Ruins of Alpha

Ruins of Alpha is a web based story created in 2005. A rewrite began in 2007 but was never completed. The authors decided to ditch their original plot and move on, giving minor characters more major roles and making it Darker and Edgier.

Ruins of Alpha provides examples of:

 * A Child Shall Lead Them: Angelice
 * Aerith and Bob: There's a combination of traditional names, like Clara and Gabriel, and then some pretty out-there ones, like Maru and Frosta. Most of the traditional names are fairly antiquated, though, so they're not really jarring.
 * Anthropomorphic Personification: Elysia and Alpha
 * Aristocrats Are Evil: Anthony and the other rebels' opinions on royalty.
 * Art Evolution: Along with the authors' actual art, the writing has improved greatly from their original 2005 story.
 * Arranged Marriage: James and Elena, though Elena calls it off. Angelice later sets Elena up with her cousin, Adrien in fear that having a troublesome sister like Elena will get in the way of her new marriage. Adrien calls that one off but Elena stays with the family.
 * Asexuality: Anthony
 * Badass: Rosette
 * Bi the Way: Many characters. So much that it borders being Everyone Is Bi.
 * Break the Cutie: Angelice. Shortly after witnessing her parents' brutal murder, her sister, the original heir, was also killed--and when she was resurrected, she was too unstable to function on her own. Angelice took on the queenly mask in addition to caring for her sister. When it looked like Angelice had found true love, she shipped her sister away so that she could focus on her own family... only to have her husband fake his death and leave her for the man who had killed her sister in the first place. Oh, and now there's a rebellion brewing because of her bad leadership. And she's not even twenty.
 * Brother-Sister Team: Cephia and Clara when they were younger.
 * Combat Pragmatist: Rosette
 * Came Back Wrong: Elena
 * Closet Key: Damian for Maru.
 * The Cynic: Damian
 * Darker and Edgier: The new version
 * Dead Little Sister: Iris
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Gabriel
 * Fire-Forged Friends: The Royals
 * Fish Out of Water: Angelice upon arrival in Tristan. Elena also qualifies.
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: Amalia is choleric, Ben is phlegmatic, Luci is sanguine, and Marjorie is melancholic.
 * If It's You, It's Okay: Cephia and Gabriel
 * Improbable Age: Most of the characters are teenagers or young adults who are in positions that most people would only achieve in middle age.
 * Kiss of Death: Elysia
 * La Résistance: The Rebels
 * Memetic Sex God: Adrien
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Anthony
 * Next Sunday A.D.: The main storyline takes place in the 2020s
 * Not Growing Up Sucks: Elena, Rosette
 * No Social Skills: Angelice and Elena, due to their sheltered upbringing and various other issues.
 * The Ophelia: Elena
 * Parental Favoritism: Aliss and Elena, Cephia and Angelice
 * Polyamory: Briar is conflicted by his love for Avalona and Anthony... until Avalona notices and tells him she's okay with sharing. The relationship is rather complicated, as Avalona and Briar are romantically and sexually attracted to each other, Briar loves Anthony, who has a very undefined interest in Briar, and Avalona finds herself growing rather fond of Anthony.
 * It is also very easy to read the Anthony/Briar/Rosette friendship this way.
 * Revenge By Proxy: Anthony sending Iris back dead.
 * Rebel Leader: Anthony and Sebastian.
 * Rebellious Princess: Angelice started this way, but, after enough Break the Cutie moments, she comes to terms with the fact that she has to be the new queen.
 * Unfortunately for her subjects, she's not very good at the job.
 * Rebellious Rebel: Briar
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something: Played with. While Clara and Ambrose seem to be doing a good job dealing with social and political issues, the next generation prefers partying to leadership. However, the kids get their acts together to fight against the Rebels. Appropriately enough, the rebellion itself was a response to Angelice's poor leadership.
 * The Scrappy: Angelice
 * Stockholm Syndrome: Happens to both Aliss (with Cephia) and Elena (with Rosette.) Must run in the family.
 * Three Amigos: Anthony, Briar, and Rosette were this in their youth. It doesn't last.
 * Who Needs Enemies: Angelice, Maru, Damian, and Elena are all on the side of the Royals, but there is no shortage of expected tension.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Anthony
 * The Woobie: Everyone has their moments, but Gabriel, Elena, and Briar are the most obvious examples.
 * Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: The Royals and The Rebels are both portrayed very sympathetically, and both groups' flaws are very obvious.