power at a cost: magic is exhausting to use, sure, but the real cost is that it taps into emotions, and the more you use it, the easier it is, and the easier it is, is because it's easier to slip into that emotion. Even a duty to protect can turn into seeing danger to your charge where there isn't, or charges who really don't want to be.
deep dark secrets: exactly two people know how many bodies Dzamie has in magical storage, and he's hesitant to reveal that he has any at all. But, uh. It's not a small amount.
adoptive family: probably closer to Found Family than a proper adoption, but whatever Dzamie and HM have going on. half-brother/orphan trauma/boyfriends/mind-linked whatever nonsense.
overthinking discussions: Dream is incapable of lying, Dzamie chooses not to lie, and Eris flips between "lying is fine actually" and "it's funnier if I tell them the truth that sounds like a lie." Dealing with any of them involves second-guessing plenty of what they say.
nonlethal laser weaponry: Technically they're non-elemental magic blasts, but the difference between a mana crystal and a battery-powered energy containment field generator is basically just flavor
bloodless violence: really, anything that's not a blade or a bullet will cause knockback at worst. or instant disintegration I guess.
charismatic villain: Dzamie and Kenneth are both very well-spoken, and frequently on opposite sides of a fight. At least one of them's gotta be a villain.
mixed-species relationships: I'm gonna be honest, I don't think there are any intra-species relationships
principled hero: Dzamie and Kenneth again, to the point where they'll offer aid to each other so long as the current foe is a real piece of shit in both their eyes
alien world: Eris is technically from Equestria. Kahudra is foreign territory to her, not that it's stopped her from doing much of anything. Plus, this is just par for the course when interdimensional teleportation meets relative fictionality.
mischievous character: β¦god, most of them? Usually only barely restrained by whoever is around them.
nonstandard topology: every single hammerspace dragon. *gently pats hand-sized derg* This bad girl can fit so many people, gems, and vehicles in her.
memetic hazard: knowing about a deity sustains them, and the more you think about or acknowledge them, the stronger they get from it
monster finds friends: the two main characters are a guy who habitually evaluates how to efficiently kill everyone in his immediate area and has a collection of dead dragons' horns, and a guy who considers humans and katul potential food first and conversation partners second, and who will start burning things if left bored and unattended for too long. They have surprisingly active social lives.
apocalyptic scenario: admittedly not usually on a global scale, but sometimes small nations get hit with a vengeful wizard's best fuck-you spell and have to deal with the fallout of, say, all plant matter vanishing
conflicted antihero: he's mostly outgrown it, but Dzamie used to be edgy when he was a teen, brooding about doing the right thing through unsavory means. He still does the right thing through unsavory means, but he's much more cheerful about it now.
villain blackmail: when I'm in a hostage-taking contest and my competition is the average evil jerk from Kahudra:
detective/investigator: actually this one didn't happen, my bad
#text #ocs #Kahudra