Line #172 Literature/Somewhither


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/somewither.png]]
2	-->''In other words, I consider the book to be, as Lewis considered Narnia, a ‘metaphysical speculation.’'' \
3	''His speculation was what if Our Lord appeared in a world where our legends are real, but the Sons of Adam are but legends?'' \
4	''My metaphysical speculation is what if Saint Ignatius of Loyola were bombarded by cosmic radiation during an experimental rocket flight, along with jolly Saint Nicholas, Saint George, and Mary Magdalene, which gave them Way Cool superpowers, so that, instead of founding the Society of Jesus, he founded the Justice League of Rome, and made their headquarters in the Baxter Building, and fought vampires, werewolves, mummies, Viking Berserkers, Paynim Genii, Albigensian Gnostics, Sauron the Great, and Galactus?''
5	-->--[[http://www.scifiwright.com/2015/07/somewhither-is-here/ John C. Wright]]'s description of the general mood of the book.
6
7	''Somewhither'' is a cross-genre fantasy book by Creator/JohnCWright, the first book of a trilogy named ''A Tale of the Unwithering Realm''. It will be followed by ''Nowither'' and ''Everywither''.
8
9	Ilya Muromets is a boy just entering adulthood, and he has a lot of questions. Why does his dad regularly go on mysterious "business trips" in riot gear? Is his mom really dead, as Ilya was told, or is she still alive somewhere? Is Ilya's MadScientist boss really insane, or is his theory right? Why does Ilya look so different from his brothers? And just how many universes are out there?
10
11	A lot, it turns out. TheMultiverse is real, and each Earth is a world with an entirely alternate history, and sometimes inhabited by creatures that are not man--mostly unfriendly. But what's truly bad is that one of the alternate Earths, where the Dark Tower looms above for tens of kilometers, is the home of a militaristic empire which possesses the secret of interdimensional travel, and has already used it to conquer nearly the entire multiverse. Our Earth is next.
12
13	Ilya soon finds himself the only man who can oppose the might of the Dark Tower. With a number of improbable allies from all over the multiverse and with his own strange extraordinary powers, he must save the world -- scratch that: save the ''worlds'' -- and hopefully rescue Penny Dreadful, his boss's beautiful daughter, held within the Dark Tower's clutches.
14
15	!!''Somewhither'' provides examples of the following tropes:
16	%%* ActionGirl: Abby.
17	* AllMythsAreTrue: Pretty much every fictional being from ancient or medieval imagination is real somewhere.
18	* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Ilya's entire purpose for getting involved in the first place.
19	* AlwaysWantedToSayThat: [[spoiler: Foster Hidden's request for help.]]
20	--> "You've been waiting to say that for, like, forever."
21	--> "Since I was thirteen. I practiced in a mirror."
22	* AndIMustScream: How wars are waged on Cainem. Since everyone's immortal, the defeated are buried alive in ground to be stuck there forever.
23	* ArbitrarySkepticism: When Ilya tells Abby that on his world God took on human form and was killed but forgave his tormentors, Abby is incredulous that a god could possibly forgive such a crime. Ilya then responds...
24	-->''Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, little sister! You are in an evil magic tower filled with evil magic Astrologers who can predict the future, headquarters of an evil magic interdimensional empire ruling thirty-three parallel aeons of time, and in each of those aeons there is some sort of dark magic or another, including blind guys who eat souls and hairless wolfy things who climb walls, and you are looking for a man who can walk through the clouds, and you rescued a kid who cannot die with your magic shape-changing prehensile sickle of plus-one heat-metal, which enables you to scare the magic cage bars into magically retracting, and you look like a monkey, but you are telling me it is ''impossible'' for a divine being big enough to create the whole supercalifragilisticexpialidocious ''universe'' to be big-hearted enough to forgive his own murderers?''
25	* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Ilya lampshades his tendency to ask {{Exposition}}-leading questions. "My name is Distracted. First name: Easily."
26	%%* BigBrotherBully: Ilya's brothers delighted in tormenting him in childhood.
27	* BadassBoast:
28	--> '''Ilya:''' I am Ilya Muromets! Ilya the Barbarian; Ilya the Abomination. I cannot die and I am here to tear this Tower down!
29	* BavarianFireDrill: Abby recommends that when there are alarms blaring, the way to avoid getting caught is to look absolutely unconcerned and do not run or show concern.
30	* BigWhat: Abby, when she hears that God in human form was tortured and killed on Earth. The Ursprache word for "what" is "ayyu", which, as Ilya points out, is highly convenient for shouting in a drawn-out way.
31	* BrutalHonesty: Abby's [[LostInTranslation garbled]] but factually correct recitation of Ilya's reasons for being in love with Penny Dreadful.
32	--> "The one with breasts like melons?"
33	* BodyHorror: Ilya is in such bad shape after being stuck in a pit, impaled on razor-sharp spikes, and incidentally disembowelled, that Abby is completely creeped out.
34	* BadassInDistress:
35	** [[spoiler: Foster Hidden]].
36	** When the rescue team finally does locate Penny, she's [[KillItWithWater in her element]], surrounded by the dead bodies of the harem guards.
37	* CantCatchUp: Numerous fight scenes between Ilya (young and trained, but unused to actual combat) versus older, veteran fighters result in Ilya being horribly wounded ''immediately.''
38	* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: Ilya's healing ability depends in part on his mood. If he's feeling hopeless and in despair, his body cannot heal right.
39	* CoolBoat: Prince Dakkar's ironclad submarine, an experimental ship stolen from the Dark Tower's shipyards, equipped with a prodigious number of super-weapons and magic.
40	* CoolGate: The twilight gates. Golden portals in shape of three-dimensional Mobius strips, with a rainbow of colors and a spherical light-bending portal appearing in the middle when they are active.
41	* CoolSword: Ilya's magical katana.
42	* CoolMask: Abby's monkey-mask, which is a thaumaturgical device which makes it possible for her to breathe in the upper reaches of the Tower.
43	* ConversationalTroping: Ilya {{lampshade}}s a lot of tropes throughout the book. Ilya [[spoiler: and Foster]] spend quite a lot of time discussing who is in what character-class, per D&D rules.
44	* {{Cephalothorax}}: The Blemmyes, headless people with faces on their chests. They have a tough skin, are immensely strong, and have a taste for human meat. They have somewhat bizarre anatomy with ears under their armpits, their noses on the top of their shoulders, and a mouth and stomach which seem to have more room than the Blemmyes' size would indicate.
45	* DamselInDistress: Penny. Who vocally argues the point, and is frankly ashamed of herself for ''needing'' rescuing.
46	%%* DeadpanSnarker: Foster Hidden.
47	%%* DeathGlare: Wild Eyes.
48	* DefiantToTheEnd: Prior to the final confrontation, Abby's kusarigama-like weapon of living metal was "killed", rendering it much less effective. She still steps up to defend [[spoiler: the escaping slave girls]] along with Ilya and his companions.
49	* DidntSeeThatComing: A big deal for the Dark Tower, as they normally predict everything that happens, even years and decades in advance. As a result, anyone who manages to avoid having their actions predicted tends to be highly dangerous for their plans.
50	* DissonantLaughter: Ilya at numerous points in the novel. [[spoiler: He manages to completely disrupt the calculations of the Tower in their moment of triumph by breaking into calm, joyous laughter.]]
51	* DissonantSerenity: Ilya, after he realizes that, for an immortal, being horrifyingly wounded isn't and shouldn't be a problem. He proceeds to {{Squick}} out quite a number of people by remaining calm, making eye contact, and speaking quietly while, at one point, impaled by multiple telescoping spears.
52	* DopeSlap:
53	** Ilya (disguised as a slave) is slapped by Pally (a higher-ranking slave) when he mouths off about (not to, about) a non-slave.
54	** Foster slaps Ilya upside the head when the latter ignores a warning.
55	--> "When the witchy wise-bird says "Beware", you ''stop'' and say, 'Of what, please?'"
56	* DungeonMaintenance: Pally is a plumber in the Dark Tower.
57	* EyeScream:
58	** Ilya can regrow his eyes if he loses them, but it's still quite gross.
59	--> "What's that squirmy thing in the back of your eye socket?"
60	--> "My eye. It's regrowing."
61	* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Dark Tower, natch.
62	* EvilVersusEvil: The Tower vs most of the worlds it conquered.
63	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The Host Who Seek Death But Death Flees From Them. They're immortal, and [[WhoWantsToLiveForever not too happy about it]].
64	** The Tenth Chamber, which no one speaks of. Why is not spoken of? No one knows. [[ShapedLikeItself No one speaks of it.]]
65	* FacePalm: Master Ossifrage does the nose-pinch variation of this at one point while Ilya is trying to talk to Penny. Ilya wonders if he has a headache.
66	* FallenPrincess: Abanshadi was enslaved by the Tower after her state as a foreverborn--one invisible to the Tower's omnipresent astrology--was revealed.
67	* TheFatalist: ''Everyone'' who live in the Dark Tower, as their fates are predicted years in advance. "Fate is fated" is a common saying among them.
68	* FirstPersonSmartass: somewhat played with, in that while Ilya's ''dialogue'' fits the trope, his internal monologue is far less snarky.
69	* FlippingTheBird: To the High Astrologer. In front of his boss, who is visibly amused.
70	* {{Foreshadowing}}: When describing how understanding the Ursprache feels, Ilya uses his friend's, Foster Hidden's, last name as an example, stating that he understands it either solely as the adjective or solely as the proper name, depending on the context. [[spoiler:Later, it turns out that Ilya misunderstood the phrase "Hidden world" in professor Dreadful's notes; it didn't mean "secret world"--it meant "whatever world Foster Hidden is from."]]
71	* GravityMaster: Master Ossifrage has the ability to make things weightless.
72	* {{Gorn}}: Ilya's many, many horrible wounds. Also a detailed description of the [[CruelAndUnusualDeath "Two Boats" torture]] Abby's mother was subjected to.
73	* HandOrObjectUnderwear: [[spoiler: Foster]] uses his quiver when he realizes "the little ninja kid" is actually a girl.
74	%%* HappilyAdopted: Ilya.
75	* HappinessInSlavery: Pally is glad to serve the Dark Tower, and is quite shocked to hear that someone might think differently.
76	* HeelFaceTurn: Nakasu the Blemmye goes from trying to devour Ilya to aiding him, in thanks for setting him free and because he enjoys seeing the Dark Tower's schemes unravel.
77	* HellYesMoment:
78	** When Abby mentions that Prince Dakkar's name--Dakkar being the Foreverborn's greatest champion--sounds like the word for "No One."
79	--> Captain No One. That was a weird name.
80	* HeroicLineage: Penny. Quoth Foster:
81	--> "Her dad is a rocket scientist and her mom's a brain surgeon."
82	* TheHighQueen: Ilya's mother is this to her family. [[spoiler: It's implied she may be one in truth.]]
83	* HealingFactor: Ilya (and the rest of the Deathless) can heal any injury and draw blood and guts back into his body. This requires conscious effort for the most part, and before Ilya found this out, he was immortal but [[BlessedWithSuck could not heal any faster than a normal human]].
84	* HisNameIs: A nonlethal example. The very last line in the book is [[spoiler:the BigBad screaming that the protagonist must be captured, for his mother is none other than-- and this is the moment the protagonist is flung through a portal and doesn't hear the rest.]]
85	* HorrifyingHero: As one of The Host Who Seek Death But Death Flees from them--Ilya. [[spoiler: At one point, the fastest way to get a spearhead out of himself is to cut it out. The sight of him hacking himself apart so gory that it makes both sides of the battle stop to stare.]]
86	* HopeSpot: Ilya finally figuring out how to climb up from his oubliette and making an attempt for the twilight gate... which opens and dumps him in another, identical, undamaged cell.
87	* HumongousMecha: There's a prayer-powered mecha hidden in one of the worlds, which could give the good guys an edge if they recover it.
88	* IAmWho: Ilya suspected that he's something more than an ordinary boy. It appears he's actually adopted from another world.
89	* {{Immortality}}: The inhabitants of the world of Cainem (and thus Ilya as well.)
90	* IHaveManyNames: Abby/Abanshaddi (Mountain Rock) is also known as Pagutu (She-Monkey) and Evenhar (Hope Truly Seen).
91	* ImmuneToFate: The foreverborn, whose actions cannot be predicted by astrology in advance, and who thus are considered extremely dangerous by the Dark Tower because they tend to be the SpannerInTheWorks. By extension, anyone who "walks in their shadow" has this extended to them, as long as they don't do anything according to their lower nature (i.e. as long as they don't commit evil acts.)
92	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Ilya is stabbed through with a spear not long after getting onto the invasion ship, and this is when he finds out he's immortal.
93	** Two heroes charging a line of cowering Mook spearmen = being stabbed with a bunch of pointy sticks.
94	* InSeriesNickname: Ilya tends to give nicknames to others, usually because he cannot pronounce their real names. Examples include "Abby" for Abanshaddi, "Knack" for Kaqqudu Nakasu, and "Master Ossifrage" for Sua'u-su'u-ussushibu-re'u (a literal translation of his name).
95	* {{Invisibility}}: [[spoiler:Foster Hidden]]'s ability. He can also create a special zone with his magical arrows to make others within invisible.
96	--> '''Ilya''': "Just like the Invisible Girl from Marvel!"
97	--> '''Foster:''' "[[RunningGag Invisible]] ''[[RunningGag man]]''!"
98	* KatanasAreJustBetter: Ilya's weapon of choice. He's been trained at fighting since childhood, so of course he's good with it.
99	* KidHero: Ilya is at most seventeen.
100	* KillItWithWater: Penny has a number of water-based abilities.
101	* LanguageBarrier: While the Ursprache language (which essentially grants {{Omniglot}} abilities) eliminates that problem for most servants of the Dark Tower, Ilya hasn't learned it and two of his companions hadn't either, so Abby has to act as a translator between him, Nakasu and Master Ossifrage.
102	* LanguageEqualsThought: Ilya notes that the language used in the Dark Tower includes a lot of specialized terms for specific kinds of maiming and torture.
103	-->''It's like the Eskimos having one hundred eighty different words for snow. Except if something dark and evil and sadistic and sick fell from northern clouds rather than snowflakes, making glaciers and icebergs and permafrost.''
104	* LeeroyJenkins: Ilya smashing an ominous glass-walled container despite warning from several members of the group. Said container contains teargas and "distilled essense of pain." See DopeSlap.
105	* TheLostLenore: Ilya's mother is deeply missed by her entire family.
106	* LovingAShadow: Ilya barely knows Penny and has had only one face-to-face conversation with her.
107	* LikeBrotherAndSister: Ilya dubs Abby his little sister.
108	* MagicalGirlfriend: Penny turns out to be a [[spoiler:"sea-witch" from another world with magical abilities.]]
109	* MagicMusic: Penny can sing magical songs to create various effect.
110	* MagicVersusScience: "The works of men", i.e. gunpowder, electronics etc. don't function in or near the twilight (the substance from the VoidBetweenTheWorlds), since "the darkness is without form, and void, so the works of men must fail in the twilight, because their form is less." It's more than that: each world has different physical laws and different arts which work in it (e.g. advanced science, necromancy, astrology), and the twilight nullifies the technology and magic which is characteristic to a specific world and not common for all of them. Hence also why astrologers of the Dark Tower must use gigantic clockwork Babbage machines instead of computers to do their predictions; only simple mechanic devices function correctly near the sources of twilight.
111	* MamaBear: Inverted. Ilya recalls his brothers fetching their shotguns when the Family Services people get uppity with their mother.
112	* MasterOfYourDomain: Rahab's powers as a native of Cainem go far beyond Ilya's HealingFactor. He use his own blood and bones as weapons, control amputated pieces of his body mass, and shapeshift into virtually anything he chooses without regard for conservation of mass. He often travels around in the form of a tempest of bloody mist.
113	* MissingMom: Ilya's mother was lost at sea. [[spoiler: Not really.]]
114	* MorphWeapon: Abby's kusarigama-like weapon has a chain that can lengthen or retract, and act as a winch to pull her and others up.
115	* MadScientist: Even prior to meddling with ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow, Professor Dreadful was bipolar.
116	* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter: Penny. It's even invoked by name.
117	* MomentKiller: Penny surfacing, in a MaleGaze-laden SexySoakedShirt Scene from a pool of water...and turning away to vomit up all the water in her stomach and lungs. And intestines. And spleen. And looking substantially less glamorous, even to the besotted Ilya, afterwards.
118	* MultiversalConqueror: The king of the Dark Tower. The Dark Tower rules a total of 34 alternate Earths, including their own.
119	* TheMultiverse: The entirety of the setting.
120	* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Ilya spends a substantial chunk of the book naked, as he was stripped after his capture and only later is able to get dressed.
121	--> '''Ilya''': "I don't care what science fiction authors say, nudism is not the way of the future."
122	* NamedWeapons: Ilya's Katana is named Shirabyoshi, "The White Dancing Maiden".
123	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast:
124	** Professor Dreadful, though he's not precisely evil. Mostly quite unhinged.
125	** "The Dark Tower".
126	** Lord Slaughterbench.
127	* NamesToTrustImmediately: {{Lampshaded}} by Ilya.
128	-->And, just on principle, I was not helping any group that called itself ''The Darkest Tower'' against places called ''Great Golden City'' and ''Land of Light''. That was a no-brainer. I mean, get serious. Suppose you were from another world and came to ours circa 1940 and you saw an SS officer in his black uniform with the silver skulls on his collar, and he said he wanted to exterminate some folks called ''The Chosen People'' from some place called ''The Holy Land'', who would you think the bad guy was?
129	* NarrativeProfanityFilter: Used frequently by Ilya, when he uses a mild swear in dialogue and then notes in narration that, in reality, he used a much stronger swearword.
130	* NecessaryFail
131	* NephariousPharaoh: The undead Egyptian kings who rule the world of Mizraim (or ruled before they were conquered by the Dark Tower.) Ilya runs into one of them in a chamber within the Tower, and while the pharaoh is clearly malevolent and hateful, he hates the Dark Tower enough to hand Ilya a powerful artifact when he hears Ilya is prophesied to topple the Tower.
132	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Ilya and company find a way to kill one of the Host Of Those Who Seek Death But Death Flees From Them: [[spoiler:by having a vampire eat its heart and drink all its blood before it can regenerate. Said vampire immediately begins to turn into an even-more unkillable super-vampire the heroes have no means of containing.]]
133	** Penny [[spoiler: --who is actually undercover on a mission-- ]] is not in personal danger until Ilya blurts out how in love with her he is, and how he intends to rescue her. The Astrologers decide to use this by torturing her in front of him....[[spoiler: which makes it necessary for ''her'' to send a rescue mission for ''him''.]]
134	* {{Omniglot}}: Anyone who learns the Ursprache gains the ability to understand all languages. Conversely, anyone can understand Ursprache (even feral children who have no concept of language), and even instantly grasp all the little semantic nuances.
135	%%* OneWordTitle
136	* OverTheShoulderCarry: Ilya carries Abby fireman-style when they have to run and she can't keep up; he grabs Penny captive-monster style when he gets an excuse to.
137	* PrescienceIsPredictable: High Priest Enmeduranki, just as the rest of the high-ranking astrologers, lost all ability to derive joy from life because he always knows what's going to happen. He gets more excited whenever something unforeseen happens.
138	* PostKissCatatonia: Even though it's not a good thing to have when the forces of evil are about to regroup and come sweeping down on you. "Mmm...not at home. Please leave a message after the beep."
139	* PunnyName: Penny Dreadful. Her real name is actually Parthenope, although the "Dreadful" turns out to be a pretty close translation of her adoptive father's name.
140	* RescueRomance: Ilya desperately hopes for this to apply.
141	* RayGun: The firearms used by the armies of the Dark Tower.
142	* RunningGag:
143	** Ilya not knowing "which hand to wipe his butt with and which hand to eat with." He eventually ripostes that he does know what toilet paper is.
144	** "Muromets" becoming "Marmoset."
145	** Ilya trying to explain some piece of modern technology to Abby, to which she replies that she knows what it is.
146	** Ilya referring to [[spoiler: Foster's]] "Invisible Girl power," and being corrected with "Invisible ''man!''"
147	** Ilya mentioning some weird but useful bit of trivial knowledge, and then revealing he learned it from a book.
148	* RightBehindMe: Ilya at one point goes off on [[MaleGaze a tangent]] about Penny, and ends with how he hopes Abby isn't there to hear it. It turns out she's right behind the door, and translates it for Master Ossifrage and Knack.
149	* SchizoTech: The servants of the Dark Tower utilize simple spears and shields and swords, {{Ray Gun}}s, clockwork Babbage computing machines, etc.
150	* ShapeshifterBaggage: Much to Ilya's confusion, Rahab can greatly increase his size and mass in blatant violation of conversation of matter.
151	* ShipperOnDeck: Abby and Knack ship Penny and Ilya.
152	* SmoochOfVictory: Ilya gets one, per his request, after ''finally'' and undeniably managing to rescue Penny from a foe.
153	* SelfMutilationDemonstration: Ilya plucks out his own eye to demonstrate that he's not afraid of torture. His captors, unimpressed, point out that he's just demonstrated how far he's willing to go in defense of his girlfriend... [[NiceJobBreakingItHero so they're going to nail his head in place, sew his eyelids open, and torture her in front of him.]]
154	%%* SophisticatedAsHell: Ilya.
155	* SexSlave: Penny's fate, if not rescued. Also the rest of the girls in the Harem levels.
156	* SnakePeople: Nagas from Hindu mythology (referred to simply as serpent people") are of the many creatures that live in the setting, and serve the Dark Tower.
157	* SlaveCollar: The harem girls have these, which constrict and will decapitate any of the girls who leave the harem boundaries.
158	* StarScraper: The Dark Tower is over three times taller than the circumference of Earth. Not the diameter, the ''circumference''.
159	%%* TalkingIsAFreeAction
160	* TokenNonhuman: Nakasu the headless Blemmye.
161	* TookALevelInBadass: Ilya slowly levels up across the book, as he learns about his abilities. It takes a long time because he has to learn about them the hard way.
162	* TitleDrop:
163	-->Our world is mostly civilized these days, mostly tamed: but I knew there was wildness and weirdness out there. Where? Hither or thither or somewhere or somewhither: In elfland or outer space or beyond the walls of the world.
164	* TowerOfBabel: The Dark Tower, in an alternate universe where the Tower of Babel was built successfully.
165	* TranslationYes: The Ursprache includes a lot of brief words for specific, complex types of crimes and torture. For example, "hamhattapars'h" means "a family murder-suicide where a mother kills all her children starting with the youngest, and then herself, on a holy day".
166	* TrashTalk: The werewolves engage in it... in Latin epigraphs.
167	* UnnecessaryCombatRoll: Ilya does this during his first meeting with Penny, when her falcon Wild Eyes startles him. It's a less than successful maneuver, considering that he gets choked by his quiver and loses his knife... and completely fails to impress the girl in front of him.
168	* UnreliableNarrator: Ilya censors himself in the text (not so much in real life), and at several places skims over embarassing events with just a token notice.
169	* VoidBetweenTheWorlds: The Deep of Uncreation. Nothing can survive in it--well, except for immortals. It's filled with the black substance "twilight", which can nevertheless be controlled and commanded to some extent by Ilya.
170	* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Experienced inhabitants of Cainem can manipulate their body in any way they wish, including detaching limbs and bones and using them as weapons, or growing bone-armor over their skin.
171
172	* WhamLine: "Son, different rules apply during the end of the world."
173	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: The world of Cainem is inhabited by people who were never chased out of the Paradise, and thus never die. This is a ''[[BlessedWithSuck very]]'' bad thing, since all earthly pleasures will eventually grow stale, while earthly sufferings never get easier. The only thing that slightly excites them is sadism and committing atrocities.
174	* WildChild: All children on the world of Cainem, inhabited by immortals. Once the mother gets bored of the baby (especially since pretty much all children are product of rape), she tosses it child into a random body of water (so that it won't make noise with its cries) and leave it there to fend for itself. As a result, pretty much all children end up what would be considered feral children on Earth.
175	%%* WolfMan: The Kynokephalai.
176	* YouCantFightFate: What everyone in the Dark Tower generally believes, to the point where it serves to handicap them. For example, when the astrologers predict that a force attacking the heroes will fail and reinforcements will be necessary, they won't just strengthen the first force - because they're afraid that acting contrary to the stars' predictions will curse them. In another case, a WolfMan leaves the protagonist be instead of fighting him, because she had no victories or losses predicted for that day.
177	* YourVampiresSuck: Vampires in the setting are utterly ireedemable, completely evil creatures--in contrast to the FriendlyNeighborhoodVampires that frequently pop up in today's movies and TV shows. Foster comments wryly on how Hollywood cannot "make a proper vampire movie any more", while Penny suggests that all the filmmakers are on the real vampires' payroll.
178	* ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld: The Dark Tower uses combat airships. Ilya lampshades the trope when he first sees one.

Context Literature / Somewhither