History Webcomic / ValAndIsaac

** [[https://val-and-isaac.tumblr.com/post/190467682858/edit-for-some-reason-the-images-for-this-comic One three-page arc]] involved Space Dread and Isaac curing a child of an overly-aggressive protection spell that killed anyone that touched them. Five real-world years later, that same storyline was revisited, revealing that the way Isaac "fixed" the curse was by [[LoopholeAbuse taking it on himself and asking it to kill him via old age]], and that the curse is still around as [[spoiler: the mysterious dEmon in his head]].

* GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler: The dEmon in Isaac's head]] is an incredibly ominous presence, heavily hinted to be responsible for stealing his soul. But in [[spoiler: its OriginsEpisode, it's revealed by the hidden text to be horribly guilty about its role as a killing curse, willingly joined Isaac so it could stop, and an adorably earnest fan of their new host. And they had nothing to do with his soul, he just dropped it behind the dryer.]]

* TheSoulless: [[https://tredlocity.tumblr.com/post/674019301686198272 Isaac, apparently,]] although his reaction to the idea is along the lines of "huh, that's odd", and it doesn't seem to have had any psychological effect on him. [[https://tredlocity.tumblr.com/post/706518310871842816 It seems like he misplaced it somewhere]] and only found out later.

* LastOfHisKind: Minnow believes she's this for her unknown, fish-like species. [[https://tredlocity.tumblr.com/post/687758343747584000 Apparently]] endlings are common enough that there's a seminar aimed at them.

** Space Dread, in the first artwork of her, had ''Iron Man''-esque lines extending from the corners of her mouth and across her cheeks, which never appeared again. A number of early comics also drew her hat as a top hat, when it later morphed into a wide-brimmed fedora.

* BattleInTheCentreOfTheMind: An early story involved Val and Isaac being hired to do some pest control, only to find that said pests had been forcibly melded into a HiveMind by a telepath who was [[spoiler:a rebel against the Kazgar Empire, who mistook Val as a soldier hunting for her specifically]]. After Isaac uses magic to sneak Val into the hive mind, the two clash in a mental landscape, [[spoiler:the rebel briefly overpowers Val, but makes the mistake of looking at [[DarkAndTroubledPast Val's childhood memories]], taking her off-guard enough for Val to gain the upper hand]]. The two end up making a deal to remove the telepath from the animals (fulfilling the pest control contract) and provide her a new body (the original having died a while ago) in exchange for the telepath riding in Val's mind until the new body is ready, much to Val's annoyance.

* ChainedToARailway: In a rare heroic example, [[https://val-and-isaac.tumblr.com/post/190963365142 Vera ties a slave owner]] to a train track and rambles about her family for a while, ignoring their protestations that they can hear the train coming. [[spoiler:After the hovertrain passes harmlessly over them, she points out that a non-hover train is coming in a few minutes and asks if they're ready to free their slaves now.]]

* DoesNotLikeMagic: Isaac's father is not very fond of magic (which makes it difficult for [[WellDoneSonGuy Isaac to get his approval at times]]), though it's portrayed more in a "It's not the same as ''real'' work" way than any actual hatred. It's later revealed that this dislike partly comes from the way he viewed wizards as people who "only use magic to show off" instead of doing something more beneficial [[spoiler:like curing diseases like shadowlung, one which afflicted his wife (Isaac's mother) and left her bedridden before her death. Issac apparently started learning magic for this purpose, but only learned a spell that could ease one's suffering slightly]].

* KnownOnlyByTheirNickname: Common practice among space adventurers for protection from dark magic. From the main cast, Minnow and Space Dread both use characters' names from an MMO they played. Space Dread specifically made sure that nobody but her parents know her true name, audience included. Dark magic was considered a died out myth of Minnow's birth planet, but she went with a nickname when moving out into spacefaring life just to sound cooler.
** [[spoiler: A later comic reveals that Dread also used the name [[https://val-and-isaac.tumblr.com/post/712497268267335680 Zora]] when she first joined her guild]].

* LoopholeAbuse: A spear in a pedestal can only be pulled out by a descendant of Fioll the Paladin. [[spoiler:So Garla just [[https://val-and-isaac.tumblr.com/post/190903332741 pulls the pedestal out of the ground.]]]]

* PortmanteauCoupleName: Liam and Craig ''Rockbug.''

* SkewedPriorities: Isaac can't help Dread stop an evil supercomputer from destroying the galaxy next week, [[https://tredlocity.tumblr.com/post/707611542728867840 he's watching a friend's plant]]. (Admittedly, [[https://tredlocity.tumblr.com/post/707875929668583425 said plant has a civilization of its own]].)

* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Space Dread and Isaac both are capable of it, and both use Minnow's form for aquatically-inclined work, much to her extreme distaste. Once Val uses a hologram mod to her armor to look like Minnow, Isaac says that it's gone too far and has to stop.

* DoesNotLikeMagic: Isaac's father is not very fond of magic (which makes it difficult for [[WellDoneSonGuy Isaac to get his approval at times]]), though it's portrayed more in a "It's not the same as ''real'' work" way than any actual hatred. [[https://val-and-isaac.tumblr.com/page/2 It's later revealed]] that this dislike partly comes from the way he viewed wizards as people who "only use magic to show off" instead of doing something more beneficial [[spoiler:like curing diseases like shadowlung, one which afflicted his wife (Isaac's mother) and left her bedridden before her death. Issac apparently started learning magic for this purpose, but only learned a spell that could ease one's suffering slightly]].

* PeekABangs: One of Minnow's gender-bent counterparts has a tuft of hair over his right eye.

* LimitedWardrobe: To the untrained eye, [[https://tredlocity.tumblr.com/post/722287898275315712 Isaac's wardrobe]] is full of identical dull blue robes, but those attuned to magical super-frequencies see the truth: [[spoiler:one of them is actually a grey bodysuit with a golden neckline and waistband, possibly armor]].

* LimitedWardrobe: To the untrained eye, [[https://tredlocity.tumblr.com/post/722287898275315712 Isaac's wardrobe]] is full of identical dull blue robes, but those attuned to magical super-frequencies see the truth: [[spoiler:one of them is actually a grey bodysuit with a golden neckline and waistband]].

* SupernaturallyValidatedTransPerson: Space Dread once avoided being hexed because a deadname doesn't count as [[IKnowYourTrueName true name]] for the purpose of curses (she chose her name after she'd began using Space Dread as an alias, so only her and her [[HasTwoMommies mums]] know it). As a result, a Warlock who went out of the way to find her birth certificate was wasting his time, and she just pulled a BoomHeadshot on him.

* HasTwoMommies: Space Dread has two moms and Minnow has two dads. Minnow is adopted; it's unclear if Space Dread is or not.

** An AlluringAnglerfish causes Isaac to see [[https://val-and-isaac.tumblr.com/post/626530511463038977 a photo of his dad saying he's proud of his son.]]

** [[spoiler: A later comic does imply that Dread's real name is [[https://val-and-isaac.tumblr.com/post/712497268267335680 Zora]]]].

* TheOneWithAPersonalLife: Space Dread's [[WeirdTradeUnion assassins' guild]] has a member named [[https://tredlocity.tumblr.com/post/172824935180/this-is-space-dreads-merc-guild-back-when-she-was Emotion Joe]], who's well adjusted, has friends outside of mercenary work, and a happy family. This makes him unpopular with other mercenaries, and very popular with everyone else.

* TheSoulless: [[https://tredlocity.tumblr.com/post/674019301686198272 Isaac, apparently,]] although his reaction to the idea is along the lines of "huh, that's odd", and it doesn't seem to have had any psychological effect on him.

* {{Retcon}}: [[spoiler:The Children of Kazgar built a weaponized in-universe version of this through a combination of dark science and magic, called the Song of the Prince. When used on a location (up to and including a ''planet''), it would rewrite any magic, technology or cultural object to match that of the Kazgar Empire, effectively forcibly converting a population to their side while wiping out the original culture from history. Fortunately, the original Song was destroyed by [[LaResistance rebels]] before it could be used, marking the day that Kazgar lost. However, even pieces of the Song could go off and overwrite the immediate vicinity, as Val finds out the hard way, though thankfully this wears off as soon as said piece is destroyed.]]

* OurMinotaursAreDifferent : Garla is basically a space minotaur.