Literature: Mediochre Q Seth Series aka: The Good The Bad And The Mediochre
The Mediochre Q Seth series, otherwise "The Mediochreverse" or just "The Mediochre Series" - although that last sounds unfortunate – is an in-progress five-part Urban Fantasy series by Calum P Cameron. He started writing it while in high school, primarily out of boredom, but also out of a desire to see if he could write a story about a unique and powerfulDoctor-like individual while having them remain realistically human and fallible.Also, he really likesdragons.Charlotte Johnson is an Ordinary High-School Student from the USA whose parents have forced her to move to Edinburgh, Scotland – with predictably resentful results on her part. So far, so normal. Then, one day, she is almost run over by a lorry.The driver of this lorry is one Professor Doctor Laird Sir Mediochre Quirinius Seth, PhD MusD MSc CBE OBE MIMC VC-Bar – although he prefers just 'Mediochre' or 'Dr Seth' – an eccentric 'dracologist' from the parallel society that has existed for generations hidden from Charlotte’s own world by a government-enforced Masquerade. A society very much like her own, but with a few important differences – most obviously: magic.The world turns out to be a lot more dangerous and interesting than Charlotte had initially assumed, full of giant dragons, emotionless half-vampires, powerful magic-users (or 'mancers', to use the correct term) and, of course, Mediochre himself, who's never been the same since an accident in his past left him immortal, trapped in a fifteen-year-old body and able to calculate probabilities exactly at the drop of a hat. And those are the people on her side. Or at least, she's pretty sure they are. It's hard to tell, sometimes...For more information, visit the series's website.When complete, the series will consist of:
The Good, the Bad and the Mediochre (available now) – in which Charlotte pretty-much forces her way into Mediochre’s ongoing adventure in returning a rare dragon egg to its mother and thwarting the dragon-slaying attempts of an international smuggling ring. But things are never that simple around Mediochre, and it starts to look like there may be a grander conspiracy at work here...
Black, White and Shades of Mediochre (Ditto) - in which a mancy-related murder practically on Charlotte's doorstep gives her a way back into the Mantically Aware world and Mediochre's life, just in time for them to get uncomfortably caught up in the increasingly-murky issue of Undead-human relations. Naturally, it soon turns out that something even worse than murder is going down here, and if someone doesn't stop it then the consequences will be world-changing...
Caught Mediochre-Handed - Coming to Lulu.com and the series website on 17th July 2014 (the date of Mediochre's annual mourning for Pigeon, as it happens). Coming everywhere else September 2014.
Sent into Mediochre-drive
Mediochrity
For Christmas 2012, the author also wrote a Christmas Special short story featuring Joseph Carrion which functions as a sort of prequel to the main series. It was initially posted to his Facebook page, but eventually uploaded to the website here.A second Christmas Episode followed for Christmas 2013, this time featuring Mediochre himself, and can be viewed here, along with its "ambiguously canon" companion piece here.For those wondering, the name 'Mediochre' is an intentional pun on 'mediocre' – although in-universe, Mediochre insists it’s a shade of red between pale ochre and dark ochre.The author is literallyOne of Us, so expect a lot of tropes.
The main series provides examples of:
Series as a Whole
Action Girl: Dhampinella and, to a lesser extent, Charlotte and Rowan.
Aerith and Bob: Mediochre and Charlotte. Joseph and Dhampinella. The list goes on.
Aliens in Cardiff: All sorts of magic-related nasties seem to turn up in Scotland these days...
Anti-Hero: Mediochre and Joseph both, in different ways. Mediochre aims to be an Ideal Hero but his impatience, hot-bloodedness and frightening capacity for cruelty when you push his Berserk Button cause him to fall short. Joseph, meanwhile, is a Pragmatic Hero more than willing to commit morally reprehensible deeds out of loyalty to Mediochre and his plans.
The Apprentice: A standard method of education among the Mantically Aware. Dhampinella is Joseph's.
Author Avatar: Mediochre looks much like the author did aged fifteen. The author has also noted that, personality-wise, Mediochre is similar to what he would be if he was an idealist. And more badass.
Awesome McCoolname: Most Mantically Aware. Justified – they choose their own.
Badass Teacher: Mediochre and Joseph are both university professors. Joseph actually has an apprentice with him during most of his adventures – although the apprentice is also a Badass and doesn't really need protecting.
Berserk Button: While within range of Mediochre, it is never a good idea to harm a child or a dragon. Harming a child dragon will earn you instant death.
Clothes Make the Legend: Mediochre, Joseph and Dhampinella all have unique and notable costumes.
Clueless Mystery: Mediochre has a habit of revealing clues that suddenly make everything obvious just as we get to The Reveal. In fairness, though, there are usually other, less obvious clues scattered around beforehand.
Cool Teacher: Mediochre and Joseph. Don't say you don't wish your tutor took you out Undead-hunting.
Crazy-Prepared: Mediochre. He trained his mouse to provide a distraction if they got captured.
Creator Provincialism: Most of the action takes place in Scotland, the author’s home country, and the majority of the characters live in Edinburgh, the city of his birth.
Charlotte is Phlegmatic (Well, sort-of - believers in the Four Humours would probably have filed her under Leukine, actually, but compared at least to Mediochre she's a bit of an introverted people-person.)
Immortality: Mediochre and Melz have Type III (Regenerative). Maelstrom has a cross between Type III and Type VII (External). Undead obviously have Type V (Undead).
Immortality Immorality: A major theme of the series. Maelstrom in the first book, the necromancer in the second and Stormhold Elect in Born to Raise the Sons of Earth are all major Heavy villains who can cheat death and are at least partially motivated by a desire to continue cheating death. Melz somehow manages to be an aversion, remaining a kindly old lady. Mediochre himself... is trying to avert it, but he's prettybad at it.
Impoverished Patrician: Mediochre is technically a laird (among other things) but seemingly requires multiple jobs to get the money needed to justify not selling his house.
Interdisciplinary Sleuth: Mediochre and Joseph are scientific researchers and university professors who also happen to catch monster-slayers on the side.
Magic A Is Magic A: Mancy does have consistent rules, and at least some types are consistent enough to be taught and studied in university. We don't get most of it explained, though.
Mysterious Middle Initial: Averted with Mediochre Q Seth, who freely admits that his middle name is Quirinius. However, in a more meta example, the author publishes under Calum P Cameron, and makes several jokes out of what the P could potentially stand for.
Mysterious Past: Touched on with Mediochre and a few others.
Not That Kind of Doctor: Mediochre and Joseph have both picked up some useful medical skills, but technically they're only qualified to work on dragons and Undead respectively.
Rebel Without a Cause: Mediochre seems to dislike authority in general. Probably because it questions his dominance.
Reed Richards Is Useless: Zig-zagged. The mantically-aware have been making some subtle improvements to the world, but they're very cautious about not doing too much or breaking the Masquerade.
Shrouded in Myth: Mediochre may or may not be intentionally fostering some of the rumours about him.
Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Dhampinella (technically it's auburn or copper, but her eyes are very green to make up for it, and she's the second-most significant female present). It adds to the whole 'striking, inhuman creature' shtick she's got going on.
Single Power Superheroes: Most of the mancies seem to revolve around being able to do one specific superpower really well.
Smug Super: Mediochre has a few abnormalities that could be called super-powers. Modesty is not one of them.
World of Badass: Most characters, even if not very good in a physical fight, are pretty badass in their own way, or become so over the course of the series.
The Cavalry: Subverted. The timely arrival of the MIPF at the end wasn't quite timely enough to help much.
Check and Mate: Subverted for laughs. Mediochre, being a smug git, sets things up to let him pull one of these on the Big Bad - but forgets to factor in the fact that he has the body of a scrawny teenager and the Big Bad is capable of cutting off his airway before he can finish.
Mediochre: You made me ruin it, you moron. It was gonna be so good, like one of those smug moments in a film. You were gonna say 'what?' and I was gonna... look, let’s try that again: Kiwi?
Joseph: " I can’t do CPR on someone who doesn't have a chest!"
Cutting the Knot: Mediochre once brought down a whole load of criminals in a single blow by punching the fire alarm. Joseph gets into an SSS store room by breaking the lock.
Mediochre: "This whole scene could have stepped out of a cheesy fantasy adventure were it not for the fact that scenes are incapable of stepping anywhere due to severe deficiency in the foot department."
No, Except Yes: Charlotte's "I wasn’t drooling; I was admiring" and Joseph's "It’s not hypocrisy; it's Mediochrisy."
Noodle Implements: Prometheus Modern has seemingly done surgery with a kitchen knife, some slightly rusted tweezers, a bottle of Schnapps and a length of wool.
Noodle Incident: Several, most notably Mediochre fighting off a horde of Undead with his teeth.
With My Hands Tied: Mediochre reputedly once fought off a horde of Undead with his hands full ( apparently of Joseph's unconscious form) and one foot stuck.
You Shall Not Pass: Dhampinella against the SSS. Also Danny, but his was part of the tempomancer's scheme.
Black, White and Shades of Mediochre
Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Partially justified. The older parts of Edinburgh's sewage system are pretty absurdly spacious. And it's mentioned that they've been widened in secret.
Does This Remind You of Anything??: Abrahams and Fervour are a little bit fascist, bordering on BNP. Millacra's obsession with Rowan, meanwhile, plays out like a stalking and attempted rape.
Double Entendre: "Until they could sterilise her" wasn't meant to be one...
Everything's Deader with Zombies: One of the few types of Undead that aren't important in-book at all – the author just put them in because, in a book about The Undead, you can't not.
Evil Is Hammy: The necromancer and Guinevere Spencer have their moments, but Gambit blows them out of the park.
A Glass of Chianti: Subverted. Archie the Vampire is drinking wine when Charlotte first meets him, but he turns out to be perhaps the only unambiguously-good Vampire in the series.
Precision F-Strike: Dhampinella gives a Precision D Strike. It works because it's literally the only time she has ever been anything but tersely polite.
Previously On: The plot of Book I is summarised at the start.
Shirtless Scene: Mediochre, Melinoe and Joseph each get one. Mediochre's is completely non-Fanservicey because he's physically fifteen and being eaten by a worm at the time; Melinoe's would be Fanservicey if she wasn't covered in her own blood at the time (mind you, some people like that...); and Joseph's... well, [[Fanservice the fans deserved something]]...
Big Bad: Stormhold Elect, Dreadlord Servant of the Thousand Voices.
Bigger Bad: Quite possibly Stormhold's schizophrenia. After all, who else do we know with necromancer powers and a thousand different 'voices' inside them?
Chekhov's Gun: Literally, with Joseph's pistol. Zig-zagged, however, in that it's not the gun that finally kills Stormhold. Also, of the six bullets, only three are useful and one doesn't even get fired.
Chekhov's Gunman: On reflection, Stormhold Elect - or rather, his schizophrenia - quite possibly counts as one given the nature of the necromancer in Black, White and Shades of Mediochre.
Teen Genius: Joseph turns out to have been one, which makes sense since he is a Professor by the time of the main series. Also, Mad Lex Gunpowder earned a doctorate at seventeen. Yeah.
Titled After the Song: The title is a line from 'Hark, the Herald Angels Sing'. In the song, it refers to Jesus bringing eternal life to human souls. Here, it refers to necromancy.
Trigger Happy: Mad Lex Gunpowder, although we knew that already. It implies he struggles to think clearly unless he's shooting at something.
Evil Redhead: Lark is, at least, a pretty scary and unpleasant one.
Five-Finger Discount: Pigeon promises in his letter than Mediochre's gift wasn't stolen - although it may have been bought with money that was "a bit" stolen in the first place.
Good Thing You Can Heal: Exploited by Mediochre. He allows Lark to eat bits of him, to prevent her from hunting down innocent humans for food.
Horror Hunger: Whatever Lark is, she seems to be compelled to eat human meat.
Hurting Hero: Mediochre's damaged mental state is on full display. He even describes himself as "too introspective" here.
Titled After the Song: Specifically, after a line from "Christmas is Coming", a traditional British Christmas carol.
Tragic Keepsake: This is probably why Mediochre is still wearing that cross, many years after Pigeon's death.
Victorian London: The entire story is a flashback to the Victorian era. So, naturally, it has to take place in London!
A Visit from the Yule Goat (Poem)
Bad Santa: The "Saint Nick" turns out to be a goat-like monster using a disguise to sneak into people's houses and plant eggs which will eventually hatch into murderous babies.
Enfant Terrible: The Yule goat's species doesn't appear to be sapient enough for true evil, but it does have a life cycle that involves the babies taking the form of the first creature they see and then, uh, disposing of the original.
Kill and Replace: Part of the natural life cycle of the titular "Yule goat".
alternative title(s): The Good The Bad And The Mediochre; The Mediochreverse; Mediochre Series; Mediochre Q Seth Series; Black White And Shades Of Mediochre
.When complete, the series will consist of:
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