Magical Security Taskforce
If Hogwarts was Oxford, this would be Ball State. —The MST homepage
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Magical Security Taskforce is the original fiction debut of Adam R. Pulver (a.k.a. Arpulver), a longtime anime fanfiction author (creator of one Digimon inter-season crossover already recommended on this site). It was derived from a Big Eyes, Small Mouth campaign homebrewed by a friend, Matt Finch. In the author's own words:
Stories have long been told of those that wield magic: their battles over evil, their attempts to find time for love and, of course, their education in the field. Molly Pearson was never a fan of them- too much glamour and window-dressing. Based on her experiences learning magic, it's hard work with little flair, recognition or reward. It's also vital to civilization, however. With several factions of evil forces to keep in check, Molly accepts her responsibility dutifully. |
Has its own forum.
- A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Marie, Sho, Claude and Kamila
- Absurdly Powerful Student Council: Molly maintains ironclad control over her high school (literally taking inspiration from George Orwell) so it doesn't interfere with her MST work.
- Affably Evil: Kendrick. Justified, as he's a recruiter for his demon faction.
- Big Brother Mentor: Kurt
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Darren Silars, Volume 3's Big Bad and member of a demon faction.
- Curse Cut Short: Inverted when Molly first briefs her "recruits" about the MST, a skeptical Kathryn starts to walk out, and Molly hits her with a silencing spell (or rather when she lifts it).
- Disappeared Dad: Troy's. Off working for the MST, natch. Also Donovan's, though Donovan prefers to think he's some sort of dark Jesus.
- Lampshaded by Renee: "What happened to him? Did he die nobly to save the world? Left on a perilous mission and was never heard from again? Went to the dark side?? ...Those are all the missing dad clichés I could think of."
- Functional Magic:
- Hearing Voices: At first, Donovan's new demon is urging him to kill.
- Magic Wand: Kathryn uses a staff variant, although prefers to use it for physical combat. Bryce uses a Magic Crystal. Molly uses a Magic Marker.
- Only One Name: The MST district commander Uriel for the first few volumes. His surname is the (for him) embarrassingly plain Jones.
- Our Demons Are Different: They serve in different factions, look human, and can perform magic. As well as give you contracts.
- Indeed, it's stated that most are human (or at least started that way); it amounts to shorthand for "dark magic users".
- Power At a Price: Black Tag. On one hand you get more powerful. On the other hand, you carry a fatal curse that must be passed onto someone else within three days.
- Serious Business: After Molly is kidnapped by the Urayoni and Hageshoni, the battle for control of L.B. Gould High School resembles an out-and-out guerrilla war.
- Ted Baxter: Donovan Dunmar
- The Medic: Yuki Shizuka
- Translator Microbes: Lucidrol, Yuki's wonder translation drug.
- Wizarding School: Central Academy