Line #21 WebOriginal/Unichat


1	->''"I love how we somehow reached the point of plot twists existing in the reader comments wtf"''
2	->--'''Seabiscuit''', ''{{Unichat}}'' reader
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4	''[[http://unichat.thecomicseries.com/ Unichat]]'' is a text-based {{webcomic}} by Naomi "Xenocartographer" Coffman, told entirely through chat logs on the titular program. While at first appearing to be a niche SliceOfLife comic, the story quickly takes a hard left into sci-fi, with a moon base, theoretical physics, TimeTravel, and computer programming all factoring heavily into the plot. More recently, the comic has started [[PlayingWithATrope playing games with]] the [[NoFourthWall fourth wall]]. The comic is hosted on Platform/ComicFury, which is something of a testament to the power of that site's template engine.
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6	Unichat has rebooted once before, with the author considering the previous version something on an OldShame, according to TheRant. While the plot is somewhat different and the world is much, ''much'' more fleshed out, all the tropes of the original apply in the reboot.
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8	----
9
10	!!''Unichat'' provides examples of:
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12	* AerithAndBob: Variant. The names of characters revealed are quite mundane, but since most characters are only known by their chat names, very few of them sound as such. Usernames run the gamut from the fairly normal ([=EntropicPhantom=], Bulwark) to the silly (pwnz0rz, Admiral Pancake) to the ridiculous (OITHEOI, bloodshoes).
13	* [[TheAllegedCar The Alleged Space Station]]: The moon base where Sonja lives is prone to electrical failures, to the point that an entire sector losing life support is considered a minor inconvenience. On the other hand, the station is large enough that abandoning such an area isn't a big deal, it does good science, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking has a coffee-delivery robot]]. Sonja explains that the contract was awarded to the lowest bidder - namely, Pancake Enterprises.
14	* AlmightyJanitor: Chat administrator [=GodsOfOlympus=] has special protections granted by none less than the ''United Nations''. Ostensibly, this is because Unichat has become the ''de facto'' communications standards in the post-Gaian era.
15	* AnotherDimension: The alternate pwnz0rzes appear to be from TimeTravel-induced DarkWorld versions of the main timeline. One fan theory speculates that Etamnanki may be AnotherDimension of its own.
16	* AuthorAvatar: Not only does the author self-insert, the ''readers'' show up in canon!
17	* BigGood: What the chat administrator, [=GodsOfOlympus=], may be, if he's not an OutsideContextProblem.
18	* CannotSpitItOut: Early on in the comic, [=EntropicPhantom=] and [=SonjaOfTheMoon=] have difficulty confessing their feelings for each other. They get over it within the first fifty pages, but it had apparently been a long-term problem before the events of the comic.
19	* TheChessmaster: Many, ''many'' possibilities, to the point of fan-term "the chess club" showing up to refer to them. Four different users have expressed a desire to take over the world, and other powers such as [=GodsOfOlympus=], Orlov, [[spoiler: Athena]], and [[spoiler: meta's dad]] all have their own objectives as well.
20	* ChurchMilitant: The Gaian faith, whose nuclear arsenal is responsible for the setting's SchizoTech and rendering India uninhabitable. They were more or less wiped out after WorldWarIII, but a few encampments of the die-hard faithful remain scattered across the globe.
21	** A figure known only as Unus_Relicum is referred to as a "Gaian agitator", and [[spoiler: Vampire]] still has some Gaian assets under their control, implying that they still have some relevance.
22	** After his election, Orlov confirms reports of peaceful Gaian outposts in Russian territory.
23	* CrossPlayer: In [[FictionalVideoGame Hades Realm]], [=EntropicPhantom=] and Sonja's character classes are called, respectively, priestess and prince. In-universe, the general attitude seems to be "eh".
24	* {{Cyberspace}}: [[AvertedTrope Averted]], perhaps surprisingly.
25	* ColorCodedCharacters: Each character has their own chat color. (Interestingly, the same holds true for readers in the comments.)
26	* EldritchAbomination: Gaia, if [[spoiler:meta's dad]] is to be believed. Etamnanki may qualify as well.
27	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Sonja's username is [=SonjaOfTheMoon=], and she lives on the moon.
28	* FourLinesAllWaiting: Related to the ongoing GambitPileup.
29	* FriendlessBackground: Sonja grew up on a moon base with only one other person her age, who she does not get along with. Poor girl...
30	* FriendlyEnemies: Rasputin and Vampire very much appear to be military rivals, but enjoy casual chitchat, refer to each other as friends, and even use hugging emotes in the chat. Rasputin even staged a battle with Vampire for the explicit purpose of cheering her up.
31	* GambitPileup: Oh, gods, where to begin? Theo vs. Rasputin, Rasputin vs. Vampire, Pancake vs. ''everyone'', with [=GodsOfOlympus=] messing with them all for his own ends... [[OutsideContextVillain maybe]], and that's not even getting into the TimeTravel.
32	* GenreBusting: Whether Unichat is actually a comic is a matter of some dispute, with one reviewer suggesting "[[https://flypaperreviews.tumblr.com/post/157735210051/ webscript]]" as a replacement.
33	* INeedAFreakingDrink: The first alternate pwnz0rz, on multiple occasions.
34	* InstantAIJustAddWater: Sonja gets [=OITHEOI=]'s [=AI=] working within a matter of weeks. In fairness, she'd just inherited several years of development on it, and it's implied that technologies like [=AI=] were online or close to it before [[WorldWarIII the Gaian outbreak]]; it's more that no one'd bothered to build one for lack of hardware that could run it.
35	* InteractiveComic: Comments formatted as a chat message will be delivered to their intended recipient. Interestingly, this is treated as an in-universe phenomenon.
36	* LanguageOfMagic: While not "magic" 'per se', the @hena programming language [[spoiler: (from which the Athena [=AI=] was born)]] can interact with reality in unusual ways, such as vaporizing [=CPUs=], stealing data from an unpowered hard drive, or [[MundaneUtility summoning coffee]], through "[[TechnoBabble vacuum perturbations]]". It's explicitly stated that it can only run on hardware designed with certain quantum mechanical effects in mind, however.
37	* LeetLingo: pwnz0rz' username.
38	* MentalWorld: One theory about Admiral Pancake's mysterious Etamnanki, which has been seen interacting with Anarchon's dream states.
39	* MergedReality: [[spoiler: Gaia]] prefers merging timelines to simply erasing them. Since time travel works by forking reality, exploiting this is necessary if the time traveler actually get to the new timeline.
40	* MindManipulation: Vampire may have some variety of this ability.
41	* NarrativeProfanityFilter: The chat client has a filter. Often used for jokes. [[RougeAnglesOfSatin pwnz0rz]] often gets away with swearing due to a well-timed typo, and the rogue administrator can swear by virtue of bypassing the chat altogether. This does not apply to the comments.
42	* NoIndoorVoice: Anarchon uses frequent [=CAPS LOCK=], and even when he's not, the general aggressiveness of his messages cause him to seem loud anyway.
43	* NoNameGiven: Many characters are known only by their username. Most of the main casts' first names have been revealed, but few last names. Exaggerated with a rogue Unichat administrator, who posts directly in the comments without even a username.
44	* TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The majority of the villains who, in turn, are coming to regard [[InteractiveComic the readers]] this way.
45	* OurGraphicsWillSuckInTheFuture: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]]. A [[WorldWarIII nuclear war]] in the backstory set some areas of human technology back a few decades. Whether or not there's more to it is a matter of some debate.
46	* OutsideContextProblem: [=GodsOfOlympus=] implies that he's investigating one, and has cited world domination as beneath his notice. Given his status in the United Nations, this may even be true... if he's not one himself. Sonja [[http://unichat-comic.com/comics/15 references]] ''Literature/{{Excession}}'' when describing Gaia, but she may have been speaking metaphorically.
47	* PromotionToParent: Implied with Bulwark, who seems to singlehandedly care for her psychotic younger brother.
48	* RougeAnglesOfSatin: pwnz0rz standard typing style.
49	* SchizoTech: Moon bases, commercial spacecraft, an [[ArtificialIntelligence AI]]... and a chat client that wouldn't look out of place in the 70s.
50	* ShoutOut: To [[VideoGame.FreeSpace2]], of all things, in the peculiar spelling of "Et'''a'''mnanki". The author's stated that ''Nauticus'' and ''Iolanthe'' are references to [[VideoGame.BluePlanet Blue Planet]].
51	** Multiple characters seem fond of ''Literature/TheCulture''.
52	* ThemeNaming: All of Admiral Pancake's minions, besides [[spoiler: the pwnz0rz duplicates]], have a name ending in "conspirator". While the first part of the name appears to be fairly arbitrary, conspirators assigned to the same team begin with the same letter.
53	* TechnoBabble: Some, but generally somewhat meaningful to those versed in higher mathematics.
54	* TimeMaster: pwnz0rz... [[AvertedTrope isn't]], but alternate timeline versions of him show up in the service of [[spoiler: Admiral Pancake]]. [[spoiler: That said, pwnz0rz himself has on one occasion sent a cryptic message to one of the alts with the ?? timestamp associated with time travel.]]
55	* UnwittingPawn: The "chess club" seem fond of using each other this way, though the degree of unwittingness is a matter of some debate. Chat administrator [=GodsOfOlympus=] gets in on the action from time to time.
56	* WebcomicTime: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. Timestamps on every message and occasional datestamps do a pretty good job of keeping things synced up.

Context WebOriginal / Unichat