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
Caught Mediochre-Handed
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.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.
This 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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
.When complete, the series will consist of:
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