Line #88 Literature/GeistSeries


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/33207275_1924670610900328_8182119836562751488_o_1.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"As with all such stories, it began with a nightmare."'']]
3
4	-> [[AdventuresInComaLand "Welcome to your innermost world...."]]
5	-->-- '''The Impresario'''
6
7	''Geist'' is an ongoing series of [[DarkFantasy Dark]]/UrbanFantasy novels by Fallon O’Neill. Written as a Main/GenreDeconstruction of {{Self Insert Fic}}, the premise is basic enough: Victor Roland, a [[UsefulNotes/HighFunctioningAutism high-functioning autistic]], gets [[DownTheRabbitHole thrust]] into his own dark, gothic world. From there, things take a turn for the weird. Fast.
8
9	The first novel, ''Geist: Prelude'', was published in 2018. It kicks off with Victor's arrival in [[CityNoir Holy Gothica]], an [[DieselPunk industrial city]] under a totalitarian theocracy. Here, [[InspectorJavert Ser Hector Thaddeus]] and his deputy, [[BumblingSidekick Walter Leng]], investigate the latest in a string of grisly murders, only to be reassigned to arrest an "outsider" spotted near the crime scene. Meanwhile, in the slums, Victor learns of portals in televisions, where [[TheHeartless daemons]] lurk in the [[EldritchLocation Inferno]], tied to both his descent and the murders. When he discovers that his friends from "reality," [[EruditeStoner Charles Garner]] and Beatrice Morrison, are trapped in the city as well, Victor resolves to find them, lest they wind up as the [[SerialKiller Dollmaker's]] next victims. [[MistakenForMurderer He doesn't get very far]]. Following his interrogation, Victor forms a [[FireForgedFriends "fellowship"]] with Thaddeus and Leng, joining them in the hope of finding his friends, and perhaps even a way home.
10
11	Released in 2019, ''Geist: Intermezzo'', continues the series with Victor's journey across the [[PollutedWasteland Gotland Wastes]] and his encounters with the [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters Powder Kegs]]. Meanwhile, a [[CreateYourOwnVillain shadow from Thaddeus's past]] makes a [[RoaringRampageofRevenge vindictive]] return. The third novel, ''Geist: Scherzo,'' concludes the MurderMystery arc and was published in 2021. The fourth novel, ''Geist: Allegro,'' begins the WarArc and was published in 2023.
12
13	An essential part of ''Geist'' is SummonMagic. Taking the image of SilentMovie icons, [[GuardianEntity "geists"]] are living facets of the human psyche born of [[EnlightenmentSuperpower self-actualization]]. WordOfGod confirms ''Geist'' draws heavily from works such as ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', ''VideoGame/Persona4'', and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. However, it's also meant to criticize WishFulfillment and the stereotypes of HollywoodAutism in equal measure. In fact, the series uses Creator/DanteAlighieri as a recurring symbol to highlight the hazy line between fan fiction and literature. Not to be confused with the video game, ''VideoGame/{{Geist}}''.
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15	----
16	!!This series provides examples of:
17
18	* AbandonedLaboratory: The Lazarlarger.
19	* AbandonedPlayground: Victor comes across a particularly creepy one in ''Prelude''.
20	* ActionGirl: Beatrice always had shades of this. Come ''Intermezzo'', she's a fully-fledged member of the Powder Kegs and wields a broadsword, like [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud Strife]] with [[GenderFlip boobs]].
21	* ALighterShadeOfGrey: Thaddeus is this compared to most of the Imperium.
22	* ApatheticCitizens: The people of Holy Gothica are somewhere between this and ConditionedToAcceptHorror.
23	* ApocalypticLog: In ''Intermezzo'', the vox-logs scattered throughout the Lazarlager, [[spoiler:Thaddeus and Ingrid's shared hellscape]], document just how the Purgatorio Project [[GoneHorriblyWrong went so horribly wrong]].
24	* TheArchmage: While it's ambiguous just how powerful the Impresario is, no one else in the setting comes remotely close to his level of influence over the Symphonia Mundi, [[spoiler: except for the Director of Pestilence]].
25	* BadassPreacher: Thaddeus is an imposing hulk of metal and wheels.
26	* BadMoonRising: Implied in ''Prelude''. [[spoiler: Played straight in ''Intermezzo''.]]
27	* BigGood: The Impresario is Victor's first consultant and spurs him on his journey, while remaining backstage and supervising his progress from afar.
28	* BrownNote: The Cacophony, as seen with the Thirteenth Frequency and the Inferno.
29	* BumblingSidekick: Leng is this to Thaddeus.
30	* TheCasino: Xanadu is basically the setting's [[LasVegas Vegas]].
31	* CharlieAndTheChocolateParody: Downplayed. ''Scherzo'' takes inspiration from Film/CitizenKane and Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory with Edgar and Xanadu.
32	* ChildSoldiers: Ingrid is a particularly tragic example.
33	* TheChosenOne: Deconstructed with Victor, who is well aware of his own [[TheChosenZero shortcomings and incompetence]], despite Holy Gothica existing in his own MentalWorld.
34	* ChurchMilitant: Most of the Imperium, but especially the [[StateSec Inquisition]]. Thaddeus is a noteworthy example, even by Imperial standards, but his ethics and methods are considered archaic at best.
35	* CircusOfFear: One of the many forms the Inferno takes. In ''Prelude'', Charles's repressed emotions manifest as a psychedelic circus train, symbolizing his midlife crisis and self-loathing.
36	* CityInABottle: Downplayed. Holy Gothica and the Gotland Wastes are the only parts of the setting explored in ''Geist'' so far, but other nations are mentioned and explicitly named by ''Intermezzo''.
37	* CityNoir: Between the sunless ghettos, corrupt law enforcement, and no shortage of dive bars, Holy Gothica has more than a few trappings of DetectiveFiction.
38	* CreateYourOwnVillain: While its unclear how Ingrid knows Thaddeus, she holds him personally responsible for her own misery and tragic past. [[spoiler: Turns out, her reasons are quite sympathetic, if not valid]].
39	* CreepyGood: The Impresario comes off as the lovechild of [[{{VideoGame/Bloodborne}} Gehrman]], [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4 Ramon Salazar]], and [[{{Franchise/Persona}} Igor]], but is nonetheless one of Victor's greatest and most reliable allies.
40	* CrystalDragonJesus: Holy Gothica is a totalitarian theocracy a la ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. Besides the confessionals, martyrs and saints, we don't see much of the church-state's practices. That said, religious propaganda is omnipresent in daily life. From the Holy Pontiff and Empress and the Apostolic Palace, to the Ecclesiarchs of the Imperial Senate, and the Inquisition, the climate of terror is reminiscent of 20th century dictatorships, such as UsefulNotes/TheFrancoRegime, while keeping a distinctly faux-Catholic flavor.
41	* {{Cyborg}}: Thaddeus, complete with ArtificialLimbs and VaderBreath.
42	* DarkFantasy
43	* DefectiveDetective: Leng is many things. Classy is ''not'' among them.
44	* {{Determinator}}: Victor.
45	* DieselPunk: ''Geist'' may take place in one city in a wasteland, but Holy Gothica's technology is on par with most industrialized nations of the mid-20th century.
46	* DisposableSexWorker: Deconstructed. The Dollmaker Murders are PlayedForDrama and nearly all of the victims are sex workers from Yoshiwara, [[spoiler:including Yuko]].
47	* DoomTroops: The Stromtrooper Corps serve as the Inquisition's grunts and front-line muscle. Although known for their [[FacelessMooks anonymity]], [[GasMaskLongcoat uniform]], and [[PoliceBrutality violent tactics]], they're pretty expendable compared to other Imperial agents.
48	* DownTheRabbitHole: The Inferno can only be entered through television screens during the [[{{TheHiddenHour}} Devil's Hour]], when the [[RealityBleed fabric of reality is thinner]] and [[OurDemonsAreDifferent daemons]] creep into the city.
49	* DystopiaIsHard: Holy Gothica has been in decline for a while now.
50	* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler:The Directors of Pestilence and Famine]].
51	* EldritchLocation: The Inferno does ''not'' obey the laws of physics. Mirroring the collective unconsciousness of humanity, it's less of a "hell" per se, and more of the BlackBugRoom of Holy Gothica. The [[SerialKiller Dollmaker]] uses it as his ''modus operandi''. The Opera House is much more benevolent example, being the sanctuary of the [[SpiritAdvisor Impresario]] and the [[GuardianEntity geists]] themselves.
52	* TheEmperor: Empress Johanna d'Gothica.
53	* TheEmpire: The Third Gothic Imperium.
54	* EnemyWithout: An inner daemon is someone's own suppressed thoughts given form, a la ''VideoGame/Persona4''. They lurk in within one's circle of hell, an extension of their emotions, warped by the Inferno's influence. If a person [[ShutUpHannibal denies their own daemon]], it will [[OneWingedAngel transform into a psychotic monster]] and go for the kill. However, should a person accept their own daemon, it will calm and ascend, [[EnlightenmentSuperpowers awakening as a geist]].
55	* EruditeStoner: Charles is described as such word for word.
56	* FantasyGunControl: Averted. Holy Gothica may be a feudalistic church-state, but it uses technology ranging from steam engines to wireless communication, including firearms straight out of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.
57	* FascistButInefficient: The totalitarian government of Holy Gothica is as oppressive as it is incompetent. Due to political corruption, broken bureaucracy, and dysfunctional infrastructure and power grids, heresy and crime are endemic, but the sheer inefficiency of the state is equally destructive.
58	* FireForgedFriends: Victor and Thaddeus gradually grow on each other.
59	* GasMaskMooks: Justified. The Stormtrooper Corps wear UsefulNotes/{{World War I}}-style gas masks and police the Leper Quarter, a quarantine zone for the [[HatePlague leprosy outbreaks]].
60	* GenreDeconstruction: Of SelfInsertFic and WishFulfillment. ''Geist'' explores just how traumatizing being [[TrappedInAnotherWorld dragged into a fantasy world]] would actually be.
61	* GuardianEntity: Geists are of the FightingSpirit variety. Themed on [[SilentMovie silent film]] characters, a geist reflects an individual's psyche, as a form of EnlightenmentSuperpower.
62	* HatePlague: In ''Geist'', [[InNameOnly leprosy]] has additional symptoms such as aggression, paranoia, and psychosis.
63	* HauntedTechnology: The daemons are able to manipulate the radio waves of Holy Gothica, inducing the [[BrownNote Thirteenth Frequency]], and creep into the city through electronics.
64	* TheHeartless: Daemons are born of negative and repressed emotions.
65	* HellholePrison: From what little we've seen, the Palace of Justice is not a nice place.
66	* HeroicNeutral: Victor's moral compass in a nutshell.
67	* TheHiddenHour: The Devil's Hour is caused by the [[HauntedTechnology Thirteenth Frequency]], a BrownNote which high-jacks the city's radio broadcasts every midnight.
68	* HollywoodAutism: Averted. Victor's personality is largely independent from his neurological differences. Though easily distracted, obsessive, and inept at non-verbal communication, he sees the world in ways others cannot, and is the first character to awaken to a [[GuardianEntity geist]].
69	* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Yuko is a kind yet troubled SexBot who works at the Sunset Pagoda. Victor takes a liking to her, [[spoiler:and ends up losing his virginity to her. Free of charge.]]
70	* IndustrialGhetto: Nearly all of the Serfdoms are composed of these.
71	* InspectorJavert: Thaddeus starts off as this. A mid-ranking inquisitor suffering from BlackAndWhiteInsanity, he arrests and [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique interrogates]] Victor when the latter is MistakenForMurderer. Thaddeus is a CowboyCop, but gradually warms up to Victor after witnessing his courage. By the end of ''Prelude'', they've developed an OddFriendship. [[spoiler:However, it doesn't earn him the forgiveness of the people whose lives he's ruined]].
72	* InvisibleToNormals: Most people are unaware of the [[TheHiddenHour Devil's Hour]], due to [[TimeStandsStill freezing]] in place as gargoyle-like statues. Time resumes when the hour ends.
73	* JustFollowingOrders: Holy Gothica has many good people in it, but the city's downward spiral can be attributed to a lethal dose of this and ApatheticCitizens.
74	* LaResistance: The Powder Kegs, or Lepers Liberation Front, are a [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized militant insurgency]] of ex-cons, wasteland raiders, and heretics united by hope and hatred. Members range from [[KnightInSourArmor Knights in Sour Armor]] with skin conditions to AxCrazy war criminals. According to [[RebelLeader Goro Ludwig]], they started off as a human rights organization but were forced into radicalism as the Imperium's tyranny worsened.
75	* LayeredMetropolis: Holy Gothica is [[UrbanSegregation starkly divided]] by the Iron Sky into the [[HolyCity City Above]] and the [[IndustrialGhetto Serfdoms]]. The plates beneath the Apostolic Palace bolt out nearly all sunlight from the derelict slums, supported by an infrastructural nightmare of ductworks, railways, power lines, and the AbsurdlySpaciousSewer.
76	* TheLifestream: The Symphonia Mundi is a metaphysical plane existing parallel to Holy Gothica, mirroring the collective unconsciousness of humanity, and functions as the setting's afterlife.
77	* LightIsNotGood: Holy Gothica is a city of cathedrals. Its also a nightmarish police state.
78	* MagicMusic: The Symphonia Mundi is the SentientCosmicForce of [[OrderVersusChaos Order]]. By extension, nearly all supernatural elements of ''Geist'' are tied to this trope.
79	* MentalMonster: The inner daemons, especially after they go OneWingedAngel.
80	* MentalWorld: It's ambiguous as to what degree, but Holy Gothica ''is'' bound to Victor's imagination to some extent. The chances of it being an AlternateDimension are the same as it being AllJustADream, with the latter having some [[DreamApocalypse pretty horrifying implications]].
81	* TheMessiah: Played with. Despite Victor's title being, the Far Messiah, [[TheChosenZero he doesn't exactly act the part]]. His list of deeds has a lot more weight. Victor has gathered a party of TrueCompanions from various walks of life, ranging from reformed [[TheWitchHunter Witch Hunters]] to a HookerWithAHeartOfGold, many of whom he RescuedFromTheUnderworld, helping them confront their own repressed emotions (ie. sins) in the process. Victor also tends to befriend vagrants and undesirables, and outright lives in [[RedLightDistrict Yoshiwara]] by the end of ''Intermezzo''. [[spoiler:His first true miracle would be defeating the [[PlagueMaster Director of Pestilence]], which heralded the end of the leprosy epidemic.]]
82	* MistakenForMurderer: How Victor gets arrested and meets Thaddeus and Leng.
83	* MonsterClown: The Ringmaster, Charles's inner daemon, has this vibe.
84	* MoralityPet: Victor is this to Thaddeus.
85	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Thaddeus has a few of these. [[spoiler: Most notably, when he recovers his repressed memories, relearning that he partook in a series of crimes against humanity that caused the Devil's Hour, kick-starting the entire plot]].
86	* NewAgeRetroHippie: Charles.
87	* NoodleIncident: Justified ''and'' Played for Drama. The Purgatorio Project is one of the Imperium's darkest secrets and expunged from every record in the [[VastBureaucracy Central Sevitorium]]. Even Thaddeus, who served as a security enforcer, [[LaserGuidedAmnesia cannot remember]] [[spoiler:that his own naivete contributed to its catastrophic failure, binding the Inferno to Holy Gothica's power grid, while rendering Ingrid a traumatized husk of child with psychic powers]].
88	* ObstructiveBureaucrat: The Central Servitorium is run by these, particularly [[{{Jerkass}} Brendel]].
89	* OminousFog: A recurring motif in the series.
90	* OurDemonsAreDifferent: Daemons are manifestations of humanity's emotions. [[TheHeartless They're]] [[MentalMonster not]] [[EnemyWithout friendly]].
91	* OurMonstersAreWeird: Daemons range from [[BlobMonster slithering puddles of ichor]] to [[MurderousMannequin mannequin-like fiends]], running on SurrealHorror and a CreepyDoll motif. Of course, [[GuardianEntity geists]] aren't any less strange.
92	* PhlebotinumInducedSteampunk: The Industrial Revolution seems to have arrived early in ''Geist'' and was accelerated by the discovery of [[{{Unobtainium}} azoth]], the mineral residue of the [[TheLifestream Symphonia Mundi]].
93	* PipeMaze: Justified. Holy Gothica runs on [[PhlebotinumInducedSteampunk Phlebotinum-Induced]] DieselPunk through the use of azoth reactors, which work a lot like nuclear power plants. The city-wide ductworks function as a waste-disposal system, dumping the hazardous material in the [[PollutedWasteland Gotland Wastes]].
94	* PollutedWasteland: The Gotland Wastes are ravaged by radiation, used as a landfill by Holy Gothica. Only stone quarries, oil rigs, a few hamlets, such as Gastown, and the hidden fortress of Haizara are found here.
95	* PowersThatBe: Whatever the Impresario is, he's almost certainly one of these.
96	* PsychicPowers: Ingrid's ESP-like abilities are this, as opposed to Victor's [[SummonMagic power of]] [[GuardianEntity geist]].
97	* PsychologicalTormentZone: The Inferno runs on this.
98	* PunchClockVillains: While they cope in very different ways, Thaddeus and Leng are this at their core.
99	* QuarantineWithExtremePrejudice: The Leper Quarter is the long-term result of this protocol. It contains the HatePlague in a fairly controlled ghetto, but the people inside are condemned to death by disease. [[spoiler:In ''Intermezzo'', we learn it doubles as a convenient way to dispose of political dissidents]].
100	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Deconstructed. Thaddeus is remembered as a war criminal by everyone, except for Victor and possibly Leng. While sympathetic to his mentor, Victor knows that Thaddeus's penitence and death won't repair the damage that's been done. Even Thaddeus himself recognizes this, and pleads for Victor to "be better than him". The weight of Thaddeus's death also leads into Ingrid's descent into madness]].
101	* RedLightDistrict: Yoshiwara zig-zags between all three variants.
102	* RescuedFromTheUnderworld: Victor performs a series of rescue missions into the Inferno, saving people who've been thrown in by the [[SerialKiller Dollmaker]]. Bonus points for Victor's geist being Dante.
103	* SadClown: Charles's "stoner humor" is a coping mechanism.
104	* SentientCosmicForce: The Symphonia Mundi underpins the world of ''Geist'' and is the source of the setting's supernatural elements. It even as a [[TheDarkSide dark side]] in the form of the [[BrownNote Cacophony]].
105	* SerialKiller: The Dollmaker, who drives the majority of the plot.
106	* SpiritAdvisor: The Impresario. Victor interacts with him exclusively while asleep.
107	* StateSec: The Inquisition is a paramilitary organization of the Imperium. It exists to purge any sign of dissent, often delegating more petty investigations to lower-ranking agents, such as Thaddeus and Leng.
108	* SummonMagic: How calling a geist works.
109	* TechnicallyLivingZombie: Lepers often degenerate into these [[spoiler:due to daemons gnawing at their sanity from months to years on end]].
110	* ToBeLawfulOrGood: A huge part of Thaddeus's CharacterDevelopment.
111	* ToughLeaderFacade: Deconstructed. Empress Johanna keeps a stoic facade to maintain order, but her policies are utterly totalitarian. [[spoiler:So much, in fact, that she excommunicates Thaddeus and Leng, and tries to have them assassinated via firing squad]].
112	* TrappedInAnotherWorld: Forms the MythArc.
113	* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Victor, Charles, and Beatrice fit this dynamic.
114	* {{Unobtainium}}: Azoth, the mineral residue of the [[TheLifestream Symphonia Mundi]], is roughly analogous to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Mako]].
115	* UnwillingRoboticisation: Labori are criminals and heretics who were lobotomized and grafted for various purposes. They range from EliteMooks to [[RobotMaid Robot Maids]], but were all [[WasOnceAMan human at one point]].
116	* UrbanFantasy
117	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Thaddeus and Ingrid both start off as this, though they're on opposite sides of the battle and handle things very differently.
118	* TheWonka: Edgar Muncheasuen.
119	* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: A major theme of ''Intermezzo''.
120	* {{Zeerust}}: Done intentionally. Technology in ''Geist'' is anachronistic, making the setting seem both futuristic and retro, with many [[ShoutOut Shout-Outs]] to history and pop culture.

Context Literature / GeistSeries