Line #153 Literature/EdenGreen


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5	[[quoteright:343:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eden_green_final_copy.jpg]]
6	->"''[[ContentWarnings This book... contains themes, implications, and/or graphic scenes]] of powerlessness, [[DomesticAbuse physical and verbal abuse]], [[EvenEvilHasStandards implied rape]], [[SelfHarm self-harm]], [[DrivenToSuicide suicidal thoughts and attempts]], [[DrugsAreGood drug use]], [[TheCorruption contamination]], [[BodyHorror body horror]], brief [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence violence and gore]], [[AMillionIsAStatistic mass death]], [[AndIMustScream eternal suffering]], [[GirlsWithGuns gun use]], [[AfraidOfNeedles needles]], and [[SpidersAreScary spi]][[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking ders]].''"
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8	''[[http://homework.never-ends.net/edengreen/ Eden Green]]'' is Fiona van Dahl's first published novel, released through Amazon Kindle and Audible under [[SciFiHorror 'science fiction' and 'horror']].
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10	[[ProtagonistTitle Eden]] is a [[RationalFic rational]], reliable person who tries to keep her life as simple and organized as possible. When her best friend Ron disappears for a while, then reappears with a creepy new boyfriend named Tedrin, Eden thinks it's just more of the usual drama... until she learns that Ron has been infected with an alien needle symbiote that [[HealingFactor keeps her alive no matter what]]. Things get worse from there, as needle-monsters begin to infest their city.
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12	Most of the book covers Eden's semi-scientific experiments on the symbiote, sometimes involving her own body. But occasionally, to ensure her own survival, she has to take a shotgun to a needle monster or ten.
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14	The author has since started a free online serial, ''[[Literature/CityOnTheEdgeOfNowhere City on the Edge of Nowhere]],'' recapping the events of ''Eden Green'' from the perspective of a reporter affected by events.
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16	The sequel, ''[[Literature/NewNight New Night]],'' takes place nine months after the events of ''Eden Green.''
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18	----
19	!! The novel contains examples of the following tropes:
20	* AbandonedArea: Since the city of Gothic is going through a decade-long recession, there are many [[AbandonedWarehouse abandoned warehouses]] and other areas in which the needle monsters nest. When Eden crosses over to [[spoiler:the other side of the portals, she finds an entire GhostPlanet]].
21	%%* ActionSurvivor: Eden and Veronica.
22	* ActuallyNotAVampire:
23	** When Tedrin tells Eden about how he resurrected Veronica:
24	--->“She was fighting for her life, clutching my hand like she knew I could save her. ... When she stopped breathing, I knew what I had to do.”\
25	When utterly baffled, go for a joke. “And then you bit her neck and sucked out all her blood, right?”\
26	He blinks at me, looking genuinely annoyed. “Vampires? Really?”\
27	My hands go up. “Hey, I’m just working with what you’re describing.”
28	** Later, when Eden warns Tedrin not to hurt her friend:
29	--->“Let’s just say I keep a shotgun around for a reason. Doesn’t matter if you’re a Juggalo or an [[Literature/TheTwilightSaga Edward Cullen]] wannabe.”\
30	He laughs, startling me. “You and vampires. You have some kind of obsession.”
31	* AlienInvasion: When Eden is first brought in on TheMasquerade, Tedrin has been killing off the occasional invading needle monster for a year. A few days later, [[spoiler:the floodgates open and monsters pour into the city]].
32	* AliensInCardiff: Takes place in the fictional small college town of Gothic, Arkansas, an expy of the author's home city of Fayetteville.
33	%%* AlienSky
34	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Tedrin is the latest in Ron's gallery of boyfriends, which also includes an abusive Juggalo, a married man, and one whose psychotic girlfriend attacked her.
35	%%* AndIMustScream: One of the many fates Eden foresees for needle-hosts.
36	%%* AnotherDimension
37	%%* ApocalypticLog: Eden's 'important information' document.
38	* BackingIntoDanger: The title character explores an abandoned church in search of a harmless, herbivorous alien monster, and finds something terrifying. Then, while backing away from it down a dark hallway, she bumps into something even worse.
39	* BattleInTheRain: Eden and Ron [[spoiler:return to Earth on a motorcycle in the middle of a storm]].
40	* BigEgoHiddenDepths: Eden makes a lot of the fact that her life is more stable than Ron's, [[spoiler:yet she has no long-term career or college plans [[BrilliantButLazy despite her intellect]], no social life outside of her relatives and one friend, zero romantic interests or desires, and deep-seated insecurity and discomfort with the world]].
41	%%* BizarreAlienBiology
42	* BlankSlate: [[spoiler:What happens when an infected person's original brain is destroyed]].
43	* BlessedWithSuck: Eden's entire reaction to the parasite.
44	%%* BodyHorror
45	* BreakTheHaughty: Eden is a self-important rationalist in a Lovecraftian horror story. Guess how that's going to go.
46	* BreatherEpisode: At one point, Eden retreats from [[spoiler:the horrifying warzone her city has become]] and spends a chapter cleaning her apartment and doing laundry.
47	* BrilliantButLazy: Despite her intellect and biochemistry background, Eden works as a legal assistant and never mentions any college plans.
48	* BungledSuicide: [[spoiler:Tedrin reveals that after he was first infected, he tried to blow his brains out, but his head grew back.]]
49	%%* CombatBreakdown: The final battle.
50	%%* CompleteImmortality
51	* ContentWarnings: In the front matter, the author includes a warning about triggering content (see top of page).
52	%%* CreepyLongFingers: One of Tedrin's favorite parlor tricks.
53	* CursedWithAwesome:
54	** [[spoiler:Eden's]] complaints about being CURSED to grow back missing body parts often feels like this.
55	** Ron, at least, seems to know how to have fun with the needles.
56	--->'''Ron:''' Oh my God she has sword-hands ''that is so cool''!
57	* DeathAmnesia: [[spoiler:When Eden's brain is destroyed and rebuilt, no afterlife is shown, just the nightmarish process by which every one of her neurons is re-networked.]]
58	* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:Eden]] becomes suicidal shortly after being infected, and her goals tend to end with '... after which I'll find a way to destroy myself'.
59	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Eden is willing and even eager to sacrifice herself if it means destroying Tedrin and the alien monsters infesting the city. At one point, Tedrin asks Eden to permanently destroy him, so that he doesn't have to find out what happens when his brain is destroyed a second time.]]
60	* DrugsAreGood: Eden and Ron regularly smoke marijuana together, including once in-story; Eden also smokes some (given to her by Ron) in the deer stand. However, Eden judges Tedrin for smoking cigarettes, and isn't too happy that Ron [[spoiler:injected her with heroin to ease her transformation]].
61	* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Eden when Tedrin [[spoiler:refuses to rape her despite ample opportunity]]. He instead [[spoiler:[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil tries to murder her]]]].
62	* FacialHorror: After [[spoiler:Eden]] is infected, she describes the sensation of needles repairing her broken teeth, lips, and nose.
63	%%* FirstPersonSmartass: Eden.
64	* FlatScare: Tedrin sneaks up on and startles Eden several times, and occasionally [[spoiler:gets shot]] as a result.
65	* FoldSpindleMutilation: When [[spoiler:Eden's original brain is destroyed, she describes the process of each new neuron being formed as her entire self being crammed down into sub-atomic particles in a great crystalline structure the size of the universe]].
66	* FreudianTrio: While Tedrin is the violent, impulsive id and Eden forms the over-analytical super-ego, Ron's ego tries to balance the two and keep them working together [[spoiler:with mixed results]].
67	* FromASingleCell: Tedrin strongly implies that the needles will keep their host alive no matter how they are destroyed.
68	* GeneticMemory: The needles are able to rebuild the brain after it is destroyed, but with data loss.
69	%%* GeniusThriller
70	* GollumMadeMeDoIt: [[spoiler:Kazuma claims this of Tedrin (his needle symbiote's 'personality'), and by the end, is actively trying to fight off its murderous survival instincts.]]
71	* GoodThingYouCanHeal: Fighting the needle monsters is a dangerous job; Ron and Tedrin later state outright that they're better equipped for it than the military.
72	%%* HappyPlace: The deer stand.
73	%%* HealingFactor
74	* HerbivoresAreFriendly: Averted because even herbivores can have dangerous herd tendencies.
75	%%* [[HeroicHost Heroic Hosts]]
76	%%* HeroicSelfDeprecation
77	%%* HeterosexualLifePartners: Eden and Veronica.
78	* [[HunterOfHisOwnKind Hunter Of Her Own Kind]]: [[spoiler:Eden]] after being infected.
79	* IHateYouVampireDad: Eden's vendetta against Tedrin.
80	%%* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight
81	%%* ImmortalLifeIsCheap
82	%%* ImmortalityHurts
83	* ImprovisedWeapon: Ron likes to battle using the severed limbs of her enemies, and both she and Tedrin use metal scraps and whatever other junk they find.
84	* IndyPloy: Ron and Tedrin's favorite way to do things. [[spoiler:Later, as Eden succumbs to the symbiote, she becomes more rash and is forced to improvise non-ideal solutions on the fly.]]
85	* InscrutableAliens: [[spoiler:The mountain, with its long-abandoned chambers and untranslated writing, is a puzzle for another day.]]
86	* InstantMassJustAddWater: The needles (in human hosts) replenish their numbers after an injury by consuming water.
87	* JekyllAndHyde: [[spoiler:Tedrin is later revealed to be a personality constructed by the needles after Kazuma's brain was destroyed]]. Eden [[spoiler:also shows hints of a split toward the end]].
88	%%* JumpedAtTheCall: Ron.
89	%%* KilledMidSentence: Several, but especially [[spoiler:the ending]].
90	* LampreyMouth: The 'giraffes' and giant worms each have these.
91	* LiteraryAllusionTitle: The title (the main character's full name) is a pun on the Garden of Eden.
92	%%* LovecraftianSuperpower
93	%%* LuredIntoATrap: [[spoiler:The church.]]
94	* MageInManhattan: A lot of Eden's initial planning involves keeping the monsters and infection a secret. The next morning, [[spoiler:needle monsters destroy part of the city center and make international news]]. Also the theme of the related web serial, ''[[http://homework.never-ends.net/city/ City on the Edge of Nowhere]]''.
95	* MilesToGoBeforeISleep: Eden eventually longs for permanent death, but first seeks to destroy Tedrin and save Earth.
96	-->''“I don’t want to hear your fucking excuses!”'' I shout in his face. I point back in the general direction of the portals. “We’re going back to Earth and stopping this invasion, and then after that, believe me, I’ll be next in line behind you for a goddamn mercy kill! When, and only when, no one else has to suffer for ''your'' fuck-ups!”
97	* MinimalistCast: Other than Eden's mother (on the phone) and boss (on the phone) and a single soldier near the end, the entire cast consists of Eden, Ron, and Tedrin.
98	* MonsterProgenitor: Eden plays with the theory that because Tedrin was the first human infectee, he may be stronger than those he infects.
99	* MyBloodRunsHot: Fully-transformed human hosts have an elevated body temperature that, to an uninfected person, feels like an extreme fever.
100	%%* NeckSnap: Played straight.
101	%%* CyberneticsEatYourSoul
102	%%* NoNameGiven: Everyone but the main characters.
103	* NonHumanUndead: Needle monsters (infected 'animals' from the other dimension) are the original vectors for the needle symbiote.
104	* NoOSHACompliance: The ledges on [[spoiler:the mountain in the other world]]. Called out by Eden.
105	%%* OddCouple: Eden and Veronica.
106	%%* OminousVisualGlitch: [[spoiler:s̵c̵r̷a̷t̶c̸h̷]]
107	* [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Person]]: Eden is the first person to witness the needle symbiote in action and react with horror and disgust. She's also usually the only character with a plan.
108	%%* PatientZero: Tedrin.
109	* PersonalHorror: Eden most prizes her rationality and ability to solve any problem. Toward the end, after [[spoiler:her brain is destroyed and rebuilt by the needles, she goes mute and insane]].
110	* PhlebotinumRebel: [[spoiler:Tedrin infects Eden thinking she will become an ally, find a cure, or even (as one reviewer put it) join his harem. She immediately makes it her mission in life to destroy him.]]
111	* PowerBornOfMadness: Tedrin's needle-insanity often plays to his advantage, allowing him to fight without holding back and survive unwinnable situations.
112	%%* PsychoPartyMember: Tedrin.
113	* PullingThemselvesTogether: When [[spoiler:Eden accidentally]] blows Tedrin's arm off, he holds it against his shoulder until the needles can stitch it back on.
114	%%* ReallyGetsAround: Veronica, to Eden's barely-checked disgust.
115	%%* RefusalOfTheCall: Eden.
116	%%* RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain: Averted.
117	* RunOrDie: The gang's reaction when they first encounter [[spoiler:a swarm of exes]].
118	* SanityHasAdvantages: Eden versus Tedrin, though the latter also benefits from PowerBornOfMadness (see above).
119	-->Tedrin knew about this great big curse that the needles bring with them. He was terrified that Ron and I would find out about [[spoiler:his memory issues]]. He had no plan to mitigate or cope with [[spoiler:his own loss]], and he didn’t see fit to warn us ... In one morning of quiet preparation, I’ve conquered something that has weighed on him since his transformation. What other problems can I fix?
120	%%* SanitySlippage
121	* ScareDare: Tedrin sends Eden into an abandoned church in search of a harmless, herbivorous needle creature.
122	* SelfMutilationDemonstration: The book opens with Ron punching sheet metal until her hands are crushed, bloodied — and rapidly healing.
123	* SensoryAbuse: The audiobook interprets [[spoiler:the scratch of Eden's infection as a long, irritating noise]].
124	%%* SlidingScaleOfComedyAndHorror: Possibly 'Balanced'.
125	* SouthernGothic: The author's modern take on the genre (an early draft name-dropped ''Series/TrueDetective),'' even lending its name to the city of Gothic, Arkansas.
126	%%* SpidersAreScary
127	%%* SplitPersonality: See JekyllAndHyde, above.
128	* StagesOfMonsterGrief: The plot follows Eden through [[spoiler:fifteen seconds of [[ZombieInfectee Denial]] and ''very quickly'' into DrivenToSuicide. She spends most of the book in [[VampireRefugee Defiance]] mode (with a focus on figuring out how to kill Tedrin) before landing in uneasy Acceptance]]. Tedrin, meanwhile, has staked out [[TranshumanTreachery Betrayal]] for himself.
129	* StakingTheLovedOne: Eden is fully prepared to destroy her best friend rather than let her live on as a needle infectee. Later, [[spoiler:Ron makes a similar decision about Eden]].
130	%%* SurrealHorror
131	%%* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:Eden's plan after becoming infected.]]
132	* TalkingDownTheSuicidal: When Eden is [[spoiler:infected, she immediately tries to kill herself using her own shotgun, and only stops when Veronica and Tedrin talk her out of it]]. Later, Tedrin [[spoiler:asks Eden to use Mjolnir to permanently destroy him; suddenly uncomfortable with the idea, she demands that he stay alive until they've fixed all of his mistakes]].
133	%%* ThatManIsDead: Tedrin, of [[spoiler:Kazuma]]. Later, [[spoiler:Eden, of herself]].
134	%%* TheCorruption
135	* TheMasquerade: Only Tedrin, Ron, and Eden are aware of the needle monsters taking up residence in the city ([[spoiler:at first]]). [[DiscussedTrope Called]] by Veronica, a self-described [[Administrivia/TVTropesGlossary troper]].
136	* TheNicknamer: Eden calls both Veronica and occasionally Tedrin by pet names, and comes up with her own special terms for each species of needle monster.
137	* ThePrecariousLedge: Tedrin leads Eden onto one [[spoiler:in the other world]].
138	* TheSociopath: Tedrin (and called such by Eden several times). He uses, lies to, and manipulates both girls, is a thrill-seeker, thinks of himself as the hero savior of Gothic, and only ever expresses strong emotions (besides rage and pain) when [[spoiler:Kazuma shifts to the forefront]].
139	%%* TheSvengali: Tedrin, to Ron and later Eden.
140	%%* TheSwarm: Exes.
141	%%* TheSymbiote
142	* TheVirus: The needles are spread through blood, though the host must be dead for it to take root.
143	* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: A needle-human, even once fully converted, is hard to tell apart from an uninfected person, other than their pinprick eyes and pointed fingertips.
144	* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: The last third of the book, after [[spoiler:Eden's original brain is destroyed, suffers patches of disjointed weirdness]].
145	* TrappedInAnotherWorld: Eden is forced to remain through the night on the alien planet because she can't get back to the portals.
146	* TorsoWithAView: At one point, Tedrin has a hole in his chest that Eden ''can see through.''
147	%%* [[TragicMonster Tragic Monsters]]
148	%%* TransformationHorror
149	* TransTribulations: [[spoiler:Eden carries some subtle discomfort and judgement against Veronica, insists on calling her [[TomboyishName 'Ron']], and tells Tedrin that she has a 'secret' (which it turns out he is [[IfItsYouItsOkay perfectly fine with]]). Near the end, Eden laments to herself that only now, thanks to the needles, does she understand how Ron could be so uncomfortable in her own body.]]
150	%%* TraumaInducedAmnesia
151	* VanHelsingHateCrimes: Eden wants to destroy every infected human, including her best friend [[spoiler:and herself]].
152	%%* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: According to the copyright page.
153	%%* ViralTransformation
154	* WhenItAllBegan: Tedrin was infected and converted to needles before the start of the story.
155	* WhenTreesAttack: The trees in [[spoiler:the other world]], which Eden jokingly calls '[[Franchise/HarryPotter Whomping Willows]]'.
156	%%* WhoWantsToLiveForever
157	%%* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity
158	%%* WordSaladHorror: [[spoiler:Eden's visions as her brain is reconstructed.]]
159	* TheWormThatWalks: Tedrin (and any other human made completely of needles). Later, when [[spoiler:'Kazuma' re-emerges, it's implied that 'Tedrin' is the survival-obsessed personality of the needles]].

Context Literature / EdenGreen