User blog:FateAlbane/Jack of All Tropes - Big Iron 2

You know the drill. This will be a list of all the tropes found in the plot.

This will cover Ino's introduction alongside Magnum and the Second Session.

Go here for the First Session and anything before.

Long WIP, naturally.

From Ino's Intro
The Plot Reaper - Parodied up to Eleven, by saying the main antagonist of the prequel is now a literal Plot Reaper that is keeping tabs on the party's actions.

Mythology Gag - Again, saying Jack is a plot reaper who doesn't want "any lack of chastity" on his watch. Has a hint of irony: In the plot proper, Jack's well-intentioned extremists goals involved putting an end to widespread irresponsible relationships and their consequences, the many neglected or outright abandoned children and orphans. Not to mention those that were driven to suicide, and other heavy related themes of the time. It would stand to reason that he wouldn't want that to start again as soon as his story ended (Also of note is that Jack wore a black hood through most of the prequel. That, and Rouge Spirits created by the Harbinger of Death were associated with his cause. This sort of makes him evoke the "Grim Reaper" image by default).

No hugging, no kissing - Self explanatory. There's no romance whatsoever in the plot as is and is in no way the focus of it either. Qualifies even more since it doesn't stop the jokes in meta from happening, either way.

The Speechless - Ino never speaks but does a good job of showing what goes through his head visually or with a window into his thoughts about the shenanigans going on around him.

Cardboard Prison  - Magnum does this one to break Scarlet out of jail and escape the city. As said word by word in the narrative:

"It's not all that interesting, save one thing: Ino sees a small girl literally smash through the wall of a prison like some sort of giant glass container, as they start to try to run out of dodge."

Explosion Propulsion - Ino uses this method to blast himself like a Cannonball at high speeds, catching up to and knocking the runaway Magnum down in a single move.

Dynamic Entry - Ino's aforementioned stunt qualifies as this.

What did I do last night? - Scarlet wakes up to find herself on Magnum's shoulder, being carried out of jail with the Sheriff on her tail and Ino having just hurled himself at the fugitives with pretty good aiming skills.

"Alright, I'm in a hangover, so this is probably incomprehensible, but please get me out of here I've been held here by sake for years producing knives and I've just about HAAAAAAADDDDDD it with these people! (...) SCREW YOU OLD MAN I'M MY OWN DRUNKARD NOW!"

I just want to be free - Zigzagged. As it can be inferred just by seeing it, the above quote from Scarlet is sort of serious and played for laughs at the same time.

This way to certain death - ...Ironically, this is more the case for the Sheriff than it ever was for the trio he was pursuing, when they come across some skeletons with dynamite around them in the canyon.

Somebody Set Up us the Bomb - The couple of fugitives + Ino ends the pursuit (and the Sheriff's life) in this way.

Retirony - Well, about that...

""... Huff... You dang kids... Wait."

He notices the dynamite.

"Well, I guess that's what I get for doing all this 2 days from retirement.""

- Beautiful last words from the Sheriff, before the charge of Mana within sends the entire canyon crashing down on his head.

What Measure is a mook? - Invoked/Played for laughs (?) in meta by saying the nameless Sheriff they killed had a wife and family waiting for him to come back home. It is also a shout-out to a certain death in Full Metal Alchemist.

Can't hold her liquor - Goes without saying, but Scarlet. In fact, Scarlet herself invokes this trope by telling Magnum to remind her to never ever drink again. Spoilers: As one would expect, said vow doesn't last long.

Bolt of Divine Retribution - Done to Elly on a meta level out of yours trul---I mean, her player referencing the Jojo Ending/Freek'n You when Scarlet and Magnum become travelling companions, properly speaking.

Blasphemous Boast - "Next time, bring your A game!" is the meta reaction to Elly being hit by the bolt.

Jerkass Deity - As Fate would have it, her own player is more of this and an "enemy within" than any Elly will ever find outside, revelling at the idea of making her life - or even death - a living hell (like I usually do to nearly every character under my own thumb until they do face and surpass their weaknesses). As a result of this, any pain that befalls Elly only furthers her Creator's goals about her character, if she succeeds that's within development and if she dies she'll incur in evulz, ultimately making her a piece that serves her purpose regardless of circumstances. All the while, any consequences of Fate's actions fall on Elly by proxy. Lampshaded by saying in meta that Elly is Fate's cosmic plaything first and foremost before being anyone else's. And also by telling Prom "If this is a Bern Game without Love, I am basically Lambdadelta in this."

"Elly thinks she's the cosmic plaything of this world. Poor little girl doesn't know her true enemy lies within."

- Fate, all while pulling a characteristic "Yurippe" laugh.

Tough Love/Fair-Weather Mentor  - Secretly, Fate's actual reason for putting Elly through hell. Not that Fate would ever admit to it or anything, it's not like Fate would ever care about this character's feelings. Baka.

Gentle Touch vs Firm Hand - Knowing the many obstacles she has to learn how to face and how standing up with her own will is important in this story, Fate leans much more on the Firm Hand side of the spectrum when it comes to Elly. There are Gentle Touch moments for her to catch a breather on her feelings, though.

Cooperation Gambit /Batman Gambit - Definitely for the former, sort of invoked for the latter. Marty takes Ino, Magnum and Scarlet in the party under the assumption that they will be "more leverage of people that don't want to kill him", thus acting on his defense if the other party members started acting up. It's questionable to what extent this actually worked (see Dissonant Serenity below).

From Session 2 (Marty Robbins literally shoots Eleonore in the knee and it only escalates further)
Player Character Calculus - Easily more than seven, and well into "Way too many heroes" territory.
 * Alternatively, "The Mana Mountain's Cold [Soul]" if you want to be more serious and have a ref about it.

Non-Player Companion - Scarlet is this to Magnum.

Ascended Fanon - The "Drunk Sakuya" nickname is now officially possible in-verse as DMUA made her full name be Scarlet Sakuya.

Out of Focus - Hob, Billy and, to a lesser extent, Dufresne. Justified trope as their players had things in Real Life that made them not be around to play their respective characters in this session.

Took a Level in Badass - Marty, somehow, took one.

Took a Level in Cynic - Elly, somehow, took another one towards Marty.

Took a Level in Jerkass /Jerkass Ball - No sugarcoating it: Both Elly and Marty doubtlessly had this attitude towards each other this time around. Thankfully the former is led to grow out of it before the roots settle by the end of the session (and through Ahuatzi actually taking note and caring for her through the whole ordeal ), while Marty eventually goes silent - so it's hard to pinpoint what was going through his head at present.

Campfire Character Exploration /Fire of Comfort  - Played straight at first for everyone, sans Dufresne who was "curled up into a ball of depression" all along. Some traits to each character get a bit more exposition during this short while, too. Ahuatzi's wisdom, Dufresne being depressed about his past, Magnum tending to Scarlet, Ino being a sort of visual indicator and yet taking note of events and forming his own impressions, as well as Elly and Marty arguing. It can all be seen as a sort of foreshadowing to how each would be behaving later down the road.

He-Man Woman Hater - Marty. Would make sense given the setting and the lack of rights for women, but not in the slightest justified given how not a single one of the other men who appeared on the story had pulled this one yet. Of note is that he didn't throw this at Elly solely but women in general, despite the former's sarcasm being specifically aimed at him.

Hidden Depths - Marty and Ahuatzi both seem to have it, but it's more pronounced in Marty during this session. At some point after the campfire and before the worse happens within the party, there are a few hints dropped to his past and/or motives as he looks at some picture and ponders about the reasons why he's where he is now.

Armor-Piercing Question - Elly unknowingly asking Dufresne why he "hates his wife" and not her killer. She regrets doing so and apologizes, realizing it may have been insensitive to ask a step too late. A heavier example is that Elly herself gets one later, from the Old Man in the mountain, in regards to her own way of living: "What do you seek?".

An Aesop - Zigzagged. Ahuatzi says some things earlier around the campfire that seem almost like a prediction of how things would soon be taking a turn for the worse within the group. He was right, and likely wished later that he had been wrong.

Braids, Beads and Buckskins - Ahuatzi fits this trope to a degree. For example, feathers are hair accessories of his.

Tonto Talk - Ahuatzi. An hilarious one, in hindsight.

"Man who nearly killed us, is right."

Noble Savage - Ahuatzi and his people were and are perceived as such, having suffered persecution by others - but he is shown throughout the story to be by far the most kind-hearted, caring and indeed noble member of the party. Earning generally everyone's respect, he also became the first member of the group that the resident deadpan snarker started warming-up to and came to sort of admire. Both in-verse and meta gave confirmation that, despite all the problems faced, he sees the party as family and cares for it as such.

Men don't cry - Dufresne cries himself to sleep over remembering his past, the matters with his wife and how he was wrongfully convicted.

What a senseless waste of human life - Invoked by Ahuatzi: "Many people lose life, always sad to see."

Or was it a Dream? - Played for laughs. Elly dreamed about taking the bolt of Divine Retribution mentioned above. Ino's reaction to it is pretty much priceless.

"Ino hears this and is slightly concerned. He thinks about how specific that dream sounds..."

- Ino, showing how much the silent protagonist can still turn out to be the most expressive at times.

Asshole Victim - Dufresne gets his attack easily stopped, is beaten up and thrown out of the wagon, spending most of his remaining time in the session with his few lines relating to his depression. While he does have an unfair and heavy past of his own, it doesn't justify that he was going to whip Marty with one of his weapons again, just before he got beaten-up. This event is what ultimately sparks the following break-down within the party, but it doesn't happen because anyone thought Marty was wrong in striking back: Ahuatzi felt uncomfortable about it and even Elly who was by far the most confrontational said "she saw where Marty was coming from" with answering Dufresne's attack in kind.

Inept Mage - The first impression gotten from Marty, before. Subverted to several degrees this time around. See below.

Crouching Moron, Hidden Baddass - Marty went from trembling in fear of the Chungus and generally failing his every move and having borderline non-existent modifiers to oneshotting a party member, threatening to kill Elly, shooting her and making his wagon go at speeds leaving sonic booms in its wake. This and the above trope are also played for drama, however, since this sudden change in capacity is exactly what leads Elly to feel even more suspicious about his character and intentions.

Dissonant Serenity  - Magnum and Ino don't seem to display much - if any - care for one or another side when Dufresne tries to whip Marty and gets thrown out then pulled back, Marty says that there's a town in need of his help, Elly goes full sarcastic interrogation mode, gets a gun aimed at her head, tells the man to kill her, there's talk about the Big Chungus, she is shot, Ahuatzi follows the scene, tries to help, heals her, Dufresne readies his whip-sword at Marty and the wagon "goes out into the sunset" at supersonic speeds when Marty finally gets way too down in berserker button mode to keep anything going. This stance crosses into Lack of Empathy when Magnum's sole emotion felt about it is being lazy and Ino decides to "not get involved" (despite being already involved) - but gets subverted on his end: Ino was more wary of the party than anything and Magnum was at least on her guard... Except she later sits again, "lazily watching the commotion". So these two tropes apply to her straight, while Ino seems to be the case and later subverts both as the situation escalates.

Only Sane Man - Ino and Ahuatzi during the wagon situation. Both should deserve props on it as the former managed to maintain his cool even under stress as the situation got worse, while the later stayed calm and collected through the whole of it.

Not evil, just misunderstood - The whole Chungus situation left Marty under this negative impression to some party members. Regardless of motives, his sudden 180° in powers and attitude only aggravated the whole thing as, from Elly's perspective, this "felt the same as having a black belt alongside you while fighting an assassin, and said black belt does nothing but stumble throught the whole fight". Only for later down the road said black belt "have no issues with showing their skill to beat up an ally and shoot down another instead". Whether this trope or Subverted Suspicion Aesop is in effect here will only be certain by the end of the story.

Easily Forgiven - Utterly deconstructed. Both the Chungus incident and the one in the wagon only lead to more and more tension between the party members less prone to forgiving and trusting, towards Marty. It ultimately gets resolved, but not without some rather bitter notes for the involved - and a sense of waryness towards the party from some of the uninvolved, like Ino.

Thanatos Gambit - Elly telling Marty to pull the trigger and kill her in front of everyone. Justified since she was suicidal, had no reason whatsoever to bother about living on and did not value herself. If she died there it would simply prove the point that Marty was not to be trusted/willing to kill even other party members if they got him as much as angry about something, making her death "at least serve some benefit to the rest of the party. Half of it was a...

Secret test of character - ...Which in her eyes, he failed. By actually shooting her, just not in the head - out of frustration at her words, the pressing situation and his hurry to reach a city to help its population.

Hypocrite -  Elly utters this as a conclusion towards Marty when the later shoots her, while claiming he wants/needs to save lives, after she had already said "Indeed" in regards to making haste.

"- Yeah, talk all about how you were able to make me shoot you while people's lives were on the line. Talk all about how you caught a man flustered."

- Better aim than before, eh Marty? Sure. Tell the eaten man how much you saved his life. Hypocrite. - she thanks Ahuatzi in the meanwhile. - Thanks for the healthy reminder that questioning you translates to you showing us you can aim way better than you let on."

- And it's still only downhill from here onwards...

Mundane Utility - Some party members employ their powers to keep themselves warm while the weather gets colder.

Lazy Bum /Brilliant, but Lazy - Either applies to Magnum, depending on the situation. Adding "lazily" to her actions was borderline some sort of meta-catchphrase. When she does try, she doesn't stay behind any of the other part members, however - be it in fighting or learning more.

A friend in need - Ahuatzi served the purpose of the friend who helps for Elly throughout the whole session. Which speaks volumes to her in hindsight given she's well aware that she also crossed lines this time around. Even moreso in how this makes Ahuatzi the very first friend she had, in the whole of her life.

"- By the way... Ahuatzi. The Duf thing, and then the shot. That makes it twice that you stood up for me. - in her way there, she smiles. - I know I talk more than I should at times, so thanks for the help.

Ahuatzi nods back with a half smile "Violence is for enemies, not for friends.""

- The first time in her life Elly was made to know she could call someone a friend.

You all meet in an Inn - Zigzagged. Everyone in the party does meet in an inn - though it happens at a latter point in the adventure for most. For Hope it's played straight, as it's where she joins the group.

Rest-and-Resupply Stop - The last city visited, the inn and the old man in the mountain's place all served as this, each for its own reasons.

Lounge Lizard - Averted. The singers (and pretty much every other performer) showing up at the inn were all great at it.

100% Heroism Rating - Marty helping people around seems to have gotten him this reputation in the city visited by the party. The people at the inn all like him, just mentioning his name makes them cheer and when the waitress hears that the party members are now partners with him, her reaction is to ask them how it feels going around, helping others.

Wendigo - While staying at the inn and talking to each other, the party as a whole talks a lot/speculates about Wendigos possibly being the creatures that attacked them, as opposed to Rogue Spirits. Extra points for Hope who seems super interested at the time and Ahuatzi who shows some good native knowledge about their legend.

Rationalizing the overkill - Out of the three discussions they had, Marty first goes into misoginy, later goes into pointing a gun to Elly's head when she's suspicious/sarcastic about him and actually pulls the trigger at her leg, escalating until in the third time he looks into her past/soul without any manner of consent. Marty justifies the second by saying "there were other lives in the line". The first and the last have no motive other than to gain ground in one specific discussion, which makes the aftermath of it all even worse (see Moral Event Horizon).

Moral Event Horizon -  In Elly's eyes, Marty's third action specifically threads well into Moral Event Horizon territory. At that point there was literally no reason whatsoever - nor other people's lives involved  - for someone looking at/knowing/seeing her past without her consent to be justified. Taking into account that all discussions aside, Marty was supposed to be an ally and that Soul Reading can let someone know all the memories of another, the very realization that Elly had this done to her for such a reason led her to tears. While after her talk with the Old Man in the same mountain, she grew out of her confrontations with Marty (meaning they likely won't ever talk, let alone argue again), the only thing she feels towards him now is plain disgust.

Eye-Obscuring Hat - Hope does this one a lot. Albeit it seems more of a habit or out of style/feeling shy than trying to hide or be mysterious about anything in particular.

Epiphany Therapy - Zigzagged for Elly. The talk with the Old Man in the mountain indeed makes her grow and sets her on a way better path. While before she had already given up, this made her willing to try and give herself and life one last shot in the form of this journey. However, she has to actually find these answers as the journey is hers to make.