History Literature / TheInnsmouthLegacy

* PerspectiveFlip: This is the view of the Mythos from the perspective of the Deep Ones.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: This drives the philosophical conflict between the Yithians and the Mi-Go, with humans caught in the middle. Are the Yithians an enlightened, AntiNihilist society dedicated to the preservation of knowledge and culture through eternity? Or on the other hand are they engaged in ImmortalityImmorality on a truly monumental scale and cynically manipulating Aeonists into not even trying to fight their stranglehold on the timeline? Are the Mi-Go an enlightened [[TheFederation association of many species]], and fighting for free will? Or are they [[WellIntentionedExtremist trying to subvert the natural order]] through [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill supposedly benevolent mind control?]]
** The narrative itself doesn't pick a side, partly because most characters simply don't have enough information and there are a lot of [[UnreliableExpositor conflicting accounts by people with reasons to lie.]] As it currently stands, however, it's most likely the answer for the Yithians is both. And the Mi-Go, being no better or worse than human beings, are absolutely capable of the double-think required to pursue free-will through the medium of mind control or, say, try to present themselves as an enlightened, egalitarian multi-species federation while not designing their controls for other species' hands.

** The narrative itself doesn't pick a side, partly because most characters simply don't have enough information and there are a lot of [[UnreliableExpositor conflicting accounts by people with reasons to lie.]] As it currently stands, however, it's most likely the answer for the Yithians is both.

** The narrative itself doesn't pick a side, partly because most characters simply don't have enough information and there are a lot of [[UnreliableExpositor conflicting accounts by people with reasons to lie.]] As it currently stands, however, it's most likely the answer for the Yithians is [[MathematiciansAnswer Yes.]]

* AngryBlackMan: Caleb is in a similar narrative role. Like Aphra he went through the Innsmouth genocide, and unlike Aphra he is mad as hell at (standard) humans and very belligerent about it.

* TwiceToldTale: Several different people tell the origin of the three branches of humanity - 'standard' humans, Deep Ones, and K'nyan. It gets to the point that when the Yithian is about to start telling it ''again'' Aphra cuts it off and says she's heard it before.

* CIAEvilFBIGood: More like FBI Good, US military bad. Ron Spector is a decent, honorable, and enlightened man for his time. However, he's a figure that still represents the authorities which ruined Aphra's life.

* IWantGrandkids: Aphra is nonplussed that all the Elders want her to breed as quickly as possible. Still traumatised from her decades in a US government concentration camp where she saw [[EverybodysDeadDave everyone except her brother die]], she's really not happy at the [[AdultFear potential heartbreak involved in raising children]]. In fairness the stakes are a bit higher than normal; as far as they know Aphra and Caleb are the LastOfTheirKind who can have children. The Deep Ones are effectively immortal but they can be killed, so it may well be a question of species survival.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Resoundingly averted with the Deep Ones and other species shown to be alien but not evil. Played straight with the Kyn Yan... but even they are capable of change, albeit requiring quite extreme methods.

** Barlow's team attempt a non-generalised summoning ritual which is a ''very'' bad idea. You don't know who is going to show up.

** The Yithian possessing Trumball tries to hypnotize her way past the FBI men at the university gate. In it's arrogance it never considered that the humans would be prepared and have protective amulets. It gets them arrested and arouses the suspicions of Barlow's team.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Resoundingly averted with the Deep Ones and other species shown to be alien but not evil.

* LighterAndSofter: The Cthulhu Mythos is portrayed this way, with the majority of monsters just being reasonable and sympathetic aliens. They may have BlueAndOrangeMorality but doesn't make them malevolent. Human evils, by contrast, are treated exactly the way they would be normally with no attempt at sympathy.
* LovecraftLite: The Deep Ones are a noble culture that, if not pacifistic, then at least no danger to surfacers.

* AmbiguouslyGay: Professor Trumball had a relationship with a (probable) woman in a Yith's body while they were both in the future. She also had a very close relationship with her maid that she was upset had been severed by the Yith. {{Justified}} by the time period. The following novel confirms it outright.

* {{Asexual}}: Aphra Marsh is speculated to be this and it reflects her interior thoughts. She only thinks about sex and romance in terms of reproduction.

* YouCantFightFate: The central tenant of the Aeonist faith. The timeline is fixed, and they know that it includes the extinction of all branches of humanity. And trying to fight it is a horrible idea in any case, since the most likely result is a Yithian ensuring you were never born.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: {{Deconstructed}}. Aphra treats the Mi-Go as being blasphemous and eldritch when they actually have a morality very similar to the Federation from ''Star Trek.'' Most notably, [[SlidingScaleOfFateVsFreeWill they believe that the future can be changed.]] This violates the most fundamental tenants of the Aeonist faith, which forms the core of Aphra's world view.

* GenuineHumanHide: Am artificial version. The Outer Ones can pose as human using LatexPerfection, except theirs works a lot better because it's made of human skin grown in their laboratories.

* SpotTheImposter: Audrey realises that Agent Spector has been replaced by an imposter, a human collaborator working for the Mi-Go, because this closet homosexual is DistractedByTheSexy. Unfortunately the imposter knows everything the real Spector does, because the Mi-Go read his mind so they're unable to convince Barlow of this. Worse, they can't reveal how they knew in the first place because [[ForcedOutOfTheCloset it would mean the end of Spector's career]].

* BroadStrokes: To H.P. Lovecraft's writing. In addition to the obvious change that the Deep Ones weren't AlwaysChaoticEvil, the Elder Things in this story were one of the races the Yithians replaced.