1 | [[quoteright:217:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/74d5114d9bcb3e2f791362b5813abd1a.jpg]] |
2 | [[caption-width-right:217: Evil in the name of good is still evil.]] |
3 | |
4 | ''No one trusts a doppelganger, and for good reason. Behind every stolen identity lies murder.'' |
5 | |
6 | The ''Clandestine Daze'' series by Creator/TimMarquitz is set in an UrbanFantasy world where fairy-like race called the Aellisar (called "Aels") live alongside humanity. They have their own nations, politics, and spies. Z is one of those spies, working for an unnamed intelligence service nicknamed A.I. He is a doppleganger, possessed of the ability to assume the identity and memories of anyone. |
7 | |
8 | As long as he eats their eyes. |
9 | |
10 | Forced to assume the identity of an innocent man he's murdered, Z struggles with what little remains of his conscience as he attempts to unravel a complicated series of plots designed to push the Human and Aellisar worlds to war. It may be too late to save his humanity but can he keep himself from becoming a monster? |
11 | |
12 | [[folder: The Series So Far]] |
13 | * ''Eyes Deep'': an introductory novella. |
14 | * ''Influx'' |
15 | [[/folder]] |
16 | |
17 | ---- |
18 | This series contains the following tropes: |
19 | |
20 | * ArcWords: No one trusts a doppleganger. |
21 | * {{Antihero}}: Z will murder the innocent and do other crimes to protect the Aellisar races from discovery. He hates himself for it, though. |
22 | * AssholeVictim: Notably averted with Theodor Crane. He seems to have been a genuinely decent man. |
23 | * AttractiveBentGender: This, obviously, occurs when he assumes a female form of an attractive woman. Jace is more than a little into Z's female form in ''Influx.'' |
24 | * TheAtoner: Z would dearly like to become one of these but can't as long as he's required to do evil in the service of A.I. |
25 | * BecomingTheMask: Always a danger with dopplegangers. |
26 | * ChasteHero: Z refuses to have sex with his Theodor's wife as his own personal MoralEventHorizon but also punishes himself by denying himself sex with anyone else in some small way of atoning. |
27 | * CrapsackWorld: The Human World is full of monsters who feed on humans with impunity as well as government agencies who actively work to cover it all up. |
28 | ** CrapsaccharineWorld: The Aellisar World in ''Influx'' is depicted as a place with CrystalSpiresAndTogas for the wealthy and hell on Earth for the poor. |
29 | * DoubleStandardRapeSciFi: Averted. Z knows ''exactly'' what it would be if he slept with Theodor Crane's wife. |
30 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: A victim begs for his life before Z ignores his pleas, murders him, and assumes his shape. He almost retches during the last part, though. |
31 | * EvilVersusEvil: A.I. is outright evil in its methods, even if it's goals are benign (for Aellisars at least). Z is much nicer than them and he's an antihero who murders an innocent man when the mission calls for it. |
32 | ** Z and A.I. are, theoretically, ALighterShadeOfBlack for their desire to live in relative peace with humanity. |
33 | * FairFolk: The Aellisar are fairy-like beings but are never referred to as such. They also, aside from their superpowers, act like 21st century humans. |
34 | * FantasticRacism: Various Aellisar races have this with humanity. They also have it with each other. |
35 | ** Dopplegangers are call ''ersatz'' and considered to be the lowest of the low amongst the Aellisar races. |
36 | ** Vampires and humans, unsurprisingly, have it for one another when encountered. |
37 | * FemmeFatale: Jace fits all the criteria for one. She's a gorgeous bisexual blonde who is utterly amoral and a ConsummateProfessional. |
38 | * GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: A.I. is one of these by nature since the Aellisar are a race of fairy-like beings. |
39 | * GrandTheftMe: An odd example as dopplegangers can become people for all intents and purposes but keep their own bodies. |
40 | * ImAHumanitarian: Z is this but only in order to assume the forms of the dead. |
41 | * ItGetsEasier: Jace attempts to reassure Z by saying this following Theodor Crane's murder. Z doesn't want it to. |
42 | * KickTheDog: Our hero does this, possibly crossing the MoralEventHorizon, ''in the opening pages.'' |
43 | * KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade: A common tool of A.I. for dealing with humans. |
44 | * TheMasquerade: The Aellisar have one and rigorously enforce it. |
45 | * {{Mangst}}: Z suffers from the fact he's a disposable commodity to a ruthless intelligence agency which ''will'' discard him if its convenient. Also, he's a murderer of innocents who's deaths may or may not be justified in the service to the greater good. |
46 | * MedievalStasis: Thoroughly averted by the Aellisar world. It's every bit as advanced as humanity in the 21st century. |
47 | * MoralityPet: Z has made Theodor's family into one of these for himself. He's aware of the massive hypocrisy of said action. |
48 | * NecessarilyEvil: Z considers himself to be this. He believes the horrible deeds he does are justified in the name of the greater good. He may be right, or he may be very-very wrong. |
49 | * NiceToTheWaiter: Z drops an extra twenty-dollar tip to the bartender despite the fact the man probably spit in his drink out of jealousy (since Z looked like he was on a date with the ridiculously sexy Jace). |
50 | * NoPreggerSex: Z is claiming this to prevent his wife from being suspicious why he doesn't want to be intimate. She's getting very impatient. |
51 | * OurFairiesAreDifferent: The Aels are a modern 21st century people. |
52 | * OurVampiresAreDifferent: They're a race of fairies who are capable of living amongst humans without glamour. |
53 | * SoBeautifulItsACurse: Played with. Jace is so lovely, other men tend to treat anyone she talks to like shit. Justified in that she's an Ael. |
54 | * SpannerInTheWorks: How Z often ends up for the plots he stumbles onto. |
55 | * SpyFiction: Very much of the Stale Beer variety, though given it's about fairies, perhaps Stale Mead. |
56 | * XanatosGambit: Z deals with these on a regular basis as part of his intelligence work. |
57 | * VillainProtagonist: One way of reading the series given Z kills an innocent man in the first few pages of ''Eyes Deep.'' The rest of the book, however, treats him as an UnscrupulousHero. |
58 | * VoluntaryShapeshifting: Z has this as a power. It requires eating eyeballs. He finds it as disgusting as anyone else. |
59 |
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