History Literature / ParanoidMage

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Dragons themselves cannot come to Earth, and apparently this is a very, very good thing. Dragonkin, however, do exist on Earth, and it's a rare mage who's willing to annoy even one of these lesser beings.

* PortalNetwork: There is one of these covering the entire world, with exits hidden inside fake office buildings and the like.

!! ''Paranoid Mage'' contains examples of:

* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: GAR treats their "dud" employees ([[MuggleBornOfMages non-magical children of mages]]) as sub-human, and they're forced into the job by the figurative or literal use of the magical equivalent of a gun to the head. So, when Lucy Harper gets the chance to give them the middle finger by helping Callum under the purview of Alpha Chester, who has a legit beef, she takes it, the huge retainer she's paid being a welcome bonus. When GAR gets the "brilliant" idea to have Agent Black and vampires use their CompellingVoice to march all the "duds" into interrogation rooms, and question them, she stops playing and goes full-tilt traitor, considering GAR the root of all evil. Then when Duval forces the issue, and uses her as bait for Callum, up to and including having a Fae put her under a Geas, she signs on with Callum completely, looking to tear the place apart.

* NothingIsScarier: When Callum Wells gets a look into Fane's secret basement, he goes and downs some expensive liquor to keep from gagging at the sheer level of gore. Lucy asks "Do I want to see that, Big Man" and Callum's answer is a solid "NO." Then she sees it as she's filming a recording to expose the Fane House's nastiness and has to go get passed out drunk to cope with it.

** Callum does indeed retaliate when the DOA does it ''again'' after Callum rescued a couple of hikers from a Fae "Wild Hunt." This time, he breaks them out of GAR confinement and hands them over to the Fae King of Miami, who agreed just to spite King Jespite, the Fae King of the clan involved in the hunt.

* TheWildHunt: Some Fae (along with the occasional shifter) feel hunting mundanes as part as one of these is a wonderful way to pass the time. Callum disagrees.

** The Fane house always had the town of Tanner in their cross-hairs, and it was only a matter of time before all the people there were exterminated, either in an open attack or in Archmage Fane's lab

** Then GAR does it ''again'' when Callum stumbles upon Fae attacking a couple of innocent hikers, hunting them for fun, and Callum fights them off. The fae kings are furious, and GAR is much more interested in appeasing them with Callum's great on a platter than getting justice for a couple of mundane humans.

** As is revealed by both Alpha Chester and Mr. Shahe in volume 3, there was a time when GAR had absolute need for secrecy, to defend against VanHelsingHateCrimes, if nothing else. Over the years, they've become ''addicted'' to the secrecy and now protect TheMasquerade at all costs, who cares about a little thing like human life.

* CultureClash: As is revealed in volume 3, the biggest reason for conflict between Callum Wells and GAR, and its sub-branches, is a fundamental and irreconcilable difference in mindsets. Callum Wells was born and raised as a mundane American citizen in a free and open society that lives under the motto "your rights end at the point your fist reaches my nose." As such, he visibly chafes every time GAR comes after him or utterly refuses to treat mundanes as people. GAR culture is a totalitarian society where everything is kept stable through copious amounts of secrecy and force, with BSE being a bureau that ''actively enforces secrecy'', and everybody is usually expected to cow tow to whoever can provide more of either. GAR sees Callum as a complete anathema to their existence and is absolutely determined to either bring him to heel or eliminate him, and the top brass doesn't really care which.

** They call Callum "evil" because he dares to reject having them boss him around, starting the story actively stopping him from rescuing the victims caught in the crossfire between some armed antagonists and Mr, Shahe. When he's arrested after the Winut case, he actively points out how his actions are ''entirely'' self-defense because the "victim" vampires were killed in the very act of kidnapping and murdering people. The arresting agent's response? "It's not a crime if they don't exceed their quota, wait a minute, I don't need to justify myself to you!"

* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: GAR treats their "dud" employees (non-magical children of mages) as sub-human, and they're forced into the job by the figurative or literal use of the magical equivalent of a gun to the head. So, when Lucy Harper gets the chance to give them the middle finger by helping Callum under the purview of Alpha Chester, who has a legit beef, she takes it, the huge retainer she's paid being a welcome bonus. When GAR gets the "brilliant" idea to have Agent Black and vampires use their CompellingVoice to march all the "duds" into interrogation rooms, and question them, she stops playing and goes full-tilt traitor, considering GAR the root of all evil. Then when Duval forces the issue, and uses her as bait for Callum, up to and including having a Fae put her under a Geas, she signs on with Callum completely, looking to tear the place apart.

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Callum's introduction to mage society is pretty much this. He's told bluntly that GAR military service is mandatory and that GAR hunts down rogue mages, often executing them.

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Archmage Fane offers to recruit Callum as a hitman, making it clear that refusal will mean death. [[spoiler:Callum responds by teleporting Fane to a lethal depth of the World 5 ocean.]]

* VampiresAreSexGods: Averted. Turns out these vampires are not only unattractive to humans, but completely asexual.

** If he can manage to directly teleport the target, her has even more options. [[spoiler:He assassinates Archmage Fane by subverting GAR's portal network and sending Fane into the depths of a bottomless ocean, crushing Fane with the pressure.]]