Unfamiliar: Difference between revisions

{{quote| ''"I've been called a killer, a terrorist, a monster. I am all these things."''}}

Yes, seriously.

----

=== This fanfic contains the following tropes: ===

* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]: Louise wanted a powerful familiar. {{spoiler|What she got was a walking supervirus}}. Oh yeah.

{{quote| Hadn't she begged for exactly what she got? Some powerful monster to be her familiar? Clearly God had a perverse sense of irony.}}

* [[Berserk Button]]: Okay, Alex, as in canon, has more of a Berserk ''Switchboard'', but of importance to the story is his insistence that you never treat people like things. You can insult them, hate them, kill them, whatever, but you acknowledge them as ''people who can think'', just like you, not tools to be used or toys to be played with or animals to be caged, even if they're peasants and you're a noble. It doesn't just apply to him, either, though he reacts violently to Mott calling him Louise's "pet".

** He also ''really'' hates Blackwatch. {{spoiler|His joy at finding the armory full of modern weapons is sullied when he realizes it's a Blackwatch armory.}}

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Both Alex and Louise show the traits.

* [[Dead Fic]]: While there have been hints to the contrary, the last story update was July 2011.

* [[Dirty Old Man]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Old Osmond knows he is]], though in his own words:

{{quote| '''Osmond''': What you failed to realize is that I'm an intelligent, wise, and experienced dirty old man who can tell when a woman is trying to exploit him for her own ends. }}

* [[Humans Through Alien Eyes]]: {{spoiler|Alex is a sapient virus, after all. He knows the rationale and underlying science of stuff, but still doesn't actually understand why people think and act the way they do, lacking proper human intuition. He knows when Louise is upset, but has no idea what to do about it or what to say to make her feel better.}}

* [[I Am a Monster]]: {{spoiler|Louise's}} opinion of herself after the killing of Mott.

** Then {{spoiler|Henrietta}} says it of Louise to her [[Mama Bear|mother]].

** Foquet says the same {{spoiler|about Wales}}, not to the man directly though.

* [[It Gets Easier]]: Louise's desensitisation to violence.

* "[[Just Following Orders]] doesn't cut it." Admitted by the guy who did the following, no less.

* [[Knight Templar Big Brother]]: In a spiritual sense, Alex. {{spoiler|Justified considering what happened to Dana.}}

* [[Lack of Empathy]]: Probably the strongest thematic in the story. Just like in the original work, the Lack of Empathy is what can and did create some of the greatest brutalities in the world. And this goes not only for obvious monsters like Mott and the King of Albion, it goes for even the main and secondary characters: Louise and Karin's view of commoners, Siesta's view of nobles, and Mercer's view on humans in general. As stated by Mercer;

** Brutally mocked by {{spoiler|Henrietta}} to Karin, stating simply that there is no excuse for ''knowing'' what Lord Mott did and still protect him to advance [[For Great Justice|her schedule]].

{{quote| ''[["The Reason You Suck" Speech|Your daughter seems to have the compassion for my people that you yourself lack. She, at least, had the proper horrified reaction to meeting a man like Mott, as opposed to accepting him as a... What did you call it, a “necessary evil?“]]'' }}

{{quote| The words "kill them" were on the tip of his tongue. But Cattleya's words about how Louise felt responsible for his actions bubbled up from the back of his mind. "-Knock them out so we can interrogate them."}}

* [[No Social Skills]]: Alex hasn't improved in this regard since the game. He does not, for instance, see any problem with walking up to a pair of arguing sisters, lifting one off the ground, and threatening her with death unless she makes nice with his mage. It says something that this is actually a step ''up'' from where he started.

* [[Oblivious Guilt Slinging]]: Louise to Henrietta.

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: {{spoiler|Headmaster Osmond}}.

* [[Out of the Inferno]]: Who else?

* [[Patchwork Fic]]: [[Word of God|Cpl_Facehugger has stated that he is largely writing this based on the light novels]], but Mott was an anime-exclusive.

** {{spoiler|Henrietta}} and Karin's conversation in chapter 9 reminds some people of Wrex and Uvenk's talk in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]''. Most especially ''"I'll drag Tristain into the future whether you like it or not."''

*** Later, Agnes reveals that the reason she survived the Flame Snake's attack was because "Hate is a hell of an anesthetic," taken nearly word-for-word from DLC character Zaeed's description of how he got shot in the head. Interestingly, they both have heavy facial scarring, both seek out a man they're trying to kill (Flame Snake for Agnes, Vido for Zaeed,) and both are... rather good at killing people.

** Another for [[Complete Monster|Mott]]: {{spoiler|[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|Using rats to torture people? Where have we seen that before]]?}}

* [[Slasher Smile]]:

{{quote| {{spoiler|The Princess'}} smile was too predatory to be anything else, and her eyes said she'd not been bluffing.}}

What her handmaiden didn't say was more informative than what she did. Mott clearly wasn't a good ruler. }}

** Inverted later when Kirche notes a suspicious ''lack'' of denial {{spoiler|by Alex about being the plague-spreader}}.

* [[Training From Hell]]: Alluded to.

{{quote| '''Cattleya''': Almost too easy. Except for the dying. That sounds more like Mother's training regimen than any teacher I've had.}}

She almost expected some hideous and reptilian voice to call out "I am," but that only happened in clichéd stories. }}

* [[This Is Unforgivable!]]: Alex and Louise both say this nearly verbatim when they see what Mott's been up to.

* [[Timey-Wimey Ball]]: Used to explain how {{spoiler|Blackwatch}} was summoned by the Founder six thousand years before Alex was.

* [[2-D Space]]:

{{quote| "One thing to keep in mind," Mother said, even as she dodged once more. "Is that mage battles take place in three dimensions."}}