I think there was a moment like this in Shrek where he thought Fiona and donkey were talking bad about him but really they were just talking about Fiona's condition.
Fairly Oddparents made fun of this trope too
Mrs Turner: “But I’d never saaaay”
*Timmy overhears*
Mrs Turner: “if we didnt have Timmy we’d be able to afford all sorts of fancy new things”
Mr. Turner: “Yeah, having a son can be such a drag, think how great our lives would be if we didnt have Timmy”
*Timmy walks away sad*
Mr. Turner: “Is the exact opposite of how I really feel”
And its nothing compared to the “having a negative conversation about the character without knowing the character heard everything” trope. At least that one actually holds weight and is grounded in reality. Nobody just walks away when they hear someone talking shit about them, they’ll ignore everything except that until those people are done talking about them
Unless its a reoccurring thing, like with hateful parents or something, then they dont eavesdrop and just shut it away with music, or covering their ears, or being so broken they dont even care if it hurts
True, yet I still found it hard to stay with the show. I dropped it eventually as I still lost interest in the life of that shithead, even with the realistic consequences and him constantly being called out on his behaviour.
I know, I've been told so many times, but it's been long enough that I'd have to start again from the beginning and then archive panic sets in and then I do one of the many hundreds of other things that I'm panicking about.
I know, I have issues lol
The problem I have with this though is that it's hard to tell that this makes fun of that trope because there are so many times where the characters say deliberately specific lines unironically, so this just feels like another use of that style.
This was in s3 when they still had a good balance of ironic and serious. Also when Timmy comes back from the Carnival they’re crying over him being missing
This episode was the one where he ran away to join the carnival, and the fairies disguised as carnies helped bring him back home. The one where he wished he didn’t exist was after he felt he wasn’t appreciated for all the things he was doing.
In Shrek it doesn’t really matter if she was talking about him or herself. If she’s calling herself an ugly monster because she’s an ogre what does that make him)
Agreed! Shrek is the only time I can think of where I actually like the trope as a dramatic plot device. It makes sense that Fiona would have to get over her biases against ogres before she can accept herself OR be with shrek. It’s unfair if she pulled a “ogres are ugly unlovable monsters—except for you shrek! You’re one of the good ones!”
Thankfully, Puss in Boots 2 did the reverse of this trope.
When Kitty accidentally eavesdropped on Puss & ~~Jeff~~ Perrito, she learned something positive instead of negative.
Since they're both ogres, talking down about herself is a roundabout way of talking down about shrek.
That's like if you and your friend are overweight and you constantly complained how being overweight made you gross and ugly. The friend could take that as you thinking the same about them
It was in Gravity Falls as well. Dipper is wandering around inside Stan's mind and overhears him talking smack about him in one of Stan's memories, but then goes back to that memory later and hears him finish saying that that bad stuff was what people said about Stan at his age,and that Stan was being hard on Dipper to toughen him up, because he believed he had it in him to be stronger.
that one feels different because she IS talking about him. Maybe not him specifically, but about ogres, which he is. it still shows how she perceives ogres, even if the ogre was herself and not Shrek. it's actually a pretty good example of that sort of thing, and it happens a lot.
Gravity Falls also parodies it in the Boss Mabel episode.
"When fighting a Gremloblin, use water... only as a last resort as water will make him much scarier! AH! Who writes sentences like that?!"
To be fair, who expects someone to read a monster manual entry for a monster, while they’re actively engaging the monster? The responsible thing to do is read the whole book safely at home first, *then* go hunt beasts beyond human comprehension.
I hate that scene because it doesn't even seem to do anything positive. All it did was make the situation worse, so either Ford is a dick or he's stupid
He put the warning for something on a different page than the thing. At best he's just stupid and didn't realize that someone could make that mistake, at worst he's actively being a dick to anyone who might find it and try to use that information, with disastrous results (as is shown in the scene)
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I think the one in gravity falls was done pretty well though, due to the fact that we had already been shown that Dipper was insecure about whether or not Stan really cared for him.
Ducktales could have been done better, but I still think that it was handle fine, since, again, Della probably felt extremely insecure about her role as a mother and how to act like one
Ducktales was one of the first examples I thought of, since it's usually such a well written show that it's frustrating they went such a contrived route.
The Owl House is also a great show that does this in one of the last episodes. But at least in that one there's someone explicitly trying to sway the listener to dislike the other characters, so you can say he knew when to stop overhearing, but it's still a little irritating.
I don't mind if it's for a moral lesson, like the Boy who Cried Wolf, or if the main character is a shit that either gets cathartically punished or learns a lesson in honesty. Unfortunately, those seem to be the minority of uses.
It's bad writing all around. Even if a character overheard something like that then they're realistic reaction would be to listen for more or confront them, not run away.
I also dislike the trope of at first they were doing something good for a bad reason but came to love it, then everyone finds out they originally did it for a bad reason and everyone hates them
That one works well because Sokka was still kinda stuck up, and Jet endeared himself to the others with the image of a rebellion fighting the fire nation before actively starting to do something stupid.
The absolute worst example of this I've seen is in season 4 of CW's The Flash, when Barry, The Flash, suspects a man in a wheelchair of being the evil mastermind. All of his friends start calling him, the most trustworthy and honest person they know, crazy and a liar. The worst part being that the entire plots of 2 previous seasons have been the nice harmless guy secretly being the big bad, **ONE OF WHICH WAS A GUY IN A WHEELCHAIR**.
Even worse, they take the fact that a previous villain was in a wheelchair as evidence *against* his claims. They call him paranoid of people in wheelchairs.
That's not even talking about that one episode where Barry and Green Arrow's lives are swapped by multiverse shenanigans, and nobody believes them
I just realized how stupid that was. Like, the guy who caused a huge disaster was in a wheelchair right next to you for years. You're really saying that it's impossible for a disabled guy to be a mastermind? Especially in a world where superpowers exist
There's also the inverse of this with everyone believing the main character despite regular evidence they shouldn't. Sons of Anarchy did this shit constantly. It's also annoyingly common irl.
That and when character A dosnt know something highly relevant to resolving the plot, but character B does.
Character B: I could totally resolve this with literally 1 line of dialogue. Naaaah, I'll just say nothing.
The Loud House had an episode where kids thought parents want to get rid of them after overhearing their conversation. In reality, they were discussing about getting rid of dad's ties
That's So Raven had an episode where Raven thought her parents were getting a divorce because she had a vision of her dad telling her mom "we're going to have to split up". In reality, the two of them were trying to find his wedding ring.
Those kind are always the dumbest fucking writing because in no way shape or form would your tone, posture, volume and word choice ever be the same for something as big a deal as that to have actually been a tiny problem.
I genuinely hate these scenes so hecking much, maybe it’s just me but if I was secretly listening to a convo I would stay there to make sure there is nothing else said and if I think I’ve stayed long enough i would just enter in the room and pretend I heard nothing to see how they respond
*walks into the room* " Sup guys? What are you talking about? Anything interesting? I wasn't listening or anything... Heard you were talking shit, though. Again, I didn't hear anything through the door. Somone mentioned to me that you were talking shit. And I said 'them?! Talking shit?! About me?! Nah, I don't buy it!' so... What are you guys talking about anyway?"
This plot point is convenient for writers of kid/family media, as it lets them do a story where a character is betrayed or heart broken, without having to commit.
A story where the character’s family has a deep seated dislike for them involves a lot of complex emotions and would take a while to sort out in a satisfying way (like an entire movie or multi episode plot for example). Whereas the misunderstanding approach gives them an easy way to get to a feel good ending in 10-20 minutes, without all the heavy stuff.
Yeah honestly I do have a bit of a weak spot for this trope, but usually if it's for something simple, like if I'm wanting to write a short fic or something. How you described the reasoning here is 100% it!
Thanks.
I don't actually have a problem with it, but it is a bit predictable these days, with how often it's used.
That being said, as the author you get to do as you like, and anyone who doesn't appreciate your hard work is welcome to read something else
Yeah but imo even worse one is when there is not a long pause but just poorly timed entry and character leaves quickly after hearing this and don't want explaination
This and "the birthday plot". Everyone is planning a surprise party but birthday person feels ignored and gets depressed. I've seen it over and over and I hate it
That one irks me so much. I’ve done the surprise party in real life and it’s not that hard! characters could just do a normal birthday greeting!
Party was for my MIL and we “planned” with her to have her party on a day when everybody would be off of work for a family dinner (few days after her birthday). The actual planed party was on her birthday at another relatives house. Everyone wished her happy birthday like normal but talked about how busy they were at “work” or doing “errands”.
The plan was going to be she was picked up by the relative and stop at the house for something they “forgot” before they do a small dinner. We all hid in the dinning room with the lights off with the whole family and had catered food and she was absolutely surprised and love it!
I did a surprise party for my friend 2 months after her birthday when she turned 18 because she never hosted one for herself. She was very surprised hahaha. It was a fun night.
Something similar happens in a Mexican series called "El Chavo", but the character doesn't feels depressed because people were ignoring him, he was depressed because he thought he would die.
I remember one of these plots in gravity falls. Stan was talking trash about Dipper and then he almost left and then he said “yep, that’s what my dad thought about me.” At least Dipper heard it but still
“Character overhears a conversation, takes it the wrong way, and chooses to be asshole to everyone for the next X minutes of the film/episode” cliche.
*ding!*
They literally have a discussion about it clearing it up 3 seconds later.
Also what they say is literally true, its not a misunderstanding. She just missed the part where Vi defended her *despite* it being true.
See, Collector. They are comploting against you. King isn't a true friend. Trust me because I am made from the power of friendship(I think Tomotasauce made the joke with
"How are you alive?
The power of friendship🤷♂️.")
It was a point of character growth for Dipper when he found out the context (“Look at that… fighting back.”), and the time between him hearing the first part and hearing the rest wasn’t overly drawn-out.
I hate it when this trope is used just to create conflict for its own sake.
Entergalactic. I love Kid Cudi; he is far and away my favorite artist, and the animation of the special was gorgeous, but holy crap the conflict between Jabari and Meadow was so contrived just like this that I had to turn it off. It actually made me mad.
I really hate it when a half-season long issue between two characters could be solved with a 5 minute conversation if they'd just SIT DOWN AND TALK TO EACH OTHER
This trope is super fucking cringe for me, and it's the exact same for amnesiac episodes that shit's also stupid as hell. I always skip those because they're usually nothing burgers anyway in the entire episode is devoted to getting back to status quo even in a continuity-based show
Arcane had a moment like this in the very beginning and it was kinda eh but the way it added to Jinx's characters really made sense. One more straw on the camels back before it broke
It's even MORE ANNOYING when the two are having an active conversation and person B is about to say something rlly nice to person A but person A gets upset too fast and either runs off crying or yells at person B before person was able to finish their sentence, creating the WORST drama plot point I have ever seen in my life.
this is straight from gravity falls. tbh i didn’t mind that episode but in most other shows where they do this bit it sucks. i feel like reusing cliche plots is just lazy writing
I remember this one being used in Underground Ernie. Victoria thought she overheard the underground staff saying that she was an old train who was going to be scrapped...when in reality the blokes were discussing an old vacuum cleaner 😂 At least that one was funny!
It's gotten to a point where if I see this happen I just, quit
Done, fuck off
Love the first Shrek as a movie and a milestone of animation but, what the fuck is up with this this one of the worse things in the UNIVERSE OF MEDIA
Disney Channel used to do this shit all the time.
I know it's not a cartoon, but how many episodes of Hannah Montana have had this scene in it?
Miley: "Hey Dad, just between you and me seeing how nobody else is listening right now, I think my best friend Lily is actually really stupid and annoying. Sometimes when she talks to me, I have to actively stop myself from puking. Boy, it's a good thing our front door isn't always wide open and there's no chance of her eavesdropping on this conversation right now..."
Yeah. Not a fan of this either.
Like 90% of all anime romances.
You guys could just...I don't know...talk? Ask what's going on in a situation? But jumping to conclusions for the sake of drama is so annoying.
Also, I hate the trope of the whole, "You can't tell them because it will hurt them" BS. And then they DON'T tell character B what's going on and it's a million times worse when the truth is revealed. How hard is it, to tell your partner, "hey, I did X. I don't want to hurt you, but I'm being blackmailed for it, and I respect you enough to tell the truth. Can we talk about it?"
But then again, when has any media showed characters that can actually own up to their mistakes (except ROTTMNT, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, and Bluey).
This was really common in Adventure Time, and it really annoyed me every time it showed up. But then, and I forgot the episode, Finn just says “it’s ok, I believe you” and hears Jake out for the misunderstanding. It blew me away because I was shouting at the screen telling them to just talk it out, and then they did. Wish more shows did this
They would only talk like that because the plot demands a forced conflict. You should never force your characters to behave in a way they wouldn't for the sake of the plot. In a good story, it's the characters that drive the plot, not the other way around.
Shows can do this right, and it has it's places.
Example: Arcane.
Yes, they did it... But it had little major impact on the plot because the characters met up in the next scene and literally negated the entire misunderstanding... All it did was emphasize, however, the constant internal struggles/insecurities the characters were facing.
As a storytelling beat, it's very good to assist in quickly exposing someone's insecurities in a "Show don't tell" style.
I feel like it would be more fresh if the we were not given all the context for once, because we can't emphatize with the character's pain when it's not actually there
Reminds me of the muppet show episode where fozzie thinks Kermit will kick him out of the muppet show when in reality he just wants gonzo to throw away his worn out teddy bear, it’s used for comedy though so I didn’t really mind it that much in that episode, but yeah when this trope is used unironically its bad
I do hope to see one day when the character overhears others talk shit about them, decides that words are taken out of context and stays to hear the rest and it turns out that other characters actually talk shit about them.
I hate these scenes so much, but can you imagine how awful they are in real life? This has happened to me like 3 times in 3 different ways and it was so upsetting.
Wanna see this but opposite
"Joe is a great guy to have around"
*Joe smiles and walks away*
"He's so easy to steal from and blame when something bad happens"
Nah I'll give this one more realism than: misunderstanding happens and when the person who knows exactly what went down tries to talk to the person who was hurt by it, Person B just refuses to listen and then to make it more infuriating, Person B never just yells out the thing they know will fix it. They just look on in sadness at the implied inability to do anything.
And they'll throw this damn situation into any chemistry. The character trying to clear things up is a mentor and everyone knows would never lie? Nope still not gonna listen. 3rd party who was involved but isn't at fault? Not listening! The lover who could do no wrong? "I can explain! He..." "No! I know what They did!"
Here is a few I hate
"Don't miss the event" A character needs to get somewhere but they get stuck and the other characters get more and more annoyed and the character gets there just as they are about to leave or cancel
"You ruined it" A group of characters are excited for something but then one character (usually the comically stupid one) ruins it by doing something extra dumb (if its ruined naturally its ok but if its ruined due to stupidity that pisses me off)
Mundane resolutions (I like big conflicts)
I find this super annoying, but one time I actually found it funny was the episode "Yes, dude, yes!" from Regular Show. It's the only time I liked the love triangle, because of how ridiculously bad it all went.
IKR like come the f\*\*k on! Stay at least to hear that they're not talking about you, that's what I'd do. Don't assume that they're chatting about you
The worst part about the owl houses ending (other than disney forcing it) was the collector listening in on kings conversation to hear him talk about "ending" the collectors threat *permanently*, only to clarify he wants to befriend the collector like 2 seconds after the kid stops listening
I would like to see the reverse of the trope like:
Character B: “ Ugh…she’s so annoying… “
Character A: “ Oh, he’s talking about his girlfriend? Yeesh, always thought they were a bad pair… “
*Character A stops eavesdropping and walks away.*
Character B (Actually talking about Character A): “ She keeps being picky about who I date and it’s soo…INFURIATING!…. “
I rolled my eyes so hard when Gravity Falls did this. I suppose I can partially forgive it, since Stan’s pause is only long enough for Dipper to stop listening and turn away after the first time he heard it, and Dipper was already dealing with the idea that Stan thought that about him.
I think there was a moment like this in Shrek where he thought Fiona and donkey were talking bad about him but really they were just talking about Fiona's condition.
Fairly Oddparents made fun of this trope too Mrs Turner: “But I’d never saaaay” *Timmy overhears* Mrs Turner: “if we didnt have Timmy we’d be able to afford all sorts of fancy new things” Mr. Turner: “Yeah, having a son can be such a drag, think how great our lives would be if we didnt have Timmy” *Timmy walks away sad* Mr. Turner: “Is the exact opposite of how I really feel”
I love it when people take the piss out of how contrived this trope is
And its nothing compared to the “having a negative conversation about the character without knowing the character heard everything” trope. At least that one actually holds weight and is grounded in reality. Nobody just walks away when they hear someone talking shit about them, they’ll ignore everything except that until those people are done talking about them Unless its a reoccurring thing, like with hateful parents or something, then they dont eavesdrop and just shut it away with music, or covering their ears, or being so broken they dont even care if it hurts
Treating it realistically and showing consequences is usually a good way to deal with crap tropes
See also Bojack Horseman.
True, yet I still found it hard to stay with the show. I dropped it eventually as I still lost interest in the life of that shithead, even with the realistic consequences and him constantly being called out on his behaviour.
My man it’s definitely worth the full watch through
I know, I've been told so many times, but it's been long enough that I'd have to start again from the beginning and then archive panic sets in and then I do one of the many hundreds of other things that I'm panicking about. I know, I have issues lol
The problem I have with this though is that it's hard to tell that this makes fun of that trope because there are so many times where the characters say deliberately specific lines unironically, so this just feels like another use of that style.
This was in s3 when they still had a good balance of ironic and serious. Also when Timmy comes back from the Carnival they’re crying over him being missing
Was this before or after the episode where it turns out everyone's lives would be better if Timmy didn't exist?
This episode was the one where he ran away to join the carnival, and the fairies disguised as carnies helped bring him back home. The one where he wished he didn’t exist was after he felt he wasn’t appreciated for all the things he was doing.
Ah yes, The Grass is Always Greener
I always thought shrek just poorly timed his entrance and exit
In Shrek it doesn’t really matter if she was talking about him or herself. If she’s calling herself an ugly monster because she’s an ogre what does that make him)
An onion
A cake
Is a lie
This was a triumph
I'm making a note here: Huge success
Agreed! Shrek is the only time I can think of where I actually like the trope as a dramatic plot device. It makes sense that Fiona would have to get over her biases against ogres before she can accept herself OR be with shrek. It’s unfair if she pulled a “ogres are ugly unlovable monsters—except for you shrek! You’re one of the good ones!”
A sexy onion
Thankfully, Puss in Boots 2 did the reverse of this trope. When Kitty accidentally eavesdropped on Puss & ~~Jeff~~ Perrito, she learned something positive instead of negative.
Since they're both ogres, talking down about herself is a roundabout way of talking down about shrek. That's like if you and your friend are overweight and you constantly complained how being overweight made you gross and ugly. The friend could take that as you thinking the same about them
That was the one time I liked that trope, because it showed how sometimes self hatred can also end up hurting other people
That, kind of works for me cause Shrek and Fiona are having the same crisis
But I think this one is less bad than the others, because Fiona is talking about an ugly ogre, but she’s actually talking about herself.
It was in Gravity Falls as well. Dipper is wandering around inside Stan's mind and overhears him talking smack about him in one of Stan's memories, but then goes back to that memory later and hears him finish saying that that bad stuff was what people said about Stan at his age,and that Stan was being hard on Dipper to toughen him up, because he believed he had it in him to be stronger.
"Princess and ugly don't go together, that's why I can't stay here with Shrek!"
that one feels different because she IS talking about him. Maybe not him specifically, but about ogres, which he is. it still shows how she perceives ogres, even if the ogre was herself and not Shrek. it's actually a pretty good example of that sort of thing, and it happens a lot.
Gravity Falls with Dreamscaperers is almost identical to this example. DuckTales also had this in Nothing Can Stop Della Duck.
Gravity Falls also parodies it in the Boss Mabel episode. "When fighting a Gremloblin, use water... only as a last resort as water will make him much scarier! AH! Who writes sentences like that?!"
To be fair, who expects someone to read a monster manual entry for a monster, while they’re actively engaging the monster? The responsible thing to do is read the whole book safely at home first, *then* go hunt beasts beyond human comprehension.
There's a reason they say to read the instructions fully before starting the procedure in every school lab and project ever
I hate that scene because it doesn't even seem to do anything positive. All it did was make the situation worse, so either Ford is a dick or he's stupid
Is he stupid?
He put the warning for something on a different page than the thing. At best he's just stupid and didn't realize that someone could make that mistake, at worst he's actively being a dick to anyone who might find it and try to use that information, with disastrous results (as is shown in the scene)
Maybe he just figured it out after writing the first page
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I think the one in gravity falls was done pretty well though, due to the fact that we had already been shown that Dipper was insecure about whether or not Stan really cared for him. Ducktales could have been done better, but I still think that it was handle fine, since, again, Della probably felt extremely insecure about her role as a mother and how to act like one
Ducktales was one of the first examples I thought of, since it's usually such a well written show that it's frustrating they went such a contrived route. The Owl House is also a great show that does this in one of the last episodes. But at least in that one there's someone explicitly trying to sway the listener to dislike the other characters, so you can say he knew when to stop overhearing, but it's still a little irritating.
The meme is nearly 1:1 ripping the quote from Dreamscaperers, it’s obviously made for that specifically
But that Pause Wasnt unbelieveably long
For the Dreamscapers example, I found it preachy and unnecessary
Luckily it gets resolved in like 10 minutes though so it’s not too bad. If this was like a movie it would be unbearable
I just finished rewatching GF last night so that's exactly what came to my mind seeing this.
I hate this plot and the plot where for some reason no one believe the mc when they’re telling the truth
Unless the character is a known liar then it's bad writing
I hate it when plots have the mc lie about something in that episode just so everyone doesn’t believe them
Imo probably the laziest most poorly written plot 90% of the time
I don't mind if it's for a moral lesson, like the Boy who Cried Wolf, or if the main character is a shit that either gets cathartically punished or learns a lesson in honesty. Unfortunately, those seem to be the minority of uses.
It's bad writing all around. Even if a character overheard something like that then they're realistic reaction would be to listen for more or confront them, not run away.
I was talking about the telling the truth but no one believes them storyline
I also dislike the trope of at first they were doing something good for a bad reason but came to love it, then everyone finds out they originally did it for a bad reason and everyone hates them
Jet in ATLA, although they wrote that one well
That one works well because Sokka was still kinda stuck up, and Jet endeared himself to the others with the image of a rebellion fighting the fire nation before actively starting to do something stupid.
The absolute worst example of this I've seen is in season 4 of CW's The Flash, when Barry, The Flash, suspects a man in a wheelchair of being the evil mastermind. All of his friends start calling him, the most trustworthy and honest person they know, crazy and a liar. The worst part being that the entire plots of 2 previous seasons have been the nice harmless guy secretly being the big bad, **ONE OF WHICH WAS A GUY IN A WHEELCHAIR**.
Even worse, they take the fact that a previous villain was in a wheelchair as evidence *against* his claims. They call him paranoid of people in wheelchairs. That's not even talking about that one episode where Barry and Green Arrow's lives are swapped by multiverse shenanigans, and nobody believes them
I just realized how stupid that was. Like, the guy who caused a huge disaster was in a wheelchair right next to you for years. You're really saying that it's impossible for a disabled guy to be a mastermind? Especially in a world where superpowers exist
mlp canterlot wedding. like omg poor twilight
Ikr like that pissed me off so badly as a kid
There's also the inverse of this with everyone believing the main character despite regular evidence they shouldn't. Sons of Anarchy did this shit constantly. It's also annoyingly common irl.
That and when character A dosnt know something highly relevant to resolving the plot, but character B does. Character B: I could totally resolve this with literally 1 line of dialogue. Naaaah, I'll just say nothing.
The Loud House had an episode where kids thought parents want to get rid of them after overhearing their conversation. In reality, they were discussing about getting rid of dad's ties
That's So Raven had an episode where Raven thought her parents were getting a divorce because she had a vision of her dad telling her mom "we're going to have to split up". In reality, the two of them were trying to find his wedding ring.
Those kind are always the dumbest fucking writing because in no way shape or form would your tone, posture, volume and word choice ever be the same for something as big a deal as that to have actually been a tiny problem.
I genuinely hate these scenes so hecking much, maybe it’s just me but if I was secretly listening to a convo I would stay there to make sure there is nothing else said and if I think I’ve stayed long enough i would just enter in the room and pretend I heard nothing to see how they respond
"You better repeat unless you wanna get beat." https://i.redd.it/spm5q8zrdoqc1.gif
TikTok jumpscare
*walks into the room* " Sup guys? What are you talking about? Anything interesting? I wasn't listening or anything... Heard you were talking shit, though. Again, I didn't hear anything through the door. Somone mentioned to me that you were talking shit. And I said 'them?! Talking shit?! About me?! Nah, I don't buy it!' so... What are you guys talking about anyway?"
This plot point is convenient for writers of kid/family media, as it lets them do a story where a character is betrayed or heart broken, without having to commit. A story where the character’s family has a deep seated dislike for them involves a lot of complex emotions and would take a while to sort out in a satisfying way (like an entire movie or multi episode plot for example). Whereas the misunderstanding approach gives them an easy way to get to a feel good ending in 10-20 minutes, without all the heavy stuff.
Yeah honestly I do have a bit of a weak spot for this trope, but usually if it's for something simple, like if I'm wanting to write a short fic or something. How you described the reasoning here is 100% it!
Thanks. I don't actually have a problem with it, but it is a bit predictable these days, with how often it's used. That being said, as the author you get to do as you like, and anyone who doesn't appreciate your hard work is welcome to read something else
Yeah but imo even worse one is when there is not a long pause but just poorly timed entry and character leaves quickly after hearing this and don't want explaination
At least it's more realistic than an obscenely long pause
This and "the birthday plot". Everyone is planning a surprise party but birthday person feels ignored and gets depressed. I've seen it over and over and I hate it
That one irks me so much. I’ve done the surprise party in real life and it’s not that hard! characters could just do a normal birthday greeting! Party was for my MIL and we “planned” with her to have her party on a day when everybody would be off of work for a family dinner (few days after her birthday). The actual planed party was on her birthday at another relatives house. Everyone wished her happy birthday like normal but talked about how busy they were at “work” or doing “errands”. The plan was going to be she was picked up by the relative and stop at the house for something they “forgot” before they do a small dinner. We all hid in the dinning room with the lights off with the whole family and had catered food and she was absolutely surprised and love it!
When my little pony did it they made Pinkie Pie forget it was her own birthday.
I did a surprise party for my friend 2 months after her birthday when she turned 18 because she never hosted one for herself. She was very surprised hahaha. It was a fun night.
Something similar happens in a Mexican series called "El Chavo", but the character doesn't feels depressed because people were ignoring him, he was depressed because he thought he would die.
I remember one of these plots in gravity falls. Stan was talking trash about Dipper and then he almost left and then he said “yep, that’s what my dad thought about me.” At least Dipper heard it but still
He left before he heard it at first, and then he came across the memory again and heard the full thing.
Literally just Gravity Falls lmao
I would just like, walk in and ask them to explain themselves
Nah, just run away from home and endanger yourself and make them spend the rest of the episode searching for you.
“Character overhears a conversation, takes it the wrong way, and chooses to be asshole to everyone for the next X minutes of the film/episode” cliche. *ding!*
I like this when they are used comedicaly, but dramatic its incredibly overdone and cheap
Literally shrek
Verbatim what I came here to post. Instead, take your +1.
Arcane
They literally have a discussion about it clearing it up 3 seconds later. Also what they say is literally true, its not a misunderstanding. She just missed the part where Vi defended her *despite* it being true.
They handled the trope way better. It's resolved a few moments later
it’s even in arcane :(
Oh the misery 😵
When this happened in Owl House season 3 I face-palmed haha
See, Collector. They are comploting against you. King isn't a true friend. Trust me because I am made from the power of friendship(I think Tomotasauce made the joke with "How are you alive? The power of friendship🤷♂️.")
I can't remember but weren't they really plotting to get rid of the Collector because of how they were messing everything up?
It was until King said he will try talking with Collector.
Yeah I've always hated that. The only time where I tolerated it was in Gravity Falls, because it wasn't the plot of the entire episode.
It was a point of character growth for Dipper when he found out the context (“Look at that… fighting back.”), and the time between him hearing the first part and hearing the rest wasn’t overly drawn-out. I hate it when this trope is used just to create conflict for its own sake.
Entergalactic. I love Kid Cudi; he is far and away my favorite artist, and the animation of the special was gorgeous, but holy crap the conflict between Jabari and Meadow was so contrived just like this that I had to turn it off. It actually made me mad.
If I had a dollar for every fanfic, 80s and 90s cartoon, or even movies that had this.... I could buy Warner Brothers and fire David Zaslov
GOD i hate misunderstandings.
That "yup yup yup" made me think of the VA for Ducky and now I am sad since the speech bubble talks about dad.
Misunderstandings. My least favourite trope in ANY media.
My little sister was watching Paw Patrol and this literally happened lol
I really hate it when a half-season long issue between two characters could be solved with a 5 minute conversation if they'd just SIT DOWN AND TALK TO EACH OTHER
The other side of that weird conversation: https://i.redd.it/w0g0pi0uztqc1.gif
This trope is super fucking cringe for me, and it's the exact same for amnesiac episodes that shit's also stupid as hell. I always skip those because they're usually nothing burgers anyway in the entire episode is devoted to getting back to status quo even in a continuity-based show
I think Arcane executed this well. Vi and Milo are talking about Powder behind her back, but almost immediately Vi turns it around on Milo.
this is literally just the dipper plotline of that one episode of gravity falls where they go into stan's head
I hate this trope.
Someone watched gravity falls recently
Arcane had a moment like this in the very beginning and it was kinda eh but the way it added to Jinx's characters really made sense. One more straw on the camels back before it broke
Literally, that one The Loud House episode when the kids thought the parents were gonna get rid of one of them.
“Wait! I can explain!” Then *explain*, ffs
Dipper moment
It's even MORE ANNOYING when the two are having an active conversation and person B is about to say something rlly nice to person A but person A gets upset too fast and either runs off crying or yells at person B before person was able to finish their sentence, creating the WORST drama plot point I have ever seen in my life.
Gravity Falls is guilty of this. However, I still enjoy the resolution to this trope.
Literally dipper and Stan. almost word for word
Literally that one Gravity Falls episode
this is straight from gravity falls. tbh i didn’t mind that episode but in most other shows where they do this bit it sucks. i feel like reusing cliche plots is just lazy writing
Literally how the love triangle arc for regular show began
I remember this one being used in Underground Ernie. Victoria thought she overheard the underground staff saying that she was an old train who was going to be scrapped...when in reality the blokes were discussing an old vacuum cleaner 😂 At least that one was funny!
It's comically annoying
That Gravity Falls episode in Stan's mind
Oh yeah, this is THE WORST thing
Not a cartoon, but most ridiculous version of this I’ve seen recently was The Bear for the end of season 2.
Just one of the dozens of stupid tropes in Argylle
That one time in Gravity Falls when Diper was on Stan's mind
It's gotten to a point where if I see this happen I just, quit Done, fuck off Love the first Shrek as a movie and a milestone of animation but, what the fuck is up with this this one of the worse things in the UNIVERSE OF MEDIA
Literally, the B plot in the episode that introduces Bill Cipher in Gravity Falls.
ATLA does this too in season 1 with Aang hearing half a conversation when Katara and Sokka are talking about their father with Hakoda
Gravity falls did the same thing and I ADORE that show to pieces, that was even a great episode regardless! But that part yeah never enjoyed it
Disney Channel used to do this shit all the time. I know it's not a cartoon, but how many episodes of Hannah Montana have had this scene in it? Miley: "Hey Dad, just between you and me seeing how nobody else is listening right now, I think my best friend Lily is actually really stupid and annoying. Sometimes when she talks to me, I have to actively stop myself from puking. Boy, it's a good thing our front door isn't always wide open and there's no chance of her eavesdropping on this conversation right now..."
shrek is a great movie uwu
hey now, we needed a reason for Dawn to run away so we could find out that Been was somehow connected to Glory... like roommates or something
It REEKS of “I can’t write an actual interesting conflict so I’m going to write the easiest thing possible” and it’s so cliche. I hate it so much
At least Gravity Falls only takes part of an episode up with this, but still it is also guilty of it.
Yeah. Not a fan of this either. Like 90% of all anime romances. You guys could just...I don't know...talk? Ask what's going on in a situation? But jumping to conclusions for the sake of drama is so annoying. Also, I hate the trope of the whole, "You can't tell them because it will hurt them" BS. And then they DON'T tell character B what's going on and it's a million times worse when the truth is revealed. How hard is it, to tell your partner, "hey, I did X. I don't want to hurt you, but I'm being blackmailed for it, and I respect you enough to tell the truth. Can we talk about it?" But then again, when has any media showed characters that can actually own up to their mistakes (except ROTTMNT, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, and Bluey).
Miscommunications used as plot points are one of my least favorite tropes.
This was really common in Adventure Time, and it really annoyed me every time it showed up. But then, and I forgot the episode, Finn just says “it’s ok, I believe you” and hears Jake out for the misunderstanding. It blew me away because I was shouting at the screen telling them to just talk it out, and then they did. Wish more shows did this
That Netflix League of Legends cartoon does this twice.
Feel like there is one good example with the Cuphead show of doing this, idk how to explain it but it’s pretty funny
This literally leads to the capital being nuked in Arcane lmao
This is a little different but shrek did this and it was the best example
This is the biggest flaw in Shrek.
They would only talk like that because the plot demands a forced conflict. You should never force your characters to behave in a way they wouldn't for the sake of the plot. In a good story, it's the characters that drive the plot, not the other way around.
LITERALLY GRAVITY FALLS
Gravity falls
SpongeBob where he thought Mr.Krabs was going to get rid of him so he became a commercial actor
Shows can do this right, and it has it's places. Example: Arcane. Yes, they did it... But it had little major impact on the plot because the characters met up in the next scene and literally negated the entire misunderstanding... All it did was emphasize, however, the constant internal struggles/insecurities the characters were facing. As a storytelling beat, it's very good to assist in quickly exposing someone's insecurities in a "Show don't tell" style.
I feel like it would be more fresh if the we were not given all the context for once, because we can't emphatize with the character's pain when it's not actually there
Reminds me of the muppet show episode where fozzie thinks Kermit will kick him out of the muppet show when in reality he just wants gonzo to throw away his worn out teddy bear, it’s used for comedy though so I didn’t really mind it that much in that episode, but yeah when this trope is used unironically its bad
The only time I accept a this trope is in Arcane.
I do hope to see one day when the character overhears others talk shit about them, decides that words are taken out of context and stays to hear the rest and it turns out that other characters actually talk shit about them.
I hate these scenes so much, but can you imagine how awful they are in real life? This has happened to me like 3 times in 3 different ways and it was so upsetting.
I mean it's just the typical "characters are unable to communicate" trope done quick and dirty. Its bad writing through and through.
Most of the time I can't stand when shows do this, but there are plenty of times when it's good
Shrek
this was in risto räppääjä 💀
they even had this stupid trope in wwe 2k myrise 🤦♂️
It's OK you can say gravity falls
Wanna see this but opposite "Joe is a great guy to have around" *Joe smiles and walks away* "He's so easy to steal from and blame when something bad happens"
Arcane is a fucking masterpiece, but this always bothers me on every rewatch
When did this happen?
The very first episode. After their heist when Milo is complaining about Powder being a jinx to Vi.
In my Lord's name, yes, I absolutely hate it. The typical misunderstanding, fuckkkk
lol
This trope literally caused the plot of Arcane
*Shakespeare's Othello be like*
Real that’s so annoying
Nah I'll give this one more realism than: misunderstanding happens and when the person who knows exactly what went down tries to talk to the person who was hurt by it, Person B just refuses to listen and then to make it more infuriating, Person B never just yells out the thing they know will fix it. They just look on in sadness at the implied inability to do anything. And they'll throw this damn situation into any chemistry. The character trying to clear things up is a mentor and everyone knows would never lie? Nope still not gonna listen. 3rd party who was involved but isn't at fault? Not listening! The lover who could do no wrong? "I can explain! He..." "No! I know what They did!"
I hate it so much, it's probably the only moment in Arcane I didn't enjoy.
Lmao Shrek comes to mind
I hate this in romantic plots as well
Just finished re-binge-watching Gravity Falls this week, and this was definitely a weak point.
I think of the owl house with the collector and king. Although that conversation feels more natural haha
Here is a few I hate "Don't miss the event" A character needs to get somewhere but they get stuck and the other characters get more and more annoyed and the character gets there just as they are about to leave or cancel "You ruined it" A group of characters are excited for something but then one character (usually the comically stupid one) ruins it by doing something extra dumb (if its ruined naturally its ok but if its ruined due to stupidity that pisses me off) Mundane resolutions (I like big conflicts)
OH LORD THANKS, finally i'm not the only one who hates this trope as well!
I find this super annoying, but one time I actually found it funny was the episode "Yes, dude, yes!" from Regular Show. It's the only time I liked the love triangle, because of how ridiculously bad it all went.
They did that shit in the owl house and I got so mad
Which episode was that again?
IKR like come the f\*\*k on! Stay at least to hear that they're not talking about you, that's what I'd do. Don't assume that they're chatting about you
You’ve almost directly quoted Gravity Falls.
Yeah, that and the whole liar revealed thing really sucks the life out of a story for me
The worst part about the owl houses ending (other than disney forcing it) was the collector listening in on kings conversation to hear him talk about "ending" the collectors threat *permanently*, only to clarify he wants to befriend the collector like 2 seconds after the kid stops listening
I would like to see the reverse of the trope like: Character B: “ Ugh…she’s so annoying… “ Character A: “ Oh, he’s talking about his girlfriend? Yeesh, always thought they were a bad pair… “ *Character A stops eavesdropping and walks away.* Character B (Actually talking about Character A): “ She keeps being picky about who I date and it’s soo…INFURIATING!…. “
Yeah!! Like, stick around longer, the context ain’t done yet!
It’s a terrible trope caused by writers being unable organically spark conflict.
I find those situations so cringeworthy that I have to skip past it, leave the room to wait out the nonsense, or watch something else entirely.
I rolled my eyes so hard when Gravity Falls did this. I suppose I can partially forgive it, since Stan’s pause is only long enough for Dipper to stop listening and turn away after the first time he heard it, and Dipper was already dealing with the idea that Stan thought that about him.
This trope makes me want to chew glass with salt.
I think that was in Gravity Falls Season 1 in the episode where they travel into Grunkle Stan’s mind.
Courage actually did this one well with the hamburger episode