Line #19 Literature/SomewhereBeneathThoseWaves


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3	This is a non-themed short-fiction collection by Creator/SarahMonette. Most of the stories fall into the category of speculative fiction, but weirdness of the earthly variety carries a few. Be prepared for a [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent catfish mermaid]], {{gender bender}}s both fantastical and mundane, and a [[AfterlifeExpress train ride]] into steampunk Hell. Enjoy the ride.
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5	!!''Somewhere Between Those Tropes'':
6	* ActuallyPrettyFunny: "Respectable" spy Quentin's reaction to this exchange with courtesan-spy Annabel in ''Amante Doree'':
7	---> "[Mistrust] is one of the hazards of our profession."
8	---> "Truly. Courtesans are such notorious liars."
9	* AfterlifeExpress: The titular trains in ''Katabasis: Seraphic Trains''. They are rumored to run from the city to Heaven, Hell, and Faerie, and will only stop for the chosen ones.
10	* AppliedPhlebotinum: Ranging from [[HollywoodScience radiation that spawns]] dragons (''After the Dragon'') to unexplained clairvoyance (''A Night In Electric Squidland'', ''Impostor'').
11	* ComeToGawk: At the mermaids in ''National Geographic on Assignment: Mermaids of the Old West''.
12	* CreatingLife: How the townsfolk produce a virgin sacrifice for the monster in ''Darkness, As a Bride''. [[spoiler: It works out about as well as the title suggests.]]
13	* CreepyBlueEyes: Mick's, as described in ''A Night in Electric Squidland'' and ''Impostors''.
14	* CreepyChildrenSinging: The murdered ghosts singing the eponymous tune in ''Ashes, Ashes''.
15	* ComfortingTheWidow: A gay version occurs in ''Absent from Felicity''.
16	* DeadpanSnarker: Annabel St. Clair of ''Amante Doree'', and Mick and Jamie from ''A Night in Electric Squidland''.
17	* DragonsAreDinosaurs: ''Draco Campestris''.
18	* DramaticDrop: Booth experiences one after a crowd of vampires surrounds him in ''The World Without Sleep''.
19	* FemmeFatale: Annabel St. Clair of ''Amante Doree''. Although, as Quentin [[UnsettlingGenderReveal discovers]], she's technically a [[spoiler: transgender homme fatal]].
20	* GenderBender: In ''No Man's Land'', a male soldier suddenly finds himself in the body of an enemy female soldier... and looking at his original body, which is now dead.
21	* IceQueen: Clair from ''Katabasis: Seraphic Trains''. She refuses to show any real affection to Sean or his poetry, or to anyone else for that matter; it's implied she loves the city more than any living creature.
22	* MacGuffinGuardian: Clement asks Booth to rescue St. Christopher's Glass from the goblins (''The World Without Sleep''). [[spoiler: The guardians are really the Shadows, and the goblins are good guys.]]
23	* MockGuffin: A good example appears in [[spoiler: ''The World Without Sleep'', wherein the blind dominie Clement, who can't even see the light in St. Christopher's Glass, begs Booth to retrieve it from the goblins because the vampires' fear of it is the only thing holding them back from utter brutality. As it turns out, not only do the goblins not have it, but the vampires don't fear it, already know it's gone, and want to help Booth return it to Clement]].
24	* NicknamingTheEnemy: While ''No Man's Land'' doesn't explicitly state that "Koth" and "Yoggo" are nicknames, they don't sound like names you'd give yourself, and generally appear in derogatory contexts.
25	* OurAngelsAreDifferent: The demi-angel whom Booth encounters in ''The World without Sleep'' is beautiful, androgynous, and deeply concerned with the well-being of his parishioners... but also blind, gullible, prejudiced, and capable of temper tantrums.
26	* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: In ''National Geographic on Assignment: Mermaids of the Old West'', different fish species each produce their own mermaid variant.
27	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: In ''The World Without Sleep'', vampires are hideously ugly, reek of old and new blood, and make no bones about their predatory nature, but they're scrupulous about keeping their promises. They also hopelessly love demi-angels and run factories that manufacture [[spoiler: night]].
28	* PayEvilUntoEvil: Enid wants to do this to [[spoiler: old Mrs. Latham]] in ''The Seance at Chisholm End''.
29	* RapeAsDrama: ''No Man's Land'', ''A Light in Troy''.
30	* RescuedFromTheUnderworld: Subverted in ''Katabasis: Seraphic Trains'', where [[spoiler: Sean would rather stay in his strangely [[IronicHell appropriate]] Hell than return to life]].
31	* ResurrectiveImmortality: The accidental BodySurf in ''No Man's Land''.
32	* SelkiesAndWereseals: The protagonist befriends a selkie in ''Somewhere Beneath Those Waves Was Her Home''.
33	* {{Sexposition}}: In "Amante Doree," Sevier and Annabel discuss Vasquez's murder and why the British government are upset about it. Or rather, Sevier discusses it while making Annabel go down on him.
34	* TheSpymaster: Jules Sevier (''Amante Doree'').
35	* TwinTelepathy: Venefidezzi and his brother's transcends death (''The Seance at Chisholm End'').
36	* UndeadChild: The ghosts in ''Ashes, Ashes''.
37	* VirginSacrifice: Demanded by the monster in ''Darkness, As a Bride''. The townsfolk try to trick him with a mechanical virgin, and he's not fooled for a second.
38	* WarIsHell: Not only are most of the people you work with and most of the people who might capture you rapists and torturers, but you may wake up in somebody [[GenderBender else]]'s body... looking at your own crushed one (''No Man's Land''.)

Context Literature / SomewhereBeneathThoseWaves