Anima's Conquest
is a fairly new web serial. The version of it that went up in May of 2013 was removed for editing and restarted anew in January 2014.
The plot summary (taken from the author's blog) is as follows:
"Kate Allegheny and Kelly Norris are college students. While they are both talented individuals, they prefer to pursue their hobbies over their studies. One day, Kate and Kelly get a hold of a rare designer drug called Proteus, and share it among their friends. Things are never quite the same after that - they and their friends begin experiencing a bizarre array of symptoms and after-effects. These symptoms are declared an epidemic on campus. An investigation into the origins of the drug turn up some shocking results."
Also featured in the story so far is an extremely insular cult known as the Salva Family — a man who found out about an ancient prophecy decided his young daughter was a major player in it and built a new following around her. Whether or not there is any truth to his beliefs remains to be seen.
Tropes found in the serial:
- Cute and Psycho: Alina Galenko is a charming, pigtail-sporting neo-hippie of sorts who is absolutely not above kidnapping and terrorizing the faculty of Salva Academy.
- Erudite Stoner: Kelly Norris seems to be this. She is a profoundly gifted pharmacology student who synthesizes her own drugs and enjoys their effects. She is also the first to notice something shady about the school she's attending.
- Freudian Trio:
- Id: Kelly Norris — Loudmouth Erudite Stoner, attempts to stir things up with conspiracy theories, seemingly just for fun.
- Ego: Kate Allegheny — Not much self-confidence or social ease, often indecisive about exactly where she stands.
- Superego: Bridgit Berks — Skeptical, practical, and more than a little bit moralizing.
- School for Scheming: Salva Academy seems to be a front for some sort of eugenics campaign — students who graduate at the top are invited to procreate with one another, and an on-campus research facility is manufacturing bizarre drugs that appear to alter the users' DNA (spontaneous hair/eye color change).
