Roommates (2007 webcomic): Difference between revisions

* [[Actor Allusion]]: Lots and lots. [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-24-Bloom-72785397 The reason] why Norrington can't stand Legolas and also why Erik gets [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Old-23013883 younger] and [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-209-Younger-268990761 younger]. The entire ''Copies miniarc''.

* [[Added Alliterative Appeal]]: [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-213-Sneeze-273593677 Sweet sustained sonatas]

* [[All Just a Dream]]: {{spoiler|''Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On'' but a dream shared by (at least) part of the cast and one with consequences.}}

* [[All Love Is Unrequited]] : Averted marvelously... most of the time. Most characters, due to being villains or side characters, don't get the girl in their own canon. In the comic they are either given girlfriends, oneshot dates, or a chance with the canon love interest. But there's liberal doses of "He just never got over her..." for at least Erik.

* [[Animesque]]

* [[Art Evolution]]: Compare [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=168#/dz0amg this] to [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=0#/d33fizf this] and then [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-Such-Stuff-as-Dreams-Are-Made-On-29-299943687 this].

* [[Art Shift]]: The more serious the mood the more realistic the art gets (but remains [[Animesque]]) just to become [[Super Deformed]] when something silly happens.

{{quote| '''Sarah''': [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-217-Sit-278492881 Right. Do you want to try explaining why they're all built like super-models, on top of being girls?...]}}

** Also James in his own right.

** Also, the imagery is invoked [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2vyojr here], though Crowley and Az are dealing with a flood of information rather than physical opponents.

** [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-196-Power-Play-265228145 Zombies!]

* [[Beach Episode]]: The last third of the ''First Vacation Arc''

* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: Almost all the arcs with definite endings. The only thing the cast tends to win is the right to continue their life as it is now (with all its happiness, sadness, weirdness and relative freedom) and even that comes with a price.

* [[Blood Magic]]: {{spoiler|The Erlkönig used his own blood to seal his son's magic.}}

* [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe]]: Probably not the characters but to quote:

{{quote| '''Mr. King''': [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-Such-Stuff-as-Dreams-Are-Made-On-18-295029792 Fight for the ending you want. Somewhere someone will feel the same and believe. Then even if you lose, even if you die... you will live.] {{spoiler|You will live on in dreams. ...}}}}

* [[Chekhov's Skill]]: The dramatic entrance techniques that James learned from Erik in [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-68-Rule-Number-1-105027947 Episode 68], posted in November 2008, show up again {{spoiler|allowing James to save Sarah in [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-176-Demands-250092245 Episode 176], posted in August 2011,}} over 32 months later

* [[Cold Iron]]: Referenced by Sarah as one of the reasons why she doesn't believe that they managed to seriously injure Jareth with a steel sword... it's not [[Iron]] and even less [[Cold Iron]]. Her other reason was basically [[Media Classifications]]: "[[Nobody Can Die]] in our movie."

* [[Deal With the Devil]]: Mr. King offers one to his son {{spoiler|Jareth}}, just to find that the kid [[Subverted Trope|isn't]] in the [[Beware the Silly Ones|mood for games]]. Also a bit of an inversion as he offered a [[Your Soul Is Mine|soul he already claimed]] for [[You Owe Me|favors]]. [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-Such-Stuff-as-Dreams-Are-Made-On-40-305264355 Here].

* [[Death By Origin Story]]: One of the two known ways to be [[Deader Than Dead]] in this world. As poor [[Zombieland (Film)|Tallahassee]] can attest. (See: the [[Roommates 2007 (Webcomic)/Tear Jerker|Tear Jerker]] page)

* [[Discriminate and Switch]]: After she and Sarah find [[Ho Yay|Valjean resting an unconscious Javert's head in his lap]], Norrington's mother comments that the two of them seemed "so... you know... the f-word..." She means "[[Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey|French]]," of course.

* [[Dream Within a Dream]]: {{spoiler|Mortal!}}Jareth's (mostly) [[Bad Dreams]] in ''Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On'' are all these.

* [[Gratuitous Foreign Language]]: [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-150-Story-199197924 This] has the local equivalent of ''Once upon a time...'' in several languages.

* [[Gratuitous French]]: Sometimes. Ashe tried to leave other languages alone several times, as to date (s)he failed every time.

* [[Halloween Cosplay]]: The other type of Halloween special around here. [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Halloween-07-Roommates-Special-68680429 2007] - Jareth&Erik as James&Javert. [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Halloween-2009-142032874 2009] - the main cast as classic monsters.

* [[Halloween Episode]]: Usually the highlight story arc of the year.

* [[If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her]]: Female-to-female example, delivered by [[Mama Bear|Mrs. Norrington]] to {{spoiler|Eponine}} [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-210-The-Candle-Talk-270223192 here.]

* [[Ignored Enemy]]: {{spoiler|"Odile" [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-Such-Stuff-as-Dreams-Are-Made-On-30-300502933 here] before James plays the [[Only Sane Man]].}}

* [[Impossible Hourglass Figure]]: Ashe's way to draw women tends to look like [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-141-Rome-191096289 this] a lot.

* [[I'm Standing Right Here]]: Well sitting, but you get the idea. [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-200-Participation-265540251 James here].

* [[In Which a Trope Is Described]]: Each page is given two different summaries in this format in the author's notes.

* [[Kudzu Plot]]: Happens sometimes. The most glaring were ''the Second Vacation Arc'' and the ''Erlkönig arc'' {{spoiler|both led to the ''Dark!Jareth arc'' that still left loose ends}}. Also the ''Zombie arc'', the invasion was stopped but nothing else was resolved.

{{quote| '''Jareth''': [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-139-Lethe-189459118 You would prefer to let him have nightmares and jump at shadows for the rest of his life?]}}

* [[Let Us Never Speak of This Again]]: [[Word of God|Word of Ashe]] that this is the karaoke night for the main cast and nobody brought it up yet (but Jareth was shown to have [[Embarrassing Old Photo|pictures]] of it). Also the Amalthea incident for Lír.

* [[Looming Silhouette of Rage]]: A textbook [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-50-Boundaries-91547204 example].

* [[Lotus Eater Machine]]: {{spoiler|The Erlkönig created a [[Dream Land]] like this for his son (and who knows who else, maybe the whole cast) in ''Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On''.}}

* [[Magical Land]]: The Underground, Oz, Narnia etc.. At the end of the ''Oz arc'' Jareth gives a bit of exposition about the rules of his magic effectively lampshading that [[Magical Land|Magical Lands]] are well... magic.

* [[Magic Mirror]]: Jareth [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-125-ForeSHADOW-177399111 had] [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-156-Breaking-204471943 one]. {{spoiler|The first is the end of the ''Second Vacation arc'', where he severely overexerted himself and his magic in a very [[Out of Character|OOC]] way. The second is the beginning of the ''Dark!Jareth arc'' where he [[Power At a Price|pays the price]].}}

** [[Blue With Shock]]: [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-110-Revealing-164577617 As close as we can get].

** [[Cat Smile]]: [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-204-Sonic-265918018 The Doctor]

** [[Giving Up the Ghost]]: [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-S4-Butcher-Job-153550324 Here goes James' self esteem].

** [[Harsh Word Impact]]: Not so harsh word impact. Even absolute trust and good faith can hit you [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-70-Moral-Compass-106344635 hard].

** [[Hidden Eyes]]: [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-149-Favor-198285146 Jareth here].

** [[Visible Sigh]]: [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-Such-Stuff-as-Dreams-Are-Made-On-3-288739055 Like this].

* [[Media Classifications]]: Made fun of [[Running Gag|a lot]]. Things like: Jareth (mostly) can't be harmed on screen and doesn't sustain injuries for long because of "PG" or any poor character's (but mostly Erik's) reaction to "R".

** {{spoiler|[[Creator Cameo]]}} - [[Ascended Fanon|Because the readers demanded it]] and with this the last bricks of the [[Fourth Wall]] are also [[No Fourth Wall|gone]]. [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-218-Self-Insert-279724525 Here].

** {{spoiler|[[Mistaken Identity]]}} - Not a direct result of all the magic running wild but {{spoiler|Sweeney mistakes female!Legolas for his daughter. [[Hilarity Ensues]].}}

* [[Pretty Boy]]: A VERY large portion of the cast, but not enough to qualify as a [[Cast Full of Pretty Boys]] mostly because there are enough strong women in the series who get ''panel time''.

* [[Reality Warping Is Not a Toy]]: A highly meta example. The cast members are fictional characters; their reality is their (canon and fanon) story. If writers, authors and other assorted storytellers mess with it, the result [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-128-Switch-Hit-180702569 won't be] [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-129-Mashup-181507675 pretty]. Poor Morgan.

* [[Rebus Bubble]]: 1+1 = ><> ; [[Orlando Bloom|Legolas]] = [[Orlando Bloom|Will Turner]] ([http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-24-Bloom-72785397 Here.])

* [[Road Movie]]: ''The First Vacation arc'' seems to be this [[Subverted Trope|initially]] {{spoiler|then after 3 pages the Tornado of fate hits and they are [[Off to See The Wizard]]}}. ''The Second Vacation arc'' plays this trope pretty straight it's a tubing trip down the river {{spoiler|[[Video Game Geography|that flows down at the edge of the map]]}}.

* [[Rooftop Confrontation]]: Planned by Dark!Jareth... it didn't go too well.

* [[Running Gag]]: [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-3-Neighbors-60371604 The] [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-4-Meetings-60853004 dreaded] [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-14-Celestial-66685128 fruit] [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-17-Hospital-68397225 basket]. [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-105-Congratulation-159654767 Jareth's] [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-116-Party-Hats-169674358 inability]<ref> This example also doubles as one of his [[Signature Move]] [[Instant Cosplay Surprise|Instant Cosplay Surprises]]</ref> [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-143-Neater-192922601 to do good]. [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-58-Blind-Date-Pt1-97279069 Jareth's] [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-88-Relativity-119779422 friends] and [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-128-Switch-Hit-180702569 family]. {{spoiler|[http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-63-Auditing-100518935 Eponine] [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-66-Unemployed-103742720 pouncing] [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-69-Attention-105670381 James]}}. The English-French hostility. Erik's aversion to glitter. etc. And then there is the [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-108-Cavalry-163020749 fainting] and [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-145-The-M-Word-194726509 carrying stuff] that Javert so [[Subverted Trope|doesn't want]] to [[Lampshade Hanging|turn into]] a running gag (which pops up [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-Such-Stuff-as-Dreams-Are-Made-On-12-292407851 again] [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-Such-Stuff-as-Dreams-Are-Made-On-13-292750951 later on]).

 

* [[Snicket Warning Label]]: The [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-206-Return-266360157 penultimate strip] of the ''Zombie Halloween arc'' notes that those who want it to have an unequivocally happy ending should "cue credits here." The [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-207-Immutable-266360821 ending] is a [[Mood Whiplash|rapid switch]] from humorous to [[Roommates 2007 (Webcomic)/Tear Jerker|heartbreaking]]. (Warning for [[Zombieland (Film)|Zombieland]] spoilers!)

* [[Speed Echoes]]: Legolas can climb trees [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-187-Reflexes-259633618 FAST]!

** Pika-la-Cynique's ''[[Girls Next Door (Webcomic)|Girls Next Door]]''. It started as just an alternate twist on events from the girls' point of view, but has since developed its own storyline and character development.

** Heroesdaughter's ''[[Down the Street (Webcomic)|Down the Street]]''. It focuses on a nearby building where Frankenstein and Dracula are sharing an apartment.

* [[Theory of Narrative Causality]]: Played with, discussed, lampshaded, etc. [[Cerebus Rollercoaster|for comedy and tragedy]]. {{spoiler|The other main power of the world.}}

* [[This Means War]]: Several times in a [[Downplayed Trope|not too serious manner]]: [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-8-100-Years-War-63348564 Jareth to Erik] and [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-81-Casus-Belli-114511326 Jareth to Misto]. And as a warning but perfectly straight: [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-Such-Stuff-as-Dreams-Are-Made-On-41-305658205 Jareth to his mother]. Yeah. Jareth seems to be fond of this trope.

* [[The Trickster]]: The resident one is Jareth but his [[Tangled Family Tree|whole]] [[The Fair Folk|family]] has shades of this.

* [[Tropaholics Anonymous]]: The "Killed for Canon" meeting.

* [[True Companions]]: Mr. King acknowledges that the main cast and Sarah are this for his son in ''Such Stuff''.

* [[Underestimating Badassery]]: Happens quite often ([[World of Badass]] masquerading as [[Slice of Life]] [[Fantastic Comedy]] and all) even if it rarely escalates into physical violence. Like to James in their movie night (See the ''[[Roommates 2007 (Webcomic)/Funny|Funny moments]]'' subpage), or to Jareth a lot of times (as he is also a well [[Hidden Badass]]), or to Legolas (so his performance in the ''Zombie arc'' was quite the shock for many).

* [[Unsound Effect]]: [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-58800328 Dropping!] Yeah. This is the very first page. It still happens.

* [[Vanity Is Feminine]]: Averted ''hard''. Jareth is the [[Agent Peacock|poster boy]] but all four main cast members are guilty.

* [[Villainous Fashion Sense]]: [[The Fair Folk]] take the cake but Erik and to a lesser extent, Javert, are also guilty of this... or let's be fair, it's harder to find someone who isn't!

* [[Villainous Rescue]]: Jareth tries {{spoiler|and [[Subverted Trope|fails]]}} this when {{spoiler|Toby runs into the Erlkonig. But he still leaves so maybe this is a [[Double Subversion]]}}.

* [[Wham Episode]]: The ''Dark!Jareth arc''. {{spoiler|It gave some pretty potent [[Paranoia Fuel]] and personal [[Drama]] to the until that point mostly harmless [[The Trickster|trickster]].}}

* [[Wingding Eyes]]: "Circles around pupils and nothing else" a lot. "Spirals" sometimes.

* [[A Wizard Did It]]: By the fans of this comic this is called ''[[The Fair Folk|A Fae]] [[The Trickster|Did It!]]''<ref>(because of the Magical [[Tangled Family Tree]] this actually includes the [[Witch Species]] so also wizards.)</ref>... they are right most of the time... {{spoiler|Even more so because magic seems to [[Theory of Narrative Causality|run on patterns, story and trope]] in the verse!}}

* [[World of Badass]]: Don't let the [[Slice of Life]] exterior fool you almost all characters are [[Badass]] in some way... for their misfortune this isn't the place to show it.

* [[Xanatos Speed Chess]]: {{spoiler|Jadis and the Erlkönig play a round over the head of their clueless son}} in ''Such Stuff as Dreams are Made On''. [[Surprise Checkmate|He won]]. [[Calling the Old Man Out|Sort of]].

* [[You Can't Fight Fate|You Can't Fight Your Story]]: Recurring theme of the darker stories for some years. {{spoiler|It reached its current peak in the ''Dark!Jareth arc''. Magic doesn't make it easier, if not outright runs on the character's story tropes.}}

{{quote| '''Javert''': {{spoiler|"Generous?! ''We are tragedies'', you ass! There is nothing generous in making us repeat the same mistakes that cost us everything the first time!"}}}}

* [[Your Soul Is Mine]]: Seems like Mr. King took {{spoiler|James'}} [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-Such-Stuff-as-Dreams-Are-Made-On-40-305264355 here] and put it into a [[Crystal Prison|crystal]] while his body is in coma or dying.