Speak Ill of the Dead/Playing With

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Basic Trope: Insulting the deceased.

  • Straight: Rob has died. This doesn't stop Heather from saying nasty things about him.
  • Exaggerated: After Rob's death, Heather shows up at his funeral specifically to taunt and torment his friends and family with slanderous lies and uncomfortable truths. Heather takes particular delight in making his little sister Becky absolutely miserable, claiming that it was all Becky's fault her big brother died.
  • Justified: Heather is a Jerkass.
    • Rob actually did seriously wrong Heather in the past -- though the crime may only be one in Heather's eyes -- and she isn't willing to let it slide simply because he's no longer around to defend himself.
  • Inverted: Rob's ghost shows up to level accusations at Heather.
  • Subverted: Heather shows up at the funeral, setting those who know her on guard... but she's honestly there just to mourn his death.
  • Double Subverted: ...However, the suspicious reaction she receives goads her into starting to rant about how he wasn't "such a great guy" and listing his flaws.
  • Parodied: Heather goes up to Rob's coffin and rants at his corpse. His corpse, not having any of this, Hyperspace Mallets her.
  • Deconstructed: Heather has a complex emotional history with Rob, and with his death, feels as though it will never be resolved to her satisfaction. Due to this, she can't bring herself to stay silent and listen to everyone whitewash his flaws, and she lashes out with such venom that people are disgusted with her 'overreacting' and being needlessly dramatic to draw attention to herself.
  • Reconstructed: Rob had been a flawed (or outright terrible) person not just to Heather, but to everyone. By breaking the social code to draw attention to his flaws, Heather points out the Elephant in the Living Room and people realize she's right.
  • Zig Zagged: ???
  • Averted: Knowing that she would inevitably cause a scene, Heather doesn't attend Rob's funeral.
  • Enforced: The producers know someone needs to call out Rob for the problems he's caused in the past, but now that he's dead, only Heather is uncouth enough to do it.
  • Lampshaded: "What's he gonna do? He's dead, and good riddance."
  • Invoked: Heather's friend Meg brings up Rob's recent death and comments about how everyone's talking about what a great guy he was now, subtly goading her into reacting.
  • Exploited: Meg deliberately baits Heather into talking shit about Rob in order to turn others against her and make them see Heather as nothing more than a petty Jerkass.
  • Defied: ???
  • Discussed: Charlie and Eve notice Heather come in. "I bet she's going to go up and rant about him in front of everyone."
  • Conversed: ???
  • Played For Laughs: Heather shows up at the funeral to poke fun, but every time she opens her mouth, she receives an Offhand Backhand.
    • At Rob's request, Heather makes fun of him at his funeral in order to lighten the mood.
  • Played For Drama: Losing her beloved brother has pushed Becky to the brink of the Despair Event Horizon. As she struggles to wrap her mind around the fact he won't be there for her anymore, Heather shows up to rub salt into the wound.
    • Heather knows that Rob drove her family to bankruptcy with his business practices, but now that he's dead, everyone ignores her when she tries to talk about it.


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