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* PomPomGirl: Melanie is a high school cheerleader and the protagonist, even if her heart condition gets in the way of a lot of her participation (she used to be able to do more, but a few medical emergencies meant the school got too scared of the liability and essentially relegated her to holding pom poms in the background). [[spoilerThe athleticism and training she gained keeps her at the same level as her sister who has a lot of her own skills]].
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* PomPomGirl: Melanie is a high school cheerleader and the protagonist, even if her heart condition gets in the way of a lot of her participation (she used to be able to do more, but a few medical emergencies meant the school got too scared of the liability and essentially relegated her to holding pom poms in the background). [[spoilerThe [[spoiler:The athleticism and training she gained keeps her at the same level as her sister who has a lot of her own skills]].
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''Seasonal Fears'' is a 2022 fantasy novel by Creator/SeananMcGuire, and a companion novel to ''Literature/{{Middlegame}}''.
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(Note: unmarked ''Literature/{{Middlegame}}'' spoilers below.)
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(Note: unmarked ''Literature/{{Middlegame}}'' ''Middlegame'' spoilers below.)
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** The irony of his buyer's remorse is that by the time it's finally kicked in, he's now bound in service to Aven becomes of their roles in the cycle. He literally ''can't'' tender his resignation--unless he can get another Summer candidate to accept his fealty, and given who he's traveling with, fat chance--and he's stuck in the figurative passenger seat to the bitter end.
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** The irony of his Trevor's buyer's remorse is that by the time it's finally kicked in, he's now bound in service to Aven becomes because of their roles in the cycle. He literally ''can't'' tender his resignation--unless he can get another Summer candidate to accept his fealty, and given who he's traveling with, fat chance--and so he's stuck in the figurative passenger seat to the bitter end.
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* TheBadGuysAreCops: [[spoiler:One Jack Frost uses his position as a cop to trap another winter candidate for their candidate]].
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* TheBadGuysAreCops: [[spoiler:One Jack Frost uses his position as a cop to trap another winter candidate rival Winters for their his candidate]].
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* SentientCosmicForce: The season are this, they can have wants and desires but because they're so tied up in the chance to look and feel human the removal of them leads to the seasons themselves taking a hit.
* DarkAndtroubledPast: Jack Frost, melanie's Jack Frost, did **Not** have a good childhood. Examples include, numerous pawn shop visits. Forced to sleep in the street if she pissed of her father. Her birthday presents being sold for drug money
* DarkAndtroubledPast: Jack Frost, melanie's Jack Frost, did **Not** have a good childhood. Examples include, numerous pawn shop visits. Forced to sleep in the street if she pissed of her father. Her birthday presents being sold for drug money
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* SentientCosmicForce: The season seasons are this, they can have wants and desires but because they're so tied up in the chance to look and feel human the removal of them leads to the seasons themselves taking a hit.
* DarkAndtroubledPast: Jack Frost,melanie's Melanie's Jack Frost, did **Not** **NOT** have a good childhood. Examples include, include: numerous pawn shop visits. Forced visits, being forced to sleep in the street if she pissed of off her father. Her father, birthday presents being getting sold for drug moneymoney.
* DarkAndtroubledPast: Jack Frost,
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* EekAMouse: Subverted, Melanie has to deal with a huge spider in the shower of a motel room, and warns Harry and Jack that she's shooong it out.
* EvilColonialist: William Monroe is this, he grew up in England and immigrated to America in the 1700s. He expedited his rise as a seasonal monarch by killing any other viable candidate and wanted to ensure that the new land was properly tamed. He is very racist and sexist and doesn't change his views despite centuries.
* EvilColonialist: William Monroe is this, he grew up in England and immigrated to America in the 1700s. He expedited his rise as a seasonal monarch by killing any other viable candidate and wanted to ensure that the new land was properly tamed. He is very racist and sexist and doesn't change his views despite centuries.
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* EekAMouse: Subverted, Melanie has to deal with a huge spider in the shower of a motel room, and warns Harry and Jack that she's shooong shooing it out.
* EvilColonialist: William Monroe is this, he grew up in England and immigrated to America in the 1700s. He expedited his rise as a seasonal monarch by killing any other viable candidate and wanted to ensure that the new land was properly tamed. He is very racist and sexist and doesn't change his views despitecenturies.centuries of life.
* EvilColonialist: William Monroe is this, he grew up in England and immigrated to America in the 1700s. He expedited his rise as a seasonal monarch by killing any other viable candidate and wanted to ensure that the new land was properly tamed. He is very racist and sexist and doesn't change his views despite
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* FantasticRacism: Many seasons people react...badly...to the knowledge that Melanie is an alchemical construct, under the assumption that she's one bad mood away from murdering everyone in the room horribly.
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* FantasticRacism: Many seasons season adjacent people react...badly...to the knowledge that Melanie is an alchemical construct, under the assumption that she's one bad mood away from murdering everyone in the room horribly.
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* GodCouple: What the Seasonal Monarchs can be if they want.
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* GodCouple: What the Seasonal Monarchs can be if they want.want, platonically or otherwise.
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* InvisibleToNormals: "Naturals" just don't notice anything too closely related to the supernatural. Nobody even hears when Harry and Melanie are attacked by another pair of candidates in their motel room, despite how much noise it makes, and afterwards all the evidence obviously linking them to the two corpses goes ignored. Meanwhile, Harry's parents don't shut off his credit cards, not because they're trying to support him, but because they can't remember they have a son using said credit cards long enough.
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* InvisibleToNormals: "Naturals" just don't notice anything too closely related to the supernatural. Nobody even hears when Harry and Melanie are attacked by another pair of candidates in their motel room, despite how much noise it makes, and afterwards afterward, all the evidence obviously linking them to the two corpses goes ignored. Meanwhile, Harry's parents don't shut off his credit cards, not because they're trying to support him, but because they can't remember they have a son using said credit cards long enough.
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* JustOneSecondOutOfSync: Dodger is using this as camouflage now, a whole “secondstein” where murdered seconds shield her with their rainbow corpses.
* KillItWithIce: Melanie can call on the power of Winter far more strongly than most other contenders--as they discover to their flash-frozen detriment. This is a particularly nasty way to go, because Winter candidates have never experienced cold as negative before. (In the presence of a stronger potential Incarnate, weaker ones will lose their powers. And Melanie is always stronger.)
* KillItWithIce: Melanie can call on the power of Winter far more strongly than most other contenders--as they discover to their flash-frozen detriment. This is a particularly nasty way to go, because Winter candidates have never experienced cold as negative before. (In the presence of a stronger potential Incarnate, weaker ones will lose their powers. And Melanie is always stronger.)
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* JustOneSecondOutOfSync: Dodger is using this as camouflage now, a whole “secondstein” where murdered and as the seconds dye they shield her with their rainbow corpses.
corpses, as harry is able to appreciate.
* KilledOffScreen: Aven seems to be killing all the villains that the main characters leave behind them during her pursuit of her sister across the country. Stand-out examples are the initial season ascendent duo who are left not knowing what to do following their candidates' deaths at the protagonists' hands and [[TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether serial killer siblings Matthew and Misty]]. Subverted, graphically as we see her dealing with her own father and the Jack Frost Patrol Man and failing to deal with Dodger and Roger's group.
* KillItWithIce: Melanie can call on the power of Winter far more strongly than most other contenders--as they discover to their flash-frozen detriment. This is a particularly nasty way to go, because Winter candidates have never experienced cold as negative before. (In the presence of a stronger potential Incarnate, weaker ones will lose theirpowers. And powers and Melanie is always stronger.)
* KilledOffScreen: Aven seems to be killing all the villains that the main characters leave behind them during her pursuit of her sister across the country. Stand-out examples are the initial season ascendent duo who are left not knowing what to do following their candidates' deaths at the protagonists' hands and [[TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether serial killer siblings Matthew and Misty]]. Subverted, graphically as we see her dealing with her own father and the Jack Frost Patrol Man and failing to deal with Dodger and Roger's group.
* KillItWithIce: Melanie can call on the power of Winter far more strongly than most other contenders--as they discover to their flash-frozen detriment. This is a particularly nasty way to go, because Winter candidates have never experienced cold as negative before. (In the presence of a stronger potential Incarnate, weaker ones will lose their
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* PomPomGirl; Melanie is a high school cheerleader and the protagonist, even if her heart condition gets in the way of a lot of her participation (she used to be able to do more, but a few medical emergencies meant the school got too scared of the liability and essentially relegated her to holding pom poms in the background). [[spoilerThe athleticism and training she gained keeps her at the same level as her sister who has a lot of her own skills]].
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* PomPomGirl; PlainPalate: Melanie does not take well to trying spicy food for the first time to the amusement of her traveling companions.
* PomPomGirl: Melanie is a high school cheerleader and the protagonist, even if her heart condition gets in the way of a lot of her participation (she used to be able to do more, but a few medical emergencies meant the school got too scared of the liability and essentially relegated her to holding pom poms in the background). [[spoilerThe athleticism and training she gained keeps her at the same level as her sister who has a lot of her own skills]].
* PomPomGirl: Melanie is a high school cheerleader and the protagonist, even if her heart condition gets in the way of a lot of her participation (she used to be able to do more, but a few medical emergencies meant the school got too scared of the liability and essentially relegated her to holding pom poms in the background). [[spoilerThe athleticism and training she gained keeps her at the same level as her sister who has a lot of her own skills]].
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* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Melanie's Jack frost is this, she's still a kid of course, but she's knowledgeable enough about the Seasonal cycle and very good at faking everything else.
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* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Melanie's Jack frost Frost is this, she's still a kid of course, but she's knowledgeable enough about the Seasonal cycle and very good at faking everything else.
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* PomPomGirl; Melanie is a high school cheerleader and the protagonist, even if her heart condition gets in the way of a lot of her participation (she used to be able to do more, but a few medical emergencies meant the school got too scared of the liability and essentially relegated her to holding pom poms in the background). [[spoilerThe athleticism and training she gained keeps her at the same level as her sister who has a lot of her own skills]].
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The Cheerleader is no longer a trope
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* TheCheerleader: Melanie is one, even if her heart condition gets in the way of a lot of her participation (she used to be able to do more, but a few medical emergencies meant the school got too scared of the liability and essentially relegated her to holding pom poms in the background). [[spoiler:It keeps her at the same level as her sister who has a lot of her own skills]].
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Need to crosswick this stuff.
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* AloneWithThePsycho: Tommy and Misty are serial killer sibling willing to take people apart.
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* AloneWithThePsycho: Tommy and Misty are serial killer sibling siblings willing to take people apart.
* TheBadGuysAreCops: [[spoiler:One Jack Frost uses his position as a cop to trap another winter candidate for their candidate]].
* DarkAndtroubledPast: Jack Frost, melanie's Jack Frost, did **Not** have a good childhood. Examples include, numerous pawn shop visits. Forced to sleep in the street if she pissed of her father. Her birthday presents being sold for drug money
* EekAMouse: Subverted, Melanie has to deal with a huge spider in the shower of a motel room, and warns Harry and Jack that she's shooong it out.
* EvilColonialist: William Monroe is this, he grew up in England and immigrated to America in the 1700s. He expedited his rise as a seasonal monarch by killing any other viable candidate and wanted to ensure that the new land was properly tamed. He is very racist and sexist and doesn't change his views despite centuries.
* EvilColonialist: William Monroe is this, he grew up in England and immigrated to America in the 1700s. He expedited his rise as a seasonal monarch by killing any other viable candidate and wanted to ensure that the new land was properly tamed. He is very racist and sexist and doesn't change his views despite centuries.
* HereThereWereDragons: Magic used to be visible, overt and measurable but its changed and evolved just like everything else. [[MagicalUnderpinningsOfReality It underpins the world]] and only alchemists and similar magic-user are able to get to it. To everyone else in the "real world" [[LikeRealityUnlessNoted nothing is weird]].
* HeroicBuild: Harry has this thanks to his football participation, its noted he also has football injuries and the work that he needs to put in to keep up his physique. [[spoiler:The fact that he maintains it with no work during the road trip, where he barely exercises or watches his diet is one more indication of his ascension]].
** It's pointed out that while he's in good shape there are still people taller then him with more mass that get the better of him.
* HumanityIsInfectious: Addictive too, the seasons Ascendent came first and linked into their seasons then the season incarnates appeared and actually talked to their seasons. The Seasons won't function without their incarnates and need them to shape and guide them, they need their fix.
* HeroicBuild: Harry has this thanks to his football participation, its noted he also has football injuries and the work that he needs to put in to keep up his physique. [[spoiler:The fact that he maintains it with no work during the road trip, where he barely exercises or watches his diet is one more indication of his ascension]].
** It's pointed out that while he's in good shape there are still people taller then him with more mass that get the better of him.
* HumanityIsInfectious: Addictive too, the seasons Ascendent came first and linked into their seasons then the season incarnates appeared and actually talked to their seasons. The Seasons won't function without their incarnates and need them to shape and guide them, they need their fix.
* InternalReveal: Multiple times; the Protagonists get an {{Infodump}} about the setting of recent events from Literature/{{Middlegame}}. Then there's Melanie learning her sister survived. [[spoiler:This is long before said sister shows up trying to kill Harry to take his place]].
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* JackFrost: The title for the interstitial of winter, also known as ascendent and “halfsies”, they can survive a contest and be part of the courts. There are also ones for spring wall and summer. %%can’t remember there names exactly corn Jenny?
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* JackFrost: The title for the interstitial of winter, also known as ascendent ascendant and “halfsies”, they can survive a contest and be part of the courts. There are also ones for spring wall spring, summer and summer. %%can’t remember there names exactly corn Jenny?fall; Jack in the Green, Corn Jenny and Stingy Jack respectively.
* JustOneSecondOutOfSync: Dodger is using this as camouflage now, a whole “secondstein” where murdered seconds shield her with their rainbow corpses.
* JustOneSecondOutOfSync: Dodger is using this as camouflage now, a whole “secondstein” where murdered seconds shield her with their rainbow corpses.
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* MeaningfulName: The Cosgrove's version of the sympathetic magic name scheme. Melanie, created to hold the Winter, has a Greek name that means "darkness", and Aven, [[spoiler:twin sister and another potential Summer,]] has a Gaelic name that means "brightness".
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* LegendFadesToMyth: Exactly ''how'' the seasonal contest is supposed to work is up in the air, every continent is different in subtle ways. Monroe made a mess of things in North America so a lot has been forgotten.
* ThatManIsDead: Any seasons ascendant are given a new name depending on their aligned season. They can play at having their original name but they'll always *feel* like someone else.
* MeaningfulName: The Cosgrove's version of the sympathetic magic name scheme. Melanie, created to hold the Winter, has a Greek name that means "darkness", and Aven, [[spoiler:twin sister and another potential Summer,]] has a Gaelic name that means "brightness".
* ThatManIsDead: Any seasons ascendant are given a new name depending on their aligned season. They can play at having their original name but they'll always *feel* like someone else.
* MeaningfulName: The Cosgrove's version of the sympathetic magic name scheme. Melanie, created to hold the Winter, has a Greek name that means "darkness", and Aven, [[spoiler:twin sister and another potential Summer,]] has a Gaelic name that means "brightness".
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* NoBodyLeftBehind: [[spoiler:after her death aven turns into corn husks and roses and blows away.]]
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* NoBodyLeftBehind: [[spoiler:after [[spoiler:After her death aven Aven turns into corn husks and roses and blows away.]]]]
* NotQuiteDead: A major new revelation is that Asphodel Deborah Baker actually didn't die. More accurately it wasn't a final death so much as ascension. Reports are confused, depending on, "which story you believe", so who knows what actually happened.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Harry tries to do this while playing the peacemaker, he's good at school but he's regularly dismissed as a dumb rich kid. He's actually more of TheSocialExpert.
* NotQuiteDead: A major new revelation is that Asphodel Deborah Baker actually didn't die. More accurately it wasn't a final death so much as ascension. Reports are confused, depending on, "which story you believe", so who knows what actually happened.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Harry tries to do this while playing the peacemaker, he's good at school but he's regularly dismissed as a dumb rich kid. He's actually more of TheSocialExpert.
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* PositionOfLiteralPower: The natural incarnated are meant to be in the world and the world abhors a vacuum. There are prescribed rules and courts that bend over backward to make the contest easier, much of the competition is InvisibleToNormals. When the candidates actually get the position the world will twist to make sure they have health, wealth and happiness. %%pearl meant to be.
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* PositionOfLiteralPower: The natural naturally incarnated are meant to be in the world and the world abhors a vacuum. There are prescribed rules and courts that bend over backward to make the contest easier, much of the competition is InvisibleToNormals. When the candidates actually get the position the world will twist to make sure they have health, wealth and happiness. %%pearl meant Several parallels are drawn to be.oysters being in the habit of making pearls, even with a pearl removed a new one will end up being made.
* ProneToSunburn: Inverted, summer children like Harry don't have to worry about the sun because it "loves [them]".
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%%UnderstandingBoyfriend if harry is in the same position does he count?
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* AffectionateNickname: Melon for Melanie %%can’t remember if harry gets one.
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* AffectionateNickname: Melon for Harry calls Melanie %%can’t remember if harry gets one."Mel".
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* TheCheerleader: Melania is one, even if her heart condition gets in the way of a lot of her participation. [[spoiler:It keeps her at the same level as her sister who has a lot of her own skills]]. %%pom pom girl might work better
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* TheCheerleader: Melania Melanie is one, even if her heart condition gets in the way of a lot of her participation.participation (she used to be able to do more, but a few medical emergencies meant the school got too scared of the liability and essentially relegated her to holding pom poms in the background). [[spoiler:It keeps her at the same level as her sister who has a lot of her own skills]]. %%pom pom girl might work better
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** The irony of his buyer's remorse is that by the time it's finally kicked in, he's now bound in service to Aven becomes of their roles in the cycle. He literally ''can't'' tender his resignation and he's stuck in the figurative passenger seat to the bitter end.
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** The irony of his buyer's remorse is that by the time it's finally kicked in, he's now bound in service to Aven becomes of their roles in the cycle. He literally ''can't'' tender his resignation resignation--unless he can get another Summer candidate to accept his fealty, and given who he's traveling with, fat chance--and he's stuck in the figurative passenger seat to the bitter end.
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** The irony of his buyer's remorse is that by the time it's finally kicked in, he's now bound in service to Aven becomes of their roles in the cycle. He literally ''can't'' tender his resignation and he's stuck in the figurative passenger seat to the bitter end.
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* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Harry questions if he really deserves to live more than every other Summer candidate, because he's not sure he can stomach killing anyone else. Tim tells him he's looking at the situation wrong: the real question is, does ''Melanie'' deserve to live?
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* AffectionateNickname: Melon for Melanie %%can’t remember if harry gets one.
* AloneWithThePsycho: Tommy and Misty are serial killer sibling willing to take people apart.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Harry questions if he really deserves to live more than every other Summer candidate, because he's not sure he can stomach killing anyone else. Tim tells him he's looking at the situation wrong: the real question is, does ''Melanie'' deserve tolive? live?
* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Expanding from the previous example there is now Mary Shelly and James Frazer of the Golden Bough fame, which is extensively quoted here, joining the ranks of alchemists..
* AloneWithThePsycho: Tommy and Misty are serial killer sibling willing to take people apart.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Harry questions if he really deserves to live more than every other Summer candidate, because he's not sure he can stomach killing anyone else. Tim tells him he's looking at the situation wrong: the real question is, does ''Melanie'' deserve to
* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Expanding from the previous example there is now Mary Shelly and James Frazer of the Golden Bough fame, which is extensively quoted here, joining the ranks of alchemists..
* TheCheerleader: Melania is one, even if her heart condition gets in the way of a lot of her participation. [[spoiler:It keeps her at the same level as her sister who has a lot of her own skills]]. %%pom pom girl might work better
** William Monroe was able to get his position by killing all other candidates. Leaving him the only possible holder of the crown, which made Diana step up and become the summer queen to check him. [[spoiler: It didn't work and the alchemical congress bound Diana]].
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Harry and Melanie don’t have the benefit of save-scumming and they’re trying to get a “natural” force, one has already known. Also only one of them is an alchemical construct and she spends a lot of time angsting about it.
* SentientCosmicForce: The season are this, they can have wants and desires but because they're so tied up in the chance to look and feel human the removal of them leads to the seasons themselves taking a hit.
* DelicateAndSickly: Melanie has had a heart condition for her entire life and has been known to faint and has already had a heart transplant, but that didn't stop her from climbing trees.
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Harry and Melanie don’t have the benefit of save-scumming and they’re trying to get a “natural” force, one has already known. Also only one of them is an alchemical construct and she spends a lot of time angsting about it.
* SentientCosmicForce: The season are this, they can have wants and desires but because they're so tied up in the chance to look and feel human the removal of them leads to the seasons themselves taking a hit.
* DelicateAndSickly: Melanie has had a heart condition for her entire life and has been known to faint and has already had a heart transplant, but that didn't stop her from climbing trees.
* FriendlyFireproof: Seasons can only fight their own season, even monarchs can't seem to hurt each other.
* GodCouple: What the Seasonal Monarchs can be if they want.
* GravityMaster: Dodger can apparently revoke someone's gravity privileges. %%there is a few other things like removing friction.
* ImmediateSelfContradiction: Melanie tells Henry he needs to stay with her after they mutually collapse at the opening football game only to say she needs to leave and go because she snuck out of her house to go to said football game.
* InexplicableLanguageFluency: Aven is essentially in a coma all her life but, thanks to the alchemical knowledge tinctures of her father', she speaks perfect English even if there are some issues with definitions.
* ImmediateSelfContradiction: Melanie tells Henry he needs to stay with her after they mutually collapse at the opening football game only to say she needs to leave and go because she snuck out of her house to go to said football game.
* InexplicableLanguageFluency: Aven is essentially in a coma all her life but, thanks to the alchemical knowledge tinctures of her father', she speaks perfect English even if there are some issues with definitions.
* JackFrost: The title for the interstitial of winter, also known as ascendent and “halfsies”, they can survive a contest and be part of the courts. There are also ones for spring wall and summer. %%can’t remember there names exactly corn Jenny?
* NoBodyLeftBehind: [[spoiler:after her death aven turns into corn husks and roses and blows away.]]
* PositionOfLiteralPower: The natural incarnated are meant to be in the world and the world abhors a vacuum. There are prescribed rules and courts that bend over backward to make the contest easier, much of the competition is InvisibleToNormals. When the candidates actually get the position the world will twist to make sure they have health, wealth and happiness. %%pearl meant to be.
* PowerLossDepression: Ken and Jen have a bit of this given that roger and dodger have fully embodied the doctrine of ethos and thus taken it from them.
* PowerLossDepression: Ken and Jen have a bit of this given that roger and dodger have fully embodied the doctrine of ethos and thus taken it from them.
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* SheIsTheKing: Ascendant titles don't change based on gender--Jack Frost is a girl, while the Corn Jenny who ends up swearing allegiance to Harry is a boy.
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* RoadTripPlot: The main characters spend a month all told on the road getting around. Getting into confrontations and running away as they try to get to the labyrinth. Talks about the BO that adds up and the resources needed and all the crappy motels one has to deal with.
* SeasonalBaggage: The major motif here, the seasons, either interstitial or ascendant “halfsies” like jack frost or the Incarnate versions like the main characters. They’re described in terms relating to the seasons numerous times, summertide and winter bound, and have inexplicable comfort and resistances to their motifs. When walking the "scarecrow trail" the spring and fall interstitial are decked out in seasonal dress, leaves and branches as cloths.
* SanityHasAdvantages: Aven is terrifyingly intelligent and shows all the skills to be an alchemist and surgeon as soon as she wakes up. What she doesn’t have is a basic understanding of the law, how to drive, self-control, self-denial, emotional regulation or any social graces. [[spoiler:these are all things that help Melaine]].
* SheIsTheKing: Ascendant titles don't change based on gender--Jack Frost is a girl, while the Corn Jenny who ends up swearing allegiance to Harry is a boy. We're told to "blame the French" for this.
* SeasonalBaggage: The major motif here, the seasons, either interstitial or ascendant “halfsies” like jack frost or the Incarnate versions like the main characters. They’re described in terms relating to the seasons numerous times, summertide and winter bound, and have inexplicable comfort and resistances to their motifs. When walking the "scarecrow trail" the spring and fall interstitial are decked out in seasonal dress, leaves and branches as cloths.
* SanityHasAdvantages: Aven is terrifyingly intelligent and shows all the skills to be an alchemist and surgeon as soon as she wakes up. What she doesn’t have is a basic understanding of the law, how to drive, self-control, self-denial, emotional regulation or any social graces. [[spoiler:these are all things that help Melaine]].
* SheIsTheKing: Ascendant titles don't change based on gender--Jack Frost is a girl, while the Corn Jenny who ends up swearing allegiance to Harry is a boy. We're told to "blame the French" for this.
* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: Aven is the last death in the story on the last page, after proving so dangerous earlier.
* {{Synchronization}}: This can be seen with monarchs and parallel incarnations, the protagonists faint at the beginning and it gives them as many positives and negatives in the contest. They aren't unique in this contest or others as there are contests in other continents.
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: Well two but in the end there will traditionally only be the summer and winter royalty after the contest of the laboring wheel concludes. People can kill competitors but it isn't explicitly needed, and contestants can renounce but regardless even the candidates who didn’t die during it will die pretty soon.
* {{Synchronization}}: This can be seen with monarchs and parallel incarnations, the protagonists faint at the beginning and it gives them as many positives and negatives in the contest. They aren't unique in this contest or others as there are contests in other continents.
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: Well two but in the end there will traditionally only be the summer and winter royalty after the contest of the laboring wheel concludes. People can kill competitors but it isn't explicitly needed, and contestants can renounce but regardless even the candidates who didn’t die during it will die pretty soon.
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* TomatoInTheMirror: Melanie's always thought she's a normal girl with a bad heart condition. Nope. She's an alchemical construct designed specifically to incarnate the season of Winter...with a bad heart condition.
to:
* TitleDrop: Twice, Once in the opening quotes and the second to final book, seasonal fears are hard on mortal hearts, reason why a seasonal monarch isn’t immortal for more than a century.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Melanie's always thought she's a normal girl with a bad heart condition. Nope. She's an alchemical construct designed specifically to incarnate the season of Winter...with a bad heartcondition.condition.
* TragicIceCharacter: Melanie is all set up to be this bad heart, an affinity for cold, doomed dreams, not even human. The fact she is the best candidate for Winter hands down means she could well slip under, lose her humanity and take herself out of consideration, Harry pulled along with her. The fact her support network is around to keep her sane is a major part of her character arc.
%%UnderstandingBoyfriend if harry is in the same position does he count?
* TomatoInTheMirror: Melanie's always thought she's a normal girl with a bad heart condition. Nope. She's an alchemical construct designed specifically to incarnate the season of Winter...with a bad heart
* TragicIceCharacter: Melanie is all set up to be this bad heart, an affinity for cold, doomed dreams, not even human. The fact she is the best candidate for Winter hands down means she could well slip under, lose her humanity and take herself out of consideration, Harry pulled along with her. The fact her support network is around to keep her sane is a major part of her character arc.
%%UnderstandingBoyfriend if harry is in the same position does he count?
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Again it can't be a direct synopsis from advertising. I have quite a few notes for tropes on this page but I'll add them later.
Changed line(s) 1,12 (click to see context) from:
The king of winter and the queen of summer are dead. The fight for their crowns begins!
Melanie has a destiny, though it isn’t the one everyone assumes it to be. She’s delicate; she’s fragile; she’s dying. Now, truly, is the winter of her soul.
Harry doesn’t want to believe in destiny, because that means accepting the loss of the one person who gives his life meaning, who brings summer to his world.
So, when a new road is laid out in front of them—a road that will lead through untold dangers toward a possible lifetime together—walking down it seems to be the only option.
But others are following behind, with violence in their hearts.
It looks like Destiny has a plan for them, after all…
Melanie has a destiny, though it isn’t the one everyone assumes it to be. She’s delicate; she’s fragile; she’s dying. Now, truly, is the winter of her soul.
Harry doesn’t want to believe in destiny, because that means accepting the loss of the one person who gives his life meaning, who brings summer to his world.
So, when a new road is laid out in front of them—a road that will lead through untold dangers toward a possible lifetime together—walking down it seems to be the only option.
But others are following behind, with violence in their hearts.
It looks like Destiny has a plan for them, after all…
to:
The king of winter Wheel has turned...
The seasons seek new monarchs, and across North America those rare people who know thequeen of summer wheel has turned are dead. The fight for making their crowns begins!
way through a contest that could well mean their deaths.
For one girl though this contest means she's finally starting to live. Melanie Cosgrove has always had adestiny, heart condition a breath from the edge of death, she's gone over it multiple times, but now she's pain-free and ready to live her life.
Her boyfriend Harald March is happy for her, thoughit isn’t the one everyone assumes it to be. She’s delicate; she’s fragile; she’s dying. Now, truly, relief she feels after this is the winter of her soul.
Harry doesn’t want to believe in destiny, because that means accepting the losssquashed when they both hear of the one person who gives his life meaning, who brings summer to his world.
So, when a new road is laid out in front of them—a road that will lead through untold dangers toward a possible lifetime together—walking down it seemscontest they're about to be the only option.
But others are following behind, with violence inpulled into against their hearts.
It looks like Destiny haswill.
They have aplan for them, after all…
very good chance of getting killed in the next few days and Melanie's alchemical heritage only makes them both more vulnerable not less.
The seasons seek new monarchs, and across North America those rare people who know the
For one girl though this contest means she's finally starting to live. Melanie Cosgrove has always had a
Her boyfriend Harald March is happy for her, though
Harry doesn’t want to believe in destiny, because that means accepting the loss
So, when a new road is laid out in front of them—a road that will lead through untold dangers toward a possible lifetime together—walking down it seems
But others are following behind, with violence in
It looks like Destiny has
They have a
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* AbusiveParents: Melanie's father might love her, but he created her as an alchemical experiment to gain control of the elemental forces of the world, and has always viewed her as something to control, rather than a real person.
* AlternateUniverse: This isn't the same timeline that ''Literature/{{Middlegame}}'' left off in--it's Roger and Dodger's perfect run, or at least as close to perfect as they can get. Smita and Erin survived this time around, but unfortunately they couldn't save Dodger's parents.
* AlternateUniverse: This isn't the same timeline that ''Literature/{{Middlegame}}'' left off in--it's Roger and Dodger's perfect run, or at least as close to perfect as they can get. Smita and Erin survived this time around, but unfortunately they couldn't save Dodger's parents.
to:
* AbusiveParents: Melanie's father might love her, but he and his wife created her as an alchemical experiment to gain control of the elemental forces of the world, and has always viewed her as something to control, rather than a real person.
* AlternateUniverse: This isn't the same timeline that ''Literature/{{Middlegame}}'' left off in--it's Roger and Dodger's perfect run, or at least as close to perfect as they can get. Smita and Erin survived this time around, but unfortunately they couldn't save Dodger's parents.person.
* AlternateUniverse: This isn't the same timeline that ''Literature/{{Middlegame}}'' left off in--it's Roger and Dodger's perfect run, or at least as close to perfect as they can get. Smita and Erin survived this time around, but unfortunately they couldn't save Dodger's parents.
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* FantasticRacism: Many people react...badly...to the knowledge that Melanie is an alchemical construct, under the assumption that she's one bad mood away from murdering everyone in the room horribly.
to:
* FantasticRacism: Many seasons people react...badly...to the knowledge that Melanie is an alchemical construct, under the assumption that she's one bad mood away from murdering everyone in the room horribly.
* GoldenEnding: This isn't the [[AlternateUniverse same timeline]] that ''Literature/{{Middlegame}}'' left off in--it's Roger and Dodger's perfect run, or at least as close to perfect as they can get. Smita and Erin survived this time around, but unfortunately, they couldn't save Dodger's parents.
Changed line(s) 32 (click to see context) from:
* MeaningfulName: Harry, a candidate to be Summer King, is named Harald, also the name of a king. Melanie, created to hold the Winter, has a name that means "darkness", and Aven, another potential Summer, has a name that means "brightness".
to:
* MeaningfulName: The Cosgrove's version of the sympathetic magic name scheme. Melanie, created to hold the Winter, has a Greek name that means "darkness", and Aven, [[spoiler:twin sister and another potential Summer,]] has a Gaelic name that means "brightness".
** On the comparably mundane side Harry, a candidate to be Summer King, is named Harald, also the name of aking. Melanie, created to hold the Winter, has a name that means "darkness", and Aven, another potential Summer, has a name that means "brightness".king.
** On the comparably mundane side Harry, a candidate to be Summer King, is named Harald, also the name of a
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* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler: Trevor defects to Aven rather than serve his old rival (Harry). However, Trevor did ''not'' consider the implications of serving a candidate who's spent all of her life in an induced coma and been educated by implanted alchemical knowledge. Aven has ''no'' understanding of social graces or how the world works and she's impulsive and psychopathic. So, Trevor quickly experiences buyer's remorse and realizes that while Aven may very well win, there's also an excellent chance she'll end up killing him before they even reach the Labyrinth. Unfortunately, because of the Corn Jenny's role in the Seasonal cycle, Trevor's now bound to her service and ''can't'' leave (and even if he could, he'd rather slit his own wrists than be forced to serve Harry.]]
to:
* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler: Trevor defects to Aven rather than serve his old rival (Harry). However, Trevor did ''not'' consider the implications of serving a candidate who's spent all of her life in an induced coma and been educated by implanted alchemical knowledge. Aven has ''no'' understanding of social graces or how the world works and she's impulsive and psychopathic. So, Doesn't take Trevor quickly experiences long to experience buyer's remorse and realizes that while Aven may very well win, there's also an excellent chance she'll end up killing him before they even reach the Labyrinth. Unfortunately, because of the Corn Jenny's role in the Seasonal cycle, Trevor's now bound to her service and ''can't'' leave (and even if he could, he'd rather slit his own wrists than be forced to serve Harry.remorse.]]
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Changed line(s) 29 (click to see context) from:
* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler: After discovering there's still a loophole that would allow defeated competitors to still win, Harry and Melanie correctly anticipate that Aven will be gunning for them (out of revenge and to claim it before her life ends). However, it's subverted in that while they relocate to a perfect safe house, Aven moved faster than they anticipated and before defenses could be set up.]]
to:
* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler: After discovering there's still a loophole that would allow defeated competitors to still win, Played with in the denouement. Despite winning, Harry and Melanie come to discover that there's an unexpected loophole in the cycle that would allow a defeated candidate to still seize their Crown before their life ends. While Aven doesn't know (and couldn't know) of this loophole, they still correctly anticipate that Aven will she'll be gunning for coming after them (out because of revenge and to claim it before her life ends). obsessive, psychopathic personality. However, it's subverted in that while they relocate to a perfect safe house, Aven moved faster than they anticipated and before defenses could be set up.]]
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Changed line(s) 24 (click to see context) from:
* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler: Trevor defects to Aven rather than serve his old rival (Harry). However, Trevor did ''not'' consider the reality of serving a candidate who's spent all of her life in an induced coma and been educated by implanted alchemical knowledge. Aven has ''no'' understanding of social graces or how the world works and she's impulsive and psychopathic. Trevor quickly comes to realize he bet on the wrong horse and while Aven has an excellent chance of wining, there's also a chance she'll end up killing him before they reach the Labyrinth. Unfortunately, because of the Corn Jenny's role in the cycle, he's now bound to her service and can't leave (and even if he could, he'd rather slit his own wrists than be forced to serve Harry.]]
to:
* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler: Trevor defects to Aven rather than serve his old rival (Harry). However, Trevor did ''not'' consider the reality implications of serving a candidate who's spent all of her life in an induced coma and been educated by implanted alchemical knowledge. Aven has ''no'' understanding of social graces or how the world works and she's impulsive and psychopathic. So, Trevor quickly comes to realize he bet on the wrong horse experiences buyer's remorse and realizes that while Aven has an excellent chance of wining, may very well win, there's also a an excellent chance she'll end up killing him before they even reach the Labyrinth. Unfortunately, because of the Corn Jenny's role in the Seasonal cycle, he's Trevor's now bound to her service and can't ''can't'' leave (and even if he could, he'd rather slit his own wrists than be forced to serve Harry.]]
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* EvilIsPetty:[[spoiler: Trevor abandons his predetermined role as Harry's Corn Jenny and defects to Aven because they both had a crush on Mel since Middle School...and Harry got there first.]]
to:
* EvilIsPetty:[[spoiler: Trevor abandons his predetermined role as Harry's Corn Jenny and defects to Aven because they both had a crush on Mel since Middle School...and Harry got there first. However, it's also made clear the unrequited crush is the tip of a ''massive'' iceberg of long-seated resentment and hatred towards Harry and his life of privilege.]]
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Changed line(s) 29 (click to see context) from:
* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler: After discovering there's still a loophole that would allow defeated competitors to still win, Harry and Melanie correctly anticipate that Aven will be gunning for them (out of revenge and to claim it before her life ends). However, it's subverted in that while they relocate to a perfect safe house, Aven moved faster than they anticipated and before defenses could be set up).
to:
* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler: After discovering there's still a loophole that would allow defeated competitors to still win, Harry and Melanie correctly anticipate that Aven will be gunning for them (out of revenge and to claim it before her life ends). However, it's subverted in that while they relocate to a perfect safe house, Aven moved faster than they anticipated and before defenses could be set up). up.]]
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Changed line(s) 29 (click to see context) from:
* GenreSaavy: [[spoiler: After discovering there's still a loophole that would allow defeated competitors to still win, Harry and Melanie correctly anticipate that Aven will be gunning for them (out of revenge and to claim it before her life ends). However, it's subverted in that while they relocate to a perfect safe house, Aven moved faster than they anticipated and before defenses could be set up).
to:
* GenreSaavy: GenreSavvy: [[spoiler: After discovering there's still a loophole that would allow defeated competitors to still win, Harry and Melanie correctly anticipate that Aven will be gunning for them (out of revenge and to claim it before her life ends). However, it's subverted in that while they relocate to a perfect safe house, Aven moved faster than they anticipated and before defenses could be set up).
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Changed line(s) 24,25 (click to see context) from:
* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler: After his defection, Trevor gradually comes to realize how unstable Aven is and that he probably bet on the wrong horse and will probably be dead before they reach the Labyrinth. Unfortunately, because of the Corn Jenny's role in the cycle, he's now bound to her service.]]
* DisappointedByTheMotive: [[spoiler: Harry's incredulous reaction to learning ''why'' Trevor defected to Aven and refused to fulfill his predetermined role as Harry's Corn Jenny: Because of an unrequited crush on Melanie.]]
* DisappointedByTheMotive: [[spoiler: Harry's incredulous reaction to learning ''why'' Trevor defected to Aven and refused to fulfill his predetermined role as Harry's Corn Jenny: Because of an unrequited crush on Melanie.]]
to:
* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler: After his defection, Trevor gradually defects to Aven rather than serve his old rival (Harry). However, Trevor did ''not'' consider the reality of serving a candidate who's spent all of her life in an induced coma and been educated by implanted alchemical knowledge. Aven has ''no'' understanding of social graces or how the world works and she's impulsive and psychopathic. Trevor quickly comes to realize how unstable Aven is and that he probably bet on the wrong horse and will probably be dead while Aven has an excellent chance of wining, there's also a chance she'll end up killing him before they reach the Labyrinth. Unfortunately, because of the Corn Jenny's role in the cycle, he's now bound to her service.service and can't leave (and even if he could, he'd rather slit his own wrists than be forced to serve Harry.]]
* DisappointedByTheMotive: [[spoiler: Harry's incredulous reaction to learning ''why'' Trevor defected to Aven and refused to fulfill his predetermined role as Harry's Corn Jenny: Because of an unrequited crush onMelanie.Melanie (and ironically one she ''couldn't'' have returned anyway because of the Summer-Winter connection between her and Harry).]]
* DisappointedByTheMotive: [[spoiler: Harry's incredulous reaction to learning ''why'' Trevor defected to Aven and refused to fulfill his predetermined role as Harry's Corn Jenny: Because of an unrequited crush on
Added DiffLines:
* GenreSaavy: [[spoiler: After discovering there's still a loophole that would allow defeated competitors to still win, Harry and Melanie correctly anticipate that Aven will be gunning for them (out of revenge and to claim it before her life ends). However, it's subverted in that while they relocate to a perfect safe house, Aven moved faster than they anticipated and before defenses could be set up).
Added DiffLines:
* SoreLoser: [[spoiler: Aven does ''not'' take Melanie's victory well and tries to kill her in the climax.]]
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Changed line(s) 24 (click to see context) from:
* DissapointedByTheMotive: [[spoiler: Harry's reaction to learning ''why'' Trevor defected to Aven and refused to fulfill his predetermined role as Harry's Corn Jenny: Because of an unrequited crush.]]
to:
* DissapointedByTheMotive: DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler: After his defection, Trevor gradually comes to realize how unstable Aven is and that he probably bet on the wrong horse and will probably be dead before they reach the Labyrinth. Unfortunately, because of the Corn Jenny's role in the cycle, he's now bound to her service.]]
* DisappointedByTheMotive: [[spoiler: Harry's incredulous reaction to learning ''why'' Trevor defected to Aven and refused to fulfill his predetermined role as Harry's Corn Jenny: Because of an unrequitedcrush.crush on Melanie.]]
* DisappointedByTheMotive: [[spoiler: Harry's incredulous reaction to learning ''why'' Trevor defected to Aven and refused to fulfill his predetermined role as Harry's Corn Jenny: Because of an unrequited
Changed line(s) 26 (click to see context) from:
* EvilIsPetty: [[spoiler: Trevor abandons his predetermined role as Harry's Corn Jenny and defects to Aven because they both had a crush on Mel since Middle School...and Harry got there first.]]
to:
* EvilIsPetty: [[spoiler: EvilIsPetty:[[spoiler: Trevor abandons his predetermined role as Harry's Corn Jenny and defects to Aven because they both had a crush on Mel since Middle School...and Harry got there first.]]
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Added DiffLines:
* DissapointedByTheMotive: [[spoiler: Harry's reaction to learning ''why'' Trevor defected to Aven and refused to fulfill his predetermined role as Harry's Corn Jenny: Because of an unrequited crush.]]
Added DiffLines:
* EvilIsPetty: [[spoiler: Trevor abandons his predetermined role as Harry's Corn Jenny and defects to Aven because they both had a crush on Mel since Middle School...and Harry got there first.]]
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Added DiffLines:
* TigerByTheTail: Trevor quickly comes to regret choosing Aven as his Summer. He thought that he could use her as a ticket to power by guiding her to victory, but she's so dangerous and violent that even as her Ascendant he's constantly in danger. But if he leaves, it'll set her off like a landmine. Except landmines are a nicer way to die.
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* DoWellButNotPerfect: To win the crown, you must connect to your season better than all of the other competitors. But if you connect completely, you lose your humanity--and since the point of having the monarchs is that the seasons enjoy being people, that knocks you out of the running, because you're not people anymore. Melanie's at extra risk, since from the jump she has a higher baseline level of Winter affinity and a lower baseline level of humanity.
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Changed line(s) 17 (click to see context) from:
* AlternateUniverse: This isn't the same timeline that ''Literature/{{Middlegame}}'' left off in--it's Roger and Dodger's perfect run, or at least as close to perfect as they can get. Smita and Erin survived this time around. .
to:
* AlternateUniverse: This isn't the same timeline that ''Literature/{{Middlegame}}'' left off in--it's Roger and Dodger's perfect run, or at least as close to perfect as they can get. Smita and Erin survived this time around. . around, but unfortunately they couldn't save Dodger's parents.
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Changed line(s) 13,14 (click to see context) from:
(Note: unmarked ''Literature/{{Middlegame}} spoilers below.)
to:
(Note: unmarked ''Literature/{{Middlegame}} ''Literature/{{Middlegame}}'' spoilers below.)
Changed line(s) 17,18 (click to see context) from:
* AlternateUniverse: This isn't the same timeline that ''Literature/{{Middlegame}}'' left off in--it's Roger and Dodger's perfect run, or at least as close to perfect as they can get.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Harry questions if he ''really'' deserves to live more than every other Summer candidate. Tim tells him he's looking at the situation wrong: the real question is, does ''Melanie'' deserve to live?
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Harry questions if he ''really'' deserves to live more than every other Summer candidate. Tim tells him he's looking at the situation wrong: the real question is, does ''Melanie'' deserve to live?
to:
* AlternateUniverse: This isn't the same timeline that ''Literature/{{Middlegame}}'' left off in--it's Roger and Dodger's perfect run, or at least as close to perfect as they can get. \n Smita and Erin survived this time around. .
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Harry questions if he''really'' really deserves to live more than every other Summer candidate.candidate, because he's not sure he can stomach killing anyone else. Tim tells him he's looking at the situation wrong: the real question is, does ''Melanie'' deserve to live?
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Harry questions if he
Changed line(s) 23 (click to see context) from:
* ClosestThingWeGot: Poor Jack gets to be this ''twice''. Each potential monarch should have an ascendant (someone tied to the season, but at a lower level of power) to show them the ropes and guide them to the labyrinth. All of the more experienced Jacks who should have been Melanie's were murdered by her father, who didn't want an outside influence on his precious experiment, leaving just thirteen-year-old, who's only had the gig for a year. The Corn Jenny who's supposed to help Harry turns on him and murders a different Jenny to steal ''her'' Summer candidate, so Jack, for love of Melanie, tries to help out Harry too. She's doing her best, but it's a struggle.
to:
* ClosestThingWeGot: Poor Jack gets to be this ''twice''. Each potential monarch should have an ascendant (someone tied to the season, but at a lower level of power) to show them the ropes and guide them to the labyrinth. All of the more experienced Jacks who should have been Melanie's were murdered by her father, who didn't want an outside influence on his precious experiment, leaving a just thirteen-year-old, thirteen-year-old who's only had the gig for a year. The Corn Jenny who's supposed to help Harry turns on hates him and murders a different Jenny to steal ''her'' Summer her candidate, so Jack, for love of Melanie, tries to help out Harry too. She's doing her best, but it's a struggle.
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* PsychopathicManchild: Aven may be physically and intellectually seventeen, but ''emotionally'', she's a toddler who never got the talk about how it's not nice to hit people who won't share their toys with you. Except with Aven it's more a case of "vivisecting people who didn't do an impossible task they had no way of knowing you wanted them to do". Not that it's her ''fault'', as she was [[spoiler: raised in suspended animation, and alchemically educated in everything but how to interact with other people.]]
* SheIsTheKing: Ascendant titles don't change based on gender--Jack Frost is a girl, while the Corn Jenny who ends up swearing to Harry is a boy.
* SheIsTheKing: Ascendant titles don't change based on gender--Jack Frost is a girl, while the Corn Jenny who ends up swearing to Harry is a boy.
to:
* PsychopathicManchild: Aven may be physically and intellectually seventeen, but ''emotionally'', she's a toddler who never got the talk about how it's not nice to hit people who won't share their toys with you. Except with Aven it's more a case of "vivisecting people who didn't do an impossible task they had no way of knowing you wanted them to do". Not that it's her ''fault'', fault, as she was [[spoiler: raised in suspended animation, and alchemically educated in everything but how to interact with other people.]]
* SheIsTheKing: Ascendant titles don't change based on gender--Jack Frost is a girl, while the Corn Jenny who ends up swearing allegiance to Harry is a boy.
* SheIsTheKing: Ascendant titles don't change based on gender--Jack Frost is a girl, while the Corn Jenny who ends up swearing allegiance to Harry is a boy.
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(Note: unmarked ''Literature/{{Middlegame}} spoilers below.)
* AlternateUniverse: This isn't the same timeline that ''Literature/{{Middlegame}}'' left off in--it's Roger and Dodger's perfect run, or at least as close to perfect as they can get.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Harry questions if he ''really'' deserves to live more than every other Summer candidate. Tim tells him he's looking at the situation wrong: the real question is, does ''Melanie'' deserve to live?
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Harry questions if he ''really'' deserves to live more than every other Summer candidate. Tim tells him he's looking at the situation wrong: the real question is, does ''Melanie'' deserve to live?
* FantasticRacism: Many people react...badly...to the knowledge that Melanie is an alchemical construct, under the assumption that she's one bad mood away from murdering everyone in the room horribly.
* KillItWithIce: Melanie can call on the power of Winter far more strongly than most other contenders--as they discover to their flash-frozen detriment. This is a particularly nasty way to go, because Winter candidates have never experienced cold as negative before. (In the presence of a stronger potential Incarnate, weaker ones will lose their powers. And Melanie is always stronger.)
* MundaneUtility: The fundamental motivating forces of the universe incarnate use their powers to make gardening easier and avoid social interaction while grocery shopping.
* ThePowerOfLove: Harry and Melanie's love for each other saves their lives multiple times, whether because they're able to call on previously unknown powers to save each other or because they can talk each other out of a case of HeroicBSOD. This is also the reason running parallel to someone makes it easier to win the labyrinth. [[spoiler: You have to win the ''other'' season's approval to be crowned--the seasons are a wheel, after all. So two vessels who already love each other and can work together are a huge plus.]]
* ThePowerOfLove: Harry and Melanie's love for each other saves their lives multiple times, whether because they're able to call on previously unknown powers to save each other or because they can talk each other out of a case of HeroicBSOD. This is also the reason running parallel to someone makes it easier to win the labyrinth. [[spoiler: You have to win the ''other'' season's approval to be crowned--the seasons are a wheel, after all. So two vessels who already love each other and can work together are a huge plus.]]
Changed line(s) 24 (click to see context) from:
* TheseHandsHaveKilled: Harry and Melanie both have this reaction after the first time other candidates come after them and they have to kill to protect themselves. Harry keeps washing his hands, sure that the blood won't come off, and Melanie retreats so far into Winter that she almost gets trapped there because it dulls her emotions.
to:
* TheseHandsHaveKilled: Harry and Melanie both have this reaction after the first time other candidates come after them and they have to kill to protect themselves. Harry keeps washing his hands, sure that the blood won't come off, and Melanie retreats so far into Winter that she almost gets trapped there because it dulls her emotions.emotions.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Melanie's always thought she's a normal girl with a bad heart condition. Nope. She's an alchemical construct designed specifically to incarnate the season of Winter...with a bad heart condition.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Melanie's always thought she's a normal girl with a bad heart condition. Nope. She's an alchemical construct designed specifically to incarnate the season of Winter...with a bad heart condition.
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Changed line(s) 14 (click to see context) from:
to:
* AbusiveParents: Melanie's father might love her, but he created her as an alchemical experiment to gain control of the elemental forces of the world, and has always viewed her as something to control, rather than a real person.
Changed line(s) 16 (click to see context) from:
** Congratulations, you are a candidate for the position of Winter or Summer monarch! You get elemental powers and potential immortality...''if'' none of the other candidates or alchemists who think your body parts make good ingredients murder you first, and ''if'' you can make it through the labyrinth, and ''if'' you can manage to avoid DeathOfPersonality via being completely taken over by your season. [[spoiler: Not to mention, if you don't get the crown, the sudden withdrawal of the season's power from your soul will kill you, because you've been changed too much to live without it.]] Good luck.
to:
** Congratulations, you are a candidate for the position of Winter or Summer monarch! You get elemental powers and potential immortality...''if'' none of the other candidates or alchemists who think your body parts make good ingredients murder you first, and ''if'' you can make it through the labyrinth, and ''if'' you can manage to avoid DeathOfPersonality via being completely taken over by your season. [[spoiler: Not to mention, if you don't get the crown, the sudden withdrawal of the season's power from your soul will kill you, because you've been changed too much to live without it.]] Good luck. luck!
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Harry and Melanie have been best friends since they were about four, and dating since the eighth grade.
* ClosestThingWeGot: Poor Jack gets to be this ''twice''. Each potential monarch should have an ascendant (someone tied to the season, but at a lower level of power) to show them the ropes and guide them to the labyrinth. All of the more experienced Jacks who should have been Melanie's were murdered by her father, who didn't want an outside influence on his precious experiment, leaving just thirteen-year-old, who's only had the gig for a year. The Corn Jenny who's supposed to help Harry turns on him and murders a different Jenny to steal ''her'' Summer candidate, so Jack, for love of Melanie, tries to help out Harry too. She's doing her best, but it's a struggle.
* InvisibleToNormals: "Naturals" just don't notice anything too closely related to the supernatural. Nobody even hears when Harry and Melanie are attacked by another pair of candidates in their motel room, despite how much noise it makes, and afterwards all the evidence obviously linking them to the two corpses goes ignored. Meanwhile, Harry's parents don't shut off his credit cards, not because they're trying to support him, but because they can't remember they have a son using said credit cards long enough.
* MeaningfulName: Harry, a candidate to be Summer King, is named Harald, also the name of a king. Melanie, created to hold the Winter, has a name that means "darkness", and Aven, another potential Summer, has a name that means "brightness".
* ClosestThingWeGot: Poor Jack gets to be this ''twice''. Each potential monarch should have an ascendant (someone tied to the season, but at a lower level of power) to show them the ropes and guide them to the labyrinth. All of the more experienced Jacks who should have been Melanie's were murdered by her father, who didn't want an outside influence on his precious experiment, leaving just thirteen-year-old, who's only had the gig for a year. The Corn Jenny who's supposed to help Harry turns on him and murders a different Jenny to steal ''her'' Summer candidate, so Jack, for love of Melanie, tries to help out Harry too. She's doing her best, but it's a struggle.
* InvisibleToNormals: "Naturals" just don't notice anything too closely related to the supernatural. Nobody even hears when Harry and Melanie are attacked by another pair of candidates in their motel room, despite how much noise it makes, and afterwards all the evidence obviously linking them to the two corpses goes ignored. Meanwhile, Harry's parents don't shut off his credit cards, not because they're trying to support him, but because they can't remember they have a son using said credit cards long enough.
* MeaningfulName: Harry, a candidate to be Summer King, is named Harald, also the name of a king. Melanie, created to hold the Winter, has a name that means "darkness", and Aven, another potential Summer, has a name that means "brightness".
Changed line(s) 19 (click to see context) from:
* SheIsTheKing: Ascendant titles don't change based on gender--Jack Frost is a girl, while the Corn Jenny who ends up swearing to Harry is a boy.
to:
* SheIsTheKing: Ascendant titles don't change based on gender--Jack Frost is a girl, while the Corn Jenny who ends up swearing to Harry is a boy.boy.
* TheseHandsHaveKilled: Harry and Melanie both have this reaction after the first time other candidates come after them and they have to kill to protect themselves. Harry keeps washing his hands, sure that the blood won't come off, and Melanie retreats so far into Winter that she almost gets trapped there because it dulls her emotions.
* TheseHandsHaveKilled: Harry and Melanie both have this reaction after the first time other candidates come after them and they have to kill to protect themselves. Harry keeps washing his hands, sure that the blood won't come off, and Melanie retreats so far into Winter that she almost gets trapped there because it dulls her emotions.
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Added DiffLines:
The king of winter and the queen of summer are dead. The fight for their crowns begins!
Melanie has a destiny, though it isn’t the one everyone assumes it to be. She’s delicate; she’s fragile; she’s dying. Now, truly, is the winter of her soul.
Harry doesn’t want to believe in destiny, because that means accepting the loss of the one person who gives his life meaning, who brings summer to his world.
So, when a new road is laid out in front of them—a road that will lead through untold dangers toward a possible lifetime together—walking down it seems to be the only option.
But others are following behind, with violence in their hearts.
It looks like Destiny has a plan for them, after all…
!! ''Seasonal Fears'' contains examples of:
* BlessedWithSuck:
** Congratulations, you are a candidate for the position of Winter or Summer monarch! You get elemental powers and potential immortality...''if'' none of the other candidates or alchemists who think your body parts make good ingredients murder you first, and ''if'' you can make it through the labyrinth, and ''if'' you can manage to avoid DeathOfPersonality via being completely taken over by your season. [[spoiler: Not to mention, if you don't get the crown, the sudden withdrawal of the season's power from your soul will kill you, because you've been changed too much to live without it.]] Good luck.
** Ascendants may have it slightly easier than incarnates, in that there's less of a risk of dying horribly, but they're at a deeply inconvenient level of power--magic enough to be involved, but not magic enough to be able to meaningfully defend themselves from a pissed-off potential incarnate. Of which there are ''many'' right now.
* PsychopathicManchild: Aven may be physically and intellectually seventeen, but ''emotionally'', she's a toddler who never got the talk about how it's not nice to hit people who won't share their toys with you. Except with Aven it's more a case of "vivisecting people who didn't do an impossible task they had no way of knowing you wanted them to do". Not that it's her ''fault'', as she was [[spoiler: raised in suspended animation, and alchemically educated in everything but how to interact with other people.]]
* SheIsTheKing: Ascendant titles don't change based on gender--Jack Frost is a girl, while the Corn Jenny who ends up swearing to Harry is a boy.
Melanie has a destiny, though it isn’t the one everyone assumes it to be. She’s delicate; she’s fragile; she’s dying. Now, truly, is the winter of her soul.
Harry doesn’t want to believe in destiny, because that means accepting the loss of the one person who gives his life meaning, who brings summer to his world.
So, when a new road is laid out in front of them—a road that will lead through untold dangers toward a possible lifetime together—walking down it seems to be the only option.
But others are following behind, with violence in their hearts.
It looks like Destiny has a plan for them, after all…
!! ''Seasonal Fears'' contains examples of:
* BlessedWithSuck:
** Congratulations, you are a candidate for the position of Winter or Summer monarch! You get elemental powers and potential immortality...''if'' none of the other candidates or alchemists who think your body parts make good ingredients murder you first, and ''if'' you can make it through the labyrinth, and ''if'' you can manage to avoid DeathOfPersonality via being completely taken over by your season. [[spoiler: Not to mention, if you don't get the crown, the sudden withdrawal of the season's power from your soul will kill you, because you've been changed too much to live without it.]] Good luck.
** Ascendants may have it slightly easier than incarnates, in that there's less of a risk of dying horribly, but they're at a deeply inconvenient level of power--magic enough to be involved, but not magic enough to be able to meaningfully defend themselves from a pissed-off potential incarnate. Of which there are ''many'' right now.
* PsychopathicManchild: Aven may be physically and intellectually seventeen, but ''emotionally'', she's a toddler who never got the talk about how it's not nice to hit people who won't share their toys with you. Except with Aven it's more a case of "vivisecting people who didn't do an impossible task they had no way of knowing you wanted them to do". Not that it's her ''fault'', as she was [[spoiler: raised in suspended animation, and alchemically educated in everything but how to interact with other people.]]
* SheIsTheKing: Ascendant titles don't change based on gender--Jack Frost is a girl, while the Corn Jenny who ends up swearing to Harry is a boy.
