->''"The way I heard it, the founders felt that being forced to kill random monsters would somehow give the students a valuable experience… you know, help us build character? How getting into fights is supposed to make somebody a better sorcerer or bard is beyond me…"''
-->--'''Steff''', ''Tales of MU''

''Tales of MU'' is an online erotic fiction series. Originally described by the author as an experiment in using [=LiveJournal=] to promote her stories, it has since taken on a life of its own. The first four plotlines have been collected into print editions.

The story revolves around the life of Mackenzie "Mack" Blaise, a self-hating half-demon freshman student at Magisterius University, a college of enchantment in an alternate universe where DungeonsAndDragons-style fantasy and magic exist in place of modern technology. While not quite a {{deconstruction}}, it makes frequent joking allusions to common tropes of fantasy gaming.

The story frequently veers off into sexual territory, arguably at the expense of the plot, but usually by offering a different take on a difficult or sensitive topic. For instance, the second book offered Mackenzie's attempt to describe in first-person narrative her first orgasm, without her realizing that's what she was having.

The series has a well-developed cast of recurring characters, but the "core" cast is roughly as follows:
* Mack, of course. We eventually learn that her hang-ups are due to [[spoiler:the fact that her mother died when she was nine, leaving Mack to be raised by her demon-hunter grandmother. There are suggestions that some of granny's decisions were justified, but she also made some clear cock-ups, including ''death threats'' to get Mack to behave.]]
* Amaranth, a nymph with an excessive need to see the good in everyone. In spite of this flaw, on the whole she turns out to be an extraordinarily good influence on Mack. Eventually revealed that [[spoiler:her personality is a result of a socially-awkward twelve year old interfering with her creation process. He wanted Amaranth basically to be a savior-of-nerds, then was too afraid to have any contact with her, leaving her in the dark about the whole thing.]]
* Steff, a transgendered half-elf necromancy student. She is dating a half-ogre prince and plans on becoming his TortureTechnician after college. Steff's characterization uses a number of villain tropes in a hard-to-quantify way, as we never see her in the ogre kingdom, and her time in college is the main story as opposed to a flashback, prequel, etc. See various villain origin tropes like StartOfDarkness and FreudianExcuse. SympatheticPOV is also important here, as is the possibility she's overly wed to the idea that EvilIsCool. [[spoiler: Offer her well-cooked human flesh. Threaten a genuinely scared girl with pliers. She doesn't react to these things ''remotely'' the way she expects herself to.]]
* [[YouAreNumberSix Two]], a golem. She was designed to want to do what she's told, then set free when her creator's wife was creeped out. She initally has to be given specific instructions on how to act like a normal person, but has slowly become more self-sufficient and independent. She replaces Puddy (see below) as Mack's roommate.
* Ian, the most prominent full human in the story. He acts as the representative of normalcy, although he has [[IncrediblyLamePun his own demons]], most involving [[spoiler: his relationship with his father]].
* Dee, a dark elf, although her people call themselves simply "elves" and call the other kind of elves faint elves. She is a good friend of Two's, and is growing to be a good friend of Mack's. She veers between friendship and irritation with Steff, with whom she has serious disagreements on pretty much everything. She is a priestess of Arakhis, the dark elf goddess, and is studying to be a Subtle Arts (telepathy) major, which proves to be helpful when [[spoiler: Mack is possessed]]. She is usually the most serious-minded and level-headed of the central characters, and has a rather dry wit.

The major antagonists (to date):
* Puddy, PsychoLesbian and, at first appearance, ManipulativeBastard. Although still a recurring character, her reign as a serious antagonist comes to an end pretty quickly in-story, though in terms of [[WebcomicTime publishing/writing time this takes much longer.]] She all but disappeared from the story for a long while. WordOfGod is that the author didn't feel the original situation was sustainable.
* Sooni, fox-girl from the series' FantasyCounterpartCulture for Japan. Her characterization follows a similar path to Puddy: she starts out as TheLibby, but her actual social skills turn out to be quite limited, and her entourage of [[CatGirl nekoyokai]] "friends" is actually composed of slaves. (This is kept secret, as legally slaves wouldn't be allowed to attend college.) Unlike Puddy, she hasn't fallen off the radar: current characterization veers from comic to terrifying, as she tyrannizes her "friends," especially the sympathetically-portrayed Kai.
* Mur-Si (also "Mercy"), owner of Tender Mercy's, a shop that specializes in [[ImAHumanitarian preparing people-meat for consumption.]] She is of indeterminate race and claims to be half dark elf and half faint elf, but Steff and Dee both claim this is too disgusting a possibility to be true. She's obscenely wealthy, keeps half-demons as pets, and wants to [[spoiler: either enslave Mack or breed her to one of her male pets so she can have a female.]]
* [[spoiler:A full blooded demon known only as [[FanNickname Mack Daddy]]. He's been seen in bonus stories with Mack's mother, and has so far appeared to Mack twice in dreams. Immediately after the first dream, all Mack's toiletries were spiked with a potion to make people express their innermost feelings - presumably to bring out her evil side, though it didn't quite work out that way. His exact motivations are unknown, but they probably ain't good.]]

[[http://www.talesofmu.com/story/ The story can be found here.]] (Definitely [[NotSafeForWork NSFW]]! Unless, ya know, nobody at your work reads English? Actually what the heck are you doing HERE if you're at work anyway? Get back to your slave labours, corporate grunt!)
----
!!This story provides examples of:

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation -- According to the author this is by design.
* AntiClimax -- The story spent a few years in real time [[WebcomicTime (a few months in-story)]] using backstory snippets to set up Mackenzie's grandmother as a [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation very complex character]] who genuinely loves Mack even though she sometimes [[KnightTemplarParent has an odd way of expressing it]]. But when we finally actually meet her in-story, she's an [[CharacterDerailment obnoxious one-dimensional obstructionist]] combining all the worst traits of a [[StrawmanPolitical Straw Conservative]] and a [[MyBelovedSmother Beloved Grandsmother]], who gives the audience (and the characters!) absolutely no reason to sympathize with her viewpoint.
* AnythingThatMoves -- Or nearly so, for the nymphs; [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the fact that they live on sexual energy.
* ArchiveBinge -- Just over 400 chapters at the time of this edit.
* ArtificialHuman -- Two.
* ArtifactOfDoom -- [[spoiler: The pitchfork]].
* AuthorAppeal -- Pretty much everyone in the story's universe seems to be turned on by one aspect or another of [=BDSM=].
* AuthorFilibuster: -- When Mackenzie finally learns Steff's "secret", the readers are suddenly subjected to a long and jarring explanation about what being a transsexual is ''really'' like, drawn mostly from the author's own childhood experiences.
* BattleButler -- Maliko and Suzi - both secretly detest most of Sooni's antics but will fight for her in an instant; also, Maliko is more genuinely malicious than Sooni.
* BerserkButton -- A number of characters - it's a tense bunch.
** Don't insult a gnome's parents - that gnome will jack you right up.
** Similarly, don't say or write the Dark Elf nicknamed Dee's real name and forget to include her mother's name - even when quoting her in a newspaper. [[spoiler: She'll, er, repeatedly and politely explain the problem and request an apology and correction, then stage a peaceful protest outside your office when firmly refused.]]
** Threatening Mack in any fashion is a good way to bring out the ManipulativeBastard in Amaranth, with only one major exception to date.
* BigBad -- Mercy has only appeared twice, but she could quite possibly end up being this, as she apparently wants to [[spoiler: acquire the main character to breed an army of demonspawn to take over the world.]]
** [[spoiler:Mack Daddy is also a good candidate.]]
* BlessedWithSuck -- Mack can only be harmed by magic...in a setting where magic items are more common than concluded plot threads. She's also ''very'' vulnerable to divine energy, especially if it's Khersis-based
* BrokenAesop -- A few times characters stop to AuthorFilibuster about how important it is to follow certain rules, methodology, and so on in a dom/sub relationship. These same characters, and others, then go on to bend or break nearly all those rules, with no apparent backlash from the story or other characters.
** The author did point out in the FAQ that the excessive-harm aspect of this is countered by various characters being invulnerable, possessed of regeneration powers, or just having easy access to magical healing.
* ButtMonkey -- Mackenzie, Two to a degree in the early chapters.
* CatGirl -- Maliko, Suzi, and Kai have a decidedly feline appearance. Sooni, although technically a foxgirl, fits the stereotypical "catgirl" image (human but with prominent fox ears and a tail).
* ContinuityOverlap -- When Mackenzie's clothes, hospital bed, and knife disappeared in a botched teleportation spell, they all appeared in other stories by the author. Her bra is still missing in action.
* CrystalDragonJesus -- Khersis, "Kherstianity", "Mechans". (With bonus actual crystal dragon in the mythology.)
* CursedWithAwesome -- Mack, though when she goes without "food" for too long the curse becomes somewhat more clear...
* CuteMonsterGirl -- Several!
** Subverted with the half-ogres, as Victor is described as better looking than Belinda.
* DefeatMeansFriendship -- Subverted with Sooni's relationship to Mack. [[ZigZaggingTrope Except when it isn't]]
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything -- Once a month, Mack turns into a murderous psychopath, and the only cure is bleeding. The difference being that it's somebody ''else's'' blood, not hers. It doesn't save her from having to do the real thing, either.
** A lot of the handling of FantasticRacism involves analogues to real groups, like the Dark Elves to Middle Easterners, complete with corresponding ethnic slurs like "cowlhead" and "spider jockey".
* DomesticAbuse -- Puddy and Mariel. Puddy and ''Mack'', while roommates and "friends". Ian's father and mother. Some of Ian's encounters with Mack, despite her loving every minute of it, strike him as uncomfortably close.
* DontYouDarePityMe -- Kai hates how Sooni treats her, but she doesn't take efforts by Mack and friends to assist her very well.
* DungeonPunk -- Advanced magic and historical resemblances makes life in the Imperial Republic seem to resemble contemporary America...except when it doesn't.
* DysfunctionJunction -- Apparently the main criteria for being assigned to Harlowe Dorm is being monumentally screwed up, by human standards at least. If they're not hung up about sex in some obscure way or violently racist then they've likely got even worse problems.
* 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.
* EpiphanyTherapy -- Mackenzie goes from being ultra shy and sexually hung up to obnoxious and promiscuous in the course of three to four weeks.
* EveryoneIsBi -- And polyamorous, apparently.
* {{Expospeak}} -- Lots...and lots...and ''lots'' of it, especially whenever Mackenzie makes it to class. In those parts the reader is treated to many many paragraphs of world-building, or the author's pet theories.
* FanFic -- Subject of a story-within-a-story parody. The author used to "forbid" people to write fanfiction for the series. Now, FanFic is allowed, but proper credit must be given to the author for the world and characters and the author ''does not'' want to know about it under any circumstances.
** Given that the canon already depicts just about every character having sex with just about every other character, this troper's of the opinion that fanfic for it would be somewhat redundant.
* FantasticRacism -- A recurring theme, as Harlowe Dorm is where most of the non-human students are housed and is generally looked down upon by the rest of the campus.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture -- Every society (even non-human ones) seems to match up with a real counterpart, and the history of the Imperial Republic often resembles the USA's. Pointedly, the "European" cultures don't seem to have colonized nearly as much of the world at any point.
* {{Filler}}/FillerStrips -- Since the series is updated roughly daily, some parts seem written just to make the deadline, with one entire part being devoted to Amaranth and Mack walking a few streets, getting on a subway-equivalent, getting out, and walking into a building.
** The author's actually admitted in the comments section that she does deliberately pad the text if it doesn't meet an arbitrary 1500 word minimum.
* {{Filleritis}} -- The leadup to just what would happen if Mack didn't feed.
* {{Flanderization}} -- Mack and her submissiveness/love of abuse. Also, Steff's long series of excessively boneheaded moves and general idiocy. Also, Sooni went from being eccentric to a total fruit loop.
* FlatEarthAtheist -- The Arkhanites - more like Flat Earth Solipsists, but close enough.
* [[FriendToAllLivingThings Friend]] ([[IfYouKnowWhatIMean With Benefits]]) [[FriendToAllLivingThings To All Living Things]] -- Amaranth, and initially Barley.
* GladiatorGames -- Due to wound-simulating weapons and cheap healing magic to cover actual injuries, straight-out combat takes the place of tamer sports. "Skirmish" is ''the'' team sport in the Imperial Republic. One-on-one gladiatorial bouts are a runner-up in popularity.
* HalfHumanHybrid -- Mack and others.
* HammerSpace -- Amaranth. Particularly impressive because unlike most HammerSpace users, Amaranth doesn't even have clothing as an even (im)possible hiding place.
* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday -- Yes, Mack, you have. Every other chapter, and to all of your girlfriends.
** To be fair, while this is still a recurring theme, it is toned down a bit in the latter half of the published stories.
*** The baton has been passed to Feejee, whose interest in Mack's body doesn't seem to be ''completely'' carnivorous.
* {{Hatedom}} -- Very present.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter -- Amaranth, although this isn't really her fault (see the article intro).
* IdiotBall -- People are generally referred to on this wiki as holding or carrying one. That wouldn't do Steff justice. She seems to have had one surgically implanted.
** Mack seizes it and runs for the end zone by risking slavery to ''finance some magic jewelry''. Intense emotional context to it or not, everyone calls her on the incredible stupidity of that, even Amaranth.
* IDoNotDrinkWine -- Several of the characters cannot or will not eat certain types of food. Some, including Mack, have no need for (ordinary) food at all.
* IFeelAngry -- Two.
* IJustWantToBeNormal -- Mack.
* IfItsYouItsOkay -- Sooni to Mack.
* ImAHumanitarian -- Mermaids, ogres, and a temptation for Mack. The 'gray' elf Mercy also runs a shop catering specifically to races who feed on humans and other intelligent races.
* TheImmodestOrgasm -- Inventively and humorously played with in ch. 412. [[spoiler: At the conclusion of Mack and Amaranth's spanking session in the S&M club, Mack orgasms so intensely that she sets herself on fire...which trips the club's sprinkler system: a magical thunderstorm over the stage.]]
* InTheBlood -- Mack is convinced that she's irredeemably evil, despite having no way to back up the belief other than her father being a demon.
** Well...that and her tendency to enter a state of cannibalistic frenzy if she doesn't drink the blood of virgins often enough.
** That, plus the decidedly bad ends that have met all of the previous half-demon students have been heavily implied to be because they eventually gave in to or embraced their infernal natures.
** And that she is so vulnerable to divine energy that a random person invoking the name or symbol of the god she has been taught from birth is the arbiter of all that is just and good causes her severe pain at the least and could kill her at the worst. Even trying to pray to him puts her in extreme pain. That sort of thing can give a kid a complex.
* InWhichATropeIsDescribed -- A subversion in that the descriptions are misleading.
* JerkJock -- Mack hates Skirmish players, though Amaranth of course is more understanding.
** Belinda, though this seems more tragic in her case.
* {{Jerkass}} -- The Leighton twins. Mackenzie borders on being one whenever she gets into an argument...which is frequently.
* KarmaHoudini -- [[spoiler:Possibly averted by Leda. In a side story, she rapes Steff in a fountain. During Veil, she is murdered, her body found in the very same fountain. It remains to be seen if Steff is going to be considered a suspect.]]
* KnightTemplarParent -- It's [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation debatable]] whether Mackenzie's grandmother is this, or was simply doing what was necessary to keep her granddaughter from growing up to be a rampaging demon.
* KryptoniteFactor -- Mack and holy symbols, Mack and abuse.
* LawfulEvil -- Mercy's a very scary example of this trope.
* LeeroyJenkins -- Subverted. Mackenzie's lawyer is named Lee Jenkins, an obvious ShoutOut, but he's a calm, competent [[GoodLawyersGoodClients good lawyer]].
* {{Lolcats}} -- A RunningGag in the series is that [[CatGirl Suzi]] is only marginally fluent in Pax, and usually ends up speaking in Lolcat phrases.
* {{Lolicon}} -- Implied to be a motive for [[spoiler: Two's creator designing her to be completely hairless except for her head]]. [[spoiler: Two does later deny that her owner used her sexually.]]
* LoveYouAndEverybody -- Subverted; the first time Amaranth tells Mack that she loves her, Mack objects that Amy loves everyone - to which Amy readily admits before going on to tell Mack that she loves her specifically and deeply. Mack doesn't quite believe her for some time afterward, though that doesn't stop her from letting Amaranth have 'not sex' with her.
* MagicalComputer -- Played with: students use crystal balls to "gaze the ethernet".
* {{Magitek}} -- The aforementioned crystal balls, as well as pretty much all the technology you'd expect in a modern university, only powered by magic.
* MamaBear -- Kinky twists in their relationship notwithstanding, Amaranth is '''very''' protective of Mack. Chapters 409 and on have carved that fact in stone.
* ManicPixieDreamGirl -- Both played straight and subverted by Sooni, who is seemingly convinced that she's the main character in a MagicalGirl anime, and [[AxCrazy reacts poorly]] when things don't conform to her take on reality.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Official policy of the subterranean elves.
* AMillionIsAStatistic -- Inverted in the "Veil murder" arc: several students died that night, but the only one who gets much attention gets it specifically because she was foreign royalty.
* MisaimedFandom -- Despite Puddy several times approaching MoralEventHorizon moments, and being a generally vile person, she has an extremely loyal fan-following on the forums, even in the face of hostility to and attacks on other fan favorites.
* MoodSwinger -- Sooni. Someone needs to get that girl on some mood-stabilizers, stat.
* MoralEventHorizon -- Mercy waves to everyone else from deep inside it.
* MyBelovedSmother -- Sooni's {{cosplay}} with Kai is ''all over'' this...[[spoiler:until she nearly kills Kai.]]
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast -- Inverted with a vengeance. "Mercy" may sound like the name of someone tender and caring, but her scenes have been known to [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel terrify some of the (fully-grown) readers.]]
* NerdsAreSexy -- Taken to an extreme: the "nerd" character is a gorgeous nymph, naked except for her nerd-glasses. The protagonist is also an introverted geek strongly hinted to be better-looking than she considers herself to be.
* NoPeriodsPeriod -- Averted with a vengeance.
* OddFriendship -- Many would qualify, but the most eyebrow-lifting so far is [[spoiler: Caron and Nae, a dwarf and kobold who are lovers, although their races are blood enemies]].
* OneDegreeOfSeparation -- Not everyone's been connected yet, but a lot of the backstory chapters seem to be pointing in this direction.
* OnlySaneMan -- Dee and Ian often come off as this, so long as their own issues are under control. Iason, of all people, seems like this compared to other young elves.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent -- [[http://www.talesofmu.com/story/other/silver-tongued-charmer Vice-Chancellor Edmund Embries.]] A silver-scaled classical Western dragon capable of taking on human form, he is sexy, charming, and ''very'' creepy.
* OurElvesAreBetter -- The professor of Pre-Republic History sums it up very succinctly. Evidently they can um... ''make love'' for ''15 hours straight.'' That's right, fifteen hours. This also has elements of a deconstruction, as the perfection of the elves takes a toll on their ability to enjoy life, and most end their lives by suicide.
** Brutally subverted with Steff, who's a half-elf, and so considers her own almost lifelike drawing to be crude doodles and her boyfriend's skillful harpsichord playing to be terrible. This is besides Steff's many, many crippling psychological problems, many of which have to do with her feeling inadequate compared to her elven relatives.
** Also brutally subverted in the spinoff ''More Tales of MU'', when the main character and his elven boyfriend Iason visit Treehome, the place where the elven "middlings" (essentially the elven equivalents of twenty somethings) live. ''Every single middling'' is AxCrazy. This troper's personal favorite is the elven woman who seduces Jamie, then tries to castrate him to spite Iason. There's also the fact that every single elf, upon learning that Jamie has put on a magical bracelet that lets Iason turn him into a stag any time he wants to, up to and including Jamie's own elven grandfather, have stopped treating Jamie like a separate being and instead seem to view him as a sort of extension of Iason. Truly, in the MUniverse, Our Elves are More Fucked Up
* PowerPerversionPotential -- Healing magic, Mack's invulnerability - ''and how''.
* PsychoLesbian -- Puddy.
* PunnyName -- A fire-emitting half-demon named Blaise, a mermaid named Feejee.
** Steff's not quite as much of a girl as she appears to be at first. Her last name? [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean Johnson.]]
* RalphWiggum -- Keri [=LaBelle=]. Chocolate misconceptions, anyone?
* RapeAsDrama -- Multiple occurrences, played with frightening realism.
* RapeIsLove -- Puddy and Hazel
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld -- Subverted by Amaranth, who's an ageless, immortal divine being...and 17. Dee semi-subverts this, by looking college age at 30.
* RetiredBadass -- It's hinted early on that Mackenzie's grandmother might have once been a famous demon-slaying paladin. Mackenzie, of course, has never heard of any of it and finds the whole thing ridiculous, but chapter 419 leaves almost no doubt. She hasn't been confirmed as ''the'' Brimstone Blaise, but her debut chapter's title was "Brimstone", so...
** Coach "Jenny" Callahan has retired from being a mercenary and a successful dragon-slayer to teaching in the combat-athletics department of MU, but has not in any way retired from being {{Badass}}.
* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship -- It's briefly suggested that Sooni, the local representative of the story's Japan FantasyCounterpartCulture, has this as part of her cultural psyche. Needless to say, the actual story goes far, far beyond this. [[spoiler: But not ''that' far, thoughtfully-provided crotchless panties or not.]]
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend -- Mack even protests that the nymph she's having sex with isn't her girlfriend, she's her ''owner''. Apparently that's better...somehow.
** This does set the stage for ''someone else'' to become her acknowledged girlfriend once she's less terrified of the term.
* ShoutOut -- ''Lots'' of them.
* SmallNameBigEgo -- Alexandra Erin's reply to criticisms of the Mack character included instructions to either "get off her back" or stop reading; those adding unflattering tropes to this page have been banned from her forums.
** And don't even ''try'' to mention how the United States is outgrowing its racism-laced past these days. The response is likely to be [[BerserkButton a profanity-laced torrent of insults culminating in an instant ban.]]
* SmugSnake -- Vice-Chancellor Embries, nearly literally.
* SoBadItsHorrible -- Not the series itself, but the [[GaidenGame gaiden series]] ''More Tales of MU'', which is nowhere near as popular with the fans for various reasons: a much less interesting protagonist, a smaller (and much less interesting) supporting cast, and the prominence of Iason, a character who shows all the attributes of a certifiable sociopath except the tendency towards physical violence. But [[TheWesley the author sure seems to like Iason,]] for some reason...)
** To be fair, Iason's faults have been pointed out by characters in the story, Jamie just chooses to ignore them. Of course, the series does seem to offer many situations where Jamie's sensible reaction to Iason being controlling, misogynistic, or an asshole are reinterpreted by Iason to be completely irrational, with little to no consequences for either character.
* SpockSpeak -- Dee.
* {{Squick}} -- Some readers will be uncomfortable with one or another depicted lesbian, gay, BDSM, or other sex act, not to mention off-screen things like Victor and Steff's rougher play. In-story, many characters appear to share some of these reactions.
** Also in-story, people who know her cringe whenever Amaranth starts discussing animal cognition research. [[spoiler: She's forbidden from "working" with unintelligent animals.]]
** Others will be squicked by the mechanisms of goblin reproduction in a side-arc. [[spoiler:They chew their way out, and the mother apparently feeds them by cutting off bits of her own flesh.]]
* StraightMan -- Despite being neither, the humor-impaired Mack (especially with Amaranth).
* StrangledByTheRedString -- A very odd version of it, in that Mack is not going to be allowed to be straight, or celibate, or monogamous by turns. Not only does the story conspire to get her into sexual situations, Amaranth even ordered her to perform a specific sex act with Ian ''on demand'', at any time he wanted, after Mack admitted wanting to do so. Ian balked. [[spoiler: He got over it.]]
* StrawmanPolitical -- Averted. Plenty of characters with different viewpoints on any number of topics are portrayed quite realistically.
** Mackenzie, a sheltered girl who spent most of her life living with a ''very'' parochial KnightTemplar grandmother, gets the "fun" of being both a victim of discrimination and bigotry and occasionally making ignorant remarks that offend and horrify her friends.
*** To be fair, she will allow herself to be proven wrong, unlike your garden-variety bigot.
** A recent non-canon filler story by a guest author took it one step further, [[WarpedAesop suggesting]] that anthropology students are patronizing idiots who need killin' because they're [[ComedicSociopathy just so darn]] ''[[ComedicSociopathy annoying]]'' that even all-loving pacifists will countenance their murder.
* TheStoic -- Dee.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial -- Mack does not want to worship at Sooni's feet...or kiss her ass...or lick her pussy while being called filth...
* TheWoobie -- Two.
* ThisIsReality -- for example, in the "Mask" chapter.
* {{Transsexual}} -- Steff, played-with in that while Steff is [[{{Bishounen}} pretty]] enough to pass as a girl without any help in human society, she looks like a hilariously un-convincing DragQueen among elves or those who've spent a lot of time with elves. This is made all the more tragic by the CultureClash between human and elven ideals of sexuality and gender. Contemporary human culture is very homophobic, so much so that a GlamourFailure off-campus can be dangerous. Elvish culture is very open and accepting of homosexuality, but Steff has no hope of passing among elves, and [[HeManWomanHater they have little patience for her efforts anyway]].
** Dee's people are more accepting of transsexuals, at least at first blush. Among the subterranean elves is a 'third gender', called the "Halfkind". Halfkind are revered in deep-elf culture as "ornamental persons" who have no responsibilities, and as a result precious few real rights. Dee attempts to [[JustifiedTrope justify]] this by explaining that Halfkind are simply not competent to look after themselves. For the most part she's right; every Halfkind seen thus far has been decidedly [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} bent mentally]], but neither Dee nor anyone else among her people bothers to examine whether or not this is an innate trait of Halfkindness or a byproduct of the kind of lives they are forced to live.
** Not to mention [[spoiler: Mercy]], who was recently revealed to be a halfkind as well, and is insane in that special way that only the most sinister of villains can be...
* TimeDissonance -- Averted for long-lived races, used for the FragileSpeedster sylphs. Meriel makes a reference to "that time of the ''week''".
* TrollBridge -- Played entirely straight.
* UnfortunateImplications -- Where to begin? If you have "bad" genes, it's a moral imperative not to have children and pass them on. Cultural integration is an evil plot by the majority culture to suppress dissent. Teaching gifted children how to get along with normal people and behave in a socially acceptable way will destroy what makes them special. And plenty more...
** The first one of those is merely Mack's own decision, not something the author thinks. Considering how Mack's own life played out thanks to her parentage, I can't blame her.
* UnreliableNarrator -- The story is told from Mack's first-person perspective, and she's often clearly less than honest with herself, let alone the reader. Subjectivity creeps in even when it's not obvious.
** Not to mention when [[spoiler: Barley tells her version of her most evil moment.]] That one takes a hard left turn at "unreliable" and heads straight on into Delusionalville. What makes this example even more interesting is that she told it to a character who is an incredibly gifted psychic; therefore Barley clearly believes her version of the story utterly.
* WallBanger -- The extent of the characters' flaws has royally pissed off many readers at one point or another.
** Mackenzie is a serious lightweight, and becomes very plastered very quickly--literally falling-down drunk--when she drinks. But when the plot requires it, she's completely capable of perfectly clear-headed logical and moral reasoning, reaching the correct conclusion only moments before passing out. I wish I could do that!
* WebcomicTime -- Hundreds of chapters and more than five books equal up to something under or around five weeks of the first year of school.
* WellDoneSonGuy -- Ian wants to learn to use fire magic, not because he has any personal interest in it, but because his father is a big fire wizard.
* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong/TemptingFate: Lampshaded in "Brimstone?".
* WhatTheHellHero -- Dee's pretty good at this, when necessary. She's also been on the receiving end at least once.
* WholesomeCrossdresser -- Steff appears to be one when we first meet her. Later on we find out [[spoiler:that she's got multiple severe psychological issues, plus a nasty [[strike:drug]] potion habit.]]) Of course, even the good-hearted characters in MU fail to stay completely "wholesome" for more than a few minutes after we start learning their backstory, with the possible exception of Two.
* WizardingSchool -- One of the best in the country!
* WouldntHitAGirl -- Played with in a rather twisted way with [[spoiler: Ian - see PowerPerversionPotential, above.]]
* WrongGenreSavvy -- Sooni is convinced that she's the protagonist of a Shojo manga.
* YourMileageMayVary -- Considered by some to be awful, by others to be awesome.
* YumYum -- Mackenzie's first taste of honey.

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