Shadowchasers: Conspiracy is a fic from the Shadowchasers Series written by Occam Razor. It can be read here.
Currently, most details about the fic are unknown. But it is set to feature Jemorille the Exile (a character who has appeared in a couple of other fics by the author) in a more prominent role.
A trailer of the fic has been released in the final chapter of Redux, as seen here. Note, that at this point, anything on this page depends on how reliable the information is and how truthful Jemorille, the apparent Narrator is being.
Shadowchasers: Conspiracy provides examples of:
- Apocalypse How: Parts of the trailer seem to suggest a Class 0 one. (It may actually have something to do with the Field Spells in Philip's deck; the one seen so far resembles the same city in the trailer.)
- Arbitrary Skepticism:
- The Shadowchasers and many Shadows have a hard time believing in aliens. Yolanda calls them out on this, but she doesn't really help her case because she seems totally bonkers.
- Technically, it isn't the existence of aliens that Edgar is skeptical of. What he finds hard to believe is the idea of an extraterrestrial visitor revealing himself to an earthling and offering to paint her portrait - that is kind of bizarre.
- Later, Edgar explains that in his long career, he's never seen any evidence of the traditional kind of aliens like The Greys.
- Ascended Extra:
- Jemorille has appeared in two other fics as a minor supporting character but plays a prominent role in this fic.
- Francis, Karl's replacement who was first seen in Tournament of Shadows, seems to be playing a much larger role in this one, Chapter 7 focusing around him.
- Asshole Victim: In an early chapter of the fic, a mobster named Clement McMahan - a tulgar berserker - is murdered, and given what Douglas finds out about his methods as he investigates, he definitely qualifies.
- Bad Guy Bar: Bugman's Mug in Cincinnati. Most patrons are dwarves, but the bartender is an attractive human - supposedly - female named Neela. It's best to watch what you say here and not drink too much, as Neela seems to be in the business of selling information that she "convinces" intoxicated patrons to tell her. Ferdinand is a regular.
- The Bus Came Back: Several minor characters are making return appearances after long absences, if the trailer is any indication. Sofia, Penelope, Red Feather, and Douglas have already shown up, and if the trailer is any indication, more Shadowchaser characters from previous fics are set to return. Karen is hinted to be coming back as a full-fledged member of the team.
- Cats Are Mean: Or they can even be spirits of divine vengeance summoned from the depths of Hell, like the one in the legend of the Cat of Felkovic, a well known ghost story among Shadowkind that is the source of many Shadow-exclusive conspiracy theories. Emily owns a card based on it.
- Conspiracy Kitchen Sink: It seems every minor villain is tied to one popular conspiracy theory, while a few are tied to ones would be absurd to most. Yolanda believes herself to be an alien abduction victim, while her son Ramon believes the abductor is his father (the "alien baby daddy" theory). Ezekiel is a Mad Prophet who confronts Karl in the vicinity of The Tunguska Event of 1908, while Drumer believes Benedict Arnold was framed. Philip hasn't done anything evil yet, but he acts very much like a conspiracy theorist, although, given his actions, he seems to be Properly Paranoid.
- Creepypasta:
- It seems that this form of interactive fiction fell out of style sometime before the decade the story takes place; however, in one chapter, it seems archived stories are being used as Brainwashing tools.
- The Slenderman Mythos: This particular Sub-Genre of Creepy Pasta is more important than others, as it plays part of the background of a villain who first appears in chapter 14 and will likely return.
- Crisis Crossover: If the trailer is any indication, then several Shadowchasers from various stories are set to appear, as well as official Yu-Gi-Oh characters spanning from at least three different generations. Whether this trope will be applicable in the fic itself is still unknown.
- One thing the author has stated is that this fic will, unlike others, reject the concept of a central team, and focus on the Shadowchasers organization as a whole, possibly including other groups as well.
- Dragon Rider: In the trailer, Judy's D-Wheel turns into steel dragon, which then takes flight.
- Foregone Conclusion: In the prologue, Jemorille's statement reveals that the story took place in the past, from his point of view, although the story actually takes place five years after the events of Torment. Given the fact that he claims to have played a role in the story itself, we can assume he survived unscathed, although his grim tone suggests darker events than normal.
- Narrator: Jemorrile, apparently, who tells the story in past tense, apparently making the fic as a whole a Direct Line to the Author.
- Ode to Intoxication: One of the leprechauns at the Bugman's Mug tavern sings an Irish drinking song, although the true intent seems to be to encourage Ray's two cronies to drink more so that Neela the barmaid can more easily pry information from them.
- Predecessor Villain: Five scenes are shown in the prologue of Shadowchasers either apprehending or killing a dangerous Shadowkind criminal at four points in their history: 15th Century France, 16th Century Britain (shortly after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth I), 17th Century China, Germany during the 1945 siege of Berlin, and the American Southwest in 1984. What these events have to do with the plot is as-yet unclear.
- Shout-Out:
- In chapter 5, Jabels picks up an order from a company called Copek Industries, a robotics and technology firm; clearly, this is a reference to by Karel Capek, the creator of RUR
- References to Might and Magic are made in Chapter 17, including the Lloyd's Beacon spell and the artifact Memory Crystal Alpha.
(The author admits to being a fan.) - Also in Chapter 17, the narration claims that Philip is "Twenty minutes outside of Istanbul. (Not Constantinople.)" A reference to the song by They Might Be Giants
- In chapter 20, after Yolanda, Ramon, and Drumer escape from prison and Judy has gotten herself in trouble with a mysterious assailant, Jalal says he "feels like that kid who wanted to go to Australia", a statement that Voltaire recognizes as a reference to Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day.
- Special Guest:
- The trailer shows quite a few important characters from the canon source: Yugi, Kaiba, Jonouchi (maybe), Mai, Judai, and Yusei. Whether they will actually appear is uncertain.
- Also, both B.B. Hood and Shiva have appeared as antagonists due to the villains' use of the Pan Dimensional Homing Device.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Sofia and Philip seem to be presented as this. In fact, this is further symbolized at the conclusion of their duel in Chapter One, where Philip wins by activating the effect of a monster resembling the Egyptian god Shu (who kept Geb and Nut, the original Star Crossed Lovers apart) which destroys both their ace monsters and inflicting damage to both of them.
- Take That!:
- The first one in the fic is seen in chapter 13, where Karl, upon seeing Unformed Void aims one at Konami itself for its tendency to assign Types to monsters (Fairies, especially) that just don't fit:
Karl: Ugh, so lemme guess, this thing's supposed to be a Fairy, right? Seriously, between Zeta Reticulant, the Arcana Force and the Vylon, people have some messed up ideas of what constitute as The Fair Folk in this game.SAL:' Actually Karl my databases say this thing's a Light Attribute Aqua Type.Karl: ...Somehow that raises even more questions...- In the next chapter, Addams scolds Ferdinand and Oswald for being careless, making a reference to a certain old cartoon known for its rather idiotic villains:
Addams: I think the plan, as the 'big cheese' told us, was to keep under the radar, and keep out of the public eye, not be so flashy and exuberant like some 'ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world'. - Town with a Dark Secret: It's revealed in this fic that Raleigh had the exact same purpose as Sunnydale back in the 1940's, and thus had a very active Shadowchaser presence then. Fortunately, because Raleigh wasn't founded for that purpose, they were able to solve the problem without destroying the town (which was unavoidable in Sunnydale's case).
