History Literature / TalesOfMu

* PornWithPlot: Roughly half of the first "year" of the story was either pure sex or sexually-themed material. Since then, the sexual content has drastically decreased but still [[JustForPun comes up]] every now and then.

* ReallyGetsAround: {{Justified|Trope}} for nymphs, as they live on sexual energy, which in turn [[JustForPun fertilizes]] their fields.

* WickedCultured: Vice-Chancellor Embries has a gloriously-decorated office and snazzy attire, a [[JustForPun silver tongue]], and a tea set of which he is very fond. He is also [[spoiler:an ancient dragon with a [[IAmAHumanitarian taste for human flesh]]]].

* AnythingThatMoves: Or nearly so, for the nymphs; {{justified|Trope}} by the fact that they live on sexual energy, which in turn [[JustForPun fertilizes]] their fields.

* MagicVersusScience: While magic works and is commonplace, belief in the power of scientific thinking is generally regarded as either dangerously deluded or childish fantasy. This especially comes into ply when deaing with the Mechans, who are treated as the counterpart to Wiccans in our universe. While it's a bit muddled by the fact that the author, like most authors, lives in a universe with empirically-determinable physical laws, the setting actually does a pretty good job of setting the "physics" up such that the magical view is actually the ''correct'' one. Mack's arguments against the Mechans, especially, are 100% valid in terms of what science actually is (in terms of being a method of working out how the world works, not just the set of laws that the system uncovers in ours). The "science" that the Mechans follow relies heavily on ignoring large swaths of empirical data in favor of cherry-picking only a few examples that fit their existing theory, and is in every real sense the opposite of science. To one-up even that, devices reliant on real-world physics and mechanics ''do'' work... but only when they've specifically been isolated from magic, such as in an extremely restrictive and uncommon set of physical circumstances. The Mechan faith is the equivalent of someone in the real world creating a physics model without gravity, arguing strenuously against the idea of gravity and ignoring any evidence that it existed, and then pointing to how things behave in free-fall in orbiting space stations as if they "validated" the world view. The comparison to real-life Wiccan magic is, if anything, overly generous; Wicca can at least attribute matters of happenstance to its rituals, but the Mechans are empirically outright wrong.

** Played for BlueAndOrangeMorality, most notably with nymphs, who have been granted their [[RemoteBody humanoid bodies]] as a gift to those who created them from the great Mother Khaele. What this means is that they must expose themselves at all times, and wearing clothing is their taboo. They also are given these bodies (as opposed to their "other body," that is, the field that is also a physical part of them) to [[AnythingThatMoves engage in frequent sexual activity with others]], which causes both their field and humanoid form to become healthier and sustained.

* LoveYouAndEverybody: Both used and averted. It's the well-known nymph belief system, so the first time Amaranth tells Mack that she loves her, Mack objects that Amy loves everyone, which Amy readily admits before telling Mack that she loves her specifically and deeply. That being said, Amaranth does at times find it ''hard'' to love everybody, especially those who mean ill towards Mack, and [[spoiler:Barley]] seems to have thrown this idea to the wind.

* BuxomIsBetter: {{Inverted|Trope}} by elves. Elven women tend to be modestly endowed, and thus their standard for "buxom" is lower than human, which makes Amaranth, who by human standards is very buxom, comically oversized. The point comes up in Y2-262 during the brief three-way conversation between Amaranath, Glory, and Mack, when Glory flat-out says that Amaranth's breasts are "a bit much". Shortly thereafter:

* BadassNormal: Callahan is an dwarf/elf/ogre/orc mongrel, which probably gives her an edge relative to humans, but she's still normal relative to the dragons and demons in the world, and we never see her using magic. But, among other feats of badassery, she [[spoiler:once killed a god]]. This makes her a good foil for Mack, who as a half-demon has a host of racial advantages (strength, partial invulnerability, flamethrowing) but is a woefully incompetent fighter.

* TheBully: Tara Leighton, especially before being fused with her twin.

* CombatPragmatist: This is the essence of Callahan's teaching style, and also how she defines her own methods. She reveals to [[spoiler:Mack Daddy]] (and the reader) in the side story "Splish, Splash" that she keeps her thumbnails much longer and sharper than the others for gouging purposes, [[spoiler:and then she dissuades Mack Daddy from trying to attack her by pointing out that she is wearing magic press-on nails so she doesn't have to use a separate weapon against him]].

* DeadpanSnarker: Dee's stoic nature makes pretty much any jibe of hers run in this direction.
--> '''Amaranth:''' One of [[AnythingThatMoves [Steff's]]] friends is a virgin! What are the odds?\\
'''Dee:''' I would say abysmal. But apparently they were high enough.

* TheDitz: Keri [=LaBelle=]. While she does have the occasional insightful or worthwhile question, most of the time she's a complete moron. Problem is, her (well-deserved) reputation for ditziness gets a bit {{Flanderiz|ation}}ed in the mind of the teacher that she and Mackenzie have together, to the point where he's verbally abusive to her even on the rare occasions when [[DumbassHasAPoint she actually says something worthwhile in class]].

* DontYouDarePityMe: Kai hates how Sooni treats her, but she doesn't take efforts by Mack and friends to assist her very well. A side story reveals that [[spoiler:Kai comes from an extremely impoverished background and always dreamed of getting an education, and although Sooni as good as kidnapped her (with an implied reward to her family), Kai is willing to accept anything as long as it means she can continue going to university]].

* DrillSergeantNasty: Callahan as a teacher. It's either because she was traumatized by the sight of an untrained mage [[FateWorseThanDeath caught by ogres]] during the last big war [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation or because]] she likes being able to legally inflict pain and injuries on college kids. Possibly both.

* ElementalRockPaperScissors: Played with; as a fire-aligned half-demon, Mack is weak to ice and cold, but instead of being hurt more by ice attacks, this manifests as a complete intolerance for temperatures below 60 degrees or so, and having to read the fine print on any medical {{Magitek}} that might use cold.
* EloquentInMyNativeTongue: Suzi, when speaking in her native Yokano; see YouNoTakeCandle below for the converse.
-->I do not see why we are forced to converse in the barbarous idiom of the coarse westerners even among ourselves. Why must we suffer the indignity of mangling our mouths with their disharmonious syllables simply because they have never taken the time to learn a proper language?

* ExtremeDoormat: The LizardFolk use communal decision making, so Hissy holds no strong opinions of her own. Human missionaries decided she should go to school, the school decided she should join the skirmish team. Her response to all of it is simply that she has no objection. As a background character, her Extreme Doormat status wasn't even apparent until she got some CharacterDevelopment.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Puddy is this while she's Mack's roommate. Her behavior and personality offend everyone but her violent streak and temper have them too cowed to stand up to her.

* FunnyAnimal: Maliko, Suzi, and Kai are anthropomorphized cats, unlike Sooni.

* GreenEyedMonster: [[spoiler:Barley]] is deeply envious of [[spoiler:Amaranth]], because of both [[spoiler:her popularity in their hometown and that she only went to college because Barley did, but ended up being more popular than Barley]]. This jealousy has been the driving force behind all of her objectionable actions, [[spoiler:but the second-year side story involving her indicates that she's making strides toward dealing with it]].
* HairTriggerTemper: It takes very little for Puddy to explosively snap; even the mildest of criticisms will have her fighting mad.

--> I couldn’t help but notice that he did things like use “fight” twice in the same sentence… and “underprivileged underclass?” It also seemed like he just dropped commas in wherever he felt like it...like there was no actual rules regarding their use...like he was just in love with them as a punctuation mark, or something. (Note that Mack, at another point, remarked in passing that she had once been marked down on an essay for using too many ellipses.)\\

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: One of the more charitable interpretations of Steff, especially in regards to her relationship with Mack. She never stops being creepy, but it's very clear that she cares a lot about Mack and is glad to have her as a friend and source of emotional support.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Callahan appears to belong in this category. You start to like her once she shows genuine interest in helping Mack learn to fight, [[spoiler:but if Mack Daddy is to be believed, she's also writing weekly letters to the administration asking permission to kill Mack]]. Also, her commitment to teaching is arguably ego-driven: "If I can make this wimp a good fighter, how awesome would that make me?" [[spoiler:And then "Splish, Splash" reveals that Callahan's half of her deal with Mack Daddy was training Mack to fight, in return for answers to three questions.]]

* ManipulativeBastard: Mack Daddy takes this even further than normal, as he'll manipulate both your emotions and your logic to try to get what he wants.

** Y1-489 covers the time in [[spoiler:Embries’ office]] where he deals with the matter of [[spoiler:Leda’s death]], magically forcing Mack to bear witness while preventing her from passing on the experience to anyone else, including those who are viewing the world through her thoughts and perceptions (i.e. the readers).

* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Grace, as a result of her youth and lack of experience with human interaction, which she admits to Mack after [[spoiler:groping her to see if she's pierced]].
-->'''Mack''':I’ve had very bad experiences with people who didn’t respect my boundaries.\\
'''Grace''': Eep! [...] Sorry, I’m...okay, I’m not a kid anymore, and you’re not elves, but elven children are a lot more hands-on with each other, and I...I haven’t fully adjusted to not-childhood yet.

-->'''Mack''': [''narrating''] It wasn’t that unusual for the burrow gnomes to go unnoticed. Something about them seemed to repel attention the way a raincoat repels water.

* SomeCallMeTim: Dee.
-->"I am Delia Daella d'Wyr, daughter of Daella Degra d'Wyr, daughter of Degra Daura d'Wyr..." and on, through a whole score of generations of matriarchs. She concluded with, "Those who style themselves as my friends call me Dee."

* ThinkingTic: Two has a slight one with her eyes whenever she's giving something serious thought, which Mack notes in Y2-296.

* YouNoTakeCandle: A RunningGag in the series is that the [[{{Youkai}} nekoyokai]] Suzi is only marginally fluent in Pax, and usually ends up speaking in WebOriginal/{{LOLcat|s}} phrases. When she speaks her own language...she's a self-centered bitch who considers anyone unable or unwilling to speak her own language to be barbarians. Of ''course.''

* DancingPants: In Y2-197, Steff enchants Mack's jeans with an undead animation spell in an attempt at magical bondage. It goes hilariously awry because they didn't account for her belt and boots. [[spoiler:Once off her, the jeans try to wrap around Mack's head and eventually have to be destroyed.]]

** Occasionally taken up to eleven with adults simply dropping the main characters into life-threatening situations with remarkable power and efficiency, then being immediately ineffectual again when they should by all logic be able to undo the problem just as easily.

** Occasionally taken UpToEleven with adults simply dropping the main characters into life-threatening situations with remarkable power and efficiency, then being immediately ineffectual again when they should by all logic be able to undo the problem just as easily.

-->If you [insult my intelligence], I will kick your ass so hard your attorney will have to invent a new tort to seek redress [...] They will call it ‘megassault’. [[UpToEleven The law that defines it will be longer than the combined works of the living elven masters.]] [[OverlyLongGag It will take longer to perform the actions described therein than it will to read aloud.]] [[CrossesTheLineTwice I will do it twice.]]

* MagicalGirlfriend: Sort of sadly subverted with the bonus story "[[http://www.talesofmu.com/story/other/a-boys-prayer A Boy's Prayer]]", which implies that Amaranth manifested the way she is (as a buxom, {{nerd|sAreSexy}}y, {{glasses|Girl}}-wearing LoveFreak) because one lonely, geeky twelve-year-old boy, uh, fertilized her field with fantasies and desires of such a woman. The subversion (and sadness) is that after she manifested exactly according to his desires, he never even got to meet her.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The story, to date, has featured several dozen characters, although only a fraction of those are truly central to the plot.

[[http://www.talesofmu.com/story/ The story can be found here.]] Definitely NotSafeForWork! Also not related to the [[WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity other MU college]].

* AdultFear: The first in-setting week of school sees the protagonist raped at least once (or more, depending on your interpretation of fantasy sexual ethics), roped into not one but two sexual subcultures she doesn't remotely understand, has her girlfriend attempt to induct her into a cult (a cult based on things that are scientific fact in the real world, because of RuleOfFunny, but things that are blatantly, obviously not true in-universe), and sees her almost kill a fellow student in an introductory lab. At worst a comedy of errors from a teenager's perspective, and obviously she later bounces back or clears up all misconceptions, but imagine being a parent and reading this, and thinking back to the fact that your own children probably didn't call you in the first week of college...

* HumanMomNonhumanDad: Gender-flipped with Steff's half-ogre boyfriend, Viktor.

* {{Diary}}: Two keeps one, as shown in the "Diary of a Golem Girl" side stories during the first year. They give a look into Two's take on her world and her relationships with her friends that isn't always seen in the main story, as well as her mindset and the struggles she deals with trying to expand past her initial "programming."

** From a national perspective: The Imperial Republic of Magisteria is America mixed with the Roman Empire in a DungeonPunk world. The island of Yokan is a version of Japan populated by LittleBitBeastly [[OurDemonsAreDifferent yokai]]. Members of [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent a totally original race of little people who live in cozy holes in shires]] have a rural English-type culture. The forest-dwelling elves have Ancient Greek names and [[YaoiGuys culture]]. The dwarves are basically German. Early discussions of the ideas outsiders have of subterranean elves mirror American ideas of the Muslim world. When we see the culture up close, though, there's no resemblance whatever. Pointedly, the "European" cultures don't seem to have colonized nearly as much of the world at any point.

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: It's briefly suggested that Sooni, the local representative of the story's FantasyCounterpartCulture of Japan, has this as part of her cultural psyche.
* RPGMechanicsVerse: Done very subtly, but played completely straight and not [[PlayedForLaughs for laughs]]. Specifically, it's a Tabletop RPG Mechanics Verse, with gods and other extremely powerful entities in the role of GameMaster. For example, RocksFallEveryoneDies is a known and well-understood phenomenon in adventuring circles, and NoFairCheating is a codified fundamental principle of magic, on par with the Laws of Thermodynamics. It's made explicit in [[http://www.talesofmu.com/story/other/mumoo one side story]].

* ImAManICantHelpIt: Prevalent in elven culture, due to [[OurElvesAreDifferent increased sexual potency]]. Among the more disciplined underground variety, it seems more common among the "[[{{Transgender}} halfkind]]" as they are not expected to show responsibility or constraint.

* {{Transgender}}: The culture of the [[OurElvesAreDifferent subterranean elves]] features an "ornamental" third gender of [=MtF=]s called "halfkind," who undergo a magical transformation that enhances both breasts and male organs, and who serve mostly as a status symbol for their families. [[spoiler:Dee eventually gives Steff the halfkind potion to try to help her with some of her issues.]]

* {{Curse}}: The Bane of Khersis, placed by Lord Khersis on humans who had mated with demons after casting the demons into hell. See InTheBlood and LivingAphrodisiac below for more details.

* InTheBlood:
** Half-demons are mostly this played straight, though how demonic they are and which demons they resemble is a bit random depending on their HorrorHunger. That said, they tend to have significantly less control over that hunger than their full-blooded parents, see below.
** Hilariously, The Man himself, the only full-blooded demon to have appeared in the series as of yet, is the practical living example that half-demons do NOT behave like demons; he said so himself. He is anything but beastly.
** The second-year OT story "[[http://www.talesofmu.com/story/other/methods-motivations-and-meetings Methods, Motivations, and Meetings]]" reveals that in the distant past, Lord Khersis cursed female part-demons[[note]]although it's noted in-story that the wording and whether it was a literal curse or just strong words are matters of theological debate[[/note]] so that it is very difficult for them to successfully breed with other demonbloods. See LivingAphrodisiac below for the side effect.

* NoAdequatePunishment: [[spoiler: Callahan]] was once charged with three counts of attempted deicide. One of those attempts was successful, but the law doesn't cover successful deicide (presumably because nobody thought it was possible to kill a god) so "attempted" is the closest fit.

** Also possibly deconstructed with the revelation that Elves don't even need to '''breathe''', and do so only rarely; this is played for as much sheer creepiness factor as possible.

** Hobgoblins follow the "larger, stronger goblin" stereotype, but instead of being wicked and cruel they're slow and methodical, being seen by humans as reliable workers.
** In the goblins' own language, "hobgoblin" roughly translates as "house-boy". Hobgoblins make up the majority of the labor pool in goblin society, until the humans came and started mucking things up, filling the poor impressionable hobgoblins' heads with such fantastic notions as being paid for their work.

'''Hazel''': It’s an acceptable military strategy! It’s called ‘going ape’, I think.

* WebcomicTime: ''Tales of MU'' has been going since June of 2007. The story is now at about the halfway point of the second year of Mackenzie's college term. To emphasize how strongly this trope is in play, 10 months of that time is a time-skip in a single update. Roughly three to four months of time has actually passed on-screen. It's even somewhat invoked, with some chapters focusing on things that no sane person would consider 'part of the story' just to maintain the glacial pace, like the characters walking from one doorway to another across the street complaining about lunch being sub-par.