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Misused (Alt names crowner 29 September 2021): Looks Like She Is Enjoying It

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Bubblepig Steve from Minecraft (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
#1: Aug 26th 2021 at 11:48:21 PM

There's a problem with a trope named Looks Like She Is Enjoying It. It is when a character screams in pain and it's mistaken as a sound of pleasure by other characters. But somehow, most tropers misuse it for something else. Here are my wick check:

I think we should clean it up in trope pages where this trope is misused. Should we cleanup this trope by removing the misused examples or change the name?

Here are some proof (For off-page proofs go to Looks Like This Wick Check Is Enjoying It.):

    open/close all folders 

     Mistaken as an Audience Reaction trope 
  • Hellsing: Rip Van Winkle's death, while violent and excruciating, had connotations of a rape scene. To many fans, her blush along with her cries made it seem as if she was getting off from it, though her experession made it obvious she wasn't.
  • Death Note: Light writing in the Death Note typically involves a lot of sweating, panting, shouting, and giggling in sadistic glee and unadulterated happiness. Fan Art ensued.
    • Mikami takes it even further, to the point where he appears to actually reach an orgasm while using the Note at one point.
  • The penultimate scene of The Horror of Party Beach has an ...interesting moment when the heroine, who has injured her leg, is helped to a nearby car, leaving our good friends at MST3K only able to say, "Um... wow."
  • In the original Diablo, if you are killed while playing a female character, she sounds like she just went Out with a Bang.
    • In Diablo II, it's those corrupted Sisters who do this. In all fairness though, they are moaning in relief out of being released from a bondage to evil.
  • The grunts made by Vulcan Raven during his boss fight in Metal Gear Solid, especially in the remake sound suspiciously like this. Given the already copious amounts of Ho Yay in those games, it was probably very intentional.
  • In Genshin Impact, Lisa's Japanese voice became an instant meme due to her vocal noises while climbing being a long string of gasps and moans that make it sound like she's having constant orgasms, to the point that even her voice actress had fun with it. Her moans when she takes damage aren't far behind either.
  • In Tekken 4, Christie Monteiro exhibits this trope, particularly her loud moans after being defeated.
  • Tales of the Blode: Said almost verbatim when the evil moon crab Mel Gibson (it's a coincidence) drinks a bottle of what turns out to be poison and staggers around wildly.
  • This trope has been combined with the extensive voicework and detailed character models of major games since about 2012 to make animations where... let's just say that whether she's enjoying it or not is much more obvious.
  • The first two games of the Metroid Prime Trilogy have Samus gasp softly when taking damage, nothing objectionable there. Then the third game rolls around and adds a new voice clip where she lets out a loud moan that sounds like something really nice just happened between her legs. {Note: this has been deleted for misuse}
    Mistaken as "Does It Remind You Of Anything" 
  • Karin from Naruto can heal people by having them bite her. While this is draining for her (and leaves painful-looking teethmarks on her body that never heal) the way she reacts comes across as dangerously close to orgasmic. Taken Up To Eleven by the anime adaptation. Since the only instances where she was shown using this technique were to heal Sasuke, the object of her extreme crush, it is possible that she only gets aroused when she is bitten by Sasuke.

     Correct Examples (Somewhat) 
  • Shimoneta: Done for comedic effect in chapter 9. Tanukichi mistakes Oboro for a member of Gathered Fabric and wrestles her to the floor, with his foot pressed between her legs. Which is when he realizes she's really a guy, but he double-checks just to be sure. In the next panel, Oboro's back suddenly arches, before relaxing again with a full blush and empty eyed smile — right as Ayame walks in. She takes one look at the scene and immediately bolts back out of the room!
  • This is what happens when Dirk Anger finally kills himself in Nextwave. He accidentally hangs himself while shut in his room, which causes two Office Ladies, standing outside the room and listening to his strangled grunts, to think that he's looking at naughty websites.
  • In Urban Legend, the heroine stumbles across her goth roommate getting strangled in her bed. Due to the darkness and her roommate's grunts and groans, she assumes that her roommate is having sex (which is explained by an earlier scene in the movie where she walked in on her having sex and was angrily told to "turn the fucking light off") and leaves her to die. This sets up the "Aren't You Glad You Didn't Turn On The Light" scene.
  • Snakes on a Plane, after a couple having sex in an airplane bathroom are attacked by snakes, they're being listened in on by two flight attendants.
    [thumping and screaming] "he's good" [silence a few seconds later] "maybe not that good."
  • In Mel Brooks's High Anxiety, the protagonist calls up the heroine moments before getting attacked by a strangler. She immediately concludes that it's an anonymous dirty phone call.
  • In Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, the protagonist's sister screams in pain from a kidney condition. Her neighbors assume her screams are moans of pleasure.
  • In The Dirty Dozen, Maggot points his knife at a terrified woman and tells her "scream." When she does, the Nazi officers in the lounge have a good laugh about how much she is enjoying the moment.
  • In The Joy Luck Club, a pre-teen boy in an arranged marriage shows something to his new bride... she lets out a startled scream, and the boy's mother, listening at the door, chuckles and leaves, thinking the marriage is under way. It was nothing but his pet lizard.
  • In the 1982 kung fu parody They Call Me Bruce, two Action Girls are fighting each other, smashing up the motel room Bruce is using (Bruce is in the shower unaware). Next door his friend Freddy is with a High-Class Call Girl who's impressed with all the noise Bruce is apparently making, and tells Freddy to get Bruce to call her next time. Freddy goes next door and finds Bruce coming out of the shower and two women unconscious from exhaustion in his bed. He decides his friend has had enough Destructo-Nookie for one night and insists they leave.
  • And inverted in The Last Wish, where Dandelion hears Yennefer moaning among the ruins (that she caused) and worries she and Geralt must be terribly hurt. Turns out, they just couldn't wait to celebrate their Relationship Upgrade and are merrily having sex then and there.
  • Lampshaded in the Angel episode "Waiting in the Wings" when some of the heroes are searching a building and hear some noises.
    Gunn: Hear that? Sounds like someone's in pain.
    Fred: Either that or someone's in fun...
  • In an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, Dick was Bound and Gagged (long story) and called Mary's office for help. Judith picks up the phone and responds thusly to Dick's muffled cries for help:
    Judith: [Deadpan voice] Oh, yeah. [Muffled cry for help] Oh, baby. [Muffled cry for help] I'm hot now. [Muffled cry for help] Do me. [Muffled cry for help] Do me all night. [Muffled cry for help] I know it's you, Dick. [Hangs up].
  • Parker, Mac's roommate in season 3 of Veronica Mars. In the first episode Veronica sneaks into Mac's room to get their tickets to a movie. Both Veronica and Mac (who have their own sexual assault histories with Beaver) think Parker is having consensual sex. She is being raped by a serial rapist that was first introduced the season before.
  • There was also a very dark usage of this in Jonathan Creek, in which a videotape is found showing what appears to be a young woman having a screaming orgasm. Turns out the camera had tipped onto its side, and what everyone was seeing was her getting impaled against a tree by a large garden fork.
  • Phantasmagoria 2: When Therese is being murdered in the bathroom of the S&M club, a few of the other patrons hear her screams. They think she's having sex with someone so decide to ignore her, as she's apparently known to use the bathroom for hookups (having previously done so with the protagonist).
  • In To Boldly Flee, Film Brain overhears Nostalgia Chick shrieking in fear/pain as Mechakara is assimilating her. He chalks it up to them having sex, as does everyone else (except for Obscurus Lupa).
    Zero Context Examples 
     Other misuse 
  • Maken-ki!:
    • Takeru certainly thought so, while watching Yan-Min activate her "Reilii". During which, the ends of her Jingu enter her body, causing her to arch her back and moan as if she's getting off from it.
    • In the flashback panel, near the beginning of chapter 57 which shows Yuuka "healing" Takaki, one of her hands is between Takaki's legs. She's seen with her back arched while biting down on her finger, as light radiates from where Yuuka is touching her.
  • In Lizzie Borden's Revenge, Ashley and Leslie are making out in Ashley's room, and their orgasmic moans are disturbing the other girls in the lounge. Leslie leaves and Ashley goes to take a shower. In the shower, she is attacked by Lizzie and hacked to death. Her screams are interpreted by the other girls as she and Leslie enjoying a second round.
  • In The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, most people you use the Gust Bellows on tend to shriek and cower, as they do not like getting smacked in the face with hurricane-level winds. Pipit's mother, on the other hand, starts cooing. Justified because she loves a clean house, and the Gust Bellows are what you use to dust for her.
  • When playing as a notorious evil-doer in Fable II, NPC's may scream and run away when they see you. Female NPC's will scream in a way that very much invokes this trope.
  • Actress Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand) was unhappy about the last scene of a Star Trek, "The Enemy Within", in which a "leering" Mr. Spock asks Yeoman Rand if she enjoyed being slapped around a bit by the Evil Kirk.
     Misused as Not If They Enjoyed It Rationalization 

Edited by Bubblepig on Aug 27th 2021 at 3:33:16 AM

"CHICKEN JOCKEY!"
SeptimusHeap MOD from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#2: Aug 27th 2021 at 2:12:59 AM

Opening this, but also clocking since we generally want an analysis of the off-page examples, not just the on-page ones. I'll give folks three days to produce that analysis of offpage examples.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Bubblepig Steve from Minecraft (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
#3: Aug 27th 2021 at 7:22:07 AM

[up]Ok I'll add more proof with trope examples/pothole from other page.

"CHICKEN JOCKEY!"
themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#4: Aug 27th 2021 at 7:33:40 AM

[up] For reference, here are the wicks. You need to randomly check at least 50 of them in this case.

A place to put the wick check —> Looks Like This Wick Check Is Enjoying It

Just create the page, make folders for the different categories, etc. and start sorting.

Edited by themayorofsimpleton on Aug 27th 2021 at 10:37:01 AM

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
Bubblepig Steve from Minecraft (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
#5: Aug 27th 2021 at 7:45:39 AM

[up] I did, I'll add ten-fifteen more wicks from other pages/potholes. But first, I'll go to Wick Check Project first.

Edited by Bubblepig on Aug 27th 2021 at 7:51:55 AM

"CHICKEN JOCKEY!"
themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#6: Aug 27th 2021 at 7:53:52 AM

[up] Great! That thread can be very helpful. They are currently helping me (eventually) bring Extreme Sport Excuse Plot to TRS. I'm sure they can help you here, especially given that Looks Like She Is Enjoying It already looks like a vague name and is extremely likely to be suffering from misuse.

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
Bubblepig Steve from Minecraft (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
#7: Aug 27th 2021 at 8:03:31 AM

[up] Thank you for your help. I already add more files. The wicks is now 50 more not 10-15 since you suggested it. You guys can help me in this wick check called Looks Like This Wick Check Is Enjoying It. I'll be right back.

Edited by Bubblepig on Aug 27th 2021 at 8:18:15 AM

"CHICKEN JOCKEY!"
HeavyMetalHermitCrab Since: Sep, 2018
#8: Aug 28th 2021 at 12:17:17 PM

Wick check's done.

To cut to the chase, all but 18% were misused in one way or another.

Edited by HeavyMetalHermitCrab on Aug 28th 2021 at 12:18:01 PM

Malady (X-Troper)
#9: Aug 28th 2021 at 12:40:41 PM

Hmm... This is the kind of trope that requires an audience, In-Universe, no? I would be fine with it allowing out-of-universe audience examples, on YMMV pages, but not crosswicked.

But only because I can't think of a name. If someone can, then split.

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#10: Aug 28th 2021 at 12:44:14 PM

[up][up]

all but 18% were misused in one way or another.

Yeesh, that's bad. I think the vague title might be contributing to misuse—sadly, many tropers do not read the description of tropes, and "Looks Like She Is Enjoying It" could mean a lot of different things, which the wick check appears to verify.

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
Bubblepig Steve from Minecraft (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
#11: Aug 28th 2021 at 1:22:33 PM

Sorry, I didn't do more wick check last night and today. I was busy in real life by the time. But yeah, it's understandable why the tropers were confused with the title. Anyway, thank you for helping me smile.

Edited by Bubblepig on Aug 28th 2021 at 1:27:19 AM

"CHICKEN JOCKEY!"
Bubblepig Steve from Minecraft (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
#12: Aug 28th 2021 at 1:25:37 PM

Also I think it should be called "Sounds Like She's Having Fun" because I thought the title let the tropers know that it's In-universe example only.

Edited by Bubblepig on Aug 28th 2021 at 1:28:43 AM

"CHICKEN JOCKEY!"
selkies TOO serious! from Guess, guess, guess Since: Jan, 2021 Relationship Status: Star-crossed
TOO serious!
#13: Aug 28th 2021 at 2:07:40 PM

The "Mistaken as an Audience Reaction" folder just contains examples of characters doing things (fighting, giving birth, etc.) and making noises that sound like moans of pleasure. I think they fit into Does This Remind You of Anything? because the characters' suggestive sounds make it open to different interpretations.

I suggest renaming it to Sounds Like Having Sex or Screaming Means Pleasure. Sounds Like She Is Having Fun still feels ambiguous.

Uncanny Valley Hot Babes in Your Area Are Looking To Know YOU! Click Here to Sign Up for FREE! | Not quite back tbh. Don't expect much.
Bubblepig Steve from Minecraft (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
#14: Aug 28th 2021 at 2:51:09 PM

Oops, my bad. Sometimes I'm not sure it that's an Audience Reaction or not. Also I think Screaming Means Pleasures sounds better.

"CHICKEN JOCKEY!"
HeavyMetalHermitCrab Since: Sep, 2018
#15: Aug 28th 2021 at 2:59:32 PM

If I'm being completely honest, the problem that I see is less a matter of in/out-of-universe and more that this trope is being used as a pothole for anything vaguely sexual and/or trying to equate any kind of scream, moan, or related utterance to having an orgasm.

Honestly, given the sheer amount of the bad/shoehorned examples I came across, I don't think the out-of-universe shit is even tropeworthy. It's the "horniness leads to shoehorniess'' problem writ large.

Of course, 57 wicks were checked and only nine were correctly used. If we only purged the misuse, we'd have 18 wicks left (out of like 134) if that trend continued.

Edited by HeavyMetalHermitCrab on Aug 28th 2021 at 3:05:29 AM

Bubblepig Steve from Minecraft (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
#16: Aug 28th 2021 at 3:14:26 PM

[up] Yeah, I noticed that. Once this wick check is complete, we need to remove any misuse and potholed examples if the mods approved it.

Edited by Bubblepig on Aug 28th 2021 at 3:17:15 AM

"CHICKEN JOCKEY!"
Malady (X-Troper)
#17: Aug 28th 2021 at 3:50:05 PM

Basically half of the checked (49%) were using this as YMMV. If we allow that, then we have more than half being used correctly.

And ZCE at 18% is the last big group, so if all of those were right, we'd be at 75% accurate.

Edited by Malady on Aug 28th 2021 at 3:50:35 AM

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#18: Aug 28th 2021 at 4:11:57 PM

Why would we allow YMMV? That isn't how tropes work...

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Malady (X-Troper)
#19: Aug 28th 2021 at 4:33:15 PM

[up] - Well, I would advocate splitting it, if there were a good name for the YMMV version.

It's like how Once Done, Never Forgotten and Never Live It Down are basically the same thing, except the former is In-Universe, and the latter is YMMV.

If we allowed shared YMMV and In-Universe, then they'd likely be lumped into Never Live It Down as the Wittier name...

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#20: Aug 28th 2021 at 4:36:49 PM

Well, we allow In Universe examples for YMMV tropes, but that isn't what this is. This is people using an objective trope as audience reaction, the exact opposite to what you're talking about and something unallowed.

FWIW, Once Done, Never Forgotten was a recent TLP split. It was under Never Live It Down.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
eroock Since: Sep, 2012
#21: Aug 28th 2021 at 6:23:42 PM

OP talks of 50 examples in their wickcheck while there are only 40 examples shown.

Edit: Okay, I saw the actual page. Can OP be updated to better reflect the latest shift in percentages?

Edited by eroock on Aug 28th 2021 at 6:26:13 AM

Malady (X-Troper)
#22: Aug 28th 2021 at 6:32:02 PM

[up][up] - Hmm... Can we make this a YMMV with In-Universe examples?

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
ImperialMajestyXO Since: Nov, 2015
#23: Aug 28th 2021 at 7:03:27 PM

It wouldn't be the first time we've split a trope based on whether the examples are in-universe or YMMV.

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#24: Aug 28th 2021 at 7:05:02 PM

Wouldn't the (somewhat valid) YMMV ones though be Accidental Innuendo?

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Malady (X-Troper)
#25: Aug 28th 2021 at 7:05:59 PM

[up] - Yes... But I've no idea on a name for the YMMV...

Dirty Minded Fourth Wall??

Edited by Malady on Aug 28th 2021 at 7:06:13 AM

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576

16th Sep '21 11:26:23 PM

Crown Description:

Looks Like She Is Enjoying It is misused. What should be done with it?

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