The Princess 99 - Television Tropes & Idioms

The Princess 99 is an independently published book that started out online.

The story starts off normal enough: Axel, a farm girl, goes into the city so she can attend Edgewood Academy, a school for wizards (or Crafters as they're called in the book). Then she meet Skye, an alien girl, and things go from weird to nightmarish and crazy from that point on.

In all honesty, it's best described as "What if Harry Potter took place during 1920s New Orleans and aliens were involved?"

The updated print version with reworked spelling and grammar can be purchased for print or download here

or the first draft can be read here

for free.

The first book in the series is Bird of Prey.

Tropes used:

Action Girl: Skye, Maree-Celee, the Moimettes
Adaptation Expansion: The print version contains chapters that weren't in the online one, and some extra scenes between other characters as well.
- Some consider the changes to be Adaptation Decay, such as changes between character design and relationships.
Adults Are Useless: Subverted somewhat. Prof. Wilde helps Axel while Prof. Marius doesn't.
Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: Justified with the Moimettes. Inverted from time to time with Skye.
Animesque : The illustrations in the book seem to range from art nouveau to anime-like to nightmare fuel
Little Miss Badass: Maree-Celee, Brig
Berserk Button: Actually mentioned and part of the series. Becomes important after Axel's breakdown
Beware the Nice Ones: Flow
Bittersweet Ending: It may seem happy but you have to consider Axel's lost innocence
Black Eyes of Evil
Blessed with Suck: Pai is kind and sensitive towards other due to his empathy but his sensitivity also gives him nightmarish seizures
Blondes are Evil: Professeur Wilde
Break the Cutie Poor, poor Axel...
Bond Creatures The Familiars
Butt Monkey Not only does Ambrose get turned into custard, but he ends up naked in front of not only his uncle, but several of Edgewood's students and teachers.
Character Title
Children Are Innocent (Hahaha.......no)
Cloudcuckoolander : Eulalie. Just...Eulalie.
Crowning Moment of Awesome: Flow opens a can of badass in a skirt toward the end and let's not forget Professeur Colette, the doormat and the shyest character beating the stuffing out of Professeur Wilde.
Crowning Moment of Funny: "Didn't you come here in a car?" "Well, that was more of Ambrose De'Chiasson than I wanted to see."
Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: "You are not alone, Axel".
Dark Skinned Redhead: Maree-Celee.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Skye does this to annoy Marius mostly.
Dropped a Bridget on Him: Flow does this very often
Earn Your Happy Ending: Axel
Elegant Gothic Lolita: The Moimettes
Everything's Better with Princesses: Skye, Princess Aurore, and the House kids technically.
Extreme Doormat: Pai with his sister.
The Fair Folk: The Jealous Dead chapter.
Foreshadowing: Axel's dreams and Pai's seizures
Genre Deconstruction: The story is full of stock characters for the genre. A Choosen One? Check. Deadpan Snarker for a teacher whose kind of an asshole? Check. A God Mode Sue? Check. They go to a Wizarding School and have Mons. However, the Deadpan Snarker is only in that condition because his wife and child died horribly, leaving him an empty shell of a man. Skye's nearly-omnipotent powers don't successfully make life easier or make her happier. Not only that, but the ghosts in the school are not...pleasant like in some other works.
Good Is Not Nice: Lion & Unicorn.
Hammerspace: Skye and her weapons.
I Just Want to Be Normal: (Pai and later Axel)
"I Know You're In There Somewhere" Fight: Haypenny and Marius at one point, then Axel and Marius
In the Name of the Moon: Skye's first appearance.
Kids Are Cruel: Especially the rich ones.
Large Ham: Skye, Brig, and a good chunk of the House kids.
Laser Guided Tykebomb
Magic Textbook
Manipulative Bastard
Marshmallow Hell: Skye and Ambrose on several occasions.
Meaningful Name: All of the member of Birds of Prey are named after, well, birds of prey except for Axel's codename, The Cuckoo, named after a bird that lays its eggs in the nests of other birds and takes advantage of the unknowing parents. This fits since Axel is an unknowing killer. Though, Flow does admit that this is "unique" at best.
Mouthy Kid: Brig, Ambrose, Maree, Jacq, Skye, and a good chunk of the students
Nightmare Fuel: Where to begin? Let's start with Brig's familiar... It's a rat. A big rat. With a human face
- How about the demon that's literally pulled out of Axel's body, which is an Eldritch Abomination
No Name Given Maree's mother and the identity of Axel's actual parents, but this may be up for debate in future installments.
Our Demons Are Different
Our Souls Are Different : The Familiars and the Crafters
Our Time Travel Is Different: Skye, an alien from a far-off future, is said to be stuck in the 1920s-like past.
Outdated Outfit: Done on purpose with the Moimettes
Papa Wolf: Docteur Haypenny and his daughter.
- And inverted with Ambrose and his dad.
Parental Abandonment (Mentioned by Flow at the very beginning)
The Reveal Princess Aurore and the serial killer
Scholarship Student
Ship Tease: Skye and Ambrose, though it's debatable if Skye even realizes how he feels.
Shout Out: "Who built this place - Tim Burton?"
Shrinking Violet: Prof. Colette, Axel, Pai
Slasher Smile: Flow
The Big Guy: Prof. Nev is described as enormous
The Roaring Twenties
The Speechless: The Familiars, except for Nev
Tear Jerker: Marius and his wife and Axel going berserk
Technicolor Eyes (Red is rather popular)
There Was a Door: Haypenny and Prof. Wilde
That Came Out Wrong: "You ruined it for everybody!"
Tomato in the Mirror
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Skye and Axel. Maree-Celee and Pumpkin.
Torture Technician Flow
Tragic Monster
Twist Ending
Wizarding School: Edgewood Academy, Brightwood University, Blackthorne College. The entire book also makes fun of this genre as well.
What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: Word of God said on her deviantART page that this happened when the first draft was proof-read.
The Woobie: Pai, Axel, and a lot of the students actually. Especially the ones forced to go to Edgewood
This Is Your Premise On Drugs: The book is pretty much "Harry Potter during the 1920s on opium"
Make Me Wanna Shout: Axel and any Crafter of Song, really
Well-Intentioned Extremist : Everyone in the Birds of Prey organization has very good intentions, since they only want civil rights for Muggles, er Nons. Though they try to achieve this in a Tykebomb horrifying manner