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* BadSamaritan: Atlantis often positions himself to act as such to ghost Cities and others who seem close to the DespairEventHorizon, purporting to offer them power, the opportunity of vengeance, and a renewed sense of purpose in life as his followers. None of which he's actually lying about, but the agenda he asks them to serve is rather monstrous, and any City who refuses him had best be prepared to defend their decision with their life.
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* DropTheHammer: York starts off carrying a normal hammer that he uses in his work as a blacksmith; by the time he's killed several other Cities during a Silent War, it's grown into a warhammer that's nearly 1.5m long with a particularly vicious spike out the back of the head.
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* WhoShotJFK: A City (implied to be Washington DC) did the deed, apparently to prevent the administration from implementing some policy that would have been detrimental to the welfare of the US Cities.
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* WhoShotJFK: A City (implied to be Washington DC) did the deed, apparently to prevent the administration from implementing some policy that would have been detrimental to the welfare of the US Cities.Cities.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Some of the Lost Cities, with the tragedies that drove them into despair and hatred, could qualify for this. [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/51489019411/prouvairet-paris-burning-rami-malek-as-el El Dorado]], [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/62630699004/fun-fact-53 Knossos]], and Pompeii come to mind.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Some of the Lost Cities, with the tragedies that drove them into despair and hatred, could qualify for this. [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/51489019411/prouvairet-paris-burning-rami-malek-as-el El Dorado]], [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/62630699004/fun-fact-53 Knossos]], and Pompeii come to mind.
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* NotBrainwashed: "[[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/76702553292/after-the-water-starts-rising-in-2012-and-cities-start Galway refuses to believe his sister became Lost willingly. He’s wrong.]]"
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* WhoShotJFK: A City (implied to be Washington DC) did the deed, apparently to prevent the administration from implementing some policy that would have been detrimental to the welfare of the US Cities.
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* WhoShotJFK: A City (implied to be Washington DC) did the deed, apparently to prevent the administration from implementing some policy that would have been detrimental to the welfare of the US Cities.
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* WhoShotJFK: A City (implied to be Washington DC) did the deed. The assassin’s motive remains unknown.
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* WhoShotJFK: A City (implied to be Washington DC) did the deed. The assassin’s motive remains unknown.deed, apparently to prevent the administration from implementing some policy that would have been detrimental to the welfare of the US Cities.
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Roanoke\'s fate has become less ambiguous in recent days, and it seems that he\'s not exactly dead, although \"cruel and unusual\" remains an apt description of his fate.
* AndIMustScream: Atlantis inflicted this upon Roanoke after the latter refused to join the former's cause.
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* AwfulTruth: Whatever it was that ''really'' happened to Roanoke...
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* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Roanoke, and anyone else that comes to blows with Atlantis.
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* FakeDefector: The members of Ocean's Eleven.
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* SecretKeeper: London, for Paris.
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* SecretKeeper: London, for Paris.SecretKeeper
** London keeps the secret that [[spoiler:Paris is still alive]] after the events of ''Paris Burning''.
** Other than Fukushima, who organized Ocean's Eleven, and the ten Cities actually going into the water, the nature of the mission is known only to Annapolis, Cairo, and Hong Kong (and probably the Internet, though Fukushima may not be aware of this).
** London keeps the secret that [[spoiler:Paris is still alive]] after the events of ''Paris Burning''.
** Other than Fukushima, who organized Ocean's Eleven, and the ten Cities actually going into the water, the nature of the mission is known only to Annapolis, Cairo, and Hong Kong (and probably the Internet, though Fukushima may not be aware of this).
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* TheCavalry: Arguably the team dubbed "Ocean's Eleven" - Alang [[note]]India[[/note]], Bacolod [[note]]Philippines[[/note]], Portsmouth [[note]]England[[/note]], Galway [[note]]Ireland[[/note]], Hamburg [[note]]Germany[[/note]], Seattle [[note]]USA[[/note]], San Juan [[note]]Puerto Rico[[/note]], Cape Town [[note]]South Africa[[/note]], Recife [[note]]Brazil[[/note]] and Maracaibo [[note]]Venezuela[[/note]].
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* TheCavalry: Arguably the team dubbed "Ocean's Eleven" - Alang [[note]]India[[/note]], Bacolod [[note]]Philippines[[/note]], Portsmouth [[note]]England[[/note]], Galway [[note]]Ireland[[/note]], Hamburg [[note]]Germany[[/note]], Seattle [[note]]USA[[/note]], San Juan [[note]]Puerto Rico[[/note]], Cape Town [[note]]South Africa[[/note]], Recife [[note]]Brazil[[/note]] and Maracaibo [[note]]Venezuela[[/note]].[[note]]Venezuela[[/note]], plus Fukushima [[note]]Japan[[/note]] as MissionControl.
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* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: In order to maintain secrecy while infiltrating Atlantis' group, the members of Ocean's Eleven had to pretend to those outside the group that they were becoming Lost, thus breaking the hearts of their humans and their City friends and loved ones in order to help save ''the entire world''.
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* MagnificentBastard: London admired Henry V because she saw him as being one of these, and aspires to emulate his ruthlessness and political skills.
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* MagnificentBastard: In-Universe example: London admired Henry V because she saw him as being one of these, and aspires to emulate his ruthlessness and political skills.
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* TheCavalry: Arguably the team dubbed "Ocean's Eleven" - Alang [[note]]India[[/note]], Bacolod [[note]]Philippines[[/note]], Portsmouth [[note]]England[[/note]], Galway [[note]]Ireland[[/note]], Hamburg [[note]]Germany[[/note]], Seattle [[note]]USA[[/note]], San Juan [[note]]Puerto Rico[[note]], Cape Town [[note]]South Africa[[/note]], Recife [[note]]Brazil[[/note]] and Maracaibo [[note]]Venezuela[[/note]].
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* TheCavalry: Arguably the team dubbed "Ocean's Eleven" - Alang [[note]]India[[/note]], Bacolod [[note]]Philippines[[/note]], Portsmouth [[note]]England[[/note]], Galway [[note]]Ireland[[/note]], Hamburg [[note]]Germany[[/note]], Seattle [[note]]USA[[/note]], San Juan [[note]]Puerto Rico[[note]], Rico[[/note]], Cape Town [[note]]South Africa[[/note]], Recife [[note]]Brazil[[/note]] and Maracaibo [[note]]Venezuela[[/note]].
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* TheCavalry: Arguably the team dubbed "Ocean's Eleven" - Alang, Bacolod, Portsmouth, Galway, Hamburg, Seattle, San Juan, Cape Town, Recife and Maracaibo.
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* TheCavalry: Arguably the team dubbed "Ocean's Eleven" - Alang, Bacolod, Portsmouth, Galway, Hamburg, Seattle, Alang [[note]]India[[/note]], Bacolod [[note]]Philippines[[/note]], Portsmouth [[note]]England[[/note]], Galway [[note]]Ireland[[/note]], Hamburg [[note]]Germany[[/note]], Seattle [[note]]USA[[/note]], San Juan, Juan [[note]]Puerto Rico[[note]], Cape Town, Town [[note]]South Africa[[/note]], Recife [[note]]Brazil[[/note]] and Maracaibo.Maracaibo [[note]]Venezuela[[/note]].
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* LoveAtFirstSight: Berlin for Portsmouth.
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* LoveAtFirstSight: Berlin for Portsmouth.Portsmouth and London for Lisbon.
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* BloodbathVillainOrigin: Atlantis' murder of his own humans.
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* BloodbathVillainOrigin: Atlantis' murder Atlantis, the victims of the bloodbath being his own humans.
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* BloodbathVillainOrigin: Atlantis' murder of his own humans.
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* TheCavalry: Arguably the team dubbed "Ocean's Eleven" - Alang, Bacolod, Portsmouth, Galway, Hamburg, Seattle, San Juan, Capetown, Recife and Maracaibo.
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* TheCavalry: Arguably the team dubbed "Ocean's Eleven" - Alang, Bacolod, Portsmouth, Galway, Hamburg, Seattle, San Juan, Capetown, Cape Town, Recife and Maracaibo.
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* DownerEnding: Unsurprising, since it's based on Les Miserables, but it's still pretty upsetting.
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* DownerEnding: Unsurprising, since it's based on Les Miserables, ''Les Misérables'', but it's still pretty upsetting.
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* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Sometimes experienced by Cities. Several examples are described in Paris Burning, and it was a dream that lead Paris/Grantaire to find Enjolras and his group.
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* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Sometimes experienced by Cities. Several examples are described in Paris Burning, ''Paris Burning'', and it was a dream that lead Paris/Grantaire to find Enjolras and his group.group.
* DrivenToSuicide: Pompeii threw herself into the volcano after a human lover died prematurely, causing the famous eruption. She is listed as one of the Lost Cities that Sing (Atlantis' faction) on thecitysmith's blog, so it seems that, surprisingly, she did not permanently die as intended.
* DrivenToSuicide: Pompeii threw herself into the volcano after a human lover died prematurely, causing the famous eruption. She is listed as one of the Lost Cities that Sing (Atlantis' faction) on thecitysmith's blog, so it seems that, surprisingly, she did not permanently die as intended.
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* AmbiguoulyHuman: Though Cities appear, for all intents and purposes, human, they are distinctly Other.
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* AmbiguoulyHuman: AmbiguouslyHuman: Though Cities appear, for all intents and purposes, human, they are distinctly Other.
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** Paris/Grantaire and Enjolras
** London and Lisbon
** London and Elizabeth I
** Berlin and Portsmouth
** London and Lisbon
** London and Elizabeth I
** Berlin and Portsmouth
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* AlternateUniverse: Whilst obviously originally being a Les Mis AU, the City Verse is more of an AU of history itself.
* AlwaysABiggerFish: [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/67816207484/what-is-atlantis-afraid-of What is Atlantis afraid of?]]
* AlwaysABiggerFish: [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/67816207484/what-is-atlantis-afraid-of What is Atlantis afraid of?]]
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* AlwaysABiggerFish: [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/67816207484/what-is-atlantis-afraid-of What is Atlantis afraid of?]]
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* AlwaysABiggerFish: [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/67816207484/what-is-atlantis-afraid-of What is Atlantis afraid of?]]AmbiguoulyHuman: Though Cities appear, for all intents and purposes, human, they are distinctly Other.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: The Cities themselves.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: The Cities themselves.
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* AwfulTruth: Whatever it was that ''really'' happened to Roanoke...
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* BigBad: Atlantis, and possibly (probably) the Thing Under The Ice.
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* CastFullOfGay: A good number of the featured Cities so far are decidedly Not Straight or Not Cis.
* TheCavalry: Arguably the team dubbed "Ocean's Eleven" - Alang, Bacolod, Portsmouth, Galway, Hamburg, Seattle, San Juan, Capetown, Recife and Maracaibo.
* TheCavalry: Arguably the team dubbed "Ocean's Eleven" - Alang, Bacolod, Portsmouth, Galway, Hamburg, Seattle, San Juan, Capetown, Recife and Maracaibo.
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* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Roanoke, and anyone else that comes to blows with Atlantis.
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* DownerEnding: Unsurprising, since it's based on Les Miserables, but it's still pretty upsetting.
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* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Berlin and Portsmouth. See also {{Open Secret}} and {{Everybody Knew Already}}
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* FightingIrish: Galway - with good reason.
* GossipyHens: ''All the Cities''. Usually via text. Usually about Berlin and Portsmouth.
* GossipyHens: ''All the Cities''. Usually via text. Usually about Berlin and Portsmouth.
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* ImmortalityHurts: Affects almost all Cities. Particularly applicable to those with human lovers.
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* LaResistance: Les Amis and Ocean's Eleven.
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* LoveAtFirstSight: Berlin for Portsmouth.
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* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: Arguably applicable to Berlin and Portsmouth, in the Ocean's Eleven part of their story. Though Berlin's subsequent actions probably could not be called 'brooding'.
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* QueerRomance: And lots of it!
** Paris/Grantaire and Enjolras
** London and Lisbon
** London and Elizabeth I
** Berlin and Portsmouth
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Almost all of the Cities.
** Paris/Grantaire and Enjolras
** London and Lisbon
** London and Elizabeth I
** Berlin and Portsmouth
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Almost all of the Cities.
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* SecretKeeper: London, for Paris.
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* ViolentGlaswegian: Uh...Glasgow. Subverted in that whilst he is Scotland's strongest fighter, he does it mainly because he likes to win.
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** London takes on shades of this in her romance with Lisbon.
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* ScarsAreForever: Cities, despite their HealingFactor, can acquire permanent scars from events of particular emotional weight or historical significance. Scars may come from an injury to the City's human body or be symbolic of damage to the buildings or inhabitants of the physical city.
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* Adorkable: Washington DC has a massive crush on Canberra and a tendency to pine in his diary.
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* Adorkable: {{Adorkable}}: Washington DC has a massive crush on Canberra and a tendency to pine in his diary.
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* Adorkable: Washington DC has a massive crush on Canberra and a tendency to pine in his diary.
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* Crossover: thecitysmith and her followers sometimes engage in speculation about the Cities of other fictional universes. Examples may be found [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/tagged/no-crossover-is-safe here]].
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* Crossover: {{Crossover}}: thecitysmith and her followers sometimes engage in speculation about the Cities of other fictional universes. Examples may be found [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/tagged/no-crossover-is-safe here]].
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* DysfunctionJunction: The lives of Cities are difficult, violent, and lonely.
* EldritchAbomination: Several of these inhabit the Paris Burning ‘verse, the most prominent of which so far is the being in Antarctica. The tag on thecitysmith’s blog for posts about the Antarctic thing is “join us”; posts about other abominations are tagged “praise him” or “praise them”.
* EldritchAbomination: Several of these inhabit the Paris Burning ‘verse, the most prominent of which so far is the being in Antarctica. The tag on thecitysmith’s blog for posts about the Antarctic thing is “join us”; posts about other abominations are tagged “praise him” or “praise them”.
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* DysfunctionJunction: The lives of Cities are difficult, violent, and lonely.
lonely. An entire cast of them pretty much inevitably falls into this.
* EldritchAbomination: Several of these inhabit the Paris Burning ‘verse, the most prominent of which so far is the being in Antarctica. The tag on thecitysmith’s blog for posts about the Antarctic thing is “join us”; posts about other abominations are tagged “praisehim” him” or “praise them”.
* EldritchAbomination: Several of these inhabit the Paris Burning ‘verse, the most prominent of which so far is the being in Antarctica. The tag on thecitysmith’s blog for posts about the Antarctic thing is “join us”; posts about other abominations are tagged “praise
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* HealingFactor: All Cities are capable of quickly regenerating damaged body parts and reviving from lethal injuries. Capitals have a superior healing factor; while any City can recover from a temporary death within a few days, Capitals can heal instantly (unless the damage is caused by fire, to which all Cities are vulnerable).
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* HealingFactor: All Cities are capable of quickly regenerating damaged body parts and reviving from lethal injuries. Capitals have a superior healing factor; while any City can recover from a temporary death within a few days, Capitals can heal instantly (unless the damage is caused by fire, to which all Cities are vulnerable). In addition, it is possible for a typical City, if weakened, to be permanently killed by a fatal wound from any source. Capitals cannot be truly killed by anything other than fire.
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* KillItWithFire: The only reliable way to permanently kill a City. Because of this, fire imagery, particularly burning buildings, is regarded in-universe as being equivalent to graphic depictions of violence.
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* KillItWithFire: The only reliable certain way to permanently kill a City. Because of this, fire imagery, particularly burning buildings, is regarded in-universe as being equivalent to graphic depictions of violence.gore.
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->“In a world where cities are personified and history hollows out their bones. What started with Paris Burning is now blazing out of control. Do not expect a happy ending.”
-->- caption on thecitysmith’s blog
''Paris Burning'' is a ''LesMiserables'' fanfic written by thecitysmith. It imagines a universe in which all cities with a sufficient population and sense of group identity have near-immortal anthropomorphic personifications. Grantaire is the personification of Paris, driven by the accumulated trauma and bitterness of his long life to flee from his role as City and distract himself with drink. The fanfic became the seed for an expansive worldbuilding project by thecitysmith and fans of the story, involving headcanons about numerous Cities throughout the world and a plot dealing with the intense politics amongst Cities, the increasingly fraught relationship between the Cities and humankind, an uprising of vengeful Lost Cities, and an EldritchAbomination or five.
''Paris Burning'' can be read [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/825130/chapters/1566309 here]]. The additional worldbuilding can be explored on thecitysmith’s [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com blog]] or in the [[http://tumblr.com/tagged/paris-burning Paris Burning tag]] on tumblr.
* AmbiguousGender: Tokyo is referred to with “xe” pronouns.
* AlwaysABiggerFish: [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/67816207484/what-is-atlantis-afraid-of What is Atlantis afraid of?]]
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Upon dying and/or losing their humans, if a City meets their fate with more love in their heart than hate, they may “Transcend” rather than becoming Lost. Not much information about Transcended Cities has been revealed, but they seem to have good intentions towards humankind.
* AssimilationPlot: The mysterious being in Antarctica appears to have this intention.
* {{Atlantis}}: A major plot element. The legendary disaster was caused by the City of Atlantis himself, who wanted to wipe out his humans in order to be free of their control. Having succeeded in this, he decided to share his newfound freedom with his fellow Cities… and if they didn’t want it, he would just have to force them to accept it for their own good.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Capital status is usually held by Cities who have won it in Silent Wars, which involve both social manipulation and combat.
* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/48965708523/cardiff-she-cardiff-yes-brilliance-for-the-love Cardiff is King Arthur]].
* BoisterousBruiser: Copenhagen.
* TheCorrupter: Atlantis.
* Crossover: thecitysmith and her followers sometimes engage in speculation about the Cities of other fictional universes. Examples may be found [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/tagged/no-crossover-is-safe here]].
* DeathByDespair: This befell Old Rome; the despair of knowing that her own ruler had deliberately set fire to her and that she would most likely die from it killed her before the actual fire did.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Sometimes experienced by Cities. Several examples are described in Paris Burning, and it was a dream that lead Paris/Grantaire to find Enjolras and his group.
* DysfunctionJunction: The lives of Cities are difficult, violent, and lonely.
* EldritchAbomination: Several of these inhabit the Paris Burning ‘verse, the most prominent of which so far is the being in Antarctica. The tag on thecitysmith’s blog for posts about the Antarctic thing is “join us”; posts about other abominations are tagged “praise him” or “praise them”.
* EyepatchOfPower: Lisbon.
* HazardousWater: Yeah, thanks for that, Atlantis.
* HealingFactor: All Cities are capable of quickly regenerating damaged body parts and reviving from lethal injuries. Capitals have a superior healing factor; while any City can recover from a temporary death within a few days, Capitals can heal instantly (unless the damage is caused by fire, to which all Cities are vulnerable).
* HistoricalInJoke: The premise is ripe for them.
** The Mona Lisa is a commissioned portrait of Florence, a fact she has never made public because she was dissatisfied with the portrait.
** Cardiff [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy was King Arthur]].
** It’s implied that Washington DC assassinated JFK.
* HumansAreFlawed
* ImAHumanitarian: Atlantis and his allies [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/71974643976/so-there-were-cities-waiting-in-the-water-does-that took advantage of the Titanic disaster to grab a bite to eat]].
* ImHavingSoulPains: Cities suffer this when their humans suffer on a large scale, such as from a natural disaster, famine, or civil unrest.
* KillAllHumans: Atlantis’s goal.
* KillItWithFire: The only reliable way to permanently kill a City. Because of this, fire imagery, particularly burning buildings, is regarded in-universe as being equivalent to graphic depictions of violence.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
* MagnificentBastard: London admired Henry V because she saw him as being one of these, and aspires to emulate his ruthlessness and political skills.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: Human-City romances invariably fall into this. Cities are said to prefer human partners who have established themselves as leaders or public figures of some sort, so that after the human shuffles off this mortal coil, the City will not be the only one to remember and admire their former partner.
* MysteriousAntarctica: you want to know about us? come visit! :):)):))):) join us! :)):))::):))))
* TheNapoleon: London, ironically enough.
* NationsAsPeople: Cities, rather, but still under the general "sociopolitical entities as people" qualification.
* PlayfulHacker: Hong Kong.
* PsychicLink: Cities are linked to their inhabitants. This leads to some troubling questions of free will, as Cities are highly susceptible to having their beliefs and opinions shaped by those of the majority of their people. The link goes both ways; a City’s emotional state may influence their people’s moods or dreams, and when a City is attacked their people may experience a psychic compulsion to protect or avenge them.
* SeeingThroughAnothersEyes: Cities can see through their peoples’ eyes if they concentrate.
* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou
** The polar vortex that affected the Midwestern US and Canada in January of 2014 prompted many jokes and comments from readers attributing the cold to Antarctica’s EldritchAbomination.
** About a month earlier, thecitysmith herself commented on [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/69090192622/turns-on-news-river-banks-in-newcastle-break storm surges]] in her native England, which in-universe could be signs of an immenent attack by the Lost Cities.
* TimeAbyss: Emphasized with the earliest African Cities.
* TooManyMouths: The Antarctic thing’s text messages often include smiley faces with two or more mouths :)) Some of them also have too many eyes.
* TurnTheOtherCheek: Living out this trope is how [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/48560946960/alexanderperchov-the-people-called-them-the Jerusalem]] copes with all the centuries’ worth of violence she has endured.
* UnfortunateNames: It’s been indicated that a couple of American Cities whose names sound like “Atlantis”, namely [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/69298425800/kind-of-want-to-hand-over-atlantic-city-just-because Atlantic City, New Jersey]] and [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/73236969453/if-atlantic-city-feels-haunted-by-his-name-what-of Atlanta, Georgia]], might be more susceptible to his influence than others.
* TheUnintelligible: Aberdeen.
* VisionaryVillain: Atlantis wants to liberate his fellow Cities from human control. At the cost of the humans’ lives, and regardless of whether the Cities want freedom at that cost.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Debate over what political and social rights Cities are entitled to, whether or not they have souls, and what their role in society ought to be has persisted throughout human history. Human attitudes towards seem to have grown more restrictive and demanding over time, and the growing frustration of many Cities with this issue is central to the narrative.
* WhoShotJFK: A City (implied to be Washington DC) did the deed. The assassin’s motive remains unknown.
-->- caption on thecitysmith’s blog
''Paris Burning'' is a ''LesMiserables'' fanfic written by thecitysmith. It imagines a universe in which all cities with a sufficient population and sense of group identity have near-immortal anthropomorphic personifications. Grantaire is the personification of Paris, driven by the accumulated trauma and bitterness of his long life to flee from his role as City and distract himself with drink. The fanfic became the seed for an expansive worldbuilding project by thecitysmith and fans of the story, involving headcanons about numerous Cities throughout the world and a plot dealing with the intense politics amongst Cities, the increasingly fraught relationship between the Cities and humankind, an uprising of vengeful Lost Cities, and an EldritchAbomination or five.
''Paris Burning'' can be read [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/825130/chapters/1566309 here]]. The additional worldbuilding can be explored on thecitysmith’s [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com blog]] or in the [[http://tumblr.com/tagged/paris-burning Paris Burning tag]] on tumblr.
* AmbiguousGender: Tokyo is referred to with “xe” pronouns.
* AlwaysABiggerFish: [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/67816207484/what-is-atlantis-afraid-of What is Atlantis afraid of?]]
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Upon dying and/or losing their humans, if a City meets their fate with more love in their heart than hate, they may “Transcend” rather than becoming Lost. Not much information about Transcended Cities has been revealed, but they seem to have good intentions towards humankind.
* AssimilationPlot: The mysterious being in Antarctica appears to have this intention.
* {{Atlantis}}: A major plot element. The legendary disaster was caused by the City of Atlantis himself, who wanted to wipe out his humans in order to be free of their control. Having succeeded in this, he decided to share his newfound freedom with his fellow Cities… and if they didn’t want it, he would just have to force them to accept it for their own good.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Capital status is usually held by Cities who have won it in Silent Wars, which involve both social manipulation and combat.
* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/48965708523/cardiff-she-cardiff-yes-brilliance-for-the-love Cardiff is King Arthur]].
* BoisterousBruiser: Copenhagen.
* TheCorrupter: Atlantis.
* Crossover: thecitysmith and her followers sometimes engage in speculation about the Cities of other fictional universes. Examples may be found [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/tagged/no-crossover-is-safe here]].
* DeathByDespair: This befell Old Rome; the despair of knowing that her own ruler had deliberately set fire to her and that she would most likely die from it killed her before the actual fire did.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Sometimes experienced by Cities. Several examples are described in Paris Burning, and it was a dream that lead Paris/Grantaire to find Enjolras and his group.
* DysfunctionJunction: The lives of Cities are difficult, violent, and lonely.
* EldritchAbomination: Several of these inhabit the Paris Burning ‘verse, the most prominent of which so far is the being in Antarctica. The tag on thecitysmith’s blog for posts about the Antarctic thing is “join us”; posts about other abominations are tagged “praise him” or “praise them”.
* EyepatchOfPower: Lisbon.
* HazardousWater: Yeah, thanks for that, Atlantis.
* HealingFactor: All Cities are capable of quickly regenerating damaged body parts and reviving from lethal injuries. Capitals have a superior healing factor; while any City can recover from a temporary death within a few days, Capitals can heal instantly (unless the damage is caused by fire, to which all Cities are vulnerable).
* HistoricalInJoke: The premise is ripe for them.
** The Mona Lisa is a commissioned portrait of Florence, a fact she has never made public because she was dissatisfied with the portrait.
** Cardiff [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy was King Arthur]].
** It’s implied that Washington DC assassinated JFK.
* HumansAreFlawed
* ImAHumanitarian: Atlantis and his allies [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/71974643976/so-there-were-cities-waiting-in-the-water-does-that took advantage of the Titanic disaster to grab a bite to eat]].
* ImHavingSoulPains: Cities suffer this when their humans suffer on a large scale, such as from a natural disaster, famine, or civil unrest.
* KillAllHumans: Atlantis’s goal.
* KillItWithFire: The only reliable way to permanently kill a City. Because of this, fire imagery, particularly burning buildings, is regarded in-universe as being equivalent to graphic depictions of violence.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
* MagnificentBastard: London admired Henry V because she saw him as being one of these, and aspires to emulate his ruthlessness and political skills.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: Human-City romances invariably fall into this. Cities are said to prefer human partners who have established themselves as leaders or public figures of some sort, so that after the human shuffles off this mortal coil, the City will not be the only one to remember and admire their former partner.
* MysteriousAntarctica: you want to know about us? come visit! :):)):))):) join us! :)):))::):))))
* TheNapoleon: London, ironically enough.
* NationsAsPeople: Cities, rather, but still under the general "sociopolitical entities as people" qualification.
* PlayfulHacker: Hong Kong.
* PsychicLink: Cities are linked to their inhabitants. This leads to some troubling questions of free will, as Cities are highly susceptible to having their beliefs and opinions shaped by those of the majority of their people. The link goes both ways; a City’s emotional state may influence their people’s moods or dreams, and when a City is attacked their people may experience a psychic compulsion to protect or avenge them.
* SeeingThroughAnothersEyes: Cities can see through their peoples’ eyes if they concentrate.
* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou
** The polar vortex that affected the Midwestern US and Canada in January of 2014 prompted many jokes and comments from readers attributing the cold to Antarctica’s EldritchAbomination.
** About a month earlier, thecitysmith herself commented on [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/69090192622/turns-on-news-river-banks-in-newcastle-break storm surges]] in her native England, which in-universe could be signs of an immenent attack by the Lost Cities.
* TimeAbyss: Emphasized with the earliest African Cities.
* TooManyMouths: The Antarctic thing’s text messages often include smiley faces with two or more mouths :)) Some of them also have too many eyes.
* TurnTheOtherCheek: Living out this trope is how [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/48560946960/alexanderperchov-the-people-called-them-the Jerusalem]] copes with all the centuries’ worth of violence she has endured.
* UnfortunateNames: It’s been indicated that a couple of American Cities whose names sound like “Atlantis”, namely [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/69298425800/kind-of-want-to-hand-over-atlantic-city-just-because Atlantic City, New Jersey]] and [[http://thecitysmith.tumblr.com/post/73236969453/if-atlantic-city-feels-haunted-by-his-name-what-of Atlanta, Georgia]], might be more susceptible to his influence than others.
* TheUnintelligible: Aberdeen.
* VisionaryVillain: Atlantis wants to liberate his fellow Cities from human control. At the cost of the humans’ lives, and regardless of whether the Cities want freedom at that cost.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Debate over what political and social rights Cities are entitled to, whether or not they have souls, and what their role in society ought to be has persisted throughout human history. Human attitudes towards seem to have grown more restrictive and demanding over time, and the growing frustration of many Cities with this issue is central to the narrative.
* WhoShotJFK: A City (implied to be Washington DC) did the deed. The assassin’s motive remains unknown.
