Line #68 Literature/DisAcedia


1	->''Boredom is the downside of immortality... The world of Dis is a prison, a hellish maze of walls the size of mountains, a patchwork of lost kingdoms and nightmarish realms at the edge of reality... Dis serves only one purpose: to entertain its jailer... This is the story of the Claimed, and their quest to return home.'' - [[AllThereintheManual Taken from the Summary]]
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4	'''''[[http://disacedia.wordpress.com Dis Acedia]]''''' is a web serial by M.J. Durand (Chesskingred) and corrected/edited by N.J. Lewis. It is a self-described "dark fantasy" novella where the main character, Shroud, is abducted by a godlike entity for its own amusement and sent to the inescapable prison of Dis. There, he must learn to adapt to the twisted world or die trying.
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6	The first E-Book can be brought '''''[[https://www.amazon.com/Laws-Dis-Acedia-Book-ebook/dp/B01M1FTOL2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1474825530&sr=1-1&keywords=the+laws+of+dis there]]'''''.
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9	!! This series provides examples of:
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11	* AbusiveParents: All but stated to be the reason why Jack became a psychopath during the Lovers Reversed.
12	* AerithAndBob: Since everyone who enters Dis loses their names, they have to come up with new ones that can range from almost-ordinary to downright unpronounceable.
13	* AffablyEvil: Graffiacane is genuinely polite, giving advice to others. Gambler John and Malacoda also act chummy to others, [[FauxAffablyEvil but this is clearly a mask]].
14	* TheAgeless: Every denizen in Dis does not age after having their souls Claimed by Lazarus no matter their species. Shroud is shocked to learn that the human knight Sol has been alive since the Crusades and hasn't aged a day. This immortality is also mitigated by everyone being capable of dying to some good old violence, which Dis has in spades.
15	* AgonyBeam: Using a person's true name against them can have this effect.
16	* TheAlcatraz: Dis is an another dimension that functions as an inescapable Hell Dimension with countless horrors, traps, and monsters locking in its inmates.
17	* AlternateUniverse: It is eventually revealed Dis' prisoners come from various alternate universes. Scarmiglione's Fiefdom was actually made from [[spoiler: a version of Earth that ended in a nuclear war that its version of Shroud might have caused]].
18	* AlwaysABiggerFish: Shroud meets Dis' big players...then finds out that the Cage still has bigger and badder monsters that run things.
19	* AncientConspiracy: The Forsworn, a group of Dis-worshipers who have sabotaged efforts to solve Dis' maze for centuries. They actually know more about Dis' secrets than anyone else. [[spoiler: There is also the mysterious Heretic that opposes them]].
20	* AndIMustScream: Being a Div is nothing but eternal pain.
21	* ArcVillain:
22	** The story has an overarching BigBadEnsemble but most arcs tend to have a more direct antagonist take center stage.
23	** [[MadDoctor Nathaniel]] [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Stitch]] acts as the main villain of The Magician and makes a return appearance in The Empress, while [[PlayingWithFire Candlemaker]] acts as the main physical threat of the High Priestess
24	* AnotherDimension: Not only is Dis a dimension in itself, but various characters are revealed to be from alternate worlds as well.
25	* AntiHero: Shroud is a NominalHero at best. He'd be a flatout villain if Dis other inmates weren't worse and he wasn't pragmatic, but this doesn't save him from more moral inmates scrutiny.
26	* AppealToForce: The Malebranche's first MO. [[spoiler: Though it comes off as an InformedAttribute since the major Maleprinces have shown themselves to be very good at subtly, and a good portion of the plot has been Malacoda's plans.]]
27	* BatmanGambit: Shroud shows skill at this, but [[spoiler:Malacoda]] is even better.
28	* BeautyIsBad: Trickster Jack is considered very handsome by Dis' women, and is also the Cages supreme {{Jerkass}} and asshat.
29	* BeingEvilSucks:
30	** A reoccurring theme, in spite of the horrible setting, being evil isn't shown to be for everyone and not to be the solution and not everyone is cold enough to be the bad guy when they try.
31	** Shroud starts off as bitter, resentful, self-absorbed, reckless, and ready to do anything to escape Dis [[spoiler: when he begins killing and hurting people who never wronged him he finds his own conscience has made a comeback nibbling at the back of his mind and becomes ruled by his failures and mistakes. Then it turns out that he was controlled by A-List bad guy Malacoda who played off his bad character traits and all the wanton murder he ordered has caused the Dismaw to consume him.]]
32	** Skins was once a woodwitch who skinned people alive to take their power, she eventually had a crisis of conscience after joining the Forsworn and tried for years to atone for what she did.
33	** Sabeen starts off as a toxic individual believing herself above the consequences of her actions as she bullies those weaker than herself thanks to her position and power level. [[spoiler: She finds herself enslaved by Shroud in revenge, gets blacklisted by her former Guild when they learn that she was willing to kill children, and that her whole life was manipulated by the Forsworn who killed her awesome sister because she could have made Dis a better place and ensured that Sabeen inherited her position because she was just that bad. Nowadays she at the very least is able to work with and show compassion to others.]]
34	** Manah sold [[spoiler: her entire worlds population to Lazarus so that she wouldn't be sacrificed to extend its lifespan and to take her sister's place as the beautiful one. Lazarus turns her into a powerful and beautiful Sepid...as a punchline to a joke wearing her sister's skin as a suit. She gets killed by the Legion of Orcus and with her soul sealed into the Nightcloak, gets trapped in a random Fief for centuries. She has spent both her lives as Lazarus' joke. After centuries of trying and failing to manipulate people after Shroud revives her, she decides to seek absolution.]]
35	* BecomingTheMask: Skins was a Forsworn infiltrator sent to destroy guilds from within... before eventually becoming part of one for real.
36	* BigBad: Lazarus the God of Magic and Chaos, and Ruler of Dis as well as its creator. An omnipotent deity that Claims random beings by taking their names and souls, trapping them into his hellish prison. Every villain and bad thing can be traced back to him. Most likely because he put them there. There are multiple guilds and factions that jockey for the [[BigBadEnsemble main villain position]] but the Malebranche's leader Malacoda, Grandmaster Wyrde of the Dracocracy, and [[spoiler: the Forsworn]] are the main contenders.
37	* BigDamnHeroes: Sol to the Red Goblin, Shroud himself against the Forsworn. Shroud gathers a large force to rescue abducted people from the Forsworn. Deconstructed in that [[spoiler: half the hostages are dead by the time TheCavalry reached them]].
38	* BloodKnight: Shroud, but Brina most of all. Deconstructed in both cases, as this leads the first into reckless situations, while the latter has grown addicted to war.
39	* BodyHorror: Some Relics can change a person's physical form in terrifying ways. Best shown with the main protagonist, Shroud.
40	* BreakTheHaughty: What Lazarus did to Mur in his backstory turning him into an imp.
41	* BreakThemByTalking: Shroud to Sabeen, to the point of breaking her will for a while.
42	* CellPhonesAreUseless: Shroud's cell phone stopped working in Dis.
43	* CharacterDevelopment: Shroud starts as selfish person with a severe LackOfEmpathy, but gradually becomes more mature and kinder as the story progresses.
44	* TheChessmaster: Wyrde and Malacoda, they are the only ones skilled enough to make Dis their chessboard.
45	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}:
46	** Doc the Troll is the smartest of his kind in Dis which is DamnedByFaintPraise. It manifests as this trope.
47	** The Candlemaker is a DarkerAndEdgier version. He is completely divorced from reality and batshit insane. This is his introduction speech.
48	-->:'''The Candlemaker''': "Why are you things so intent on disturbing me? Do I not try hard enough to be a good neighbor? All I want is to make this city a brighter, shinier place. Is burning living fuel in peace too much to ask? I will have to turn you into fuel,I was beginning to run out of fat to make candles. Still, all of you are so skinny… did you bring infants? Baby fat lasts so much longer. I think I am in the process of becoming a star. Do you not feel my irresistible gravity? My hydrogen, ionized bre-”
49	* ColdHam: Dis is home to some very hammy people. Hot and cold. Here's the cold:
50	** Shroud considers himself a terse and practical man, but he loves to do things big, and unironically christens himself King Tenebrous.
51	** Brina is infamous for being Dis' premiere ice queen and is eternally apathetic, but all of her dialogue and actions drip with melodrama and ham.
52	** Zenia is always composed and dignified despite MilkingTheGiantCow while giving her speeches.
53	* CombatPragmatist: Very few people fight fair in Dis. The ones who do tend to be very powerful like Graffiacane [[spoiler: and it still assured his demise.]]
54	* ConvectionSchmonvection: Averted with the Candlemaker's flames. He burns so hot that if you don't have a resistance to heat his aura will instantly incinerate you.
55	* TheCorrupter: Shade to Shroud, although in the end [[spoiler: it worked in reverse]]. Malacoda is a more subtle, successful one.
56	* TheCorruption: The Dismaw the consumers of souls and creator of Divs, and the poison it provides; it gives incredible power, but feed on souls and enthrall the user. [[spoiler: Shroud fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.]]
57	* CosmopolitanCouncil: The Striges don't care what species you are as long as they follow orders, work together, and are competent and efficient. This model has led to their inner circle to consist of humans, two Unborn, a genie, a demon from Hell, an Kresnik, a Kudlak, a minotaur, a centaur, multiple vampires, and an alien concubine.
58	* CrapsackWorld: Dis was literally made to be one, as every single person inside it is Lazarus' toy. The Maze is divided between multiple [[EvilOverlord]]s vying for control, MightMakesRight is an active culture, warfare is common, an ancient conspiracy is actively sabotages efforts to escape, and EldritchAbomination called the Sepids periodically devastate civilization.
59	* CruelMercy: Since he cannot kill her, Shroud ends up enslaving Sabeen, after the genie attempted to have him killed as part of an asinine gag.
60	* CurbStompBattle: Shroud's army deals a brutal one to Melite.
61	* CursedWithAwesome: the Nightcloak more or less turns Shroud into an undead, removing most of his senses...and making him astonishingly resilient. His Dismaw on his hand also gives him SoulPower.
62	* DarkIsNotEvil: while lacking in any color due to the Nightcloak's power, Shade/Manah and Shroud both are ambiguous rather than outright evil [[spoiler: though both shift to good as they find BeingEvilSucks]].
63	* DarkFantasy: Like ''nobody's business''.
64	* ADayInTheLimelight: The Reversed Arcana chapters follow another characters point of view, either expanding on their backstories or to do worldbuilding.
65	* DealWithTheDevil: Shroud's relationship with Manah [[spoiler: though neither turn out to be the Devil in the deal.]]
66	* DiabolusExMachina: ''Invoked'' and ''weaponized'' by Ace. During a fight with the Ring she uses up her entire guilds luck to help them fight off superior numbers. This also ensures that the Candlemaker shows up to attack everyone because that's the worst possible scenario at the moment no matter how low the probability would be, creating an opportunity to escape both factions.
67	* DividedWeFall: Why the Claimed haven't solved the Maze. Actively exploited and encouraged by the Forsworn.
68	* TheDreaded: Brina and the Maleprinces in general bring fear in the heart of those who know of them. The Sepids and King Zahak, the Father of the Divs, are even worse.
69	* DysfunctionJunction: The Red Goblin and later, the Striges, both suffer from internal frictions though they're downright tame compared to the Malebranche, which encourages TheStarscream trope, and the Dracocracy's xenophobia, who are then one-upped by the Forsworn who make them look tolerant in comparison.
70	* DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans: The Malebranche's plan in a nutshell, the ultimate endgame is to escape Dis and ''kill the Christian God'' to hammer it home.
71	* EatsBabies: Well, the Candlemaker's perfectly fine with burning them. He actually prefers them. Baby fat just lasts so much longer, y'know?
72	* EldritchAbomination: The Sepids, and Zahak, Father of the Divs.
73	* EldritchLocation: Dis itself, a living maze containing smaller worlds inside its walls.
74	* EqualOpportunityEvil: The Malebranche's only standard of recruitment is strength. Thanks to this trope they've gained Norse, Hindu, Voodoo, and inanimate objects as members with more sure to be revealed.
75	* EvilMentor: Calcabrina, and then Graffiacane, to Shroud.
76	* EvilOverlord: Malecoda the Maleking, and Wyrde, Grandmaster of the Dracocracy.
77	* EvilVersusOblivion: the Claimed usually ally against the Divs, and especially the monstrous Sepids.
78	* FalseFlagOperation: The Forsworn's usual MO.
79	* FantasticRacism:
80	** The Dracocracy, against anything that isn't a dragon.
81	** The Forsworn up the xenophobia to the point where the Dracocracy seems ''tolerant''. The Dracocracy at least believes that other races can be uplifted, the only reason why the Forsworn keep the Claimed alive is because they need them to reproduce more Unborn.
82	* FateWorseThanDeath: Dying in the maze and being reincarnated as a Div. Killing them is actually considered a mercy in-universe.
83	* FeudalOverlord: The Edge Kings that rule the Fiefdoms live by this culture. Shroud eventually becomes an anti-heroic one.
84	* GadgeteerGenius: Doc, although the "genius" is ambiguous.
85	* GainingTheWillToKill: Subverted by Shroud, who doesn't feel anything particular the first time he kills someone. [[spoiler: Then it gets inverted as BeingEvilSucks kicks in.]]
86	* GeniusLoci: Dis itself is alive.
87	* TheGhost: King Zahak and some of the Maleprinces have yet to appear in the flesh.
88	* GodGuise: Shroud to the minotaurs, in order to recruit them.
89	* GoodIsNotNice: Most of the Pilgrims, although they are by far the most heroic faction and given how horrible Dis is and how manipulative the villains can be this mindset is more of a justified defensive action.
90	* TheHeartless: The Divs act as this. They are the deceased souls of everyone who died in Dis, twisted into {{TorturedMonster}}s driven insane by the pain of their twisted existence that hate everything and want to spread their misery to everyone.
91	* HeroOfAnotherStory: Most of the Reversed Arcana protagonists.
92	* HeroicHost: Shroud for Shade/Manah.
93	* HorrifyingTheHorror: Most of the Maleprinces disturb Jack, himself a complete psychopath this then loops around back onto itself, as the Maleprinces are ''disgusted'' by him.
94	* IKnowYourTrueName: Lazarus steals the true name of people ("Claims"), allowing him to enslave them. As it turns out [[spoiler: Malacoda found out Shroud's]] and exploits it accordingly.
95	* TheInfiltration: How the Forsworn destroy guilds from within and sabotage escape efforts. Skins tried to do this to them, but failed.
96	* ItsAllAboutMe: It's hard too list someone who isn't only out for number one in Dis who isn't named Sol or Manus. Though this might come from Shroud's extremely biased views.
97	* IWorkAlone: Doc and Grimsour. Shroud briefly considers this after leaving the Red Goblin, but instead founds his own group.
98	* KickTheDog: Stitch is a narcisstic sociopath who ''lives'' by NeverMyFault, meaning he does this almost constantly.
99	* KnightTemplar: Wyrde and the Dracocracy utterly believe themselves to be in the right, and that enslaving lesser beings is mercy.
100	* LargeHam: Dis is home to some very hammy people. Hot and cold. Here's the hot:
101	** Sabeen has to make everything she does as dramatic as possible. She starts out willing to turn delivering a check into a deathmatch and gets hammier from there.
102	** Lazarus always has a dramatic pose ready when he shows up and all of his contributions to the plot are even more flashy and grandiose.
103	** Manah's idea for a disguise is to speak in stage whispers and Pandoria's naming scheme came from her.
104	** Trickster Jack is the loud, annoying, obnoxious type.
105	** Get Malacoda monologue and you'll think that he was once a Shonen villain.
106	** Aster is a very minor character with few lines. But given how quickly he hams it up and overacts to everything, he can be rather noticeable despite that.
107	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: The Claimed lose most of the memories that would allow them to rediscover their stolen true name.
108	* LastStand: Melite does this against Shroud's army in The Hierophant.
109	* TheLegionsOfHell: The Malebranche started as them, before expanding.
110	* LifeEnergy: Essence is produced by souls, while poison is produced by Dis itself.
111	* TheManBehindTheMan: Malacoda turns out to be behind quite a few lesser villains [[spoiler: most importantly, Shroud's Fiefdom of Pandoria]].
112	* ManipulativeBastard: Shroud's greatest strength is his ability to get inside people's head and getting them to act as he wants. But he finds himself far from the best.
113	* MercyKill: Killing a Div is considered this.
114	* TheMultiverse: Dis' prisoners come from various corners of it.
115	* NotQuiteSavedEnough: While the rescue in The Hierophant is mostly successful, Shroud [[spoiler: fails to save Skins and Iz from the Forsworn]].
116	* OddFriendship: Shroud and most of the Red Goblin develop this dynamic.
117	* OutGambitted: Shroud to Sabeen, [[spoiler: Malacoda]] to Shroud.
118	* ParentalSubstitute: While never stated, Shroud comes to see Ace and Sol as maternal and paternal figures respectively. He showers them with internal praise and seeks their approval and acceptance.
119	* PersonOfMassDestruction: The Candlemaker has enough literal firepower to burn a district to the ground.
120	* {{Precursors}}: The First Guild, and the Legion of Orcus. [[spoiler: The former actually solved the Maze's secrets, but were wiped out before they could make good on it; and the later is far from gone.]]
121	* PyrrhicVictory: Pandoria conquers Melite, but later problems end up making the whole endeavor costly.
122	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Dis is a dark place, but a lot of its Guildmasters can be good leaders, best shown with [[ThePaladin Sol]], Zenia, Seeker, [[OurDragonsAreDifferent the Prince of Air]], [[TheHighQueen Mother Pandia]], and Knight Manus.
123	* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Malacoda's motivation.
124	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Shroud gives a pretty brutal one to Sabeen.
125	* TheRemnant: [[spoiler: The Legion of Orcus]] turns out to have one of them inside the Fiefdom of Pandoria.
126	* SmugSnake: Jack/Farfarello and Sabeen, at first.
127	* SoulPower: Shroud eventually gains a degree of this from the Dismaw curse allowing him to animate objects by implanting pieces of his soul into them.
128	* TheStarscream: Jack to Malacoda, Sabeen to Shroud [[spoiler: at first]].
129	* StarterVillain: Akatash the Twisted, a standard Div acts as Shroud's first antagonist in The Fool.
130	* StormOfBlades: Brina's opening offense.
131	* TarotMotifs: Each arc is named after an Arcana with at least twenty-two planned.
132	* TechnicolorFire: The Candlemaker's flames are so hot that they burn blue.
133	* TeleFrag: Brina's main method of killing is by warping weapons into her opponents body.
134	* TreacherousAdvisor: Manah at first, and then [[spoiler: Graffiacane and Shroud become this too each other]].
135	* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler: Shroud is stuck in a trifecta, being played like a goddamn fiddle by Lazarus, Wyrde, and Malacoda at the same time.]]
136	* WeakButSkilled: Shroud lack pure power, but manages to get ahead with manipulations, cunning, and most importantly, recruiting followers to act for him.
137	* WhamEpisode: Empress 3.7: Shroud leaves the Red Goblin.
138	* WindsOfDestinyChange: Ace's Relic has the ability to predict the future based on probability or change it by stealing or manipulating luck...in exchange for making the people who benefits extremely unlucky for awhile.
139	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Shroud, under the influence of the Dismaw.

Context Literature / DisAcedia