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(Biopunk as one word) |
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Think of it as [[Slice of Life]] [[Life Embellished|Embellished]], with the embellishment cranked [[Up to Eleven]], then taught to play nice and not upstage [[Slice of Life]]. The stories are focused on (or at least tangentially related to) Jaeger, a member of the title order of Finders.
Several issues and two complete storylines can be read at [https://web.archive.org/web/20131019122544/http://www.lightspeedpress.com/ the creator's website].
[http://www.darkhorse.com/Search/finder Dark Horse] have recently begun publishing Finder, releasing the bulk of the existing stories as two omnibus 'Library' volumes.
Stories so far:<br />''Sin-Eater'' (two volumes): Jaeger returns to the city of Anvard and discovers that Emma Grosvenor, his on-off girlfriend, and her children are in danger from her mentally-disturbed estranged husband.<br />''King of the Cats'': Jaeger travels to the city-cum-theme-park of Munkytown to help arrange a peace deal between his own nomadic Ascian people and the Nyima, a culture of humanised lions.<br />''Talisman'': Emma Grosvenor's youngest daughter, Marcie, struggles with the fall out of ''Sin-Eater'' and her own developing writing talent.<br />''Dream Sequence'': Magri White is the creator and, via brain-computer integration, human server of Anvard's most popular MMORPG. But something in his mind has started to attack his guests...<br />''Mystery Date'': Vary, a high-class prostitute and anthropology student, has to deal with cultural issues and her attraction to both of her academic supervisors.<br />''The Rescuers'': The baby son of one of Anvard's wealthiest men is abducted and murdered, and Jaeger attempts to ensure that some kind of justice is done.<br />''Five Crazy Women'': Jaeger confides in a gay buddy about the problems of heterosexual dating.<br />''Voice'': Rachel Grosvenor, Emma's eldest child, tries to win full acceptance in her mother's clan despite her half-breed status.<br />''Torch'' (apparently on hiatus; the story so far can be found [https://web.archive.org/web/20131023105222/http://www.lightspeedpress.com/?webcomic_post=001 here].)<br />''Third World'' (currently running in ''Dark Horse Presents'')
{{tropelist}}
* [[After the End]]: [[Word of God]] has said this is ''technically'' the case, but the End happened a ''loooooong'' time ago and it's not at all important.
* [[All of the Other Reindeer]]: As a half-breed, a Finder (a member of a greatly revered secret society) and a Sin-Eater (a religious caste of untouchables), Jaeger is simultaneously outcast from his own people and essential to their culture. No wonder he spends so much time away from them. Fellow Finder {{spoiler|Chief Coward}} puts it best - "Contradictions make the best stories, but in daily life, people can't stand them."
* [[All There in the Manual]]: the endnotes in the collected editions clarify a great deal about some of the more enigmatic worldbuilding details and character motivations.
* [[Amateur Sleuth]]: "Finders solve problems and break trail, that's all."
** In the Rescuers story, Jaeger is willing to assist the professional investigator of a kidnapping, but both parties are frustrated that Jaeger's talents and methods would never be
** Rachel has to become one in ''Voice'', ironically enough so that she can track down Jaeger so he can help her recover her ring.
* [[Ancient Tradition]]: The society of Finders stands apart from their native cultures, in order to see them as outsiders do, and there are specific customs to enlist their help.
* [[Bad Vibrations]]: When a huge swarm of flightless birds and angry Laeske herders appears (in ''Third World'').
* [[Battle in the Center of the Mind]]
* [[The Beautiful Elite]]: The Llaverac clan.
* [[Big Fancy House]]: Rachel has one of these now...which she can't really afford.
* [[Biopunk]]: Borderline example as the biotech seems to have been used by a previous ultra-tech civilisation that collapsed, but it's the only non-magical explanation for many of the oddities of the setting (certain characters' mildly superhuman powers, how physically and mentally similar the members of the Clans are, the [[Petting Zoo People]]...)
** Then there are [[Lizard Folk|the Laeske]]. «You never know ''what'' you'll get out of a Laeske egg!».
** There's ''something'' funny in Jaeger's DNA. Which makes sense given his [[Healing Factor]]. Though not clear whether natural or not, and there's no evidence that he's a construct (unless someone did something very sneaky and very illegal).
** It used to be much more common generations ago, before fertile constructs were outlawed, so there's a lot of engineered weirdness lurking in DNA.
* [[Black Comedy Rape]]: Not quite rape, but the aforementioned Magri porno, and Jaeger's body rendering has become a popular porn star.
* [[Bloody Hilarious]]: {{spoiler|Jaeger messing up Grazie's bathroom while cutting himself to activate his [[Healing Factor]].}}
* [[Body Horror]]: "Dream Sequence" is not recommended for people sensitive to this.
* [[Braids, Beads, and Buckskins]]: Invoked but quickly subverted with the Ascians.
* [[Catgirl]]: The Nyima, partially crossing over with [[Talking Animal|Talking Animals]].▼
* [[City of Adventure]]: Anvard is a mighty strange place.
* [[The Clan]]: a big part of society in the cities.
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* [[Eyes of Gold]]: Jaeger's yellow eyes, which [[Uh-Oh Eyes|creep many people out]].
* [[Fantastic Arousal]]: Vary's unknowing sexual favours to Shar at the start of "Mystery Date".
* [[Fantastic Slurs]]: "Skins" («say “Ascians” several times, fast»), not particularly derogatory. "Pigs" (constructs, artisanal lifeforms) — possibly from "guinea pigs".
* [[Fantasy Gun Control]]: Guns exist in this [[Scavenger World]], but the means to manufacture guns and ammo is limited. The Nyima refuse to use guns for this reason, except for one tribe that makes their own, averting the logistical vulnerability dependence on firearms would open.
** Can someone check the above? I'm not sure enough to edit, but I had the strong impression that guns aren't harder to manufacture, rather the Nyima avoid them simply because it would foster dependence on outsiders (Amish logic).
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* [[Healing Factor]]: Jaeger has one, which is the main reason he's still alive. On the down side, if he doesn't get hurt for a while, it starts making him sick.
* [[Hollywood Psych]]: Averted; the books' portrayal of mental illness (of various stripes and strengths) is stylized but well-researched.
* [[Holographic Terminal]]: All over the place, including wearables.
* [[Humanoid Female Animal]]: Female [[Catgirl|Nyima]] are humanoid bipeds, while the males look like, well, lions. The reasons for this are only hinted at, but {{spoiler|the one non-humanoid female we see, and the humanoid king}} implies some sort of hormonal manipulation that suggests the Nyima were artificially uplifted.▼
* [[Human Subspecies]]
▲** [[Catgirl]]: The Nyima, partially crossing over with [[Talking Animal|Talking Animals]].
▲*** [[Humanoid Female Animal]]: Female [[Catgirl|Nyima]] are humanoid bipeds, while the males look like, well, lions. The reasons for this are only hinted at, but {{spoiler|the one non-humanoid female we see, and the humanoid king}} implies some sort of hormonal manipulation that suggests the Nyima were artificially uplifted.
** [[Our Mermaids Are Different]]
** [[Fair Folk]]: Huldres — small, with tail and several horns, the ones we have seen ("pirates") are clever, but overconfident and venal.
* [[In the Blood]]: Members of the clans have a *lot* in common.
* [[Inspired By]]: The murder mystery in "The Rescuers" is loosely inspired by the Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping.
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* [[Knight Templar Big Brother]]: Lynne to Marcie. He wouldn't give his ''older'' sister Rachel the time of day, though {{spoiler|because he figured out she's only his half-sibling, and isn't actually a halfbreed like him and Marcie}}.
* [[Lizard Folk]]: The Laeske. According to Prof. Zivancevik, they're the only non-human intelligent people in the world who evolved sentience naturally and weren't uplifted by humans. (Which makes sense, since they're by far the least humanoid.)
** [[Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism]]: As with many egg-layers. But with sapient species it has more profound behavioral side. Which is kind of important, in that males tend toward [[Amusing Alien]]s and at worst may occasionally upset humans due to misunderstandings, while females' most likely interaction with a human is reenacting ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' with some unfortunate trespasser on their territory.
{{quote|''Lots'' of pigs only know about citified ''male'' Laeske. ''Those'' ones may stop to ''talk'' to you. Not like females we get out ''here'' — the ladies of the ''field'' will just plain ''eat'' you.
Or feed you to their creatures.}}
*** …granted, their aggression is not without reasons.
{{quote|'''Jaeger''': [[Oh Crap|Hey. ''Hey'']], these are ''Laeske eggs!'' ''Maybe'' it wouldn't ''be'' so dangerous out there if you Huldres didn't ''steal all their shit!''}}
* [[Lost Technology]]: All over the place, particularly the domes enclosing Anvard and elsewhere.
* [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game]]: "Elsewhere", the central concept of "Dream Sequence".
* [[Naked People Are Funny]]: see [[Full-Frontal Assault]]. Also, one of Magri White's [[Yaoi Fangirl|fans]] makes virtual gay porn starring Magri, then ''shows it to him.''
* [[Neural Implanting]]: There are benefits of being chipped, like access to maps. And it's something very accessible. Of course, those maps are invariably tweaked in certain places, and it should not be much greater surprise that chips come with ''other'' brain censorware that makes some things impossible to remember for long…
* [[Ninja]]: One character calls Jaeger a "ninja do-gooder". It's more accurate than you'd think.
* [[No Pronunciation Guide]]: is the ll in Llaverac pronounced as the Spanish or the Welsh version?
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* [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]: the Medawar men, most of whom work as police officers in Anvard
* [[Remember the New Guy?]]: Brom is introduced in "Five Crazy Women" as one of Jaeger's best friends, but has never previously appeared. Justified to a degree given Jaeger's wandering habits and solitariness.
* [[Ripped from the Headlines]] : Of the Stranger-Than-Fiction sort. Ralph the Pigeonleg's odd "profession" and confiscation of an undeclared eggplant in ''Third world'' are things that [https://metro.co.uk/2009/02/03/man-caught-with-pigeons-in-his-trousers-413223/ actually happened].
* [[Scavenger World]]
* [[Schizo-Tech]]: The setting may or may not be Earth in the far-flung future. One marketplace scene looks like a standard fantasy setting, until you notice a veiled woman carrying a Walkman and wearing Chuck Taylors.
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* [[Shout-Out]]: Many, often referred to in the notes. A possible one not acknowledged is that the bookseller who Jaeger buys Marcie's gift from at the beginning of "Talisman" looks a great deal like the horror writer and critic [[Kim Newman]].
* [[Souvenir Land]]: Munkytown in "King of the Cats" is a heavy Disney theme park parody.
* [[Squick]]: [http://www.lightspeedpress.com/index.php?module=Finder&func=pub&issue=41&page=31 "It's HAM!"]{{Dead link}} (Read back a few pages to find out WHY this is so squicky.)
* [[Stalker with a Crush]]: Brigham Grosvenor to Emma. Rachel also gets two of these later on.
* [[Stern Teacher]]: Zivancevic
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* [[Trickster Archetype]]: It's very difficult to get a straight answer out of Jaeger, he rarely holds a steady job, and his decisions often appear random and inscrutable. When someone sees him rolling dice she asks what he's doing. His answer? "Thinking."
* [[Unproblematic Prostitution]]: Vary, mostly, although the nastier kinds of prostitution also exist.
* [[Unstoppable Mailman]]: The slogan was "X-Ray's Couriers: we get through", and then Jaeger tried to find out just how far ''he'' can push this.
* [[Verbal Tic]]: Jaeger tends to call people 'cousin'.
** Laeske tend to enunshhiate their 'S's, being deshcendantsss of lizardsss.
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* [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]]: Magri (though long on the "hair" and short on the "pretty," at least in conventional terms). There's also a touch of [[Man in White]] in him, though technically he's a man in gray.
* [[Wholesome Crossdresser]]: Most Llaverac men. For libertarian values of "wholesome".
* [[Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?]]: Jaeger was working in "security", "security" and "housecleaning" (with all of these shown to be… simplifications), according to himself in interview that landed him a job as a courier in delivery service at the start of ''Third World'' arc. And it's implied he was a smuggler for a while, but quit… maybe because it was hard to keep a straight face in this crowd?
{{quote|'''Jaeger''': You're a ''pigeon smuggler'', Ralph. You got ''pigeons'' on your legs. Innat kinda ''backwards?''}}
* [[Wiki Rule]]: [https://findercomic.fandom.com/ Here it is], though not a lot of content.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Dark Horse Comics]]
[[Category:Finder]]
[[Category:Comic Books]]
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