Line #18 Literature/InTheBlood


1	A work by {{Tropers/Ryumaru}} as a school assignment, [[ShamelessSelfPromotion published]] on his [[https://www.deviantart.com/ryumaru-mg/gallery/26106175/in-the-blood DeviantArt account]], starting on Jun 29, 2010. Not to be confused with InTheBlood, although the work is named after the trope.
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3	Things just aren't going well for [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Bryant]]. He's just trying to drive home when a girl runs out into the street, causing a traffic pileup. Then it turns out she's chased by something that's causing water mains to explode. One such explosion sends her through his windshield, and then... well... things get worse.
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5	Turns out that this girl, Salla, is a [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent werecat in disguise]] and on the run from a [[MadScientist Mad Alchemist]]. Now he gets dragged into her world, and ends up [[LockedIntoStrangeness turning into a human/werecat hybrid himself.]] Now they have to trust each other while running like hell from [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Thanatos]] while [[IndyPloy trying to come up with a plan.]]
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7	(For the Creator/NancyACollins novel of the same name, see ''Literature/SonjaBlue''.)
8	----
9	!!Tropes I included:
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11	%%* ActionGirl: Salla. She's used to doing stuff on the run.
12	* AllJustADream: Bryant initially thinks this when he wakes up with fur, claws, and a tail. Too bad it's not, because then he'd get to score with the head cheerleader.
13	* AppliedPhlebotinum: Not only do cloakers allow various members of TheMasquerade stay HiddenInPlainSight, but it's [[ChekhovsGun how one of the Agents tracks Salla and Jaden to Thanatos' lair.]]
14	* BioAugmentation: What Thanatos is using to beat death. [[spoiler: Salla's his guinea pig, and some of the stuff he's done is pretty creepy.]]
15	* BlindSeer: The old lady Bryant meets on his way out of the hospital. Just like in ''Literature/TheOdyssey''.
16	* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: Those silver keys Jaden picks up from the fairies that waylay them? Turns out silver really screws with potions....]]
17	* CursedWithAwesome: Bryant gets turned into a Beast Brood (human/lycanthrope hybrid) thanks to his blood mingling with Salla's after the accident, so he has to keep his new ears, fur, and tail hidden as part of TheMasquerade, but hey, he's faster and can use LeParkour. [[spoiler: Salla also counts, since Thanatos' experiments were pretty horrific, but her fur's now fireproof and acidproof.]]
18	* {{Determinator}}: Jaden [[CharacterDevelopment has become]] one by the end of the story. [[spoiler: Salla's legs are broken, he's had the hell beat out of him, and they've both just barely survived the climactic battle, and he ''still'' is ready to fight when he thinks Team 18 is going to get in the way of their escape.]]
19	* EarlyBirdCameo: This was intended as a side story to my main books, which I'm still in the process of writing. As such, my main characters get involved. I also throw in a [[TheCameo cameo]] for an OC of a friend's who might or might not show up in the main continuity.
20	* TheEveryman: Bryant started out like this. [[CharacterDevelopment Then the story happens.]]
21	* FireForgedFriends: Bryant/Jaden and Salla. [[spoiler: The ending hints that they might be [[RelationshipUpgrade becoming more than that.]]]]
22	* LargeHam: Thanatos ''really'' plays it up in Book Two. Jaden even [[LampshadeHanging comments on it.]] Also counts as an example of EvilIsHammy.
23	* MadScientist: Thanatos. He wants to be invincible, and he's sure as hell not going to let some petty thing like morality get in his way.
24	* TheMenInBlack: While their job description is the same, Team 18 is most emphatically made up of good guys.
25	* MeaningfulName: Thanatos was named after the Greek god of death, which he's trying to cheat. When Bryant (who's name means "noble." It was actually accidental on my part) changes his name to Jaden Leandros, his selected last name is pidgin-Greek for "lion man." Even his hometown's name, Delphi, is an allusion to Myth/GreekMythology. And yes, it's a real town.
26	* MomentKiller: [[spoiler: Thanatos kills a moment between Jaden/Bryant and Salla. [[AlmostKiss Just when they're about to kiss.]]]]
27	* {{Muggles}}: Bryant starts out as one. Then the story happens. His parents go in for extreme examples, being pretty oblivious to his plight.
28	%%* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: At the climax, for [[spoiler: poor Jaden.]] Ouch.
29	* NotSoGreatEscape: [[spoiler: The escape attempt mounted by the protagonists at the end. It starts out nice, but it gets worse when Salla's leg gets snapped by a particularly large homunculus.]]
30	* NowLetMeCarryYou: Jaden all but says this at the end.
31	* PrecisionFStrike: While there is some mild profanity sprinkled throughout, Salla gets a good one when she discovers her blood has turned Bryant into a Beast Brood.
32	--> '''Salla:''' "Oh, ''shit.''"
33	* RedHerring: Thanatos claims to have homunculi hidden in the Agency. We find out why this is impossible later.
34	%%* RoofHopping: The escape scene in Book Two, sprinkled with a bit of ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia''-styled LeParkour.
35	* SecretIdentity: Bryant is forced to drop his name temporarily as a precaution. Can't let the psychotic BigBad track his family down, can he?
36	* ShoutOut: I'm a huge freaking geek, so I loaded on the shout-outs. Of note is that I practically included a character from another series - Jim Qwilleran, from Literature/TheCatWhoSeries, now runs a local bookstore. There's also a series of [[ShoutOut shout outs]] to Myth/GreekMythology (''Literature/TheOdyssey'' in particular), given that it's what we were studying when it was assigned.
37	* StrappedToAnOperatingTable: [[spoiler: One of the many things Thanatos did to Salla.]]
38	* TakeThat: To ''Literature/TheOdyssey''. Quoth the newly-christened Jaden: "It's better than calling myself Antinous."
39	* ThemeNaming: All of Thanatos' homunculi were going to be named after ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' characters, but I ran out of good ones. So I switched to [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]] and [[Creator/DCComics DC]] comics writers. [[spoiler: Yes, [[Creator/JoeQuesada Quesada]] gets killed brutally. Happy?]]
40	* [[spoiler: TooDumbToLive: Yes, Thanatos, chug the potion you've spent so long on that looks like it's been messed with. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard See what'll happen.]] To be fair, he was already pretty mentally unstable, and just wanted to finally cheat Death.]]
41	* UnwantedAssistance: Salla's initial attitude towards Bryant. [[spoiler: After her legs are broken in their escape, he tells her to shut up and stop complaining.]]
42	* VolcanicVeins: Happens to [[spoiler: Thanatos after doing what's outlined in the above bullet. And it's not without side-effect.]]

Context Literature / InTheBlood