Literature / New Orleans Supernatural Weekly

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A fantasy series written for Channillo by Deborah Dixon. The series is updated once every two weeks with a new story. Each story ties into a broader plot arch and begins as a news magazine-style article before switching to a more typical narrative format.

Journalist Sayeva Reardon is pulled into the supernatural underground of her home city after an encounter with vampires causes a disaster. Being no stranger to the supernatural herself, Sayeva decides that the human population needs to be made aware of the unusual threats in their neighborhoods and resolves to create a "weekly" news magazine to expose those dangerous elements. Not everyone appreciates this maneuver.

As with most other Deboracracy works, the series, often shortened to NOSPN, takes place in New Orleans. It also shares characters with other works in that universe, including the Sovereign novels and the Illuminated novellas. The series is ongoing and available on the Channillo website.

New Orleans Supernatural Weekly contains examples of:

General

• The Big Easy: Follows the Deboracracy tradition of massively averting New Orleans tropes.
• Deuteragonist: Samuel, who covers both the "antagonist" and "love interest" angles at the beginning of the series.
• Fair Cop: Samuel and Jamison are both given these descriptions.
• Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Creatures of all kinds are mentioned as living in New Orleans, from vampires to shapeshifters to mages to Gifteds to your average unfortunate humans.
• Going for the Big Scoop: Sayeva's insistence on doing this is the driving force behind the series.
• In-Series Nickname: The term "NOSPN" is used in the stories by the characters.
• Intrepid Reporter: Sayeva and her team.
• Like Reality, Unless Noted: Takes place in present-day New Orleans, where everything is exactly the same as it would be to the day in real life, except when it isn't.
• Occult Detective: The Gifted Unit detectives, and the NOSPN journalists to some extent.
• Shapeshifting: Sayeva is a shapeshifter with several animal forms. Her "default" form is human, of course.

"Letter From the Editor: In Darkness"

• The Ageless: Sayeva and John both appear to be this, as they met in 1961 and have not aged since then. However, when Sayeva asks him about this directly, John cryptically corrects her.
• Arc Words: "How far up Bourbon did they go?" is asked by Sayeva, then Detective Athos, and finally John Black, with regard to where the affected Sabertooth players went on their first night in New Orleans. Turns out the students went into a dimly-lit stretch of Bourbon Street, which just happened to be home to a deadly vampire clan.
• Big Damn Heroes: John Black.
• Black Mage: John claims to be this. Technically, he's not lying.
• The Cameo: A character named John Black features heavily in this story. Illuminated readers will instantly pick up on why that's a bad thing.
• Magic Pants: Averted by Sayeva, who carries a large purse/shoulder bag that contains a change of clothes in case she has to shift.
• No Body Left Behind: The vampires get this treatment after unduly pissing John off.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted: Sayeva Reardon and John Rearden/Black. Sayeva took on the last name "Reardon" in honor of John, whose objectives she carried on after his assumed death.
• Our Vampires Are Different: There are several different types of vampires in New Orleans alone, which becomes problematic when John fails to realize that the vampires feeding on the drum corps have additional psychic abilities.

"Siren Song"

• Arc Words: "You have two heartbeats left."
• Badass Normal: Detective Samuel Athos, a typical human, displays this in several ways, from cunning to proficiency in fighting an unseen enemy.
• Disposing of a Body: The missing men are found... or at least, traces of their DNA as well as small parts of them are.
• First-Name Basis: Samuel Athos initiates this with Sayeva. Meanwhile, he and his partner refer to each other using their last names.
• Flat "What": Jamison's response to Samuel's assertion that no one in their blatantly corrupt city is above the law.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: Cassandra.
• Returning to the Scene: One of the suspects in the missing-persons cases does this.
• Totally Not a Werehyena: Sayeva specifies that she can't turn into human-hyena hybrids.

"Witches' Brew"

• Canon Welding: Several characters from Illuminated Series I appear in this story; NOSPN had already been stated to take place in the Deboracracy along with Illuminated and Sovereign, among others.
• Cryptic Background Reference: The chat about Roscoe eloping with Cantrell as well as Joanna's response on Gabrielle's whereabouts are treated as general small talk; they're actually foreshadowing NOSPN and the Sovereign series.
• In-Series Nickname: Over the two weeks between "Siren Song" and "Witches' Brew," Samuel Athos has become "Sam" and Sayeva has become "Say."
• Mage Species: One character outlines the differences between witches and mages in-story: the latter are "born into" magic, while the former learn magic.
• Magick: Averted here because the point-of-view character (Sayeva) does not know the difference between stage magic and natural magick.
• Secret Public Identity: Subverted. John Black was and is still well-known as a human rights activist, but Sayeva is one of the few people to have actually met him.

"Ghost Stories"

• Arc Words: "Two heartbeats left" returns along with Samuel.
• Cryptic Background Reference: Jamison takes note of "Banana Split," a Porsche 911 owned by Samuel. The name is a reference to an incident in which Samuel was stopped for "peeling out of a Dairy Queen." He also hints that the car has been modified.
• Celibate Hero: Samuel is implied to be this.
• Cool Car: Sam's Porsche 911, although the "mods" are well hidden.
• Due to the Dead: Jamison is able to send the ghost to her afterlife by making two promises, one of which is to give her and her husband proper funerals.
• Involuntary Shapeshifter: When faced with certain danger, Sayeva's reflex is to change into a much smaller form to avoid it.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: This story features a "kinetic energy being" strong enough to push a full-grown, well-built man around.
• Paranormal Investigation: The plot of this week's story.
• Partial Transformation: In human form, Sayeva produces claws from her knuckles.
• Sherlock Scan: Employed by both detectives at different times. A notable one is delivered by Jamison, who, despite usually being The Watson of the pair, explains his reasoning in the classic Sherlock way, saying "It's basic enough" before launching into a long description filled with things only experts in multiple fields would have spotted.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: An entire scene is dedicated to Deadpan Snarkers Samuel and Jamison going back and forth.
• Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: An Irish variant.
• Unfinished Business: The ghost.

"Extra #1: The Breakfast Run"

• Info Dump: The entire purpose of this extra.
• Nothing but Hits: In-universe example. Averted by Samuel, who knows the (fictional) Renaissance composer Claudio Benintendi's works despite Benintendi having not achieved lasting fame.
• Shapeshifter Baggage: Discussed by Sayeva, but only to point out that she doesn't know how she changes mass.

"The Conspiracy, Part I"

• Blunt "Yes": Samuel's response to a question that was meant as sarcastic.
• Brick Joke: Morales comments on the biweekly nature of New Orleans Supernatural Weekly.
• Brutal Honesty: Samuel, as noted by his partner.
  Jamison: I've never known him to lie either, much to everyone's detriment....
• The Cameo: Two characters from Illuminated, Kee Kee and Reese, show up toward the end.
• Enemy Mine: How Samuel gets the information he wants.
• Exact Words: Sayeva notes that Samuel never said he would personally bring her his findings, just that she would have "all she needed" in time to publish that week's article.
• Internal Affairs: Samuel is under investigation. Supposedly.
• Not My Driver: A rideshare-app version.
• Shipper on Deck: Jamison, for Sayeva and Samuel.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Samuel snarks his way through the story, including in the face of a threat.
• Throwing Down the Gauntlet: An unusually shaken Samuel is subjected to this.

"Fanmail"

• Armor-Piercing Response: Irritated by Samuel's suspicious behavior, Sayeva upsets Astaire Kenton's plan for dealing with the demons by showing up as he leaves the Brotherhood building. When she offers to stop by and take Kenton's prepared story as planned the next morning, he makes an oblique but pointed reply:
  Kenton: If I didn't know better, Sayeva, I would say you came here looking to tear into something.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Over three days, Sayeva's house is vandalized: her cable and electric lines are cut, an angry face is drawn in blood on her window, and her mailbox is smashed in.
• Continuity Nod: John mentions that the demons had been sent away from New Orleans a year earlier. This occurred in the novel Sovereign.
• Double-Meaning Title: "Fanmail" refers to the letters and emails that the NOSPN staff receives following their exposé in "The Conspiracy" and the special packages left in Sayeva's mailbox.
• Magical Incantation: A brief one is used to dispel a few demons.
• Noodle Incident: Samuel's injured shoulder.
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Much of Rennick's conversation with Sayeva is this, as she assumes he is referring to Samuel at first.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted by Jamie and Jaime. Exploited by the latter.
• Shipper with an Agenda: Jaime Rennick.

"Letter From the Editor 2: 'Dark Territory'"

• A Day in the Limelight: This story focuses largely on Jamison and the secret he has been keeping.
• Badass Boast: How Jamison keeps the poltergeists at bay.
• The Cameo: The archiving assistant at the Tulane archives is Roscoe Williams.
• Continuity Nod: Sayeva remarks that she had to replace her mailbox four times before it stopped getting destroyed.
  • Also, Samuel is still sidelined due to an injury.
• Da Chief: This installment introduces Captain Morrision of the Gifted Unit.
• I Am What I Am: Jamison finally comes around to this when facing off against poltergeists.
• Offstage Waiting Room: Samuel is noted as still injured and helping on the cold case, but does not actually appear in this story.
• One Case at a Time: Subverted by Jamison, who is said to be managing an active case while looking into the ghosts' case; and Samuel, who is helping Jamison and presumably still tracking Winters while confined to desk duty.
• Throwing Down the Gauntlet: The titular letter does this, as Rennick points out.
• Title Drop: In the letter itself.

"Extras #2-4: Halloween Special"

This folder contains tropes from the three Halloween 2016 shorts, "Blackout," "The Informant," and "One Thousand."

• How We Got Here: Extra #4 begins with Sayeva sitting in her car, outside the Halloween ball. It then goes back to two days earlier.
• I See Dead People: Jamison finally reveals this talent of his to Samuel and Sayeva. It goes over poorly both times.
• Incredibly Obvious Bug: Subverted; the bugs have been in place since NOSPN moved into the offices and were only found after Samuel told Paul to look for them.
• Info Dump: The purpose of the extras; a departure from the usual format separate from the main event, the Halloween episode.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Sayeva delivers one to a typically obtuse Samuel.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: When Angelica refers to Samuel as Sayeva's boyfriend, Sayeva insists that is not the case. When Angelica (and Adrien) made a similar remark to Samuel in "The Conspiracy Part I," Samuel did not deny it.
  Sayeva: He is not my boyfriend.
  Angelica: Really? Has anyone told him that?
• Shipper on Deck: Rhiannon, as it turns out. And Jamison invents a ship name ("Sameva").

"Danse Macabre"

• Bigger on the Inside: Samuel realizes he and Sayeva have crossed into another dimension because the ceiling in the Gentilly house is higher than the roof was.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Both Sayeva and Samuel have one, which is highlighted by Winters as he draws from their nightmares.
• "Groundhog Day" Loop: Sayeva and Samuel wind up in one with a lion.
• Masquerade Ball: The first setting of the story.
• The Reveal: The connection between John Black and Blair Winters. (Unless, of course, you read Illuminated first.)

"The Adversary"

• Chair Reveal: Samuel pulls another one at the end of the story.
• Cutting Corners: One of the reasons why Jamison and Samuel are sharing a department car.
• Imperiled in Pregnancy: Inverted, as it is the expectant mother who is imperiling everyone else.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Sayeva is still dealing with this following the masquerade ball.
• Lunacy: Jamison suggests this as being the driving force behind the werewolf. He's partly correct, and there's a supermoon coming.
• No Badge? No Problem!: Zigzagged. Jamison specifically states that Sayeva cannot be involved in field work. She runs her own stakeout anyway. Jamison expected her to do this and asks the still-suspended Samuel to watch her; he is the one to haul her out of danger.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: Or specifically how they are compared to general shapeshifters. This becomes a major plot point.

"Firewall"

• Double Entendre: Jamison notably uses one to draw attention away from a preceding statement from Samuel, which decidedly had only one meaning.
• Infraction Distraction: Turns out Samuel's Chair Reveal was less about threatening Winters and more about installing hidden software on Winters' computer.
• Instant Waking Skills: Played straight by Samuel, downplayed by Sayeva, and subverted by Winters.
• The Swarm: Sayeva has to deal with small bugs everywhere, crawling on her, invading her home, and appearing on other people. She's the only one who can see and feel them.
• Talking Is a Free Action: Deconstructed in the opening sequence, where Adrien Lefévre repeatedly attacks Samuel during his deduction/blackmail.
• Tailor-Made Prison: Winters' prison happens to be an actual prison. Samuel exploits this.
  Samuel: No attention, no ability to control others, terrible food, wearing used clothes. ’Every man a king,’ right?
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Defied. Julienne is charged with five counts of assault instead of four because the court considers Sayeva a human, despite her being in hyena form at the time of the attack.

"The Conspiracy, Part II"

• Knight Templar Parent: Samuel flies into an overprotective rage at the first sign that his son's cover has been broken.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Sayeva's tepid responses during the second interview effectively break the masquerade.
• Off the Record: The entire first interview is based around the subject's unwillingness to divulge anything for publication.
• The Unmasqued World: The result of the second interview, when Winters initiates the Madness to make a point to Sayeva.

"Kingfish"

• Noodle Incident: While carrying Samuel to safety, Jamison remarks that this is "just like old times."
• Our Angels Are Different: The Healer makes an appearance, just in time for Christmas.
• Prophecy Armor: "Delmedigo" informs Winters that Sayeva, Samuel, and Jamison are not to be harmed, as they are "needed."
• Shout-Out: When his right arm is injured in a fight, Samuel simply switches to his left, not unlike his namesake.

"Mindfulness"/"Monsters"