Midnighters: Difference between revisions

{{tropework}}

{{quote| ''Strange things happen at midnight in Bixby, Oklahoma...''}}

''[[Midnighters]]'' is a young-adult book series written by Scott Westerfeld. It's set in the small town of Bixby, Oklahoma (which, incidentally, does exist in [[Real Life]]). The main premise is that there are 25 hours in a day. The 25th hour is nicknamed "the blue time" because everything has a slightly blue glow, and takes place right [[Time Stands Still|after]] the stroke of midnight.

This is much [[Worse Than It Sounds (Darth Wiki)|Worse Than It Sounds]] for the Heroes, because creatures called darklings and [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?|slithers]] inhabit the blue time, which are as nasty as they sound. Also, technology and most ordinary people become [[Time Stands Still|frozen in time]], and look like they came straight out of [[Uncanny Valley]], according to the [[Five -Man Band|Midnighters]] crew.

Jessica's power is {{spoiler|[[Game Breaker|that she can make technology work in the blue time]]}}, and Jonathan is an acrobat, which means he has an extreme ability [[Le Parkour|to jump]]. Melissa is a mindcaster, which means she can read minds (and she can't stop, she's [[Blessed Withwith Suck|constantly bombarded]] except during the blue time. [[Up to Eleven|And she goes to high school]].) Rex is a Seer, meaning that he can see only things related to the blue time; everything else is blurry without his [[Cool Shades]]. Desdemona is a polymath, meaning she is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, ''really'' [[Heart Is an Awesome Power|good at math]].

* [[Blessed Withwith Suck]]: Melissa's power, until she learns how to control it. Reading minds sounds cool, until you realize that you're reading everyone's mind at once and you can't turn it off. Now imagine being stuck with that in high school.

* [[Cursed Withwith Awesome]]: Being able to enter the Blue Time seems really cool at first. Then you bump into the nasty things that live there. You still get some really snazzy superpower out of it, though, some of which (polymath, mindcaster, [[Noodle Implement|metallurge]]) are possibly even more useful outside Midnight.

* [[Fictionary]]: The Lore seems to be its own entirely different language, although we don't get to see it beyond the symbols for the talents of the [[Five -Man Band]]. Seers seem to be born with the ability to read and understand the language of the Lore, but it is possible for others (including non-Midnighters) to learn it.

* [[Five -Man Band]]: There is definitely some overlap, but here's how it falls for the most part. Note: YMMV.

** [[The Lancer]]: Jonathan (even forming a [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]] with Rex).

* [[Good Withwith Numbers]]: The Polymath power. Dess can do lengthy, difficult, and intricate calculations easily in her head, and she can come up with thirteen-letter names in an instant.

* [[Half -Human Hybrid]]: {{spoiler|Anathea, a Seer from 50 years ago that got turned into a "Halfling," a human-Darkling hybrid. She gets progressively weaker, so the Darklings try to make a new one out of Rex. It works for a while, but he gets better. Though he still carries some of the traits, like an aversion to math, metal, and the number 13, and has the occasional predatory instinct slip.}}

* [[Year Inside, Hour Outside|Hour Inside Millisecond Outside]]

* [[Mayfly -December Romance]]: {{spoiler|Jessica and Jonathan, after Jessica becomes confined to the Blue Time in exchange for fixing the rift between the normal hours and Midnight. Jonathan will continue to age as normal, but Jessica only exists for 1 hour each day and therefore will age by 1 day roughly every 3 weeks.}}

* [[Never Mess Withwith Granny]]: Madeline. Yeesh.

* [[See -Thru Specs]]: The Seer power. Rex is mostly blind without his glasses, but things touched by Midnight (including Midnighters) appear in sharp focus. When he wears his glasses, "normal" things are clear, but stuff involving Midnight gets blurry (or outright invisible in the case of runes and lore).

* [[Serious Business]]: The source of the tension between Rex and Jonathan. Rex wants to learn all there is to know about Midnight and thinks there's some deep higher purpose to the existence of Midnighters and their powers, while Jonathan (who has the fun power) thinks Rex is being way too [["Stop Having Fun!" Guys]] about it.

* [[Telepathy]]: The Mindcaster power. But unless you know how to control it properly, [[Blessed Withwith Suck|it's far more of a hassle than a perk]].

* [[Town Withwith a Dark Secret]]: Or <s>12</s> [[Arc Number|13]].