User blog:FateAlbane/Jack of All Tropes - Big Iron 4

I abandon my humanity, Jilljil!!! ...Ah,-er, well, nevermind that.

This will cover all tropes found in the 4th session of Big Iron.

Goes without saying, but this is a massive WIP.

Session 4 - "T-Pose to Impose Brutal Fatalities"

 * Or "JoAT - T-Poser's Depression Brutality (3/10)" - from Ino's PoV.
 * Or "The family that slays together, is also slayed to gather - IN HELL!" - from Elly's PoV.
 * "In which most people go edgy" - From Hope's PoV.

Out of Focus - Billy wasn't around this time, Magnum missed the session intro but joined before it resumed. Much later and closer to the end, Ahuatzi and Magnum eventually left. Justified trope, because it was rather late for their players to keep up at the time.

Never Sleep Again - Invoked, but ultimately subverted by several party members. Marty, Hob, Hope, Ino and Ahuatzi didn't get a wink of sleep by the end of the previous session after the events the party was put through. As a result, most of them had to get their share of sleep anyways. With Ahuatzi still being strong enough to keep the wagon going and those who did sleep keeping watch, they managed.

Sleep Cute - Hope and Elly end up sleeping like this in the wagon.

Fist of Rage - Hob frequently makes this trope happen while keeping his anger in check - as well as he can manage - outside of battle. And when he does go into battle, well...

Corner of Woe - Happened other times, but worth mentioning that it was usually... Deconstructed and played for drama, of all things... By Dufresne.

Skyward Scream - Hob does one of these around the time of the session's intro.

"With a heating and unfathomable anger, Hob stands up and sends up a loud yell to the distance, for no particular reason. Deep inside his being, he does knows why did he do that. He's frustrated... about something."

- ...And then, he sits again.

Jump Scare - Hope's (rather natural, really) reaction to the sudden scream. Mostly parodied/played for laughs.

"When someone randomly just yells, Hope would jump and let out a quick, cut off scream due to how unexpected it was. Her eyes widened and she stared at Hob. What the hell..."

- “I take it you didn’t sleep well...”

Bad Dreams - Even though she's one of the sole two party members who did sleep during the night, Elly had "less than pleasant dreams, to put it lightly". It's part of what leads her to fall asleep again by Hope's side, later.

My greatest Failure - Frequently evoked by Hob, in regards to his past trauma of having the people he knew in the mine exterminated by a Rogue Spirit. He wasn't as vocal or open about it before, but the fact that in his eyes he allowed it to happen again in the day before was more than enough: To open a scar that had barely even started to close.

You wouldn't like me when I'm angry - Hob brings this trope to the table more than any other. He's usually an easygoing, maybe even carefree party member. But when his anger does get to him, he becomes a lot more... Well, refer to "He who fights monsters" later.

Wise Beyond their Years - Ino's actions have some elements to them that carry the naivety or even learning innocence of a child but at the same time he frequently has a reasonable and serious outlook about the journey, making him as valuable to the team during situations as any other. Sometimes, he is ironically akin to a voice of reason - even without saying a word out loud.

I should have been Better - Evoked by Ahuatzi as he tries to give Hob some ease on his thoughts about what the party experienced in Jill's hands, and Scarlet's death.

"Ahuatzi walks up to Hob and puts his hand on his shoulder. Hob smashes the floor, in anger and angsty. Hob: ...? Ahuatzi: "This feeling, I know well. Strong we are, but never strong enough.""

- Hob goes silent for a moment, but he is calmed by Ahuatzi's words.

Heroic Self-Deprecation - Elly has been prone to this earlier in the story. Though becoming less of a user of this trope as time passes, she still pulled one when she did a preemptive apology towards Hope. Despite trying to explain her reasons, Elly held herself responsible for Hope being involved with the party's situation - only because she was the one to call Hope to the party (what Elly also had to go through notwithstanding). Ultimately, she asks to be left alone for the moment despite the way she used to feel in days past.

Heroic RRoD - Staying awake for the whole night after all the things the party had to go through in the previous day either pushed some (like Marty) straight into this the next day or sent others like Hope and Ino close to it. In Marty's case he outright passes out and needs Ahuatzi's help to carry him to the wagon. In Hope's case she was noted saying "it felt like forever" since she last got a good chance to sleep.

The Night Owl - As explained above, for Hope it had been a long while since she had a good chance to sleep. This is because she actively seems to avoid sleeping at night at all. Justified trope, as it goes hand in hand with her fear of the dark. See Primal Fear, Properly Paranoid and Haunted Heroine in Session 2 for more.

Catching some Z's - Magnum is seen snoring loudly while sleeping.

Deep Sleep - The aforementioned party members get into this while the party is on the road. Justified since they weren't "just" physically but also emotionally exhausted. Hope, Ino, Magnum and Hob are woken up only after new enemies catch up to the party.

Talking in your sleep - Played for laughs with Marty.

"As he's lifted off the ground, he starts to lift his arm in his sleep. He points his hand forward, taking aim at an invisible target, before making a "sheboowww" noise with his mouth

"I got em....."

Eventually he realizes his situation, and starts to open his eyes."

- ...Hope blinked and watched as Marty "shot the target with clearly pinpoint accuracy". She chuckled a little. “I think you got him. Nice shootin’.”

Greater need than mine - Ahuatzi lets the others sleep and takes it upon himself to keep the wagon going, despite the fact that he too didn't have a chance to properly rest in the past night. He even says the words that fit this trope to Marty, pointing that he needs rest but also that the party needs to run. Thankfully, his strength and conditioning is enough to make the trope work for the best.

Heartwarming Moments - Ahuatzi helping Hob keep his cool. Then, Hope, Ino and even Dufresne getting a pillow made for them so they could sleep more comfortably. Finally, Elly - who weaved the pillows - sleeping soundly by Hope's side. Extra points as this time she didn't get any nightmares. Averted in Marty's case, though.

"Marty just splays out on the other side of the Wagon without anything to comfort him."

- ...Well, not everything is an oof. At least he gets to be badass later.

In the Hood /Black Cloak - The 7 members of the T-Cult that attack the party are seen wearing robes and hoods before they reveal their faces for the confrontation.

Flight - This is how the Rogue Spirits followed the party this time around. Sort of funny though, since WoG says they were doing the usual pose even while flying.

Stern Chase - The cultists fought this time around were likely just the start of what else may be coming the party's way after the Jill situation. Naturally on the run, the group outright avoids stopping at the closest city for the timebeing, labeling it too risky. They are found out and have to engage in battle, nonetheless.

Chase Fight - Suggested in meta but ultimately subverted. Players consider to keep the wagon going and leaving the pursuers in the dust but the idea is soon discarded - given that they would probably counter, find a way to catch up, keep giving chase or blast the wagon from afar if left alone.

Wake-Up Fighting - Not quite immediately and not played for laughs, but the sleeping party members have to wake-up and get into a fight for their lives as soon as they are up.

Instant Waking Skills - While he doesn't wake up on his own, Ino displays some of these by launching himself out of the wagon at any moment and join the fray once he's woken up.

Not a morning person - Downplayed trope, but still there for Hope. Contrary to Ino, she spends the first moments after being woken up getting out of a natural state of, well, being in a daze. She still gets ready for battle nicely, when needed.

"Hope had been sorta dazed this whole time, like her mind was taken somewhere else. When she saw the cult members were back, though, her eyes widened and she quickly prepared her revolver."

- Things might turn ugly...

Just following orders - Double subverted. The party initially believes that these particular spirits are after them solely on orders from Jill. When Marty questions how long they've been following the party, one of the enemies first says she wasn't the one who (strictly speaking) commanded them to face the group. Then, says they were to give Marty a message at her behest anyways, before leaving them free to "go hunting".

Fisticuff-Provoking Comment - "Courtesy" of Jill, and delivered to Marty through one of her servants.

"Did your m--- p-- of a father ever tell you why she left?

Marty just looks at him."

- "Never needed it." - He draws his gun, aiming dead ahead for Tony.

Attack Reflector - The combined might of the Seven Spirits pulls one of these against Marty.

"He draws his gun, aiming dead ahead for Tony. As the bullet fires, charged with extra power to pierce through their guard... It simply stops mid air, with all 7 of them putting their Mana to revert it. "We're here because we're united. You should remember that when you get up." Suddenly, at blinding speed, the bullet flies right back, blowing through Marty's chest and kicking up dust as it roars across the desert."

- ..."Oof" to a not so good start.

Blood from the mouth - Marty suffers from this as a result of falling victim to said mirror move.

Good thing you can heal - As ether-scarred, the party also has this ... But this time around, it applied way more to the Rogue Spirits. They in particular got pretty much destroyed during the initial phase of the fight, but used their powers to regenerate nonetheless right as the real fight/second phase ensued. As long as their souls are in one piece, they can keep it going.

Cycle of Revenge - One of the spirits wanted revenge against Magnum for contributing to the death of his brother, while Magnum in turn desired revenge for said spirits contributing to the death of her best friend Scarlet. There are some instances of the fight around this theme, and how much party members are aware of it (or even care/have any problem with it, regardless of being aware) is another matter entirely...

Awesomeness by Analysis - Elly's modus operandi consists of using her intelligence to analyze the present situation and try to devise plans and courses of action accordingly. This extends to her fighting as well and is the main element in her method of doing battle: Finding flaws and weaknesses to be exploited. Ironically, this last bit sort of adds one more similarity to the "Not so different" counter between her and Jill...

Divide and Conquer - The heroic variant of the trope is employed by the party to fight the opposing Rogue Spirits. Not quite by making them fight each other as much as it's breaking their formation, getting rid of the group or individual enemiesl then focus firing on the remaining ones.

"- How poetic. - Elly finally spoke, as if she was still half-asleep until this point. - That you may also die all together... Divided and broken to pieces. Break their formation, everyone. Individually, they are nowhere near as powerful as they appear now."

- Though the heroic variant of the trope is at play, her speech is not quite on that mood.

Passive-Agressive Kombat - Zig-zagged. At the same time the party is trading physical blows with the Rouge Spirits, both sides are also seen throwing several words of disdain, open defiance, sarcasm and even volleying insults. Meta fully acknowledged it. Elly outright lampshaded the all-out Snark to Snark Combat that is happening. Becomes up to Eleven when a particularly effective "The Reason You Suck" speech happens towards Dufresne and breaks him enough to lead to an untimely end...

Volleying Insults - Played straight, but also for drama with Magnum and the Rogue Spirit that wanted revenge for their brother. As lack of luck would have it, Magnum had shot their brother amidst the party's escape from the cult last time. As a result, their soul was left wide open for David to finish them off.

""You..." Magnum glares with the hate of a dying star. "YOU LITTLE F!" She pulls out both of her guns.

"YOU LITTLE F, MAGNUM!""

- One of them snaps back.

Empty Eyes - Elly while in battle. Combined with a mix of Psychotic Smirk and Cheshire Cat Grin, at that. It's more on the smirk side of the spectrum, though: Elly's slightly smiling, showing no teeth and definitely more on the psycho way of acting, at this point.

Beware the Nice Ones - Magnum was introduced as one of the most easygoing party members at first, and she's still generally nice towards the party. But after Scarlet's death she has no sympathy whatsoever towards the enemies, and was at times showing a smile that was quite malicious, herself.

Multi-Directional Barrage - Elly's Meltdown Web serves this purpose.

Pre-Asskicking One-Liner - ...Oh, Magnum.

"I BRING DEATH TO YOU F***S!"

- And when she says Death, she's talking a massive unleashing of unadultered 8-A laser death at everyone's faces.

Kamehame Hadoken - Magnum's Burning Heart [Flaming Spark] plays the beam variation straight. She puts her hands together and fires a devastating blast of energy/magical power at the enemies. Given the events of this session, it's also has an habit of obliterating the immediate surrounding landscape. It was used to blast away the scattered T-Posers all at once.

Technicolor Fire - The aforementioned power is described as firing a large beam of multi-colored fire. It's also a shout-out/affectionate parody to Marisa Kirisame's signature spellcard, the Master Spark.

Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises - Ino's seemingly invoked reaction to the aforementioned laser of death.

Disintegrator Ray - Magnum's magic outright vaporizes things in its path. Most enemies are engulfed by it and the very dirt on the ground they stood on ends up obliterated as well.

Giving someone the pointer Finger - The one spirit who avoids Magnum's disintegrator Ray does this one before attempting his counter-attack. "Gotcha, Amigo."

Paper Cutting - Magnum gets one of these as a result of her dodging the spirit's counter-attack. By a hair's breadth, at that.

"He fires a return stroke of pressurized heat aimed at your head, which you move to the side as it rips a small scratch out."

- In meta, this translates to "He rolled a 17 for the attack vs Magnum's 18 for the dodging".

Anti-Air - Ino doesn't wait until the remaining enemy gets to the ground, and instead launches himself at him with his signature move to give a counter to his counter. It works.

"Ino propels himself right up to the guy who jumped over Magnum's lazer, ready to strike him. Ino nails the guy, smashing him into the ground hard enough to make a hole out of it."

- And so the fighting intensifies, with the Flying Takedown variant of a Meteor Move.

The Berserker/He who fights monsters  - Hob has become this throughout most of - if not the whole - battle, openly admitting that he needs to release his rage somewhere. Said somewhere being "all of Jill's followers". His fighting also turned much more brutal than it used to be at first, like against the Chungus. He outright states he is embracing this side to himself in order to "fight fire with fire".

Tempting Fate - A very funny meta example, in hindsight. Upon getting initially good rolls, Hob's player says SOLSTICE "is being merciful this time around". Later in the same session, Hob keeps being handed critical failures or getting struck by critical hits  from his opponent at the worst possible moments.

Cute and Psycho - Take one look at Elly in the session's intro and the first half of it, towards her travelling companions. Now take a look at her again, once the enemies show up. Yup, same person. Meta says a part of her did "die" alongside Scarlet back in the T-Junction city.

Psycho Electro - Guess which element said cute and psycho character happens to use? ...She's naturally going into the psycho variation of the trope while in combat, though definitely with shades of the sadism being there as well. To what extent depends on Elly's current position in battle...

Impaled with Extreme Prejudice - This is how Hob eliminates several of the Rogue Spirits at once by firmly stomping the ground and generating a crack that reveals various large and sharp, steel-colored spikes. The brutality of it when it tears apart the enemies is lampshaded by one of the targets later calling him Impaler.

Nausea Dissonance - Ino gets visibly disgusted at the aftermath of the aforementioned attack. Hob, Magnum and Elly don't seem to give a fork about it... The first seems satisfied with the results, the second is hating them enough to not care and the third is... Well. See the trope below.

Evil Feels Good/Blood Knight  - Elly is seen gleefully (or eerily) smiling as the Rouge Spirits are torn to shreds more and more throughout the fight. Regardless of words said, and how she eventually notices it enough to try and censor herself about the thought... She knows it all too well that she can't lie to herself. Justified trope, though. Elly is initially so down in this trope that she doesn't even pay any mind to one of the spirits saying she sounds just like Jill, and just keeps picturing in what ways they may die next in her mind.

The Dog bites Back - The Party bites Back. Mmm... Well... For the most part, but lets keep those instances for the yet to be added tropes, shall we?

I call it "Vera" - Hope has named her revolver "Soul", and calls it by said name before taking action in battle.

"“Let’s hope we don’t miss, Soul,”"

- ...she muttered as she spun her revolver around and pointed it at the man’s head before firing.

Mage Marksman - Hope, Marty and Magnum are this.

Improbable Aiming Skills - Hope's manipulation achieves this by allowing her to freely manipulate the trajectory of her bullets or make them go even faster than usual.

Light'em Up - Among other things, Hope has the ability to take existing light and focus it in condensed areas to blind an opponent.

Revolvers are Just better - Hope's "Soul".

Coup de Grâce - Zigzagged. First it's invoked (by pretty much every player present) in meta when it seems like there's only one wounded Rogue Spirit left in any condition to fight. Then, happens in-verse with Elly straight up telling Dufresne a cold '[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PreMortemOneLiner "Murder it. Wipe that stain off the face of the world." and Magnum's "You dun f--- up now."] 'Gets subverted by the spirits actually regenerating and starting a second phase for the fight. Then gets played straight at the end anyways, with the last survivor of the opposing group being finished off by Marty in a single shot (just as the party leaves the battlefield).

Making a Splash - Dufresne attacks with a powerful beam of pressurized water at some point. Some other party members like Billy and Elly also have techniques that manipulate it.

Grey and Gray Morality - Invoked by one of the spirits (their spokesperson), lampshading the ways the party destroyed them while laughing about it and calling the party members monsters as well. Answers from the party were quite varied. Going from: "You try to kill us, we kill you."by Magnum. Fully accepting the label in Hob's case. Calling them out on hypocrisy  for following the person who caused the situation (while also accusing the party who was, regardless, acting in self-defense/striking back), in Elly's case. Dufresne does not care as he's been called that before. Eventually, it's claimed that the morals they speak of sound simply empty given what they do and what they are. When the hypocritical statement is thrown back, Elly simply retorts that excuses should be dropped "if we are among monsters".

Shut Up, Hannibal - Sounding oddly poetic, the above discussion finally gets on its way to ending with a shared "Shut Up" as the final answer given by Marty. Not long before, Elly herself had said "Shut up, corpses." marking this as the first time in the entire story that they actually agreed on something.

Bottomless Magazines - Averted for Marty. He is seen properly reloading his gun whenever necessary.

Dash Attack/Foe-Tossing Charge  - The Rogue Spirits do this as they rush forth against the party for the fight's 2nd phase, dividing the party as well - with one on one matches happening all at once.

"They rush forth at you. One tackles Ahuatzi, slugging him several yards away. One of them takes on each of you, one for one."

- And so the "last dance" begins.

Teeth-Clenched Teamwork - Though the party has its many differences and particular viewpoints both in and (perhaps especially) out of battle, they still make an effort to work together whenever the situation calls for it. Well, for the most part I suppose...

Irony - After frequently throwing fire magic at the Rouge Spirits, Magnum gets counter-attacked by being bathed in flames, herself. Even gets lampshaded by her player in meta.

Affably Evil - Some of the Rouge Spirits fought this time around display characteristics of this trope. Some of them are seemingly trying to even give party members some epiphany therapy (like Hob's or Duf's opponent, albeit the latter ends up having to apply something akin to a mercy kill instead). Others still get to the point of openly accepting their deaths, commending the party or willingly allowing their souls to disappear as they dissolve to the abyss.

Misery Builds Character - Played straight by some characters as they get better with time, zigzagged by others as it makes them better people in some fronts while also worse in others - that is human, after all. Ultimately evoked by Rick while he deconstructs Dufresne's character in relation to this (or rather, an inherent inability to cope with this trope, which became simply self-destructing to the point where it led to his death). Rick himself evokes and explains that he had gone through much of this.

Heroic Second Wind - Marty embodied the trope this time around, no questions asked. After being seemingly taken out by his own reflected shot, he regenerates enough to rejoin the battle and proceeds to defeat his own opponent almost immediately. Right after that, he figures out and reveals to the party the secret to the immortality of their enemies. If that wasn't enough, he is also the one to finish off both Hob's troublesome opponent and Rick - finally putting an end to the battle.

Bullet Catch - Marty's personal answer (with a level in badass taken), when his designated opponent tries to pull one last counter-attack against him.

""He said that Magnum shot his brother, then David finished it off, right?" "Go to hell!" She hastily grabs her gun, then fires at Marty's chest. Fully expecting it, he grabs the round mid air, right as it goes into his reach."

- Shortly followed by said opponent getting blasted away from both this world and the next.

Oh Crap - The Rogue's spirit initial reaction to the above situation.

"Facing the Bullets" One-Liner - A very literal case of this for Marty's opponent, moments away from him emerging victorious from their fight. You wouldn't shoot me almost gets evoked in this situation too, but gets subverted V E R Y hard as Marty stops for a few moments... Only to end up shooting anyways.

"".... Go ahead, snake oiler. Fitting that you'd send a woman to her grave while you're just trying to be your old man.""

- And so it comes to an end.

"The Reason you Suck" Speech - Way too many of these happened from one side to another for me to mention any in particular. ...However, I will immediately go back in that and mention that the one Dufresne got from Rick had the most repercussion - being ultimately compared to "an emotional crit" on the character.

No Range Like Point-Blank Range - How Hob's opponent finally meets her end at Marty's hands.

Wangst - Part of Rick's aforementioned speech accuses Dufresne of this. Given how the in-verse discussion develops, it actually becomes justified for the trope to have been invoked...

Mercy Kill - Dufresne's death borders on this for... Complicated reasons for the character that are best not spoken of nor exemplified/described. Definitely leaving it at that.

Title Drop - At the very end of the session.

".... A robot.... That's something Jill has been after. I dunno what she's on about, but she always talks about something made by a crazy old man like me... Something called... "The Big Iron""

- *cue the "To Be continued" Song.