Line #35 Webcomic/SaintForRent


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/saint.png]]
2
3	-> ''"My father left me an inn for time travelers."''
4	-->-- '''Saint Halliday'''
5
6
7	''[[http://www.saintforrent.com/index.php Saint for Rent]]'' is a {{webcomic}} by Ru Xu about a young man who runs an inn for [[TimeTravel time travelers]] that he inherited from his father. The story centers around Saint and his interactions with various guests at the inn, including an Argentine time traveler, a {{shape shifting}} cat-girl, a terrifying member of the TimePolice and Saint's rather mysterious brother. Page count is over 400 and going strong, and story is rather complex, so beware of [[KudzuPlot kudzu]].
8
9	The comic went on hiatus in 2017, as the author took a break to work on the sequel to her graphic novel, ''[[http://www.saintforrent.com/comic/newsprints NewsPrints]]''.
10
11	----
12	!Tropes
13	* AmbiguouslyBrown: Patrick is dark skinned, while his brother Saint is the palest skinned member of the cast. [[spoiler:Later, it's shown that Dr. Halliday has the same dark skin as Pat]].
14	** Kitty's human form appears to be Asian-based, though she keeps the blue eyes from her cat form. A deleted chapter, Cat's Tale 1, implies that she inspired her appearance off a Thai person.
15	* ArtEvolution: The art in recent chapters have a cleaner look, with more solid lineart and highly detailed backgrounds. They also use more colors, making the pages feel more vibrant without being quite as sharply contrasted as the older pages. Compare the last panel of [[http://www.saintforrent.com/comic/1-17 this page]] in chapter 1 to a [[http://www.saintforrent.com/comic/5-017 flashback]] to that same scene in chapter 5.
16	** Additionally, while flashy animations were featured quite heavily in the first few chapters, they are used much more sparingly and subtly in later ones. An [[http://cambriacomics.com/webcomic-interview-ru-saint-rent/ interview]] states that Xu decided it'd be better if the .gifs were used more for just "mood and subtle environment shifts".
17	* BigOlEyebrows: Although Saint and Patrick have different skin and hair colors, their thick, bushy eyebrows show that they're related. [[spoiler:Their father, Dr. Halliday has them, too]].
18	** Kanon and Mei have thick eyebrows as well.
19	* CasualTimeTravel: While it does seem that some measures are taken to keep the existence of time travel hidden from the general public, those who are aware of time traveling's existence tend to treat it like this.
20	* CatGirl: Although Kitty doesn't have ears and a tail, she CAN turn into a cat. Which she does, fairly often.
21	* CoveredInScars: 29-year old Armand sports this look. As his younger self puts it:
22	-->'''Armand:''' Shit, is that my face?
23	* EldritchAbomination: The Consultant and The Counter both look the part in their true forms and natures, being things that live outside the Mainstream. Subverted in that neither of them are malevolent, they just don't like sloppy filing and people who go back on their word. [[spoiler: Kitty is also revealed to be one. Unlike the others she doesn't come from the same Timestream at all.]]
24	* EveryoneIsBi: Though romance isn't a central element of the series, WordOfGod says that [[http://saint-for-rent.tumblr.com/post/153349486727/ all the characters are written as being some level of bi/pansexual]], unless they're asexual.
25	* FamilyEyeResemblance: The Hallidays share the same green-brown eyes.
26	* FamilyThemeNaming: '''Saint''' and '''Patrick''' '''Halliday''' live in the '''Clover'''house Inn.
27	* FutureBadass: Child Patrick meets his badass older self during the latter's trip through Saint's timeline in chapter 4. Similarly, older versions of Armand are braver than his 17-year old self. In the latter case, he realizes it's why young Mei is courageous around him, she's only known his braver older selves up until that point.
28	* ForegoneConclusion: [[spoiler: Armand will not reach 30 years of age, which is revealed in the second chapter]].
29	** [[spoiler: Mei will not visit her father or Anne for 30 years after leaving the Helen for time travel]].
30	* GoodScarsEvilScars: Armand gains more and more scars as he grows older. Patrick even uses them, at one point, to determine what time he has landed in. It gets to the point that 29-year old Armand's face is ''littered'' with scars, and his hands, too, look like they're covered in some sort of scratches.
31	* HaveWeMetYet: Patrick does this to Saint in chapter 4 in attempt to find a specific point on Saint's timeline, though it's more a case of "Have you met this mutual aquaintance yet?"
32	* MysticalWhiteHair: White hair is common among time-travelers. Casimir sports it no matter which shape he takes.
33	* MorphicResonance: When Casimir takes a human forms, he always has white hair and clothing. Similarly, Kitty retains her cat eyes in human form and yellow coloration in cat form.
34	* OurTimeMachineIsDifferent: Each Hotel has it's own way of accessing the time stream, ranging from closets to elevators to a taxi cab that has to drive around Manhattan to work. In every case, time travel is impossible without either possessing a visa or hitching a ride with someone who has one.
35	* PowerTattoo: The time traveler visas are kind of this. They allow their wearers to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin time travel]], and the visas have only been shown to stop glowing in Nowhere, where time travelers' contracts are suspended. The glow of the visas is sometimes animated in a gif, like [[http://www.saintforrent.com/comic/4-029 here]].
36	* ShipTease: Between Armand and Saint. WordOfGod says their relationship is based on Literature/TheTimeTravelersWife.
37	* StableTimeLoop: Among other things, several overlap and come to a head in part one.
38	* TemporalSickness: Timelag.
39	* TimePolice: The consultants, although "Time Lawyers" is the more common term in-universe.
40	** The Counter Casimir calls himself the "Time Police" and so far fits the part. His job seems to be related to ensuring the stability of the Timestream.

Context Webcomic / SaintForRent