Abstaining
CelestaPlebs
#1142: Jun 2nd 2022 at 11:15:29 AM
Delete them and cite this thread as your edit reason. Report the offender on ATT if they persist.
Someoneman
Since: Nov, 2011
#1143: Jun 2nd 2022 at 2:36:34 PM
Finally finished the Harry Potter fanfic folder. As expected from a magic-centric franchise, most of it is misuse.
Harry Potter and the Folder of Shoehorns
- In Almost a Squib, Snape's Last Request to Harry is for him to take his memory-filled tear just like in canon. Unlike in canon however, Harry feels he is under no such obligation to grant (and takes glee in refusing) the request of the man who has been verbally abusing him for several years (him killing Dumbledore, though unaware it was a Mercy Kill, was probably a major factor, too). Character reaction
- And the Unethical Binding Contract:
- After an eleven year old Harry is entered into the Triwizard Tournament, almost no one thinks he's a liar or cheat... as he only has two months of magical education and doesn't have a prayer of surviving, let alone winning. Probably a character reaction. And "two months of magical education" might make this unrealistic.
- Several students try to help Harry but he lacks the fundamental knowledge to make their tips useful. ZCE. Probably unrealistic too.
- Rita Skeeter has to tone down from her usual sensationalism because writing such stories about an eleven year old would turn her readers against her. Not an outcome
- Draco's taunts and insults are greatly toned down from canon as even he's uncomfortable with trying to bully someone who might die before the school year's over. Not an outcome, character reaction
- Viktor does not ask Hermione to the Yule Ball, since she is far too young for him. Also, since hormones have not yet kicked in for the trio, Ron's jealousy at Hermione going to the Ball with Harry stems solely from the fact that she's going at all. Not an outcome
- Viktor, Fleur, and Cedic are all very uncomfortable with the idea of competing against Harry and all of them help him through the tournament. Character reaction
- The short story The Boy Who Died shows the consequences of making little Harry Potter a famous figure, an icon of the Light, and the enemy of dark wizards everywhere before he even knows how to talk, let alone protect himself... and then widely distributing photos of his appearance to the Wizarding World. A former Death Eater hiding out in the Muggle world, knowing the young boy's appearance and what his famous scar looks like, happens to spot Harry on the boy's first day of school and just shoots him in the head with a pistol and drives off. Not sure.
- In Changes Dumbeldore's excuse of "I know what's best" doesn't cut it in a court of law and when his history of child neglect comes to light he is stripped from his position as a school headmaster. Not enough context. Probably just plot happening.
- Potters Stand United is a story that deconstructs the notion of a Wrong-Boy-Who-Lived by playing the dynamic between the Potter family as realistically as possible in a situation where one of their twin sons was the Boy-Who-Lived.
- First off, James and Lily were incapacitated by Voldemort the night of his attack, so they were not awake to witness Voldemort's destruction. When Lily and James figure out what's happened (to a degree), they decide to keep the information that one of their sons may have defeated Voldemort a secret, so as to not draw massive attention towards them, and the only reason people find out about Voldemort's supposed destruction at the hands of Gary (The Wrong-Boy-Who Lived in question) is through the machinations of Dumbledore. Not an outcome
- When the news of Voldemort's destruction at the hands of one of their sons does becomes public, they don't become Abusive Parents (as they typically do in stories like this) and show favoritism towards the famous son, they treat both of the twins equally and with as much love as they possibly can. Not to mention that the Potter twins themselves love each other very much instead of being bitter rivals. Character reaction
- In Disciplinary Action, Harry and Ron get in serious trouble at work when someone overhears Ron confessing to Confounding a muggle and Harry not doing anything about it. Ron's fired and possibly facing prison time while Harry's suspended pending an investigation into just how much he's covered up for Ron in the past. After a furious lecture from their boss, Harry agrees with her it's for the best if they're to keep their vow of ending the policy of connections being more important than competence. Doesn't explain why it's surprising, and involves unrealistic things
- The Thorny Rose series:
- In part 2, Luna Lovegood points out to Hermione that her misguided efforts advocating for the house elves at Hogwarts without knowing much about them makes her come off as racist. Character reaction to unrealistic events
- In part 2, Luna Lovegood points out to Hermione
- The Parselmouth of Gryffindor very nearly turns this into a Karmic Death for Hermione. She's usually a Crazy Is Cool Rules Lawyer who has achieved such things as running the country through carefully-worded letters and turning note Voldemort into a silver monkey who cannot hurt anyone. But when she butts heads with the protections layered by Voldemort on his Horcruxes, and thinks she can get through them with a few seconds' basic Loophole Abuseโฆ turns out she can't, because Voldemort closed that loophole before it even was one, and it's a wonder she manages to come Back from the Dead afterwards. Not realistic
- Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness:
- Let's face it—those kids never really stood a chance of doing anything but keeping the Death Eaters busy while Harry dealt with Voldemort. Teenagers against adults who have spent the better parts of their lives learning to use magic designed to inflict pain, suffering, and death? The D.A. is lucky they lasted as long as they did. Not realistic
- From 1997 through 1998, Wizarding Britain was taken over by a far-right terrorist group focused on cleansing the magical society of Muggle Borns and impure bloodlines. In A Peccatis, even a decade after they were stopped, is it really a surprise that Muggle Borns have left the Wizarding world in droves or are refusing to send their children to Hogwarts for fear the insanity will start all over again? In fact, so many wizards have been killed or left the community that they can no longer maintain the infrastructure, and between that and Muggle technology rapidly catching up, the Ministry has actually decided to do a vote on purposely breaking the masquerade. Not realistic, and admits it's not surprising.
- In Harry Potter & the Azkaban Parody Harry's former friends demand (not "ask", demand) his forgiveness for wrongfully imprisoning him in Azkaban and then confining him to school and their presence. Not to mention burning all of his possessions, and killing Hedwig right in front of him. Any one of which would leave no good memories of them, let along all of them. Harry isn't real inclined to forgive them no matter how much they demand it, and plans to sue them all for the damages they've done to him. Character reaction, Rejected Apology
- Harry's former friends continually try getting him to forgive them to the point where Hermione (and a reluctant Ron) barge into the boy's dormitory in Gryffindor Tower where Harry was trying to rest and attempt to force him to forgive them. All it does it make Harry want the lawsuit proceedings to happen faster. Same
- Dumbledore reveals the reason why he allowed Harry to be arrested despite all evidence pointing to the contrary: A prophecy was made where Voldemort would have been defeated if Harry went through "one year, three months, two weeks, four days, seven hours, thirteen minutes and twenty-two seconds" of suffering. The Ministry, Harry, and Harry's lawyer are outright baffled by this being treated seriously, with the lawyer pointing out that the information could have meant Harry could have suffered from literally anything else or that whatever was foretold might have already happened, especially when Harry drops a not so subtle hint that Dumbledore had been screwing with his life for years beforehand. After this, Harry abruptly leaves the questioning pissed off with the reason given. Not realistic
- Harry makes references to other fanfiction authors and reviewers throughout the story and the others wonder what the hell he is talking about. Character reaction
- Luna agrees that Hermione and Ron deserve punishment for their actions, but states that Ginny doesn't deserve the same treatment and suggests Harry forgive her... as long as Ginny asks for it. With this advice, Ginny apologizes and simply asks to be forgiven, which Harry does to her relief and joy. Character reaction
- On that note, Ginny is savvy enough early on to realize that continuously hounding Harry for forgiveness would have the opposite effect, and while in the middle of calling Ron out for hounding Harry, she makes it clear that she thinks the best way to earn forgiveness is to leave Harry alone. This is what allows Harry to forgive Ginny, as mentioned previously. Not an outcome
- In the beginning of the story, Dumbledore quickly passed a law that specifically stated that Harry had to complete his education at Hogwarts instead of getting away from his former friends and allies like Harry actually wants to. Not even halfway through the story, Harry's lawyer reveals that he brought this up to the Wizengamot, and it was unaminously agreed that the law was unethical and manages to have it made void, which means Harry is able to leave Hogwarts on his own free will. Plot happens. Doesn't explain why it's surprising.
- Harry Potter: Junior Inquisitor:
- When Amelia Bones finds one of her Aurors (Tonks) sneaking into a restricted area on Dumbledore's orders, she fires Tonks on the spot. "Leader of the Light" or not, Aurors aren't allowed to take orders from anyone outside the chain of command. Character reaction
- Harry learns that his Firebolt was destroyed beyond repair while being checked for curses and the professors covered it up by buying a new one with his money. It's noted by Susan and Amelia Bones that it'd take longer for the manufacturer to actually repair it or build a new one than the amount of time the teacher's allegedly took to fully strip it down, check it for curses, and rebuild it. Not realistic
- When most of the professors and several members of the Order of the Phoenix help Dumbledore drug the Hogwarts students with potions to make them accept anything they see or are told, along with imprisoning anyone who escapes their dosing, every professor who helped (and every Order member) is arrested on the spot. According to Madam Marchbanks, Hogwarts will be closed at least temporarily given that almost the entirety of its staff is going to be fired. Not realistic
- Since Harry was drugged much more than any other student in order to reset him to the way he was the previous year, his memories are irretrievable and even watching other people's memories of the past few months can't truly replace them since he has no emotional connection to them. Notably, Harry can't rekindle his budding romance with Padma Patil due to no longer having feelings for her. However, there is some hope of recovering his memories after being hit by a Crutiatous Curse by Snape, which had the side effect of weakening the Memory Charms used on him. Not realistic
- In Harry Potter and the Puppet of Time a wizard once, through several legal loopholes, became heir to all of the Hogwarts founders and over two thirds of the Wizengamot simultaneously. Those in power naturally refused to give up control of magical Britain to this one man and a few centuries later, the story is still told as a rather funny joke. Not realistic
- In Harry Potter and the Something Something the most perfect girl ever appears in Voldemort's lair offering him a shot at redemption. Voldemort is entranced by her pretty eyes... the Sue ends up dead like all the others that keep bothering Voldemort but he kept her pretty eyes to play with. Character reaction
- If Them's the Rules shows regardless of Harry raising Tom Riddle in better circumstances and giving him an ideal childhood, Tom Riddle is still a sociopath. Plot happens, not enough context.
- Like Hell He Will shows how Harry's male classmates would react to the idea of him having a harem of all the girls in school. Hint: it doesn't end well — for Harry, that is. Character reaction
- In Lord of Caer Azkaban Harry sends in his elite team of soldiers to take out Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Harry doesn't participate in the battle himself because he knows that, as an untrained student, he'll just get in their way. Not an outcome, probably not realistic
- A Necessary Gift shows that even if you defeat the Big Bad that doesn't mean everything gets magically better or his followers (and the prejudiced ideology he espoused for decades that allowed him to gain power in the first place) will go away. In fact things get worse because the only one who could control the bad guys is no longer around... Probably not realistic
- In No Curiosity the child abuse Harry Potter receives leads to psychological problems and Harry becomes an Extreme Doormat. Character has trauma
- When Harry remembers Griphook from his first visit to Gringott's in Nymphadora's Beau, the goblin neither remembers nor cares about some child he escorted four years prior. Character (lack of) reaction
- The same writer uses this trope in One Misfired Spell Later. In this fic, Harry, who has fled to France due to problems in England, has caught the eye of Fleur, who sees him as the perfect mate for her. Too bad he's already dating Hermione. Fleur's initial attempt to solve this problem Joketsuzoku-style quite predictably enrages Harry. Later, Fleur and Hermione make peace, agreeing that they can both share Harry. It's too bad they didn't consult him about this; instead of being happy at the idea of living "every teenage boy's fantasy", Harry is upset that the two girls made such an important decision about such a personal aspect of his life without considering his feelings. Their later attempts at seducing him, such as conveniently arranging it so the three of them just ''have'' to share a bed, contribute to the final conflict, which results in an alienated Harry rejecting both Hermione and Fleur, and running off with Sirius to Gibraltar. Character reaction
- In the one-shot Potter's Bride, after Gabrielle marries Harry because he saved her life, she finds it's not a fairy tale romance after all. She's a small child who no longer lives with her family, is stuck in a country where she doesn't speak the language, and lives with a boy she barely knows. Meanwhile, Harry has to go out of his way to make his interactions with Gabrielle as public as possible, to avoid being seen as a pedophile. Sounds like Wrong Genre Savvy. The second one is not an outcome
- Similarly, Playmate has a version where Harry has to move to France because, after saving her life, Gabrielle impetuously gives him a bonding kiss. It turns out that Harry is not happy about this, because all of his life choices (such as whom he can marry) have been taken away from him, and he cannot be more than forty feet away from Gabrielle until they trust each other enough for the bond to solidify. Because Gabrielle bonded an unwilling Harry, this will never happen. Even being away from the Dursleys is not enough to comfort Harry, because he only had to spend a limited amount of time there, and would have been free of them in a few more years anyway. Now, he is trapped for life in a foreign country, bound to a small child. Meanwhile, being a little girl, Gabrielle had no idea of the magnitude of what she was doing; she naively believed that the bonding kiss would simply give her a playmate. The bond never stabilizes, and Harry and Gabrielle end up using it to commit mutual suicide a few years later. Character reaction to unrealistic events
- A number of fics, most notably Hermione's Pity Party, Overheard Conversation, and chapter 14 of Realizations, show that Hermione really has no idea how to write a proper essay, and that exceeding the length indicated by the professors for assignments would actually result in lower, not higher grades. Not sure
- As mentioned in an author's note in the AU Raised By Darkness concerning why Sirius Black isn't immediately released from Azkaban; because although Cornelius Fudge has grown a backbone in this fic and is being nice to Harry and the Dementors, he has no real evidence to suggest Sirius Black is innocent. He also still wouldn't believe Harry even if he provided evidence, as Harry is close friends with the imprisoned man and cannot be trusted to be impartial. Not an outcome, the second part is possibly a character reaction
- In Too Late, the Potters are revealed to have faked their deaths to train their other son to defeat Voldemort. Upon returning to the world at large, they learn that due to being declared dead, they have no money and no way to even gain lawful employment as they're still legally dead. Plot happens. Why is this surprising?
- In Where is Hermione?, Hermione runs away to New Zealand after the Final Battle and lives with her parents. Harry spends eight years trying to find her before eventually giving up, so when she shows up at his house eleven years after the Final Battle to tell Harry he has a daughter, Harry wants nothing to do with Hermione. In fact, he's since moved on after his search failed and gotten married to Gabrielle Delacour. When Hermione tries to use the fact that she "waited for him", he angrily retorts that he waited for her for eight years; she's the one who deliberately stayed away without ever telling him where she disappeared to. Character reaction
- In Wish Carefully, Harry decides to spare his people a war and surrenders Wizarding England to the Death Eaters while he and the rest of the Light's supporters go into exile. The large loss of the population (and skilled workers) decimates the economy and due to the Purebloods' close relations, inbreeding is rampant and their population is slowly dying out, and Voldemort just becomes more and more unhinged as time goes on. Not surprising. Of course surrendering to the bad guys will cause bad things to happen.
- Alexandra Quick: As Alexandra finds out, being the protagonist doesn't make you immune to the rules, and even if you broke the rules and endangered people for the right reasons, that doesn't mean you don't have to suffer the consequences. Dean Grimm even tells her that she's had to actively step in and defend Alexandra's right to remain at Charmbridge, and by the end of Stars Above, Alexandra's gone too far and gets expelled. Not enough context.
- When three Ravenclaw girls bully Luna in When is it a Contract by stealing her homework and possessions, two are expelled with the third arrested. Sabotaging someone's education or stealing personal possessions aren't waived off as "children being children", especially when said possessions (Luna's brooch and another student's earrings) are extremely valuable. Not surprising.
- In The Lion's Pride, when Scrimgeour talks to Harry on Christmas and Harry declares he "hasn't forgotten" while showing the scars on his hand, Scrimgeour has no idea what Harry's raised fist is supposed to mean. The cold winter air along with how tightly Harry's fist is clenched makes the scars basically invisible. Maybe. There's a "trope" being set up with an expected outcome, and a realistic reason why that outcome didn't happen.
- Also, Harry's remark of Scrimgeour being "just like Crouch" doesn't mean the same to Scrimgeour as it does to Harry. Harry's talking about Crouch throwing the innocent Sirius in Azkaban without a trial. Scrimgeour, who has no idea about Sirius being innocent or not getting a trial, thinks Harry's talking about Crouch's motions that (among other things) allowed Aurors to kill Death Eaters instead of capturing them, something that prevented numerous deaths among the Auror corps. Character reaction
- Because Lupin agonizes for so long over whether he should introduce himself to Harry in For Love of Magic, when he finally does, Harry treats him as an acquaintance at best and a friend of Sirius' at worst. Knowing a friend of his parents would be nice to talk to, but Lupin clearly must not value them that much if he never once contacted Harry when he was young, and then spent nearly a year between meeting Harry and mentioning his past relationship with James. Character reaction
- Krum's plan to deal with his dragon (in this story, all of them are Hungarian Horntails) by blinding it results in his death when he gets too close to the thrashing creature. Not realistic
- Tonks breaks up with Harry after learning he's been accidentally brainwashing her with the same magic that he used to improve his sex life. While she does try to continue their relationship, she simply can't stay with someone who she can't trust, especially as there's no way for her to know he's doing it. Character reaction to unrealistic events.
- Harry's desire to simply be left out of politics and not deal with Voldemort... involves a lot of politics. Whether he likes it or not, he's both an international icon and extremely wealthy on top of being nobility. Altogether, he has to play the political game if he actually wants to be left alone because no one will allow him to simply sit on the sidelines. Plot happens. Why is this surprising?
- A potion that makes sex more enjoyable and severely increases "discharge" also tends to leave the users too tired to continue more than once. Even Harry, who has a ridiculous amount of stamina, notes that a single orgasm makes him feel like he "just went six rounds with Fleur at her randiest". Also, overuse of the potion can lead to dehydration. Not realistic
- A common Fanon trope in Harry Potter fics is mocked and torn apart. When Harry starts performing a ritual that would increase the size of his magical core, he is interrupted and told the ritual wouldn't work... because there is no such thing as a magical core. Every wizard has the potential to perform great magic, what really matters is application and practice. When Harry questions why people assume magical cores exist, one theory is that it sounds impressive and is an ego-booster. Also functions as a Take That! to those same stories. Not realistic
- To Ginny's horror, being close to The Hero, even tangentially, can make you and your family a target. Because Harry doesn't have anyone he cares about (or family of those he cares about) that don't live on his island Spellhaven, Voldemort kidnaps the Weasleys after hearing a rumor that Ginny is his latest concubine. Plot happens. Why is this surprising?
- As Voldemort learns, rumors are not a good source of information and taking hostages only works if your opponent cares about their survival. Likewise, if your enemy knows negotiations won't be held in good faith, they won't agree to your any of your terms. When Voldemort demands Harry come alone or the Weasleys will die, Harry not only has his girls hiding nearby, even as he arrives at the meeting point he's already determining the best way to tell Ginny her family is dead. Not enough context for the first part. The second part is probably not an outcome.
- When Voldemort attacks London with a force of Inferi and Giants, the Statute of Secrecy is completely obliterated and no matter how much the International Confederation of Wizards tries, there's simply no putting a lid on the situation. Not only are there easily tens of thousands of witnesses, but many of them have posted photos and videos online, causing millions of more witnesses by the end of the night. Not realistic
- Sirius in Patron spent so much time as a dog in Azkaban that not only does he use its lesser emotional state as some sort of drug, but he also tends to reflexively turn into it much more often than he needs to. Also, Remus is not a fan of Muggle Werewolf comedy movies since they make light of his condition. Not realistic
- The entire premise of Realism: Breaking Cliches is to deconstruct various Fandom Specific Plots and show what'd really happen. For example, Harry runs away from the Dursleys and is immediately caught by Voldemort who'd known where the boy lived for years. Not surprising if it's the fic's entire premise.
- In another, Harry tries to find Slytherin's hidden journals (which he just guessed exist) to learn secret Parseltongue spells they contain. Hermione points out that there's literally no reason for the language of snakes to have a written form and that if any such thing existed, it would just be a secret code for whoever made it, not a real language. Not realistic since real snakes don't have language.
- In What Was Your Plan?, Harry confronts Dumbledore for being a manipulative evil genius who'd been controlling every aspect of Harry's life up to that point and learns the very fatal flaw in his logic: a manipulative evil genius would foresee such a situation and have already planned for it. After triggering the Imperius that was already on Harry, Dumbledore sends him off to his death against Voldemort. Character reaction, unrealistic
- While viewing a memory of an event over 1,500 years ago in Dodging Prison and Stealing Witches, Hermione explains to her friends that it's a memory of a memory of a memory etc. solely due to language barriers. 1,500 years ago, nothing resembling modern English existed. Every hundred years someone has to view the memory, translate it into the modern vernacular, and make a copy of their memory of doing so. As a result, the memory has several people lined up along the walls reading translations of what's being spoken in the memory. Not realistic
- Near the end of Harry's First Year, Voldemort reveals that he's known for some time that Harry knew who he was. While some of Voldemort's assumptions are wrong, he is right when he points out that Harry spent the entire year acting unreasonably suspicious of someone he'd never met before, including always keeping himself between Quirrel and his friends. Not an outcome
- In Chapter 3 of Don't Be a Dobby Downer, a fic in which Harry transfers from Hogwarts to Beauxbatons, Dumbledore finds out about Harry's decision. Similar fics have Dumbledore freaking out and trying to drag Harry back to Hogwarts, overriding the decision of Harry and his legal guardians (the Dursleys approved of the transfer to get rid of the boy) and causing an international incident. This fic remembers that, as Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, Dumbledore is a world-class diplomat who didn't get to where he is through such hamfisted idiocy. Instead, recognizing that his authority has limits and that his actions have consequences, Dumbledore reacts sensibly. He realizes that Beauxbatons is a good school, with Madame Maxine a capable headmistress, and that trying to drag Harry back would not only alienate Harry but cost unnecessary political capital. As a result, Dumbledore arranges for Remus Lupin to be hired at Beauxbatons to keep an eye on Harry, an objective that is readily disclosed to Madame Maxine. Character reaction
- Sort the Dragon
- An older student starts yelling at Harry for the ruckus caused from getting his centaur friend Suze into a compartment on the train and promptly gets kicked in the chest by said centaur. Much like horses, centaurs can't easily look behind them so coming up behind one and shouting is a good way to get a reflexive hoof to the chest. Not realistic. Centaurs don't exist.
- While Hermione finds Suze to be delightful company, she's still eager to get off the Hogwarts Express, citing that even if Suze's only half horse, spending eight hours in closed quarters has made the smell rather unbearable. Same
- At the start of Hitting the Tomes, Dudley tries to have Harry do his homework, only for Harry to realize that four years of exclusively magical education means he doesn't understand said math homework. Cue Dudley tutoring Harry in trigonometry. Magical education doesn't exist. Not realistic.
- Unlike canon, Harry never really forgives Ron and Hermione for basically abandoning him over the summer because Dumbledore told them to, especially because they preface every attempted apology with "But Dumbledore said". Character reaction
- In Harry Potter Kidnapped, Harry decides to run away from the Dursley's home at seven-years-old. When Dumbledore accidentally runs into him when he's fifteen, the Headmaster outright abducts him, forcefully cuts him off from his Muggle friends and refuses to let him go outside Hogwarts. He only manages to make Harry despise him, motivating Harry to rat out the Order of the Phoenix to the Ministry of Magic and arrange a transfer to Beauxbatons. The teen also says Dumbledore could have made Harry interested in the Wizarding World if he had taken the slow road and spent time with the boy to explain magic enough to make Harry curious, instead of shoving it down his throat. Choices are important, and after placing a kid in an abusive home and depriving him of the freedom to join the Wizarding World or not, Dumbledore ensured Harry would never do anything to please Dumbledore out of sheer spite. Not sure what this is, but it sounds like a character reaction.
- In the epilogue, Voldemort is defeated... but not by Harry. Rather, he is defeated by three different people, all of whom were born at the same time around the end of July with skills that Voldemort didn't have, all of them were marked by battle, and each fought three times prior that day. The prophecy (which was not even the canon version, meaning Dumbledore didn't even have the excuse of linking Harry to how his parents defied Voldemort) never specified the year or place that the Chosen One would be born, simply those four things. McGonagall is pissed when she overhears this revelation and calls Dumbledore out for not telling anyone what his motives for kidnapping Harry actually were in the first place, or relaying the prophecy to any allies so they could look for similar people that fit the category outlined by that prophecy. A dying Dumbledore realizes in horror that he had put Harry though all of that misery for nothing. Not realistic, also involces character reactions.
- When Vernon plans on teaching Harry his place in the summer after his fifth year by beating him up, snapping his wand, and killing Hedwig in Are You Bloody Insane?... does Harry cower in fear while this occurs? Is he forced to do an impossible list of chores under the threat of a beating while no help arrives? No, Harry overhears Vernon coming up the stairs, sends Hedwig away with a letter to the Order requesting help and holds his uncle at wand-point until they arrive. Not realistic.
- He points out that Vernon is forgetting about the Order of the Phoenix, who are expecting 3 letters a week and would automatically sense something off if no letter was sent, let alone less than three. Harry has also gone through several years of Character Development, and would be more frustrated and vengeful than afraid of the Dursleys, so the idea of him taking further abuse lying down is laughable. Not an outcome
- Vernon attempts to attack Harry despite what he was just told... and ends up Stunned. Learning that underage magic could be used in life-threatening situations can make it easier for people to stand up to their abusers. When Mad-Eye Moody and Tonks arrive, Moody is less than amused that Vernon would still try mistreating Harry after the Order threatened him. Not realistic
- After that little incident, Harry sends Hedwig away, takes his meals away from the Dursleys and hides his most valuable possessions, certain that Vernon would try again. Not an outcome
- When a ten year old Harry steals a police car in It All Started When Harry Stole a Police Car, the officers don't run after it to stop him but rather put out an APB about the stolen patrol car, causing Harry to be caught in a matter of minutes. Sounds like an Anticlimax. Might count if the fic is clearly making us expect a Chase Scene.
- Brutal Harry
- In the prologue, Vernon is arrested and sentenced to prison for thirty years after his abuse of Harry escalated to the point where Vernon beat up the nine-year-old Harry with a three-iron golf club and the kid ended up in the hospital. Afterwards, most of the staff at the primary school Harry went to also got fired by the school board because they turned a blind eye to what was happening to Harry, and the Headmaster is also imprisoned when it's revealed that he took bribes from Vernon to never report the obvious abuse to child services. A violent child abuser gets in legal trouble. Not surprising.
- After the troll attack, Hermione's parents immediately yank her out of Hogwarts. Turns out that no sane parents would ever allow their child anywhere near an institution that allowed such a life-threatening event to occur. In addition, it's strongly implied that Hermione's parents are none too pleased at the Hogwarts curriculum being significantly out of date for anything not related to magic, as well as the inefficient staff and bullying issues. Also, they're reasonable enough to hire Andromeda Tonks as a home-schooling tutor for Hermione to ensure she continues her magical education to control her powers and avoid accidental magic incidents, and they can give her a modern Muggle education on top of this. Character reaction to an unrealistic event
- After reflecting on the troll incident over the winter, McGonagall realizes two things: that invoking her Stern Teacher trait by punishing Harry is the equivalent of her telling him he should've just let Hermione be killed just to uphold the school rules, and that she did not take her students' individual backgrounds into account before doing so. She makes an effort to be more reasonable after this so that all her students will actually turn to her for help rather than be afraid of her when they have issues and not speak up. Character reaction
- Harry does not trust adults at all, as most have either manipulated (Dumbledore) or bullied and abused (the Dursleys and Snape) him for his whole life. He goes into complete shock when McGonagall actually apologizes to him, and later, goes into an Unstoppable Rage when Dumbledore admits he was responsible for his childhood at the Dursleys. Even among the other children he has No Social Skills, is always on guard, and views connections with others purely in terms of threat assessment. Also, none of his issues are overcome entirely in a set amount of time. Rather, it takes years before he's able to accept the concept of people wanting to help or care about him. Character reaction
- As mentioned, Harry initially attacks Dumbledore in retribution for his placement at the Dursleys. He gets curbstomped and restrained easily. Though the boy is more powerful than his canon portrayal, Harry's still attacking in a blind rage and not thinking clearly, and moreover, Dumbledore is a veteran of a war, innumerable duels, and has nearly a century's worth of magical experience over him, while also wielding the Elder Wand. Not realistic
- Harry attacking Dumbledore occurred in front of all his Gryffindor housemates. McGonagall immediately does damage control by discretionarily telling them about Harryโs rough background, in order to quell rumors, establish some sympathy, and begin a support system for him. Character reaction, not an outcome
- Dumbledore's age and the heavy workload from his three different time-consuming jobs (being not just the Headmaster of Hogwarts, but also the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot) have rendered him significantly out of touch and inattentive when it comes to several of his judgments, motivations, and actions, especially in regards to the children and staff under his guard and employ, respectively. Moreover, his tendency to make decisions based solely on the long term has caused him to not take other people's immediate needs and feelings into consideration, and his keeping important information secret makes him come across as having a Lack of Empathy if things don't go as planned. It's also deconstructed in that it allows certain individuals to feel as though they can get away with their actions without fear of any truly effective reprisal (i.e., Snape's blatant favoritism of the Slytherins and all-around unprofessional behavior, the bullies antagonizing other kids, etc). When he later resigns and appoints McGonagall as the Headmistress, she is able to effectively reform the school and bring a stop to the many problems going on, as she is able to put her full focus and attention to the job. Probably just a Deconstruction or Deconstructed Character Archetype if it's just applying logical consequences to Dumbledore's character
- Related to the above, upon hearing the full scope of Harry's upbringing with the Dursleys, Dumbledore is legitimately heartbroken and horrified. He does make an attempt to apologize to Harry... only for a furious Harry to throw it back in his face, making it clear that he will never forgive or trust the Headmaster for what he was put through. Not only that, but Harry also calls out Dumbledore for being a hypocrite in apologizing for causing Harry's own abuse, yet still enabling the exact same environment to occur in Hogwarts via corrupt bullies and staff. Easily Forgiven doesn't apply when the person responsible for the abuse you were put through doesn't own up to it in actions or words, nor give a justifiable explanation as to why it happened, especially when it could have easily been avoided. The sequel reveals that Harry still hasn't forgiven the man even years later with no interaction, and likely never will. Character reactions
- After making one too many insensitive remarks, Snape is warned by McGonagall that his Jerkass behavior towards Harry due to his grudge against James Potter and unprofessional behavior towards the non-Slytherins will no longer be tolerated. She puts him on probation until he gets his act together, and informs him that he will be fired if he keeps it up. When she becomes Headmistress later on, she makes good on her threat and also blacklists him from ever teaching again, with her reasoning being that regardless of his assets, Snape's attitude isn't one that is suited for the profession. She later implies that the only reason she won't let Harry kill him for his part in the deaths of Lily and James is to avoid murder charges for Harry. Character reaction
- When Harry attempts to inform her about his plan to break Sirius out of Azkaban, McGonagall immediately stops him from telling her. She points out that she needs to maintain Plausible Deniability to maintain her position, (better to aid Harry), and keep leads off Sirius' tail. Not an outcome
- Dumbledore reveals the prophecy, as well as Voldemort's past to McGonagall to explain his actions with regards to Harry. She immediately calls him out on this, pointing out that there was no way Harry could possibly learn the "power of love" in such an abusive and love-starved environment and adds that they're very lucky they didn't end up with another Dark Lord in the making on their hands, since Harry's background very closely resembles that of Voldemort's. Character reaction
- Additionally, McGonagall immediately reveals the truth of the prophecy and its circumstances to Harry once she hears about it (around Harry's second year). She realizes right away that keeping the boy in the dark did much more harm than good, and due to the fact that Harry has matured extremely quickly thanks to his background, doesn't want him to snap upon having another potential betrayal. As a result, she becomes one of the very few authority figures that Harry will trust. Not an outcome, character reaction
- When Harry's name is placed in the Goblet of Fire, McGonagall immediately believes him when he claims his innocence. She also protects him from accusations from the other schools and informs them of the obvious foul play that's involved and attempts to find a solution to the issue. In spite of this, Harry still gets drawn into a trap with Voldemort's resurrection, but points for trying on her part. Not surprising.
- While McGonagall greatly sympathizes with, and thus does cut Harry a lot of slack for his behavior and independence given his abusive background, she explicitly points out that she canโt openly show him too much favoritism from a professional standpoint. Therefore, she'll pay lip service and, give him "fake" detention and punishments, and allows him to pursue his interests during these times to cover them. Not an outcome
- When Voldemort is resurrected in the fourth year, Harry decimates him and his Death Eaters with guns and other Muggle weaponry. This is partly due to Harry, upon learning the prophecy, not waiting for things to happen passively, but rather making extensive preparations. It also turns out that the Wizarding Society's Medieval Stasis (especially for Voldemort's biased factions) means that they have nearly no idea how to deal with modern day tactics and combat. Harry also generally uses pure Combat Pragmatist policies in confrontations, because he knows he's usually outnumbered and comparatively inexperienced in magic. For example, more than once he's able to subdue an opponent by stealing their wands or holding a concealed blade to their throat before they can even draw to attack. Not realistic.
- Draco Malfoy has primarily been an entitled bully via throwing around his father's name and relying on Snape's favoritism and Dumbledore's inattentiveness to get ahead, and thus assuming he's naturally the best in everything. Between Harry curbstomping him a few times (without magic on top of that) and McGonagall bringing the hammer down and reforming the school after she becomes Headmistress, he not only loses his connections, but is ultimately forced to undergo the realization that his individual skills are pathetic by comparison to actual hard-working students (particularly Muggleborns) due to this over-reliance on prestige and his House. By the sequel, he's undergone a great deal of Character Development and made a full HeelโFace Turn on many of his prejudiced views, being counted amongst the allies of the heroes. Character reaction
- The Perils of Monologuing averts Talking Is a Free Action in the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort. While Harry is giving his canonical explanation for why the Elder Wand won't work for Voldemort, Voldemort summons several knives to stab Harry from behind. Not surprising if it's the entire premise of the fic
- Weasley Girl defies both Freudian Excuse and Talking Is a Free Action at the same time in the second to last chapter in the story when Hagrid cuts off Snape's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Harry when it devolves to Snape essentially complaining about his childhood. Character reaction
Hagrid: Cuttin' yeh some slack here, cause yer sick, an' yeh've bin with You-Know-Who, an workin' against 'im, mighty brave o' yeh an' all that, yer a true hero, but GROW UP! Yeh had a rotten life? Well, guess what, other people had rotten lives too, an' they don't go around sneerin' at everyone! NOW SHUT UP AN' EAT YER RUDDY EGGS!
- What led to Snape's rant was Harry attempting to apologize for misjudging the man. Snape, being Snape, doesn't buy it. Character reaction
- Faery Heroes does this a lot for a Peggy Sue fic.
- The first chapter reveals that the Muggle World found out about the Wizardry World after a failed assassination attempt on the Royal Family and Prime Minister. Wizards barely know anything about Muggle technology, particularly weapons. Grenades can kill as easily as any curse in a public area. Not realistic
- Hermione comes out to her mother as bisexual. They are in the 1990s, so Mrs. Granger has a hard time processing this and neither of them are on speaking terms for a while until Harry steps in. Deliberate Values Dissonnance played straight
- Before Hermione comes out to her mom, the conversation is about Hermione's mom's confusion at the Relationship Upgrade she had with Harry when her last letter in that timeline gave no such hints (they weren't dating in the 4th book) and at the intimacy they both demonstrated to each other (Hermione and Harry had been together with Luna for several years in their original timeline as adults). Character reaction
- This Peggy Sue fic actually subverts the typical "punishing the villains before they do anything" cliche at first, several chapters in. Harry quickly realizes that the Ron in the new timeline hasn't done anything to warrant punishment to the extreme that he, Hermione, and Luna did... until he looks through Ron's memories and learns that Dumbledore convinced him to try keeping Harry dumb in exchange for joining the Chudley Cannons after graduation during the summer after their first year. Even after this revelation, Harry decides to let the bad luck curse he cast on Ron wear off and hope that he changes for the better. He doesn't. Not realistic
- Harry also has to remind himself that the Ginny in the new timeline is not the same one who harassed him and his lovers in his old timeline, though is still disturbed at her obsession with him. It isn't until Ginny admits at the end of the story that she knew that her mom tried getting Love Potions into Harry on Valentine's Day through chocolates and then have him break up with Hermione and Luna when Harry, Hermione, and Luna decided to invoke Laser-Guided Karma on her. Character reaction
- Madame Pomfrey starts giving Harry nutrition potions to get his body more healthy. However, years of abuse and hunger mean that even if the growth spurt is significant, Harry will never grow to his full height. Not realistic
- Harry, Hermione and Luna's style of taking down Voldemort's forces is to steal their wealth, cutting off resources instead of taking them head on. Not an outcome
- While on a heist, they remember that they are in a different timeline, which means that there are things they forget to take into account, such as an old Rookwood that never existed in their timeline or that genders will be different among peers, like Daphne Greengrass becoming David Greengrass. Not realistic
- Ron and Malfoy are stripped of their prefect badges by McGonagall and Slughorn due to their abuse of power by Christmas break. It is mentioned earlier that Harry was originally the choice, but Dumbledore convinced McGonagall to give the position to Ron until the other prefects petition for him to be removed. Plot happens. If this is a Peggy Sue fic, it's not surprising that things happen differently.
- Despite being one of the bad guys in the fic, even Dumbledore finds Snape to be immature and a horrible teacher. Not to mention, being Headmaster of a massive and prestigious academy is exhausting and stressful, so he constantly eats Calming-Drought laced lemon drops to keep from losing his cool a lot. Character reaction
- It is revealed that in the old timeline, the Ministry never went through reform. They are a bunch of illogical idiots, along with the rest of the Wizarding World, after all, and don't realize when something is a problem even if it is pointed out to them. Not realistic
- After performing a ritual that increases their magical cores, Harry, Luna and Hermione realize that they struggle with performing spells with the increased power, usually overpowering them by accident. They also miscalculate the ritual since it was designated for two people, not three, meaning that Harry performs it twice and has a magical core nine times its original size. This power-up doesn't extend to all of their known spells, though, Harry thinks the spells most affected are the ones they use the most. Not realistic
- Unsurprisingly, some neighbors from Privet Drive do notice how messed up the Dursleys are and don't buy the "St Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys" lie in Whatever Happened to Harry Potter, since it sounded so fake to begin with. Many of the neighbors refused to associate with the Dursleys due to how nasty they were. One is horrified when they see bars on the window to Harry's room and wants to contact Child Services. The only reason why he didn't is because Mrs. Figg reassured him that Harry wasn't there for the summer (which was technically true, but that was only because Ron and the twins bailed him out three days after he was locked up in the first place). Character reaction
- In Harry by Proxy, Dumbledore's decision to send Hagrid introduce the Wizarding World to Harry is criticized by Snape, who points Hagrid is highly visible and not qualified for escorting muggle-raised students in the Alley. McGonagall agrees and volunteers herself as the escort since she has the benefit of experience, and since she's also not a huge half-giant. Not realistic
- When Toby tries to dive in to Harry's pile of galleons à la Scrooge McDuck, he severely injures himself upon making contact with the gold. Probably valid
Toby: Scrooge McDuck lied to me. It's not a liquid. It's a great many pieces of solid matter that form a hard floor-like surface.
- When Snape tries to accuse Harry of stringing a dead ferret right in front of the Slytherin dormitory to intimidate Malfoy using the dead animal as evidence, Pomfrey immediately reads him the riot act for bringing an animal carcass at breakfast and exposing students to possible illnesses. Not objectively surprising
- How do Harry's new guardians deal with the Dursleys? They don't kill them, as it's pointed out that a case involving an entire family slaughtered save for a missing child would raise too many questions; instead, they send an anonymous tip to British Children's Welfare, who sends some police officers to investigate. They're able to find enough evidence of Harry's abuse (and potential murder) to arrest the Dursleys; this, plus extra evidence sent in by BEN, is enough to land them ten years in prison. Not an outcome
- When Toby tries to dive in to Harry's pile of galleons à la Scrooge McDuck, he severely injures himself upon making contact with the gold. Probably valid
- Messing with Fate gives us Fate meeting Harry upon his death and giving him the chance to go back in time and do everything all over again in the hopes of defeating Voldemort... and Harry refusing to do everything over (including the Dursleys, Malfoy, Chamber of Secrets), especially since Fate says that all she can do is send back his soul (i.e. no knowledge, power-ups, or anything that could make his life easier in the process). Character reaction to unrealistic events
- Fate screwed up with the prophecy and what age Harry would have the "powers the Dark Lord knows not" by making it 35 instead of 15, which screws up all of Dumbledore's plans in the process. Not realistic
- Since she is single-handedly responsible for how messed up his life turned out, Harry not only refuses to become a Peggy Sue, he physically attacks her and threatens to kill her for even suggesting he redo his miserable life when she could simply end Voldemort herself with something extremely destructive. Not to mention the fact that he has finally reunited with his loved ones and doesn't want to be separated again. Harry makes it clear after the horrible mistakes she made and expects Harry to fix rather than doing it herself, Fate owes him for all of that crap and leaves her. Same
- In Variations of a Scene:
- when it comes out that Umbridge had Ron whipped for having dungbombs in his pocket, Fudge has her arrested with plans to throw her under the bus in an attempt to save his career. As a Slave to PR, he simply can't ignore news articles stating one of his underlings has permanently scarred a pureblood. Plot happens. Doesn't explain why it's surprising.
- When Hermione attacks Ron with the canaries, one of them manages to claw out Ron's eye. Ron ends up with a magic eye identical to Mad-Eye Moody's. Same.
- when it comes out
- When Charlus Potter gets Harry to agree to taking the Defense Against the Dark Arts post in Wind Shear, Harry's surprised that Charlus doesn't simply talk to Dumbledore and get him the job. Instead, he gets Harry an appointment with the Hiring Board to apply for the job. Dumbledore may have final say, but Hogwarts is a very prestigious school with many many applicants and thus the man simply doesn't have the time to interview everyone. Not sure
- Voldemort's recruitment quickly dries up when it becomes apparent to his men that not only are they being actively hunted but that Voldemort will callously disregard them on the battlefield, leading to even more deaths. Character reaction
- Despite being war heroes, both Harry and Ron in The Favour had to go through the three years of auror training and are generally treated like all the other rookies, such as dealing with passed out drunks rather than high profile cases. Depends on if we're specifically expecting Protagonist Powerup Privileges to apply here.
- Wait, What? is a crack fic that tears apart The Wrong Boy Who Lived through it's very nature alone. No, Dumbledore. No sane parent would ever consider giving up one of their kids just because you said so and that they weren't the Boy Who Lived, despite all evidence pointing to Harry. As he tries to convince Lily to give Harry up (he reasoned that Harry was obviously the "dark twin" simply because Voldemort's curse rebounded and left him the lightning bolt scar and that his twin, William, was the "good" twin because there was no markings left on him from the attack), Lily doesn't take kindly to the idiotic plan and proceeds to strangle Dumbledore with her hair right as James comes home from work, telling him that Dumbledore had a brilliant idea for what to do with their infant sons. Character reaction to unrealistic events
- All chapters of Wizards are stupid showcase the consequences of the lack of common sense a lot of wizards and witches seem to have. A few examples...
- In Incest is bad, the Purebloods' (in this case, Lucius Malfoy) obsession with keeping their bloodline pure by inbreeding results in a hideously deformed baby. Doesn't explain why it's surprising.
- In Who's Left?, Draco's overreliance on his father's influence instead of actually trying to accomplish anything himself doesn't help him when Voldemort eventually wins, killing most if not all of the Muggles, Muggleborn, Half-Bloods in the United Kingdom. Since Draco doesn't have any real skills, he's delegated to do menial tasks such as shoveling Hippogriff shit. Same
- In He can walk!, Dumbledore seems to have forgotten that most children can walk, or at least crawl, by their first birthday. So when he leaves Harry on the Dursley's doorstep unattended, Harry leaves the basket to find out what happened to his "Ma-Ma" and "Da-Da" and is promptly hit by a car when he gets onto the street. Same
- In Incest is bad
- A Year Too Soon
- While Slytherin's portrait does provide the entrance points to the Chamber of Secrets, he notes that the castle has been renovated multiple times since he died so he can't be sure if they're still accessible. Not an outcome
- Rather than just grumble about Lockhart's atrocious "teaching" methods, Harry and his friends send a petition to Dumbledore to have the man fired. Unfortunately, Lockhart is aware of his review in advance and changes his teaching style for the day to keep his job. Not an outcome
- When Lucius Malfoy's plan to get rid of Voldemort's diary fails and the Chamber of Secrets is reopened, he realize he's stuck in a no-win situation since he can neither offer his help nor withdraw his son from Hogwarts without having to answer a lot of uncomfortable questions. Not enough context. What's the outcome, and why is it surprisingly realistic?
- Upon learning the location of the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore calls in a team of professionals and only allows Harry to come along to open any sealed doors and on the condition that Harry flees the moment they say so. The actual battle is over quickly because the professionals brought a rooster with them whose crow is fatal to a basilisk. Not realistic
- In Second Chance, a new choice, after returning to his 16 year old self after being killed by Voldemort, Snape cuts all ties with Lucius Malfoy and the rest of his Death Eater friends, rejects pureblood supremacy, and tries to rebuild his friendship with Lily. Lily is overjoyed... and then grows extremely suspicious. Because even if Snape is doing what she wanted, nobody changes their views so radically overnight, and she's aware she lives in a world where the Imperius Curse and the Polyjuice Potion are very much a thing. Snape has to tell her the truth as for why he changed so much. Character reaction
- In Sometimes the Only Winning Move is not to Play, Harry gets a copy of Salazaar Slytherin's memoirs but can't read them at all as they were written over a thousand years ago in a language Harry calls the "bastard love child of German and French". Possibly unrealistic if the language doesn't exist
- Petrification Proliferation features a long string of this in the aftermath of Harry's battle in the Chamber of Secrets. In no particular order:
- British Wizarding society is tiny, and Hogwarts is the only magical school in Britain. This means that a Basilisk showing up in the wrong place at the wrong time (such as, for example, the Great Hall during a meal) could wipe out seven year's worth of wizarding children, a demographic blow severe enough to potentially cause the collapse of British Wizarding society. Amelia Bones points out that a basilisk attack would be more destructive, proportionately, than dropping a nuke would be in the Muggle world. Not an outcome, or realistic
- As a result of the above, Dumbledore's reaction to hearing a Basilisk was involved is to put the school on total lockdown and call the Ministry for evacuation. This in turn leads to Amelia Bones calling a full on red alert and sending absolutely every Auror and Hit Wizard the Ministry can spare to the school. Not realistic either
- Harry, Ron and Ginny all end up being questioned for the events that led up to the Chamber and what occurred within it. Ginny ends up suspended for her actions while Brainwashed and Crazy, and it's clear that this is only because she wasn't in control of herself. Plot happens, the second part is not realistic
- The students' pets all have to be left behind during the evacuation since the first priority is getting students and staff out safely. During the rescue of said animals after the initial evacuation, Pettigrew is discovered, leading to the Weasleys being investigated for possibly harboring a fugitive and murderer. Not realistic
- During their investigation, the Aurors aren't happy about the way the Dursleys treated Harry, Harry having to face off against a Voldemort-possessed Quirrell or any of Dumbledore's manipulative actions... but they have to prioritize dealing with the basilisk and Voldemort's horcruxes first. They're simply far more pressing than Harry's mistreatment. When there is time to deal with these issues, Vernon and Petunia are convicted of child abuse and lose custody of Dudley and their reputations. Character reaction, unrealistic
- Harry's suspicions that Lucius is behind the diary aren't enough to get him arrested; they are, however, enough to get him investigated, in the form of Harry's memories of the day of the Arthur/Lucius fight in Diagon Alley being extracted and examined. Not realistic
- Percy loses a great deal of McGonagall's respect for focusing on trying to control his twin brothers while ignoring Ginny's increasingly poor state; this ultimately costs him his Prefect status and consideration for being a Head Boy candidate. Character reaction
- While Sirius is released from Azkaban after Peter's survival is discovered, it still takes a great deal of paperwork and he's still a bit messed up from all the years he was locked up. He's also freaked out by the basilisk situation even though he's only hearing about it once it's over. First part is not surprising. The second one is a character reaction. Third is also a reaction, to unrealistic events.
- Calming Draughts don't completely remove Hermione's distress about exams and school; they just tone it down enough that she can talk about it without breaking down. Not realistic
- While the Grangers are talked out of removing Hermione from Hogwarts, they're still distressed that A) the whole "rash of petrifications" situation even happened at all and B) they were never informed about it while the incident was ongoing. Character reaction
- Since purebloods who only care about themselves and pride themselves on being strong are the primary taxpayers in the magical world, universal health care isn't even a pipe dream. Not an outcome
- Ginny is suffering from mixed emotions because even though she knows now that "Tom" was a terrible and manipulative person, he still was nice to her. Character reaction
- Once he realizes that the Dursleys abused Harry, Dumbledore discards the use of Blood Wards entirely and resolves to be content that Sirius will do everything in his power to safeguard his godson. Character reaction
- The discovery of the nest of Acromantulas in the Forest is not received well at all as it's yet another massive hazard to the students. Not realistic
- The only reason Lucius doesn't end up in prison for life once it's proven that he is responsible for the basilisk being unleashed is because he didn't know that the monster was a basilisk... and as it stands, he's still getting a good long prison sentence for accidentally causing the incident. Narcissa is not happy that through her husband's actions, a basilisk was unleashed at their son's school and she agrees to turn on him in exchange for a clean and swift divorce. Not realistic, character reaction
- The Room of Lost Things hasn't been cleaned in (at minimum) a thousand years so all the spare Unspeakables that can be found are required to find anything in it. Possibly unrealistic
- Amelia is only dealing with the paperwork about items confiscated from students because there's literally no one else who can handle it; everyone's too busy with the fallout. Plot happens
- Crabbe and Goyle are fined for their possession of Dark Arts items but Harry's Invisibility Cloak is returned to him, because there's no legal grounds for denying it, and especially since it's a family inheritance. Not realistic
- Following her public divorce from Lucius, Narcissa and Draco are in disgrace and forced to reach out to lighter-aligned families, including Sirius as the Head of the House of Black, to have any hope of recovering their former reputations and keeping their influence; despite this desperation, they make no secret that they don't plan to change their politics. Sirius in turn lets her back into the Black family but makes Draco earn it by having him promise he will stop bullying his classmates, especially Harry and his friends. For his part, Draco greatly resents Harry now being above him in Sirius' esteem and thinks poorly of the other boy's behavior and beliefs. Character reactions
- Narcissa takes Draco to task over his idiotic, open use of the word "Mudblood", pointing out that half of the Wizarding world consists of half-bloods, many of whom look fondly upon their Muggleborn relatives. Character reaction
- The Ravenclaw Diadem is a priceless magical artifact, so when professionals are in charge of retrieving and containing it, it's put under a security system instead of being destroyed. Even with all the sustained effort by the Ministry to find them, not all the Horcruxes are found at by the story's endnote and this leaves everyone uneasy. And although some Aurors take serious injuries (Kingsley loses an arm to the Gaunt ring, and Odo Proudfoot loses an arm to the Inferi), it's better than what would happen if the Horcruxes weren't found. Not realistic
- Reactions to the Legend: Sirius and Remus react very badly to hearing about Harry's past (the plots of Books 1 and 2 as well as Harry's pre-Book 1 life), with Remus being so driven to drink he actively runs out of calming potion and both of them pulling all the stops in pranking the people responsible for Harry's more dangerous experiences. Papa Wolf pranksters equal bad times for anyone involved in harming their charge. Character reaction
- Harry, for his part, appreciates the protectiveness for the most part but due to spending most of his life with adults who were either abusive or useless to varying degrees, he doesn't really understand the entirety of the matter and finds certain reactions annoying and unnecessary. Especially the ones that result being grounded for things that happened years ago. Character reaction
- Hella Potter and the Reincarnated OC:
- Rita Skeeter is killed when she uses her animagus form to hide in Hella Potter's robes and is unthinkingly squashed by the girl. Treowe lampshades that Rita should've known better than to hide as a large beetle inside a girl's clothing. Not realistic.
- A decade of malnutrition followed by years consisting of several months of feasting then a summer of little food have left Hella underweight, below average height, and with fat building up in unhealthy places as her body tries to cope. Not sure
- Even after successfully getting past the Hungarian Horntail, Hella continues to have nightmares about it weeks later, thinking of all the ways she could have died horribly while her entire school just watched. Character reaction to unrealistic events
- While Hermione insists she only wants to free the "enslaved" House-Elves, said House-Elves see her just as abusive as masters like the Malfoys, albeit in a different way. While Hermione doesn't cause them physical pain, she's still trying to deprive them of the work they need to survive. Unrealistic character reaction
- Since Treowe is the first man in her life to show Hella unfailing support and affection, she latches onto him far quicker than is necessarily healthy, particularly when he explains to her the various bits of wizarding culture she needed to know but didn't. Treowe notes that Dumbledore did most of the work for him by keeping so many secrets from Hella, making it easy for Treowe to spin the headmaster's actions in a negative light. Character reaction
- In canon, Hermione tends to both have an unhealthy obsession with rules* and bullheaded stubborness at times. When she hears that Hella gave Krum a If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her... speech during the Yule Ball, Hermione, who's drunk from spiked punch, outright insists on having sex with him just to prove she can take care of herself. The next day, Hermione is horrified at the idea that she and Hella both had pre-marital sex with older boys and tries to convince Hella there's "something wrong with them" and they need to get the professors to fix it. Character reaction
- In Harry's Loophole, catching a golden egg at speed breaks both of Harry's hands, with Madame Pomfrey noting that had it hit his head, Harry would have died instantly. Not realistic
- In Lord Hermione?:
- When Hermione finds herself in trouble for defending herself against Death Eaters over the summer, Dumbledore promises to fix everything, insisting that he cares about Hermione. However, her parents respond that no one can care about their daughter more than they do, and given that Dumbledore has plenty of irons in the fire that might well take precedence over Hermione, they take matters into their own hands. Not an outcome
- After McGonagall overturns Umbridge's ridiculous punishment of Hermione, Umbridge, as in canon, tries to go to Fudge and Lucius Malfoy to invoke Screw the Rules, I Make Them!. Instead, Fudge and Malfoy shut her down, saying that she is at Hogwarts not to teach anyone a lesson or pursue petty vendettas, but to investigate Dumbledore. Indeed, her vendetta against Harry and Hermione is impeding her objective, as she should be trying to turn them against Dumbledore. Character reaction
- The Power of Seven;
- As Harry finds himself 'forced' to create a harem of seven witches to save his life, Susan Bones in particular falls victim to the realities of their developing complex dynamic as she feels as though Harry hasn't shown that much interest in her after their initial encounter; Harry promises that he'll work on that and just made a mistake judging Susan's approach to their relationship by comparing her to Ginny's greater sexual 'aggression'. Character reaction
- Despite Demelza Robbins' submissive attitude and fantasies about being controlled and dominated, she acknowledges that certain fantasies like having sex in public or being ordered to walk around the school naked are too much, accepting 'lesser' orders like walking around without underwear. Not an outcome
- After Demelza's parents are killed, she only seeks comfort from the seven members of the harem she already knew even after Fleur has become officially part of the group, as Demelza just doesn't know Fleur that well. Character reaction
- Although Ginny is generally 'accepting' of her peeping kink, at one point she needs to ask the others (specifically Harry, Katie and Demelza) that nobody actually thinks she's "pathetic" for getting off like that. Not an outcome
- While Ginny has had a few fantasies of herself and Harry with another woman, she acknowledges that her 'original' fantasy of doing something intimate with Hermione is impractical as Hermione genuinely isn't attracted to other women, with Ginny's fantasies 'evolving' to feature Harry and Fleur double-teaming her. Not an outcome
- Harry Potter and the Unexpected Lordship takes aim at some Fanon cliches:
- First, Dumbledore's status as the only one Voldemort fears makes him a human version of Too Awesome to Use. In reality, he must be very picky about when he risks his own life; should he fall in battle, all is lost. Not realistic
- The common Fanon idea that Muggleborns are second-class citizens is skewered. If they were already at the bottom rung of society, with no way up, how could Voldemort attract followers? The reality, according to this fic, is more complex. In the Wizarding world, it's not so much what you know as who you know, and you need connections in order to get ahead. Purebloods and others from prominent families start with an advantage, with connections in place to help them advance. While this does put Muggleborns at a disadvantage, it is not institutionalized deliberate discrimination, and Muggleborns who play the game and network are perfectly capable of advancing in society. Not an outcome
- All over the place in A Dramatic Reading. To name a few examples - everyone gets mad at Dumbledore for leaving a one-year-old on a doorstep all night and Hagrid gets in trouble for hexing Dudley. Character reaction
- Departure from the Diary:
- Harry learns that the Slytherin Quidditch team actually hasn't been breaking the rules repeatedly and getting away with it. Madame Hooch is too impartial to allow any rule breaking to slide and fouls them any time they do. However, most of their tactics are legitimate, and are actually rather tame by comparison to professional teams. Not really an outcome
- As Harry hasn't had any truly trustworthy adults in his life before, he demands an Oath from Lupin to not share his secrets, having no reason to believe the man won't run off to Dumbledore the moment Harry tells him something. Character reaction
- Oaths are very powerful tools, but have to be between two people and only those bound by the Oath know it took place. As such, they can't be used in court because it was proven that suspects would bribe judges to only pretend to accept the Oath. Not realistic
- Because Time Turners don't exist, Hermione has to alternate which elective she takes on each day, forcing her to do class work during what should be free time such as during meals. Needs more context. If the lack of Time Turners isn't a surprise itself, then it's not really surprising.
- Limpieza de Sangre: When Harry asks both Sirius and Voldemort about the confrontation at Brecon, neither can remember why exactly they were there or much of the battle. It wasn't a particularly significant operation at the time and it had occurred roughly fifteen years earlier in-universe. Character reaction
- ZebJeb is fond of this trope.
- In Albus Dumbledore and the Limbo Conversation, Dumbledore's repeatedly vouching for Snape in the face of the latter's repeated unprofessional behavior convinces many that Dumbledore's judgment can't be trusted. As such, when Dumbledore vouches for Harry's claim that Voldemort is back, people take it as just one more example of his bad judgment. Character reaction
- Harry reveals that he never truly trusted Dumbledore, and therefore didn't follow the headmaster's plan. Turns out that the consistent pattern of withholding information, enabling Harry's abuses at the Dursley's and the school, and ultimately creating a plan revolving around Harry's death would be easy to pick up on over time. Harry even points out the only reason he never revealed this is because he believed Dumbledore would take more drastic measures to control him. Character reaction
- Hermione Granger and the Obliviated Parents discusses the fallout over Hermione's decision to obliviate her parents.
- First, her parents are none too pleased about having their choices taken away from them. Character reaction
- Since, as Wendell and Monica Wilkins, the Grangers enjoyed an active sex life, that means that they have now-traumatic memories of their bodies performing intimate acts without their consent. The trauma from this has destroyed their marriage. Character reaction to unralistic events
- Having concluded that Hermione has no respect for them as individuals, and will obliviate them at the drop of a hat, the Grangers are afraid to disagree with her in anything — afraid to get a divorce when it's clear that their marriage is over, afraid to subject their grandchildren to anything of which Hermione expresses the slightest disapproval, afraid to tell her "No" when she requests money to help keep her husband in business. Same
- Having learned about Voldemort coming back from the dead, the Grangers, despite the hell their life has become, are afraid even to kill themselves, fearing that Hermione will simply resurrect them as her puppets. Same, and even less realistic
- Harry Potter and the Half-Giant's Wand Rights takes aim at fanfiction plots regarding Hagrid getting his wand rights reinstated and Harry revealing Voldemort's real identity. Wand rights are not realistic
- First, had Hagrid been expelled for killing Myrtle, he would have been sentenced to life in Azkaban. Instead, he was expelled for what he did do: endanger a school full of children with a dangerous Acromantula. Should Harry attempt to get Hagrid's expulsion overturned, some of Hagrid's more recent errors in judgment — trafficking in a dragon egg, illegally breeding Blast-Ended Skrewts, harboring Grawp, and maintaining an Acromantula colony in the Forbidden Forest — would come to light and land him in even more trouble. Not realistic
- Second, with regard to Voldemort's true identity, even the most enlightened pureblood wizards are prejudiced against Muggles, such as Arthur Weasley, who doesn't understand anything about Muggles despite such understanding being required for him to do his job. Thus, should Voldemort be revealed to be the son of a Muggle, many wizards will blame his evil on his Muggle heritage, increasing prejudice against Muggles and Muggleborns. Not an outcome or realistic
- Harry Potter and the Burning of Bridges features a series of stories where events go the worst way possible.
- During the canon events in Philosopher's Stone with Hagrid and Norbert, Ron's dragon bite is venomous, and Madam Pomfrey is not fooled by his excuses. She confronts Hagrid and, disgusted with his excuses and attempts at dissimulation, hands him over to the Aurors. Not realistic
- Because Sirius chose other things over Harry — revenge against Wormtail, Dumbledore's orders — Harry has no love for him. Character reaction
- In an AU, when Snape is able to get both Harry and Ron expelled after the flying Ford Anglia incident, Dumbledore is forced to throw Snape under the bus to get the two boys off and preserve Harry's trust in him. Plot happens. Not surprising
- In another AU, where Ron rats out Hermione to McGonagall over Crookshanks' constantly terrorizing Scabbers, the professor is not at all sympathetic to Hermione's justifications, and she is forced to send Crookshanks home and is also deprived of the opportunity to become a prefect. Hermione then retaliates by ratting out Harry over the Marauder's Map. Character reaction
- Barty Crouch Jr.'s stunt with the Imperius curse (i.e. casting it on students as part of an "demonstration") leads to his cover being blown. After all, students don't have the right to consent to that curse as they're just kids. Second, the curse is called Unforgivable for a reason: it's totally illegal and Dumbledore has no authority to grant a waiver for academic purposes. (Its approval during the first war with Voldemort was itself a Godzilla Threshold moment.) The real Moody would have known these things. Not realistic
- Hermione's blackmail against Rita Skeeter isn't as ironclad as she thinks, since the fact that Malfoy and other Slytherin students talking to her in her Animagus form is proof that Skeeter has powerful friends who can protect her. Not realistic
- In Albus Dumbledore and the Limbo Conversation
- In Got Balls?, when Harry learns that Hermione has subjected Cormac McLaggen to a Confundus Charm so Ron would get a Keeper spot on the Quidditch team, he reports her to Professor McGonagall. Hermione gets detention while Harry is allowed to do-over the Keeper tryouts to give Cormac a fair chance, because he refuses to let nepotism be a deciding factor in who makes the cut. Not realistic
- In Harry's New Home:
- When Dumbledore and Snape are considering if the Weasleys should adopt Harry, Snape shoots down the idea on the grounds that Harry needs a full-time guardian. Although Molly and Arthur would certainly love Harry, they also have seven children and would not be able to give Harry the one-to-one attention and care he would need after being abused for eleven years. Not an outcome
- Snape also rejects the idea of a younger or older married couple taking Harry in as any other children or grandchildren will distract them from Harry who needs all his guardian's attention. Same
- Despite his carefree and casual demeanor, Sirius admits he is still recovering from his ordeal in Azkaban and cites this is one reason why Snape would be a better guardian than him for Harry. Character has trauma
- Seasons of Change:
- In Philosopher's Stone, Dumbledore chooses not to give house points to Harry, Ron and Hermione for exposing Professor Quirrell, instead giving them an Award for Special Services to the School. He explains that this is because house points would incentivize other students to act recklessly in hopes of getting recognized. Not an outcome, character reaction
- In Chamber of Secrets, Professor McGonagall is not happy with Snape for letting the trio carry on with their plan to impersonate Slytherin students with Polyjuice to speak to Draco Malfoy. Characterreaction
- Fred and George's April Fools pranks, amusing as they are, are very disruptive to the other students who aren't familiar with the Muggle tradition. Their pranks in Harry's second yearnote culminate in most of the students missing their first classes of the day, forcing Dumbledore to dock house points from them both. Not realistic
- After spending most of her first year petrified, Ginny has to be homeschooled by her mother to make up for the lost education. Not realistic
- Whereas Ginny got off the hook for petrifying students while possessed by Riddle's diary on account of her age, that's not the case here for Gilderoy Lockhart when he acquires the diary. He is arrested and sent to prison for petrifying Hagrid, on top of Sirius exposing Lockhart as a fraud through an anonymous campaign. Not realistic
- The discovery of Peter Pettigrew as a traitor doesn't automatically lead the public to believe Sirius Black was innocent. Instead, the Ministry and the public are inclined to believe that Pettigrew was Sirius's sidekick, and a lot of this is rooted in the Ministry's refusal to admit they made a mistake and their existing prejudices (he's heir to the House of Black, who were affiliated with the Dark Arts, Sirius had top marks in his classes, and Pettigrew was seen as a rather meek coward). When Harry asks Sirius why he didn't tell the Aurors about Pettigrew under Veritaserum, Sirius explains that he was fully aware that producing evidence leading the Aurors to Pettigrew likely would've persuaded the Wizengamot to grant him a trial to clear his name, but there wasn't much evidence to begin with, and Sirius feared that rumors getting out would prompt Pettigrew to go on the run or hide himself (and that's before the biases of Barty Crouch Sr., who ran the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the time). Character reaction
- In year 3, it doesn't take much investigating for Dumbledore to figure out that Harry and his friends spent their second year harboring Sirius. His suspicions are already piqued from learning that Sirius showed up in the Chamber of Secrets alongside Ron and Hermione, and are further triggered when Harry displays concern for Sirius during their conversation at the Leaky Cauldron. It leads him to interrogate Stan Shunpike and learn about Harry, Ron and Hermione's secret off-campus trip with Sirius to acquire Polyjuice potion ingredients. Character reaction
- With the Aurors knowing full well that Pettigrew is an Animagus due to Professors McGonagall and Snape witnessing him transform in the Chamber of Secrets, it doesn't take too much investigative work for them or for Dumbledore to conclude that Sirius is also one. Dumbledore also figures out that they learned it together with James, given how difficult the Animagus process is and the fact that they couldn't have picked it up in the twelve years since Sirius went to prison. Not realistic
- During potions class following Harry's fainting incident, Ron flings a crocodile heart across the classroom at Draco in response to Draco mocking Harry. For this, Snape docks 50 house points, and at the start of Ron's detention, he gets Hermione to point out how he could've easily gotten someone hurt if that had been a different potion ingredient (being the equivalent of throwing random chemicals around in a chemistry class). Not realistic
- Once Dumbledore realizes the trio knows Lupin is a werewolf and are helping Snape brew the Wolfsbane, he's forced to take false credit for telling them this because Snape will not react well if he knew that Sirius was the one who told them. Not realistic or an outcome
- Rather than go with the typical "wizards don't get science" trope, it's explained that wizards do have their own version of scientific theory, just with different terminology from its Muggle counterpart, as seen when Harry explains Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration to Dudley. Not an outcome or realistic
- The trio's secret side projects (Animagus lessons with Sirius, Wolfsbane brewing with Snape) are hard to keep a secret for long, with Fred, George, and Ginny cottoning on to what they're up to. Fred and George make clear they know about Harry and Hermione's use of a Time Turner, letting slip that they're familiar with them having earlier figured out their existence when Percy used one. Character reaction
- The Sound of Silence
- Harryโs abuse at Dursleys has left him very silent and timid, unable to understand how to respond in social situations or positive influences. However, this conflict with his perceived celebrity image means that his abuse and behavioral issues are immediately noticed by this Head of House and the public (Proffessor Sprout and Hufflepuff, respectively), and leading to a thorough investigation. character reaction
- Having existed for so long, Harry obviously isnโt the only abused child that has entered the halls. Such an institution does have adapting procedures for these cases, with children tending to be sorted with how theyโve responded to abuse, or to provide them with a support system. Not an outcome
- Snapeโs Sadist Teacher tendencies, blatant hatred of Harry, and favoritism towards Slytherins backfires big time, as other present students are able to provide witness testimony when he crosses the line during his first lesson with Harry, past the point where Dumbledore can cover for the man. Itโs implied that the man will face serious charges, as the parents of students are obviously furious of the man's ignored history of bullying. This also leads to serious reformations as to how the school is run as a whole. Plot happens. Not surprising
- Many people in the Dursleys' neighborhood and local school system did notice Harryโs home situation. Turns out that Dumbledore had spelled them to not report any abuses... which leads to the recipients undergoing severe psychological trauma and consequences for many of the witnesses when the magic wore off and carelessly reapplied. Turns out that Dumbledore canโt be everywhere at once to cover all bases with the consequences of his manipulations, given his positions. Not realistic
- The investigations also reveal the prophecy. Dumbledore is called out on relying only on his interpretation and never taking preemptive measures or seeing other perspectives. Turns out that given that the intricacies of prophecies as a whole are well known, and that the ministry does have positions whose sole purpose is to interpret and collaborate on them. Not realistic
- The solution? Quirrellmort is discovered immediately and chucked into the gateway of death. A massive crackdown ensues that sees the discovery of, and subsequent destruction of all Voldemortโs Horcruxes, (save for the one in Harry, but itโs judged to not be an issue when alls said and done) in less than a month. Not realistic
- Dumbledore is subjected to many a What the Hell, Hero? for causing the abuse of Harry. He is stripped of all of his titles of Headmaster, Grand Mugwump, and Chief Warlock. Additionally, his entire estate is divided between Harry and the bystanders harmed by his actions as restitution, with his reputation completely destroyed. Although the investigating Ministry officials understand, and even sympathizes with Dumbledoreโs motives in stopping Voldemort, the damages overall caused by his actions cannot be excused. He is imprisoned is Azkaban with a minimum sentence, (away from dementor access), but when he is released itโs noted that he wonโt have a single sympathizer, while living with the knowledge of what he did to the child. Character reaction
- Past an Hour the Prospect's Black
- Harry realizes hostages will be used in the Second Task soon after hearing the clue in his golden egg. When he tells Ron and Hermione this, none of them are truly confident that any hostages used for the task will be safe. Though they want to believe Dumbledore wouldnโt let any harm come to them, their confidence in their headmaster had been undercut by the fact that he couldnโt prevent Harry from being entered in the Tournament against his will in the first place despite being underage. Character reaction
- The four champions freak out when they hear their loved ones have been taken to the bottom of the lake. Since the official clues in the golden eggs indicate the hostages are in mortal peril, they felt they had no reason to believe otherwise. Harry and Fleur both end up attacking the judges in their panic, with Harry even attempting to hold Bagman hostage with a steak knife for a prisoner exchange. Character reaction
- The judges eventually inform everyone that the hostages were never in real danger, with all four of them safely brought up to the surfaceโฆand the champions are still furious the organizers lied to them about their family and friends being in danger and used their loved ones as hostages in the first place, all just to play up the drama. The audience quickly sides with them when they call out the judges and organizers for this, and Krum even threatens legal action on behalf of all the champions. Character reaction
Idiosyncratic
CelestaPlebs
from Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Since: Aug, 2020
Relationship Status: Abstaining
CelestaPlebs
#1144: Jun 3rd 2022 at 4:52:02 AM
Delete it all, after which we can cut the A to H subpage. Also, Buffy's example is just a Deconstruction Fic, and Glee's example isn't surprising because it's so frequent.
Add a title. Stay safe; stay well. Live beyondโฆ memento vivere! Should intermittent vengeance arm again his red right hand to plague us?
Someoneman
Since: Nov, 2011
#1145: Jun 4th 2022 at 7:46:32 PM
Incinerated the I folders, and since there weren't many of them, I also Junked the J folders. Or I would have, but surprisingly, there are some possibly-valid examples in the Jackie Chan Adventures folder.
Infinity Train
- In All Roads, Lake finds herself unable to use smartphones, since touch screens are designed to work with skin, not metal. Not sure. One one hand, Lake is a sentient reflection, which is not realistic. On the other hand, it could presumably be possible to test this outcome in reality by using a piece of chrome on a phone's touch screen. Leaning towards cut since there's no way to prove that making the chrome/reflection alive wouldn't change its properties so it can interact with touch screens.
- Armestis:
- Even though Simon and Grace have both undergo a Heel Realization and are more willing to accept Tuba and Hazel as Denizens, Tuba isn't willing to let Hazel join the Apex. The Apex having spent years tyrannizing other Denizens, and Simon and Grace need to not only work on recovering from that belief but also help their own subordinates do the same. Meanwhile, it is too risky to let Hazel around them in fear of her getting hurt, especially with her being a Denizen. Character reaction
- Unlike in canon, where Simon's fall to madness pushed them into realizing their methods were wrong, most of the Apex doesn't immediately believe Grace and Simon telling them that their lifestyle is destructive and that they've been murdering sentient beings, especially since it was Grace and Simon that told them that way was right in the first place. Character reaction
- Despite their HeelโFace Turn, most denizens aren't willing to cooperate with the Apex due to their history of terrorizing denizens. The only ones that do are in cars that never heard of the Apex before their encounter. Character reaction
Invader Zim
- Re: My Hostage, Not Yours:
- Killing Larb in self-defense is the first time Gaz ever takes a life. Combined with how close she came to dying herself in the process, she's left with PTSD that flares up on occasion. Character reaction
- Having a large metal device stuck on her back is nowhere near comfortable for Gaz, and it takes her a long time to adjust to the PAK's presence. Also, she needs help from an auto-dressing machine to change clothes at first, as she needs to learn how to get them around the PAK. Not realistic
- Chapter Six of Scraps and Oneshots is actually entitled "Reality Ensues", and places a realistic spin on the events of "Planet Jackers". Turns out having the planet be dragged light-years off course and left to orbit around a different sun has VERY negative consequences; the planet is wracked by natural disasters, and societal collapse happens rather rapidly, with the only pocket of civilization left being the city where the show takes place, and that only because Professor Membrane is putting all his resources into sustaining it. Not realistic
Jackie Chan Adventures
- Jackie Chan Adventures: Olympian Journey:
- Despite Jade being part of the action to stop Eris from unleashing chaos, she still has school to go through. Jackie is furious when Jade tanked her mid-term in Chapter 7, to the point that he prevents her from joining him, Uncle and Tohru on the trip to India to search for Hera's essence. Character reaction. Just Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World played straight
- After the other villains completely forget him and leave him behind following the fight over Athena's essence, Zhixin is understandably pissed. This makes him susceptible to Hera's essence, and means that the first thing he does with the Mind Control powers that come with it is to make them Kneel Before Zod as payback. Character reaction causes unrealistic events.
- Rather than using his divine foresight to find the man using the bayonet with the essence of Ares in a Civil War reenactment, Prometheus snaps a picture and uses the name tag on him and the pictures online about the reenactment. Plot happens. There's probably a trope for a super-powerful character using simple, mundane means to solve a problem.
- When Eris is chasing the heroes, who are fleeing in a helicopter, she is calling out to them, but they can't hear her over the rotors. Jade even lampshades it. Maybe. The trope Acoustic License means that the heroes clearly hearing Eris over the sound of the helicopter could be an expected unrealistic outcome.
- Eris stands in the middle of the road after Ares dies a second time, her power leaking out and affecting people. She promptly gets hit by a car whose driver her power drove into a blind rage. Not realistic
- An aircraft being cloaked doesn't make it actually invisible. Thus, Eris is able to attack the Section 13 jet as it returns with Aphrodite's essence. Not sure. Is "cloaking equals perfect invisibility" a common thing in fiction?
- When fleeing Eros!Drew's minions in an Air-Vent Passageway, Rachel is too large to fit and has to go up to the rafters, and it's noted that even the below-average Jade is finding it a tight squeeze. Maybe. Air-Vent Passageway is a common but unrealistic trope, so it might count if a character fails to use it entirely.
- Queen of All Oni does this at the end of the story. Just because the heroes win doesn't mean that a Reset Button is hit on all the psychological damage incurred over the course of the story. It is specifically stated by several characters that things can never go back to the way they were. Characters have trauma.
- Queen of Shadows deconstructs You Shall Not Pass! at one point — during the fall of the last free human refuge in Kyushu, Toguro attempts to halt Ikazuki's advance in a one-on-one duel. But as Ikazuki points out, this is only holding the General himself, while his forces continue their rampage, whereas otherwise Toguro could be fighting them all off. The example itself says it's a Deconstructed Trope, but it might count as SRO if the story initially makes it seem like winning a duel against Ikazuki would stop his army completely.
- Webwork has Jade grow up in a demon netherworld from near the start of her adolescence right into the start of her adulthood as she mutates into a spider demon. The only two beings in this dimension who aren't trying to eat her care more about her physical growth than her social one and barely talk to her. When she's finally freed from the demon netherworld as a fully grown adult, she still acts mostly like a child because she's spent eight years in almost total isolation and her social skills were horribly stunted as a result. Character reaction, plot happening for unrealistic reasons
- When she tries to pretend to be a prostitute for Chang. He catches on instantly that she's not. As she's too muscular and too tattooed, and is acting more like a prostitute from a movie would than a real one. Character reaction, plot happens. Disguising oneself as a prostitute isn't inherently unrealistic.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
- Jonathan Joestar, The First JoJo:
- In chapter 1, Jotaro and Jonathan have to fight Mariah and Will A. Zeppeli, but due to the latter's gentlemanliness (as a result of being raised in 19th century England) he refuses to fight the former. Jotaro has to convince him to momentarily stun her in order to land a hit. Character reaction
- As of chapter 9, it's also been shown that Jonathan's height means he can't go inside a taxi, forcing the group to walk to their destination. Probably just Height Angst played straight.
Jurassic World
- It takes several tries for Owen to get a full quartet of raptors in Tainted due to modern viruses killing some or all of the clutches he gets. Not realistic
- Despite his unparalleled bond with the raptors, to the extent of being able to safely sleep in the same room as them, no one else is happy about Owen taking them for walks after hours, with reactions ranging from insisting he's suicidal to calls for them to be put down. Character reaction to unrealistic events.
QueenoftheCats
Since: Feb, 2021
#1146: Jun 5th 2022 at 6:20:19 PM
For the first one, I don't think it counts because Lake would be able to use smartphones if she got a stylus. While styluses might only work with some phones, she'd still be able to use those phones. So it doesn't really make sense that she'd be unable to use smartphones at all. At least that's my take on it.
The Air-Vent Passageway makes sense to me as SRO. It's a commonly expected trope in fiction and it's realistic that someone wouldn't fit in it, and that subverts that common expectation. I think it counts.
The You Shall Not Pass example doesn't work because it's a deconstruction, and it's also not an outcome. As a general rule, I think any example that involves the phrase it's pointed out or [Character] points out is likely not an example because it's not an outcome, only the characters avoiding something that won't work or a bad outcome.
Now to the Ks.
Kamen Rider
- While fighting Gai Amatsu/Kamen Rider Thouser in ''Kamen Rider Zero-One: Secretary Special'', Izu's scanners point out several injuries from Gai's previous Curb Stomp Battles, showing his body is in terrible condition since he chose to take care of his own injuries rather than go to the hospital and risk his public image. I think this is another trope we have, Broken Badass or something like that, for when wounds have piled up upon a seasoned warrior. Does anyone else remember that? Either way, it's not SRO because it's not an outcome, it's arguable not realistic as he probably shouldn't be alive, as the quote itself points out.
Narrator: "Given the number of poorly-treated injuries he was constantly acclimating and the preposterous amount of painkillers he was regularly consuming, it was a miracle he was even functioning at all."
Kantai Collection
- Ambience: A Fleet Symphony:
- In chapter 31, Sanford explains at length to the ship girls about how trying to uplift the Chicago poor by just having the rich give money away won't work. Not an outcome, and also I'm pretty sure economists are still debating about this. Either way, not SRO.
- In chapter 34, it's mentioned that staying underground without sunlight means Vitamin D supplements are needed. Not an outcome, not SRO.
- In chapter 42, once Shiranui loses the element of surprise, Kongou clearly has the upper hand. In a fair fight, a destroyer can't beat a battleship, righteous anger or no. Stronger opponent beats weaker opponent. Not surprising, not SRO.
- In chapter 47, though she makes a valiant attempt, Yuudachi gets killed after being double-teamed by HMS Swordfish and Javelin. No context is given as to why we would find this surprising.
- In chapter 61, Damon tells Kongou that putting all of her heart into doing something won't help make it good if she doesn't actually know how to do it right. Not an outcome, and basically no context. Cut.
- In chapter 119, Kitakami recalls that she had been warned against returning to the Boise CCPL post because the ship girls' slowed aging might have led to inconvenient questions. Not an outcome.
- Ambience: Platoon (Moebius Four): Contingency Summer tells us that the rest of the world, not realising how big the threat really is, is getting nervous about Japan's rearmament to fight the Abyssals. Not an outcome, Abyssals don't sound realistic, and character reactions. So definitely not SRO.
- The Greatest Generation:
- Shipgirls get latitude beyond what conventional personnel are allowed because they are Bunny Ears Lawyers, but there are still limits. Tenryuu has gotten a lot of slack for her recurrent disciplinary issues because of her effectiveness, but gross insubordination and threatening a foreign officer cross the line and she is scheduled to be scrapped for it. Not surprising, not SRO. I'd expect someone to be disciplined for insubordination.
- Just because everyone's fighting a war against the common enemy that is the Abyssals doesn't mean that all past hatreds and grudges magically vanish. Zuikaku is the most obvious kanmusu with objections to Yvonne's actions, but far from the only one.
- This is reiterated in Chapter 5. The Akatsuki sisters are made painfully aware that modern geopolitics aren't as simple as they'd thought. Someone holds a grudge misuse, bad indentation, and also not an outcome.
"I don't understand, why people would distrust us for trying to capture an Abyssal?" Inazuma asked, "Aren't we all on the same side, nanodesu?"- In chapter 6 the narration notes that Japan, being as resource-starved as it is, can't make good use of refugee labour the way Australia or other more bountiful nations can. Not an outcome.
- Putting The Men First sounds noble in theory. But if public expectation and perception expects you to send your subordinates out to Hold the Line, even if doing so is a Senseless Sacrifice of a Suicide Mission, then refusing to do so will get you politically crucified. No context whatsoever, so cut.
- In chapter 9, it's noted that the severe losses the US took have changed the geopolitical situation. Getting the World War II fleet back would swing things back in their favour, but failing to do so would only worsen their image further. And that's why they're suppressing the failure of the programme. Not an outcome.
Kick-Ass
- Given that he lacks both Dave's toughness (and newly gained skills) or Mindy's years of training and armory, when Marty joins the all-out brawl in Trip Like I Do, he ends up badly beaten and in a coma due to confronting a tougher, more experienced opponent. Not surprising.
- Dave shows that Unskilled, but Strong doesn't help against someone who's both skilled and in good shape. At the start of his training, Mindy easily kicked his ass whenever they fought. After he Took a Level in Badass, Dave finds the (massive) guy who beat Marty into a coma and delivers a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown before finally killing him. It's not surprising that strong and skilled beats strong and unskilled.
- Mindy ends up badly injured against an untrained thug due to him getting the drop on her. Not surprising, and no context. Why would we expect Mindy to be able to fight back against a surprise attack?
Kill la Kill
- In Cellar Secrets, this happens in the case of Ryuuko being a Wild Child and the rehabilitation. For one, her age does play a factor, as the older she is, the less they can reclaim, along with the fact that she'll improve as time goes on but she'll still remain stunted. Likewise, she's is terrified of almost everything and knows enough speech to state a few things, but still has to learn how to use syntaxes. Said rehabilitation would be a long and ongoing one; at the beginning of the story, she stayed in an institution for awhile before getting to come home. This is character has trauma misuse.
- Concerning a Drifter has this in a few ways, as what happened to Ryuuko had gotten her pregnant four times by rape, as her captors likely didn't give her birth control, left her mentally ill and severely traumatized to the extent that she can no longer care for herself (this could happen), and the fact that Satsuki is deeply affected. Likewise, while the perpetrator and many others were sentenced, things don't go back to normal, as Ryuuko still lives in a mental hospital and doesn't return to her normal self, along with Satsuki not feeling satisfied.
- The Crimson Garment has this with Satsuki. Unlike what we're shown in canon, Ragyo's abuse does have it's effects on Satsuki, as she associates touch/physical contact with domination, hates much to do with being touched, can't tell genuine love and care from manipulation, and she's terrified of her mother. Character has trauma misuse.
- One line from Endless Numbered Days mentions that Satsuki used to smoke. One can guess this is what leads to her being diagnosed with lung cancer. Not surprising.
- Ryuuko's brain tumor and the after effects in I Never Really Knew (and its sequels):
- As noted in the story, meningiomas are uncommon in women under 55, thus they'd be harder to diagnose, on top of the fact that her symptoms pointed to other things, likewise, though some of her symptoms have gone after the surgery, Ryuuko is still left with poor vision and some paralysis, with no guarantee that her vision will come back because of how much of it's gone. In that vein, earlier in the story, when she's told the news about her sight and hospitalized after seizure, she doesn't take it well and was pretty upset, in which case, she cries in those instances. Character has physical trauma, still misuse, with no subversion.
- Because Ryuuko's vision is poor, she startles easily, as Mako finds out in Seeing the World With Cloudy Eyes. In Orange Juice, unfortunately, her poor vision also makes her easier to trick since if the colors aren't bright enough, she can't tell a carton of milk from a carton of orange juice. Still character has physical trauma misuse.
- One More Time, One More Chance:
- Ryuko has a history of escaping and running away, so, in chapter 12, Satsuki expects this and takes precautions to make her escape plans moot by closing the gate to the property and putting security outside. Not surprising.
- As noted in earlier chapters, due to negative experiences in the orphanage and when she was adopted out of it, Ryuko doesn't have any reasons to expect she'd be treated well in another new home and so she's wary of Satsuki's intentions, along with not believing she had a sister. Tying into this, when she is recognizing that she's being treated well, she's rather clingy, not wanting Satsuki to leave, and not wanting to disappoint her, along with fearing the worse if she were to. Not an outcome, character has trauma.
- In The Outside, this is played with:
- While Ryuuko's care under the guardianship of her sister was already iffy, her well-being wasn't being called into question. Regardless, some intervention would have been called for. However, when Aikuro (her tutor) notices Ryuuko's leg in a splint (she snuck outside to play with Mako and got hurt), social services are called and she's subsequently taken away, especially when it's made clear that she didn't get medical treatment (she treated her own injuries). Not surprising, why would we expect differently?
- As said on the trope page, Ryuuko's stint in foster care is supposed to be temporary, until they can find her mother (or, at least, a more capable guardian). Not an outcome.
- In a later chapter, as "Rae" put it, three runaway foster children are not going to go unnoticed by their guardians and authorities. Likewise, as Chapter 18 points out, disguising a child that's reported missing doesn't really work if someone is very observant and there's too much of a coincidence, in which case, Tsumugu doesn't fall for Ryuuko's disguise, as, clearly, the latter looks too much like the missing girl. Not surprising, not an outcome.
- Due to having been raised so sheltered, Ryuuko doesn't have any experience or knowledge of strangers, much less how to avoid dangerous ones. Likewise, in chapter 25, due to having been raised so sheltered (along with being a little malnourished and having not have had vaccines), she's more prone to illness and becomes seriously ill, as she hasn't been around other people to be protected by herd immunity. Adding something to this, her being raised sheltered and isolated has some bearing on her physical appearance as she's noted to be pale in complexion and, if Satsuki's slight negligence is to go by, she's a bit short for her age. Character has trauma.
- As noted earlier, raising anyone in the way Satsuki tried to raise Ryuuko, especially when they don't agree with the idea, is going to make them rebel, which the latter obviously does. Character has trauma.
- Since Satsuki was the only family she had known, Ryuuko's very attached to her and isn't adjusting too well to her absence. In that vein, when she meets her mother again after a decade, she reacts with fear. Character has trauma.
- As noted through the plot, isolation does not tend to do wonders to the psyche, as Ryuuko, due to having a few people to interact with, she becomes a cloudcuckoolander and, having little socialization, some of her emotional development was stunted. Character has trauma.
- Much of the conflict between Ryuuko and Satsuki in Secret Sunshine, especially in regards to Kiko. Thank you for warning me this is probably all misuse.
- Though she loves her niece, Ryuuko, from what we can get, does not feel the same way towards Kiko's mother, Satsuki, actually, she has a lot of resentment towards her for giving birth to and leaving Kiko with her, doing nothing (except setting her up with a house and sending checks), for two years, nor is she taking kindly to the idea of Satsuki wanting to re-enter her daughter's life, after said absence. In that vein, part of why she's so attached to Kiko is because, in a sense, she was abandoned, too, leaving them both without anyone to turn to. Likewise, she doesn't want to talk to or think about Satsuki at all because of this. Combination of not surprising, character holds a grudge, and character has trauma.
- What taking care of Kiko entails on Ryuuko's end. Besides being attached, she makes it clear that parenthood requires sacrifice and it does, as taking care of Kiko came at the expense of her once carefree life of youth and her health, as, since, during what time she had to herself, she had nothing to (and, as implied, to cope), she just ate, getting heavier than what she was before, and, when funds were low (because of bills/expenses), she starved, so Kiko wouldn't go without. Not an outcome.
- When she hears that Satsuki's pregnant again, she's not happy with the news and, given her situation with Kiko, said news makes her more upset with her sister. She's also skeptical of Satsuki's ability to parent, as the latter, quote, "abandoned Kiko at the earliest instance". Character reaction, not surprising.
- When Satsuki visits Ryuuko in the hospital (after the latter is hit by a car), Ryuuko's not delighted to see her, actually, she's still hostile towards her. Character holds grudge, not surprising.
- Tying into the abovementioned, Kiko only knows and, therefore, sees Ryuuko as her mother, calling her "Momma" and getting upset with her absence, along with not taking kindly to being separated. When Ryuuko is hospitalized, she doesn't even notice Satsuki. Character reaction, not surprising since literally this entire entry has been about how Satsuki and Kiko's relationship is distant and Ryuuko takes care of Kiko.
Kim Possible
- At the Centerfold of the Storm:
- At the start of the story, much of the world is still recovering from the Lorwardian invasion, with many towns and cities still in the clean up phase. Not an outcome.
- While Dr. Director gave Shego a full pardon of her past crimes as thanks for helping to save the Earth, there are still many criminal organizations, corrupt officials and Banana Republics that felt no need to honor such, meaning she had to spend the year between the end of the series and the story effectively cleaning house. And even then, there are still countries where she's effectively Persona Non Grata. Not an outcome, not surprising.
- One of the major themes is a Deconstruction of the Harmless Villains. It's explained that they simply had reservations about killing a minor. When it becomes apparent that Kim has grown up, they stop holding back. It is also discussed how an organization like Henchco. could function without Global Justice or other law enforcement agencies cracking down. Deconstruction, not SRO.
- Even then, Henchco. is teetering on the brink. First is from the fact that Kim's actions have severely reduced the number of clients available. And then later, when he raises the bounty on Kim's head to $500 billion in cash, he learns the hard way just how cash-short his business really is. But the final nail in the coffin is when, after word of the bounty hits the news, and he's forced to use a credit card the get the rest of the payment ready, he ends up completely depleting all of Henchco.'s accounts. Between this, and Jim and Tim hacking into Hechco.'s servers, and all the dirty secrets therein, it's a tossup of whether Henchco. will file for bankruptcy before its accounts are frozen. There's no subversion here, so I don't think this counts.
- During the mission at Castle Senior (which, for the record, is located at a mountain glacier in Romania), Rufus is only used once, to save Bonnie from the McHenry laser grid. This is due to the fact that, as a naked mole rat, everything about his physiology (from the obvious lack of fur, to being one of the only species of mammal that's unable to regulate it's body temperature) is stacked against being in a cold environment. Not really an outcome unless Rufus gets frozen or something as a result. Also, you could just get him a coat, they sell coats for animals. Just get one in mole rat size.
- When GJ finally cracks open Henchco.'s mainframe, you'd think all the dirty secrets would be all contained in one digital bundle, right? Turns out, it's a sprawling mass of data, and GJ is swamped trying to process it all. Hmm. Okay this one might count, since it does list the expectation and the realistic subversion. What do you guys think?
- Bleeding Through:
- When Drakken and Shego attack Kim's high school, causing massive damage, the superintendent concludes that Kim and Ron's presence puts a massive bull's eye on the school and expels them. This, in turn, results in reality ensuing for the superintendent: First of all, Kim's parents sue him; second, when monsters attack the town, he belatedly realizes that, thanks to his actions, Kim and Ron are no longer there to defend everyone. Character reactions, and also it's pretty unrealistic to have monsters attack and teenagers be the line of defense.
- In addition to the above, he becomes the most hated man in Middleton. Turns out that when you punish someone with 100% Heroism Rating for the crime of Chronic Hero Syndrome, the general public tends to get testy, to the point of marched protests, thinly-veiled threats from what's implied to be Dr. Director, and even Mr. Barkin resigning. Character reactions. It would be just as realistic for the town to agree with the superintendent that the two were painting a bullseye on the school.
- Also discussed in terms of just how the Go Team's powers actually work, since each one shreds the laws of physics into confetti. What's more, exposure to a radioactive meteor should really result in cancer instead of superpowers, let alone such radically-different superpowers in such closely-related subjects. Not at all realisitc to get powers from radiation, as this example itself points out.
- There's also the matter of Rufus' intelligence, which is explained as being due to him being Ron's familiar. Also, it's pointed out that the reason he doesn't speak full sentences is due to the fact that, as a rodent, he doesn't have the necessary vocal organs. Not at all realistic to be a familiar.
- When Drakken and Shego attack Kim's high school, causing massive damage, the superintendent concludes that Kim and Ron's presence puts a massive bull's eye on the school and expels them. This, in turn, results in reality ensuing for the superintendent: First of all, Kim's parents sue him; second, when monsters attack the town, he belatedly realizes that, thanks to his actions, Kim and Ron are no longer there to defend everyone. Character reactions, and also it's pretty unrealistic to have monsters attack and teenagers be the line of defense.
- Both of the above fics also reveal the fate of Team Go's parents: They died, aka, what normally happens when one is struck by a meteor with enough force to blow up a treehouse. Okay, maybe? This expectation is that the radioactive meteor gives superpowers, they realistically die instead. This one might count.
- Commander Argus uses this in his KP series of fics. For instance, during Kim and Ron's senior year, a new principal is in charge of their school, who is just as averse to their missions taking them out of school as a Real Life school administrator would. Additionally, You Are Grounded! does not contain an exception for missions. Wake Up Go to School and Save the World is a pretty unrealistic trope, so I don't think you can realistically apply consequences to it. Also, not enough context, not an outcome.
- The basic premise of His Honor, The Mayor, Drew Lipsky is that the Kim Possible cartoon is a Show Within a Show akin to The Rusty Venture Show leading to several differences from canon:
- Kim may be an Action Girl, but between all the wierd and occasionally horrible things she has to see saving the world and Brainwash Residue from being hit by mind control or similar mad science devices who knows how many times she has some PTSD, it gets worse when she breaks her arm saving Senior Jr. during a hot air balloon accident since she's bedridden and has no missions to distract herself. This has a typo, but also, character has trauma.
- Later we find out the source of Kim's PTSD: Global Justice has been screening her help requests to keep her away from anything too traumatic but do to a mixup she and one of the most Nominal Hero Cowboy Cop members they had got sent to a low level bad guy outpost, seeing him pull a Mook Horror Show and killing a bunch of unarmed henchmen almost made her kill the guy if she hadn't noticed one of her friends getting injured in the crossfire and rushing to help them instead. This is just explaining the above bulletpoint of character has trauma. Cut.
- Monty Fisk retired from villainy after Ron got the Mystical Monkey powers because he knew he couldn't compete with The Chosen One causing the folks making the cartoon to make the Yono episode to write him off. What? Too fantastic.
- In the cartoon Gemini has a prosthetic hand with a missle launcher, in the fic they lampshade the fact that it couldn't work that way so his hand launches sticky homing beacons for guided mini missle launchers he has his minions conceal wherever he goes such as in his lair or, more relevant to the story, in the instruments his minions play while disguised as a band at a party where Gemini tries to assassinate Drakken. This nearly fatally backfires when Drakken accidentally knocks the sticky tracker onto Gemini, fortunately the missles also don't operate under water so Gemini jumps in a swimming pool to save himself. Not an outcome, too fantastic.
- Initially Kim thinks Drakken isn't elegible to run for mayor due to being a supervillain. However due to the fact that Kim is a vigilante and doesn't have the right to arrest Drakken, only stop his crimes and an old law that made sense at the time and never got repealed Drakken's criminal record doesn't disqualify him from running for mayor of Middleton. Typo again, and while Kim expects Drakken is ineligible to run, it doesn't mention why we the audience would expect that. Also, it's not really an outcome.
- Kim Possible: Mirror, Mirror: Sherri received powers from a radioactive comet. She feared becoming pregnant due to risks to the baby. Not an outcome, also unrealistic.
- In Ron Stoppable And His New Pets (both the original fic and the comic adaptation) Ron accidentally crashes into an invention of Cyrus Bortel that combines his mind and emotion control tech, which gives Ron the ability to make women love and want to obey him just by telling them to do something. When he passes out during the crash saying to Kim, Shego and Adrena Lynn that he wishes they'd "listen to him" and accidentally turns them into his harem. A guy's fantasy brought to life, right? He has the absolute love and devotion of three incredibly beautiful women who will do whatever he says and do anything to please him. Including encouraging him to have sex with them whenever possible. He should be thrilled right? WRONG! He's horrified that he's 'brainwashed' the three of them, especially his best friend. The first thing he does when it's all been explained to him by Bortel, is ask if there's a cure and refuses to take advantage of the fact they will do 'anything' for him. He feels guilty and uncomfortable when they display their love for him knowing its just because of the mind control tech. He only starts to make an attempt to be more comfortable about the situation after it's made clear that its absolutely irreversible and permanent, but he is still not completely at ease with it no matter what. Not at all realistic scenario, but also not surprising. We wouldn't expect Ron to be comfortable with this, because only a real jerk would be.
- In Zen and the Art of Ass Whupping Hirotaka finds out that having a black belt is not a guarantee of winning against an opponent who is equally skilled in a different martial art. Especially when said opponent is a foot taller, weighs twice as much as you do, and knows a few barfighting tricks that they're not afraid to use. Strong and skilled beats weak and skilled. Not surprising.
Kingsman
- In Trials, Harry survives Valentine's attempt to kill him because the man had never fired a gun before and looked away when pulling the trigger; his aim was off by enough for Harry to use fake blood to look like he died. Not sure about this one.
Kung Fu Panda
- The Vow:
- Po's father attempts to hold back Lord Shen's wolves from following his wife and son during the panda massacre. However, since he's a strong farmer but not a seasoned warrior, he quickly becomes wounded against half a dozen wolf soldiers. Before he nearly gets his throat sliced, he flees (though he takes a different route than his wife). Not surprising. With the way You Shall Not Pass works, we'd expect the person doing it to get badly injured and possibly die.
- When Lady Lianne tries to convince her former friend Zhan the Wolf Boss that Lord Shen's plan to conquer all of China is folly, she points out that they'll be facing China's whole imperial army with the wolf pack, one tribe of gorillas, and a dozen cannons. Even if they win in the end, many of Zhan's wolves — who are family to him — will lose their lives. As much as Zhan doesn't want to hear this, he cannot shake off the truth of Lianne's argument. Not an outcome.
- During the epilogue, Lord Shen has a horrific nightmare about losing his family, so he tries to train with the body that is still recovering from bone injuries. Forcing himself to press forward despite the pain, he ends up injuring himself further and prolonging his recovery. No matter how much of a Determinator you are, your body — especially when severely injured — won't take more than it can. Maybe, but it might also be just character has trauma misuse. Opinions?
Two maybes under Kim Possible, one maybe under Kingsman, and one maybe under Kung Fu Panda. Your thoughts?
Edited by QueenoftheCats on Jun 5th 2022 at 6:20:47 AM
underCoverSailsman
Peeks from Under Rocks
from State of Flux
Since: Jan, 2021
Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Peeks from Under Rocks
#1147: Jun 5th 2022 at 8:56:32 PM
Agree that Lake's metal-ness is too unrealistic to fit here.
Acoustic License: does the narrative set it up to surprise us? Air-Vent Passageway: does the narrative set it up to be played?
You Shall Not Pass! generally implies that the situation (terrain factors, etc) are such to allow an entire army to be held up if their front unit is engaged. If there is room for the rest of the army to maneuver around, but you're expecting a single/small unit duel to decide things anyway, you're looking at Combat by Champion, which is pretty much always either cultural or by mutual consent.
Contingency Summer seems to be about political reaction to Japan's re-armament program. Insert Aliens, Kaiju, or a human polity that everyone else is underestimating for an essentially identical entry. Character Reactions on a multi-national scale.
Henchco's mainframe: IDK, would we think that? Many works would wrap it up neatly like that, does the story set us up to expect a neat, tidy bundle?
Team Go's Parents: what about the narrative would make us expect that they'd get superpowers at the same time as their kids? Juxtaposing insane new abilities with the inability to protect loved ones is superhero Origin Story fodder. See Spiderman, for example.
Kingsman is ZCE in terms of what is surprising. I'd have to read the scene to have an opinion on realistic.
Lord Shen, Determinator Again: what does the narrative lead us to expect?
Edited by underCoverSailsman on Jun 5th 2022 at 10:58:15 AM
#1148: Jun 5th 2022 at 9:01:55 PM
The Acoustic License example can just go under that as an aversion of it.
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underCoverSailsman
Peeks from Under Rocks
from State of Flux
Since: Jan, 2021
Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Peeks from Under Rocks
#1149: Jun 5th 2022 at 9:13:57 PM
If the narrative sets things up, or the characters act in a way that it appears to be in play, it's more Subversion. Maybe also SRO if it's done in a way that surprises the audience.
Aversion if nothing about the narrative makes it look to be in play at all, but is it common enough of a trope to make an aversion tropable?
Edited by underCoverSailsman on Jun 5th 2022 at 11:15:24 AM
ElRise
I fix my examples all the time
from The Dying City
(Season 2)
Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
I fix my examples all the time
#1150: Jun 5th 2022 at 9:54:55 PM
Any sample examples that fulfill all requirements?
Graffiti Wall
Total posts: 2,437
I have an example from Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
"The grimly effective Villain with Good Publicity ways of Grindelwald compared to the rather ineffectual methods of Voldemort's brute-force ways are fully demonstrated in this film, and also demonstrates the complete difference between them that makes Grindelwald a far more terrifying villain. While Voldemort wanted to dominate Britain through sheer force, Grindelwald only makes the terrorist attacks look like he's fighting the unjust powers of the world and actively seeks to be diplomatic. Not to mention he is no pure-blood supremacist and accepts anyone while Voldemort was selective at best and completely bigoted at worst. And while Voldemort and Grindelwald are both arrogant, Grindelwald is much better at appearing humble and simply seeking a revolution because unlike Voldemort, he is not a psychopath as much as he is detached towards his enemies and willing to do whatever it takes to crush them and regularly portrays himself as a valiant revolutionary with immense power, which Voldemort can never be because he was a Dirty Coward. All this combined means that Grindelwald is significantly better at attracting subordinates and devotees everywhere, and as he is attacking the whole world and not just Britain, there was simply too many people who support him and too little evidence to charge him with. In the end, even though the magical governments are all desperately trying to paint him as a criminal, they ultimately have to bow down as he has won the public and charging him any further would lead to violence. It takes Dumbledore, an equally brilliant individual who has none of Grindelwald's arrogance, in order to expose him and truly encourage resistance against him."
Most of this is basically "plot happens, then stuff gets explained" and the entry tries to bring Voldemort quite a few pegs down just to prop up or propel Grindelwald forward. The movie goes out of it way to show that Grindelwald only achieved success thanks to the stupidity of others (the people in charge of voting allowed Grindelwald to run his own campaign just to expose him and because they were warmongers themselves) and his plan relies on *gasp* committing electoral fraud. The movie ends with Grindelwald getting proverbial mud in his face, with very few supporters.
Also, that part about Grindelwald not being a psychopath is questionable because he kills a young animal onscreen and threatens and berates Credence, a mentally unstable young man with a terrible upbringing, for the duration of the movie. Dumbledore even warns Credence that Grindelwald will dispose him once he gets what he wants.
Third, this contradicts numerous in-universe statements about Voldemort being the #1 dark wizard of all time, with Grindelwald as a close second. Also, most of Voldemort's villainous actions were relegated to the background of the Harry Potter series, so the person who wrote this entry is indulging in hypotheticals.
So, what do you say?