History Literature / NowhereStars

* HitSoHardTheCalendarFeltIt: Though rare, Keepers at the height of their power and emergence can give everything to radically change and benefit the world at a large scale, and are referred to by the Church as 'Saints' and are used to mark the new yearly calendar. The current year as of the start of the story is Kuri 74, ushered in by the floral themed Keeper whose miracle is implied to be the reason the world's natural ecosystem is mostly healthy and unspoiled. Other notable Saints include Saint Nistla, who created vaccines, and Saint Riawal, who

* IfJesusThenAliens: Discussed; Keepers and Harbingers are an accepted, almost ''routine'' part of life in this world; souls are also a known and observable fact, and the goddess Claiasya ''presumably'' exists as the [[MentorMascots Messengers]] outright claim to be working for her. Outside of these things however, there has never been any undeniable proof of ''other'' supernatural forces, like ghosts for instance, or non-Keeper related forms of magic. Liadain practices Tarot as a hobby, but doesn't believe it has any magical power. Even the existence of an afterlife is highly questionable, as there's no clear idea where souls go upon death. Several people throughout the centuries have tried to use this trope to argue for the existence of such things, but there's no real proof.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Most children, to one extent or another, dream of being chosen to become Keepers, and are disappointed when they [[RejectedByTheCall "age out" of the age range]]. When Shona asks Aisling what exactly the Messengers are looking for, Aisling sounds like she's had this conversation many, ''many'' times.

For as long as anyone can remember, humanity has existed under the threat of Harbingers, living nightmares that devour dreams and passions, and souls. However, humanity has protectors: the Keepers, children chosen by the Messengers of the Goddess Claiasya who can wield the magic of their souls. Modern-day Keepers are treated as a mix between celebrities and religious idols, but few accept the position just to become heroes. In fact, the Messengers promise that if a Keeper consumes and purifies enough Harbingers, they will be able to reshape themselves - or the world - according to their desires.

* TarotMotifs: Though Liadain dismisses the power of tarot cards as mystical nonsense, she enjoys doing readings for others, and tarot cards play a major role in her first transformation and in her powers.

* AnimalMotifs: Everything associated with Claiyasya, the goddess of the dominant (and seemingly ''only'') religion in this world, is rife with ocean and sea-creature motifs. The Messengers all resemble sea creatures or have ocean-coloration, monasteries to her are built on islands, the lingua franca is called "Thalassyan," the center of the church is an underwater city, the souls of the dead are said to "return to the sea", and Harbingers seem to fear and avoid the ocean. As Claiyasian "overculture" is apparently the dominant culture of the world, this has trickled down to secular aspects of society too (see: CallARabbitASmeerp below).

* OffscreenAfterlife: The Claiyasyan religion doesn't go into any detail about the afterlife, despite souls being a known, proven, and observable phenomenon; scripture only says that the dead "bloom in full and return to the sea" with absolutely zero further explanation.

* StarfishLanguage: Harbingers have their own language, but for obvious reasons, there's never been a safe way for humans to learn it; some Keepers gain the ability to comprehend it, [[spoiler: including Liadain, after she defeats and absorbs [[ThePowerOfLanguage Aulunla]]]], but all that really does is let them here their incoherent ramblings, rather than truly communicate. It doesn't even seem to have a name, as one short POV section from the perspective of a Harbinger (Vianzia) simply refers to it as the Language, with a capital "L."