Line #62 Literature/LegendsOfLaconia


1	->"What does it mean to be human?"
2
3	Fully named "Legends of Laconia, USA", this is a series of fantasy novels by author Donaya Haymond involving an East Coast town called Laconia and some of the people who live and end up there. Their lives would be fully ordinary- faith, friendship, family, worries about bullying and school work and relationships- except that they also have to deal with not being ordinary people.
4
5	# ''Halloween Romance'' (2009) - a boy-meets-girl story, where the girl is [[{{Masquerade}} desperately hiding]] [[OurWereWolvesAreDifferent lycanthropy]] and the boy is [[DarkSecret desperately hiding]] [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampirism.]]
6
7	# ''Bite Me'' (2009) - Dianne, the teenage daughter of the couple from ''Halloween Romance'', deals with [[InvoluntaryShapeshifter personal]] and family crises.
8
9	# ''Waking Echoes'' (2010) - Taylor, a friend of Dianne's, starts having visions of a previous life in a parallel, apocalyptic universe, and is [[CassandraTruth thought to have become psychotic]] by most people she knows.
10
11	# ''Humans and Demons and Elves'' (2011) - the story of how Taylor's [[OurElvesAreDifferent psychiatrist]] came to [[FishOutOfWater join the human world]] when his village in a pocket dimension was destroyed.
12
13	----
14	!!This series provides examples of:
15	* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Absurdly Youthful Father: Ferdinand ages so slowly that people question how he can be Dianne's dad.
16	* AdultsAreUseless: Inverted, as Dianne interacts much better with and receives greater help from adults, particular her parents, than most people her own age. Averted when Taylor gets so much guidance from older people that she starts calling them the "mentor medley".
17	* AuthorAppeal: Haymond has admitted to enjoying [[DistressedDude getting Ferdinand tied up]], [[TheWoobie adding onto Ferdinand's woes]].
18	* BunnyEarsLawyer: Dr. Nathan "Nat" Silver, a silly vampire who uses [[GoshDarnItToHeck outdated]] [[SophisticatedAsHell slang]] and wears terribly jarring, loud clothes, but is also a competent doctor in several fields (see OpenHeartDentistry below).
19	* CantArgueWithElves: Edofine starts off quite snooty of humankind, but this starts to change as part of his CharacterDevelopment.
20	* ChristianityIsCatholic: Averted; Selene is a lukewarm Episcopalian and Taylor's family are Mormons, though Taylor starts questioning the dogma of her church as a result of her visions.
21	* DarkIsNotEvil: The Anghel family, along with Krith the Archaedemon JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
22	* DeadpanSnarker: Dianne especially, though others get in on the action. "Tammy has been avoiding me in a plague-like fashion. Me as the plague, I mean, not her, much as she may resemble one."
23	* {{Deconstruction}}: Ferdinand gets [[WhatTheHellHero called out]] by friends and family for his {{Wangst}}, squeaks like a bat when startled, violently retches at the smell of garlic, and is weak - [[SuperStrength for a vampire]] - and scrawny from drinking animal blood instead of human. Most people also find his bat form adorable rather than frightening. Might be considered one extended TakeThat against [[Literature/{{Twilight}} certain stereotypes]].
24	* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: Lampshaded. Dianne and Selene get worried about Ferdinand's well-being when he ''doesn't'' accidentally break things.
25	* ElvesVersusDwarves: Part of the conflict between the Elves and the Archaedemons, underground pyrokinetic miners who can change in size but prefer being about three feet tall, has echoes of this. The Archaedemons are thought crude, with their fondness for liquor and gambling.
26	* TheEmpath: All Elves in this universe [[BlessedWithSuck sense others' emotions uncontrollably.]]
27	* ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself: In ''Halloween Romance'', Ferdinand and Selene meet while they are both doing this.
28	* FourTemperamentEnsemble: In ''Bite Me''.
29	** Sanguine: Dr. Nat Silver, [[DontExplainTheJoke cause he's a cheerful drinker of blood]].
30	** Choleric: Dianne Anghel
31	** Melancholic: Ferdinand Anghel
32	** Phlegmatic: Selene Davidson Anghel
33	* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampires: In this universe, no supernatural influence can ''make'' someone evil full-time, though werewolves do become homicidal one night a month. Thus a good person who becomes a vampire may have tremendous temptation to kill, but is able to resist it; it's not easy, but possible.
34	* HeelFaceTurn: Riq joins Ty's group after being her jailor and eventually falls in love with her.
35	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Archaedemons and Eudemons. In addition, all the ''Bite Me'' chapter titles are of the form "(Verb) Me", all the ''Waking Echoes'' chapter titles are a singular noun, and all the ''Humans and Demons and Elves'' chapter titles are "(Noun) and (Noun) and (Noun)".
36	* IWouldSayIfICouldSay: "I defy any human being to fail to learn slow dancing." ''Then again, I'm technically not a human being anymore.''
37	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Young Selene has shades of this, Ferdinand's little sister Cassi even more so.
38	* MistakenForJunkie: This is why the kids at school think Dianne's father is so pale, thin, and withdrawn, and it provides fuel for their teasing.
39	* MundaneUtility: Ferdinand makes money in college betting people he's stronger than them. Dianne eventually learns to do things like turn her ears into a wolf's to eavesdrop, or her eyes into wolf eyes incapable of shedding emotional tears.
40	* MyNaymeIs: Cassiopoeia Anghel is "Cassi", not "Cassie".
41	* NextSundayAD: Since ''Halloween Romance'' is mostly set in 2003, FridgeLogic establishes that the rest of the series must be at least sixteen years after.
42	* NobodyPoops: Lampshaded in ''Bite Me'', when Dianne's boy-next-door love interest Matthew asks if Ferdinand goes to the bathroom; she explains that he does if he consumes the few beverages other than blood he finds palatable, but otherwise no. Averted altogether in ''Waking Echoes'': when Tylianvornika spends some time in a jail cell there is a toilet included.
43	* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted - Dianne mentions that Ferdinand has severe issues coming near his daughter and wife without hurting them when it's that time. He restricts himself to NoHuggingNoKissing for the duration.
44	* OneWordTitle: All the ''Waking Echoes'' chapter titles are a singular noun
45	* OpenHeartDentistry: Justified with Dr. Nat Silver, who has lived long enough to have attended several different medical schools over the years under assumed identities. When we meet him in ''Bite Me'' he is a general practitioner, veterinarian, psychiatrist, obstetrician, and dentist.
46	* PlayedForLaughs: The summaries of ''Halloween Romance'' and ''Humans and Demons and Elves'' make them sound a great deal more serious than they really are.
47	* PowerIncontinence: Dianne's mood-based shapeshifting powers and the Elves' empathy.
48	* PowerPerversionPotential: Inverted/Played Straight depending how you look at it. Selene asks Ferdinand if everything still works now that he's a vampire. He replies that it "just takes longer".
49	* PubertySuperPower: Shapeshifting for Dianne at fifteen, limited and vague psychic ability for Taylor at sixteen.
50	* RedOniBlueOni: Nat is a bouncy, optimistic foil to Ferdinand's melancholy.
51	* {{Reincarnation}}: Taylor and Tylianvornika/Ty.
52	* RunningGag: Remarks about Ferdinand being very skinny, pale, bony, skeletal, looking like he has tuberculosis, looking like he has AIDS, and so on. To his face. It eventually becomes NeverHeardThatOneBefore.
53	* ScrewYouElves: Though John takes a long time to acknowledge Edofine as an Elf, he does repeatedly insult Edofine's apparent sissiness.
54	* ShoutOut: Selene's brother is a ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fan, Taylor and her friends are fond of both ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Series/{{Firefly}}''.
55	* SpockSpeak: Edofine and most other Elves speak this way, since Elvish apparently doesn't have contractions and they thus dislike using them in English (since their magic is bound up in language, only half and full Elves are permitted to learn Elvish, meaning English is a lingua franca among the North American population). More humanized Elves like Edofine's cousin Kryvek have a more SophisticatedAsHell speaking style: "Way to be sanctimonious, kid."
56	* TeenageWasteland: Ty, Art, and Joy survive The Famine Fever, a strange disease that causes much milder symptoms in adolescents than in other age groups. Their home country, Canyonar, eventually is populated entirely by teenagers [[ChekhovsGun who now have personal immunity to it but still carry the disease]].
57	* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted. Dr. Fletcher, Taylor's psychiatrist, is not only competent but can tell that she's neither delusional nor lying. It helps that he's an empathetic [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elf]]. Dr. Nat Silver also boasts a psychiatry degree.
58	* TranquilFury: Tranquil Grief: When the Anghels receive some terrible news, Ferdinand silently and methodically snaps every log in the woodpile in half with his bare hands.
59	* VisionsOfAnotherSelf: Tylianvornika for Taylor in ''Waking Echoes''.
60	* WeaksauceWeakness: The vampires aren't merely repelled by garlic: just the smell makes them violently ill. The Elves are hyper-sensitive to all chemicals that affect humans, such as caffeine - a cup of coffee can lead to mania and cardiac arrest.
61	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Ferdinand rejoices when Nat informs him that [[ThisIsReality real]] vampires age, if slowly, and cannot survive more than a few centuries under ordinary circumstances.

Context Literature / LegendsOfLaconia