User blog:FateAlbane/Jack of All Tropes - Big Iron 5

'There's always room for one's life to get worse... But there's not always room in their minds to keep caring.'

This will cover all tropes found in the 5th session of Big Iron.

'[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1drLuCWsnh4 To the brave and the petrified, we all fall down. To the slave and the civilized, we all fall down. To the lovers we left behind... The bad days, the good nights... In the Great Shipwreck of Life, we all fall down!]'

Naturally, a massive WIP.

Session 5 - Fall cometh.
Out of Focus - Billy has been pretty much retconned by now as a result of his perpetual case of this.

In-Universe Catharsis - Magnum goes through some of this after being done with the Rouge Spirits who attacked the party.

"Magnum stands up and heads to the wagon. "Aaaa, that was equally exhausting and satisfying...""

- ...As she sits in the wagon.

Clothing Damage - Downplayed and subverted. Elly restores the damage that her dress suffered almost immediately after the battle ends.

Break The Cutie - Ino subverts the trope so far (although he too is seen losing sense of hope at certain points in the story, he's been managing to recover). Elly plays it straight, finally goes through Phase 3 and gets pushed  past the Despair Event Horizon by the end of this. What results of it is not quite as cute.

Angst - An abundance of it to be seen, this time around.

Cope by Creating - Ino has been seen carving a wooden memento ever since the party went through the start of their darker times and has been doing it even as a number of members are lost.

Too Soon - Elly avoids raising any talk about Rick's words in light of what just happened to Dufresne.

Downer Beginning - If you consider the session by itself, considering how Jill appears almost immediately in sequence with the battle in session 4 and proceeds to show the party's efforts amount to nothing in her presence once again. Lampshaded/Invoked by Hob and Elly.

Due to the Dead - Ino takes Duf's gun and belongings as a memento/to keep protecting the party even after he's gone, while Elly initially leaves but then makes a prayer for him, hoping for him to find peace in the afterlife if there's any waiting for him.

Ahem - Magnum sort of does this right before reminding the party that it's best for them to get back in the wagon, and the road.

Death Glare - As one would expect, there can't be a session where Jill appears without this trope being present. Especially when throwing glares is the most anyone can do to her.

Being Watched - Once in the wagon, the party feels something - in this case, Jill - is watching them before she actually reveals herself.

The Dreaded - Ino's (very much justified) reaction to Jill qualifies her for this. The narrative also labeled her the party's worst nightmare at some point. Correctly, anyways.

Hope Crusher - Jill needs no explanation on the why for this anymore.

Immune to Bullets - Once again for Jill, as Magnum's shot proves about as efficient as Marty's bullets had been the other day. If anything, the bullet is what's flattened against the target.

Dead to begin With - Lampshaded (sorta, for laughs) in meta when Jill says Magnum has a temper considering how she killed a Rogue Spirit in cold blood but then it's pointed that those are dead to begin with, to which it's said that they died anyways since they don't exist anymore now.

Sir Swears-A-Lot - As tropes in the previous blogs and sessions might make one think, this trope becomes one of Magnum's "main weapons", whenever enemies are around or fighting is happening. Granted she still invokes it every now and then out of these situations but it's to a far lesser extent.

Force Choke - Magnum gets this treatment from Jill almost immediately since this time around she wasn't in the mood to take any of the aforementioned temper. Doubles up with The Paralyzer later and some more shout-outs with "Sith-Lightning" to experience the FULL POWAH of the Dark Side.

Your approval fills me with Shame - Averted. Elly is well aware that sides to her behaviour are akin to Jill's. When she approves of the sight and lampshades it, Elly replies that "It tends to take a monster to kill another" as opposed to being bothered in any manner. She also tries shocking Jill all the same, with end results getting her nothing but a second dose of villainous face hold.

Terms of Endangerment - Invoked by both Elly and Jill, with the former cynically calling her a "senpai"/veteran and telling her not to get attached, while the latter answers in kind with her own (<<< keyword here) way.

Tranquil Fury - Hob has reached this state towards Jill by now. As opposed to his berserker tendencies in battle, he remains cool sounding as he speaks to her and does not seem even angry by her presence or words as opposed to the battle before.

"Hob: I can't do anything but congratulate you how hard you're attempting at targeting a bunch of no-ones. Congratulations. I'm not angry. I'm not on fury. I'm disappointed a person like you is wasting its time to just do that, and I'm going to keep so till the moment you die."

- Hob clenches his fist, but still has a calm expression.

Baddie Flattery - Jill has taken a liking to this trope, albeit a good part of t is done sarcastically. Like in the case of her would be combat compliment towards Hob:

"Jill:.... Right, I'll get to you later..."

- ...Vlad the prospector.

The Strongman - Jill's next King Mook.

Badass Mustache - As a circus performer, the aforementioned boss sports one of these. To ascertain that he was indeed a powerful foe in his own right, he took the party on single-handedly and provided a great challenge in his own right, whereas the other attackers from the circus had to strike as a team against an already worn-out party.

Repulsive Ringmaster - After the Strongman is defeated, Jill calls forth for a bunch of other enemies from the circus to join the fray. Among them is the circus ringmaster, complete with a monocle and armed with a whip.

Attack Animal /Beast of Battle - Among the group of circus attackers, there was a Lion with powers and abilities comparable to an Ether scarred.

Now, that's using your teeth! - Now that I mention it, said Lion actually caught one of Hope's bullets with its teeth, too!