Lila wakes up in a waiting room.

The most notable thing about this room is how little there is in it. There's the one chair, comfortable enough, which she's sitting in. There's a closed door off to the side. There's a wall facing Lila, blank other than the phrase Reincarnation: your next metaphysical step.

And a water cooler in the corner opposite the door. Was that there a second ago?

The door opens, quietly, and a person with black hair just short of shoulder length and feathery wings the color of sagebrush stands in the threshold.

"Lila? Please, come in."

The sudden shock of battle floats off her just as suddenly as it'd come.

She wasn't exactly expecting this...

... but she wasn't not expecting it either.  And she's eager to hear anything they're telling her so calmly.

She jumps up and walks over.

The angel tilts their head slightly, as though there's something on their mind, but they don't say anything as they show Lila into their office.

The room on the other side of the door is similar to the waiting area in that it's pretty plain, although it has a few more hints at personality: a dusky purple accent wall, a sturdy wooden desk with binders, folders, and loose paper on its surface, and a faint smell of warm laundry. The angel takes a seat in a chair designed for people with wings and, if Lila hasn't already seated herself, gestures invitingly at an otherwise matching chair designed for people without wings on the opposite side of the desk. They glance down at one of the loose sheets of paper, make a brief annoyed expression, and are smiling pleasantly again by the time they look back up at Lila's face.

"Welcome to the reincarnation office. It looks like the processing department neglected to remove, blur, or soften the memories of your death. If you feel particularly disoriented or distressed, please help yourself to a candy."

They gesture at a dish on the desk that wasn't there a second before.

"Now, we have a lot to go over and all the time in the world to do it in. If you have any pressing questions, I'd be happy to try and answer them before we begin."

Lila perches on the chair at the invitation and takes a candy.

It's the sweetest thing she's had since the castle, before everything started.

She sinks back in the chair.  Her handkerchief is right where she reflexively reaches for it, in her pocket - it doesn't occur to her to be surprised till a couple minutes later, after she's mopped her eyes.

When she looks up, she asks, "There're departments for this?"

And then, a moment later, "Do things sometimes go wrong here too?"

Nod.

"Yes and yes. Things go wrong here less frequently than in organizations run by humans, but we are still people, and we don't always communicate with each other perfectly. And sometimes people here make judgment calls that others don't agree with."

The angel sighs, but they're smiling.

"I'd rather be doing the job I have now than work in Processing, though. Speaking of which! Do you think you've sufficiently gotten your bearings?"

This isn't the place she was expecting, that looks on to all the stories from the outside.

"So what happens now?  Do I stay - oh, you mentioned reincarnation?"

The angel smiles, shuffling some papers without actually looking at them.

"That's right. Our organization collects souls that would have otherwise been lost and sends them back into the world, although not necessarily the same world they came from. You have been selected to reincarnate into the story The Roses of Villarosa in a central role."

A quick breath.

"Specifically, you will be in the role of the villainess."

"I don't remember that story?"

The angel's laugh here seems more genuine than the professionally polite tone they've had for most of this encounter.

"Ah- that's because it doesn't exist yet."

They reach for one of the folders and slide it in front of Lila.

"And what's more, you will exert a degree of control over the story that most reincarnators don't have. Some things can't be changed - certain aspects of the setting, some plot beats, and your role within the story - but there's a fair deal that's under your creative control."

Lila snatches the folder.

"So what's the setting and plot beats I can't change?"

The angel grins at Lila's enthusiasm.

"First and foremost, you're going to live in the Kingdom of Villarosa. It's guaranteed to be a kingdom and have at least some level of social stratification between commoners, royalty, and nobility. Most of the names will be rose-themed in some way. There's a Royal Academy that you're going to attend with your fiance and your romantic rival - who will capture your fiance's heart. In the counterfactual version of the plot, which isn't guaranteed to happen per se but is still quite likely, you suffer some sort of unfortunate fate."

The first page of the folder is an advertisement:

Congratulations! Despite the odds, you have been accepted to the prestigious Royal Academy of the Kingdom of Villarosa. While attending this academy, you will rub elbows with the nobility, gain the skills required to move up in life, and even find love. But beware! Your beau is already engaged to an underhanded villainess who will do everything in her power to maintain control over her betrothed. Can you beat the odds and foil her plans? Step into the world of The Roses of Villarosa to find out!

"My supervisor is fond of a particular medium for storytelling that I don't think you're familiar with, which is why the ad copy is written like that. It's targeted towards - hm, have you ever played games of pretend, where you would act out the part of a character? There's a genre of games for one person where the player is given the opportunity to make choices that affect the story and ending that they receive, and this was written to entice people who like those sort of games to play it. In the version of The Roses of Villarosa that's a game, the player would play as your rival and make decisions from her perspective."

Lila nods at the mention of a kingdom and themed names and fiance and the mention of games of pretend, but her smile dims at the end.  "I'm supposed to be the underhanded rival to the main character?  You want me to help set up a story for someone else?"

The angel gives Lila a sympathetic expression.

"Yes and no. You see, the person this advertisement is written for doesn't actually exist. You may, if you choose, receive memories of a timeline that corresponds to the game it's promoting, but that game will never, in actuality, be made. What's more, you're the only reincarnating soul who will be consulted on any aspect of this new life, so - even though the role for you is called 'villainess' and the role for your romantic rival is 'heroine,' the story is still for you."

They purse their lips, looking to the side.

"My supervisor just has… particular aesthetic tastes."

"So he wants a story about me... in a story that looks like it's set up for someone else?  And am I really expected to be underhanded, or is that just more of what it looks like?"

"Pretty much. And - no, not unless you want to be underhanded. It's a little complicated, but…"

They reach under the desk and filp a switch, causing a hologram projection to appear over the desk, between themselves and Lila. 

(The projection is obviously much prettier and not hastily drawn by hand.)

"Okay, so here," they gesture at the red vertical line, "is when you'll be born. From your birth until here," they gesture at the pink vertical line, "you are the same person as the villainess in the counterfactual game. At that point, you'll start to regain memories - of your past life, of this planning session, and of the rest of the story, which is everything between these two points." They gesture between the pink and orange lines on the top timeline. "You can use this knowledge to make different choices from what 'canonically' happens - that is, what your memories of the story tell you happens. Fate will be pushing you towards the canonical story, mostly in the form of coincidences and incentives, but your choices will be entirely your own. This," and they gesture towards the orange line, "is the end of the canonical story. After this point, regardless of what choices you made, fate will stop attempting to influence you in any given direction. Of course, there are some factors that may complicate what I just told you. But we'll get there when we get there."

They dismiss the hologram and chuckle quietly.

"Did that help clarify things?"

"I think so..."

She's still pondering what it would mean to know what "fate" is trying to do - but to have been given the option to go against it, as explicitly as she could possibly imagine.

Nod.

"Okay. If you do have further questions, don't hesitate to ask them. That being said…"

They shuffle some papers again.

"We're going to plan out the details of the canonical story and world first. These don't need to be set in stone in any particular order, and I'll go over all your decisions with you to make sure it's what you really want before authorizing the actual reincarnation, but a lot of people like to have a loose agenda or framework to structure their thoughts with. Go ahead and take a look at the next page in that folder."

She nods, smiling, and turns the page.

Genre

Epic: Whether it's a space opera, sweeping tale of fantasy, or something entirely new from your imagination, an Epic Villarosa is larger than life. The stakes, drama, and overall scale of your story will be at their highest within this Genre. Expect dramatic twists and turns, shocking reveals, and heartbreaking sacrifices. 

Down to Earth: By contrast, a Down-to-Earth Villarosa is at a smaller, some would say much more manageable scale. While there's still plenty of room for drama and exciting reveals, in general the events within this Genre will feel more realistic and restrained.

Musical: The less serious baby cousin of the Epic Genre, a Musical Villarosa is exactly what it sounds like - a world where people can and do break into song and dance to express their big feelings. Although it may seem silly on the surface, the Musical genre can be used to deliver powerful emotional payoffs.

Dystopia: Dark and gritty, the Dystopia Villarosa is a bad place to live. Oppressive social structures and government control over the populace loom large. It's the heroine's duty to try and bring a better future to pass - although she'll also have to balance it out with a love triangle, for some reason.

Fucktopia: At first glance, you might say that a Fucktopia Villarosa is nothing but an excuse to cram as many horny tropes, concepts, and worldbuilding elements into one story as the author could get away with. And you'd be right! While other stories might run on the rule of cool, rule of funny, or rule of drama, this Genre runs on rule of sexy.

Time Period

Preindustrial: Anything from before the Industrial Revolution qualifies. Since we'll be constructing your world to spec, you don't have to worry about anachronisms as long as the general aesthetic and flavor of your time period holds water. Certain inconveniences may be smoothed over with the appropriate Magic Level, although even with a Magic Level of None we'll do our best to keep infant mortality and deaths from disease low.

Industrial: Just as the name says, an Industrial time period coincides with the dawn of industry. Factories are popping up, reshaping the way things are done in all spheres of life. At this point in time, electric devices are becoming a reality. Extends through approximately the turn of the twentieth century.

Alternate Tech Tree: This Time Period is a bit of an oddball and usually, but not exclusively, propped up with a bit of magic. Steam-powered industry, alchemy-powered technology, zeerust - again, Alternate Tech Tree is an oddball where you'll get a good deal of creative liberty.

Contemporary: Anywhere from the turn of the twentieth century to the turn of the twenty-second. You can include capitalism, the internet, climate change, weird '50s American cuisine, the World Wars, the space race - anything that floats your boat.

Near Future: The realm of science fiction. Computers are everywhere, possibly even sapient artificial intelligences. Body modifications are cheap and easy to obtain. In more optimistic iterations, all of this is powered by clean, renewable energy, but don't let that constrain you if you don't want to.

Interstellar: Humanity has taken to the stars! Space tourism, space warfare, space exploration: anything you can think of, it can be done IN SPACE! Expect to see robots, sapient AIs, and possibly aliens.

Magic Level

None: Exactly what it says on the tin. Comes with an extra advantage.

Low: Magic is the stuff of legend, a once-in-a-generation occurrence. Not much is known about it, and you would be forgiven for assuming that your world has no magic at all.

Medium: Magic can be anywhere from rare to decently commonplace. There may be some degree of a masquerade, or it may simply require lots of dedication and hard work to get magical results. Being a magic-user will still grant you a leg up in a setting of this magic level.

High: Magic is ever-present, a pillar of daily life. Pretty much everyone you'll meet will have some magic to their name, though abilities may vary wildly. By default, includes the advantage Magic User.

"What's an industrial revolution?  Factories?  Capitalism?  Internet?  America?  Computers?  And what's this new way of counting centuries?"

"Oh, darn it, the ad copy is written for a cultural perspective that's completely foreign to you. Here, let me -"

The hologram returns, this time displaying a slideshow of scenes of assembly lines, factories, and other scenes appropriate to the Industrial Revolution.

"Okay, so - broadly, industrialization is when a society shifts from mainly agricultural to mainly dominated by, well, industry. A factory is a location where things are made, usually at a massive scale. This is extremely useful for manufacturing machines, but it can be very dangerous for the people who work in it. Capitalism is an economic system predicated on a theory where the price you pay to purchase goods or services is predicated upon how much you need the good or service and how much the person selling it to you has. The Internet is - basically what you get if you give the majority of a planet's population the ability to, at least in theory, communicate with everyone else on the planet. America is a country that exists and comes to be culturally dominant on a lot of Earths. Computers are - well, they're what the Internet is built upon, for one, but they're primarily machines that are good at math and can be told to do specific kinds of math in a way that yields infinite results, if you're creative enough about telling them what to do. The centuries in the brochure are based on a calendar system that's, again, culturally dominated on the Earths that have Americas."

As the angel talks, the hologram displays appropriate imagery.

"That's, of course, a pretty pithy overview. I can instantiate more thorough instructional material on any of these topics if you're interested."

It sounds like magic.

As in, it sounds like a lot of really useful but really complicated things that she has very little idea how they work.  And unlike magic, it sounds like you can't do it yourself; you need to do it with a lot of other people.  Maybe she'd feel different about that if she'd grown up with it instead of being about to be dropped into another world.

"That sounds amazing, and I'm sure it's great for the people who're used to it... but I think I'll go without it here.

"So I guess that means Preindustrial, and... I'll want some more magic than I came from, though.  At least Medium."

Among other things, that means she could escape sudden sword attacks without having to learn to fight herself.

The angel nods and presses another button underneath the desk. The hologram screen splits into two - one side that's still showing the last part of the slideshow and one that has the two choices Lila's made:

Time Period: Preindustrial

Magic Level: Medium

"This is just for reference, so you don't have to mentally juggle everything. Do you have any Genre preferences at this time, or do you need to hear more information?"

"Epic - I'll give us a dramatic story."

The angel smiles and the list acquires a new item.

"All right. So, did you want to figure out a more detailed model of the world, or should we move on to the next set of mechanical options? If you don't have a particular preference on, for instance, the intricacies of how the magic system will work, the worldbuilding crew will fill in the details as necessary, but you can get as granular as you'd like. You can also give vague preferences - for instance, it sounds like as far as technology and social structure, you'd like to land somewhere familiar to you. They probably won't recreate your home world exactly, but that sort of inclination is enough to go on if you'd like to leave some details to the crew's imagination."

"Yes, but if I'm adding more magic... you mentioned I could make day-to-day life nicer?  Like," (she frowns) "make it so we don't need to salt meat so much outside the palace?  Or there isn't, er, that bad smell in summer?"

Nod.

"Yes, food preservation and… waste disposal… should be doable. At a Magic Level of Medium, that'll most likely look like minor magic items - they likely won't be ubiquitous, but it'll be enough to raise the standard of living. Sometimes people opt for a masquerade, where those who have magic hide from those without, so that they can stay at a lower overall magic level while having a higher concentration of the benefits, but that's far from the only way to set this up."

"I don't want to hide such a big part of the story as magic.

"Maybe I'll want even more magic?  But, let's go on for now?"

The angel laughs again.

"I understand. Okay, so the next part is your Role. So, by default, you're going to be a woman, your fiance will be a man, and your rival will be another woman. However, some people object to having that aspect of themselves changed - they don't want to be a woman, they don't want to be attracted to men, or both. Now, this will sound unrelated, but now would be a good time to explain advantages and drawbacks."

They take a quick breath.

"Advantages are exactly what they sound like - things we can do to make it easier to avoid an unfortunate fate. There are plenty to choose from, and they all have different kinds of results. By default, you get four 'free,' and every advantage you choose after that point must be 'paid for' with a drawback. Drawbacks are also exactly what they sound like - things we do to make your new life trickier. One advantage, however, is slightly different. It's called Flexibility. You can take it as many times as you like, but only the first is free. Essentially, when you take it, you can select any of the categories where none of the options are to your liking and invent a new one. You won't get to pick anything you want, and it'll have to 'fit' in a sense with the other options, but I'm happy to help come up with ways to justify your choices to my supervisor."

A self-conscious smile.

"Back to the matter at hand - the genders paired with the roles is a common choice for the free use of Flexibility. You don't have to change anything if you're happy with the default, of course, but it's common for reincarnators to be distressed if they think that their gender or orientation will be changed against their will, so I like to get this explanation out as soon as the topic comes up."

Lila hadn't gone out with anyone before.  It just wouldn't be fitting.  Perhaps she could fall in love with some foreign prince or adventurer who was only too happy to help restore her throne - she'd dreamed  about that a few times - but none of them had shown up.  There could of course be other reasons for marriage, but nobody was interested in marrying a princess who had nothing but a few hidden loyalists.

"I'm fine with that.  I'll be Flexible elsewhere."

Nod.

"Okay, good to know. So, as the villainess, you're going to be in a position of relative social advantage, though the exact degree and flavor is up to you. There are three Social Roles: the Royal Princess, the Duke's Daughter, and the Rich Heiress, in descending order of privilege. The Royal Princess is born into, well, the royal family of Villarosa, the Duke's Daughter is the daughter of a noble who hopes to advance himself politically by arranging a successful marriage, and the Rich Heiress is technically a commoner, though one with an affluent father."

The next page in the folder goes into more detail about what exactly each option entails, including the degree to which the villainess' parent can be induced to aid in preserving the engagement.

"Any reason not to be --"

Lila suddenly falls silent...

... as she realizes that the stories she's bathed in for years wouldn't really work with a Princess who hadn't been turned out of her rightful place.

There would be more stories, of course... like romance.  Which is the story they expect her to be in.

And a different sort of politics that doesn't feel as interesting.

But that doesn't seem enough.

"How about... the Duke's Daughter? ^{It's a different kingdom, after all.}"

The angel makes an inquisitive face but doesn't quite ask what Lila's last comment means, instead nodding and adding her choice to the list.

"Okay. The other half of your role is your Story Role, which is tied somewhat to your appearance."

They decide not to mention, at least not right out of the gate, that some reincarnators have to put up with far tighter restrictions on their appearance.

"There's the Pampered Princess, the Ice Queen, and the…"

They almost huff.

"Badass, er, Bitch. In summary - the Pampered Princess doesn't have to be literally a princess, she's just someone who's used to getting her way and often sheltered. She'll be more likely to have blonde hair that's styled elaborately, as well as a frillier sense of fashion. The Ice Queen, again, isn't necessarily a queen - she's simply got a cold, determined demeanor. Her appearance can be a little more varied - funnily enough, you're equally likely to see an Ice Queen with silvery white hair as one with jet-black hair, and she'll have a more practical fashion sense. The. Last option. Is an aggressive, emotional powerhouse. She's likely to have wild red hair and wear more military-coded clothing. I think it's worth mentioning that none of these appearance tropes are required, but it'll be easier if you choose an appearance that evokes your desired Story Role in some way."

"Pamper me but don't shelter me."

Nod.

"All right, that sounds workable. Do you have any particular appearance input? If not, the designers will come up with something they think is fitting."

She shakes her head.

"All right. The next Role to decide is that of your fiance. The three options there are the Prince Charming, the Dark Rival, or the Noble Prodigy. The Prince Charming is earnest, sweet, and upstanding; the Dark Rival is, well, a bit of a dark rival to the Prince Charming - less earnest, more mean, though never cruel, more dangerous - and the Noble Prodigy is - mm, a little out of place, compared to the others? He's already graduated the Royal Academy you'll be attending and made somewhat of a name for himself. He'll be hardened from his past and reluctant to open up emotionally, at least at first."

Lila tries to squelch the butterflies in her stomach at actually picking a fiancé, and forges ahead to take the one with apparent plothooks.  "The Noble Prodigy.  Er, you will pick someone who likes me?"

The angel nods, but it's not untainted with sadness.

"Yes. At the beginning of the plot, you will be in a political engagement, but you'll have legitimate regard for another. By default, it's friendly, but if you opt for the advantage In Love, the two of you will be romantically involved as well. Unfortunately, regardless of whether you take that advantage, he will over the course of the story fall in love with your rival as well. However, while the 'canonical' ending involves him leaving you for her, you will have the opportunity to try to avert this - whether in the form of convincing him you're better for him, seducing your rival to form a triad, or something else you think of."

"Er... good."

She's distracted by how the angel is presenting such a scandalous option as seducing the heroine, which means she's avoiding considering whether she wants to be in love.

"What next?"

The angel doesn't notice Lila's distraction, or at least doesn't think it stands out.

"The last Role for you to choose is that of your rival. While you start the plot in an advantaged position, she starts out somewhat less so. She can be a Poor Princess, a Hero's Daughter, or an Extraordinary Commoner. The Poor Princess has some sort of complication with her parentage - perhaps she's a bastard, perhaps she's only a half-sibling to whoever actually inherits the throne, perhaps she's not from Villarosa at all. The Hero's Daughter has a parent who, well, died heroically in such a way that elevated their whole family to the nobility, while the Extraordinary Commoner is simply a commoner who was accepted into the Royal Academy on merit alone."

If she's not going to be a princess, she doesn't want to be an antagonist to one either.  That'd just feel too weird.

"Hero's Daughter."

Honestly, that's pretty valid of her.

"All right. Do you have any input on whether you'd like the hero to be her mother or father, what their heroic act was, or whether she has any surviving siblings or a parent?"

"A heroic mother would be interesting - and have her still be alive - I hope our rivalry's not too strong for me to meet her?  As for what she did..."

She could've been in the right place to stop a plot, but that'd be less interesting.  She could've come to the King's attention through being an expert physician or midwife, but that's not the right sort of thing to be heroic.  There're old tales of swordswomen, but that'd feel strange... and there's something more interesting, especially if magic is going to be more common here.

"Would I be making things too difficult for myself if she's a magician who stopped some plot or saved the day in the last war?...  Maybe the war; I don't expect they'd be using battle-magic on me."

"Oh, I must have misspoken. The heroic parent can't be the same as the living parent - we can leave the option open for resurrection at the conclusion of the plot, since you didn't opt for no magic, but during the actual story, it needs to be either impossible or prohibitively inconvenient to bring her back right away. Having her be a war hero or someone who foiled a dastardly plot would work just fine, though - the only real requirement is that it was valuable and impressive enough that her family was awarded a noble title in response to it."

"Then yes, she died some time after the war, but recently enough that my, er, opponent can remember her.  And... can she have some older brothers, or do you want her to be the eldest set to inherit?"

"That would be all right, on both counts. By default all her siblings will be nobles, but if you want her to inherit a particular title that's also fine. Some options for making that work could be that inheritance is matriarchal, or that her mother selected her personally, or that her brothers abdicated… I'm sure you get the picture."

"Then I'll do it.  She and her brothers get some title each - let's say they went by partible inheritance.

Her smile suddenly dims.

"Are my parents still alive here?"

"Yes, that's doable."

The angel nods, adding a bullet point to the Choices Hologram.

"Which parents do you mean? The ones from your home world, or the people who will be your parents in Villarosa?"

"... They won't be the same?"

She hadn't even thought what she would even say to her... her original parents.  So much had happened since they'd died.  It wasn't that they'd been bad parents, but they'd left the story; it wouldn't do to break the pattern and bring them back in.

"Er... if I'm going to be a pampered duke's daughter, it'd fit better for, er, my new parents to be alive."

"Not by default, no. There's an advantage that you can take, if you'd like, that would allow us to take your original parents from the moment of their death and slot them into any role you'd like, including that of your new parents. Technically, taking it once only gets you one person, but in practice, we almost always let it slide if you wanted to take it once and get your parents. Would that sort of thing interest you?"

"Would they --"

It would be a strange story if they didn't get their memories from their first life and she did.

Well, it'd be a strange story if they did, too.

They'd been good parents, but she'd hardly been close to them.  They'd had their own stories to live out, and she'd had hers.

"-- No, leave them in their current, er, afterlife or reincarnation.  I'll have new parents."

"Okay. All right, let's see… okay, I must have had my notes out of order, because I actually forgot to mention the species option. You've got essentially - well, two options, but it's more like three. You can be either the baseline species of your planet, or you can be a version that's, to be blunt, better. What that means can be up to you - the enhanced species is usually any or all of stronger, longer-lived, more intelligent, faster, holier, and prettier. The reason it's technically three options is that - if you opt into the enhanced species, there'll be a baseline species present and you'll have to take an extra drawback. If you choose to be baseline in a way that disadvantages you because there are also members of an enhanced species present, then you'll earn an extra advantage. But you can also choose for there to be no enhanced species, in which case you won't get the advantage or the drawback. By default, the baseline species is humans and the enhanced species is elves, but you can honestly be anything you'd like as long as both species meaningfully have humanish faces and hair and can wear clothes recognizable to humans."

"I like the idea of being an Elf... but what're these enhancements and drawbacks?"

"Oh, there's lists of the drawbacks and advantages. You can pick any from the list. And - well, again, by default Elves are stronger and faster than humans, and more beautiful, and more magical, and longer-lived, and cleverer, and wiser, although typically that's just a result of their lifespans. There can be other benefits as well, if there's something you've wished you had yourself that wasn't really possible to get with hard work alone."

"It sounds like that's probably worth one disadvantage..."

Lila looks through her folder for that list.

The list of drawbacks and advantages looks something like this! There are some differences, though - in addition to Flexibility, there's a Vending Machine advantage that works similarly to what the angel described when Lila asked about her parents:

Vending Machine

By default, all non-you characters are either new souls or reincarnators selected for being able to fit well into the plot. With this advantage, you may pick any character, including but not limited to your fiance, your rival, your parents, and your Allies, and select any person, real or fictional, to fill their role. Real people will be drawn from the moment of their death, while fictional characters may be slightly different from the fictional version as they will be drawn from the closest matching universe to the canon you specify. This person won't retain their memories - ask your representative about past life recall options if you're interested. You may take this advantage more than once.

On the drawbacks page, "Patriarchy" isn't present and all the personality flaws such as Jealousy, Ditz, No Compromise, and Spoiled Rotten are bundled into one all-purpose Flawed Personality disadvantage that can be taken multiple times with different effects. There's also Wrong Genre Savvy:

Go back to the list of potential Genres and choose an option other than the one you picked, and your memories of this planning session and of The Roses of Villarosa's canon will reflect that new Genre. No matter how many times events contradict your memories, you'll be inclined to chalk the discrepancy up to having misremembered the events or something having failed to go according to plan.

"Oh, so I can have Fate allow a Good Ending!  Of course I'll do that, even though I need to work to find it!  And of course I'm going to be a Magic-User, and Unearthly Insight would be fun...  If I'm going to start out pampered, Silk Hiding Steel would be helpful...  And I haven't seen the bad endings yet, but 'Bad for Her, Good for You' would be nicely poetic.

"In exchange, I'll be In-Character, of course.  And Save the World will make the story much more exciting...

"... Four perks, and flaws to balance any more, plus one flaw since I'm an Elf?"

She frowns briefly, looking over the lists.

"For my Allies - My friend Kiri.  And she can find another Classmate to be her friend, I'm sure.  She isn't dead yet - I don't think - but... can it work out if I ask for her with the 'vending'?

"Also a Maid ally - I don't have anyone particular in mind -

"And... Sir Dermot probably died right after me, for my sake; I'd love to have him be a teacher in this Academy, and I think he'd like it too."

She purses her lips pensively.

"Extra Ally and two reincarnations makes three more flaws...  Wrong Genre Savvy so I don't know the script for the epic quest?  And then Flawed Personality; I'll take the suggestion where I'll be distracted from classwork."  (She chuckles, remembering how few distractions there really were that one winter in hiding.)  "And Dark Secret.  I don't want to be secretly treasonous, and I don't think I would like being bankrupt after a pampered childhood, so I'll go with Forbidden Magic!"

The angel nods along, noting all the choices and requests.

"All right, that sounds like it'll add up nicely - especially the combination of Unearthly Insight and being otherwise easily distracted and unacademic. I like the touch of Silk Hiding Steel too. You don't have to worry about whether someone has died yet - we operate outside the same timeframe as your home world, so we can grab any death at any point."

The hologram now has quite a few things on it!

Genre: Epic

Time Period: Preindustrial

Magic Level: Medium

Social Role: Duke's Daughter

Story Role: Pampered Princess

Species: Enhanced

Fiance: Noble Prodigy

Rival: Hero's Daughter

Allies: Classmates, Maid

Advantages: Good Ending; Magic User; Unearthly Insight; Silk Hiding Steel; Bad For Her, Good For You; Vending Machine (x2)

Drawbacks: Wrong Genre Savvy; Flawed Personality; Dark Secret; In-Character; Save the World

"Am I missing anything? The classmates count as one ally mechanically even though they're two people, so if you want there to be two classmates total, you can skip Extra Ally."

"I thought the Extra Ally was for the Maid?

"That's everything so far - what's next?"

The angel glances down.

"Oh, you actually start out with two Allies - so a Maid and pair of Classmates doesn't require you to do anything extra. And - I think the last purely mechanical choice is your canonical counterpart's Fate. The choices, in roughly increasing order of severity, are Disgrace, Nunhood, Exile, Poverty, Servitude, and Death."

The paper elaborates:

Disgrace: The least severe option. You retain your rank and status, although your reputation is permanently in tatters. You probably won't be invited to rub shoulders with the upper crust, but you still have your money and title. Requires one extra drawback.

Nunhood: Yes, that's totally a word. After your fiance calls off the engagement, you are forced to stay in a convent and become a nun, taking vows of chastity, poverty, and service. 

Exile: Whether you're unceremoniously married off to a foreign noble in a last-ditch attempt for your parents and family to save face or simply shown the proverbial door, this Fate means you'll be banished from Villarosa, never to return to your homeland.

Poverty: As though it wasn't enough to simply lose a valuable engagement and watch your fiance marry somebody else, you lose your title and riches and are forced to work for a living starting from next to nothing. Although it's very much possible for you to make the best of this and have a happy, successful life, you'll never be rich or noble again.

Servitude: In addition to being stripped of your title and wealth, this Fate forces you into the service of your rival. This can range in severity from being a paid member of her staff to slavery, and much of your treatment at her hands will depend on her personal preference. Keep in mind that if your Villarosa has the right technology or magic, this may be used to ensure your obedience.

Death: Whether you're executed for your crimes, murdered by your rival or fiance, or suffer karmic retribution as the result of your own schemes, by choosing this Fate, you wind up dead at the conclusion of the story. Entitles you to one extra advantage.

Lila stares back and forth between the angel and the paper.

"Disgrace isn't Epic enough, but I don't like any of the other choices!  Especially if my winning means my antagonist gets it!

"I'll use the Flexibility you mentioned.  Sort of like Servitude, but just as a retainer - I'd keep a title and a few resources of my own, and honor means she wouldn't mistreat me too badly."

The angel makes a thoughtful expression.

"Hmm - oh, actually, I think I've got an idea that I can spin to my supervisor. She could save your life in a way that's - costly, or otherwise going above and beyond such that you owe her a life debt and she's socially entitled to make any demand of you that she likes. And then we can of course spin that she's honorable enough to not seize all your assets or treat you like a slave."

Fate: Life Debt goes up on the list.

"Now, let's see… you won't be in the same body you're in now; do you have any requests as far as appearance goes? By default you won't be a dead ringer for your past self, but you'll still have a resemblance. I think your hair in particular suits the role of a Pampered Princess quite nicely, especially if it's been done up in a little bonnet or bow or something."

"And I can do the same to her if I win."

Lila tosses her hair.  "Thank you; I do like my hair - and I'd like it more without all the mess that'd gotten into it over the last few years in hiding.  I'm looking forward to those bows and fancy braids!

"As for appearance... I'm supposed to be an Elf.  Can we make Elves not be a fully different race?  Maybe it's a trait that gets passed down in the blood, and maybe skips some generations sometimes so my parents don't have to be Elves as well.  In fact -" she speeds up a bit "- let's say Elves are the people who can do magic, at least usually?  And also they're a bit taller, and faster, and have those other slight advantages you were mentioning earlier.  So it gets passed down in the blood, but not universally."

"That's the idea!"

They listen to her suggestion for the elves of Villarosa.

"Yes, that should work. Especially with your magic level - 'magic is ubiquitous but only among a subset of the population' slots very well into Medium. Do you know what sorts of things you want magic to be capable of, or what kinds of magic you want to be forbidden for your Dark Secret? Do you want elves to be able to hide the fact that they're elves? - That last one isn't particularly mechanically important, it's just an idea prompt."

"Yes!  But it takes some work to hide that you're an elf, and it can fail..."  She strokes her wrist pensively.  "Elves are tall - but there are humans that tall.  There's something unusual about their ears or wrists, say - but I could wear my hair over my ears and wear bracelets or super-long sleeves, if it doesn't fall apart; or I could disguise it with magic if nobody notices the spell.

"Magic... We already said magic can make devices that cast repeating or lasting spells to do things like keep food fresh.  And I also mentioned battle-magic.  I'm sure it also helps with building... maybe even with keeping arches up, if you're sure there won't be enemies to cancel the spells?... and with long-distance messages..."  She grins.  "I wish magic were that useful at home!  And it also does all sorts of small fun things, like lights and music and glamours and - and even flying!

"But no grand big spells that affect the whole kingdom - that's too big for magic."

She frowns.  "Would the forbidden magic be some sort of spell only I can cast, or... no, that wouldn't be a Dark Secret if I didn't even know about it... No, it's some spell I did cast at some time back when I was a girl.  A spell that I cast on someone else to somehow enchant them.  My parents and I broke the spell and covered the incident up as much as we could, but it still could come out - and I still know the spell."

"That magic system sounds good! And - I can't guarantee that there won't be any enemies who would try to cancel the architectural spells, but in the same way that I can't guarantee there won't be enemies who try to disrupt your architecture by more mundane means. As for the forbidden magic - I think it could work if it was a one-time spell, regardless of whether or not you still know it, if the effects were big enough, though if you undid it as fast as you could that may not count. Hmm. What sort of enchantment were you thinking - would it be some sort of spell to make them do your bidding, or a curse?"

They flip through a binder.

"Let's see, was there something specific you wanted to Save the World from, or is the default Demon Lord option okay? If we keep the Demon Lord, we could potentially have it so that you can only use the dark magic because the two of you are connected, so even though you undid the spell from when you were younger, people would still be afraid. And what Genre did you want to have incorrect expectations for? There's Down To Earth, Musical, Dystopia, and - the sex one, although if you'd like I can put the request through as more of a romantic comedy than a pornography."

"If I'm connected with the Demon Lord, how would that work in the other story where I'm the villainess?  That'd be too close to working for him, or me or my family working with him in the past... especially if I'm not going to remember this part of the planning.  So let's not go with that.

"You said I could take another advantage - I'd missed that note earlier - so how about I take Magical Prodigy?  That way I could cast some elaborate curse spell while I was still a little girl - I'm sure there was luck involved too - and let's say we got most of it off but not all of it.  My father didn't understand it well enough, and we didn't dare call in the few other genius magicians just in case they could remove it better."  She strokes her hair again.  "Let's say it was one of the servants' or neighbors' son, and we were rivals for something or other.  We already established I'm pampered, so I got really upset.  Father had a magic book that he wasn't really supposed to have in the first place, and I didn't know the strength of my own magic.  And we established I get easily distracted from studying, so I didn't notice the parts of the spell that should've warned me - and it came out even stronger a curse than I'd intended."

She shakes her head.  "Poor boy.  Do make sure he comes out well in the story, will you?"

"And say I'm expecting... What's the difference between Down to Earth and Romantic Comedy?"

"There would be a few potential ways for you to be entangled with the Demon Lord while not being overshadowed by him, but we don't have to pursue that route if you'd rather not. And - yes, I think that being a Magical Prodigy in such a way that you got your hands on dark magic at a young age and cursed someone. Especially if the victim is another noble, or if harming a servant would greatly decrease your family's perceived honor, or if people find the damage he suffers to be particularly pitiful. We can definitely ensure that he comes out all right one way or another."

The angel chuckles at Lila's question.

"Well - hm. In a Down to Earth story, the characters don't see themselves as being part of a story, except in the broader sense where everyone's the hero, or at least main character, of their own life story. Actions tend to have tidier consequences, or at least consequences that become tidier in retrospect once you discover more context. Coincidences are just as likely to mess things up as they are to be fortunate. And - well, in a romantic comedy, sometimes things that characters do are supposed to be seen as romantic, even if in real life they wouldn't necessarily be. Things such as repeatedly pursuing someone you're interested in even though they've turned you down, or - well, abandoning someone you're engaged to because you met and fell in love with an old flame or someone who caught your eye. In a Down to Earth story, that kind of behavior would be seen as an indicator that the character in question was disrespectful of boundaries, bad at communicating, unreliable at honoring commitments, and so on. Does that cover your question?"

"... and if we say I secretly brought the book to school with me just to find out more about it?"

Lila frowns briefly at the angel's mention of more things being perceived as romantic, but she quickly brightens back to a smile.  "I can make the Story more active and visible like that?  Definitely, a Romantic Comedy!"

Headtilt.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean - do you mean, would it add to the perceived shame if even after accidentally hurting someone, you still tried to learn more from the spellbook, or do you just mean you think you would have wanted to find out more anyway?"

"It would add to the shame - and it'd also add to the potential for the story!  And if I'm thinking it's going to be a romantic comedy too, there'll be even more story potential!"

"Oh, okay. I see what you mean. Yes, that sounds like it'd provide for a number of plot hooks, so to speak."

The angel smiles and looks down at their papers for a moment.

"Well - I think that covers everything, at least mechanically speaking! Did you have any last-minute ideas, concerns, questions?"

"Thank you!  And - I'm saying it now so that I'll remember it in Villarosa - I'm really expecting I'll be happy with all these choices."

(She doesn't mention the "after I forget that I actually chose Epic.")

"I don't suppose you mind if I tell Kiri - or someone else - about you, eventually?"

The angel smiles.

"I'm glad to hear that!"

And then they look thoughtful.

"I don't personally mind, but I can't offer any specific prediction on whether you'll be believed. Nobody else will have any memory of their past lives - if you'd like, I can put in a request for there to be some sort of magic that allows people to discover if they had past lives and recall them, but it'll be pretty difficult for any plot-important characters to do that during the main story. Afterwards is fair game, of course…"

The light in the room - dims slightly, gets a little warmer in tone. Behind where Lila's sitting, a comfortable little cot-thing instantiates. It doesn't have any blankets, but it does have a pillow.

"We typically slot the recall in right as you're waking up - it can be from a head injury or dozing off in class, but typically it's first thing in the morning on an otherwise regular day. For this reason, most find that lying down and closing their eyes helps with disorientation. And - just remember, since you're going to be In Character, it'll be hard to go against the grain of how your canonical counterpart would behave. The compulsion will be variably relaxed based on your, ah, proximity to the plot, being stronger during loadbearing scenes and weaker when you're doing something irrelevant to the greater story, but - many reincarnators are surprised. It doesn't change your thoughts directly or actually force you onto a course of action, but aside from that, it can feel pretty, well, compelling. Have you ever heard the saying 'fake it until you make it'? Fortunately, if you play things right, you'll be able to 'grow' back into the sort of person you want to be."

The angel gestures at the cushion.

"Take however long you need to prepare, and once you're ready you can lie down there. I'll stay here until you're off."

"Do make it possible to bring back past-life memories?" Lila says.  "But not easy.  I don't want it to be a regular part of the story... but if we want to make it go that way, it can, since I'll already have mine."

She rises, curtsies deeply to the angel, and lays down on the bed.

"Tomorrow, in a new story," she murmurs to herself.