Fanfic / Never Had a Friend Like Me

To summarize in one sentence, Never Had A Friend Like Me is the cliche "Norm gets a new master and actually likes this one" but without involving romance in the equation.

Bookworm Gal noticed one day that, in most cases, fanfiction writers would redeem characters generally by pairing up a character with either a canon or an Original Character and have them instantly perform a Heel–Face Turn in order to get the girl/boy/whatever. And while no one can deny The Power of Love, romantic love is only one form of it. Familial love and friendship can be equally potent. Thus, this story was born.

Thanks to her upbringing, Amanda possesses a combination of shyness, low self-esteem, and an unselfish nature. These traits mean she doesn't immediately use any of her three rule-free wishes when Norm is summoned. The genie immediately takes advantage of this by leaving to enjoy his freedom (more or less) and to investigate the possibilities of revenge against Timmy Turner. Deciding to postpone his plans after doing some research concerning the boy's more recent activities, the genie decides to simply enjoy himself until curiosity and mild boredom pulls him back towards the child. Finding her vaguely intriguing due to her behavior not matching those of his past human interactions, Norm continues to visit Amanda off and on for months in his free time until he begins to enjoy her company. Around this time, Amanda's father is transferred and the family moves to Dimmsdale and the girl encounters a certain boy with a pink hat...

Links for the story are here or here. An in-progress comic adaptation can be found here.

A Sequel / Spin-Off / Side Story has also been started, called Tales as Old as Time (also found here). It is stated to have more of an episodic format rather than an overall Story Arc.

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Tropes present in Never Had A Friend Like Me includes:

# - L

• Abusive Parents: Amanda's parents are never going to win a parenting award. They never wanted kids and don't want to waste time, energy, or money on the one they ended up with. They aren't physically abusive towards her. Emotionally and mentally, however... Timmy notes at one point that even a Jerkass Genie like Norm is an improvement over them.
• Affably Evil: Anti-Cosmo kind of hovers around the line of this. Perfectly polite, willing to create a robotic double so Timmy's parents don't worry about his disappearance, but also intending to destroy the boy and perfectly willing to add Amanda to the mix because it would upset the boy.
• Ascended Extra: The boy who tried to attend Tootie's birthday party before being scared off by Vicky gains a name (Travis) and personality in the story.
• Ask a Stupid Question...: In Chapter 4, when Norm appears in Amanda's room with an extra large box of pizza:
  Amanda: Hi, Norm. Did you bring pizza?
  Norm: (dryly) No, I ordered a bucket of fried chicken. Extra flat. Of course it's pizza.
• Alliterative Name: Amanda Adams, along with Timmy Turner, Trixie Tang, and Doug Dimmadome from the show. Norm even lampshades it
  "Alliteration. How adorable"
• And I Must Scream: For trying to kill Amanda, Norm banishes the Pixies and Anti-Fairies to their own separate pocket dimensions indefinitely. Norm says he might comes around for a favor, but it might be a while.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: During one of Norm's attacks against Canada, he caused the place to be struck by earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, plagues of locusts, lightning, fires, glaciers, tornadoes, rampaging moose, and... he made the hockey players unable to skate in a straight line without falling.
  • When listing some of the less moral people he's had as masters, Norm mentions dealing with "thieves, warriors, spies, murderers, psychopaths, and politicians."
• Badass Boast: After Norm saves Timmy, Amanda, and Cosmo, Wanda, and Poof from the Pixies and Anti-Fairies, he banishes them, except for HP and Anti-Cosmo, whom he restrains, and delivers an awesome one to them, detailing how being a genie grants him powers beyond comprehension, and how after performing wishes for all kinds of masters has removed any moral restraint he would otherwise have. The two can only quiver in fear. :
  Norm: "That's an understatement. Maybe you and your buddies are starting to think your little magic tricks make you invincible. Maybe you think you're actually powerful enough to withstand any obstacle. I think you're just a bunch of idiots who've forgotten exactly who you're dealing with. There is a reason why genies spend most of the time locked up. We're famous for being tricky to deal with, but that because you don't want to deal with us when we're done playing around. We have no rules or real limitations on what wish we can grant. Do you have any idea what that means? Anything we want to do is possible as long as someone wishes for it. Da Rules, bad luck, and trying to achieve perfect order limits what you can do. Not a genie. And we have the raw magic power to back up that sort of limitless potential. I want you to imagine for a moment exactly what that means about the kind of wishes I've dealt with in the past. Not every master I've had was a saint. I've dealt with thieves, warriors, spies, murderers, psychopaths, and politicians. I've heard every warped idea they've ever considered to the point where I find any wish practically predictable. Even with the amount of twisting I can do to a wish, I have to grant some rather distasteful desires at times. I can honestly say that I've granted some wishes that would give you nightmares. Me and morality parted ways a long time ago. I need you to consider what this all means for you. I need you to consider exactly what it truly means when you've manage to make a genie, someone with enough magic to make you look like a second-rate stage magician and a history of granting wishes regardless of how unthinkable they might be ethically, completely furious with you."
• Big Damn Heroes: Norm rescues Amanda, Timmy and his godparents from the Anti-Fairies and Pixies before putting Anti-Cosmo and HP in their place.
  • And then later, Anti-Cosmo and HP get to be The Cavalry themselves against Bob.
• Birdcaged: Timmy and Amanda end up in one after the pixies and anti-fairies kidnap the boy.
• Call-Back:
  • Norm finds out that Timmy defeated the Darkness and that he made a Secret Wish, which is against Da Rules
  • Mentions about banjos and Norm's attempt to use Chester against Timmy have come up.
  • They boy who tried to attend Tootie's birthday party shows back up and gains a name: Travis.
    • In regards to the same episode, the fact that Timmy can only loan his fairies to a kid twice as miserable as him is brought back up.
  • Trixie's secret interest in comics is revisited.
  • Elmer's boil, Bob, is still self-aware
  • "If it has wings and flies, a butterfly net can catch it."
  • Fairies not having magic on Christmas is a plot point.
• Capital Letters Are Magic: As demonstrated by Wanda in one chapter, the Look.
• Chekhov's Gun: After wishing for more wishes, Amanda wishes that Norm would get a wish, which manifests in the form of a birthday candle. Norm uses this wish in the very last chapter to turn Amanda into a genie and Timmy into a fairy.
• Children Do the Housework: Amanda often cleans the house while her parents are away and can prepare basic meals for herself despite only being 8.
• Conditioned to Accept Horror: Amanda is disturbingly accepting of her terrible upbringing. The reason why she doesn't have fairies, despite clearly needing them, is that she isn't miserable.
• Conspicuous Trenchcoat: While genies can technically transform into other shapes and disguises like fairies, Norm prefers to simply use a trenchcoat to hide the fact he doesn't have legs.
• Continuity Nod: A few.
  • When hunting for a possible date, Timmy mentions Cindy Vortex and discards her because he doesn't want to ruin his friendship with Jimmy, whose science know-how would potentially be useful.
  • Norm is mildly surprised about Poof joining the family since he last saw Timmy and his fairies.
  • Mrs. Turner's rarely remembered job in real estate is mentioned when Amanda's family is moving to Dimmsdale.
  • Chester reminds his friends he's allergic to girls, but they state that Amanda's too young to count as a real girl.
  • Norm is still a fan of Barbara Eden
• The Cutie: Amanda is this, being very shy and wearing an over-sized sweater and bow.
• Darker and Edgier: While not grimdark, the story does a feature a frank and realistic portrayal of child abuse, and the villains being willing to murder innocent children and attempt to destroy the world.
• Distant Finale: The final chapter takes place a century later.
• Disapproving Look: Wanda does this sometimes, referred to as the Look. Amanda has apparently picked up the habit.
• Emergency Transformation: To prevent them from dying of old age, Norm ends up turning Amanda and Timmy into a genie and fairy respectively.
• Enemy Mine: The Pixies and the Anti-Fairies have mutually exclusive goals for the world. They have, however, teamed up together temporarily in order to remove an obstacle to both their plans: Timmy Turner.
  • Later, they join Norm, Timmy, and his fairies in trapping Bob in another dimension.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Norm is annoyed or hates just about every human on the planet, but even he thinks that Amanda's life is just not fair.
  • When asked why he saved Timmy from the Pixies and Anti-Fairies, Norm admits that while he still doesn't like Timmy, he doesn't have it in him anymore to want him dead. He even admits he was even going to save Timmy even if Amanda wasn't there, since he now recognizes that Timmy is good for Amanda.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Norm has trouble dealing with Amanda initially because he's never met an unselfish human who didn't immediately try to waste all three wishes.
• Exact Words: In Chapter 24, when the Anti-Fairies and Pixies invite Norm to watch their plan to get revenge on Timmy, they need to verify that Norm isn't going to betray them. Norm says the following while hooked up to a polygraph, which doesn't react once:
  Norm: Here's the honest truth. I am definitely not Turner's friend. I've tormented him, messed with his love life for fun and revenge, tricked him, nearly made him permanently lose his fairies merely because it would benefit me, and simply tried to make him miserable. I've plotted and schemed against the brat. I've daydreamed about Turner suffering horrible fates. I especially enjoyed my 'teleport him to Mars' idea. We can't be in the same room without fighting and he's screamed at the sight of me multiple times. Considering how long I've known the boy, it is amazing how much energy I've invested into hating him. For quite some time, I couldn't imagine very many things more entertaining than watching the brat suffer.
• Fantastic Racism: Without exception, all magical creatures seem to have issues with other magical creatures. Norm considers fairies to be idiots and hypocrites and genies have a reputation for being completely untrustworthy.
  • Timmy eventually calls out the Fairy Council about the issue after Bob was defeated by a variety of magical creatures rather than just fairies.
• Fantastic Slurs: Norm gets referred to as a "filthy genie" by Jorgen again. Meanwhile, he regularly refers to fairies as "wand-wavers".
• Fist of Rage: Norm's initial reaction when he sees that Amanda is about to be dropped into a pit of lava along with Timmy.
• Foreshadowing: Any scene from Elmer's point of view since it shows Bob talking to him about world domination. Especially when Elmer thinks that normal boils don't talk.
  • Norm's repeated desire is to toss Timmy into a volcano. Timmy is later nearly dunked in lava.
  • The impromptu lesson on genies and their lamps and the second fortune cookie foreshadow the release of Bob due to Norm's interference and how it would lead to the destruction of his lava lamp.
• Freeing the Genie: Surprisingly, Norm doesn't attempt to reach this goal since he is, for all intents and purposes, pretty free while his lava lamp belongs to Amanda. He even turns down the offer to be freed when she makes it.
  • Amanda finally makes the wish to free him during the confrontation against Bob in an attempt to save Norm's life.
• Gambit Pileup: Crocker, in order to expose Timmy's fairy godparents, arranges a school dance for the older kids in the hopes that the boy would wish for the perfect date. Norm, as revenge against Timmy, makes Trixie fall temporarily in love with Sanjay and invite him as her date so that the boy wouldn't get to go with his crush to the dance and perhaps wouldn't be able to find a date at all. Unable to go with Trixie, not wanting to go with Tootie, and unable to think of anyone else to invite, Timmy asks Amanda to go with him as Just Friends. Which ruins Crocker's attempt and half-ruins Norm's vengeance against the boy.
• Gamer Chick: As part of her Hidden Depths, Trixie mentions that she likes video games as well as comics. Also, Amanda gets invited to play with Timmy and his friends. She doesn't immediately play perfectly, but she's said to be improving over time.
• Gilligan Cut: After Anti-Cosmo states Timmy's parents wouldn't notice his absence, the scene cuts to his house where he's been replaced by a robot.
• Gut Punch: In the school dance chapter, it is revealed that Amanda's parents don't even bother to buy her clothes that fit. This not only solidifies Norm's hatred for Amanda's parents, but it is the moment where he starts becoming a father figure to her.
• Grail in the Garbage: Norm's lava lamp ends up at a second-hand junk store and is sold for six dollars. He is not at all pleased by this development.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Tootie gets temporarily jealous when she sees Amanda around Timmy, but they quickly work things out when Amanda assures her that she and Timmy are Just Friends.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: How Norm sees the genies vs. fairies arrangement. Norm has declared many times that he gets a kick out of tormenting masters by screwing them over, but he at least he doesn't pretend to be a saint. And while fairies do enjoy having godchildren and try to fill the gap their parents can't, he thinks the fact that fairies eventually terminate their relationships with their godchildren, not to mention their memories of time together is also pretty cruel. Granted he may have a point, considering Amanda herself is pretty horrified by the concept. Even Jorgen knows that it isn't pleasant for those involved, but considers it the lesser of the two evils.
• Group Hug: Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda did this to Amanda after she makes a wish to protect Poof from disappearing from existence whenever Timmy loses his fairies.
• Hate Sink: Amanda's parents. Since one of the main protagonists of the story was originally a villain on the show and the other antagonists of the story (Anti-Cosmo, Head Pixie, Bob the boil) don't show up for a while, her parents' treatment of the girl gives readers the perfect excuse to utterly loathe them. Timmy himself reflects on how he dislikes Amanda's parents more then the genie that tried to destroy his life.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Amanda has a near pathological belief that nobody would ever willingly invest any time and effort into her and that the best thing she could do was stay in the background and not do anything to bother anyone. Considering that she had no friends and her parents have pretty much spent years saying this to her face, it's understandable why this belief has been ingrained into her. Norm helps overcome this somewhat. See You Are Better Than You Think You Are below.
• Hidden Depths: Trixie's interest in comics and other boy-associated activities is brought back up.
• High-School Dance: Elementary School Dance: The Snow Ball
• I Just Want to Be Free: One of Norm's big motivations, especially in the beginning. And he eventually turns it down when Amanda offers.
• I'm Having Soul Pains: This is what happens when a genie's lamp breaks (which is their source of magic)… right before the genie dies because they need magic to survive. Needless to say, it isn't fun.
• I'm Not Doing That Again: Norm's reaction to trying to grant a wish that he literally can't due to magic not working correctly on Bob.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Norm, the 50,000 year old genie, and Amanda, the 8 year old human.
• Interspecies Friendship:
  • Norm the genie is friends with Amanda the human child.
  • Timmy the human child is friends with Cosmo, Wanda, and Poof the fairies.
• Irony:
  • Norm faces this in Chapter 3. Spending so long trapped in his lamp, he's been craving freedom. Thanks to Amanda not making any wishes, he gets it. But he finishes running through everything he can think of doing with it after six weeks. He even lampshades it:
  Norm: (grumbling) I'm bored. I have all the freedom I could possibly want...and I'm bored. (shakes head) Irony. It's only funny when it doesn't happen to you.
  • Norm's Fantastic Racism towards fairies and the children they watch over becomes this when his behaviour towards Amanda is examined: he's a magical being who stumbled into her life when she was unhappy, he uses his powers to make her happy, he cares for her and protects her from supernatural hostile entities - he's basically Amanda's magical godfather.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Norm has proven and is a proud to be a jerk, but he does make an interesting point: fairies can be wonderful parental figures, but no matter what happens, a child will be taken away from their godparents and lose memories of them, even if someone happens to discover their godparents through no fault of their own. It goes to show that Amanda herself is horrified by the idea, and it's what motivates her to make the wish that will prevent her causing a child's godparents from being separated from her own actions.
  • As it turns out, Jorgen considers this Dirty Business: Fairies grow to outlive their godchildren. So to Jorgen, separating them at a young age will prevent the pain that would endure if fairies were to watch their godchildren grow old and die.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Amanda's parents are outrageously neglectful toward her. Amanda herself claims that they are just busy people who simply don't have time for her. Over the course of the story, it becomes clear that they do have time and money to spend on Amanda, but they choose not to. After they coldly reject Amanda's Christmas present and make her cry, and then straight-up admit that they only kept her to get an inheritance does it become clear they have no love for their daughter.
• Kick the Dog: When Anti-Cosmo and HP teleport away Timmy and his Godparents they also end up grabbing Amanda as well and when Timmy begged them to at least let her go, citing the fact that she was innocent, they decide to toss her in the lava pit as well specifically because Timmy asked them to let her go just so they could make Timmy suffer just a bit more. Of course with Norm watching the proceedings, this ends up biting them HARD.
  • It is clear that Amanda's parents are NOT good people, but when they make Amanda cry on Christmas, you don't feel sorry for them when Norm infects them with a flu.
• Knight of Cerebus: While he was present earlier in the story, Bob the boil is a lot more dangerous and the situation becomes more serious when he is released.
• Last-Name Basis: Timmy is referred to as "Turner" by Mr. Crocker, Norm, Head Pixie, and Jorgen Von Strangle.
  • Jorgen also refers to Amanda as "Adams", suggesting that his tendency to call Timmy by his last name has less to do with animosity and more to deal with the fact he's almost a type of military person.
• Loophole Abuse: Norm, being a master of twisting wishes, does this a lot, except to Amanda, whom he's grown fond of. When the Pixies and Anti-Fairies nearly kill Amanda while trying to kill Timmy, he is able to use a "threat to his well-being" clause to save them, since Amanda's death would have resulted in him being sucked back into the lamp. He admits he even found a loophole that would allowed him just to save Turner.

M - Z

• Mayfly–December Friendship: Jorgen is well aware of this trope, and considers it better to part godparents from godchildren when they grow up than to have this happen instead.
  • Comes up as an issue in the final chapter, when Amanda is dying of old age while her lifespan was relatively short by Norm's standards. But Norm solves it by transforming Amanda and Timmy into a genie and fairy respectively.
• Meaningful Name: While it wasn't intentional, Amanda's name does hold symbolic significance. "Amanda" is a name that means lovable. Adams could be used to refer to Adam, who, in the context of the Bible, was the first human. Going entirely by symbolic meaning, Amanda Adams translates roughly to "first lovable human". And considering how she's the first master Norm has ever really liked...
• Misfortune Cookie: Norm and Amanda have Chinese takeout a couple of times. The first time, they end up with rather ordinary-sounding fortune cookies. The second time, however, Norm ends up with a more foreboding fortune cookie.
• Morality Chain: Her presence was originally the sole thing that prevented Norm from exacting a horrible (and permanent) revenge against Timmy Turner since he's recognised that he's actually good for her. Likewise it's only for Amanda's sake that he's willing to put up with Timmy in a truce since he's come to value Amanda's happiness and well-being over his vengeance.
• Mirror Character: Amanda Adams's parents both reflect the worst flaws of the Turners and the Dinklebergs.
  • The Adams and Turners both neglect their only child and would often put their needs before the child. The Turners can be loving parents to Timmy, while the Adams are hateful jerks who can't stand having a kid at all and won't even give Amanda the most basic things like nice clothes and a babysitter.
  • The Adams and the Dinklebergs both are couples that are wealthy and decide not to have children. However, the Dinklebergs can still be kind to children like Timmy, while the Adams are plain child haters who find any interaction with children repugnant.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: With titles like the Monster From The Dawn Of Time, the Creature Of Nightmares, or the Boogeyman, Norm has to ask why he prefers to call himself Bob.
• Nice Girl: Shrinking Violet tendencies and her lack of self-esteem aside, Amanda is easily one of the nicest and sweetest characters in the whole series. This was pretty much what ends up endearing her to Norm and later Timmy.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Norm's attempt to mess with Timmy by making Trixie temporarily fall in love with Sanjay created a domino effect that eventually led to a wish that unleashed Bob upon the world.
• The Nicknamer: Norm always has a (usually insulting) nickname for people. He'll devise new ones on the spur of the moment and will generally only use a person's actual name when absolutely necessary. Possibly averted in Amanda's case, as he usually just calls her "kid".
• Non-Human Humanoid Hybrid: Due to Binky's pointy ears, Norm suspects he's half elf.
• Noodle Incident: What exactly happened between Timmy and Norm in the time between the genie's second and third appearance in the show? They went from sharing a pizza while watching Crocker suffer to Timmy (rightfully) fearing that Norm wanted revenge against him. Some references have been dropped in the story, but nothing definitive.
• No-Sell: Bob ends up doing this to a lot of magical attacks on him.
• Not Me This Time: In a rare hero to hero version, Jorgen thinks Timmy caused the magical chaos that led to disappearance of the anti-fairies and pixies.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Timmy in the Distant Finale last chapter. He needs more practice.
  Timmy: "Uh… Hello, random stranger I've never met before who is clearly a completely normal human. Don't mind me. I'm probably going senile anyway."
• Oh Smoof: After trying his best to avoid running into the boy, Norm ends up being summoned by Amanda right in front of Timmy and his fairies.
  • HP and Anti-Cosmo when they realize they have provoked Norm's anger by nearly killing Amanda, and in the process, rendering the contract that would have protected them from Norm's wrath null and void.
  • Timmy gets one when Jorgen shows up, and Norm's reaction when Jorgen threatens to destroy his lamp.
  • Norm gets a mild one when he's poofed in front of the Fairy Council while in the middle of insulting them.
• Papa Wolf: Norm definitely in regards to Amanda. The anti-fairies and pixies learn this lesson the hard way…
• Pay Evil unto Evil: After growing closer to Amanda, Norm finds himself ever less tolerant of her parents and their continued abuse and neglect and eagerly desires to send them to Mars, but realizes Amanda wouldn't like that. After Amanda's parents coldly reject her Christmas present and make her cry, he gives them a terrible flu.
  • When the Pixies and Anti-Fairies nearly kill Amanda, which not only angers him, but could have also caused Norm's re-imprisonment within the lamp, he gives a lengthy Badass Boast, and threatens them with unimaginable tortures… but instead leaves their fate to Amanda's whim, since he can only use his full magical potential when granting a wish. Norm then twists that wish so that the Pixies and Anti-Fairies are forever stuck in a pocket dimension, and can only be let out with the help of another, so they can understand what it is like to be trapped.
• Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Inverted. Timmy wears pink, like in the show, and Amanda wears teal.
• Platonic Declaration of Love: Near the end of the story, this ends up happening between Norm and Amanda.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: Amanda starts pleading desperately when Norm is dying.
  Amanda: " Norm, wake up. Please. You need to listen to me. Don't do this. Just… just stay with… Norm, don't give up. Please. I need you to do this for me."
• Raised by Grandparents: For the first four years of her life, Amanda was raised by her grandmother, who moved in after she was born. When her grandmother died, Amanda had nobody left to give her the love and care she needed - until she met Norm, that is.
• Robot Girl: AJ makes a couple of robotic dates for him and Chester
• Rule of Three: Timmy's fairies get stuck under a butterfly net three times over the course of this story.
• Running Gag: Norm doing horrible things to Canada and his desire to send people to Mars.
• Secret-Keeper: Amanda figures out that Timmy has fairy godparents, but understands the need to keep that fact a secret.
  • Secret Secret-Keeper: When she first finds out, she doesn't even tell Timmy she knows.
• Selfless Wish: Every wish Amanda makes is intended to either protect or help someone else or to stop someone from hurting people.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Amanda looks rather cute normally, but her Shrinking Violet tendencies make it easy to ignore her. Once she's placed in a dress she looks adorable.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: Poof is left behind with Binky when the group goes to face Bob
• Shout-Out: The title of the story is a reference to a song from Aladdin and one of the chapters is called "Phenomenal Cosmic Power" based off a line from the same movie. In addition, certain plot points such as freed genies having less magic and their lamps' destruction being fatal to a genie were borrowed from the second film, Aladdin: The Return of Jafar.
  • There are references to both the story of Cinderella and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.
  • A bully from Amanda's old school is named Carl, which was from another of the author's works.
  • "I came down the chimney. Ho ho ho."
  • "Norm, I'm afraid I've been thinking" "A dangerous pastime."
• Shrinking Violet: Amanda. She tries to hide in her turtleneck sweater, she avoids any kind of attention, and she generally keeps her eyes locked on the ground. She gets better.
• Signature Sound Effect: Whenever magic is used, there is a different sound depending on who uses it. For genies, it would be gong. Fairies equal poof while anti-fairies have foop. Pixies use ping.
  • And when they can't grant a wish, the sound effect for fairies is pfft and genies is clang.
• Smart People Play Chess: Norm plays against Amanda sometimes.
• Social Services Does Not Exist: Amanda is stuck with parents that don't want her and make no secret of their feelings on the matter. In an ideal world, she would be moved out of an emotionally and mentally troubling home like this. On the other hand, this is a world where Vicky is allowed to babysit. So, yeah…
• Suddenly Shouting: Crocker still has this tendency when it comes to fairy godparents!
• Taken A Level In Badass: Bob the boil has gone from just the sentient boil on Elmer's face that he was in the show to an Eldritch Abomination that intends to take over the world and change it to how he wants it to be.
• The Tell: Amanda notices that Norm tends to push his sunglasses up, blocking his eyes from sight, when he wants to hide something.
• Theme Naming: Following the pattern from the show with the towns of Dimmsdale and Brightburg, Amanda's original hometown is called Shadowville.
• Those Two Guys: Sanjay and Elmer, just like in the show. Except Trixie is unintentionally creating a rift...
• Tranquil Fury: Norm develops this after The Pixies and the Anti-Fairies decided to murder Amanda out of pure spite. His face is expressionless, and he talks in the same sarcastic tone, but underneath it, is a great magic ready to be unleashed. Even Timmy, who isn't even Norm's target, is terrified.
• Three Wishes: Because she has Norm's lava lamp, Amanda gets these. However, she didn't immediately start wasting them like every other master he's had.
  • And as mentioned in the show, it is possible to wish for more wishes. Norm encourages Amanda to do this after her second wish.
• Trauma Swing: After learning about Norm's past from Timmy, Amanda runs off and ends up sitting on a swing at the school playground.
• Troubled Child: Amanda. She has a depressing life, but her self-confidence is so low that she doesn't think she has the right to be upset by it. And because she doesn't think she has that right, she's not detected as miserable enough for a fairy godparent.
• Tsundere: Norm is a platonic Harsh type towards Amanda. She's just about the only one he shows his dere side to and in the beginning he often went on long mental tangents justifying to himself on how he's only spending time with her because she's an interesting hobby and most definitely not because he actually cares about her in any way shape or form.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Crocker spontaneously screaming at the sky or otherwise making a big scene barely warrants a glance from anybody at school.
• Wasn't That Fun?: Cosmo after diving through a weird portal.
  Cosmo: "Woo! Let's go again! Let's go again!"
  Wanda: "Not a chance."
• Weaksauce Weakness: If it has wings and flies, a butterfly net can catch it.
• Weirdness Magnet: Timmy, even considering his fairies, is such a magnet for supernatural drama and weirdness that Jorgen immediately assumes that whatever happened with the Pixies and Anti-fairies is somehow his doing. And he's at least half-right.
• Wham Episode: Chapter 29, when Bob the boil is unleashed
  • And Chapter 31, when Norm's lava lamp breaks.
• Wham Line: There are a few, especially near the end of the story where the action picks up.
  • When Timmy makes a wish that Elmer's boil was gone:
  Wands were raised and there was a distinct poof. And Timmy had just a moment to feel proud of his actions.
  Then everything went wrong.
  • In Chapter 31, when Cosmo asks where Norm is:
  Her voice a wavering croak, Amanda said, " Gone. He's gone."
  • In the final chapter, where Norm is looking at Amanda sleeping:
  He reached out and stroked her hair, the long brown strands having long since faded into white.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Norm calls out Timmy when he realizes that Timmy wished for Poof's existence, meaning the fairy infant would eventually be undone like all the kid's wishes whenever he lost his fairies someday. Amanda fixes that problem with a wish of her own.
  • Timmy eventually calls out the Fairy Council about their Fantastic Racism after Bob was defeated by a variety of magical creatures rather than just fairies.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Amanda often cleans the house while her parents are away and can prepare basic meals for herself despite only being 8. She also figures out that Timmy has Fairy Godparents after less than two days of knowing him (though to be fair, she had the advantage of actually knowing that Fairies do exist) and has the self-restraint and responsibility not to make a wish for two months when most adults immediately start recklessly making wishes as well as recognizing that magic is not a cure-all solution (pointing out that she doesn't want friends who only put up with her because she used magic). Norm even remarks that Amanda is smarter and more mature than most adults he's met. This is something of a deconstruction, however: it all comes from the severe Parental Neglect she faced since her grandmother died when she was 4.
• Wishing for More Wishes: As established in the show, it is completely possible to wish for more wishes from a genie. And with Norm's encouragement, Amanda does so.
• The Worf Effect: Bob resists even Norm's genie's magic, and even more terrifyingly destroys Norm's lamp, which even Jorgen couldn't do (though that was because of Da Rules).
• Would Hit a Girl: Francis claims to be an "equal opportunity bully" when he's about to hit Amanda.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Norm gives one to Amanda after stopping her from wishing him free, telling her exactly just how special she really is:
  Norm: You, Amanda, are different. You're smarter than most people would give you credit for, you are thoughtful about your actions so that you don't make spontaneous decisions that cause trouble for you or others, and you care way too much about other people even when you're ignoring how unfair your life is. Honestly, you should have either been awarded a fairy godparent years ago or made a saint. Those morons you call parents don't even realize what they have right in front of them. Any other human who stumbled onto the lava lamp would have wasted all the wishes a long time ago. You're not like them. You're better than that.
• You Are What You Hate: As noted under Irony, for all his Fantastic Racism towards the fairies, Norm is for all matters and intents Amanda's godfather.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Norm has this reaction two different times. The first when he learns the Adams are moving to Dimmsdale, and the second when he sees Amanda talking with Timmy.

Tropes present in Tales as Old as Time includes:

A-Z

• Aerith and Bob: The fact that the Yugopotamians have this is actually explained: it's a tradition for the generations to switch between the two name types; Mark mentions his grandfather being named King Ryan and briefly fantasizes about what he'd name any children he had with Vicky, which are naturally of the "Aerith" variety since he's of a "Bob" generation.
• Armor-Piercing Response: Near the end of "The Plan Pt 1," Jorgen advises to Norm that he part ways with Amanda when she's grown. When he finally gives a reason for the advice, Norm is stunned into silence:
  Jorgen: Because Adams is human. She is mortal. And you are not.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Amanda starts this briefly with her parents at one point, but Norm is the one who finishes it.
• Catapult Nightmare: Norm suffers one in the first chapter due to his Near-Death Experience in the last story.
• Continuity Nod: Norm ends up humming the song "Gimme the Wand" from Fairy Idol.
  • Norm makes a lot of comparisons to his first encounter with Timmy and Remy's first encounter with a genie.
  • Off-hand mentions of Mark and Ms. Doombringer are made during the fourth chapter.
  • Timmy gets frustrated with how often he and his fairies are encountering butterfly nets recently, mentally mentioning the three occasions in the previous story.
  • The events of the episode "Bad Heir Day" are heavily referenced in the fourth chapter.
  • The Yugopotamians, Jeff and Erik, make a reappearance in the seventh chapter. As does one of the Gigglepies.
  • As stated in the first Crimson Chin appearance, fairies don't have to be disguised at comic conventions since everyone is wearing costumes anyway.
  • Cosmo's time as a Rice President for the Head Pixie is brought back up.
• Contrived Clumsiness: Norm arranges this by proxy, using his magic to make a server at a dinner party spill his tray all over Amanda's parents.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Due to the fact Yugopotamians think cute and sweet is horrifying and poisonous (and vice versa), their contest of champions runs into this situation. The two champions end up being adorable and the deciding factor is Amanda eating a chocolate chip cookie.
• Driven by Envy: Remy.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Amanda's parents, even in the face of Norm's supernatural outrage when they finally push him to intervene, cannot comprehend why anyone would care about their daughter.
• Failed Attempt at Drama: When Norm heads arrives at the Adams house in order to get them to sign over custody of Amanda to him, he tries to be intimidating with colourful smoke and a loud gong...only to be greeted by an empty house, as they're both working.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Remy's biggest issue is envy. If someone has something he wants and/or likes, he has to make sure they don't have it anymore. Norm lampshades this trope while noting that he has green eyes.
• Hard Truth Aesop: Sometimes, there are parents out there who aren't merely overworked, but who simply don't give a darn about there children, and the best thing to do is take their children away from them.
• Horny Vikings: Vaguely referenced. After an unexpected trip to Norway, Poof ends up with a horned helmet.
• I'm a Humanitarian: One of the Blatant Lies Norm uses as Malicious Slander against Amanda's parents.
• Interspecies Adoption: Norm ultimately adopts Amanda and it turns out there's legal precedence for this as at least one human child ended up being adopted by their fairies when no other option presented itself.
• Jerkass Genie: When Norm meets Remy Buxaplenty, and when Remy learns he can't get any wishes from Norm because he's free, he wishes from Juandissimo for another genie's lamp. Enter Cal, as much a jerk as Norm was at the start. Remy's first wish? For Timmy Turner to lose his fairies. Cal teleports Cosmo, Wanda, and Poof to Norway, so they're lost for about a minute before they reappear. Remy is more careful with his second wish: unconditional, unwavering, unquestioning, intense, and unending love and attention from parents who love and adore him. Cal teleports in a pair of dog parents with their litter of puppies. Having learned from his mistakes, Remy wishes the dogs back to where they came from with his final wish. Cal also tries trapping Juandissmo in his lamp, but fortunately for Remy, Norm has matured enough to stop this from happening.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: For all that Remy is a jealous jerk who treats everyone pretty badly, he mostly wants his parents' love, and he does care about Juandissimo enough to listen at the very end.
• Kick the Dog: Remy's initial treatment of Amanda, belittling her and insulting her.
• Malicious Slander: Norm subtly spreads some Blatant Lies about Amanda's parents at a fancy dinner party.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Crocker does not shout and flail at the words "fairy godparents," there is something important going on.
• Precious Puppy: Making use of Loophole Abuse, Cal the genie summons up a bunch of these and the parent dogs during Remy's second wish.
• Rage Breaking Point: After being extremely tolerant (for him, at least) of the way Amanda's parents treat their daughter, Norm finally snaps and lays into them BIG TIME.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Norm gives Amanda's parents a particularly savage one after they admit that they hate being stuck with their daughter, and the only reason they didn't put her up for adoption when she was born is because they wouldn't have inherited anything from Amanda's grandmother.
• Rich Bastard: Remy is both rich and definitely not nice.
• Rules Lawyer: Mark's cousin, Dave, managed to dig up an obscure law that would let him disinherit Mark from succession (and execute him via chocolate) so that he could become the new heir to the throne. Thankfully, Mark managed to find a way around it via a contest of champions.
• Running Gag: Continuing from the main show and lampshaded, magically created signs always have a letter go out and then fall off.
  • Also from the cartoon: "Doug Dimmadome, owner of the Dimmsdale Dimmadome."
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Remy attempts this a few times, but they all fail. He can't buy Norm's lamp from Amanda and he can't bribe a genie into granting his wishes correctly.
• Shout-Out: The title for this story, like the predecessor, comes from a song in a Disney movie. Specifically, it is based off a verse from Disney's Beauty and the Beast's song of the same name.
• Tennis Boss: Norm pulls this off, using an actual tennis racket, in order to knock back the genie lamp so Juandissimo doesn't get sucked in.
• There Was a Door: Mark breaks through the wall of Timmy's room to talk to him.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Trixie's only response to seeing Cosmo, Wanda, Poof and Norm at the convention is to wonder how they pull off the floating effect/"no legs" thing. And she's apparently not the only one as before the convention, Norm is informed that the fairies don't have to dress up at cons and snarkily mocks humans' intelligence.