History Website / TheWanderersLibrary

%%* BellyDancer: The narrator of [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/hips-of-fools Hips of Fools]] meets one on another planet's moon.

* AnAesop: [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/a-caution-to-the-wise From A Caution to the Wise]]: “They ask for a story with a moral; the moral is, “A caution to the wise—look elsewhere for your wisdom.”

* ArcWords: Frequent mention of stars in the Elrich setting. The arc words crosses over back to [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1591 an SCP]] on Wiki/SCPFoundation.

[[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/ The Wanderer's Library]] is a sister site of the Wiki/SCPFoundation, based on the main location of the Serpent's Hand Group of Interest. But while the SCP Foundation is (primarily) a ScienceFantasy/Horror site with strict tone, format and minimum hard science fiction requirements, the Library plays much faster and looser with its requirements. Almost any type of story is fair, from crime to science fiction. Whereas the Foundation focuses on evoking a mix of fear and scientific curiosity, the Library focuses on creating a feeling of “wonder”. This doesn't mean that other types of stories are forbidden; the stories can be just as gruesome or disturbing as what you might find on the Foundation.

%%* ActualPacifist: The monks in [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/pollution Pollution]]. [[KillEmAll It ends poorly]]

* LivingForeverIsAwesome: Not awesome per se, but the narrator of The People I Have Been seems quite happy with his arrangement, saying “I've been a soldier and a minister, a leader of men and a follower of causes. I've preached hellfire and harmony. I've said words profane and holy. I've been people I didn't like, and people I wish I could be again. But that's life, Emma. Life isn't static, it isn't frozen. Life doesn't stand still. It changes, and it changes us. This is just another step.”
%%* LostWoods: The Ravelwoods, described in detail in [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/aframos-introduction The Journal of Aframos Longjourney]], are a textbook example.

* DownerEnding: Elrich is destroyed by its stars, which are then captured and contained by the SCP Foundation at an unknown point in the future. A Hand, An Eye, A Tooth ends with protagonist being killed by her husband for her disfigurement.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Gods are often depicted this way, although there's no strict canon. In [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/and-i-was-present-at-the-death-of-a-god And I Was Present At the Death of a God]] the god of Tasmanian Tigers begins to die along with the species. In [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/gods-of-money Gods of Money]], the eponymous god confronts the ruler of a Zimbabwe {{Expy}} over rampant inflation.

* {{Expy}}: Lower Gregaria from Gods of Money is one of Zimbabwe.

* DeathOfTheOldGods: And I Was Present at the Death of A God, wherein the god of Tasmanian Tigers begins to die along with the species. [[spoiler:He Gets Better once his ThanatosGambit pans out... seventy years later]]

** In [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/red-bark Red Bark]], the narrator meets a village living on the edge of creation. They have planted the titular red-barked trees to delineate the edge of the world.[[spoiler: Villagers and houses living on the wrong side of the line turned into [[HumanoidAbomination something else]].]]

* GaiasVengeance : The settlers in [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/shikuan-misiwe shikuan-misiwe]] are killed to stop destroying the island they lived on.

%%* GreatBigLibraryOfEverything: the library itself

* TheMultiverse: The Library acts as a linchpin for it, connecting an uncountable number of words together.

* SanitySlippage: This happens to a ''book'' in [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/of-the-metabible Of The Metabible]]. The Metabible, a godlike entity over which wars have been fought, is an impossibly long book. As you read farther it begins to get more and more incomprehensible, and by the millionth page it's completely broken and begging for somebody to read it. [[spoiler: The last page of the book separates itself from the Metabible and forms a second one. It's implied it eventually goes through the same process.]]

%%* Utopia:[[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/legends-of-midgard the legends of midgard]] has one in a intergalactic level.

* AllMythsAreTrue: As the library connects a potentially infinite number of universes, planes of existence, and so on, it stands to reason that pretty much anything you can think of is real in at least one of them. And sure enough, there are many stories in the library set in universes where one or several mytical creatures are real. If you're lucky enough, you might even bump into these creatures while you browse the library.

[[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/ The Wanderer's Library]] is a sister site of the Wiki/SCPFoundation, based on the main location of the Serpent's Hand Group of Interest. But while the SCP Foundation is (primarily) a ScienceFantasy/Horror site with strict tone, format and [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness minimum hardness]] requirements, the Library plays much faster and looser with its requirements. Almost any type of story is fair, from crime to science fiction. Whereas the Foundation focuses on evoking a mix of fear and scientific curiosity, the Library focuses on creating a feeling of “wonder”. This doesn't mean that other types of stories are forbidden; the stories can be just as gruesome or disturbing as what you might find on the Foundation.

* CainAndAbel: [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/the-first-blood The First Blood]], with the Anthropomorphic Personifications of Industry and Foresight as the brothers. It's left ambiguous which is which.

* CloudCuckooLand: Elrich, if [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/fifth-elrichian-national-party-manifest this]] is any indication.
* CloudCuckoolander: Everyone in Elrich, but the fruit are on a whole different level.

* CosmicEgg: [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/eggshells Eggshells]].

* CreationMyth: Many. [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/how-grandmother-triode-stole-binary-from-the-sun How Grandmother Triode Stole Binary from the Sun]] is one told by a computer program.

* DeathWorld: [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/excerpt-from-the-journal-of-archibald-hannity Excerpt of the Journal of Archibald Hannity.]]

* EldritchLocation: Prominently featured in [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/the-tomb-war The Tomb War]].

* FantasticFruitsAndVegetables: [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/system:page-tags/tag/calbhach#pages Brother Calbach's Herbal]] is a book devoted to them.

* FirstLove: [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/a-loaf-story A Loaf Story]] is this for one of the protagonists, Elizabeth.
* TheFuture: [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/system:page-tags/tag/book-of-potential The Book of Potential]] is for stories set here.

* GeniusLoci: The Library itself is implied to be one.
* GentlemanAdventurer: Transitive Norton and Sir Foebeld.

* GodIsEvil: [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/collected-excerpts-on-the-sea-mother The Sea Mother.]] [[spoiler:Or maybe she's just insane from feeling us moving through her “skin”.]]
* GoneHorriblyWrong: Occurs in [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/the-hybrid The Hybrid.]] Always check the pedigree of your magical ingredients before performing a ritual.
* GreatBigLibraryOfEverything: the library itself
* GrimReaper: He appears in For the Glory.

* TheGunslinger: Simon Heller.
* HappilyEverAfter: [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/a-loaf-story A Loaf Story]] ends with this. [[TearJerker You'll still cry.]]
* HighSchool: I Was A Teenage Cyclops combines traditional teenage drama with Time Cube to great effect, twisting many typical teenage problems in bizarre ways.

* {{Immortality}}: The narrator and his allies in [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/there-were-six-of-us-once There Were Six Of Us Once]], though it's not clear what type they fall under and implied one is eventually killed. [[spoiler:Turns out it makes them prime targets for the SCP Foundation.]] It's also implied the narrator of [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/the-people-i-have-been The People I Have Been]] is this, changing forms regularly to extend his life.

* JerkJock: Wesley from I Date A Teenage Cyclops is a textbook example.

* LaymansTerms: In universe, [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/shortcuts Shortcuts]] is an attempt to use this to make magic comprehensible to the reader.

* LostWoods: The Ravelwoods, described in detail in [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/aframos-introduction The Journal of Aframos Longjourney]], are a textbook example.
* MagicalLibrary

* Myth/NativeAmericanMythology: Surprisingly frequent. Eggshells, [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/sedna-v-arnaaluk-the-qaqulluk Sedna V. Ataciara the Qalluk]], and [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/memoir-of-ongwe-ias Memoir of Ongwe Ias]] are just three examples.

* PassingNotesInClass: The events of [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/i-dated-a-teenage-cyclops-part-one I Date A Teenage Cyclops]] start with this.

* ScienceIsBad: The Rise of the Steam Soul, though it's not science per se.

* {{Skinwalker}}

* TheStoryteller: They appear frequently.
* {{Steampunk}}: The Rise of the Steam Soul.
* StrawNihilist: [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/a-prayer-to-futility A Prayer To Futility]] is written from the perspective of such an individual.

* UpperClassTwit: [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/the-world-of-elrich Elrich]] again. Some of them are cabbages.

* Utopia:[[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/legends-of-midgard the legends of midgard]] has one in a intergalactic level.
* WalkingTheEarth: The Journal of the Walk, The Journal of Aframos Longjourney (in fact, Longjourney is a title specifically given to someone who walks the earth).
* TheWestern: The Unwaking setting.

* ActualPacifist: The monks in [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/pollution Pollution]]. [[KillEmAll It ends poorly]]
* AfterTheEnd: [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/the-cafe The Cafe]], among others.

* TheAllConcealingI: Used to great effect in the Journal of Aframos Longjourney to conceal the fact that [[spoiler: basically every assumption you make about the main character is wrong.]]

* AppealToInherentNature: [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/grandfather-scorpion Grandfather Scorpion]], which directly references the tale of the scorpion and the turtle.

* TheAtoner: The main character in [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/communion Communion]]. Unfortunately, he's past forgiveness.

* ArtificialIntelligence: [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/the-cafe The Cafe]].

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: A Caution to the Wise.
* BellyDancer: The narrator of [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/hips-of-fools Hips of Fools]] meets one on another planet's moon.

* BrotherSisterIncest: Appears in the [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/system:page-tags/tag/haskhakian Haskhian Inscriptions]], as it's based on ancient mythologies.
* CannibalismSuperpower: The driving force behind the events of Abundance.

* UpperClassTwit: Elrich again. Some of them are cabbages.

* UpperClassTwit: Elrich again. Some of them are cabbages.

* GreatBigLibraryOfEverything

* KabbalicGolem: The narrator of "A Caution to the Wise" tells a lord of an Eastern merchant who had a mute clay servant he had brought to life by writing a word on its forehead. Though that's not all — a human soul is needed to make the clay servant functional. The narrator offers to make a clay servant in the lord's likeness to take his place, so that the lord is free to travel the world. The lord agrees and sacrifices a slave for it, which, meaning nothing to him, inspires the narrator to name the clay servant Golem as per its meaning as "formless". After many years, the narrator takes the lord's soul in payment and sets the slave's soul free.

* {{Golem}}: Appears in A Caution to the Wise.

* AllMythsAreTrue: As the library's vast collection comes from a potentially infinite number of universes, planes of existence, and so on, it stands to reason that pretty much anything you can think of is real in at least one of them. And sure enough, there are many stories in the library set in universes where one or several mytical creatures are real.

* AllMythsAreTrue: Almost anything can be found inhabiting the Library or its stories.

* MagicIsEvil: In [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/the-rise-of-the-steam-soul The Rise of the Steam Soul]] mages wage ware against each other with no regard for its effects on others, killing thousands and destroying most of the land.