The Gaiad is an Epic Poem Web Serial Novel spanning from the beginning of time to the heat death of the universe. It is heavily influenced by The Bible and seeks to be a Reconstruction of many Religion Tropes.
Tropes found in The Gaiad:
- Absent Aliens: No life exists outside the Solar System, although it does exist in the solar system itself.
- Alternative Calendar: The calendar is based on the Western Zodiac and is a sidereal calendar rather than a tropical calendar.
- Angelic Beauty: Gods look very sexual because sexuality is divine. Looks a lot more similar to Hot as Hell than normal versions of this trope.
- Archnemesis Dad: Hengweh meets all the criteria and is an ancestor of all life on Earth. He doesn't want to be surpassed and becomes a Satanic figure representing evil of a planned bent alongside the chaotically evil Hillu.
- As the Good Book Says...: Many verses are directly lifted from The Bible and both the Gaiad and the Bible are frequently quoted by characters.
- Blood Magic: Using blood as fertilizer is common when worshipping Ferron.
- Celestial Bureaucracy: Heaven is ruled over by Mithra who acts as an elected president.
- Cosmic Egg: Part of the creation myth, although it is more a Cosmic placenta than a Cosmic egg.
- Deal with the Devil: Hengweh gives people offers to sacrifice their principles to gain success. His deals are non-binding and tend to reflect hypocrisy rather than true soul-selling.
- Demon of Human Origin: Hengweh is a variant of this, originating from a microorganism that was evil enough to undergo Abstract Apotheosis; this is why he makes deals with people.
- Don't Fear the Reaper: Ghedos is portrayed quite positively in accordance with Voudoun.
- The Epic: A story spanning billions of years about the rise of a Galaxy-spanning Empire.
- Fantastic Naming Convention: All entities from Elohim to microbes to planets to humans all follow the same naming convention of surnames, going from father to son and mother to daughter.
- Generational Saga: Follows the descendants of Yin and Yang over hundreds of generations.
- Genre-Busting: A Science Fantasy Epic Poem about personified natural forces leading into Space Opera.
- God of Good: Mithra is the Top God and God of Lawful Good.
- Hollywood Voodoo: Averted with Ghedos and other Voodoo references, which are common among other polytheistic references. Evil interpretations of Voodoo aren't even referenced.
- Inbred and Evil:
- Rados, the Anthropomorphic Personification of Radon gas, a known carcinogen, and Noble Gas.
- Averted with Heh, the Anthropomorphic Personification of Helium Hydride, who is insane but not evil.
- "Just So" Story:
- Periodically the narrator explains how the events of the text relate to modern practices. For example, money is green because Cupria the Bronzen Maiden grew green in old age. Radioactive decay chains come from necromancy, etc.
- The story of the Awful Wedded Life between Adonis and Helia as a warning about Parental Incest.
- Lawful Stupid: Hengweh is the God of this, but he develops towards
Lawful Evil; they are shown as the same thing.
- Love Is Like Religion: Sexual imagery is frequently used to describe faith and vice versa.
- Lustful Melt: By Gallia when she sees Chromius, based on how Gallium melts at body temperature.
- Modernized God: Mithra and the other Gods are associated more with space and science than traditional things.
- Motherly Scientist: Iodina, parents as a whole are treated somewhat like this due to the idea of raising a child being an experiment, so Iodina has motherhood as a general attribute.
- Order Versus Chaos: The main conflict between Hilluhengweh and Mithra, which has elements of Both Order and Chaos are Dangerous with Hillu being extreme chaos, Hengweh being extreme order and Mithra being the middle ground.
- Our Gods Are Different: Elohim act something between standard Gods and Celestial Paragons and Archangels.
- Parental Incest: Between Adonis and Helia, not portrayed as evil, but as a part of a "Just So" Story about avoiding incest.
- Perplexing Plurals: Elohim as the plural of Eloh, alongside the feminine Elah.
- Panspermia: A pseudo panspermia
based on this hypothesis.- Also includes traditional panspermia with life originating on Venus and spreading to all the planets of the Solar system and nearby star systems.
- Print Bonus: The Illuminated Manuscript format includes special illustrations in the style of medieval bibles.
- Recursive Canon: The Gaiad is referenced as Sacred Scripture in the narrative itself.
- Satanic Archetype: Hilluhengweh, Hillu is less anthropomorphic, and Hengweh is more like the traditional devil who makes deals with people.
- Top God: Mithra is the King of the Gods and often referred to as simply "God".
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: Hengweh during the oxygen crisis, taking over as president of the Gods from Mithra.
- Western Zodiac: Present in the Alternative Calendar with the stars being legions of Mithra; uses Ophiuchus in a 13 sign system.
