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there is another sky
a grape grapples with tropes outside her literary canon
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The space is bright purple and stretches on for what seems like forever. The only other thing in it that can be perceived is a rounded woman with a bright face and glowing feathery wings. 

"Congratulations! You have been selected by the ineffable Will of the Multiverse to reincarnate as the villainess of a specific kind of romance story . Kind of weird, but it's become a huge thing over ten or so of your years in at least a dozen universal branes adjacent to yours. I think one of the Will's avatars read something somewhere and got a little too invested, honestly. Now, you won't be reincarnating into an actual otome that exists," the angel says. 

She taps her chin. "I don't get it, but according to my guidelines it's actually more in genre for us to create a custom otome-style world for you? It seems weird to me, but the universe molding crews love it, so we get lots of brownie points at inter-department parties. In any case, you'll be reincarnating into the soon-to-be-created Kingdom of Villarosa, setting of the non-existent smash hit otome game, manga, anime, and Broadway musical Roses of Villarosa!" She throws her arms out enthusiastically. 

"You'll be becoming the much-hated villainess of the story, fated to be sentenced to a horrible bad ending for the crime of being the gorgeous and charismatic heroine's rival in love and for generally being an awful person. I'm sure you can picture how the story goes already," she adds sympathetically. "You're definitely going to be a woman in your next life, and you'll also be attracted to men, though you may choose whether you want to be attracted to women also in your new life or be strictly into the cute boys."

"If you object, all I can say is that management apologizes for the inconvenience, but the Will's... well, will is final. On the upside, though, the reincarnation process will ensure you don't suffer any severe body or gender dysphoria, as well as preventing too much homesickness for your old life. Those safeties are there to prevent any depressing suicides. I'm sure you'll be relieved to know that you won't have to relive being a baby or toddler, you'll recover your old identity and memories when you're a teenager, a few days or weeks before the start of 'canon.' Another benefit is that because we haven't actually sent the specification for Villarosa to the universe molders, we have a chance to tweak things to make sure that your otome villainess reincarnation is to your taste. Just pick what you like best, and when we're done the molders get to work, I download a batch of fresh fake meta-knowledge about Roses of Villarosa to your soul, and you get reincarnated."

"So let's get started, okay?"

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"...you're going to have to... explain... all of that... again, slower. Using more words I understand. And fewer that I don't."

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"Alright. Uh, to start with, you died. Normally, that would be the end for you. But! Instead, we scooped you up to send you off into a new universe based on some literary tropes you're not likely to be entirely familiar with."

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After a few sputtering false starts, the question that makes it out of her mouth is, "Where do these foreign literary tropes come from?"

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"Different universes! Your universe is actually not that common in some of its particulars, on a multiversal scale."

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She sits with that for a few long seconds, drumming her fingers distractedly on her thigh.

Then she nods firmly and says, "Okay, go on."

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"Since you're going to be engaged with fate-patterns that treat you as a 'character,' the first step is to design said character," the angel explains. "For example, you have three options for hairstyle, which have effects beyond what you would expect a hairstyle to have. Two of them grant 'perks,' which are sort of bonuses you get for this next life, and one of them grants a minion. The 'drill hair' hairstyle is essentially an unrealistic level of ringlets, and grants the 'Ohohoho!' perk, which essentially makes you more intimidating. The 'hime cut' hairstyle is straight hair with bangs, a simple style that suggests hidden depths and grants them in the form of the 'Silk Hiding Steel' perk, which gives you a core of resilience in the face of shock or misfortune. The 'elaborate' hairstyle is whatever you want it to be, essentially, as long as what you want is something that looks like an enormous pain to achieve and maintain. You get a free Maid minion in order to help with that."

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"...how does making decisions about these things work? How much time do I have? Do I get to take notes before I make my final choices?"

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"You can have as much time as you need," the angel assures her. "You make decisions by telling me what decisions you want to make, and you can change your mind if you want to."

She summons a notebook and writing implement out of seemingly nowhere and offers it to her.

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"Thank you."

She jots down an untidy scrawl of shorthand and starts doodling an elaborate flower on a corner of the page.

"Why me, or is that not a question that has an answer?"

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"You were selected for having a particular kind of narrative potential."

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"Fair enough. Go on."

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"There are five hair color options. Blonde, redhead, silver, 'brunette' and 'rainbow.' Blonde is the generic 'rich girl' hair color and won't have any side effects. 'Redhead' is as likely to denote hair that's actually red as orange. Red hair connotes and therefore produces stronger emotions and a little more physical strength. Silver hair--properly silver, not the white of old age--means a little less physical strength and a boost to intelligence, plus some extra magical potential or creativity and artistic talent. 'Brunette' actually means brown or black hair--where hair color options have a range of possible manifestations you can pick how you want it to come out--and represents the most common hair color, the 'everywoman' hair color. It'll make you a little more relatable and a little less agentic. 'Rainbow' hair means any unnatural hair colors not covered under one of the other options and makes your world a little less realistic and a little more trope-influenced."

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"...I think I have to take silver," she says. "Because since when am I going to turn down artistic talent?" She still adds all these options to her notes. "Okay, what else?"

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"Next are the species options. 'Human' and 'Elf,' which are metonymous for 'the default kind of person' and 'much sparklier and overall better than the normal kind of person.' The default species can be whatever you want."

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"Okay. What's the downside of picking the sparklier option?"

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"You have to take an extra flaw, and it requires either a tech level of cyberpunk or space opera, or a magic level of low, medium or high."

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Note note note. "Okay, I'll think about that one. Go on."

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"The tech level options are 'aesthetically archaic,' which takes place in a romanticized version of the past where things are much nicer than they were at actual comparable points in time, and optionally has magic; 'actually archaic,' where things are as bad as they actually were in the past, and you have to choose a magic level of low or none. It gives you a free perk, but there are better ways of earning perks; I don't recommend it. 'Contemporary,' where things are approximately at the tech level and social level they have in your world at the point at which you died; 'Marvelous,' roughly similar to some of the near-future science fiction in your world; 'Steampunk,' which takes some of the themes of Marvelous and runs with them down the tech tree, envisioning a world of steam and gears and brass...Cyberpunk? Why is cyberpunk still in here? How am I supposed to explain cyberpunk to someone from a world that hasn't invented the transistor!?" She sighs. "Cyberpunk is a genre full of machines that think, merchant organizations that have become bloated beyond the point of anyone's heath with money and power, and a lot of gratuitous glowing lines on things."

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"As much fun as gratuitous glowing lines sound, I should probably stick with something I'll be better able to understand." Note note. "Maybe Marvelous, Marvelous seems to strike a nice balance between being more useful and interesting than my own world and being familiar enough that I won't get tripped up by the mismatch between my memories and my surroundings."

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"You'll experience a full childhood in your new world before your memories start returning, but fair enough."

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"I'd still rather not have to adjust too far. All right, what else?"

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She grins. "Now we get to the good stuff. Magic level. Magic can be metonymous for all kinds of not technically magic things," she waves a hand, "like psionics or whatever, but it's basically all magic in the end. The magic levels are, straightforwardly enough, none, low, medium, and high. None gets you a free perk, but like Actually Archaic, it's not worth it and I don't recommend it."

In a Low magic world, magic will exist, but will still largely be the stuff of myth and legend, not a day-to-day part of life. Magic users will be exceedingly rare and almost always self-taught, and there might only be one person in a generation who rises to the level where their abilities are more than a mere minor special power. If there are any magical creatures in this world, they will be similarly rare, possibly unique beings. At this magic level, there might be only one or two magic users in your story, or even none at all. Having any magical abilities, let alone powerful ones, could prove an unexpected strength that your foes are unprepared for."

A Medium magic setting is where magic really starts becoming a part of the world, and is our default option if you don't express a preference. We're still talking only a few hundred or a thousand real magic users in Villarosa, but that's enough that encountering magic is no longer a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Most magic users will learn from a master as an apprentice, and magical creatures definitely exist and have societies of their own. At this magic level, multiple characters in your story could have magical abilities. Still, the majority of characters will not be magic users, and being one yourself can give you a significant edge."

In a High magic setting, magic is everywhere and woven into the threads of everyday life. It'll likely be the case that nobles are expected to have magical ability. Magic is taught in schools, and even warriors will be using some magic. Magical creatures are common and some may be integrated into the society of Villarosa, though just how will vary. At this magic level, the overwhelming majority of people relevant to you will be magic users. You can have the perk Magic User for free, but it won't give you any real advantage over your rivals."

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"High magic sounds like it's the most interesting... on the other hand, maybe I should rein it in a little for the same reason I opted to avoid the gratuitous glowing lines..." Note note. "It sounds like magic has less of an effect on the overall structure and function of a society than tech level, but is that actually true?"

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"Essentially, because technology includes social technology, but a higher magic level can still improve quality of life considerably relative to tech level baseline."

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"Hmm. Okay, I think that makes sense. So probably high magic then." She amends her notes appropriately. "Anything else?"

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"That's all the world stuff. The next thing is your role within the game, ie, which of three possible 'villain' characters you'll be filling in for. The options are the Royal Princess, the Duke's Daughter, and the Rich Heiress."

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"Well, that's an interesting assortment of titles. What are the practical differences between them?"

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"Pick the Royal Princess and you'll be the daughter of the King of Villarosa, the highest ranking and most desired bachelorette in the nation. This comes with all the obvious advantages, and will automatically make you the alpha female in any room. Yet abuse your royal privilege too much and you might find it less protection than you think... just like your counterfactual fictional counterpart. The Duke's Daughter is the only daughter of the highest ranking noble in the land - by default the Duke of Thorns, though the title will change based on the cultural influences you pick for Villarosa. This is a lot like being a princess, but less so. However, what you gain is that your engagement will be an important part of your father's political plans, so you can can call on his resources for aid in defending it. But that'll only last as long as the politics make sense... if things go wrong you will quickly find yourself disowned and left unprotected from your enemies. If you don't want to be nobility for some reason, the Rich Heiress is your pick. You'll be the daughter of the wealthiest merchant in the realm; not noble, but rich and prominent enough to freely move in those circles. You won't have the power of a noble title, but what you will have is money. All the money. And that's a power all of its own. But unless and until you marry the right boy, you're still technically a commoner, and your father's money won't be protection enough if you offend the wrong people."

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"Tough choices all round. But I think I like looking up at politics from below better than looking down at it from above. The Rich Heiress sounds more my speed." Note note. "Next question?"

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"The next question is which of the options for the hero of the story--the heroine's designated love interest, over which the two of you are destined to be rivals--you begin the story in an arranged betrothal to. The options are the Prince Charming, the Dark Rival, and the Noble Prodigy." 

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"Ooh, do tell me about them."

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"The Prince Charming is a royal prince, the heir to the throne if the Princess Royal isn't, and all around nice, heroic guy. The same age or slightly older than you, talented in everything he does, and romantic enough to make all the girls swoon - including you. You can't really go wrong with him... except for the fact that he's going to betray you and fall in love with the heroine. He's also the most likely to take strong offense to any bullying or nefarious tactics on your part."

The Dark Rival is essentially the dark mirror frenemy of the Prince Charming, usually close to the same age as him, and therefore you. At the start of the story, he's even more talented than Charming, but ultimately the good guy surpasses and befriends him. You know how the story goes. The consummate bad boy, he's liable make your knees weak and your heart beat fast. He can be mean, but never quite evil, and he's got a heart of gold deep inside just waiting for the right girl to unlock it."

The oldest of your choices, the Noble Prodigy has already graduated from the academy and made a name for himself. He is of lesser nobility, but by merit has ascended the heights of society. Your setting choices may alter his exact deeds, but by default he will have made a name for himself both as a warrior and a commander. To you he will be cold and formal at first - not cruel, not unwilling to be wed, but certainly the least emotional of your potential fiances. A tragic backstory has put walls around his heart, but he is vulnerable to having them felled by the power of True Love."

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"Where the right girl, in all cases, is not me, correct?"

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"Your fiance will fall in love with the heroine, that's definitely going to happen, but it's not out of the question that he'll love you too! If you can make it work. So...theoretically, and in most cases, but not absolutely."

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Note note. "Hmmmmm. All right, I'll think about that one. Anything else?"

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"Oh, for sure. The next thing is the heroine. When you choose your role and your fiance's, the other options will still exist, as alternate paths the heroine could have taken in the story, but by default there's only the one heroine. The heroine options are the Poor Princess, the Hero's Daughter, and the Extraordinary Commoner."

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"All right, and what are those all about?"

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"Despite being royalty, the Poor Princess is for some reason neglected and powerless. The most popular reason is for her to be the King's daughter with a previous, politically inconvenient Queen. She might instead be a legitimized bastard daughter, or a refugee from a destroyed kingdom. Regardless of the reason, she lacks most of the advantages of her station that the Royal Princess enjoys, and, while far from incompetent, is the least personally formidable of the potential heroines. What she does have is the a kind heart, a lovely face, and just enough social advantage from her royal blood to tie your hands somewhat."

The hero's daughter's heroic parent died accomplishing some great deed - defeating the Demon Lord, sealing an eldritch god, etcetera. This won a posthumous elevation to the ranks of the nobility. This gives his or her daughter legitimate noble status, but none of the experience or social mores expected of a noble young lady. She will be quite talented, but will lack the extreme genius of the self-made Extraordinary Commoner. What she will have is fame, the inherited gratitude of the country, and connections with her parent's influential and dangerous surviving companions. Your fiance's curiosity with her will soon turn to attraction, and the Hero's Daughter is not to be underestimated."

The Extraordinary Commoner is the 'default' option. Of humble background, without any social status, this accomplished young woman won admission into the exclusive Royal Academy on sheer merit. Given the stratified social structure of Villarosa, this is quite the achievement, but makes her the proverbial nail sticking out. That gives her an obvious weakness, but she is by far the most talented of the potential heroines. She will outshine her more pedigreed classmates and thereby attract the notice of your fiance." 

And no, we're not done yet," she smiles slightly.

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Note note note. "Well, all right, go on then..."

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"Just so you know what to expect--the remaining things to choose are your story-counterpart's ending, the minions you have at your command, and the perks and flaws available to you." 

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"What are my options for endings, anything exciting?"

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"Death, being sent off to a nunnery, being forced into servitude to your rival, being stripped of everything you have and left to eke out a living on the streets, being exiled to a foreign political marriage, and simply being dumped and humiliated. The first one gets you an extra perk and the last one costs you an extra flaw."

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"Perks, tell me about perks—actually no, go in order, minions next." Note note.

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"You get two choices from the minion category, and you are allowed to choose the same kind of minion twice. The minions are Maid, Classmates, Admirer, Animal Companion, AI, and Butler. AI is short for Artificial Intelligence and essentially refers to a person constructed out of either magic or thinking machines."

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"All right, let's hear the details. What's an Admirer exactly? How do Animal Companions work?"

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"'Maid' will give you a female personal servant, or a cross-dressing boy, if you like, although that would be quite scandalous in many settings. Unlike any "normal" maids you have, a Maid minion is guaranteed to be highly competent, almost unquestioningly loyal, and have some useful skill beyond housework. Most commonly, she might double as a bodyguard or a spy. And even if it makes no sense in your setting, she can come with a traditional maid outfit, if you want."

The Classmates minion is actually two people, but they will almost always act as a pair. Picking this gives you two female classmates your age of slightly lower social status, whose families are formally or informally in service to your own. These two are therefore predisposed to be your friends and follow your lead. The Classmates are probably the most independent and proactive minions, and therefore also a deniable asset. They can be counted on to give you insight into the Academy gossip and help subtly manipulate it; both of which are tasks your exalted status can make difficult to accomplish yourself."

The Admirer is the male counterpart of the Classmates, though he is only a single boy. He is a talented but not exceptional fellow student with an obvious crush on you. While he knows and accepts he has no chance with you, that doesn't mean a bat of your eyelashes doesn't twist him around your little finger. You may choose for him to be a rival or a friend of your fiance; either way he will prove a useful tool. You may optionally choose to spend an extra flaw to select one of the choices you have not already picked for Your Fiance to be your Admirer instead."

The Animal Companion minion is some domesticated or tamed animal that you have bonded with and trained. In technologically advanced or magical settings, it will have near human intelligence as a genetically engineered or magical companion; in more mundane settings it will simply be an implausibly well trained pet or steed. This can be anything from a pet cat to a pegasus mount. You can even have a dragon, but only if your Villarosa's dragons are the lesser kind that can be reasonably domesticated; not if they are monsters of vast power."

'AI' gives you a human-level artificial intelligence as a personal servant. Besides the obvious advantages of an ally that never tires or sleeps, the AI will be capable of trivially infiltrating and controlling most  lesser thinking machines. If Als are common in your Villarosa, the AI minion will still be more advanced than the commonly available kind. The AI minion requires a tech level of Marvelous or above." 

Unlike your other options, the Butler is not directly your servant, but is instead a much older person, usually employed by your father, who has taken a liking to you. This character is often a man, but can also be a woman. Their actual job title could be Majordomo or Head Maid, or they might even just be an old friend and ally instead of holding a formal role. They are extremely skilled, but they are unlikely to ever intervene directly in your struggles. However, they instead can be an important source of grounded and wise advice, if you are willing to listen."

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Note note note note. "I can see the appeal of a lot of these... is it possible to have an artificial intelligence as a personal servant without them being otherwise common? A one-of-a-kind creation?"

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"Yes, that is entirely possible." 

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"I like that idea. That and a maid, or maybe some classmates. All right, now tell me about perks."

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"Perks! In addition to any perks you earn through other choices, you get four free perks before you have to start buying them with flaws. The perks are 'Bad For Her, Good For You,' 'Double Route,' 'Early Start,' 'Equal Friend,' 'Extra Minion,' 'Feminine Wiles,' 'Goddess of Beauty,' 'Good Ending,' 'In Love,' 'Lady of Battle,' 'Magic User,' 'Magical Prodigy,' 'Marvelous Talent'--no connection to Tech Level: Marvelous--'Off the Rails,' 'Ohohoho!,' 'Scientific Revolution,' 'Silk Hiding Steel,' 'Surprisingly Useful Skill,' 'Unearthly Insight,' and 'Yuri Heroine.'"

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"I'm having a little trouble figuring those out from the names alone..."

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"That makes sense. What 'Bad for Her, Good For You does is that--Roses of Villarosa was "originally" a game, and with this perk it is possible for the player to lose. Go back to the Your Ending section and select a choice other than Disgrace. This is now the fate that awaits the heroine in her bad ending for your fiance's route, with your and her roles reversed. Your meta-knowledge can help you reach this ending."

While the game Roses of Villarosa has multiple routes, by default in your story the heroine will be following only the route where she "captures" your fiance and comes into conflict with you. If you select the 'Double Route' perk, the heroine will instead progress down two potential routes. Select options for Your Fiance and Your Role, and these will be the other "capture target" and his fiancee. The heroine's attentions will be divided, and you may be able to manipulate her to choose the other man... but doing so would surely make an enemy of the other villainess."

Early Start causes you to recover memories of your old life four years earlier, ages ten to fourteen, around the same time you first meet the boy who will become your fiance. This gives you a lot more time to shape your new life before facing the heroine. You can combine this with Off The Rails to ensure the canon plot won't happen in any recognizable fashion, though your conflict with the heroine will still occur in some form."

Equal Friend will cause one of the other villainess options to be a close friend; you can't order her around like a minion, but as long as you reciprocate she can serve as a great source of aid and emotional support."

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"All right..." Note note. "Let's see. Feminine Wiles, Goddess of Beauty, Good Ending, In Love?"

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"Regardless of whatever seductive skills you had in your previous life, the perk Feminine Wiles will top it. Pick this and you will have a particular talent for attracting and manipulating men. You still won't be able to stop your fiance from falling for the heroine, though you might delay it. By default you will be quite an attractive young woman, but with the Goddess of Beauty perk you will be widely considered the single most beautiful woman in Villarosa. It's shallow, but there's no denying this can be a powerful advantage. Good Ending changes the story of Roses of Villarosa so that there is an alternate secret ending to your route where you reconcile with the heroine and your former fiance, and thereby incur no serious punishment or consequences. It'll still take you work to achieve this ending, but you'll have a roadmap to follow. Your fiance will always fall, and fall hard, for the heroine. But with the perk In Love, you and your fiance will start the story genuinely in love. This will make him conflicted as he finds love with the heroine, more sympathetic toward you, and easier to win back. But you will be feeling these emotions as well, so it will hurt so much more if he picks her over you."

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"Oh, fun." Note note note note. "Next bunch?"

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"Lady of Battle: depending on the details of your version of Villarosa, you may have some level of combat training by default. Even if you do, this perk will take it to the next level, making you a highly skilled fighter on par with the strongest members of your class. Magic User: whatever the magic system in your Villarosa is, this gives you the talent and training to use it, at a level considered average for magic-users. Requires that you not have taken Magic Level: None. Magical Prodigy requires Magic User and can mean exceptional skill or access to exceptional resources. Marvelous Talent will give you a great aptitude for something outside of the domains of battle and magic--art, dance, mathematics, even underwater basket-weaving. You don't need this perk just to be good at something, but taking it will make you world-class. Whatever you pick will be considered a traditional hobby for young people of your status and gender in your Villarosa, as well. You may select this perk multiple times."

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Note note nooooote...

"You said I could have four of these before I have to start paying? What are the next few all about?"

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"Four, right, not counting freebies from things like Magic Level: High and the hair options. Off the Rails will remove almost all the fate patterns guiding the universe to act out the plot of the counterfactual story, although you would still be guaranteed to vie with the heroine for your fiance in some way. Ohohoho! gives you a classic villainess laugh with a nigh-supernatural--or just supernatural--intimidation factor. Scientific Revolution is irrelevant at the tech level you've chosen; if you chose a tech level lower than your world of origin it helps you uplift it. Silk Hiding Steel gives you reserves of inner strength and determination well beyond what you currently possess. 'Surprisingly Useful Skill' will make some skill you already have, well, surprisingly useful, in your new world. Unearthly Insight will give you the ability to piece together useful information, either through intelligent deductions or possibly even supernatural flashes of intuition. Yuri Heroine will ensure that your heroine will be attracted to women as well as men, giving you another avenue to influence her."

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Note not note note "How broad can my Surprisingly Useful Skill be? Do I get to pick what it is? Can I pick 'art' or do I need to go narrower?"

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"You do need to know what it is; you do need to pick something narrower than 'art.'"

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"What about music, do I need to go narrower than music?"

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"Assuming you mean making music, no, that's fine."

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"Yes, I do mean making music." Note note. "Good, all right, let's see, what's next?"

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"Next is flaws. Flaws are the opposite of perks; for every flaw you take, excepting those mandated by other choices, you get to take an additional perk. The flaws are 'Abhorrent Admirer,' 'Anything You Can Do,' 'Dark Secret,' 'Ditz,' 'Equal Enemy,' 'Ghost in the Flesh,' 'In Character,' 'Jealousy,' 'Late Start,' 'Magicless,' 'No Compromise,' 'Not a Fan,' 'Patriarchy,' 'Time Twisted,' 'Save the World,' 'Sickly,' 'Spoiled Rotten,' 'There's Two of Them,' 'Unattractive,' and 'Unprepared.'"

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Note note note note note note "And their meanings...?"

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"Abhorrent Admirer has an effect similar to the Admirer minion, except that the Abhorrent Admirer is useless and annoying, and comes with some social reason you can't just have him ejected from your life. 'Anything You Can Do' ensures that your heroine will be better than you at everything. Careful observation has indicated that one could technically say that there are things people who chose this flaw were better at than their designated heroines, but these things tended not to be desirable skills. Self-delusion, for example. Dark Secret ensures that there is something about you which would seriously and negatively impact your life if people found out what it was. You can pick what it is, but whatever it is, it will be verboten in your new universe. Popular choices include some kind of forbidden magic, having done terrible things in the past, and a family history of mental illness. 'Ditz' will influence your mind to be less interested in and functional towards academic and scholarly pursuits, without per se impacting your intelligence. Perversely, it can make the Unearthly Insight perk more powerful."

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For some reason her scribbling gets particularly excited when the angel describes Anything You Can Do.

"All right, go on..."

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"Equal Enemy is, appropriately enough, like Equal Friend, but with an enemy, instead of a friend. One of the other villainess options takes a strong dislike to you. Ghost in the Flesh ensures that your 'canon' counterpart, the more villainous version of you, cohabits your body. By default you have control of the body, but if you take the flaw twice, you start out as a voice in her head instead of the other way around. 'In Character' results in a compulsion to behave like your canon counterpart. You can change your behavior, but you have to do so in a way that's in character for her. Jealousy installs a strong sense of romantic jealousy aimed squarely at your fiance."

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"Oh, I've never been much of an actress but what a role to play..." Note note.

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"Late Start ensures that you won't recover your memories until after the plot has been gone through and you've reached your Bad End. This gives you an opportunity to change, escape, or ameliorate your Bad End, but we still recommend not taking this with the Death ending. You can't take both this and Early Start. Magicless means you don't have and can't use magic; it requires a magic level of High and is incompatible with the perk Magic-User. Since Magic Level: High gives you Magic-User for free, buying a perk with this flaw is contraindicated unless you have some very specific build in mind. No Compromise will result in the application of a modification to your personality to ensure that you will be unable to put up with losing or sharing your fiance, and won't give up unless absolutely forced to. Not A Fan removes a great deal of the knowledge you would be given of the counterfactual Villarosa 'canon;' instead of being deeply familiar with the plot and characters, you know only what you've picked up from the people around you, which essentially means what you personally end up choosing here."

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Note note, note note.

"Interesting... How does No Compromise work? The idea of being so possessive about a romantic relationship is so far outside my experience I'm not sure I could manage it if I tried."

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"The exact mechanism depends on the person they're doing it to. I could speculate as to how they'd do it to you but without knowing more about how you tick it wouldn't be very informative."

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"Examples are informative even if they're not the right ones."

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"Many people already have a sense of romantic jealousy and it just gets cranked up. Some people have a particularly strong one installed. Some people have a space specifically carved out of pre-existing compersive tendencies to except this one case."

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"I see. Probably not taking that one, then... what else?"

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"Patriarchy is the opposite of Matriarchy and does exactly what it says; the world is deeply sexist and not in your favor, and the fate patterns will assist the heroine but not you in defying this. Time Twisted will give the heroine memories of a counterfactual timeline where you--or rather, your 'canon' version--won and did horrible things to her. 'Save the World' will put the world under threat from some danger the heroine and your fiance will have to save it from. Sickly will--well, make you sickly. Your ill health won't ever kill you, but it'll get awfully inconvenient."

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Note note note note note note. "And the last batch?"

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"Spoiled Rotten will result in expensive tastes, an unfamiliarity with being told 'no,' and a tendency to dramatically fail to cope when your standards aren't met. 'There's Two of Them' will give your heroine as an ally one of the heroine options you did not select. By default your new self will be very pretty even if you don't choose the Goddess of Beauty perk, but if you take Unattractive, homely is probably the best that could be said of your appearance. If you choose Unprepared, your memory of this time between dying and being reborn will be wiped, and you won't know that the Roses of Villarosa story isn't native to your original universe; alternately, if you also take Not a Fan, you won't have any inkling of it being theoretically a story at all. I can also have your memory of your original life wiped if you want that for some reason, in which case, assuming you do not take Not a Fan, your meta-knowledge of the story will seem like some kind of precognitive effect."

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Nooote note note note "And is that everything, or are there further considerations?"

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"That's all the mechanical choices."

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"...you say that like there are further considerations that aren't mechanical choices."

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"You can customize things a lot beyond the bare mechanical choices." She consults her notes. "Apparently the appropriate word for this in your language is 'greebles.'"

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"Greebles!" she says delightedly. "I don't think I've heard that one before! What a good word. What sorts of things can I customize, then? Or should that wait until I've thought about the mechanics?"

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"What greebles you want can influence mechanics! One of the most basic things to customize is world--there are a lot of defaults that we can fill in if you don't bother with greebles, but you can decide things like what the language is like, what the architecture and clothing styles are like, what 'human' and 'elf' actually mean--elves are overall like 'humans' but better, essentially, but what that human baseline is like is up to you, within limits. You can also specify a lot of details about the perks you choose, and your minions--essentially, if something isn't specifically determined by what I told you about the mechanical choices, you can probably make it however you want."

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"Hmm."

Her eyes light with a sudden enthusiasm, and she flips to a new page in her notebook and starts making architectural sketches.

"—I don't suppose you have modeling clay? I want to see what some of this will look like in three dimensions—"

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She produces modeling clay. "I can give you anything from your home dimension that can be justified as relevant to making your choices."

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Gleeful modeling commences. "I can design buildings! I can design entire architectural styles! Am I going to be cut off eventually or can I take as long as I want to get things looking right?"

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"You can take as long as you want! We're time-dilated and I'm psychologically incapable of getting bored."

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Cheerful humming. Sketches. Tiny clay architecture. "I should design the magic so the practical constraints of construction are different... can I do that? It would be so interesting!"

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"You can absolutely do that! There are limitations to what can be immediately achievable with magic--it can't be in a place such that someone's going to invent interdimensional transit before the end of the 'plot,' for example--but I can let you know if you run into anything else like that."

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"Ooh, interdimensional transit, there's a concept—we should have interdimensional transit, but no, not right away—although, actually, is there a good reason why there couldn't be multiple worlds in play to start with?"

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"Because any worlds we didn't create wouldn't have the fate-patterns for the story. I suppose there's no reason we couldn't create a limited set of worlds all at roughly the same tech level and have transit between those specifically."

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"Yes, that's the thought I was having. It would make things more interesting! Do they all have to have the same tech level? The continents I'm familiar with differ wildly on that front."

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"They have to fall within the same tech level category, because you can't choose more than one of those. They don't have to be at exactly the same tech level."

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"—hmm, really? That's an odd constraint—how fine-grained is it, will it be fine as long as there's at least one city in every world that's at the right level and that's the one that the story is in primary contact with—"

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"You could maybe justify that, but by default no."

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"What would justifying it consist of?"

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"Making an argument that satisfies me that it will satisfy my bosses that a) the relevant tech disparities make narrative sense, and b) won't impact the story."

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"Well, all right, let me see."

She plays with her modeling clay. She asks for more modeling clay, and a table to work with it on. She sketches and models and hums and mutters and scribbles in her notes and— "I know you said you don't get bored but I can try to explain what I'm after if you like—and I should probably attempt to make some mechanical choices at some point, too—"

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"I would enjoy it if you explained, but that's not about avoiding boredom, that's just about being interested."

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"So—I want a world rich in art. How do I get a world rich in art—and rich in different styles of art? Well, in the world I'm familiar with, the way you get the most art is by going to the most cosmopolitan place and looking into all the corners to find the people who are from far-off lands where they do things differently, where it's—different not just like people from across the river but people from across the continent, across the world, people whose traditions grew up around different traditions than mine did—and the idea I had about magic influencing architectural styles by making different things easy or hard than are easy or hard in the world I came from got me thinking—what if I made a dozen or a hundred different little worlds all with their own different kind of magic, and, hmm, either all of them can do travel between worlds but it's hard enough that people will have mostly established what they're like before they figure it out, or only one of them can and that one can connect all the others—and the reason I want different tech levels inside a world is because that means different entire styles of living, which, again, means different art—and of course if there are more worlds to explore after that, I want us to be able to get there eventually, but it doesn't have to be easy, it just has to be doable within my lifetime, I'm not missing out on that." She pauses thoughtfully. "Does 'my lifetime' even have to be a constraint, actually? Can I make myself immortal? On the other hand, if I die again will I be back here with another interesting design project in front of me? That wouldn't be so bad..."

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"You probably won't come back here if you die, even if you don't set up your world with an afterlife. You can make everyone immortal, if you want to." She considers for a minute. "Different worlds can be within the same tech level while still having different technology from each other. But if you want one world to be steampunk and one to be Aesthetically Archaic so that you can have steampunk and quasi-archaic art...the short version is 'I don't think so,' and the slightly longer version is that Roses of Villarosa is supposed to be, in and of itself, a single work of art with an approximately coherent aesthetic, and I can absolutely help you defy the spirit of the rules to thumb your nose at that idea, but I can't do that and bend the letter of the rules at the same time."

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"I don't necessarily want one world to be one level and a different world to be a different level—I'm thinking of—hmm, perhaps it would be easier with a more concrete example. Let me see."

She does things to clay. There's sort of a little cluster of stylized buildings in the middle of the table, on a little plateau, and then little bridges connecting it to different plateaus, each with its own rough aesthetic—here's a little forest with little houses in the trees, there's a rolling desert with scattered oases and a river and pyramids, there's a mountain range with villages dotting the slopes... but on every plateau, where the bridge from the central plateau meets the local landscape, there's a cluster of buildings in the same style as that central city.

"So there's your Villarosa," she says, pointing at the hub plateau. "And the whole story takes place here, we don't see the rest of the interconnected worlds while I'm busy weaving my tale of love and woe, it's all just there informing the exchange of art and culture. A cosmopolitan city full of travelers from far-off places can have a coherent aesthetic in its own way. I just want that but more. And then within each world," she gestures along the bridge to the mountains, "there's a different people that developed differently, with different magic giving them different capacities and constraints—I don't actually think there should be a single world that's all desert, that's just visual shorthand—but when we get there, we trade, we build, we civilize, now they're part of the empire—and I think, at that point, you can meaningfully say that that world is at the same tech level as we are, even though we haven't chased down and conquered every last nomadic tribe and isolated mountain village. I think it would be genuinely bizarre to have an entire world or set of worlds with no scattered handfuls of people left who haven't moved with the times because they never poke their noses out of their comfortable little valley, or because nobody's sailed past their island yet this century."

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"Oh! Yes, if that's what you mean, yes, that's fine."

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"Some of them might have remnants bigger than a scattered handful but from the perspective of the story the important parts of every world are the parts that are on a level with Villarosa, whether because Villarosa annexed them or because they got to that level on their own early enough that we didn't try, and perhaps an occasional section of map marked 'here be savages' because we haven't looked any closer than it took to write 'here be savages' on a map. I think that works, doesn't it?"

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"Yes, that works."

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"Excellent. Then all I have to do is decide how all the magic works. Hmm... I don't suppose you have any examples for me?"

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"I have lots of examples! Do you want to give me a general idea of what you'd like your magic system to look like, because these are...diverse."

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"I don't know what kind of thing a magic system can be, that's why I want examples! The thing I want is... a lot of very superficially different systems with very different benefits and constraints and usage practices that, once you have the picture of all of them together, are obviously aesthetically coherent as a group. Like a dozen different pieces of an interlocking puzzle where no two pieces are alike but when you fit them all together just right you get a perfect sphere. Except I haven't decided if I want it to be that obvious once we've found them all."

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"Ah...hm. That in particular I haven't seen specifically done before...here's some preliminary documentation for examples I've seen," she says, pulling a stack of papers out of thin air. 

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She grabs the stack of papers and starts gleefully paging through them, muddy fingers and all.

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There are magic systems that people use by doing math, and magic systems that people use by doing art. There are magic systems that people use just by existing. There are magic systems involving rituals, and magic systems involving juggling power and hoping it doesn't blow up on you. 

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Hmm hmmm hmmmmmmmmm.

The one that catches her eye is one that has people with inborn magic, different kinds depending what sort of creature they are. "The mechanics speak of humans and elves, but must I divide the population into humans and elves and nothing else, or can I do something more complicated? Are elves necessary at all?"

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"You can do something more complicated! 'Human' and 'elf' don't have to strictly correspond to humans or elves at all; if there's one species that's markedly better than another, then the former is the 'elves' and the latter is the 'humans.'"