Secret Project

From Tai List

"Partners" is a Speculative Fiction story by artist Norithics, about teen superheroes in an idealised future setting of the year 2541. Oh, and they're all (or almost all) furries. Currently two volumes have been completed, with a third in progress.

Tropes appearing in Partners (beware of spoilers):

• Action Girl: Nat and Carrie both are quite capable of taking care of themselves and getting in a scrap even before they get superpowers.
• Adopted to the House: In Volume 2, it turns out this was offered to Jacent by Carrie's mother following the events of Volume 1. He already has his own place at this point (only finding out too late due to neglect in picking up his mail), but he's touched by the gesture nonetheless.
• Aerith and Bob: Even the inkling's names aside, there are common names like Natalie, Carrie, and Samantha alongside more unusual names like Alliston, Coul, and Grendolyn. They're close enough to current names that it suggests this is a form of Language Drift.
• Affectionate Nickname: Carrie's for Nat is "Sugarbutt", Nat's for Carrie is "Boobiecakes"
• Air-Vent Passageway: Early in Volume 1, Carrie escapes the collapsed school by using the vents.
• Alien Among Us: Once Volume 2 gets in gear, the inklings begin having a regular presence in Locksmouth. Several of the Grays choose to stay on Earth and bond with humans, and their integration into society is a major plot thread.
• Alien Invasion: The conflict of Volume 1
• Aliens Speaking English: The inklings can speak the language of whoever they're bonded with, so everyone in the story is easily understood.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Nat and Carrie both suffer this in their backstories (see Dark and Troubled Past for details), including taunting playground rhymes. Notably, they both get past it by the time the story starts. They've made friends and grown past the ostracisation, and only Cedric and his gang still pick on them.
• All There in the Manual: There are some details, character names, and story scenarios that only appear on the author's Inkbunny gallery instead of the main story, simply because there isn't a place to reveal them naturally or they're better told through illustration.
• Alpha and Beta Wolves: Well, Natalie is a wolf and she's her pack's alpha. But in Partners, "alpha" is just a term for the leader of the pack who looks out for the rest of the group. In fact, Nat and Carrie are co-alphas (and Carrie isn't a wolf).
• Alpha Bitch: Deconstructed and ultimately averted with Shelly. Her attempts to emulate Carrie's sassy, no-nonsense demeanor and lack of ability in reading social cues result in people finding her mean and offputting, and leaving the poor girl utterly friendless. When finally confronted by Carrie, she breaks down in tears and explains the whole situation.
• Alternate Reality Episode: Several of them towards the end of Volume 2.
• Ambiguously Jewish: Erwin exhibits a lot of the stereotypical traits (particularly for Jewish and Nerdy), from his hair down to his last name (Goldstein). The ambiguity comes from whether or not Judaism still exists in the post-splice future.
• Amicable Exes: Max and Svenson, after a fashion. Turns out Svenson broke it off because he didn't want to change Max.
• Anger Born of Worry: Erwin's boyfriend just ended up in a coma (see Angst Coma) after their first date was spoiled by the pack spying on them. It's perfectly understandable he lashes out at Jacent for this, even if he was wrong about Jacent's role in participation. Jacent doesn't hold this against Erwin, and they're able to make amends later.
• Angst Coma: Poor Kei ends up in one after his and Erwin's disastrous first date
• Animal Species Accent: Not normally, but it is briefly noted Gren's goat accent slips out occasionally.
• Animal Superheroes: Essentially what the main cast becomes.
• Animate Inanimate Object: Kei's inkling power from Animis lets him do this
• Another Dimension: Canvas, the world where the inklings come from
• Appearance Angst: Natalie has some image issues with how large her backside is, a trait she inhereted from her mother.
• Arc Villain: In Volume 1, each of Osoth's generals are fought in sequence, then Osoth herself as the final boss
  • For Volume 2, which had more self-contained arcs, more of these cropped up, usually lasting just a chapter.
• Arch-Enemy: Natalie and Cedric treat each other like this, though exactly how serious on either side it is can vary. The conflict between Echelon and Emnas only exacerbates it.
  • Cap'n Comet's is Dr. Nhilus, and it says something that Jacent is still dealing with the mad doctor's legacies 500 years later.
• An Arm and a Leg: Sam loses a leg to one of the monsters early on, replacing it with a prosthetic one.
  • In Volume 2, Nat sacrifices her arms in the climax to defeat Grendel.
• Artificial Animal People: This is humanity's advancement in the Partners world. All humans have become anthropomorphic animals, though they still consider themselves humans first. The "artifical" part comes in in that they didn't achieve this through natural evolution, but to save them from a plague.
• Artificial Limbs: Sam gains a prosthetic leg after losing hers to a monster. This opens her mind to the positive aspects of transhumanism.
  • Natalie gains them after Volume 2, after sacrificing her arms to defeat Grendel. It's noted this is an unusual case, as whatever she did seems to have interfered with her ability to regenerate her arms naturally.
• Ascended Extra: Shelly, Gren, and Ten all had minor roles in Volume 1. Once Volume 2 rolls around, they all get promoted to major characters, joining Natalie's pack and getting their own plot lines and character focuses.
• Ascended Fanboy: Natalie's a big fan of superheroics and of Cap'n Comet in particular. She soon becomes a superhero of her own and fights alongside the good captain himself.
• Astral Projection: Monica's PSYCO ability
• Attack Pattern Alpha: Nat and Cat have been doing their bully-hunter thing for long enough that they've developed pre-rehearsed manuevres with fancy names.
• Author Appeal: The author is well known for his fondness for ample posteriors, as seen on Nat and her mother. Also, '80s/'90s pop culture. Despite taking place 500 years in the future, references to things like Super Nintendo and the Ninja Turtles keep being made (usually by the handful of characters who once lived back then).
• Awesome McCoolname: Jacent Danger could almost be a superhero name itself.
  • Also, Max Tangent's full name isn't Maximilian or Maxwell. It's Maximum.
• Ax-Crazy: Grendel exists only to fight, kill, and destroy. And she revels in it.
• Back to School: An odd variation, overlapping with Compulsory School Age. Both Jacent and Jasmine are still young enough to be in school, but upon joining post-Splice society, they're temporarily sent back to the youngest grade and gradually advanced up. This is because the standards of what's common knowledge and human aptitude have changed in 500 years, and they need to assess the pre-Splice students' actual aptitude and ability
• Backstory: Loads. Almost every major character has some backstory to explore on how they relate to the rest of the cast.
• Bad Ol' Badger: Cedric Onyx, local bully and rival to Natalie and her pack.
• Badass Adorable: The whole dang squad. A bunch of cute teenage animal people who have saved the world.
• Ban on A.I.: There's one in the future. Dr. Grayswift is still interested in exploring the technology, however.
• Batter Up!: Seems to be Jasmine's weapon of choice
• Battle Couple: Nat and Carrie. One of the inspirations for the work was to fill this trope with a girl/girl couple.
• Beach Episode: Despite being more of an underwater city with a water park, the visit to Anchorsway probably counts thematically.
• Bedmate Reveal: Happens to Jacent, of all people, to his utter bafflement.
• Beneath the Earth: A lot goes on below Locksmouth. From sealed superheroes to robot cities, there's a number of undisturbed locations underground.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Don't underestimate Max just because he's constantly chattering nonsense or engaging in odd behaviour. He's one of the better fighters in the pack, and his goofy mindset gives him a lot of outside-the-box insights.
• Big Bad: For Volume 1, it's Osoth, leader of the invading forces
  • Volume 2 has a wider variety of opponents, but it ultimately ends up being Grendel, killer robot from Jacent's rogues' gallery
• Big Bad Wannabe: The Authoritus, especially Blane. They certainly caused some trouble, but couldn't hold onto it when Grendel showed up.
• A Birthday, Not a Break: It's Max's birthday! Everyone's out in Anchorsway to have a good time--and then Khurl shows up threatening a terrorist attack.
• Blob Monster: The inklings are a fluidic race, somewhat similar to the symbiotes in Spider-Man.
  • Also the "grabber" line of monsters. They're basically big piles of green goo with a single eyeball. Max's pet, Gropey, is a juvenile one.
• Blue Means Cold: Floe, Alliston's inkling, is a cool ice-blue colour and also has ice-based abilities.
• Boobs of Steel: Carrie. Well-endowed and physically tough.
• Bookends: Volume 1 both begins and ends with Natalie being woken up in her bedroom.
• Boxing Lessons for Superman: Carrie's already a decent fighter, but starts learning wrestling in Volume 2 to better compliment her invulnerability powers.
• Brain Uploading: The fate of humanity in the alternate timeline where the Sandbox technology saves everyone instead of the splice. Gren, Ten, and Shelly experience this for themselves when visiting this universe.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Happens to poor Kei towards the climax of Volume 1, leading to a lengthy fight. He gets over it by Volume 2, following Osoth's defeat.
• Breast Expansion: There's a whole section of Volume 2 where Natalie borrows Lastik's powers to play with this.
• Brother–Sister Team: Jacent and Jasmine, even if they're not blood-related
• The Bully: Cedric is your archetypical example
• Bully Hunter: How Nat and Carrie start the story, usually with Cedric as the bully in question
• But Now I Must Go: How Volume 1 ends. With the world saved, the inklings leave their human partners behind and return to Canvas.
• Buxom Is Better: Natalie thinks so, and her girlfriend Carrie has quite a set to prove her right
• By the Power of Grayskull!: Most of the Inked activate their powers by invoking their inkling's name. Lampshaded the first time, as it's not an explicit rule for the powers and Echelon and Arus have to infer this is what Nat and Cat are doing.
• Can't Stay Normal: The cast at the beginning of Volume 2. Nat in particular revels in the chance to return to her superhero life.
• Canon Immigrant: Several characters in Volume 2 originate as fan characters
• The Cape: Captain Comet/Jacent Danger is very much the archetypical superhero
• Captain Superhero: Natalie's favourite, Cap'n Comet (AKA Jacent Danger).
• Cataclysm Backstory: The form of humanity as we (and Jacent) know it was wiped out by the Skin Plague. It continues on through splicing them with animal DNA, resulting in animal-human hybrids and granted genetic equality.
• Catching Up on History: Jacent attempts to do this in Volume 2, but certain parts of his textbook are locked from him, forcing him to seek out answers directly.
• Celibate Hero: Which is not to say Jacent is romanceless or asexual. He's very committed in his relationship with Samantha. But being from a much older time period, he prefers taking things much slower than post-splice humans, as well as his (outdated) views on monogamy and heterosexuality, which aren't necessarily in his control.
• Central Theme: Two of them
  • One, that The Future Will Be Better. It's not a utopia, but embracing equality and the elimination of poverty and war has led to great things. The stories are brimming with optimism for the future and humanity's accomplishments, which leads to...
  • Togetherness and trust. From the pack system, to familial and romantic relationships, to the unity of the heroes and their inklings, the driving force of the story is people working together. Jacent's character development is driven by his deepening bonds with others, while the antagonists exploit or reject relationships. It is called Partners, after all.
• Chaotic Neutral: Leihanne specifically states she's not interested in "good" or "evil" sides in the conflict, she simply is in it for her own amusement.
• Character Development:
  • While Natalie of course loves her mom, her pack, and her girlfriend starting out, she's also an average teen wanting something more. Over the course of the story, she comes to realises she loves her sleepy, boring town and all the people in it, and grows into an All-Loving Hero who wants to protect everybody she meets.
  • Jacent Danger, an exemplary superhero who's spent his whole life keeping people at arm's length because of the risks of his profession. Once woken in 2541, he gradually adjusts to both relying on other people and the strange cultural norms of the future. These two paths of growth are related, in fact: the more he accepts the future's viewpoints, the closer he grows to his new friends.
• Character-Magnetic Team: Nat's pack is double what it was by the end of Volume 2.
• Chest Insignia: Most of Cap'n Comet's costumes have one, usually a comet arching in a C shape.
• Christmas Episode: The "Homeshare Spirit" epilogue serves as one of these
• Clothes Make the Superman: The Inked can't use their powers without being bonded with their respective inkling.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Max comes across as this, and even his close friends admit they don't always understand what comes out of his mouth.
• Color-Coded Castes: While the Elite inklings come in all different colours, the Grays are all exactly as their name implies. They're the powerless peasant class, and exploring this is part of Volume 2.
• Color-Coded For Your Convenience: Each of the Elite inklings comes in a different colour to identify them. Just among the main heroes in the first volume, Echelon is black and pink, Arus is white, Mhend is pink, Phactys is tan, and Koralo is green.
• Comic Books Are Real: The Cap'n Comet comics Natalie and friends enjoy turn out to be (mostly) accurate adaptations of Jacent's adventures, and they're surprised as anyone when he turns out to be real.
• Comically Oversized Butt: Natalie worries she has this, inherited from her mother
• The Commissioner Gordon: Officer Murphy eventually falls into this role for the Locksmouth heroes
• The Constant: Childhood friend of Jacent and Jasmine's, Widget. Still the same 500 years later.
• Constantly Curious: Downplayed in that it isn't constant, but Ten has shades of this, particularly when the older members of his pack have to curtail his questions while at the mall.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Osoth is a conqueror with a huge army, several generals, and has mental powers involving mind control, only fighting the heroes when all her forces have been exhausted. Grendel, however, is a single mechanical lifeform, revels in the physical aspects of combat, and really, really doesn't play well with others.
• Convection Schmonvection: While Emnas' lava abilities are quite powerful, they're not quite as lethal as they should be.
• Cool Car: Sam gets one in Volume 2. Like, it's considered cool even by future hovercar standards.
• Cool Teacher: Ms. Hendrix is well-liked by her students (at least when she's not being controlled by one of Osoth's generals).
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: The conflict at the beginning of Volume 3. Carrie is annoyed she didn't get the same message to opt out (see Releasing From the Promise below), figuring Nat considered her help obligatory. It's not until Arus has her confront Natalie, where she reveals she did send the message to Carrie. But by mistake, she sent it to Carrie's old PET, the one she gave to Jacent.
• Covered with Scars: Jacent has quite a few, souvenirs of his rough life as a superhero
• Creepy Blue Eyes: Grendel's eyes are compared to a gas flame, and it's one of the many unsettling things about her.
  • Jasmine is not an example of this, though she was picked on in her youth for being perceived this way (blue eyes are unusual for a Chinese girl).
• Crossover: Volume 2 includes numerous fan characters from other artists' own Partners-verse stories.
• Cute Bruiser: Nat and Cat are adorable teen girls, and also kick a whole lot of ass.
• Cyclops: The "shuffler" and "grabber" lines of monster.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Several of our heroes.
  • Natalie's father died in an accident, and the loss hit her hard enough to require therapy.
  • Carrie survives being hit by a car at a young age. She was also saddled with the nickname "Scary Carrie" for her intimidating looks.
  • Jacent, being a child superhero, has a load of this. In particular, he shares an incident as a young hero (in his "Kid Comet" days) where over-zealous pursuit of a villain led to critically injuring his target. This incident is left out of the comics adapting his life.
• Data Pad: The PET essentially boils down to this. The replacement for both personal computers and cellphones in the future, they're highly customisable and capable of a variety of functions.
• Date Peepers: The rest of the pack spy on Erwin's date with Kei, suggesting it's a common pack activity when Jacent protests. Given the events that transpire, they should've listened to Jacent.
• A Day in the Limelight: While Volume 1 heavily uses Natalie as the focal character, Volume 2 uses its less urgent arc structure to let other characters take the spotlight for certain chapters.
• Dead Person Conversation: Jacent can interact with Jasmine, who's essentially piggybacking on his soul and lending him her psychic powers. Late in Volume 2, they get separated, leading to everybody being able to see and hear her.
• Delinquent Hair: Cedric's hair is notably dyed purple.
• Depopulation Bomb: The Skin Plague. While it didn't quite wipe out humanity entirely, it did do notable damage to the global population before the Splice solved it. And even in the now-present of 2541, the population's numbers have not recovered.
• Diagnosis of God: While not stated directly in the text, Shelly is likely autistic, given her difficulty in understanding social cues and certain jokes (such as sarcasm). In-universe, her condition is referred to as Social Dissociation Disorder.
• Disappeared Dad: Natalie's father died some years before the start of the story
• Domed Hometown: Locksmouth and the other major population centers each exist under a dome, each with their own controllable weather patterns.
• Doorstopper: Despite only being available digitally and the generally "young adult" writing style, these are not short books. Volume 1 approaches almost 800 pages, and Volume 2 clocks in at over a thousand.
• Dr. Genericius: Dr. Nhilus, Jacent's archenemy.
• The Dragon: Back in Jacent's time, Grendel was this to Dr. Nhilus. In modern times, she's become a Dragon Ascendant big bad of her own.
• Dressed to Plunder: Alliston, as part of her motif. Bandanna, striped shirt, buccaneer boots, loose belt, the works.
• Enemy Mine: Cedric and his gang team up with Natalie's pack to take on a bigger threat, such as Osoth. This usually leads to Cedric then attempting to stab Natalie in the back partway through the team-up.
• Eternal English: Jacent doesn't have any trouble understanding anyone 500 years in the future, at least as far as spoken words go.
• Even Evil Has Standards: "Evil" is a bit strong, but as Cedric/Emnas get more extreme, eventually even Coul and Alliston abandon him and start developing in their own ways.
• Everybody Has Lots of Sex: This is actually a fundamental aspect of post-splice society. Sex doesn't have its taboos or stigmas, and casual sex among friends is essentially seen as just another way to express affection and show someone you care about them. Most packs, especially teenagers, practice outercourse, or "OC", a type of clothed sex done via projections from their understickers. Jacent, being from 500 years ago, is often caught off-guard by these casual attitudes.
• Everyone is Bi: And they don't think another thing about it. Identifying terms like "lesbian" no longer even exist. To post-splice humans, it's weirder that they have to explain this to Jacent.
• Evil Doppelgänger: The Natalie from the alternate timeline where she can't let go of Echelon.
• Evil Matriarch: Not normally, but once Dr. Grayswift gets possessed by Osoth...
• Evilutionary Biologist: Dr. Leonard Chu, AKA the Beastmaker. Initially one of Captain Comet's foes, he eventually ends up savior of humanity once the Skin Plague hits.
• Extremely Short Timespan: Volume 1 takes place over roughly four days or so.
• Famed in Story: An unusual example. Jacent is this to Nat and Carrie--because he is a comic book superhero they're familiar with.
  • Following Volume 1, Natalie's whole friend group becomes this, the Heroes of Locksmouth.
• Family of Choice: A major theme of the work, but also in general what the pack dynamic essentially boils down to
• Fantastic Fruits and Vegetables: In the future, meat is grown from a plant instead of harvested from livestock.
• Fantastic Racism: It takes a while for Inklings to be accepted into society, and likewise for robots. Jasmine, inhabiting a robot body starting in Volume 3, experiences some of this.
• The Fashionista: Samantha is noted for this, to the point that her friends often go to her for it.
• Fictional Holiday: A few are mentioned, including Hallowed Halls (a cross between Halloween and a remembrance day) and Homeshare (a Christmas-like equivalent, see You Mean Xmas below)
• Fictional Sport: Dodgevolley is the sport of choice among high schoolers in 2541. It's pretty much exactly like it sounds.
• Fighting Clown: Max is a Talkative Loon who uses his tongue as a weapon and his Inkling power makes things sticky. He's still one of the most competent fighters in Natalie's pack, especially when he starts studying Lucha Libre techniques.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: Jacent's troubles usually come from him being this, still set in older ways of thinking. He's at least open-minded about it.
• Flintstone Theming: The various art-related terms that come with the inklings' abilities: Canvas (their homeworld), The Inked (people who are sharing a bond with an inkling), shading (those using an inkling's higher powers), Flood Fill (a power that protects an area by tapping into Osoth's lingering essence), the list goes on...
• Fluffy Tamer: Sam ends up befriending the huge spout dragon, Nozzle, once it's free of Osoth's control.
  • Max also defeats a grabber, reducing it to a tiny blob, and adopts it.
• Flying Brick: While actually Psychic Powers at heart, Jacent's powerset essentially makes him this.
  • This actually goes out the window once Jasmine is set as a separate being: Jacent can't use her powers, and her lack of a body cuts out the invulnerability.
• Flying Car: Maybe closer to hover cars, but they're close enough
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Jasmine and Jacent, respectively. Jazz isn't so much "foolish" as she is free-spirited, and having been a ghost clinging to her brother's soul for many years, is much quicker to jump in and enjoy life where she can. Jacent, meanwhile, is a model superhero for many years, despite his young age.
• For Want of a Nail: Each of the alternate timelines in Volume 2.
  • Nat visits a timeline where she is unable to let go of Echelon, forcibly using the inkling to keep being special.
  • The main pack visit a timeline where their pack never formed, and thus they never met their inklings. Instead, Grendel is awoken and ends up saving humanity from Osoth.
  • Shelly, Gren, and Ten end up in a future where the Sandbox technology saves humanity instead of the splice, leaving them in a future revolving around robots instead.
• Four-Legged Insect: Shelly and presumably others with an insect sub-type. Not always the case, though! Jessalynn, for example, has two pairs of more typical spider legs on her back, in addition to her human arms and legs.
• Free-Love Future: Played with. Romantic couples are still common, but additionally, post-splice humans will frequently engage in various activities together without batting an eye at it. It's seen as normal to experiment with each other, especially with in a pack.
• Friends with Benefits: Part and parcel to being in a pack. OC among friends is just natural bonding activities.
• Friendship Denial: Alliston invokes this with Jacent, stating she's not interested in joining Natalie's group even after separating from Cedric. Jacent still treats her amicably, since they're basically next-door neighbours.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Cedric was just an average high school bully. Ever since bonding with Emnas, his activites have escalated. Oh, and he can shoot lava from his hands now.
• Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Since they're all humans, this is pretty expected. In fact, despite the more openly accepted views on sexuality, this seems to still be enforced by society (possibly for hygienic reasons). There's note of "naturalists" who live out of dome.
• Fun with Acronyms: Everyone's constant companion in 2541 is their Personal Electronic Taskmaster--you know, their PET.
  • Erwin builds some tech to inhibit Osoth's Grays from controlling people, a Super Conscious Isometric Frequency Inhibitor. In other words, a SCIFI device.
  • Folks with psychic powers are PSYCOs--that is to say, they're Psychically Capable Organisms.
• Furry Confusion: Traditional animals still exist for farming purposes, and it's noted that rarely anyone keeps pets anymore, seeing it as weird when most pets look like your neighbours. In one particular instance, our heroes save a man from a burning building, and he begs them to save "his bunny" as well. Turns out it's not his romantic partner, but a pet bunny, and their reaction is exactly what you think.
• Future Food Is Artificial: It's all real meat, but it doesn't come from animals. It's meat that's literally grown from a plant.
• Future Slang: Not often, but vehicles are often referred to as "trans" (presumably short for "transport"), with cars in particular being "PeTras" (Personal Trans). Amusingly, Jacent notes at one point that "trans" meant something different in his time.
  • Terms like "robot" are still used, but as a species name, expect characters to be referred to as Automa.
• Future Spandex: Largely averted, most of the teen characters wear clothes readers would recognise as contemporary (or at least reasonably close). It's noted, however, this was a popular fashion choice in their parents' generation, by the name of Star Fantasia. Jacent finds it appealing, mortifying fashion-conscious Sam.
  • The understickers the characters wear for undergarments, however, are definitely this.
• The Future Will Be Better: The main focus of the story. The year of 2541 isn't without its problems, but most major diseases have been cured, war has been abolished, and food and energy scarcity have been solved. Depsite being animal hybrids and on a population downswing, humanity is finally equal and treat each other as such. Jacent, despite occasionally feeling out of place, seems to view the world 500 years later as an improvement.
• Gag Penis: Erwin, surprisingly, is depicted as comedically well-endowed in supplemental art.
• Gang of Bullies: Cedric's the leader, with Coul and Alliston as his underlings. It's noted Cedric's had other minions before, but these two seem particularly loyal.
• Geek Physiques: Erwin is one of the brainiest and least physical of the pack.
• Generation Xerox: Natalie and her mother look remarkably alike--right down to the width of their posteriors, to Natalie's annoyance.
• Genius Ditz: Shelly's a bit vapid and has difficulty reading social cues. She's also scarily good at science.
• Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: Nat and Carrie engage in the OC version of this after reuniting following the attack on the school.
• Glowing Mechanical Eyes: Grendel in particular has eyes described like a gas burner
• Goggles Do Something Unusual: Erwin's glasses have several functions, including a camera
• Gondor Calls for Aid: Late in Volume 2, when the rest of the pack gets swept away for multiversal adventures, Jacent does this, recruiting online friends and acquaintences to defend Locksmouth until Nat and the others get back. The majority of these are cameos from other Partners fanworks.
• The Good Captain: Even 500 years in the future, Captain Comet still fights for the forces of good.
• Goth: The alternate Natalie and Erwin in one of the multiverses visited in Volume 2
• Gray Is Useless: Maybe a little demeaning, but the non-powered masses of the Inklings are all gray. Only the variously-coloured elites can grant their hosts superpowers.
• Hair-Raising Hare: Sarissa, particularly when she shapeshifts into her monster form
• Halloween Episode: Chapter 17 in Volume 2 serves as this, for their equivalent holiday, "Hallowed Halls".
• Has Two Mommies: Erwin's parents are both women. One is still called "Dad", as a family joke.
• Haunted Castle: By name, this is the setting of the Hallowed Halls episode in Volume 2. It's a group activity, a sort of escape room/mystery house event done with holograms and other animatronics.
• Healing Hands: Sam's inkling powers from Mhend (though it actually first manifests as a kiss)
• Heroic Host: The inklings bond with their hosts and give them powers.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Jasmine tries to pull one at the climax of Volume 2, but Natalie decides to Take a Third Option.
• Hidden Depths: In addition to being a superhero, Jacent is a competent cook and enjoys preparing food for others.
• Hologram: A major piece of tech in the future, used for all sorts of things. Jacent notably dislikes them, and avoids using them in home decorating.
• Hotter and Sexier: In the post-Splice future, the entire human race. In addition to their more openly embraced sexual freedoms, post-Splice humans have differing layers of subcutaneous fat that not only make them more durable, but also curvier. Even boys draw Jacent's eye, to his confusion and awkward frustration.
• Hoverboard: The grav-skiff technology. In addition to shoes, it does apply to common hoverboad-like devices.
• Human Popsicle: How Jacent ends up in the future.
• Humanity's Wake: Humanity as the reader would know it is gone, wiped out by the Skin Plague. But it also continues on, having saved the rest by bio-engineering them into animal hybrids. Thus the terms pre- and post-Splice humanity. Jacent is the last known survivor of pre-Splice humanity.
• Humans Need Aliens: As tough as Nat and Cat are, they wouldn't stand much chance against Osoth's forces without Echelon and crew. And inverted as well, since the inklings are a symbiotic race that can't exist on this plane for very long without a host.
• Humanshifting: Most of Sarissa's transformations are into other people
• Humongous Mecha: The Overnauts, another of Dr. Nhilus' many creations.
• I Control My Minions Through...: Osoth uses a little bit of everything: Authority, Fear, Power, Corruption... But mostly Mind Control. It's noted that Fear in particular strengthens her hold, so our heroes win by spreading hope and friendship.
• I Work Alone: Jacent's attitude in the past, due to the dangerous life as a superhero. Part of his character development is shedding this attitude and coming to accept his new friends.
• An Ice Person: Alliston's inkling powers from Floe
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Actually not the titles themselves, but each chapter is instead referred to as an "Episode".
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Notably, what Echelon believes regarding herself. They opt to imprison Osoth following their victory, rather than kill her and start the cycle over again. Sadly, however, the imprisonment doesn't last, and an uprising of the formerly oppressed get to Osoth first.
• Imagination-Based Superpower: Not the powers granted by the inklings, but the inklings themselves. They explain they can do the things they do because they're creatures of imagination rather than science. This is why their names are easily spoken in human language instead of being The Unpronounceable, and why the Mirror Slide works just the way they expect it to work.
• Improbable Weapon User: Jacent's signature is a pair of yo-yos, and he also uses other toys on occasion. There's a practical reason for this: toys are fragile, his powers are not. By having the finesse to use toys as weapons, he thus reduces the likelihood of serious injury with his powers.
• In the Future, We Still Have Roombas: The Auto-Maid robots
• Incompatible Orientation: Played with. By all accounts, Jacent is probably not interested in guys, and is in a committed relationship with Sam. But the shapely bottoms of post-splice boys still manage to fluster him. There may be hope for him in this future yet.
• Instant Mass: Just Add Water!: A certain brand of mini-muffins have this property. Jacent eats several before being informed he has to rehydrate them--thus filling him up very quickly.
• Instant Sedation: Sam eventually learns to use Mhend's powers like this, based on an applied anasthetic
• Intergenerational Friendship: Not a significant gap, but Gren and Ten are much younger than the rest of Natalie's pack.
• Intoxication Ensues: Certain drinks (usually tinged blue) are more or less harmless to post-splice humans, but Jacent has a different sort of biology and they affect him much more strongly.
• Invisibility: Coul's inkling powers from Vissage
• Journey to the Center of the Mind: The heroes use Urgai's powers to help Kei this way, who is in a coma.
• Jumped at the Call: Nat, a lifelong fan of superheroics, jumps at the chance to become one herself.
• Keet: Max. He's the youngest of the cast outside of Gren and Ten (turning 16 partway through Volume 2), and is easily the most talkative and weird of the pack, but also the easiest to get along with.
• Kid Hero: The main cast are all in their teens or younger. Jacent in particular started out as Kid Comet at a younger age.
• Killed Offscreen: Mixer and her crew are taken out by Grendel just before their final conflict with the heroes, simply because Grendel was bored.
• Killer Robot: Grendel
• Killer Yo-Yo: Jacent's weapon of choice. Despite the trope name, the intent is actually to reduce the lethality of his attacks.
• Kitschy Themed Restaurant: Shakers: The Dairy Bar. Jacent likens it to something akin to Hooters, but the cow-print uniforms are actually less skimpy (though still extremely form-fitting).
• La Résistance: Echelon's group of inklings is this against Osoth's forces. Emnas' group is essentially a rival faction opposing both Osoth and Echelon.
• Last-Name Basis: Cedric most often refers to Natalie just as "Grayswift".
• Lawman Baton: Standard issue for the police force, these also administer a non-lethal shock. The police otherwise do not have weapons.
• The Leader: While everyone is equal, packs do have a sort of defined leader called the "alpha", whose job is mostly to look out for the rest of the pack and make sure everyone is happy and cared for. Natalie and Carrie are co-alphas for their pack.
• Leaving You to Find Myself: After separating from Cedric late in Volume 2, Coul and Alliston also mutually agree to this, purposefully distancing themselves from each other to try and find out who they are as individuals.
• LEGO Genetics: Essentially how everyone in the future became animal hybrids. The Skin Plague only targeted human DNA, so it was mashed up with a variety of animal species to repel the virus. They also tinkered with other aspects of the genome while they were at it, leading to the physical and emotional equality between sexes, among other things.
• Life Energy: The reasons why inklings need a host is that they're powered by an emotional output called "prana", and can't hold themselves together outside of Canvas without a direct link to it. If the host is willing and provides positive energy, it doesn't hurt them and also makes the inkling stronger as well.
• Like Is, Like, A Comma: Frequent in Shelly's speech patterns
• Limb-Sensation Fascination: Sam really takes to her prosthetic leg, even beyond its use in combat
• Living Relic: Jacent is the last surviving pre-splice human
• Local Hangout: Usually the Burger Dictator
• Lovable Sex Maniac: Erwin is described as this, of a sort. Most references to his background usually involve some mention of him being pervy. "But he's our perv," his friends will fondly add.
• Loving a Shadow: Erwin initially had this sort of relationship with Natalie, nursing a crush on his perceptions of her. Eventually Carrie asks him to knock it off, but also to join their friend group and get to know the real Nat. As he discovered his perceptions didn't match the real thing, he abandoned the crush but developed a more meaningful, real friendship with her instead.
• Luke Nounverber: Natalie Grayswift is almost a literal example
• Mad Scientist: Dr. Nhilus, Cap'n Comet's arch enemy. There are actually a number of these in his rogues' gallery, inlcuding Dr. Chu, the man responsible for humanity's hybridised future.
  • Natalie jokingly refers to her mother as one
• Making a Splash: Khurl's inkling powers
• Magma Man: Cedric's inkling powers from Emnas
• Magic Kiss: Mhend's healing powers first manifest this way, but later become more broadly applicable
• Malicious Misnaming: Carrie still gets called "Scary Carrie", an old schoolyard taunt, by those trying to rile her up
• Mascot: In-universe, Squidcat is one for Sealand in Anchorsway.
• Meaningful Name: Doubling with Punny Name, several of the inklings have names related to their abilities.
  • For a boy named "Tangent", Max sure goes off on some random ones, doesn't he?
• Mecha-Mooks: Dr. Nhilus had many Nhiloids in his employ
• Mega Twintails: Carrie's hairstyle is best described as two enormous corkscrew spirals hanging from the back of her head.
• Mind Control: Osoth's inkling powers, and how she rules her subjects
• Mind over Matter: Cap'n Comet's powers are a fancy application of telekinetic shielding.
  • These turn out to be Jasmine's actual powers, which Jacent could only use while they were sharing a mind.
• Mirror Monster: Subverted. This initially seems like how it's going to play out, but the truth about Echelon is much stranger.
• Mirror Scare: The first couple times we see Echelon, it's this kind of reveal. Fortunately, she's much more benign than this trope usually plays out.
• Mixed Animal Species Team: Natalie's pack consists of a wolf, a cat, a ferret, an iguana, and a bat. They later add a goat, a tiger, a fox, a butterfly, a pre-splice human, a robot, and a psychic ghost projection of another pre-splice human (who inhabits another robot). It's a bit of a diverse group.
• Mocking Sing-Song: Both Carrie and Nat were taunted this way in their youths, complete with a full Playground Song for each of them.
• Mooks: The non-Elite inklings, the Grays
• Morphic Resonance: A variant. Inklings end up taking traits of hosts they bond most strongly with. Echelon now has wolf-like traits even when separate from Natalie.
• Mr. Exposition: Kelvalde fills this role often. Ms. Hendrix and Dr. Grayswift also take up this role from time to time, especially in Volume 2. Usually these are for Jacent's benefit in-universe.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The "crawler" line of monsters are hexapodal.
• Multipurpose Tongue: Max has one of these, which factors into his fighting style
• Mutually Exclusive Power-Ups: Natalie can only use one copied power from Echelon at a time.
  • Jasmine can't use her psychic powers while also inhabiting her robot body. Attempting to try forcibly ejects her.
• Mysterious Past: Despite being documented as a comic book series, the exact specifics of Jacent's past as a superhero aren't fully detailed (since his adventures will surely be more fantastic if left to the readers' imagination). Futher, it's revealed the comics themselves leave out some of the more gruesome details as well. Averted, however, in that Jacent himself is willing to share these details (as well as what came before) when necessary.
• Nerd Glasses: Erwin naturally sports a pair
• Nigh-Invulnerability: Carrie's inkling powers from Arus
• Nightmare of Normality: This is what Dreamless Urgai inflicts on Natalie. She's cast into a world several years previous, where her adventures have all been fantasy while she's undergoing psychological rehabilitation and Carrie died in an accident. Fortunately, Natalie is able to Spot The Thread and break this illusion.
• No Love for the Wicked: Cedric fits this, given his likely asexual status (it's noted he's never participated in OC)
• No-Paper Future: There is paper, but it's rare to see, and several characters note any use as very old. No modern characters use it.
• Noble Wolf: Natalie Grayswift. A loyal and caring friend who aspires to heroic deeds.
• Non-Heteronormative Society: In the future of 2541, Everyone Is Bi and casual sex between pack members is seen as normal, regardless of gender. When an old fogey starts up a rant against Nat and Carrie's practicing OC, Jacent tries to defend them as a lesbian couple, only to be informed that terms like "lesbian" no longer exist and just because they're a girl/girl couple doesn't mean they have a problem fooling around with Max and Erwin either.
• Non-Mammal Mammaries: Actually averted. Everyone is human, so they're all actually mammals. Even the insect girls, like Shelly and Jessalynn.
• Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: Locksmouth was a fairly ordinary town in the year 2541, especially if you asked Natalie Grayswift. It just happened to be attacked by aliens from another dimension one day.
• Official Couple: Several throughout the series
  • Nat and Carrie, already together at the start of the series
  • Jacent and Sam undergo a Relationship Upgrade and start dating, even in spite of Jacent's older ways of thinking
  • Erwin and Kei likewise eventually get together in Volume 2
  • With her daughter's blessing, Dr. Grayswift hooks up with an old colleague as the story progresses
• Old Superhero: One of the alternate universes the cast visits in Volume 2 has Jacent in this role, having been unfrozen several times in the last 500 years.
• Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Discussed. The two smartest characters briefly talk about feeling it unfair that they're expected to solve every science-related problem.
• One-Word Title: "Partners" gets its name from the various kinds of comraderie throughout the story. From the pack dynamics in post-splice society, to the pairing of an Inkling with their human, to Nat and Carrie's relationship... Not only working together but treating each other as equals is a major theme of the books.
• Online Alias: Everyone on the PETnet uses one. Just among the main pack in Volume 1, Natalie is "BagelHunter", Carrie is "PrettyKitty", Erwin is "BrushFerret", Sam is "Classybat", and Max is "The_Lickinator".
• Opt Out: Shelly doesn't join the others on the mission into Kei's dreamscape. To be fair, she was relatively new to the pack, and she wasn't part of the group peeping on their date.
• Ordinary High-School Student: The main cast at the start of the series
• Our Ghosts Are Different: Jasmine's essentially a ghost haunting Jacent's mind and lending him her powers. She eventually becomes visible to everyone else as well, and even gains a nifty robot body to house her soul once separated.
• Our Monsters Are Weird: The various monsters encountered throughout the story. Justified in that they're aliens from other worlds being used as shock troops.
• Our Showers Are Different: Fog-cycle showers use propelled water molecules to clean its user. Soap and even fur dye can be pre-installed, making the whole process extremely quick.
• Overpopulation Crisis: Inverted, the future of 2541 is suffering an under-population crisis. Humans aren't exactly dying out, but the Skin Plague wreaked such havoc that they've never really recovered to pre-splice numbers. It's rarely addressed, but occasionally mentioned to show not everything is perfect in the future.
• Parent with New Paramour: Dr. Grayswift hooks up with an old colleague and family friend, and Natalie is okay with it, as she's familiar with "Uncle Wade" and knows he's not replacing her father.
• Parental Substitute: The "Homeshare Spirit" epilogue reveals Kei views his inkling, Animis, this way, even calling her "Mom".
• Parents in Distress: Part of the conflict in Volume 1 is Natalie's mother being used as the Big Bad's host. While Nat wants to be a superhero and save the day, she also just wants to save her mom.
• A Party, Also Known as an Orgy: OC parties are very common among post-splice teens
• Pink Heroine: Natalie is often seen dressing in pink, and her inkling, Echelon, is pink and black.
• A Pirate 400 Years Too Late: Alliston fashions herself this way, down to the accent, for whatever reason.
• The Plague: An engineered disease called the Skin Plague is what leads to humanity's failing numbers and eventual transformation into animal hybrids.
• Police Are Useless: This can be attributed to the mostly pacifist designs of post-splice society. But really, who could be prepared for alien invasions or robot uprisings?
• Post-Scarcity Economy: By 2541, the hunger and energy crises have been solved, and nearly anything can be recycled.
• Power Copying: Nat's inking power from Echelon. It requires her to have contact with the DNA of the other person whose powers she wants to use, usually accomplished with a lock of hair, and she can only use one powerset at a time.
• Power Limiter: Jasmine's robot body is designed to give her normal human strength and ability. She can voluntarily turn off these limiters to access her full powers, but doing so will also alert the authorities.
• The Power of Friendship: So far, this seems to be what powers an inkling's higher abilities.
• Power Perversion Potential: In a private moment, Natalie borrows Lastik's powers to play with her breast size experimentally.
• Predator-Prey Friendship: No inherent danger in the relationship and closer than just friends, but Jessalynn (a spider) and Selina (a moth) do make quite a pair.
• Pro Wrestling Episode: Chapter 15 of Volume 2, where the pack goes to a wrestling show at Anchorsway to celebrate Max's birthday
• Psychic Powers: What Jacent's Comet Powers essentially boil down to being, the combination of which make him a Flying Brick.
  • His sister Jasmine has them as well (most of the ones Jacent was using were hers, in fact). And it turns out, so do a handful of post-splice humans.
• Punny Name: Several of the inklings, often overlapping with Meaningful Name. For example, Lastik has stretching powers, Floe has ice powers.
• Rage-Breaking Point: Normally shy and awkward Erwin finally blows his stack when Kei ends up in a coma, yelling at Jacent and accusing him of spying on their date. For Dramatic Irony, Jacent was serious (offering condolences, having lost his own sister) and had actually tried to get the rest of the pack to give the couple a private moment. They make up once Erwin realises this, and Kei recovers.
• Ragtag Band of Misfits: The main cast. A group of teenagers who became friends because they had no one else, who end up saving the world.
• Reconstruction: For the superhero genre. The story was written specifically in response to dour, darker superhero works that were common at the time.
• Recruit Teenagers with Attitude: All the inklings in Echelon's resistance group end up bonding with a bunch of kids.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Empress Osoth
• Reflective Teleportation: A power the inklings have. They can move to Canvas and back through mirrors, and writing on the mirrors allows them to move to a specific destination.
• Releasing from the Promise: Natalie offers her companions this in the downtime between Volumes 2 and 3. She called upon them as an emergency, but once things settle down, she understands that the superhero life isn't for everyone. Shelly takes the out.
• Retractable Appendages: Not fully retractable, but Shelly's butterfly wings are "foldable" and can be gently hidden in a backpack-like garment.
• Revealing Continuity Lapse: How Natalie escapes from Dreamless Urgai's illusion in Volume 1. The illusion is constructed from her thoughts and memories--but she didn't actually witness her father's death. She merely imagined it so vividly out of guilt. When these images are treated as fact, Nat picks up on this.
• Ridiculously Human Robots: Several, but Widget takes the cake.
  • Jasmine eventually becomes one as well.
• Right Through His Pants: Actually invoked. This is how outercourse, or "OC", works. The understickers project a field that can be felt by other wearers, and thus imitate sexual activity while characters are still clothed. This makes OC sessions very quick and clean, and thus popular with teenagers.
• Robot Me: Mixer and her crew are robot versions of Natalie's main pack
• Robot Names: Mixer, Winch, Crunch, Paste, and Plaster, all named after mechanical tasks that they specialise in
• Robot War: The (eventual) conflict of Volume 2
• Robotic Reveal: The perpetrators of the theft of the mechanical police battlesuits is thought to be by disgruntled officers--until they're opened up, and they get their first look at Mixer's crew.
• Rogues' Gallery: As a superhero, Jacent had one. Several of them are mentioned, including Dr. Nhilus (and Grendel), Tunnel Vision, and the Spidress.
  • Volume 2 seems to be intent on setting one of these up for Nat, adding encounters with Sarissa, Khurl, and Leihanne alongside Cedric.
• Rubber Man: Shelly's inkling powers from Lastik
• Sanity Slippage: ALternate universe Natalie is clearly going through this, driven by the trauma of losing her inkling to keep her powers forcibly instead.
• Sarcasm-Blind: Shelly is this, as part of her Social Dissociation Disorder. Her PET is programmed to recognise it and inform her.
• Scavenger World: Rarely in the tech portions, but the pop culture of 2541 is a hodge-podge of pre-splice tech and culture that its inhabitants don't quite have the full picture of.
• Second Hour Superpower: Natalie starts as merely a good fighter. Even after gaining her Inked form, it takes a while before she discovers the precise mechanics of Echelon's Power Copying.
• Secret Identity: Played with and deconstructed. Our heroes sincerely try to invoke this trope, but two of them are already pretty well-known among their peers, and their Inked forms look simply like themselves covered in a solid colour. Once they're outed, they basically give up the pretense and just have a public identity as superheroes.
  • Notably, Jacent, the professional superhero, never bothers with this, and is open about his identity as Captain Comet.
• Security Blanket: Natalie's childhood toy, a stuffed octopus named Mr. Squiggle
• Seers: Essentially what Erwin's inkling powers from Phactys make him
  • This is also Jacent's actual power--all the fancy telekinetic abilities came from Jasmine piggybacking on his soul.
• Sense Freak: Jasmine's new robot body is sophisticated enough to not only allow her to eat, but to enjoy the flavour, texture, and warmth of the food. Having been stuck as a disembodied spirit for so long, she very much does.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Late in Volume 2, the heroes jump to parallel worlds, where things didn't play out the same. Each group has to fix the problems before they can return to their rightful universe.
• Shapeshifting: Sarissa has this power
• Shared Dream: Inklings and their hosts can share dreams. This goes further, as Gren and Ten also share a dream, due to sharing an inkling.
• Ship Tease: A fair bit of this between Gren and Ten. Doubles as Toy Ship, given their ages (which is also why it hasn't blossomed into anything more than a tease yet).
  • Jacent also gets a load of these despite his relationship with Sam, mostly because it's funny when he's flustered.
• Shock and Awe: Gren and Ten's shared inkling power from Voltaus
• Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Jacent Danger. The red hair in particular stands out, given his Chinese heritage.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: Jacent taking the plunge into updating his pre-Splice-era undergarments with modern understickers is portrayed as a moment of character growth.
• Similarly Named Works: A character example. DC Comics also has a somewhat obscure character named Captain Comet. Unlike Jacent, however, Adam Blake has never had his own self-titled series.
  • The inklike aliens called inklings share a species name with Splatoon's squid kids, despite the author actually planning them before that series debuted.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: None of the cast is shy about cursing, but Jasmine seems to do it more frequently than anybody else.
• Skeleton Motif: Natalie's most iconic outfit has a pink skull insignia on the front. This symbol is also used as the image for each issue's first page.
• Slice of Life: With the threat from Volume 1 now over, the first half of Volume 2 is made up of mostly shorter, self-contained arcs that show a lot more of the daily life and features of 2541 to build up the setting.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Firmly on the idealistic side. While not perfect, the future of 2541 is generally presented as an improvement over the readers' present (something even noted by viewpoint character Jacent). Natalie herself also sits strongly on the idealist side, having grown up on classic superhero stories. Best shown at the end of Volume 2, where Natalie won't accept a potential friend she just met making a Senseless Sacrifice, and opts to Take A Third Option instead.
• The Slow Path: Jacent ends up in the future by being cryogenically frozen and thawed. Widget is there waiting for him by simply living out those years.
• Smart People Wear Glasses: Erwin's the brainiest of the pack, and wears a large pair of nerd glasses
• So Last Season: It's actually the villain doing this to the previous villain. The first arc of Volume 2 makes a big deal of build-up towards the resurrection of Osoth--only for her to be annihilated by Grendel shortly thereafter, cementing her as the new big bad.
• Socially Awkward Hero: Probably several of Natalie's pack qualify, but Jacent especially stands out, being 500 years out of touch
• Solar Punk: The basic aesthetic setting of the Partners universe. Sustainable future? Check. Quasi-utopian? Check. Optimistic? That's a big check.
• Somewhere, a Herpetologist Is Crying: Max is meant to be an iguana, but has an elastic tongue more akin to a chameleon. Could be justified as part of the genetic modifications made to post-splice humanity.
• Space Station: The Ring, an enormous orbiting space station in a ring shape around the planet.
• Spoiled Sweet: Sam enjoys the finer things in life, is very fashion-conscious, and her family is at the high-end of the wealth cap. Nonetheless, Sam is kind and generous to her friends and those around her, and her personal aspirations lie in medicine and caregiving.
• Sticky Situation: Max's inkling powers from Koralo
• Stranded Invader: Several of the leftover monsters are still lurking around at the start of Volume 2. A few are being held on The Ring to study their biology. The pack also realises Kelvalde's inkling didn't return home with the rest of them.
• Stuffed into a Locker: Cedric (actually Sarissa in disguise) does this to Bo early in Volume 2, setting off the poor girl's claustrophobia
• Super Soldier: There was a super soldier project years before the current story. Khurl gets her enhanced physique by being related to this project.
• Super Speed: Blane's inkling power from Actima--for a little while
• Survivor Guilt: Kei has a boatload of this. His relationship with his parents was antagonistic at best, and he makes an offhand wish they would die. When they actually do during the attack on Locksmouth, he's extremely torn up about it even in spite of the abuse.
• The Symbiote: The inklings bond with other creatures so they can survive in our world. The Elites also give their hosts powers, while the Grays at least give you a friend, if you're willing.
• Synthetic Plague: The Skin Plague that wiped out pre-splice humanity
• Take a Third Option: Grendel is about to explode and eliminate all life, and only Jasmine can stop her, sacrificing herself to do so. Instead, Natalie latches on to Waymaker Pathos' powers and puts Grendel in another dimension, one already devoid of life. It costs her her arms, but not her new friend.
• Talk Like a Pirate: Alliston does this frequently, though she starts to grow out of it when she splits from Cedric's gang and develops as a person.
• Team Pet: Gropey, Max's pet grabber monster
• Terms of Endangerment: A variant used by Grendel. Rather than a typical affectionate nickname, she gives Jacent (and later Natalie) a "Dragon" title when she acknowledges them as something worthy of her attention.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: Part of Khurl's backstory. Born with ties to a super-soldier program, her overly muscular physique led people treating her with disgust and fear. So she decided to lean into it, figuring she might as well be as monstrous as she's been treated.
• There Are No Therapists: Averted. Natalie has been to sens-rep therapy following the death of her dad. It's in a notable building referred to as "the Bullet".
• Token Human: Of a sort. They're all humans, but Jacent is the only pre-splice human while the rest resemble anthropomorphic animals.
• Totally Radical: Widget speaks with a lot of '90s slang, even 500 years later.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Natalie's is bagels, Carrie's is cake.
• Tube Travel: It's actually supposed to only be used for the mail, but Max also uses the pneumatic tube systems to get around quickly.
• Tunnel King: One of Captain Comet's old foes, Tunnel Vision.
• Twenty Minutes into the Future: This could roughly describe the "present" that Jacent was from. It's basically the same as the readers' history, but there's also killer robots, psychic powers, and other advanced scientific principles. It's the presence of these things that escalates to the technology levels seen in 2541.
• Two Siblings In One: Late in Volume 2, it's revealed Jacent and Jasmine have this dynamic. Jazz is piggybacking on Jacent's soul, and only he can communicate with her. They later are separated again, as well as Jazz becoming visible to others and gaining a robot body.
• Underground City: Turns out there's one populated by robots under Locksmouth.
• Underwater City: The city of Anchorsway
• The Unmasking: Cedric engineers one to reveal Natalie's pack on a public broadcast. Once that happens, the group comes clean and abandons their attempts at secret identities.
• The Unpronounceable: Discussed. By all accounts, inkling names should be this. But because their powers and names run on imagination rather than hard science, they end up with names the heroes can say instead.
• Untrusting Community: Although initially shaky, it's actually not the people of Locksmouth in this trope. No, it's the Greys, the unpowered civilians of the inkling race. They're deeply mistrustful that their saviors won't just turn on them and become another Osoth.
• Urban Segregation: It's mentioned that choosing to live outside a domed city is essentially removing oneself from society and its amenities.
• Valley Girl: Shelly patterns herself after this, down to the vocal mannerisms, copying from old films in an attempt to make herself popular.
• Values Dissonance: In-universe, Jacent, whose values are from 500 years ago, gets hit with this a lot (usually in matters of sex and sexuality), often for comedy and sometimes drama. To his credit, he realises he's the one who has to be more open-minded and try to change, as society has moved on beyond his values--and the truly important values, like protecting others and being kind, are still there.
• Video Wills: Without the actual will part, but as part of Hallowed Halls, it is common to record a message to your loved ones before you pass. Nat opens Chapter 17 of Volume 2 watching one from her father.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Whatever Cedric's planning, he always gets away to plot anew
• Villainous Friendship: Cedric and his two cronies, Coul and Alliston. The friendship, however, gets strained the more extreme that Cedric gets.
• Visual Pun: Shelly's a bubbly insect girl who throws a lot of parties. She's a social butterfly.
• Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World: Once the characters settle into their heroic identities, Volume 2 becomes structured much like this.
• Walking Techbane: Leihanne Veviroux's inkling power from Gliche
• The Watson: Jacent is often used as an audience surrogate, since he's been asleep for 500 years and needs basic history and concepts explained to him
• We Will Have Perfect Health in the Future: It's noted there are still the occasional colds, but the major diseases have been eliminated, and post-splice humans have longer lifespans and even regenerative healing abilities.
• Weather-Control Machine: Each domed city has one. The one in Locksmouth fails, and getting it up and running again is one of the major plot beats of Volume 1.
• Wham Line:
  • Volume 2, Issue 6: "What is it??" Natalie asked, helping Carrie to her feet. "What are they trying to do??" "They plan to resurrect Osoth..."
• Wild Teen Party: Shelly's forte. Notably, the protagonists encourage her to throw these, because their enemies run on negative emotions and Shelly's parties keep up the positivity. They're in attendance of one in Volume 2, which gets attacked by said enemies, leading to the "wild" part.
• Winged Humanoid: Shelly sports a large pair of butterfly wings on her back. Sam, meanwhile, has wing membranes on her arms.
• Wonder Twin Powers: Gren and Ten need to work together to use their shared inkling abilities.
• World of Funny Animals: The future of humanity is anthropomorphic animals
• Wrestler in All of Us: Both Carrie and Max start learning wrestling styles in Volume 2 to compliment their fighting styles. Max in particular takes up Lucha Libre.
• Wrong Side of the Tracks: This is where Cedric and his gang hang out, especially after Volume 1.
• You Are Number Six: In the alternate timeline where Grendel becomes an accidental hero, she's called "Seven", because it was written on a piece of paper she was holding when awakened.
• You Can See Me?: Once a PSYCOdrive ability is used to manifest Jasmine, she has this reaction when she finds others besides Jacent able to perceive her.
• You Fight Like a Cow: Max does this a lot. His constant banter during action is in part meant to throw off or confuse his opponents.
• You Mean "Xmas": In the Partners future, it's Homeshare. The main focus is on the togetherness of the holiday, with a simplified gift-giving aspect. Gifts are bought individually, then anonymously given from the members of a pack, so nobody is left out or has to feel pressured to buy for everyone.
• Young Adult Literature: Perhaps unintentional on the author's part, but it strongly comes across as this in both topic and writing style.