Literature / Deviant's Masquerade

The cover art for both the original Anthology and the Lore Compendium.

The world's a big place, and it has a lot of stories that are just waiting to be told.

This is especially true in a world where heroes, villains, magic, fantasy and horror all abound for those willing to look for it.

Who knows there may even be a special brand of madness all for you.

Just remember to beware what lies beneath the masks of those who attend the Deviant's Masquerade.

— Opening paragraph of the Lore Compendium

Deviant's Masquerade is a series of Web Serial Novels on SpaceBattles.com, Royal Road, and Sufficient Velocity.com written by Arthicern.

These stories take place mainly in an Urban Fantasy Superhero version of the USA after an event known as the Rift Riots made the existence of Human Deviations, Deviants for short, known to the world.

Muggle Power then ensued, spearheaded by an organization known simply as Asylum. Deviants lost all human rights and were routinely murdered on the streets or carried off by Asylum to a wide variety of horrific and grisly fates.

But it all came to an end when Asylum executed the wrong family. Specifically, the daughter and grandchildren of one Samhain the Tallman. The resulting Roaring Rampage of Revenge lasted two weeks, left thousands dead, crippled Asylum beyond repair, and culminated in Samhain taking the government hostage and forcing them to give Deviants rights again.

Twenty years later, Asylum has been replaced by three less violent organizations. Sanctuary, an organization with the same purpose as Asylum but far more willing to work with Deviants than solely against them. The Heroes' Guild, a trade union of sorts for Deviants who want to use their powers for good. And the Arcane Association, an organization comprised mainly of magic based Deviants.

---

Contains examples of:

General

• All There in the Manual: Given how many stories there are in the setting and how often questions are answered by Arthicern if asked, there's a heavy dose of this with you being able to find more information on pretty much anything in the setting somewhere.
• Card Games: In-Universe. In the wake of Deviants becoming an accepted and even celebrated part of society, an actual card game was made featuring famous Deviants both heroic and villainous. Ozzy Creed and Trish Farewell play this game during the events of The Phantom Court.
• Bullying a Dragon: A surprising number of normal people in this setting seem to think that harassing Deviants is a good idea.
• Differently Powered Individual: Superhumans in this setting are known as Human Deviations or Deviants. Those who actually go out and do something with their powers are called Masks.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Combine this with Mad Scientist and you get a Mentally Augmented Deviant, or M.A.D. for short.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: As certain characters are fond of saying: "Enlightenment can drive you mad."
• Grim Reaper: The Pale Lady is both this and a Destroyer Deity, despite being relatively friendly. It's mostly because she knows no matter how far you run you'll be hers in the end.
• Hearing Voices: M.A.D.s are able to create technologies far more advanced that what is usually possible due to their ability to hear 'the Whispers', which instruct them in how to make their inventions.
• Horror Hunger: Deadmen and Malcontent both need to eat people to survive.
• Lore Codex: The Lore Compendium probably counts as this despite not being a video game.
• Monster Allies: Pretty much any Arcane that dabbles in Contracting or summons has a few of these.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: Ghosts and zombies fall into the category of Deadmen. People who have been brought back to life by exposure to Ectoplasm as flesh eating, obsession driven creatures of the undead.
• Our Slashers Are Different: Slashers are their own Deviancy in this setting. Unsurprisingly, they are the most infamous, feared, and homicidal of all Deviancies.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Samhain's response to Asylum killing his family.
• Spell My Name With An S: When referring to Arcane or Malcontent in plural, you don't add an S on the end.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Every Malcontent has an Other Self from which all their powers stem... Along with their need for human flesh.
• The Roaring '20s: During this time Deviants were hired to fight a series of underground crime wars known collectively as the Voodoo Wars.
• The Wonderland: Wonderlanders were named for this with each of them having their own. They also probably count as Mental Worlds and Dream Lands. With Wonderlands sometimes being referred to as the later.
• Too Dumb to Live: It's something of a stereotype that all Arcane are "overly curious kittens with no survival instincts".

The Anthology and Side Stories

• Abusive Parents: In Requiem for a Grimm-Grave, Molly Grimm's neglectful father is one of the factors that drives her to suicide. A much more violent variation of this trope is prevented from happening in Beware, Beware The Boogeyman's Scare.
• Bait-and-Switch: At one point in The Shadow Walker the readers are led to believe that Raimundo Morales and his sister are preparing to kill and eat a woman who has just wondered into an alleyway, but are actually preparing to kill and eat the man stalking her.
• Bazaar of the Bizarre: The Deviant Market Aiden and Ember visit. One that also has a Black Market underneath it that you need to take a hidden lift to get to.
• Driven to Suicide: A combination of her mother's death, her father's neglect, bullying at school, and losing contact with the only friend she had left drove Molly Grimm to a failed attempt to take her own life.
• Off with His Head!: How Ozzy Creed died.

Hacking Reality

• Abandoned Hospital: Maya Williams, the protagonist of Hacking Reality, builds her first base in one of these.
• Absent-Minded Professor: Maya tends to be one of these, though it's less getting lost in thought and more arguing with them.
• Freudian Trio: Maya is in one with the voices in her head, with her usually being the Ego, her inner logic being the superego, and her inner madness being the id.
• Gaslighting: Downplayed. The voices in Maya's head sometimes say really weird things and then pretend that they didn't when asked about it.
• Mad Scientist: Maya and pretty much all M.A.D.s are this, more specifically she seems to be of the omnidisciplinary sort.
• Talking to Themself: Maya does this a lot with the two voices in her head.

The Huntsman's Quest

• Abusive Parents: Antonio Ramirez becoming this to his son Kenneth was what finally got Ms. Valentine to end their relationship.
• A Dog Named "Dog": Jon Whitaker, the protagonist of The Huntsman's Quest, has a pixie named Pix and a wolf named Wolf.
• Colonel Badass: During her military days, Minerva Whitaker was the non-Deviant leader of a military squad specifically devoted to fighting Deviant threats.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Alexander De Sade, the Dark Lord of Blackwell. Not the most morally upstanding of folks, but he certainly cares about his daughter.
• Gratuitous Foreign Language: Val regularly speaks in Spanish, and it's been implied that her thoughts are largely in Spanish given her conversations with the Scarecrow.
• Heroic Vow: Jon and any other Guardians of Childhood seem to have this in regards to protecting kids, going to extreme lengths to maintain it including picking fights with things bigger than them.
• Karma Houdini: In The Huntsman's Quest, Antonio Ramirez stabs Ms. Valentine and kidnaps Kenneth. When Jon rescues Kenneth, he stops to shoot Ramirez on the way out. However, Jon can't bring himself to do it when he realizes it would mean that Kenneth would have to watch his own father die. And so Jon leaves without killing Ramirez.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: At some point in the past, three entire cities were founded to act as seals on the prison of an ancient and powerful Demon. It's eventually revealed that they actually made the situation worse.
• Pet Monstrosity: Val regularly refers to the Scarecrow as her pet.

Get Ink'd

• Mysterious Employer: The Malice Doc counts as this for Joshua and Zylah, given how little we know about him.
• Refuge in Audacity: How Joshua Durand performed his first robbery in Get Ink'd, and his general behavior while in Mask.
• The Wonderland: Joshua has one as a Wonderlander, more formally known as the Cartoon Cabaret.
• Toon Physics: A lot of Joshua's powers give him this from changing his limb sizes to walking on air and other things.
• Villain Protagonist: Joshua is one of these, though he's on the more harmless side of things given how he just wants to put a show on for his audience.

And All The Sinners Saints

• Badass Normal: Mercer who has no special abilities beyond his connections to healers, arms dealers, and rage fueled determination. Also applies to any of the Vigils none of whom have powers despite being the city's main protectors, and all of whom were trained by Vigilance who despite having no powers helped found the Hero's Guild.
• Death Is Cheap: Mercer claims to have died several times over, with the only reason he survives being Betty's clinic where a number of Arcane and M.A.D. can piece him back together before it sticks.
• Rugged Scar: Mercer has several of these on his face, with one apparently being enough to keep Vigilance from recognizing him up close.
• The City Narrows: Sinner's Way is implied to be this for the Vigil's city, as well as an Outcast Refuge given how many Deviants are pushed there.
• Villain Killer: Has been mentioned to not only have killed several criminals, but also offed Bedlam who was responsible for the second Virtue's death.

Quest Crossovers

Note: These are things shared by some of the forum Quests that crossover.

• Blood Knight: Andre, an Orkin Traveler working for the Dealers that crosses paths with Jon and is more mad they run from a fight than the fact they broke into his base. This is made worse when a couple weeks later Joshua does the same, breaking into a safe house and running away. (After stealing Andre's pizza.)
• Fight Clubbing: Tru Grit has a series of fight clubs that both Jon and Josh have been invited to.
• Continuity Nod: These are a lot more common than outright crossovers but they do pop up.
  • The cop Maya meets on her first patrol is friends with Jon's mom, and mentions her to Jon.
  • The magic store Maya visits to help Tommy is the same one Jon goes to regularly.
  • The 'Half Demon' Artemis mentions causing trouble in The Huntsman's Quest is probably Joshua making mischief.