Line #17 Literature/TheGoldenFeather


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3	[[quoteright:159:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/26515372351_c7c67d26c9_m.jpg]]
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5	"Shy, socially-awkward Elijah had limited his existence to that of a background character. A sidekick. A nobody. This changes when he receives an anonymous letter one day that reads more like a desperate call for help—from one of the school's players, no less. What does he do? Follow the cliché. What does life do? Kick his balls and remind him things aren't as simple as they seem..."
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7	Set up to be a deconstruction of the usual BoysLoveGenre clichés—particularly on the site it was first posted on--[[https://www.quotev.com/story/7599409/Things-With-Feathers-BxB the story]] follows the usual [[BroodingBoyGentleGirl Brooding Boy, Gentle Guy]] pairing in a rather... unusual way.
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9	It was first published in 2016 and is still ongoing.
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11	----
12	!! This story provides examples of:
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14	* AllGaysArePromiscuous: Averted with Elijah, who is as much of a virgin as they go.
15	* AllLovingHero: Despite himself, Elijah can't help but be sympathetic to others, even if these 'others' are the ones picking on him all the time.
16	* AnimalMotifs: Isaac is often compared to small mammals. Cats, rodents, chihuahuas... you name it.
17	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Often delivered by Elijah. Justified, given he wouldn't be able to get anywhere with Isaac otherwise. This is implied to have happened with Milla, too.
18	* AsianAndNerdy: Defied InUniverse by Elijah, who is of Vietnamese origin, gets bad grades and is constantly annoyed by those who assume he's "smart" just because he's Asian.
19	* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: A big factor in Isaac warming up to Elijah was the latter's reaction upon [[spoiler: finding out Isaac had written the letters.]] While he did get pissed at first, he ended up being surprisingly comprehensive about the whole ordeal, even growing more outgoing towards Isaac later on.
20	* BecomingTheMask: According to Isaac, he used to be a much nicer person back in his old school. Once he came to the new one, he decided to put up a tough guy act in order to fit in. He ended up letting this slip into his real personality, which alienated his original friends and ended up turning him into an authentic, bitter jerkass.
21	* BerserkButton: To Isaac, ''anything''. Notable examples include his height, his family and [[ArsonMurderAndJayWalking English class.]]
22	** Messing up with Elijah's videogames is a terrible, terrible idea. Milla would know.
23	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Elijah may be passive and all, but even ''he'' has a breaking point.
24	* {{Bookworm}}: When not at school, Isaac is usually reading, to the point this is his only definite hobby.
25	** BadassBookworm: Despite his build, you ''don't'' want to mess up with him.
26	* BrilliantButLazy: To a degree, Isaac. He's quite savvy about general knowledge, has a rather sharp intuition and claims to possess a good memory, too. And yet, his grades are atrocious. It's implied this didn't use to be the case.
27	* [[BroodingBoyGentleGirl Brooding Boy. Gentle Guy]]: Isaac and Elijah follow this dynamic, with the former being sour and ill-tempered and the latter being patient and comprehending.
28	* BigLittleBrother: Elijah is a few inches taller than his sister, who is four years older than him.
29	* {{CloudCuckooLander}}: Rose, Isaac's stepsister, has no qualms with randomly mimicking videogame characters and rolling around on the floor within the first twenty minutes of knowing someone just because said someone happens to like games, too. To be fair, Elijah doesn't fall that behind.
30	* DeadpanSnarker: Expect either Isaac or Milla to fill this role, especially around Elijah. At one point, he even ends up wondering just ''why'' he is such a snark bait, or why everyone he seems to befriend is so sarcastic.
31	%%* DefrostingIceKing: Isaac.
32	%%* DefrostingIceQueen: Milla.
33	* DismissingACompliment: Whenever Elijah tries telling Isaac just ''why'' he likes him, the latter ends up [[HandWave hand-waving]] it or just plain ignoring him.
34	* DisgustingPublicToilet: Apparently, the guys at their school would rather go to the girls' bathroom or even do the deed in the ''garden'' as an alternative to the boys' bathroom. This comes in handy for Elijah and [[spoiler: Victor]], for they find each other...
35	* EatingLunchAlone: and in the bathroom stalls, no less. Admittedly, this comes across as a shock to both of them, who were clearly not expecting to find another soul in the room.
36	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Isaac's debut on the story has him slamming the classroom's door open, stomping to his desk and then making fun of Elijah with Victor (who isn't that much pleasant, either) not too long after.
37	* ExtremeDoormat: Subverted with Elijah. He may claim to be one, but will stand up for himself when having his buttons pressed for too long.
38	* FetishizedAbuser: At some point, [[ExtremeDoormat Elijah]] daydreams he's this towards Isaac. Right in the middle of class. With a NSFW sequence and everything.
39	* FirstKiss: A tragically non-romantic example. At some point Elijah asks Isaac if he is 'into guys'. His response? ''Kissing'' Elijah to then pull away with a frown and reply, "Nope. Definitely straight."
40	%%* FirstPersonSmartass
41	* FriendlessBackground: It is implied Rose has little to no friends at her school.
42	* GayGuySeeksPopularJock: Played with. Isaac is popular all right, but not very athletic. On the other hand, Elijah is well-built and is a social nobody.
43	* GoofyPrintUnderwear: Isaac's underwear ranges from the usual rubber-duck print to Creator/VincentVanGogh's Art/TheStarryNight.
44	** Elijah's own undergarments show how much of a Nintendo fanboy he is.
45	%%* GuyOnGuyIsHot
46	* HairTriggerTemper: Isaac, hands down, to the point Elijah doesn't care about trying not to anger him anymore since he knows the guy will flip off at anything and anyone for no reason.
47	* HiddenDepths: At first sight, Isaac may come across as the typical {{Jerkass}} with no ambition other than to sleep around and make others miserable. However, [[spoiler: he was the one sending the letters to Elijah under the excuse he's actually lonely and very aware of his jerk tendencies. ultimately revealing a much softer side.]] He's also shown to be very thoughtful and kind of a literature snob.
48	* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Milla is even short than Isaac, barely reaching Elijah's shoulders.
49	* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Why Isaac wrote the letters in the first place.
50	* InsultOfEndearment: Initially Isaac tended to call Elijah 'nerd' a lot, but the tables turned once the latter found out about Isaac's... [[ClosetGeek tendencies.]]
51	* {{Jerkass}}: Victor, though he mellows a bit after TheReveal. Isaac plays this straight with rare fluctuations to JerkWithAHeartOfGold territory.
52	%%* LawyerFriendlyCameo: What on earth is Jeff the Killer doing there?
53	* LockerMail: Elijah cramming Isaac's locker full of love letters gives away his crush.
54	%%* LoveConfession: As of Chapter 10. [[spoiler: Hand-waved by Isaac.]]
55	* LoveLetterLunacy: A variant. Initially it was Elijah who received a letter, although it was more of a vent than anything else. Later on, long after he'd figured out the identity of the sender, they both kept exchanging notes, anyway. One instance in particular has Elijah ramming Isaac's own locker with letters, which pretty much give away his crush on Isaac.
56	* MirrorCharacter: Milla and Isaac, to their dismay. Both are short, ill-tempered, thoughtful and often fighting for Elijah's attention.
57	* MySisterIsOffLimits: A weird variation. At some point, they ended up spying Elijah's older sister through a slit in her door while she slept with some guy. Elijah was understandably freaked.
58	* NiceGuy: Kind, easily-forgiving Elijah, almost to ExtremeDoormat levels.
59	* NightmareFuel: InUniverse. Milla's EldritchAbomination paintings, when not in use by her, are covered by fabrics or are turned upside-down just so the rest of the art club can be spared of having nightmares.
60	* OddFriendship: Asocial, generally apathetic Milla and kind, unassuming Elijah.
61	* OneHeadTaller: Isaac barely reaches Elijah's chin.
62	* PassingNotesInClass: Elijah and Isaac chat through these frequently.
63	* PleaseDontLeaveMe: A non-verbal version. [[spoiler: Done by Isaac, no less. A late-night conversation ends up with him pulling Elijah into a hug after the latter tells him he'll always be there for him.]]
64	* PrettyBoy: Isaac, bordering DudeLooksLikeALady.
65	%%* QueerRomance
66	%%* RandomEventsPlot
67	* RageQuit: Done by Isaac whenever he loses against Elijah in a videogame. Which is always.
68	* ReallyGetsAround: Isaac. It's implied he does it out of loneliness.
69	* SirSwearsALot: Isaac, to the point Elijah wonders if he can even formulate a sentence without cursing.
70	* SourOutsideSadInside: Implied through Isaac's letters.
71	* SnarkKnight: One can always expect Isaac to come up with a sarcastic remark even during the most ill-timed of moments.
72	* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Which is what happens pretty much every time Isaac and Milla meet.
73	%%* StepfordSnarker: Isaac, type A.
74	* StraightGay: Despite his rather meek personality, Elijah doesn't show any stereotypical 'gay' traits and is implied to be—or have been—very athletic, for he was in several sports teams during middle school and has a good muscle tone.
75	* SugarAndIcePersonality: Though not exactly hostile, Isaac won't care to be nice unless you get on his good graces.
76	* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: The first day Isaac visits Elijah's house, he ends up staying in a "sleepover" too. [[CovertPervert Elijah is happy...]] until he realizes there's an inflatable bed. He ends up poking a hole through it just to have Isaac sleep in the same bed as him. [[GoneHorriblyRight It works]].
77	* TroubledButCute: Deconstructed. While Isaac fits the role pretty well, this bites him in the ass more than it actually helps him. Because of this, up until the letter incident, he wasn't close to anyone at school, and it's his temper and CantSpitItOut tendencies that causes most of the arguments between him and Elijah. Far from taking pride in this, Isaac treats it as a flaw and hates that particular aspect of himself.
78	* {{Tsundere}}: Isaac, a ([[TheNapoleon metaphorically]]) huge type A.
79	* TheBully: Quite a few characters, Isaac included (at the beginning). Out of these, the most prominent is [[{{Jerkass}} Victor]], who keeps picking on Elijah. This is toned down after TheReveal.
80	* TheCharmer: It's implied this is how Isaac gets girls, more than just pure physical attractiveness.
81	%%* TheChewToy: Poor, poor Elijah.
82	* TheGadfly: Isaac is not above pulling pranks for self-amusement purposes, especially to Elijah.
83	* ThePhilosopher: Milla isn't afraid of getting ''deep'' into a subject. She usually tries to portray things like humanity on her paintings. And usually fails.
84	** Isaac, to a lesser extent.
85	* UnsettlingGenderReveal: [[spoiler: After a rather awkward conversation in a bathroom stall soon to evolve into a fight, Victor stomps out of the stall, with his shirt wide open, only to reveal he is (biologically) a girl.]]
86	%%* YaoiGenre

Context Literature / TheGoldenFeather