Literature / Magical Girl Policy

Magical Girl Policy is a story written by Taralynn Andrews.

Robert has recently arrived in Kessia City to attend college, where he plans to buckle down, get an engineering degree, and hopefully make a few long term friends. However, when a monster attacks the local video arcade and is fought off by super powered cheerleaders, Robert begins to suspect that Kessia City isn't as normal as he had hoped it would be. Even worse, the monster and cheerleaders all showed a lot of interest in him since he began to glow the minute it attacked.

The story currently updates once a month.

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Magical Girl Policy provides examples of:

• Abomination Accusation Attack: As revenge for Angela threatening to expose Cammy's abuse of the cheer team's power, Cammy spread word that Angela had one of her tutors write an essay for her in return for sexual favors.
• Above the Gods: Apparently the Other Power is this, as Fate can't foresee its movements and the High Spirits can only slow its advance.
• Absurdly Powerful Student Council: The SAU Student Association. Composed of representatives from campus organizations, it has power over policies like the dress code and how club revenue is handled.
• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Spirit Guard Valor and Tenacity's swords can cut through the structure of buildings.
• Accent Interest: Nearly everyone comments on Robynne's southern drawl.
• Acquainted in Real Life: Rob meets NightKnight and Fretribution while gaming online before finding out they're fellow SAU students. Robynne forgets the encounter with NightKnight, and NightKnight wouldn't recognize Rob's post-transformation voice and new handle. Robynne and Fretribution do recognize each other, but Rob insists he is mistaken, as she had since changed her handle.
• After-Action Healing Drama: After the fight with Day La Mode, Mallory/Tenacity is basically on death's door, with shattered ribs, a fractured skull, a punctured lung, and a number of other injuries. This is made worse by the cops entering the mall to survey the damage caused by the fight.
• All Guys Want Cheerleaders:
  • This is Robert's type, finding the outfit attractive, and his ex-girlfriend was a cheerleader. The irony at getting recruited to the cheerleader-themed Spirit Guard and SAU's cheer team isn't lost on Rob.
  • Pretty much every cheerleader of note, super or otherwise, is considered hot.
• All Guys Want Sorority Women: Cory gets excited at the idea of Vivian joining a sorority, though she doesn't actually do it.
• All of the Other Reindeer:
  • In high school, Robert never quite fit in with either the jocks or the nerds due to being both a gamer and a football player. Injuring the star player Dustin in self-defense turned much of the school against Rob, as did Evelyn spreading rumors that Rob is a gay guy faking a straight relationship. Rob was liked among the outcasts, but apparently didn't leave behind any meaningful friends since he was all too eager to leave Deepwater behind.
  • Robynne and Vivian being pretty cheerleaders makes SFEERS members, especially the girls, slow to believe they are genuine nerds.
• All Periods Are PMS: Discussed Trope. Vivian explains to Robynne that Most Writers Are Male and exaggerate things they're not familiar with... but then says that considering Rob's pattern of misfortune, she should be prepared for her new body's periods to be Hollywood-style anyway.
• All Take and No Give: Looking back, Robert realizes he sort of had this problem when he dated Brook in high school, as he should've broken things off once it became obvious she wanted a higher level of intimacy than he did.
• Alone in a Crowd: When Robynne first hears her alien laugh, she's hit by all she's lost in her transformation, while Cory, Eli, and Angela continue their conversation.
• Ambiguously Absent Parent: Angela was raised by just her mother, with no details given on her father's status.
• An Adventurer Is You: While not played completely straight, the Spirit Guard seems designed with an MMO party in mind. Serenity specifically uses her experience as an MMO player in her first fight.
  • Spirit Guard Valor: The tank. Fights with sword and shield, and in fights she seems to try to get the monster's attention to make openings for the others.
  • Spirit Guard Tenacity: A mix of Bladesmaster-type DPSer and Blood Tank. She can take more punishment than any of the other Spirit Guard, and dish out punishment with her massive sword.
  • Spirit Guard Charity: Healer/Buffer. Most of her healing is done out of combat, but she can protect her teammates with barriers and numb their pain to keep them fighting while their own healing factors kick in. Also brings in a bit of Ranger-type DPS.
  • Spirit Guard Felicity: Nuker. Specializes in explosive fire attacks.
  • Spirit Guard Serenity: Ninja-type DPSer. Stealth abilities and paired daggers make this obvious. Thankfully, this is also the type of character she plays in Aspect Realms, so she has a ton of strategic knowledge on how to use her combat style to her advantage.
• Ancestral Weapon: Subverted. Serenity thinks her knives were created for the Shrine Maiden and passed down to her reincarnation, but realizes they're specifically designed for Serenity herself. The other Spirit Guard's weapons are presumably the same way.
• Ancient Astronauts: Zigzagged Trope. The Ardentia posed as gods in the visions granted to the ancient Atsah, teaching them empathokinesis to build the Standridge Circle as a portal to Earth. However, this didn't really impact humanity as a whole, seeing as how empathokinesis is largely unknown to modern humans. In fact, the Circle's power minimizing scientific intrigue in the structure is believed to have been designed to keep humanity from learning too much about the technology of their would-be conquerors.
• And Here He Comes Now: Right when Rob is thinking about calling Uncle Taylor, he gets a phone call from Taylor himself.
• Anger Born of Worry: Mallory gets mad at Eli for endangering himself to stand with Rob against Polygal, but is glad he's safe.
• Another Man's Terror: Among the visions the Spirit Guard get are the final moments of their past lives.
• Anti-Smother Love Talk: Mallory's dad is very protective of his daughter, and her mom would have to convince him to let her do things like take taekwando or move out for college.
• Appearance Is in the Eye of the Beholder: People who see a Spirit Guard sometimes have conflicting reports on their appearance. This is seemingly due to an effect of the Standridge Circle, the same power that causes hair to appear in unusual colors in the area.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: Rob does not accept "magic" as an explanation for anything, despite several experiences that could hardly be anything else. He turns out to be correct in thinking the "magic" on display is just the result of utilizing systems that regular science has yet to discover.
• Armor-Piercing Question: When Eli and Mallory argue over her hiding that she's a Spirit Guard from her family, he asks her how many times she's almost died throughout her superhero career.
• Audible Sharpness: Averted Trope. When Cory is confused at Noriko's silent sword, she explains that it's because the sheath isn't metal.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Rob prefers to carefully break down a monster's abilities and strategies before going on the offensive.
  • Rob was even doing this against Day LaMode before he decided to transform, so when he does join the fight, Rob's got the mannequin all figured out.
  • This strategy is dampened against Cell-celia due to her powers growing as the fight goes on.
• Backup Bluff: When fighting Day LaMode, Serenity claims the other Spirit Guards will defeat the monster's goons in due time, so she can just remain invisible until they arrive. LaMode doesn't really buy it, with Serenity herself not entirely sure the others can handle themselves.
• Badass in Distress: After trying to fight alone, Tenacity ends up nearly dead and at the mercy of Day LaMode. Rob transforms to save her life.
• Barrier-Busting Blow: After Serenity transforms in the restroom, Cell-celia bursts through the wall for a free hit.
• Battle Baton: The Spirit Sticks let the Spirit Guard transform into their battle mode. One of Rob's visions shows the Scholar using Placid Mist with the Spirit Stick itself.
• Battle in the Center of the Mind: When Polygal attempts to drain Robert's Investiture, he feels her presence within his soul and mobilizes his Investiture to attack her. In the real world, she's holding him by the face and starts swinging him around in an attempt to make him stop.
• Because Destiny Says So: The idea is a bit hard to ignore when Fate is an actual deity with future sight.
  • Kunapipi and presumably all of Fate's agents take the deity's word as gospel.
  • Angela is proud to have been chosen by Fate and practically worships her. She has a hard time understanding when Rob has the complete opposite stance.
• Being Good Sucks: Rob's Spirit Guard business has him discard the life he's happy with for the first time in years in favor of one where his pride and sense of self are crushed under discomfort in his own skin and others no longer able to see him for who he is. Regardless, his decision to transform in order to save Mallory's life is one he'd make a hundred times over because the alternative is completely unacceptable.
• Being Watched: This feeling can be picked up by EKP.
  • Robert feels this to the point of sleeplessness while his EKP is acclimating to the constant presence of his Spirit Stick. Robynne gets used to this, but then has to deal with her strengthened EKP making her feel how many people have their eyes on her.
  • While fighting Day LaMode, Serenity senses something invisible seemingly watching the battle. This is Trace, who flees before Serenity can figure out what she's looking at.
  • Robynne's discomfort at her first shower with her new body is exacerbated by the sense that she's not alone. She feels a similar presence at the Standridge Circle after the SFEERS opening social, but loses track of it. Angela's had similar sensations during introspection and wonders if it's Fate, though the possibility of it being some sort of spy is also considered.
• Betrayal Insurance: Cammy gifted Angela a tampered phone when they were on the cheer team together. When Angela found out about Cammy abusing the cheer team's power and threatened to present proof to the school authorities, Cammy remotely erased the evidence that was on the phone.
• Beware the Honest Ones:
  • Back when Angela was on the cheer team, Cammy apparently feared the principled recruit would turn on her if the rampant abuse of the team's power got found out. Sure enough, it came to pass.
  • Mallory worries about Robert's Chronic Hero Syndrome, as he always seems to find trouble and has seemingly no self-preservation instinct, though she's more concerned that Eli and Cory risk themselves to stand by their new friend. When she gets rescued from Day LaMode, she thinks to herself she should've realized right away that her strange savior is the guy who keeps throwing himself at monsters, having not considered the possibility that he'd go through with transforming in order to save a life.
  • Tanya has a hard time trusting Robynne since she can't dig up any dirt on her. Rob was warned about this trait of Tanya's, so she'll satiate her with vague or half-truthful responses to any prodding.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: Rob prefers to keep to himself, but he won't stand for someone pushing his buttons too much or being a big enough asshole in his presence.
  • In high school, he stood up to Evelyn and called her out in front of a crowd for pushing another girl to tears.
  • When Cammy crashes Robynne's lunch with Stacy and persists in feigning friendliness just to get something from Rob, Rob drops her polite refusals in favor of a "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Big Brother Instinct:
  • Mallory will go after anyone who threatens Eli, doing things from punching a bully to fighting a monster by herself. She's also protective of her friends in general.
  • Eli nearly charges into Tenacity's battle with Day LaMode in order to help his gravely injured sister, but Rob holds him back.
• Big Damn Heroes: A recurring trend with the Spirit Guard.
  • The Spirit Guard's first appearance qualifies as they arrive in time to rescue the boys right as Polygal had Robert in her grips and her guns trained on Cory and Eli
  • We also have Mallory/Spirit Guard Tenacity in all her protective elder sibling glory cutting through a small legion of living mannequins to rescue Eli, Cory and Rob (in that order)... twice
  • You can't leave out the big one! Robert making his... her... whatever entrance as Spirit Guard Serenity, saving Mallory/Tenacity from death via stiletto heel to the eye! Comes complete with Big "NO!", Dynamic Entry, and Sorry I'm Late!
• Birds of a Feather: Cory and Vivian are both wisecracking, mischievous film nerds.
• Black Box: The heroes have very little understanding of how the Spirit Sticks work.
• "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: Angela would rather not hear that Robynne "extorted" a new computer out of Cammy in return for joining the cheer team; it's "inducing" a transaction out of Cammy to give Rob a believable bargaining position.
• Bland-Name Product: Has its own page.
• Blessed with Suck: Several examples:
  • Robynne has a very powerful "empathokinetic" sense. The blessing? Her ability to read emotions and auras gives her a solid edge against opponents and renders her bangs irrelevant. The suck? She has to deal with a high level of psychic and emotional "background noise" (pure torture for an introvert, strong sources cause her physical pain, and she has to constantly guard against others' emotions and auras invading her mind and affecting her behavior.
  • After transforming for the first time, Robert the tall, stocky, brown-haired ex-linebacker becomes Robynne the short, stacked, scarlet-haired beauty. Her attention-grabbing looks get her thrust into the limelight on a regular basis—pure torture for the quiet, introverted gamer nerd Rob has always been.
  • To a lesser extent, all of the Spirit Guard have this. The spirit sticks have an "ideal state" memorized for each girl, and will burn fat or calories to get them back to that state. Upside? They can eat whatever junk food they like and not have to suffer for it. Downside? They can't even get a haircut without the transformation reversing the effect.
• Blithe Spirit: Rob challenges ideas about their jobs that the Spirit Guard and Kunapipi took for granted.
• Bookends: Chapter 13 has a subtle pair of bookends. The chapter starts with Mallory and Angela searching for the monster at the mall's food court's fountain. The end of the chapter has Robert powering up for the first time to rescue Mallory. The words Robert uses to power up? "Fountain of Serenity, Spirit Guard Power Up!"
• Body Surf:
  • The knowledge to overwrite one soul with another in order to cheat death was considered the ultimate theoretical breakthrough of the Ardent Empire's forbidden branch of empathokinetics.
  • Day LaMode can transfer from one mannequin to another with her Follow ze Trend move.
• Boxing Lessons for Superman: Rob is unnerved to learn the Spirit Guard rely solely on their hero form's instincts to fight and suggests training in their normal forms.
  • Subverted for Kara, who once took up archery in hopes of improving her combat ability, but found the experience too different from using her Spirit Guard form's Energy Bow to be helpful.
  • Robynne has Noriko train her in ninja-esque parkour to improve her movement during battle.
• Boyfriend Bluff: Nick offers to do this for Robynne so guys won't hit on her. She turns him down, not wanting to uphold a fake relationship or sink his chances with other women.
• Break Them by Talking: Rob is pretty good at knowing what to say to push a monster's buttons in just the right way, be it to stall for time or goad them into a predictable reaction.
• Bridal Carry: After the Day LaMode battle, Serenity carries the wounded Tenacity home this way.
• Broken Pedestal: Rob's character doesn't at all match Angela's ideal of the Shrine Maiden's reincarnation. The Princess and Shrine Maiden were very close, so Angela is taken aback by his lack of trust in her and refusal to join the Spirit Guard.
  • Rebuilt Pedestal: As Rob's own brand of heroism shines through, Angela learns to judge him by his own merits, bonding with him for who he is rather than who she thought he would be.
• Buffy Speak: The gang sometimes struggles to think of eloquent ways to describe the weirdness associated with the Spirit Guard, such as the sensations of their EKP.
• …But He Sounds Handsome: Vivian and Angela have nothing but nice things to say about the Spirit Guard when they first meet with Robert. Vivian says such cool heroes are awesome by definition, and Angela claims to be a fan that was saved by them before.
• Calling Your Attacks: Both the Spirit Guard and monsters need to do this to use their more powerful moves. Serenity realizes the absurdity of this and has to work around it when her first opponent's attack names are shorter than her own.
• The Calls Are Coming from Inside the House: A variation: Robert receives a text seemingly from himself telling him where and when to meet the Spirit Guard so he can learn what his glow means. This was a hack by the heroes to make the message untraceable.
• Call to Adventure: The Spirit Guard tell Robert that his glow from the Polygal encounter means he's been chosen to become Spirit Guard Serenity.
  • Refusal of the Call: Rob refuses on the grounds of wanting to remain normal and not have his life upended by the transformation's side effects.
  • The Call Left a Message: Rob is the only one who can use the Spirit Stick to become Spirit Guard Serenity. Once he touches it, it is always within reach and his EKP makes him constantly aware of its presence.
  • The Call Knows Where You Live: Just days after Robert turns down joining the Spirit Guard, Tenacity ends up at death's door against Day LaMode, and Rob becoming Spirit Guard Serenity is the only feasible way to save his best friend's sister.
  • Resigned to the Call: Rob goes through with it because he could never live with himself if somebody died due to his inaction.
• Can't Believe I Said That: As Serenity passes by some kids, she mentally berates herself when "Stay serene" is the line she goes with, as she wanted to say something cooler than that.
• Can't Stop the Signal: Robert plans this as his last resort going into his meeting with the Spirit Guard. In case they kill him or something, covertly sending a recording to Cory and Eli would allow the truth about the Spirit Guard to survive. This doesn't come to pass.
• Casual Danger Dialog: Cory doesn't stop his quips even during a monster attack. He says it's a coping mechanism.
• Cataclysm Backstory: The Spirit Guard's powers originate from the Ardent Empire, an ancient kingdom in another dimension that was ravaged by civil war and destroyed by the Other Power. Platicore instigated that civil war and terrorizes Kessia City in the present.
• Changed My Mind, Kid: When a strange empathokinetic humming appears in the mall, Robert offers to help the Spirit Guard investigate, but clarifies that he still has no intention of transforming to fight a potential monster. He's told to escape with Cory and Eli as a result, but on his way out, he sees the Spirit Guard fight a losing battle against Day LaMode where Tenacity's death is all but guaranteed, so he becomes Spirit Guard Serenity to save the day.
• Chekhov's Hobby: Robert took ballet lessons to help in football during high school, which Robynne reveals while the gang talks out how to deal with Cammy. Having a background in ballet makes for a believable cover as to why Robynne would consider joining the cheer team to spy on Cammy.
• Chekhov's Skill: Early on, Robert plays Aspect Realms and performs well using stealth tactics. When Rob becomes Spirit Guard Serenity, her invisibility and dual knives happen to line up nicely with her Aspect Realms character, letting her apply similar tactics.
• The Chooser of the One: With her future sight, Fate selects people to become heroes.
• The Chosen Many: All of the Spirit Guard were chosen by Fate, much to Robert's disdain.
• The Chosen People: Fate tends to favor entire civilizations rather than individual people. The Ardent Empire was one such example until rampant corruption made it lose Fate's favor.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Rob just can't seem to refrain from helping people in need. Mallory even calls it "chronic heroics".
• City of Adventure: All of the Spirit Guard business happens in Kessia City. The Standridge Circle draws in people with high empathokinetic potential like the heroes, but this also makes it an ideal hunting ground for the Investiture-draining monsters.
• Civilization Destroyer: The Other Power completely devastated the Ardent Empire.
• Clark Kenting: The Spirit Guard's hero forms don't obscure the body nor alter their appearance in any meaningful way. This is because the Disconnection Effect keeps people from comprehending the physical similarities.
• Clarke's Third Law: Rob's view on the Spirit Guard and monster's seemingly magic abilities, though he forgets the actual quote until Angela reminds him. NightKnight and presumably the other ConSpiriters have the same approach in investigating the Spirit Guard.
• Clean Cut: Tenacity slices through a walkway to attack Day LaMode, but the cut is apparently very fine since the walkway doesn't collapse.
• Cleanup Crew: Before the police arrive, the Hush Corps disposes of evidence, be it physical or digital, that might compromise the Spirit Guard's secrets.
• Clingy MacGuffin: Once a Spirit Guard touches their Spirit Stick, it begins warping to places out of sight but within reach so the user may transform at a moment's notice.
• Closed Circle: The heroes can't leave Kessia City for any significant length of time in case they are needed for a monster attack.
• Color-Coded Secret Identity:
  • Played straight with Mallory, who often wears red because it's her favorite color.
  • Artwork tends to have Angela, Vivian, and Kara wearing purple, pink, and yellow respectively.
  • Averted and discussed by Rob, who doesn't feel the need to start wearing blue. In fact, she was suggested to avoid blue since it'd complement her red hair and draw unwanted attention.
• Combat Clairvoyance: Serenity demonstrates that with a strong EKP, one can predict the actions of both allies and enemies by sensing the emotions behind their intentions.
• Combat Stilettos: The Spirit Guard have high-heeled boots as part of the costume. The monsters' footwear also tend to be heeled as well.
• Commonality Connection:
  • In high school, Robert couldn't get himself to ask Brook out until he learned they had shared interests.
  • Rob and Angela don't connect very well until they find out they have similar backgrounds: raised by a single parent, rather serious and hardworking, and the victims of major drama involving Alpha Bitch cheerleaders.
• Converse with the Unconscious: After the Day LaMode battle, Vivian has a one-sided conversation with Kara, who is passed out on the couch.
• Cool Gate: The Standridge Hill Stone Circle, when activated, lets one walk through one stone and out of a paired stone elsewhere. It was originally designed to connect Earth to the Ardent Empire, but nowadays the heroes use it to warp around Kessia City.
• Corrupt Church: The Ardent Empire's Church of the High Spirits was intended to check that of the government, but conspiracy led to it having a corrupt majority by the time the Empire fell.
• Cosmic Plaything: Those who learn of Fate and dislike her meddling, like Rob, Eli, and Mallory, tend to develop the fear of her being behind every contrived occurrence in their lives.
• Costume Copycat: Costumes based on the Spirit Guard are sold in stores. One Halloween party had Angela meet Cammy and Tanya dressed as Valor and Tenacity, respectively.
• Crack is Cheaper: One reason Rob decides against getting into the Invokers card game is that he'll break the bank if he spends on it alongside his other hobbies.
• Crush Blush: According to Stacy, Robynne started blushing during a conversation with Fretribution, who she finds attractive. However, Rob would very much not like to be attracted to guys or display it.
• Curbstomp Battle: In high school, Dustin tried to beat Rob up, but the fight swiftly ended with Rob dodging and tripping Dustin into the lockers.
• Curiosity Killed the Cast: Rob could've avoided being attacked by Polygal had he listened to his gut and not investigated the arcade machine that was giving him chills. This would've also caused him to avoid meeting the Spirit Guard and the ensuing mess, though Cory and Eli agree Rob would've sniffed his way into danger sooner or later.
• Curious Qualms of Conscience: Trace apparently felt bad watching Day LaMode's merciless beatdown of Tenacity, as Serenity senses her guilty conscience.
• Damned by Faint Praise: Trying to soften Cammy's shock, Stacy struggles to form a compliment for Robynne's intentionally unfashionable outfit supposedly being bought at All-Mart.
  Stacy: Oh, I, uh, like going there for fabrics for some of my fashion projects… if, like, you know, the fabric store is closed.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!:
  • Robynne moving like she would in her old body sometimes leads to her newfound hair or breasts getting in the way.
  • Dale sucks at Tour de Rock because he tries to play on the guitar controller like it was a real guitar.
• Deadly Dodging: This is how Robert turned the tables on Dustin trying to beat him up in high school. He dodged and tripped Dustin during a punch and sent him into the lockers.
• Deadpan Snarker: The heroes take turns being this, but this is Rob and Cory's default setting.
• Death by Origin Story: Robert's parents died in a car crash when he was three. Given he credits his Uncle Taylor for making him into the heroic person he is today, Rob likely would've turned out differently had he been raised by his parents instead.
• Death Glare: Rob and Trace are noted to have a very harsh glare. Both of them typically use it to shut people up or keep them away.
• A Death in the Limelight: Downplayed. Mallory's turn as the POV character sees her get beaten to a pulp by Day LaMode, and she would've died if Rob hadn't intervened.
• Decadent Court: The Ardent Empire's courts were rampant with corruption by the time the Empire fell.
• Deconstruction: Of magical girl and Gender Bender stories.
• Deep Sleep: Any Spirit Guard who got a lot of healing tends to sleep very soundly while their body finishes recovery. Kara gets this the most since she's the one actually doing the healing and donates her energy to do so.
• Derailed for Details: As the Spirit Guard and Kunapipi deliver lengthy exposition as to what Robert's glow means, more than once he sidetracks things by asking for more details.
• Different for Girls: Robynne finds attempting to socialize with people who think she's a regular girl very stressful. She also finds the social norms girls impose on themselves to be superfluous and annoying.
• Differently Powered Individual: While "superhero" and other generic terms are widely used, the formal descriptor of one of Fate's chosen heroes is "Champion", though superpowers aren't strictly required.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Evelyn's response to Robert calling her a bitch for bullying? Use rumors and slander to convince the school he's secretly gay and destroy his relationship with his girlfriend and the football team.
• Dissension Remorse: Angela ends up regretting how she stubbornly argued Rob's refusal to join the Spirit Guard. She apologizes after the SFEERS opening social, though by this point Rob had gotten over it.
• Distress Call: When Day LaMode has him cornered, Rob makes his Ardent Resonance glow brighter, which the Spirit Guard can sense to know his location and that he's in danger.
• Distressed Dude: Robert, Cory, and Eli have all needed to be saved from monsters by the Spirit Guard.
• The Dividual: Cory and Eli are so often seen together that others sometimes think of them as one unit.
• Don't Sneak Up on Me Like That!: Robynne has instinctively readied her knives or prepared to transform on occasions where Noriko or Kunapipi suddenly appear. She then tells them not to do that.
• Don't Think, Feel: The Spirit Guard mostly rely on their battle form's instincts to fight. Serenity isn't quite comfortable with this mindset, preferring to actively think combat through while her instincts handle the execution of superpowered movement.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Robynne is teetering on the edge of an emotional breakdown over her transformation, but doesn't want her friends to see her in that state, so she insists she be left alone. When she actually does break down, she tries to dissuade Vivian from trying to use her usual cheerfulness to help out, but Vivian is too stubborn to leave and actually does help.
• Dope Slap: Someone, usually Vivian, may give Cory a quick jab if one of his comments is uncalled for.
• Double Standard: At least one instance in most chapters, usually called out and frequently discussed among the characters themselves.
• Dramatic Sit-Down: Serenity is advised to sit before powering down because she'll be hit by the full shock of her new body without her powers on.
• Draw Aggro: Robert sticks around to make Polygal focus on him and let everyone else escape.
• Dress Code: SAU has a business casual dress code. Mandating skirts for women is a point of contention, but the Student Association has been too complacent to change things.
• Dude, Not Funny!: Some of Cory's quips on Robynne's body get him called out for being insensitive.
• Eating the Eye Candy: Narration will sometimes linger on Robert and Eli eying up attractive women. This becomes a problem for Eli when unknowingly checks Robynne out, or for Robynne when she catches herself looking into guys' eyes.
• Effortless Amazonian Lift: Valor quickly scoops up Robert, Cory, and Eli to get them some distance away from Day LaMode before dropping them to continue the fight. Everyone involved agrees it's not exactly a dignified way of getting rescued.
• Elemental Powers: A major application of empathokinesis. The Spirit Guard each specialize in one element.
• Emerald Power: Investiture, the spiritual energy used in empathokinesis, appears as floating green globs while separated from the body.
• Emotional Powers: Empathokinesis, like the name suggests, involves channeling emotional energies to affect the physical world. Both the heroes and villains use it for their powers.
• Emotion Bomb: Some people have strong auras that can induce certain emotions in those nearby.
• Emotion Eater: Platicore's monsters are powered by and drain people of Investiture, spiritual energy of one's emotional drive.
• The Empath:
  • The Spirit Guard can sense emotional energies from people and monsters, especially while transformed, with an ability Rob dubs EKP (empathokinetic perception).
  • The Ardentia had EKP by default, as one's emotions were a major facet of social interaction in their culture.
• Empty Chair Memorial: After Rob moves out, Eli comes to think of the empty side of Rob's room as a sort of memorial to his former roommate's time there, so he's relieved that Dale occupies the other side after moving in.
• The End of the World as We Know It: The Ardent Empire collapsed in dramatic fashion: civil war, the Other Power destroying everything in its path, and people taking warps to other worlds in an effort to survive.
• Energy Absorption: Platicore specializes in taking Investiture and transplanting it. His monsters are designed to drain people of their Investiture for Platicore's use.
• Enter Stage Window: For some reason, Noriko often enters her room through the window. Robynne takes care to unlock it if her roommate is out late.
• Even Nerds Have Standards: Rob may be a huge nerd, but roleplaying in Aspect Realms is a bit much. One guy showed up to the SFEERS opening social in chain mail and got several looks from the nerd club.
• Evil Gloating: The monsters gloat to the point that the Spirit Guard count on it happening.
• Expecting Someone Taller: The Spirit Guard definitely weren't expecting the Shrine Maiden's reincarnation to be male, as this presents a major problem.
• Explaining Your Powers to the Enemy: Serenity goads Cell-celia into explaining her automatic Investiture draining and expanding power set.
• Eyes Never Lie:
  • When Eli sees the transformed Robynne for the first time, he recognizes her as Robert once he notices the expression in her eyes is unchanged.
  • During Robynne and Cammy's introduction, Cammy's briefly furious eyes are the only crack in her friendly demeanor upon hearing Rob's scathing remarks.
• Facial Dialogue:
  • When Robert tells Vivian and Mallory how he had a hunch that standing up to Polygal would work out in the end, the girls share a glance, apparently letting the other know that they think Rob's behavior is in line with the idea of him being chosen to become Spirit Guard Serenity. Mal then tries to gauge his reaction to the word "serene" in a comment on his actions.
  • When Robert explains how he'd like to help the Spirit Guard locate the empathokinetic humming in the mall even though he still has no intention of transforming, Angela and Mallory look at each other and apparently have a silent conversation on Rob's character and the dangers involved with his idea. They then thank him for the offer, but turn him down because Cory and Eli will likely risk themselves to help him.
• False Reassurance: When Lilly asks if Robynne didn't have many girlfriends growing up, Rob says she only had one. By leaving out that she was a guy back then, Rob lets Lilly assume that the unnamed Brook was a platonic girlfriend rather than a romantic one.
• Family Eye Resemblance: Eli, Mallory, and their father all have green eyes with a stern gaze, which is why the siblings struggle to maintain eye contact when they argue with each other.
• Fantastic Caste System: The Ardent Empire's clear social divide became starker after empathokinesis was discovered and only the priveleged had access to training in it.
• Fantastic Light Source: Robert's meeting with the Spirit Guard is illuminated by one of Charity's light arrows.
• Fantasy Pantheon: Fate and the High Spirits.
• Fascinating Eyebrow: Characters very often raise an eyebrow in response to things.
• Fee Fi Faux Pas: When Tanya sees Robynne in an oversized football jersey, she assumes Rob borrowed it from some guy. Rob shuts this idea down by saying it belonged to her late father. It's actually Robert's jersey, but Rob wouldn't ignore an opportunity to make Tanya stumble.
• Fictional Video Game: Several games are mentioned offhand, but the MMORPG Aspect Realms, the rhythm game Hop Dance Mania, and FPS Corona Forge are the ones actually described being played.
• Fighting Back Is Wrong: For injuring Dustin in self-defense, Robert got suspended and moved down the football team's depth chart.
• Figure It Out Yourself: Kunapipi is given even vaguer info than usual from Fate to help the Spirit Guard with, as the deity seems content to let the heroes feel things out from their past lives.
• Fireball Eyeballs: When Cammy meets Robynne, her subdued fury at Rob's insult is briefly visible in her eyes, which are likened to fireballs.
• First Law of Gender Bending: Given getting Robynne's original form back would require messing with the Spirit Guard transformation and healing factor, both things the heroes have no idea how to do, she's in it for the long haul.
• First Period Panic: Upon hearing that her new body will most likely have periods like a normal woman's, Robynne is really not looking forward to it.
• First-World Problems: Unlike his sister, Eli has to get a job at college and save up for a car. They know it's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things since they're from a rich family, but the favoritism is still a point of annoyance.
• Flipping the Bird:
  • Trace's response to some guy not leaving her alone at the bar. She doesn't actually know what the gesture means beyond it being rude.
  • When Robynne senses something watching her at the Standridge Circle, she leaves while doing this with her hands in her pockets. If the watcher is the Fate, she should be able to see what Rob thinks of her.
• Flaw Exploitation:
  • Rob is quick to pick up on how to get others to react in desirable ways, like angering Day LaMode by insisting she's just another monster doomed for failure. Robynne hides her agenda of opposing Cammy by wrapping it in the guise of personal gain, making her motivation to join the cheer team believable to someone whose worldview revolves around exploiting others.
  • Cammy is said to prey on the insecurities of others to keep them in line.
• Fling a Light into the Future: The Princess and co. had the Spirit Sticks sent to Earth so it can be protected from destruction like what befell the Ardent Empire.
• For Want Of A Nail: During Robynne's initial despair over her transformation, she reflects that none of it would've happened if he had listened to his gut and didn't check out the machine Polygal was in, or listened to Uncle Taylor and went to a college closer to home.
• Friendship Favoritism: When promoting for SFEERS, Stacy insists on being paired with Robynne because she's jealous that Lilly and Vivian get to spend more time with Rob.
• Friendship Moment: In the wake of Robynne's transformation, she wants to be left alone before her probable breakdown happens in front of her friends, but before Cory and Eli leave, they make sure she knows they can be called on for anything at all and that their dorm will always be a home for her.
• Funetik Aksent: Day LaMode's cartoonish French accent is spelled out. Rob and Taylor's southern accent and Noriko's Asian accent, meanwhile, are merely mentioned.
• Gaming Clan: SFEERS has dedicated groups for several video games, with the Knights of the Spherical Table for Aspect Realms being the most prominent.
• Gasp!: Stacy's response when Robynne begins giving a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Cammy.
• Gender Bender Angst: Robynne's never-ending issues with her transformation become part of the core premise.
• Genre Savvy: This trope is used to a slight extent with both Rob and Cory. Both are quick to point out the literary clichés that they begin to experience, and are even able to make (accidental) correct guesses as to some events that unfold.
• Glamour: The Disconnection Effect causes a powered up Spirit Guard to appear slightly differently from their civilian form, and also goads the minds of observers into thinking of the forms as distinct entities. It weakens with frequent exposure, so the heroes try to avoid being seen by repeat observers like the police.
  • Glamour Failure: The Disconnection Effect primarily affects what one sees and hears, so it's not infallible. Eli's lack of attraction to his sister extends to Tenacity, which let him deduce her identity after learning the other Spirit Guards are friends of hers.
• God's Hands Are Tied: Fate could personally help the heroes if she really wanted to, but her Obstructive Code of Conduct frowns upon direct intervention.
• Godzilla Threshold: Rob knows that tapping his power will turn him female for life; to even consider it takes Mallory being at death's door.
• Golden Age: Subverted. The Ardent Empire was a Decadent Court and the previous incarnations of the Spirit Guard were Defectors From Decadence trying to prevent their corrupt society from spreading to our world.
• Got Me Doing It: Hanging around Stacy causes Robynne and Vivian to sometimes mimic her "like" verbal tic.
• Hannibal Lecture: When Rob is cornered by Day LaMode, he turns around her demands to know what he is and breaks her down with his insistence that she's not Platicore's first monster like she believes; she's instead a worthless construct doomed to fail just like the others.
• Healing Factor: Standard power for the Spirit Guard, but it works relatively slowly and burns a lot of calories.
• Heroic BSoD: Robynne's first day as a girl was already doing a number on her spirit, with the closest thing to an expert proving useless and her friends unable to truly understand what she's going through, but the thing that breaks her is being unable to answer her uncle's phone call because he might not believe she's his nephew when she needs him most. This makes her break into tears for the first time since the death of her grandmother ten years ago.
• Hero Insurance: We learn in one of Taralynn's patron-only vignettes that Kessia City insurance companies have taken to selling "Anomalous Creature Property Damage" riders to cover your business in the event of monster attack.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Cory and Eli have been inseparable since kindergarten. Their closeness had kept other friends from sticking around, so when Rob manages to become part of that bond, Mallory considers it quite the feat.
• How Did You Know? I Didn't: Robert risked his life against Polygal, unaware that there were superheroes around to save him.
  Vivian: What made you feel like everything would turn out right? You knew the Spirit Guard were coming, did ya?
  Robert: No. Not at all.
  Eli: Robert here hadn't even heard about them until today.
• How Do I Shot Web?: While most Spirit Guard powers are instinctively known, powering down is not. Angela had to figure it out herself back when she was the sole Spirit Guard.
• Hypocritical Humor: Mallory says Eli's been watching too much anime if he thinks Noriko can do fantastical ninjutsu. This is coming from the actual superhero who shoots lightning from her sword.
• Ice Magic Is Water: Rob's associated element is water, but forming his Investiture into ice is within this scope.
• If Only You Knew: When people dwell on Robynne's oddities, they often get closer to the truth than they think.
  Robynne: Put two girls side by side and nine times out of ten the boys will prefer the cheerleader. That's a fact.
  Stacy: Oh? You got some sort of super power that lets you see into the mind of men?
  Robynne: Trust me. I know how guys think.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Rob would rather be a regular college student than a Spirit Guard, even before the side effects of transforming are revealed.
• Insistent Appellation:
  • Rob isn't fond of Kunapipi and rarely calls her by her preferred name, instead using her "Ms. Kuna" alias, or just "kangaroo rat" behind her back.
  • Vivian often calls Robynne "Rosy" despite any protests. Rob apparently gives up on making Vivian quit it, but still disapproves if other people use the nickname.
• Insistent Terminology: After learning it is the formal term, Rob insists on "empathokinesis" and its variants instead of "magic".
• It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time:
  • Rob's plan of covertly recording his meeting with the Spirit Guard, when Cory and Eli get caught and Rob's fears of what the Spirit Guard might do proved unfounded.
  • Serenity's idea to quickly defeat Cell-celia alone before the monster becomes too powerful, when it turns out Cell-celia was already on to her and had an ambush ready.
  • According to Charity, Tenacity would often justify her reckless actions in battle with this.
• It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Robert only in this case, due to his rather extenuating circumstances. The other four either accept it or actively enjoy it, at least to some extent.
• Life Energy: Investiture represents a being's emotional drive. One dies if all of their Investiture is depleted. Platicore infuses it into objects to create his monsters.
• Like Brother and Sister: Cory and Mallory have been close since they were little kids. Cory even describes himself as "basically [Mallory's] brother".
• Like Is, Like, a Comma: Stacy talks like this. It's apparently common among the cheer team.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Robert decides not to tell Uncle Taylor about his run-ins with monsters and the Spirit Guard, thinking he'd be ordered back home for his safety. After transforming, Robynne claims her phone's receiver is broken since her voice would shatter the facade that Taylor's nephew is perfectly fine with an ordinary college life, biding her time until he can come to Kessia City, where the Standridge Circle's effects will hopefully make her story more believable.
• Loners Are Freaks: Robert expects this treatment as a life long introvert, his solution is to ignore everyone outside of a small circle of friends. Robynne is subjected to this even moreso than Robert because of her looks, a Double Standard that's immediately lampshaded.
• Magical Girl Warrior: The Spirit Guard transform into superheroes to fight monsters around Kessia City. In their normal forms, their powers are largely limited to sensing empathokinetic energies and monsters draining people.
• Magical Incantation: Several empathokinetic abilities are verbally activated.
• Masquerade: In the classical Magical Girl Tradition, all of this warfare takes place just outside of Muggle view.
• Mentor Mascot: Kunapipi, the Kangaroo rat...er, Wallaby of Fate.
• Mistaken for Gay: Robert during high school, due to combination of Hates Being Touched, Ballet lessons, and the machinations of the school Alpha Bitch.
• Monster of the Week: This story definitely follows this trope.
• Muggle Best Friend: Cory and Eli. Not only are they dragged into the mess because of their friendship with Rob, but Eli's sister and the girls that each of them like are in the Spirit Guard.
• Mundane Utility: Vivian has explored the ways her spirit guard powers can be used as personal grooming shortcuts and exploits them to eat junk food without adverse affects.
• My Nayme Is: Robynne, who took the name to honor her maternal grandmother but was not aware of the spelling at the time.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits:
  • Eli did not approve of Cory's crush on Mallory when they were in middle school. He has a similar reaction in the present when Cory suggests the possibility of Robert pursuing her instead.
  • Kara could never land a boyfriend due to her extremely protective older brothers scaring potential suitors. She doesn't have to worry so much now that she's away at college, but Eli's got his work cut out for him if he meets her family.
• Naïve Newcomer: As an outsider to Kessia City, Rob was unaware of the Spirit Guard and monsters, allowing other characters to explain things to him.
• Never Got to Say Goodbye: Discussed between Eli and Mallory when he found she's Spirit Guard Tenacity
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Seems to be the way that the Spirit Guard get their powers. Rob/Serenity knowing she had a stealth ability when she needed to sneak up on a monster, gaining her Geyser of Tranquility when wanting a ranged attack, etc...
• No Hero to His Valet:
  • Mallory is Eli's sister and Cory's basically-sister in their eyes before she's a Spirit Guard.
  • No matter what happens to Robynne due to superhero shenanigans, to Cory and Eli, she's still that guy they roomed with and befriended.
• Noodle Incident: Kunapipi was able to hire Noriko due to the ninja clan owing Kunapipi a favor for something she did in the past, but neither feel like elaborating on what happened.
• The Omniscient: Fate might be considered this, but even Kunapipi isn't particularly clear on how true it is, or even how much of an entity Fate can be considered to be.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Since SFEERS members do most of their business online, not many of them actually know each other's real names.
• Our Souls Are Different: Each of the Spirit Guard is a reincarnation of a powerful individual from a culture in another universe. Their souls carry the "investiture" of their past lives.
• Outside-Context Problem: The Other Power apparently operates outside of the universe's rules to the point that not even Fate could foresee it. It decimated the Ardent Empire.
• Painting the Medium: When Robynne changes her name, it's spelled differently in various characters' dialogue to indicate how they assume it's spelled. This stops after Robynne sees how it's actually spelled on her new driver's license.
• Part-Time Hero: The Spirit Guard are just trying to make it through college when there's no monsters to fight.
• Past-Life Memories: The Spirit Guard sometimes have visions of the events surrounding the fall of the Ardent Empire.
• Perception Filter: Trace's stealth band tricks observers into thinking she's not there to simulate invisibility, but Serenity's strong EKP can see past it. Trace also has a similar device to make her beneath notice when she has to set up a monster in plain sight, but it's finicky to make it work just right.
• Plot Tailored to the Party: The monsters, at least. It has been noted several times by the Spirit Guard that a new member was discovered just before a fight in which their new powers would be needed.
• Police Are Useless: The cops don't have the means to stop the monsters.
• Psychoactive Powers: In empathokinesis, the emotion used affects how a given power manifests.
• Rage Against the Heavens: Platicore's ultimate goal is to destroy Fate, feeling it's the only way to save free will from her meddling.
• Rescue Reversal: Tenacity challenges Day LaMode alone in order to rescue Robert, Cory, and Eli. She ends up nearly dead, so Rob becomes Spirit Guard Serenity to save her.
• Serious Business: Some characters act like Cheerleading and MMORPG's are at least as important as world peace, prompting a few In-Universe eye roles.
• Screw Destiny: Robert really, really tries to invoke this upon being told about his "destiny".
• Shown Their Work: When Charity/Kara is having to heal up Tenacity/Mallory from her beat down at the hands of a monster, Taralynn doesn't shy away from getting into the nitty gritty details about what is being done- in particular with how Charity is healing a collapsed lung! Taralynn acknowledged the help of a reader who was an EMT letting her know what would need to be done in such a situation and it shows!
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Cute, petite, and buxom, Robynne is literally one of the most striking girls in school — something she does not find thrilling as she is still struggling through her transition with no sign of the Second Law of Gender-Bending in sight.
  • Played with, as the beauty results from a literal curse, at least from the recipient's point of view. The last thing an introvert wants is to look so striking people won't leave you alone.
• Spell My Name With An S: Jodi's name flips between that and Jody before settling on the former.
• Stating the Simple Solution: While the Spirit Guard think of how to deal with Cammy, Noriko suggests just assassinating her. As expected, she is turned down, as the heroes won't consider something so drastic unless the Cammy-Empress situation becomes truly dire.
• Super Gender-Bender: Due to the Spirit Guard transformation changing the user's body to be closer to their Ardentia predecessor, becoming Spirit Guard Serenity would force Robert into a female body, which is one of the reasons he turns down joining the team.
  • Rob ends up going through with it in order to save Tenacity from Day LaMode. Rob then has to create the new identity of Robynne Darling.
• Sure, Let's Go with That:
  • During his first conversation with Angela, Rob notes the cleverness of Spirit Guard Valor's use of rock to negate electric attacks while rescuing of the people in the pool during the battle with Saturationa.
    Angela: I had never considered that.
    Robert: Yeah, well, I’m sure the Spirit Guard did. They are heroes after all.
    Angela: Yeah, I–I’m sure they did too.
  • Robynne uses this all the time after her Gender Bender to deflect people prying into her background.
• Suspicious Missed Messages: Mallory visits Eli's dorm because him not answering his phone after Polygal attacked his workplace is cause for alarm. Turns out he just lost his phone in the chaos. Of course, Mal knew Eli was fine since she's one of the Spirit Guards that rescued him; the visit was just an excuse to meet with Robert.
• Telepathy: According to Platicore, tranquility empathokinesis, Rob's speciality, can allow for something resembling telepathy when mastered.
• Tempting Fate: Cory is said to do this a lot, with Eli telling him to cut it out since it tends to end poorly for both Cory and those near him. After the Polygal encounter, Cory says the chances of he, Eli, and Rob running into another monster are extremely slim. Cue Day LaMode just days later. After they find out Fate is an actual thing that doesn't care about ruining people's lives, Eli shuts down anything that might tempt Fate.
• The Force Is Strong with This One: The Spirit Guard's original method of finding would-be members was to get to know people with unusually strong auras. The person would inevitably find themselves at a monster attack, glow to confirm they were a Spirit Guard, and transform to save the day.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Robynne gives one to Cammy for "coincidentally" crashing her lunch with Stacy and not taking the hint to leave her alone, calling Cammy out for being a lying, scheming jerk.
• Third Law of Gender-Bending: Male clothing just doesn't fit Robynne's new frame, and even if it did, SAU's dress code and her Spirit Guard costume force her to wear a skirt. At the suggestion of her roommates, the best she can do at reducing the attention she draws is wearing conservative, non-color coordinated clothing that isn't too unfashionable. When she infiltrates the cheer team, she has to learn how to pass as at least a somewhat normal girl.
• This Is Reality: Watching the Spirit Guard fare so poorly against Day LaMode has Rob reflect that even though the Spirit Guard tend to handily defeat their foes, in real life, the heroes don't always win and anyone can die.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The best friends Mallory and Angela, respectively. Robynne and her close Unwitting Muggle Friend Stacy are another pair.
• Transformation Is a Free Action: Played with: The Spirit Guard are invulnerable during their actual transformation sequences, which they subjectively perceive as taking place inside a timeless pocket universe. However, as this can take up to 30 seconds in real time a magically-aware opponent can position themselves to attack the instant their transformation sequence finishes.
• Transformation Sequence: Seen when Rob transforms for the first time. Played with in that the characters have to figure out how to work their transformation sequences the first time they transform; it doesn't just happen to them.
• Transformation Trinket: The Spirit Sticks.
• Translation Convention: When Trace speaks to Platicore in her native language, it's rendered in English that is much better than her actual English.
• Translator Microbes:
  • There's apparently something like this for the Spirit Guard, since the visions and power names from their Ardentia predecessors are rendered in English to them.
  • Platicore's armor has a translation function, so Trace can speak her native tongue to him.
• Trash Talk: The Spirit Guard form comes with the urge for dramatic speech when fighting monsters. The monsters often talk right back.
• Unwitting Muggle Friend: Stacy becomes Robynne's closest friend outside of the Masquerade, unaware that Robynne is not only a Spirit Guard, but the guy she had met the first week of class.
• Villains Out Shopping: When she's not on an assignment from Platicore, Trace spends most of her drinking at Rusty's Tavern.
• Weirdness Censor: The Standridge Stones are the apparent reason Kessia City's weirdness is basically unknown outside the area and causes little alarm or intrigue in most people that do know. Kunapipi is banking on it to help Taylor accept Robynne is actually his nephew by having him fly over.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Rob was raised by his Uncle Taylor to be an upstanding guy, and tends to think of what Taylor would say when making decisions. So when Rob becomes Spirit Guard Serenity to save Mallory, he does so believing it's a choice that would make Taylor proud. Robynne's greatest fear then becomes the possibility of Taylor not believing she's his nephew when the time comes to explain everything.
• Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Kessia City is somewhere in the western United States, while Deepwater is apparently in the southeast since the people there have a country accent.
• World of Technicolor Hair: Kessia City residents often end up with a rainbow of hair colors, including people that move there. This, as well as people there considering it normal, is apparently due to the Standridge Stones altering perception. There's even specific names for these hair colors, such as scarlette for blood red.
• Why Are You Looking at Me Like That?: When it's explained that the Spirit Guard aren't the only Champions Kunapipi seeks out, they all look at Robert. He takes a moment to realize that they mean he's a Champion as well.
• Wishful Projection: Angela initially has a hard time understanding how a fellow chosen like Robert doesn't share her uptight moral standards or eagerness to join the Spirit Guard.
• With a Friend and a Stranger: At the start, Robert has been friends with his roommates Cory and Eli for two weeks, while Cory and Eli have been Heterosexual Life-Partners since childhood.
• The Worf Effect: Tenacity is the biggest, strongest Spirit Guard, and gets utterly defeated by Day LaMode. LaMode, in turn, is easily defeated by the newly transformed Serenity.
• Year Inside, Hour Outside: No matter how long a Spirit Guard spends in the Transformation Station, the sort of pocket dimension where they transform, a fixed amount of time passes in the real world. Rob's transformation is the longest at about 30 seconds.
• You Cannot Grasp the True Form: The Other Power is incomprehensible. A device made by the Scholar managed to obtain some unspecified data on it, but that's about it.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Despite Rob's insistence that he rules his own destiny, he gives in and transforms to save Mallory.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Robynne can't return to Deepwater while the threat of monsters in Kessia City remains. Her classes are even shifted to allow for staying during the summer.
• "You!" Exclamation: Polygal addresses Robert this way after she gets up following his attack that robbed her of her Investiture.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: A standard reaction, usually Rob's, to the ridiculousness life throws his way.
• You No Take Candle: Trace is new to English and is poor at speaking it. She practices with Rusty in hopes of improving.
• You Watch Too Much X: Eli frequently reminds Cory that things don't play out like they do in movies and stuff. Cory then gets to rub it in whenever he correctly calls things lining up with narrative tropes.

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